Wang An looked at Huang Zhong, then at Mu Xueli and Wang Li, and said very straightforwardly
"You all want money? That works. I'll help you sell all this gold, and then I'll give you the money when it's done."
After a pause, Wang An added
"But let's be clear: this gold isn't pure. Once it's refined, we'll be lucky if eighty-five percent remains. In any case, it'll be exactly how much it's worth; I won't give you a single cent more.
Also, the money will come back slowly. It'll probably take a year or half a year, maybe even three to five years. Regardless, I'm definitely not fronting you the cash. The key is that this stuff is useless to you, and it's useless to me too, right?"
One must realize that Wang An not only had the gold he had snatched with the others from the gold mine, but also the gold he had carried back from the Stone Mountain with Wang Li and Mu Xueli earlier.
Therefore, it wasn't just Wang An who had gold; Mu Xueli and Wang Li had some too. Although their shares were less than Wang An's, that was only relative; the amount held by any one of them individually was a terrifying quantity.
There was no other way; their gold was measured by the catty or the kilogram; there was absolutely no need to count it by the gram.
After Wang An finished speaking, Mu Xueli said nonchalantly
"It's fine. Whenever the money comes back is fine. It's even fine if it doesn't come back. With just these few small bottles of stuff, I reckon even if you refine them all together, you won't get half a jin. By the time it gets to me, it'll probably be a bit over one liang. Oh well, it doesn't matter."
Wang An pointed with his chin toward the gold nuggets and said
"There are still the gold nuggets. How about we just split the nuggets now? It'll save a lot of trouble."
Wang Li frowned and chimed in
"There aren't many nuggets, maybe forty grains in total. Fourth Brother, just sell them all, and we'll split the money later."
After Wang Li spoke, Mu Xueli and Huang Zhong responded in kind, all of them maintaining an attitude of wanting "Great Unity" banknotes rather than gold.
To be honest, if Wang An weren't the leader, and if he hadn't opened a jewelry store with those second-generation heirs, he would also have wanted money over gold.
Gold is great, but in this era, how could it be as practical as cash!
One must remember that at this time, gold was about 30-some yuan per gram, whereas when Wang An was reborn, it was around seven or eight hundred per gram.
Yet, at this time, a formal employee's daily wage was only 1.2 yuan, while when Wang An was reborn, a formal employee's daily wage was between 180 and 200 yuan.
Therefore, the purchasing power of money at this time was simply explosive!
Calculating it this way, compared to gold, who wouldn't want cash?
Wang An nodded again, putting the forty-some gold nuggets and the small glass bottles together, intending to melt them all down after returning home and then split the money proportionally.
Next, Wang An looked at the diamonds and said
"What about these diamonds? What do you three think? Split them directly or find a way to sell them?"
However, before Mu Xueli and the other two could voice their opinions, Wang An continued
"My opinion is to sell all these diamonds. This stuff is useless in our hands. Mainly, it doesn't hold its value; it'll get cheaper and cheaper in the future. Keeping this stuff is worse than keeping gold."
Following this, Wang An mentioned the fact that China could produce synthetic diamonds as early as 1965.
Once Wang An finished, Wang Li said with a face full of disbelief
"Oh my god, if they can be synthesized, then why the hell does the TV hype them up so much? Aren't they just pebbles?"
Mu Xueli also said indignantly
"If that's the case, then people who buy this stuff are total suckers, aren't they?"
Wang An chuckled and said
"You can't put it that way. This stuff is still quite useful in industry. Besides, the large ones are okay and can be sold; the small ones are worthless."
Pausing, Wang An put the diamonds away and instructed everyone
"Alright, stop chatting about useless things. Put your money away. You three split these few half-boxes of cigarettes. Then, Xueli, you plug the hole in the tent. Fifth and Xiao Zhong, you two come with me to dispose of those three corpses."
In the Lesser Khingan Mountains in early September, the daytime weather was still very hot. If those three corpses weren't dealt with quickly, bacteria and viruses would easily breed over time.
The four of them stood up. Mu Xueli agreed
"Mm-hmm, I'll go plug the tent now, but I have to go look for some things in the woods first."
With that, Mu Xueli slung the Type 56 assault rifle over her shoulder and walked toward the pine forest.
Wang Li looked at the corpses and turned to Wang An
"Fourth Brother, I remember there's a big gully to the east. How about we throw these three things into that gully?"
Wang An shook his head
"No need. That gully is too far. We'll throw the three of them directly into that small patch of swampland to the west. Before tomorrow even comes, there won't be anything left."
As he spoke, Wang An grabbed the ankle of one corpse and dragged it westward.
Seeing this, Wang Li and Huang Zhong each grabbed a corpse and followed in Wang An's footsteps.
Although Huang Zhong looked disgusted by the corpses crawling with maggots, he didn't show any actual discomfort toward the dead bodies.
Watching his companions' bodies being dragged away and discarded, the bandit—whose limbs were crippled and whose mouth was gagged—made "wu wu" sounds even louder. It was unclear what he was trying to say.
But regardless of what he was "wu wu-ing," Wang An and the others didn't care. Wang An intended to let him stew for a while and then deal with him at night. If he didn't break him down until he was completely submissive and answered every question, Wang An would feel like his rebirth had been a waste.
A few minutes later, Wang An, Wang Li, and Huang Zhong arrived at the swampland, each dragging a corpse.
At first glance, a swampland doesn't look much different from a normal small river or a pond, but the danger of such a place lies in not knowing where you can safely step.
A spot that looks perfectly safe can, with one slight lapse in attention, cause a person to sink directly in until the silt and water swallow them alive.
The best way to deal with a place like a swampland is to not go near it—stay far away.
However, for Wang An and the other two, identifying where one could walk was very simple.
The main thing was to avoid stepping on areas with bright green weeds or where dead wood was sparse; beneath those areas was basically where the silt lay.
One had to step on the "hummock grass." Such hummock grass was dark green, which showed at a glance that it had been growing for a long time.