Shen Shigang hesitated for a moment, glancing at the reflection of his own meticulously groomed figure in the mirror under the antique clock. Today, he looked a bit too formal—almost like an old-school shopkeeper.

“Yes, I’m the owner,” Shen Shigang replied, curious about the young woman in front of him. People who walked into his shop usually fell into one of three categories: sellers, buyers, or those dropping off resumes. He wondered which one she was.

Yun Tutu gave a shy smile. “I have something with me, but I’m not sure if you’d be interested.”

Shen Shigang’s smile grew warmer. This was the kind of business he liked.

Many of the items in his collection were dear to him, and if it weren’t for the need to keep the business running, he’d be reluctant to part with any of them. So, selling items was always more appealing to him than buying.

“Let’s talk inside,” he said, leading her to the counter. “May I take a look at what you’ve brought?”

Yun Tutu pulled out a large bundle of paper from her bag. The casual manner in which she handled it made Shen Shigang’s eyebrows twitch slightly. He could only hope it wasn’t some rare treasure being treated so carelessly—it would be a real pity.

“I’m sorry it’s a bit dirty, so I wrapped it up in a few layers of paper,” Yun Tutu explained as she began unwrapping the bundle.

Shen Shigang watched intently, not saying a word. He was curious about what was inside.

As the layers of paper came off, what emerged was a dirt-covered stone. The innermost layer of paper was stained with soil.

He glanced up at Yun Tutu. She seemed like a normal young woman—surely she wasn’t here to play a prank?

Yun Tutu noticed his expression and apologized again. “I did a quick rinse before, but there was just too much dirt…”

She exposed a small, clean portion of the object to Shen Shigang, carefully watching his reaction. To her relief, he seemed surprised, which was a good sign—it meant the item had caught his interest.

Rather than touching it immediately, Shen Shigang retrieved a magnifying glass from the cabinet and inspected it closely. “Do you know what this is?” he asked.

“It’s a gold nugget,” Yun Tutu replied. After all, Song Song hadn’t lied to her, and she’d done some research during lunch.

“This is quite a substantial piece, though it’s not fully cleaned yet,” Shen Shigang remarked, examining it further and weighing it in his hand.

“I tried scrubbing it with a brush, but the dirt in the crevices was really stubborn…” Yun Tutu admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Mind if I clean it up a bit more?” Shen Shigang asked, looking at her with a hint of excitement. It seemed he might have stumbled upon a treasure today—an old friend had been looking for something like this not too long ago.

“Of course,” Yun Tutu agreed readily. She was eager to cash in on this find, especially since she might not have enough funds to cover the cost of the next delivery if it turned out to be something more valuable.

Shen Shigang pressed a button near the counter, and a young man quickly came running from the back. “Dad, did you send the customer off?”

Without paying much attention to Yun Tutu, Shen Yin’s eyes immediately locked onto the stone in his father’s hand. “What’s that?”

“Watch the shop for a bit; I’m going to clean this up,” Shen Shigang replied, not offering any explanations. He simply gestured for Yun Tutu to follow him into the back.

His workshop was well-equipped, with professional cleaning tools at the ready. Within half an hour, the gold nugget had been fully revealed.

“Take a look at this, Yun,” Shen Shigang said, clearly in high spirits. Over the past half hour, they had exchanged quite a bit of conversation, and now he was even calling her by a nickname.

To Shen Shigang’s credit, he didn’t pry too much into Yun Tutu’s claim that she found the nugget on a mountain. Discretion was key in his line of work.

“Isn’t it just a lump of gold?” Yun Tutu replied, still not seeing what the fuss was about.

Shen Shigang placed the nugget on the table. “From this angle, doesn’t it look like a bear curled up in hibernation?”

“Now that you mention it, it does look a bit like that,” Yun Tutu said, finally seeing the resemblance.

“Exactly,” Shen Shigang said, his excitement growing. “A gold nugget with a natural shape like this has much higher collectible value.”

“So, are you planning to sell it or keep it for yourself?” he asked, a hopeful look in his eyes. “If you’re selling, I can offer you a fair price. I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

“How much are you willing to offer?” Yun Tutu asked, her heart beating faster as they got to the crux of the matter. She had done some research before coming here, and she knew that gold nuggets like this could fetch a high price, especially given its weight—659.7 grams, to be exact.

This could very well be her first major windfall.

“Well, considering the weight and the shape, I can tell you that collectors would pay quite a bit for something like this. A few years ago, a similar piece went for 300,000 yuan,” Shen Shigang began, gauging her reaction.

Seeing that Yun Tutu remained expressionless, he quickly added, “But that was a long time ago, and prices have gone up since then. How about this—I’ll offer you 500,000 yuan. If that sounds fair, we can close the deal.”

That was the best price he could offer, especially since he had an old friend in mind who would appreciate it. He wasn’t looking to make a profit, just to help out a fellow collector.

Yun Tutu had seen similar gold nuggets online that sold for much less, so she knew Shen Shigang was being honest. “Alright,” she agreed, trying to keep her excitement in check. After all, 500,000 yuan was a lot of money—more than she’d ever seen in her life.

The transaction was completed swiftly. As Yun Tutu walked out of the shop, her phone showed a bank balance with several more zeros than before. Her original savings now seemed almost laughable.

“Song Song, I think I could get used to this kind of work,” Yun Tutu said, calling out to her guide. “Can I go back to visit that refugee girl, Xiao Ya? I feel like I took advantage of her; her life is so hard…”

“That’s not possible right now,” Song Song replied. “There’s no active request from that world at the moment.”

“What if I hadn’t picked up that stone? What would I have gotten as a reward then?” Yun Tutu asked, reflecting on how lucky she had been to stumble upon the gold nugget.

“A single old copper coin,” Song Song answered, somewhat surprised at her luck. If she had taken back that coin, it would’ve been worth only about a thousand yuan.