Cashing Out

Jiang Chen almost cried as he took in a deep breath of the familiar smoggy scent.

The clock on the wall pointed at 11 o’clock, the time in the apocalypse was synced with the modern world. When he left, it was also 11.

He rubbed his temple and slowly took another deep breath. If he stayed there a second longer, he would go insane. He thought his mental fortitude was strong, but he apparently overestimated himself when faced with waves of machine gun bullets and body parts. He didn’t quiver at that moment, but he was as traumatized as Yao Yao, if not more.

The familiar noise outside of the window made him calm. Even if the noise bothered him before, it reminded him of the place called home.

Thank god for world peace!

Jiang Chen wanted to scream out these words, but he only stretched his arms and didn’t let it out. The constraining force of the civilized society made him hold back. He didn’t want to be considered as a lunatic.

He felt the heavy metal behind his back. It made his heart pump a little faster. Gold! He is rich now! He placed the backpack onto a scale and saw the needle pointed at seven kilograms. His heart pounded furiously. That’s mother fucking one million dollars! He didn’t know the exact exchange rate, but it was around 200 to 300 dollars per gram which would add up to 1.4 million dollars.

He truly hit the jackpot. He didn’t even make 3000 per month back then. He only imagined this in his dreams, but now the gold was right in front of him.

The contrast also made him ponder about his next step. Buy a car? He had plenty of money to do so. Buy an apartment? Pretty close. No no no, he wanted a mansion.

Yes! The vault at the bank!

But when he thought about it, his face immediately dimmed. He hesitated about the idea. He must go back to that place. The apocalyptic world where even the air made you feel suffocated by the cruelty. However, as he was contemplating, a graceful figure appeared in his head.

"I also believe you."

"Don’t say anything, come back soon."

"Sun Jiao." Jiang Chen mumbled the name as he touched his lip subconsciously.

Her warm kiss remained on his lip. Another timid character flashed into Jiang Chen’s head.

"I, I will be very obedient. If you want to do anything, I will not resist."

"I don’t mind having such a sympathetic master. Yao Yao is very grateful; I hope you don’t abandon me."

"Yao Yao." Jiang Chen repeated the other familiar name. The fresh scent of the kiss, although unexpected, kissed straight to his heart.

All the sudden, Jiang Chen burst out in laughter and let go of all his troubled thoughts.

"What am I even thinking? I don’t like little girls." He jumped off the bed.

First, it’s time to make lunch. Then, cash out on the gold.

As to the car and house, he wants the fastest convertible and the fanciest mansion. At least it has to be better than his place in the apocalypse.

The entire vault will all belong to me.

As to this money. It’s time to enjoy and relax a little.

He walked into the familiar Kitchen and picked up the already dusty knife. He made up his mind. First, he will spend every penny he has. Or else it would be difficult to gather the courage to go back.

It would take some time to get used to it.

Along with the gold, he also took the full-sensory computer and pistol. Although he didn’t want to bring the pistol back as it was outlawed in his society because he didn’t want to make too much of a commotion, his goal was to be rich here.

He brought the computer so that he could watch movies. The store owner promised him that all 100 terabytes were quality movies. He was excited to experience it like never before.

He immediately opened it. The intricate computer projected a rectangular prism made out of arrays of light particles. The interface looked even more advanced than Sun Jiao’s computer.

The already excited Jiang Chen immediately opened the folder titled <movie >. He selected the first one from the list.

But the picture that projected completely shocked him.

"Yes, Yes, go harder!"

The arousing sexual scene projected straight into the middle of the room. It was almost as if the action was happening in his room. He immediately closed the computer as the neighbors probably all heard the noise.

He reopened the computer again, this time carefully scrolling through. He finally saw the names of the movie.

<16 times in the office straight!>

<Secret teaching of a female teacher>

What are these? These are all porn. Jiang Chen finally understood why the store owner made such a perverted face when he sold it to him.

If it was before, he would probably have masturbated to it. But now, things were different. After the countless number of romances with Sun Jiao, he was no longer interested in the one-person activity anymore.

He threw the computer on the ground and carried the hefty backpack. He was hesitant about carrying a pistol. Yao Yao gave him the pistol that saved his life. After a brief pause, he suddenly remembered the storage dimension he had and put everything in there.

Except for the slow activation and power cost of the storage dimension, it was quite convenient. Jiang Chen also didn’t lack energy crystal anymore. It only took ten crystal energy to charge the power of the bracelet completely.

He also didn’t take off the EP. The design of the EP matched the aerodynamics of the human body. Therefore it looked completely hidden inside his sleeves.

He locked the door of the gloomy apartments behind him. He paused for a second before stepping into the lively and vibrant metropolitan.

The shadow of leaves scattered across the rocky road. It was June in Wanghai City. The symphony of chattering birds echoed through his ear. He stood in the middle of the crowded street and pondered before finally recollecting his thoughts.

Everything was surreal. The chaotic apocalypse contrasted with the serenity of the modern world. Although he only stayed for a few days in the other world, everything there has been engraved into Jiang Chen’s mind and memory. The cracked concrete was replaced by a rocky trail. The tree’s scattered shadow replaced the reflection of a few branches sticking out of the tree. He held his head high again and took a deep breath. He tried to get the unhealthy feeling out of his skull.

He needed a couple of days to relax. It wouldn’t be long before he went insane.

With the back of his eye, he saw a cicada between the tree branches. He didn’t see cicadas in the apocalypse, but the cockroaches were as big as a Shepard.

He shooked his head to get the odd idea out of his head and waved down a taxi to go cash out his gold.

The bank was not an option. There was no way to prove his ownership, so the bank would not accept it and probably call the cops. Respectable gold shops were a good option since they have the capability and would be relatively trouble free. It would only take some discounting on the price to make the deal happen. After all, it didn’t cost him anything to get it.

He stepped in front of Goldlion. He chose it purely because of the name.

"Hello Sir, are you picking out a ring for your significant other? We have…" As soon as Jiang Chen stepped inside, the sales lady welcomed him warmly. Although Jiang Chen looked rather dull, maybe he was rich. Her years of sales experience signaled her that Jiang Chen was unique.

"Do you guys exchange gold here?" Jiang Chen signaled the sales lady to stop talking and stated his intention.

She paused and suddenly lost all her interest. She still replied respectably.

"Yes we do, but we only accept gold with high purity. If you have any needs, sir…"

"Get your manager here. You can’t decide this deal." Jiang Chen interrupted her. The sales lady could not make a decision on this amount of gold.

She looked rather unhappy but remained professional. She didn’t believe that a guy dressed so poorly with a backpack could talk about the deal here. She could almost foresee the look of despair after the guard threw him out of the store.

After he had looked at the gold from Jiang Chen’s backpack, Liu Anshan gasped.

He worked for Goldlion for almost twenty years. He has seen plenty of people exchange gold, but this was the first time he saw someone do it with a backpack.

Seven kilograms of gold. After the examiner had nodded, Liu Anshan coughed and displayed the most pleasant smile he had.

"It’s 7122 grams. The purity is flawless. Do you have proof of ownership for the gold sir?"

"No." Jiang Chen stared at Liu Anshan’s eyes and answered decisively.

Liu Anshan momentarily gave a though before he motioned the examiner to leave. Only two of them remained in the room.

"Let me be honest with you. Mr. Jiang’s gold comes from somewhere unusual." Liu Anshan’s eyes flashed with intelligence before fading away. The gold’s purity was identical to a bank's. However, gold from the bank usually has a receipt, but Jiang Chen's didn’t. The origin of the gold was questionable.

"Don’t worry. There are no criminal records on these. The gold is my salary." Jiang Chen raised his eyebrows and answered without too much emotion. He didn’t lie; it was his salary from the apocalypse.

Liu Anshan was also experienced in these matters. Jiang Chen’s vibe made him feel quite uncertain. Gold as salary? Could he be a mercenary? That’s stretching it too far.

Jiang Chen left Liu Anshan guessing as he didn’t explain further. He looked at Liu Anshan and asked, "Boss, do you have any interest in this deal?"

"Yes, of course, Mr. Jiang." Liu Anshan smiled. "But since you don’t have any proof of ownership, it's quite difficult for us to…"

"7122 grams of gold. I’ll sell every gram for 220 dollars which come out to be 1566840 dollars. I’ll round it 1.5 million. The rest is your tip. The gold is currently trading at 270 dollars per gram. There is no way you would lose in this deal." Jiang Chen suggested.

Jiang Chen didn’t believe someone like Liu Anshan had no way of getting rid of the gold in the black market,

"Haha, Mr. Jiang. Then I must kindly accept this offer." Liu Anshan was shocked by the price he was offered. He would make 100 thousand instantly if he took the deal. "Would you prefer cash or transfer?"

"Transfer." Jiang Chen gave out his account number. After he had received the confirmation, it was a successful deal.

After Jiang Chen had left the VIP room, the sales lady looked hysterically as her boss personally sent the poor looking man to the door.

"Mr. Jiang, this is my business card. If you have any more business for me in the future, please don’t forget me." Liu Anshan looked euphoric as he just made 100 thousand in a couple of minutes. Jiang Chen was right; it was easy to get rid of the gold through other channels.

The purity of gold was flawless without the need for further purification. Liu Anshan was only required to document the gold before it could be sold on the exchange. Also, apart from the gold itself, Liu Anshan was investing in a long term relationship. He was respectable to Jiang Chen because of the very reason. At least on the surface.

Jiang Chen accepted the card without saying much. He took a taxi and left right away.

Liu Anshan gazed at the direction of the departing taxi.

He was deciding if it was necessary to have someone follow Jiang Chen. He had a feeling that for someone who sold the gold without a blink of an eye, he must have even more.

[If I can find the source of the gold.]

A flame of greed ignited in his eyes before he extinguished it. He decided to be vigilant about the situation.

Life is more important than money after all.