Feasibility of Mermaids Infiltrating Qilin

In a dilapidated hotel in Shanghai, Zhang Haike was counting his meager savings, his face full of worry.

"One, two... five, still five." No matter how many times they counted, it was still the same number; there were no extra silver dollars.

Zhang Haike couldn't understand why he had so little money left from the trip he brought from the Zhang family.

squeak-

The old wooden doors of the hotel always groaned under their weight when opened.

Zhang Shenglin stepped into the house as the wooden door creaked open.

Zhang Haike looked up at Zhang Shenglin, who had a calm expression, and asked him curiously, "Where have you been? I haven't seen you all afternoon."

He was used to Zhang Shenglin's silence and didn't expect a response, so without waiting for his reply, he turned and said:

"Forget it, look at how much money you have left. I just discovered something bad: the travel expenses I brought from the Zhang family are almost gone."

When they left the Zhang family, the clan provided the same amount of travel expenses; the only difference was the amount of subsidies from their families.

Even with family subsidies, he only has five coins left. Zhang Shenglin, an orphan, probably has even fewer.

The economic crisis has increased Zhang Haike's pressure. He has only just arrived in Shanghai and paid half a month's room fee for this shabby hotel yesterday. Now he only has five silver dollars left.

It was called a hotel, but it was actually just a small, dilapidated three-story building. They rented a small suite on the third floor, which had only two bedrooms and a small living room. They had to use the public washroom in the corridor outside to wash up.

Five silver dollars may not sound like much, but they are actually enough to cover a family's expenses for one or two months.

But this actually deducts the family's living and clothing expenses. Zhang Haike and his group are currently in Shanghai, and they have to pay for the hotel they stay in every day.

Add in food and other miscellaneous expenses, and these five silver dollars would be good enough to last a month if you were careful with your spending.

Zhang Shenglin did not mention where he had gone. When Zhang Haike asked him about his remaining travel expenses, he thought for a moment and poured out seven silver dollars from his small purse.

“Seven!” Zhang Haike counted them, extremely surprised. “There are actually more than I have left.”

If you do the math, it seems like he spent more money on shopping, but don't forget that Zhang Shenglin also bought a lot of fresh seafood on the ship. In the end, he definitely spent more money than he did.

Even so, he still had two more silver dollars than him. Zhang Haike never expected that he had underestimated Zhang Shenglin.

Seven silver dollars were better than he had expected, but even if the two of them tried to save money, they could only last for two months at most.

Open source is now an urgent matter.

Zhang Haike looked grave and clenched his fist, saying, "We can't go on like this anymore."

Zhang Shenglin expressed his doubts with his eyes.

Zhang Haike ignored his doubts and began to motivate himself: "We'll start getting down to business tomorrow. I'll find out which wealthy families lived in this area. You go and prepare some tools. As soon as I get the location, we'll get to the ground immediately."

Shanghai has produced many prominent families, and he refused to believe that his luck would be so bad that he couldn't even find an oil pan.

Zhang Shenglin pursed his lips, wanting to say that he still had some gold that he could exchange for money, but Zhang Haike didn't give him a chance to speak at all.

Listening to Zhang Haike's endless plan for finding a fodder for battle, Zhang Shenglin silently cleared his mind and began to daydream.

Oh well, their purpose in releasing the animals is to find tombs, so it doesn't matter if they find a few more.

Once Zhang Haike obtains antiques of sufficient value to complete the assessment for being released into the wild, he will ditch him and head to the ruins of Sishui City to retrieve the Soul-Suppressing Bell.

The next day, Zhang Shenglin went out to prepare the tools needed for the tomb raiding, while Zhang Haike began to investigate potentially valuable ancient tombs near Shanghai.

He eventually found one, which was said to be the tomb of a county magistrate from the Ming Dynasty. His wife was a wealthy merchant, and the burial goods in the tomb should be quite valuable.

After Zhang Haike confirmed that the person did exist, he immediately began to search for him and successfully located the tomb.

On their fifth day in Shanghai, the two men, carrying tools, located the Ming Dynasty tombs and began their first tomb raiding expedition.

The final result was truly delightful (scratch that) yet left me speechless with grief.

Zhang Haike stared at the things he took out of the bucket and realized just how big the gap was between imagination and reality.

On their first tomb raiding expedition, they were lucky enough not to return empty-handed, but unfortunately, it was no different from returning empty-handed.

This county magistrate, whose wife was supposedly a wealthy merchant, had his tomb filled entirely with his own calligraphy, paintings, and self-indulgent novels.

Just how narcissistic is he?!

Zhang Haike stared at the pile of calligraphy and paintings, gritting his teeth, even though one of them was an authentic work by a famous artist!

Even if he stared at the pile of calligraphy, paintings, and books until he had a hole in it, it wouldn't change the fact that this was just the self-indulgent work of an unknown county magistrate.

When it comes to antique calligraphy and paintings, the most valuable pieces are always those by the most well-known artists. However, this doesn't mean that calligraphy and paintings by unknown artists are worthless. In fact, as long as the artistic value of the calligraphy and paintings is high enough, they can also fetch high prices.

However, very few people have such discerning eyes. Most people will not even glance at a painting or calligraphy if they hear that the author's name is not well-known.

Moreover, the county magistrate's calligraphy and paintings weren't up to that level; they were at most a little better than the average person's.

Fortunately, it is an antique after all, so it can be sold, but the price will definitely not be very high.

Zhang Haike's expression changed repeatedly, like a neurotic husky. Zhang Shenglin, who was silently munching on a cold, hard meat pie, subtly moved a few steps to the side, his eyes revealing a hint of disdain.

Even when cold, the meat patties made by a master chef still exude an enticing aroma.

The aroma of meat wafted past Zhang Haike's nose several times, causing his nose to twitch and his mouth to start drooling.

Zhang Haike swallowed hard, glancing at the meat pie in Zhang Shenglin's hand a few times before stealthily moving closer to Zhang Shenglin.

Zhang Shenglin noticed his movements, glanced at him, and Zhang Haike's eyes practically screamed "I want to eat."

After a moment of silence, he took out a meat pie wrapped in oil paper from the cloth bag next to him and threw it to Zhang Haike, who was looking at him with longing eyes.

Zhang Haike was truly flattered to receive the meat pie offered by Zhang Shenglin.

"For me?" That's how he asked. The moment he received the cake, Zhang Haike couldn't wait to tear off the oil paper and take a big bite.

"I must say, your meat patties are quite delicious. Where did you buy them? I'll buy a few to keep on hand next time."

Zhang Shenglin paused, lowered his eyes, and remained silent.

He bought the ingredients from the online store and made the meat pie in the kitchen of his study space during his spare time.

If he told the truth directly, Zhang Haike would definitely keep asking questions, so to save himself the trouble, Zhang Shenglin simply chose not to answer.

Zhang Haike was used to his silence and didn't care that he didn't get a reply.

The two then descended into several more tombs. Perhaps due to their unsuccessful first attempt, the subsequent tombs became increasingly barren, either containing nothing or containing very low-value items. Their savings remained on the verge of running out.

Zhang Haike could no longer tolerate it and decided to leave Shanghai.