Li Weidong arrived at the center of the cave and found it to be a massive space.
Seeing traces of artificial excavation above, he shone his oil lamp around but found no other valuable items.
Li Weidong frowned, his heart filled with doubt; could there really be nothing here?
Feeling a bit unwilling, he then released his perception, searching around the cave walls to see if there was anything unusual.
Suddenly, his perception detected a slightly incongruous spot in a corner of the cave wall.
Li Weidong quickly walked over, shining his oil lamp carefully, and found a slightly protruding stone that seemed out of place with the surrounding rock wall.
He gently pressed the stone with his hand, and with a "click," a section of the adjacent rock wall slowly moved, revealing a narrow passage.
Li Weidong was overjoyed and cautiously entered the passage.
An old, stale scent filled the passage, and he used his oil lamp to illuminate the way forward.
At the same time, he also released his spatial power to sense the surrounding movements.
After walking for a while, Li Weidong found a stone door ahead. He pushed it hard, but the stone door didn't budge.
Li Weidong carefully observed the stone door and noticed what appeared to be a mechanism on the adjacent rock wall.
He fumbled with his hand and finally found a movable stone block.
He took a deep breath and pressed the stone block. With a dull thud, the stone door slowly rose.
Li Weidong, with a mix of nervousness and anticipation, entered the space behind the stone door, where he saw hundreds of old, large chests arranged inside.
He walked towards one of the chests, gently blew away the dust on it, and laboriously opened the lid.
A golden light instantly shot out, causing him to squint. After his eyes adjusted to the light, he looked closely and saw that the chest was filled with large yellow croaker.
Li Weidong gasped, the value of this chest of large yellow croaker was immeasurable.
He composed himself and then walked to another chest nearby, opening it with a feeling of apprehension.
This time, it was still a chest full of large yellow croaker, gleaming with dazzling golden light under the oil lamp.
Li Weidong's heart pounded; he knew he had discovered an immense fortune.
But at this moment, his mind was still clear, and he knew that this news could not be leaked.
He slowly closed the lid, preparing to put all these items into his space.
However, when he was about to collect this chest of large yellow croaker, he suddenly found that he couldn't. So he quickly opened the chest to check.
After sensing, he found that each chest of large yellow croaker contained 1,000 fish, completely exceeding the weight limit he could collect.
With no other option, he had to take the chest of large yellow croaker and the wooden box into his space in two separate attempts.
He then opened the other chests and found that 30 chests contained large yellow croaker, 20 chests contained small yellow croaker, 20 chests contained various precious jade, agate, and jewelry, 10 chests contained precious medicinal herbs, and 20 chests contained antiques and calligraphy.
Li Weidong was ecstatic, knowing that these items were of extraordinary value.
However, he also knew that now was not the time to revel in joy; he had to quickly and properly handle these treasures, ensuring that outsiders would not know about this matter if possible.
So he quickly put these chests into his space.
But due to the large number and the excessive weight of some chests, Li Weidong exerted a great deal of effort, becoming breathless, before successfully putting all the chests into his space.
When he finally finished all of this, the cave appeared much emptier.
Li Weidong wiped the sweat from his forehead, carefully checked the cave again to ensure no traces were left, then restored the cave's mechanisms to their original state, and walked out of the cave with an excited yet nervous heart.
At this time, it was midday, with the sun shining brightly.
The intense sunlight made it difficult for him to open his eyes. After adjusting for a while, Li Weidong quickened his pace to rush home.
He didn't plan to enter the mountain again today; he just wanted to get home quickly.
Along the way, his heart remained restless, and those precious treasures constantly appeared in his mind.
Upon returning home, Li Weidong first drank a large bowl of water and sat on a chair to calm his emotions.
Li Weidong understood that these treasures would change his family's fate, but at the same time, he also had to handle them carefully and not let others discover this secret.
Back in his room, Li Weidong began to calculate the weight of the gold.
There were 30 chests of large yellow croaker, with 1,000 pieces per chest, and each piece weighing 312.5 grams, totaling 9375 kilograms.
There were 20 chests of small yellow croaker, with 10,000 pieces per chest, and each piece weighing 31.25 grams, totaling 6250 kilograms.
Adding these gold amounts together, there were 15,625 kilograms, or 15.625 tons. Li Weidong was instantly dumbfounded by the sheer quantity of gold.
He sat by the bed, staring blankly at the thatched roof, his heart filled with disbelief.
He had never dared to imagine so much gold in his life. After a long while, he came back to his senses and began to consider how to handle this enormous wealth.
Li Weidong understood that too much of this gold could not be taken out, otherwise it would inevitably arouse suspicion and trouble. He decided to first take out a little to improve his family's living conditions, and then arrange some City jobs for himself and his family.
Li Weidong did not think that the protagonists in novels who always run to the countryside were making the correct choice.
The fact is, once you're in the countryside, you can't not work. Just thinking about spending money to buy food without working is simply impossible.
It will soon be a time when you can't buy food even with money, and those who don't work will surely starve.
Li Weidong was now deliberating on how many gold bars he needed to take out.
Currently, the bank's recycling price for gold bars should be 8 or 9 yuan per gram, and one small yellow croaker weighs 31.25 grams.
If calculated at 8 yuan per gram, one small yellow croaker should exchange for 31.25 × 8 = 250 yuan.
If calculated at 9 yuan per gram, one small yellow croaker could exchange for 31.25 × 9 = 281.25 yuan.
After calculation, the price of one small yellow croaker is approximately between 250 and 280 yuan, and the price of a job position is roughly 600 to 800 yuan, so he only needed to take out 4 pieces.
However, to be safe, he decided to take out 6 pieces.
After Li Weidong made up his mind, he carefully wrapped the 6 small yellow croaker and placed them under his mattress.
At this moment, he suddenly heard voices outside, likely his parents and elder brother returning.
He opened the door and saw his parents, younger sister, and elder brother walking into the courtyard, chatting and laughing.
"Li Weidong, why are you home? Didn't you go into the mountains?"
"Nothing much, I just got back and I'm a bit hungry," Li Weidong replied.
"Then hurry and have your mom make you something to eat," his father, Li Dahe, said.
His mother, Liu Xiaoli, heard this and quickly went into the kitchen to prepare food for Li Weidong.
His elder brother pulled Li Weidong and asked, "How was your trip to the mountains today?"
Li Weidong said naturally, "I just walked around the outer perimeter of the mountain, I didn't go deep inside."
Li Weiguo smiled and said, "Just stay on the outer perimeter, don't go inside, it's too dangerous in there." Li Weidong smiled and said, "Brother, I know, I won't go too deep inside either."
Li Weiguo patted Li Weidong's shoulder: "Good that you know. Although our family isn't rich, being safe and sound is better than anything."
Li Weidong nodded: "Don't worry, brother, I won't make you worry."
At this moment, his mother came out of the kitchen: "Dinner's ready, come eat.