Fang Zhen inspected the Gold Pendant.
The more he looked at it, the less it seemed like a piece of jewelry and more like some kind of ritual object for a religious ceremony.
At least, Fang Zhen had never seen a woman wear such a heavy piece of gold. This pendant weighed about 75 to 100 grams, and its design clearly wasn't for looks.
Fang Zhen fiddled with it for a while but couldn't find any special use for it.
"Looks like it isn't some kind of magic item after all," Fang Zhen said.
'Since the computer Xiao Yi gave me can open dungeons and even let me travel into them to kill goblins, it wouldn't be too much to ask for a magic item to drop, right?'
'Then again, magic items probably aren't that easy to get. In a setting like the Nameless World, even if they exist, they've got to be extremely rare. It's not like I'd just stumble across one so easily.'
Still, Fang Zhen was quite happy.
After playing with the Gold Pendant in his hand for a little longer, Fang Zhen put it away, changed his clothes, and went out.
He needed to find a gold jewelry store to sell the pendant.
First, to see if it was real gold. Second, to get some money to alleviate his current financial crisis.
He was planning to go all out in the "dungeon life" game and needed to buy a lot of weapons and equipment. The money he had on hand wasn't enough.
If he could sell the Gold Pendant for a good sum, it would solve his equipment problem.
「Twenty-some minutes later.」
Fang Zhen got out of a taxi and walked onto the pedestrian street of Xiahai City's Red Flag District. Before long, he arrived at a gold jewelry store called "Yu Le Gold Store."
This Yu Le Gold Store was quite famous in Fang Zhen's district. The owner had made his fortune in the sauna and bathhouse business before diversifying into restaurants, hotels, and gold jewelry stores. The one before him was the largest of them all.
Fang Zhen strode inside.
"Welcome to Yu Le Gold Store!" As soon as he walked in, the greeter and the counter staff spoke in unison.
Fang Zhen nodded, glanced around the store, and asked, "Who's the manager here?"
"I am," said a young woman who walked over. She wore a blue ladies' suit; though petite in stature, she had a strong presence.
The manager sized Fang Zhen up, and a glint appeared in her eyes.
Although Fang Zhen had been going through a rough patch lately, he didn't look rundown at all. He shaved and tidied up his appearance every day. He had gained a few pounds and was a bit bulkier, but he still looked good—in fact, he looked even more robust.
On top of that, while he didn't have much cash, he maintained a positive and optimistic mindset. He had a lot of vitality, the kind of guy who gives off an impression of being capable and appealing to women just based on his appearance.
Fang Zhen met her gaze and said, "I have a piece of gold jewelry to sell. What's your buying price here?"
"A piece of gold jewelry? Sir, please come with me. We can talk inside," the manager said.
Fang Zhen nodded.
Fang Zhen followed the manager into a small office in the back of the store. She enthusiastically poured him a glass of water and handed it to him, then said, "My name is Tang Xiaojuan, and I'm the manager here. What gold item would you like to sell?"
"Take a look at this." Fang Zhen took the Gold Pendant from his pants pocket.
Tang Xiaojuan was surprised to see Fang Zhen so casually pull out a piece of gold jewelry. After taking it and examining it closely for a moment, the surprise on her face deepened.
"Sir, this piece of gold jewelry is truly... rare," Tang Xiaojuan said.
'Heh, this Tang Xiaojuan has pretty high EQ,' Fang Zhen thought. He could tell that she had been about to say "unconventional" or some other word but had changed it to "rare" at the last second.
He nodded without offering an explanation. "I'll have our goldsmith in the back take a look at the purity and weigh it. Sir, please don't worry, nothing will go wrong on my watch. Everything's on camera, and you can see it all on the monitor on my desk," Tang Xiaojuan said.
Fang Zhen nodded and said, "A friend of mine sold gold here before. Yu Le has a pretty good reputation. But be quick about it."
"Right away, sir."
Tang Xiaojuan took the Gold Pendant and opened a door at the back of the office. Inside was another room—the workshop for the store's goldsmith.
Fang Zhen walked over to watch the camera monitor, not particularly worried.
Xiahai had very good public security, and large businesses generally cared about their reputation. He'd never heard of Yu Le swindling customers out of their gold. They'd be afraid of ruining their brand; they had at least that much integrity.
A short while later, Tang Xiaojuan came back out with the Gold Pendant.
"Sir, the purity of this gold piece is excellent; it's 24-karat gold. It weighs 98 grams. If you'd like to sell, I can offer you a price of 527 yuan per gram."
"Only 527 a gram?" Fang Zhen raised an eyebrow. "Isn't the market price for gold 545 a gram right now? Besides, this is a finished piece of jewelry. A 10-gram accessory in your store sells for 6,000 to 7,500 yuan. That works out to 600 to 750 yuan per gram. Don't you think 527 is a bit low?"
Tang Xiaojuan quickly explained with a smile, "Sir, please don't misunderstand. You're talking about the retail price of gold jewelry. We typically charge a craftsmanship fee of 20 to 40 percent, depending on the complexity of the piece. That's for the goldsmith's labor. The buyback price for gold is based on the current market price, minus the labor cost."
"The normal buyback price is always a bit lower than the market price for gold. Of course, if you're not in a hurry, you could also consign this piece with our store. We'd only take a 10 percent commission. But there's no telling how long that would take. And since your piece is rather... rare, it might not sell that quickly."
"Sir, if you're not in a hurry, we can do consignment. If you want the cash quickly, then I'll buy it back at the recycling price. How about this? I'll use a bit of my authority as manager and round it up for you. We'll call it 530 a gram."
"It's entirely up to you. How would you like to proceed?"
Fang Zhen looked at Tang Xiaojuan for a moment, then said, "Alright, let's go with the buyback at 530 a gram."
What he needed right now was time. Time was money, and in his case, it was a currency more valuable than this loot.
"Excellent. Please wait a moment while I draw up the receipt," Tang Xiaojuan said.
Fang Zhen nodded.
Fang Zhen knew the rules of the gold business; Tang Xiaojuan was telling the truth.
A friend of his had sold gold here before, and it was the same process.
He had only questioned the price so the store wouldn't think he was a pushover. This way, he wouldn't be at a disadvantage in any future dealings.
Tang Xiaojuan worked quickly and efficiently. In just a few minutes, the receipt was ready.
"Would you prefer a mobile bank transfer or a direct WeChat transfer?" Tang Xiaojuan asked.
"Mobile bank transfer," Fang Zhen replied.
Half a minute later, a text message alert sounded on Fang Zhen's phone.
"Deposit to savings account ending in 1150 on April 29: 51,940.00 yuan. New balance: 53,514.51 yuan. Memo: Gold jewelry transaction."
Seeing the deposit to his bank account, Fang Zhen instantly felt a sense of relief.
The invisible pressure from the past two months vanished, and he felt a great mental release.
Fang Zhen wasn't the type to be stingy, but with his recent financial crisis, his attention had been involuntarily focused more on money.
It was like this: a person's hand has five fingers, each representing a different aspect of life. If someone suddenly smashes the finger representing money with a hammer, all of that person's attention will be focused on the injured, painful finger. It's impossible for them to think rationally, 'Okay, four of my five fingers are still fine, so everything is okay.'
That wouldn't be a normal person.
With this new income of over fifty thousand yuan, Fang Zhen's injured finger had healed. He felt like his old self had returned.
'Awesome!'
'I wasn't in the Dark Path for even an hour, and I made over fifty thousand.'
'It's not like I've never seen money before—I was making sixty to seventy thousand a month for a long time. But that was from working every single day, and it took a whole month to earn that much. It's nowhere near as satisfying as this.'