Chapter 19

Hmm?

What happened?

Lin Mo frowned slightly and said to Lin Xiaoxiao, “Xiaoxiao, go wash your hands first, we’ll get ready for dinner soon.”

After Lin Xiaoxiao entered the bathroom, Lin Mo then followed Li Jinwen into the bedroom.

Li Jinwen closed the bedroom door behind her, and asked seriously, “Husband, are you keeping something from me?”

Huh?

Lin Mo shook his head, puzzled, and replied, “Not at all.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. What could I possibly hide from you?”

“Then tell me honestly, what have you been busy with these past few days?”

Oh,

that matter!

Lin Mo’s previous jobs were mostly paid daily, or at least would settle in two or three days, and every night he’d hand over the money he earned to his wife to manage.

This week, however, he was trying to better understand the Intelligence System, so he hadn’t gone to work.

It was normal for Li Jinwen to have doubts.

Rather than doubt, it was actually concern; she was worried her husband had something troubling him.

After all, her husband had been acting a bit out of the ordinary lately.

Lin Mo chuckled and said, “I thought you were making a fuss about something serious.”

“I just had a bit of back pain recently, so I thought about taking a few days off.”

“Besides, I suddenly feel like, as we’re getting older, earning a living from physical labor isn’t the way to go. We have over a hundred thousand now; I was thinking we could look for a small business to run.”

At 30, one should be at the peak of physical health, but long periods of heavy manual labor had given Lin Mo many hidden ailments.

You can’t tell now,

but in a few years, when the symptoms start showing up, the money he’d make wouldn’t be enough to cover medical expenses.

Even without activating the Intelligence System by chance, Lin Mo had been thinking about finding a small business to run; it was better than being at the beck and call of others.

“Really?”

“Could there be any doubt?”

“You scared me! I thought with all your secrecy, you were up to something.”

“You’re overthinking it. Could I possibly find someone else behind your back? Besides you, who else would put up with me?”

“That’s not necessarily true. My husband is so outstanding, if someone can’t see that, they’re blind.”

“Stop flattering me; I won’t fall for it!”

“Hehe, by the way, have you thought about what you want to do?”

“Not yet.”

“What about a breakfast stall? I’ve heard that selling breakfast can be quite profitable, and didn’t Brother Li and Sister-in-law get enough to buy a house back in their hometown?”

“Let me investigate for a couple more days, then I’ll decide. Come on, let’s go eat.”

“Mhm…”

…..

After dinner, while Lin Xiaoxiao was doing her homework, Li Jinwen started discussing with Lin Mo about what kind of small business would be a safe bet.

She had long been reluctant to let Lin Mo continue working in construction. Although it paid more, only the two of them knew how hard and exhausting the work was.

More than once, Li Jinwen watched her husband’s back riddled with scars in the deep of night, feeling a silent sorrow and concern.

She knew this wasn’t a job one could do forever; it was completely depleting his body.

She did not want Lin Mo to actually collapse one day.

Lin Mo’s father was in a similar situation—doing too much physical work when he was younger, which led to a body full of pains and ailments in old age.

“Husband, I really think selling breakfast is a good idea; we could start with a stall.”

“If you don’t want to get up early, then… then we could set up a stall to sell clothes. I have a friend who wholesales clothes; we could get stock from her.”

“We could also…”

Li Jinwen went on non-stop, sharing all her ideas with Lin Mo.

She didn’t have any grandiose plans; they were all common, simple business ideas one could run with a stall.

The couple were both down-to-earth people, though they did fantasize about getting rich quickly, when facing daily life, they were incredibly practical.

Lin Mo didn’t say anything, just quietly listened to his wife’s enthusiastic future life planning.

If it were before, he might have considered those street vending businesses, but now, with the Intelligence System, Lin Mo naturally had a bit of ambition of his own.

They talked for an hour or two, and only after Lin Mo comforted Li Jinwen did she slowly close her eyes and fall asleep.

Lin Mo stretched, glanced at the time on his phone; it was past 11:00 PM, almost midnight.

He was also very tired, but he wanted to check tomorrow’s intelligence before sleeping; this had become his daily routine.

Thump.. thump, thump…

Just then, a gentle knocking suddenly arose.

The soundproofing of these rental houses was extremely poor; even in the bedroom, one could hear the knocking from outside.

“Who could it be at this late hour?”

Lin Mo wondered as he put on his pajamas, and after reaching the living room, he asked aloud. Realizing it was Old Man Wang Youcai from across the hall, Lin Mo then opened the door.

Seeing Lin Mo, Wang Youcai said apologetically, “Lin, the light in my house is broken, could you help me change it?”

Neighbors helping each other out wasn’t a big deal.

“Just give me a moment, let me change my clothes.”

After changing, Lin Mo took a flashlight and followed Wang Youcai into his home.

In these old neighborhoods, the voltage was never stable, so it was normal for families to keep a few spare lightbulbs.

The broken light was in the bedroom.

Wang Youcai handed a new bulb to Lin Mo, who replaced it in under two minutes.

The room was bright once more.

Wang Youcai offered a cigarette, saying politely, “Lin, sorry to trouble you. If you weren’t living across from me, this old man would have been in a fix.”

“I’ve quit smoking, Uncle. You go ahead and smoke.” Lin Mo looked around, asking curiously, “Where’s my Auntie? Not at home?”

Wang Youcai lit his cigarette and shook his head, “She’s not home, hasn’t been feeling well lately, so she went to stay with my eldest son for a while.”

Based on what Lin Mo knew, Wang Youcai had three sons, all quite wealthy.

He himself was part of Rakshasa City’s first generation affected by housing demolition and still received a pension of over ten thousand a month, so he wasn’t short on money.

If he hadn’t saved some money, he couldn’t have that broadcaster sweetly calling him Black Chicken~~

Lin Mo wiped his hands and asked with a smile, “Then why don’t you go there too and enjoy the good life? Living in this old neighborhood isn’t very comfortable.”

“To young people like you, this may be an old neighborhood.” Wang Youcai took a deep drag on his cigarette, his voice tinged with melancholy, “But to me, this is the house I worked hard to buy when I was young, I can’t leave it.”

Back then, a bit of effort might land you a place, but now, even these old houses aren’t something the average person can afford.

Lin Mo didn’t say much more.

As he was about to leave, he inadvertently noticed a crystal-clear Guanyin pendant hanging around Wang Youcai’s neck.

Lin Mo had seen him wear it before but never paid much attention.

However, after a week of learning, Lin Mo had gained a basic understanding of various antiques and collectibles.

He laughed and said, “Uncle, that pendant around your neck, is it a high-ice jadeite?”

“Oh, you know about this stuff too?” Wang Youcai teased with a laugh, “But you’re wrong. This isn’t high-ice; it’s just a regular sticky jade worth a few tens of thousands.”

“I have a friend who owns an antique shop. If you like, I can have him look for one for you?”

Goodness,

Saving up for a whole year might net me a few thousand, but he has tens of thousands hanging around his neck.

This was the down-to-earth lifestyle of Rakshasa City’s first demolition generation.

Lin Mo once again felt the gap between people.

“Let’s forget about it; I can’t afford such luxuries. Though, if I were to come across an antique by chance, I could sell it to your friend.”

“Go to bed early. I’m going back to sleep too.”

After bidding farewell, Lin Mo tiptoed back to his place and had just settled down in his bedroom when the mysteriously charming electronic sound began playing in his mind.

….

[Today’s Intelligence]

[1. You visited a lottery shop yesterday and obtained relevant intelligence—Fuyuan Road Lottery Shop will issue a scratch card with a 100,000 yuan jackpot tomorrow.]

[2. You watched La Liga yesterday and obtained relevant intelligence—From 2016 to 2018, Barcelona Club paid a total of 1.4 million euros in referee consulting fees to a company called DASNIL 95 SL.]

[3. You met Li Jinwen yesterday and obtained relevant intelligence—Li Jinwen plans to use his capital to open a breakfast shop.]

[4. You checked the family group chat yesterday and obtained relevant intelligence—Wang Chong has been officially arrested by the police for theft.]

[5. You met Wang Youcai yesterday and obtained relevant intelligence—Wang Youcai will pass away due to illness 217 days later.]

[6. You visited Dongtai Road Antique Market yesterday and obtained relevant intelligence—Among the coins sold tomorrow at stall number 84, there will be a Household Department Guangxu Yuanbao with Dragon Pattern.]

[7. You passed by Future Star Primary School yesterday and obtained relevant intelligence—Zhang Ziyue will officially return to school today.]

[8. You browsed WeChat Moments yesterday and obtained relevant intelligence—Zhang Tiancheng, who was caught for an attempted solicitation of prostitution, was released from jail three days ago.]

[9. You read an online novel yesterday and obtained related news—Tiancan Tudou will be doing a live broadcast on TikTok at 7 PM tomorrow.]

[10. You viewed a police wanted notice yesterday and obtained relevant intelligence—Class A fugitive Lu Honghe will be captured today.]

…..

Looking at the string of intelligence provided by the system, Lin Mo, as usual, read each piece carefully, and then a slight smile crept across his lips.

A Household Department Guangxu Yuanbao with Dragon Pattern?

Lin Mo remembered the stall owners talking about it—it was a silver coin worth millions. If the condition was good, people would even clamor to pay one and a half million for it.

After all this effort and numerous attempts, he was finally about to hit it big!!!