Chapter 24

Under the careful tutelage of Lin Mo, Li Jinwen was still anxious, but her demeanor had eased considerably.

The two began to busy themselves.

While opening tube coins, they sorted the cleaned copper coins by different values and arranged them in categories.

The atmosphere could hardly be called harmonious,

Li Jinwen wasn’t much interested in talking because she always felt that gambling like this wasn’t good.

She was also the kind of person who was honest and upright.

To break the ice, Lin Mo asked with a smile, “Wife, if, and I mean if, we really made a few hundreds of thousands, or even a million or two, do you have any dreams you want to realize?”

“I remember when we were dating, didn’t you always tell me you wanted to travel to holy places, or maybe we could buy a car and go on a road trip?”

Li Jinwen’s face lit up with longing as she remembered her old dreams, but she ultimately sighed and said with a wry smile, “Good things like that happening to us ordinary folks? How could it be possible?”

Lin Mo pursued further, “What if? It’s just a fantasy right now, just small talk.”

Biting her lip, Li Jinwen thought seriously for a moment before saying, “If we really made that much money, I’d like to buy a house on Minghai Island. The average price for a second-hand home there is over ten thousand per square meter, around a million should be enough to buy a small house of a few dozen square meters.”

“That way, we could move our household registration to Rakshasa City and fulfill my parents’ dream.”

Good heavens,

Minghai Island?

Lin Mo couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of his mouth when he heard this place name.

The low housing prices were fine, but the location was truly remote.

Minghai Island is an island out at sea; you have to take a ferry to come and go. It’s only a few kilometers away from Qidong City in Su Province, much closer than to the city center of Rakshasa City.

To buy a house in such a place would mean continuing to live in a rented home.

But honestly, Li Jinwen’s considerations were very practical.

If life went without surprises, their best outcome would be to work hard for another 20 years and then buy a small house on Minghai Island.

Most ordinary people working in Rakshasa City make the same choice.

Regardless of whether the living conditions are good, at least when they return to their hometown, they can proudly tell others that they own a house in Rakshasa City, rather than having relatives always asking how their job in Rakshasa City is, how much their monthly salary is, how much they pay for rent, and questions of the like.

“Minghai Island is nice, too. The scenery is quite beautiful.”

“But if we really make money, I would like to buy a car. Nothing fancy, just one for commuting. Would you have any objections?”

Lin Mo tentatively expressed his thoughts.

To see what his wife’s opinion was.

If his wife was set on buying a house, then he had no other choice.

Li Jinwen pursed her lips and said, “Oh, really dreaming, huh? If we could really make that much money, I wouldn’t care if you bought a car, a plane even.”

“That might not be enough, our money wouldn’t even cover fueling a plane,” Lin Mo said with a laugh, shaking his head. “I just want to buy a family car to make it easier for you to take Xiaoxiao to school.”

“Plus, electric cars are quite nice these days, exempt from purchase tax, and they even throw in a license plate, which could save us over a hundred thousand.”

The license plate management in Rakshasa City is different from the Imperial Capital.

In the Imperial Capital, it’s a lottery system—those with luck get to drive.

In Rakshasa City, it’s an auction, and aside from plate Mo C, all other license plates go to whoever has more money.

But there’s also a general price range.

For example, the prices for license plates Mo A and Mo B hover around 100,000 yuan.

Why is Mo C so cheap?

Because Mo C can go anywhere in the country except inside the Fifth Ring of Rakshasa City, and it’s often joked about as being even worse than an out-of-town license plate.

“Oh, don’t get your hopes up. If we can just earn back what we spent, I’ll be very happy!”

Li Jinwen pried open another copper coin and then asked, “Yongzheng Treasure, how much is this one worth?”

Lin Mo took the copper coin and compared it to the printed photos of the coins before saying, “Wife, you’re in luck, this should fetch about five hundred yuan!”

They had been busy for most of the day, and almost all were copper coins worth a few yuan and nothing more, not even discovering any worth a few tens.

This Yongzheng Treasure coin, valued at around 500 yuan, was the most valuable copper coins they had found so far.

“Aren’t they all the same?” Li Jinwen looked at the other copper coins and then back at the Yongzheng Treasure coin and asked, “Why is there such a big difference in price?”

Just as Lin Mo was about to explain, Lin Xiaoxiao ran out of the room. Seeing her busy parents, she immediately rolled up her sleeves.

“Dad, Mom, I’ve finished my homework!”

Li Jinwen glanced at the wall clock and frowned, “You finished in just half an hour?”

“`

“Don’t you usually have to write for over an hour?”

Uh, this…

Lin Xiaoxiao spoke with a sly gleam in her eye, “Mom, I really finished, if you don’t believe me, why don’t you go check?”

Having said that,

she widened her big, pitiful eyes and looked at Lin Mo, pleading.

“Alright, alright, I guess she just wasn’t in the mood to do her homework properly.”

Lin Mo said with a smile, making peace, then continued, “Xiaoxiao, do you see these copper coins laid out separately?”

Lin Xiaoxiao nodded vigorously, excitedly saying, “Mm-hmm, I see them.”

It’s the same old story,

as long as it’s not about studying, kids this age are willing to do anything.

Lin Mo went on, “So, you will be responsible for recording the different copper coins and then use the prices listed here to calculate the total price.”

“Any problems with that?”

“No problem, mission guaranteed to be accomplished!” Lin Xiaoxiao nodded vigorously, brimming with enthusiasm as she started to count the coins.

“You’re just spoiling her, eventually you’ll spoil her rotten!”

“Come on, I’ve been spoiling you for so many years, did you turn bad?”

“Hey, is that the same thing?”

“Haha, never mind whether it’s the same or not, let’s get to work, or none of us are going to get any sleep before midnight.”

The family chatted and laughed as they sorted through the Tube Coins, the atmosphere becoming increasingly joyful.

Lin Xiaoxiao stared at the copper coin material beside her and wondered, “Daddy, what is ‘zhe er’?”

This was basic knowledge about copper coins, which Lin Mo of course knew, “Zhe er, zhe san, zhe ten all refer to the original denominations of the coins. The larger the face value, the greater the purchasing power at that time.”

“It’s like how we regularly use denominations like ten cents, one yuan, five yuan, ten yuan, one hundred yuan, and so on…”

“In addition, the most commonly minted coin was the ‘Ping money’, also known as ‘One Coin’, which was the smallest denomination currency.”

Lin Mo launched into a spirited explanation, imparting all the antique knowledge he had to Lin Xiaoxiao.

Li Jinwen watched her husband brimming with confidence and was reminded of the Lin Mo from their college days.

Back then, it was this charisma that had attracted her.

Only, life had been too tough after that, and too difficult, and although her husband remained optimistic and upbeat, that confidence from his younger years had become a rare sight.

He was like a gem that had tumbled down from a mountain, smoothed by life even as it polished away his dazzling edges.

Maybe she had been too cautious, too. She should let him be freer.

Not always realistically talking about buying a house…

Li Jinwen felt a tinge of sadness within.

After another busy hour, the Tube Coins had significantly diminished in number,

yet the million-valued copper coin that Lin Mo was anticipating still hadn’t appeared.

Meanwhile, Li Jinwen was a bit worried about whether these dirt-covered copper coins could actually be sold.

As she lost herself in random thoughts, Li Jinwen picked up a stack of Tube Coins, first cleaned the dirt off them, and carefully used a scalpel to separate the coins.

She looked at the coin she had just freed—it was one worth a few yuan.

Li Jinwen didn’t think much of it, tossed the coin into the corresponding area, and then proceeded to open another coin.

Pat-a-tat…

The coin she had pried off accidentally fell to the ground. After picking it up, Li Jinwen wiped it with her hand, and the vague outline of a dragon pattern appeared on the coin.

It was quite beautiful, completely different from the styles of the previous coins.

She flipped the coin over, wiped it a bit, and the text became visible. She unconsciously muttered to herself, “Guangxu Yuanbao—Hu Ku Ping Yi Liang department…”

Whoosh—

Almost the moment her voice dropped, the entire room fell completely silent.

Lin Mo, who had been talking, suddenly fell mute.

Huh?

What’s happening?

Li Jinwen, puzzled, lifted her head and saw her husband with a look of wild joy, staring in shock at the coin in her hand, as if he had discovered some treasure.