The next day.
Lu Feng arrived at the hospital on time and entered the ICU to visit his mother.
Unlike other critical illnesses, vascular disease didn't cause his mother to fall into a coma, even in her severe condition. However, her complexion was still extremely poor.
Fortunately, her blood vessels weren't infected after the surgery. After a few more days of observation in the ICU, she could begin follow-up treatment.
Soon, Yang Qingxue arrived. She walked up to Lin Shuang and said sweetly, "Auntie, I brought you some light, nourishing soup."
The caregiver beside them immediately took the soup.
"Qingxue!" Seeing her son's girlfriend seemed to lift Lin Shuang's spirits considerably.
Lu Feng and Yang Qingxue exchanged a look. He left his mother in Yang Qingxue's care and stepped out of the ICU, where he happened to run into his mother's attending physician.
"Mr. Lu, it's time to pay the next portion of the fees," the doctor reminded him.
"Alright, Doctor!" Lu Feng nodded and went to the payment counter again. As soon as he got there, he heard heart-wrenching sobs and cries of despair.
Nearby, there were sympathetic murmurs.
"Sigh, so pitiful. Her daughter is critically ill, and she has no money for treatment."
"What can you do? An ordinary family simply can't afford the cost of many illnesses."
"Sigh, sometimes you just have to watch, completely helpless."
"..."
Hearing this, Lu Feng felt an inexplicable stirring in his heart.
If he hadn't suddenly gained the ability to bring gold out of the game world, he would be in the same position right now—watching his mother's condition worsen, completely powerless.
'So, I have to make money. To live the life I've always dreamed of, I need to make a lot of money.'
Lu Feng's gaze hardened with determination. After paying another 200,000 yuan at the counter, he left the hospital and returned to his rented apartment.
He locked the door, and with a single thought, he entered the game world, appearing inside that jewelry store.
He immediately opened the bag of gold jewelry he had packed earlier. The brilliant golden gleam gave him an inexplicable sense of confidence. No wonder they say money is a man's courage.
With a thought, Lu Feng brought the entire large bag of gold jewelry out of the game.
Once he was back, he took the gold to his mother's fruit shop and used an electronic scale to weigh the bag of gold.
The final weight was 11,548.6 grams. At the current market price, it was worth 4,850,420 yuan. Selling it through grey market channels at 80% of the value would still net him 3,880,336 yuan.
After weighing all the gold jewelry, Lu Feng called his cousin, Yang Ming.
As soon as the call connected, a woman's voice came through the phone, followed by Yang Ming's: "Hey, Xiaofeng!"
Lu Feng got straight to the point. "Cousin, are you free right now? I want to talk about what I mentioned last time."
'The game world of *After the Apocalypse* in my mind is a real place,' he thought. 'That means it's not just this one building that exists.'
'Forget the gold jewelry from these two stores for a moment. There are probably other jewelry stores in this building, and even more in the city outside. Maybe even bank vaults filled with gold?'
'Besides, in a game world like *After the Apocalypse*, there are probably many things that are extremely valuable in the real world.'
All these items would have untraceable origins. To sell them in large quantities, he would need to rely on grey market channels. Otherwise, it would definitely cause trouble, and he could easily be targeted by people in that world.
He needed help with this, and there was no one he trusted more than his cousin.
On the other end of the line, Yang Ming's voice came back immediately, "Xiaofeng, where are you now? I'll come pick you up right away."
He knew what his younger cousin was talking about—the channel they had discussed before.
If his cousin really had such a channel, then he and his guys could all rise with him. At the very least, they wouldn't have to struggle so pathetically anymore.
"I'm at my mom's fruit shop," Lu Feng said quickly.
"Okay, wait for me. I'm coming now," Yang Ming said before hanging up in a hurry.
Lu Feng picked up the bag of gold and went downstairs to wait for his cousin.
Before long, Yang Ming pulled up in that brand-new BMW 740.
Lu Feng, carrying the bag, was about to get into the passenger seat when he saw a woman was already there. Wasn't that the saleswoman from yesterday, Lin Yao?
'Was that her voice on the phone with my cousin just now?'
'She said she was treating him to dinner yesterday. Did dinner end up in bed?'
'That was fast!'
But he didn't want to get involved.
After all, his cousin was single. He was free to move as fast as he wanted.
Lu Feng opened the back door and got in with the bag of gold jewelry.
Yang Ming explained, looking a little awkward, "After dinner with Lin Yao yesterday, Chen Bo called us over to the Extreme Bar. I had a bit too much to drink."
Lu Feng just smiled.
'So it was a drunken one-night stand,' he mused.
Lin Yao remained silent, but she had no regrets. After all, at the Ultimate Bar yesterday, she had become even more certain that Brother Ming was a big shot. She knew that guy, Chen Bo; he was a hoodlum from her hometown who was supposedly very powerful and feared by many.
But last night, Chen Bo had not only spent 10,000 yuan on drinks to treat Brother Ming and his friends but had also requested songs and dances for him. His attitude could not have been more accommodating.
Yang Ming saw the bag Lu Feng was carrying and knew what was inside. He turned to Lin Yao in the passenger seat and said, "Where do you need to go? I'll drop you off first, then come get you tonight."
"I'll go home for now, to Taihe Home!" Lin Yao said with a bright smile. She wasn't stupid; she could tell Brother Ming and the others had business to attend to, and it wasn't her place to be there.
Yang Ming nodded. He drove Lin Yao to Taihe Home, and only after she was dropped off did he start the car again and say to Lu Feng, "Xiaofeng, let's go to my office first. We'll call Chen Bo over. He has stable and convenient channels for gold, after all. I'll work with him on this. As for the other things you mentioned, I'll take my guys and slowly figure out the channels for them."
"Okay, I'll follow your arrangements, Cousin," Lu Feng nodded. Since he was asking his cousin for help, the profits from these grey market channels would naturally go to him and his crew.
Take this batch of gold jewelry, for example. The market buys it back at 90% of its value, while the grey market takes it at 80%. That 10% difference on this batch alone was 485,000 yuan.
This profit of 485,000 yuan was for his cousin and his crew. How they split it was their business.
Of course, once the deal was done, it wouldn't be a problem for him to give his cousin a big red envelope on top of that.
Soon, the car stopped outside Jinhong Mansion. It was an office building, but office buildings in a county town were different from those in big cities. Most of the space inside was partitioned into small or large rooms and rented out as individual offices; there were no full-floor office spaces.
Yang Ming couldn't afford to open a teahouse like Chen Bo, so he rented an office upstairs instead.
When the two of them arrived at the office, Ah Lin and Ah Pao were already there, along with four other men.
"Brother Ming, Xiaofeng!"
Ah Lin and Ah Pao greeted them immediately. It was obvious from their tone that their attitude toward Lu Feng had changed; it was now much more respectful.
This was because Yang Ming had already told them they would be working for Lu Feng from now on.
Lu Feng had a channel that could help them all rise up.
In other words, Lu Feng was now their boss.
"Xiaofeng, have a seat," Yang Ming said, inviting Lu Feng to sit at the tea table.
Next, Lu Feng learned more about the situation from his cousin. For their grey market channel operation, Ah Lin and Ah Pao would be investing alongside his cousin and holding shares.
The other four men were trusted younger brothers who would serve as muscle for protection. If needed, they could call on even more guys like them.
They wouldn't hold shares, but they would get a red envelope after each job was done, which would serve as their pay.
After two cups of tea, Yang Ming took out his phone and called Chen Bo, telling him to come over to Jinhong Mansion.
Before long, Chen Bo arrived with three of his men. The moment he walked in, he first greeted Yang Ming, then enthusiastically shook Lu Feng's hand. "Young Master Feng, please forgive my past ignorance."
He had learned from Yang Ming who was behind the gold jewelry channel, and that there might be much more to come. Therefore, he naturally had to be respectful to Lu Feng. This was his God of Wealth.
As for where the channel came from, he wasn't stupid enough to ask. The power behind the channel trusted this Young Master Feng; they wouldn't necessarily trust anyone else.
There's always a reason why someone is trusted to act as an agent for this kind of thing. It requires absolute trust.
Therefore, the best course of action was to simply follow along and make money. Anything else risked losing everything.