96: Chapter 96 Treasure Hunt

He didn't know if the stock account he'd created back in university was still usable, so Zhang Wei decided to check with the securities firm after breakfast.

"Zhang Wei! Take this!" An Xiaoxi grabbed a handful of snow, pressed it into a snowball with both hands, and threw it at Zhang Wei. What might be a common snowball fight to Northerners was an extremely rare and precious novelty for someone from the South.

Zhang Wei didn't dodge, calmly standing there as a target for An Xiaoxi. The girl had never been in a snowball fight before, and her aim was ridiculously poor. Forget about missing by a hair; it was like a shot from the National Football Team, flying straight into the stands—one would think she had a grudge against the spectators.

After failing to hit her target several times, An Xiaoxi's composure broke. She grabbed some snow and launched a melee attack, flailing her arms.

"Just what I wanted!" As she rushed close, Zhang Wei grinned. "If you're going to deliver yourself to me, then I won't hold back."

He grabbed both her hands and forced the snow she was holding back onto her own face. The cold made the girl cry out, but she was helpless.

After messing around for a while, both of them were a bit hungry. Today, Zhang Wei planned to try donkey meat flatbread.

Southerners don't usually have the habit of eating donkey meat flatbreads, but ever since a certain non-mainstream crosstalk actor became famous, City Name had also gradually seen many similar breakfast stalls opening up.

Each of them ordered a donkey meat flatbread, and without worrying about whether Northerners would laugh at the combination, they each ordered a cup of soy milk.

Zhang Wei took a bite of the burger; it was saltier than he expected, and the donkey meat was a bit tough. He couldn't help but reflect on how large the dietary differences were between the North and the South.

Suddenly remembering something, he said to An Xiaoxi, "I heard a joke before about a couple: the guy was from the South and the girl was from the North. One day during breakfast, the guy complained the soy milk was tasteless and asked the girl to add some sugar. The girl, wanting to prank him, added a spoonful of salt instead. She thought he'd spit it out immediately, but instead, he praised it, saying, 'This is exactly the right taste!'"

An Xiaoxi tilted her head. "Of course soy milk should be salty. It's best with some dried shrimp and chopped green onions."

A middle-aged man at the next table looked at her in shock. "Little girl, soy milk is definitely better sweet. If you want it salty, you might as well just order Mapo Tofu. It's both salty and spicy."

An Xiaoxi disagreed. "Uncle, salty is definitely better. Just like sticky rice dumpling, I like them salty."

"But I like sweet sticky rice dumpling too. You could just eat a ball of glutinous rice with meat; why bother wrapping it like a sticky rice dumpling?" the man said, even more confused.

"You! Anyway, soy milk is better salty!" An Xiaoxi resolutely defended her identity as a Salty-flavor Partisan from the South.

At that moment, another middle-aged man nearby said weakly, "Um, actually, the original flavor with a spoonful of chili oil is also quite good."

An Xiaoxi and the Sweet-flavor Partisan immediately glared at him. Fearing they might start a fight if they kept arguing, Zhang Wei quickly paid and dragged An Xiaoxi away.

Once in the car, An Xiaoxi was still indignant, clamoring about starting an online forum to promote salty soy milk.

"Alright, to each their own. We're going to the securities firm first, and then I'll take you on a treasure hunt today."

An Xiaoxi's eyes lit up at the mention of a treasure hunt, and she immediately put the soy milk matter behind her.

The two arrived at the securities firm. After some checking, the account Zhang Wei had opened in university was still usable, though the stock market had been so popular back then that the transaction fees were double what they are now.

After contacting the staff and making some adjustments, Zhang Wei transferred ten million directly into the stock account and used it all to buy Yaoji Shares.

"Sir, are you sure you want to put everything into a single stock? The risk would be quite high," the staff member advised repeatedly, worried something might go wrong.

"It's fine, just do it." Zhang Wei wasn't going to tell him he was here to "rob" the market; it was a guaranteed profit.

Having settled the stock matter, Zhang Wei opened the Treasure Hunt App and found the "Pharaoh Travels Through Time" mission. This info had been posted by a guy from Camel Country. Zhang Wei was curious how something like a pharaoh, a product of another civilization, could be related to the modernized City Name.

The first clue of the mission was to go to the City God Temple and find out exactly how many turns the Nine-Bend Bridge had, then add that to the coordinates of Shenghai City to get a new location.

An Xiaoxi leaned over and snatched the phone away. "You focus on driving. A fun treasure hunt like this should obviously be solved by this lady herself."

Zhang Wei shook his head; as long as she was happy.

They arrived at the City God Temple, a must-visit tourist spot in City Name. Calling it just a temple wasn't entirely accurate; the City God Temple in City Name was actually a complex of ancient buildings. The overall layout was in the shape of the character "Hui". In the center was a pond with the Nine-Bend Bridge spanning across it; it was quite beautiful when the lotuses were in bloom.

An Xiaoxi tilted her head and asked, "Since it's called the Nine-Bend Bridge, doesn't it just have nine turns?"

Zhang Wei wasn't sure either, but since they were already there, they might as well walk across it and see.

The two walked across it and discovered there were actually fifteen turns. "It seems 'Nine-Bend' is just a name to indicate the bridge has many turns," Zhang Wei laughed. "Maybe that guy from Camel Country was also confused, which is why he made this a clue."

An Xiaoxi added 15 to the coordinates of City Name and obtained a new address.

"The next clue points to a mural. We need to find how many apples are on the apple tree in the painting and then add that to the coordinates of City Name. But the location we got is actually in a Shikumen residential area in Puxi," An Xiaoxi said, completely puzzled.

They arrived at the Shikumen neighborhood. The roads inside were still paved with small pebbles, giving it a real sense of history. After wandering through the narrow alleys for a long time without finding the mural, Zhang Wei had to ask an old man who was sunbathing.

Fortunately, the old man's hearing was decent, avoiding a "Ma-what-Mei" situation.

Following the old man's directions, they found the mural on a corridor wall of one of the buildings. A person-sized mural was painted on an ordinary wall, depicting a nude young girl running under an apple tree.

The colors on the mottled wall were faded and worn. As sunlight filtered into the old Shikumen house, everything seemed peaceful and beautiful.

Beside the artwork, there was actually a sign put up by the City Tourism Bureau. It indicated that the mural had been painted by someone unknown when the building was completed in 1947. After the liberation, the painting faced the risk of being destroyed because it depicted a nude girl. The residents spontaneously used cloth to cover the mural, which saved it. Later, during a special period, the residents had to cover the painting with paint. As time passed and the paint peeled off, the mural slowly reappeared before everyone's eyes.

Zhang Wei couldn't help but marvel at the guy from Camel Country. If someone weren't specifically looking for it, it would be impossible to find such a niche spot.