"We... we just need to borrow 160,000, and we'll write an IOU. We'll definitely repay it within ten years."
Xia Xiangqian and Xia Cui'e exchanged a glance and shook their heads slightly.
Gold bars and US dollars felt too distant from their world. Even if they got them, they wouldn't feel at ease.
Lin Fan looked troubled. "Let me see if I can find it."
He rummaged around in the room.
Since Xia Xue often helped him tidy up, he had hidden his personal savings very discreetly.
The elderly couple watched Lin Fan turning their room upside down and, afraid of making him feel uncomfortable, quickly turned away.
*Bang!*
*Clang!*
*Rustle!*
A dull thud, followed by the crisp sound of metal colliding.
Xia Xiangqian heard sounds like coins hitting each other and wondered if Lin Fan was boasting, digging out even pennies for the sake of pride.
If that were the case, how could they possibly accept it?
"Fortunately, they weren't damaged by mice."
Lin Fan found Yuan Datou coins, gold bars, and cash pressed underneath.
Counting them, he found over 20,000 yuan in total.
This wasn't enough!
Lin Fan continued to search and soon found a pile of gold jewelry.
"Did I have some money left over when I went to Siam?"
Lin Fan became a little anxious. He brought out the suitcase containing US dollars and placed it on the bed. Then, he unlatched it and rummaged through it haphazardly.
"This..."
Xia Cui'e happened to look back and her body immediately froze. Her eyes widened.
She tugged her husband's sleeve and said without turning her head, "Old man, you quickly look."
"There's no etiquette. What are you looking at? What if he loses money later? Whose fault will it be?" Xia Xiangqian reprimanded.
"I'm telling you to look!" Xia Cui'e yanked her husband's arm forcefully.
"Look at what!" Xia Xiangqian turned back angrily, only to have his gaze immediately captivated by a pile of golden objects.
Lin Fan hadn't found cash and was so frustrated that he didn't care about handling things gently.
The open suitcase was filled with gold items, which he had tossed about chaotically.
A gleaming gold bar lay quietly on the floor.
The dark, dull Yuan Datou coins were scattered like worthless trash.
Lin Fan stood by the bed, rummaging through a large suitcase, tossing stacks of neat banknotes around.
Xia Xiangqian was already dumbfounded.
In his sixty years of life, he had never seen so much money.
He hadn't even seen this much when he went to the bank.
Xia Xiangqian's breathing quickened, his eyes glued to the gold, silver dollars, and banknotes, as if he were in a treasure hoard within an ancient tomb.
"Stop looking," Xia Cui'e said calmly, noticing her husband was more engrossed than she was. "I'm telling you."
"Uh, uh." Xia Xiangqian blinked and only then snapped back to reality, turning his head sharply as if he were a thief.
His face was pale, sweat beaded on his forehead, and his eyes darted around.
"What's wrong?" Xia Cui'e asked softly.
"Where did he get so much money?" Xia Xiangqian swallowed. "It's too much, far too much. I've never seen this much money in my life!"
His legs were trembling.
"It's his money, what are you afraid of?" Xia Cui'e said, exasperated.
"How can I not be afraid?" Xia Xiangqian bristled. "You can't even get this much by robbing a bank. If Little Fan did something immoral, can we take this money?"
"As you said, you can't get this much by robbing a bank, so it's not from robbing a bank then," Xia Cui'e replied flatly, not thinking too deeply.
"Do you think Xue'er knows Little Fan has this much money?" Xia Xiangqian asked, his face full of worry, though he himself didn't know what he was worried about.
"She probably does," Xia Cui'e frowned.
"Why didn't she tell us about such a big thing?" Xia Xiangqian was a little annoyed.
"Don't overthink it. Our children and grandchildren will have their own fortunes. I believe this money is all clean money Little Fan earned through his skills," Xia Cui'e comforted him.
"He treated the Jade Emperor and earned this much?" Xia Xiangqian felt uneasy, thinking Lin Fan hadn't done anything good.
"Not the Jade Emperor, but perhaps a very wealthy person," was the only explanation Xia Cui'e could come up with. After all, Lin Fan was a doctor; what else could he do to earn money besides treating patients?
"Which rich person would come to this poor, remote place for treatment?" Xia Xiangqian scowled. If a prominent figure had come to Shimen County, the villagers would have known by that evening, let alone the next day.
"Uncle, Aunt," Lin Fan finally gave up searching and walked out with a pile of items.
Xia Xiangqian and Xia Cui'e were startled, afraid Lin Fan had overheard what they had said.
"Oh, Little Fan, what are you doing?" Xia Cui'e's expression immediately tensed as she saw Lin Fan holding a large gold bar in his right hand.
"I searched for a long time, but there really isn't that much cash," Lin Fan said with an apologetic smile. "You two take these gold bars and exchange them at the gold shop in town."
Xia Cui'e waved her hands repeatedly. "No need, we'll borrow from someone else."
"Don't!" Lin Fan was anxious.
He dared say that in the surrounding ten villages, no one was richer than him.
To not find him, a great wealthy man, and ask his in-laws to borrow money from others?
Wasn't that ridiculous!
"Aunt, please take it. Gold is a hard currency; it can be exchanged for money anywhere." Lin Fan pushed the gold bar towards Xia Cui'e.
"Little Fan, I can't take it, really." Xia Cui'e pushed it away while simultaneously being afraid of the gold bar falling to the ground, so she dared not let go.
This thing was priced by the gram; even a slight scuff would cost a hundred or so yuan!
"Aunt, please accept it. We're practically family." Lin Fan simply kept pushing the gold bar into Xia Cui'e's hand.
He then handed five stacks of US dollars to Xia Xiangqian. "Uncle, this is fifty thousand US dollars. Take it to the bank in town to exchange it. Be careful not to be cheated; don't trust anyone except bank staff."
"That's enough, it's enough." Xia Xiangqian saw his wife holding a large gold bar and didn't even dare to extend his hand, fearing Lin Fan would think they were greedy.
"Take it. If there's any left, you two can spend it. My sister-in-law hasn't been around, so consider this my filial piety."
Lin Fan did a rough calculation.
The gold bar weighed over 500 grams, worth about 200,000 yuan at current market prices.
Fifty thousand US dollars could be exchanged for about 300,000 yuan.
Altogether, it was no less than 500,000 yuan.
"Little Fan, I really can't take this. I wouldn't know how to spend this money either," Xia Xiangqian insisted on not accepting it. Looking at Lin Fan's sincere eyes, he felt immensely ashamed.
Alas!
He had looked down on the Lin family for being poor back then and was unwilling to marry his daughter to him.
Who would have thought that after thirty years, the situation had reversed? The Lin family was now incredibly rich!
Just then, Lin Fan heard footsteps outside and quickly said, "My sister-in-law is back. Quickly hide it. Don't let her see."
Upon hearing this, the elderly couple instinctively hid the gold bar and US dollars.
Then, they came to their senses and exchanged a confused glance, both wondering why they were hiding it.
"I'll go put things away. You two please sit down first." With that, Lin Fan darted into the room.
"Old woman, this money..."
"Let's keep it for now. I'll ask Xue'er about it later."
Hearing his wife say this, Xia Xiangqian patted his bulging pockets and finally felt a little more at ease.