After dinner, the lively atmosphere gradually dissipated.
Unusually, Uncle wasn't rushed by phone calls; he rubbed his throbbing temples and said he was going back to his room to lie down for a bit.
Chen Kai quickly helped Grandma Ju clear the dishes, and as the water gushed from the faucet, his mind was on other things.
"Since selling the mega evolution stone is troublesome right now, maybe I should sell the fossils instead. Huang Mao said fossils are quite valuable, and Uncle is very knowledgeable about them."
So, after washing the dishes, Chen Kai made up his mind and quietly went to a small room, secretly taking out all the fossils from the orange orb and putting them into his backpack.
Originally, he planned to revive and raise these fossils himself, but now he was truly out of money, and compared to that, the evolution of Exeggcute and Horsea was more important.
Chen Kai took a deep breath and tiptoed to Uncle's door, knocking lightly twice.
"Who is it?" Uncle's slightly tired voice came from inside.
"Uncle, it's me."
"Xiao Kai, come in."
Chen Kai pushed the door open.
Uncle hadn't turned on the main light; only a dim yellow bedside lamp was on, and he was leaning against the headboard, resting with his eyes closed.
"Uncle..." Chen Kai leaned close to the bed, his voice very low, filled with mysterious excitement and a hint of a slightly lewd smile, "Um...can I ask you something?"
Uncle forced his eyes open; he hadn't drunk much, and he was almost sober now: "Hmm, what is it?"
Chen Kai easily lifted his backpack, placing it on the floor beside the bed with a dull thud, "It's...about the fossils." He smiled, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Uncle, "Like these Pokemon fossils...if they were sold, how much would they be worth?"
Uncle's eyes instantly cleared a few shades, filled with inquiry and a subtle hint of vigilance.
He sat up straighter, his brows slightly furrowed: "Fossils? Selling them for money? Xiao Kai, where did you get these fossils? Where did you dig them up? Let me see their quality."
His tone became serious; the instinct of a researcher immediately made him grasp the crucial questions.
"I dug up some during the National Day holiday in Sichuan Province, uh...and also some when I was playing in France." Chen Kai vaguely mentioned the locations, while forcefully pulling open the somewhat stuck backpack zipper with a "whoosh" until it reached the bottom.
Then, without thinking, and without noticing Uncle's instantly wide eyes, Chen Kai grabbed the two bottom corners of the backpack and, like dumping trash, poured everything inside with a "Whoosh—clatter-bang!" onto the clean floor!
Stones of various sizes and shapes instantly scattered everywhere!
They collided and rolled, making crisp or dull sounds.
If not for the faint trace of Pokémon energy visible in the dim light, these stones looked like a pile of...junk just dug out of the dirt.
"There! They're all here!" Chen Kai clapped his hands, quite pleased with himself.
Uncle's eyes, in that instant, widened more than brass bells!
The lingering tipsiness and fatigue on his face vanished in a flash, replaced by an expression intermingled with extreme shock, disbelief, and...heartbreak!
He was like someone under a petrification spell, frozen in place, staring intently at the pile of "junk" on the floor, his mouth slightly agape, silent for a long time.
"You...you...!" The next second, Uncle, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, suddenly sprang from the bed, his voice changing pitch, trembling with almost indignant sorrow, "You just dump them like that?! You just throw them around like that?! This is simply a waste! A true squandering of treasures!"
He didn't even bother to put on his shoes, jumping out of bed barefoot, almost pouncing on the pile of fossils, his movements so fast they created a gust of wind.
For the next few minutes, the only sounds in the room were Uncle's hurried breathing and the delicate, almost reverent rustling as he carefully moved the stones.
He seemed like a different person; the gloom and fatigue from the dinner table were completely gone, his eyes frighteningly focused, his movements so gentle as if touching fragile glass.
He carefully separated each fossil from the chaos, gently brushing off the surface dust with his fingers (fortunately, the backpack was quite clean, without much dirt), meticulously identifying the textures and shapes on them, then arranging them on the floor with extreme caution, one by one, as if piecing together an incredibly precious puzzle.
He picked up a palm-sized, dark blue shale with sharp edges and clear feather imprints, examining it repeatedly against the lamplight, his fingertips gently caressing the uneven texture.
Then he held up a dark brown, circular fossil with a horizontal stripe in the center, bringing it close to his eyes, even holding his breath.
"This...this..." Uncle's voice trembled violently, unable to suppress his wild joy and disbelief. He looked up, his gaze at Chen Kai like he was looking at a little fool who had stumbled upon a gold mine without realizing it, "Xiao Kai! These...what you dug up are all treasures! This quality! This completeness! These...these are almost all top-grade specimens!"
He pointed at the Plume Fossil, his finger trembling: "Look at this feather! How clear! How complete! The patterns are clearly visible!"
Then he pointed to the conical fossil: "And this one! This is a rare ammonite nucleus fossil, with such complete and beautiful mineral crystals encased within! And this petrified wood, this degree of silicification, these growth rings...!"
Uncle examined each piece, growing more excited with each one, his face flushing red again from excitement, even fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.
He looked at the pile of fossils on the floor, which he had re-arranged and categorized, his eyes burning as if they could shoot fire.
"You kid! Your luck is absolutely incredible!" He took a sharp breath, seemingly finding his voice again, lowering it, filled with incredulous amazement, "Any one of these could be revived into a living Pokémon! Where on earth did you dig them up?! Take me with you!"
Chen Kai could only stammer that he couldn't remember, probably somewhere in the mountains.
Uncle didn't pay too much attention, only asking: "Are you sure you want to sell all of them?"
Chen Kai pondered for a moment, then picked out a tail-shaped fossil from the pile, saying: "Except for this one, sell all the others. I need to buy evolution items for Exeggcute and Horsea."
Uncle curiously glanced at the tail-shaped fossil, tapped his finger on the table, thought for a moment, still looking puzzled: "Xiao Kai, you're only keeping this one fossil? I can't quite tell which fossil Pokémon part this is right now.
While this type of fossil contains energy, I estimate it would be very difficult to revive a Pokémon from it."
Chen Kai chuckled: "It's enough to train my existing Pokémon well. I'll keep this one as a memento."
Uncle nodded in agreement: "Your idea is correct. I've seen many people who, coveting false fame, spend a lot of effort to acquire fossil Pokémon, only to neglect the Pokémon they were originally training. That's putting the cart before the horse."
Chen Kai always felt that Uncle's words sounded like he was talking about Dong Gang, but now he was more concerned about how much these fossils could sell for: "So Uncle, these fossils..."
Uncle was completely immersed in the world of fossils, unable to extricate himself, merely waved his hand and told Chen Kai: "I'll help you take a look first. I'll confirm the situation in the next few days and then tell you."
Chen Kai stood by, wanting to speak but holding back: "He had originally planned to buy the evolution items for Exeggcute and Seadra in the Capital within these two days, otherwise it would be difficult to buy them once they returned to the small county town."
While focused on examining the fossils with a flashlight, Uncle explained: "Generally, selling fossils requires relevant certificates and contacting buyers. It's like buying and selling antiques; you can't rush it, otherwise the price could differ by several times."
Upon learning how troublesome it was, Chen Kai couldn't help but feel a headache.
He touched the three Poké Balls at his waist, hesitated repeatedly, then gritted his teeth: "Always being so indecisive isn't a solution."
"In other transmigration novels, the protagonist would have already achieved something significant within a few months, but I'm still just an ordinary high school student. I'm really letting down the army of transmigrators!"
So, he still took out several mega evolution stones, put them in a small bag, and placed them beside Uncle's table: "Or Uncle, could you also help me look at this? These might sell faster. Could you help me sell these too?"
Uncle's mind was entirely on the fossils, and he didn't clearly see what Chen Kai had placed. He replied without looking up: "Alright, I understand. Just leave them there for now."
Afterward, Chen Kai exited the room. Chen Kai had originally planned to sell the mega evolution stone through Grandma Ju, and recently, he felt Grandma Ju was quite nice.
But as soon as he got off the plane, Grandma Ju was nowhere to be found, and he didn't have her phone number. Teacher Ye Gai was also gone, so he truly had no other options. Now, he could only rely on his own Uncle.