Naming Technique of the Night

At night, North Street in Los Angeles City was one of the liveliest places.

The road was flanked by ancient Chinese-style buildings, with festive red lanterns hanging along the bluestone pavement.

The street, about a kilometer long, was lined with uniform mobile stalls selling chicken wings, grilled gluten, and more, all lined up heading south.

When the red lights just came on at night, the bluestone pavement was crowded and extremely lively.

In a small Chinese-style alley on the south side of North Street, there was a small courtyard with a sign at the gate: "We pay high prices for Maotai, Cordyceps, Ginseng, Gold..."

An old man in the courtyard had moved a long bench to the gate and was gently wiping the dust off the red lanterns hanging there with a towel while standing on it.

"What's the gold price today?"

A hoarse voice arose behind the old man, who turned around, delighted: "Kid, it's you again!"

Qing Chen appeared, wearing a hood, with his hands tucked in the front pocket of his hoodie. If one didn't look closely, it was hard to discern his features.

However, the old man remembered him well, especially since he had gotten a great deal last time, so he recognized him at a glance.

Qing Chen calmly said, "I've already asked others. Even without a receipt, you have to give me the normal gold price. That's how the pawnshops do it."

The old man didn't feel embarrassed, and said with a grin, "Who asked you to hide your identity? Pawnshops all have surveillance, and each is registered at the police station, easy to trace. Fencing goods comes with its price, and I'm taking the risk, aren't I?"

"400 grams," Qing Chen spoke without hesitation: "I advise you to think carefully before answering. If the price is too low, I'll just walk away."

The old man chuckled and said, "No rush, no rush. The gold price today is 390, how about 300 for you?"

Qing Chen turned to leave, but the old man quickly jumped off the bench to stop him: "Young man, why so impatient? 320, I can't do any more!"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Deal," Qing Chen stepped into the courtyard: "I want all cash."

The old man followed him, saying, "I don't have that much cash on hand. If you insist on cash, I can only give you 100,000."

Qing Chen scoffed, "A place specializing in fencing goods doesn't have a hundred thousand in cash? I don't believe it. Old man, if you keep trying to cheat and drive down the price, we can't do business."

"Fine," the old man thought this guy wasn't easy to fool: "Let's check the goods first."

Qing Chen took out the gold bar, and the old man verified its density with the suspension method in water, ensuring there were no problems. He then went to the backyard, opened the safe, and took out 128,000 in cash, putting it into a black plastic bag.

"You're not going to count them one by one again, are you?" the old man asked doubtfully.

Then he just watched Qing Chen count the bills one by one against the light, eventually pulling out five bills: "Swap these, please."

"Tsk," the old man who had just remarked on the young man's impatience was now shocked by his patience.

He reluctantly exchanged five bills and slapped them into Qing Chen's hand: "I really am amazed, I've never met anyone as meticulous as you."

Qing Chen responded expressionlessly, "And I have never met an old man as cunning as you."

After speaking, he left the courtyard without hesitation. Stay tuned for updates on empire

This time, he would give the money directly to Jiang Xue, then a small portion would be transferred slowly to his own WeChat for mobile payments.

If anyone asked, Jiang Xue could claim it was the tutoring fee Qing Chen gave to Li Tongyun.

The larger portion would be deposited into an account opened solely by someone else, which Qing Chen would carry with him for use.

Jiang Xue was an overt "Time Traveler" without concern for others' suspicion, but it was different for him; a sudden large deposit of unknown origin in his account would allow any interested party to easily discover his anomaly.

Before the owner of the Devil's Stamp surfaced, he had to be extremely careful.

When he returned home, Li Tongyun was watching TV in his newly rented house. She excitedly said, "Brother Qing Chen, the curtains here are electric, and I can control all the lights with my phone, even the toilet is electric, and the TV's super membership is activated for a year; I can watch so many cartoons!"

Qing Chen was amused and exasperated; no matter how precocious the little girl was, she was still a child attracted predominantly by a year-long TV membership…

At that moment, Jiang Xue was tidying up the house; she had replaced all the bedding with new ones.

Li Tongyun jumped off the sofa and clung pathetically to her mother's waist: "Mom, let's stay here tonight, with brother Qing Chen."

Jiang Xue chided, "This is your brother Qing Chen's newly rented house, do you think we can just stay as we please?"

"Mom," Li Tongyun suddenly said, "You've already made up all the bedding in both bedrooms!"

"Oh!" Jiang Xue blushed instantly, somewhat embarrassed at being found out.

In fact, although they were not related by blood, they had come to treat each other like family, feeling a pure affection that was unmarred by name, profit, or desire.

Be it Jiang Xue, Li Tongyun, or Qing Chen, they were all once pitiable individuals in this world.

Due to a random time-travel event, their fates had suddenly become intertwined.

Jiang Xue had experienced dangers, but after all, she was a fragile woman, so she felt fear and insecurity.

While tidying up the house, she had somehow managed to prepare both bedrooms and had secretly thought about bringing Xiao Yun over when she felt afraid.

However, Li Tongyun had exposed her thoughts too quickly.

Qing Chen hurriedly said, "Aunt Jiang Xue, the apartment across the hall is larger than our 101 and 201, it's a waste for just one person to live in it, so I'll reserve the master bedroom for you two, you can stay anytime."

Li Tongyun looked at Jiang Xue, "See, brother Qing Chen is saying so!"

"All right then, but just for tonight, and don't make a fuss tomorrow," Jiang Xue agreed.

...

The next day at noon, Qing Chen came home early from school to wait for the real estate agent and Qing Guozhong to arrive.

Countdown 8:00:00.

By 4 o'clock in the afternoon, noise erupted outside the house.

Qing Guozhong's impatient voice came through, "Haven't I told you, the house is mine, I will sell it if I want, you just need to bring your clients over as long as the price is right, I'll immediately go handle the transfer procedures."

The agent complained, "The key is if your son is unwilling to move, it would still be problematic even if the transfer is made; then the buyers will criticize our agency for being unreliable."

"Rest assured, I'll resolve this matter today!" Qing Guozhong said confidently, as in his mind, his son had always been submissive and was unlikely to oppose him.

Qing Chen silently listened to all this, only stepping out after the other party entered the house.

He had to make a cut today, so he didn't want Qing Guozhong to know where he would live in the future.

Otherwise, the other party, burdened with gambling debts, would still come to find him.