The sky collapsed, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself transported to Nanluoguxiang.

A short while later, a young man in his early twenties followed.

He muttered to himself, "Strange, I clearly saw the person turn in from here."

"Looking for me?" Li Kaixin walked out of the dead end.

The young man was so frightened that he trembled, his voice shaking as he cried out, "Who...who's speaking!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she turned her head and saw that it was Li Kaixin, and she couldn't help but shrink back a few steps.

Li Kaixin was bewildered by his series of reactions, thinking: Wasn't it you who was following me? How come you're the one who's scared in the end?

"Tell me, why are you following me?" Li Kaixin remained wary, giving him a half-smile. "Otherwise..."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and gestured in front of his neck.

"B-Brother, I was just passing by, please just ignore me!" The young man's voice was trembling with tears.

He hadn't expected the person in front of him to be so aggressive, making a throat-slitting gesture right away. He was filled with regret and just wanted to run away as quickly as possible.

Seeing that he wouldn't tell the truth, Li Kaixin glared at him and said, "Since you're not going to tell the truth, then don't blame me."

The person was already in front of him before he finished speaking.

"Big brother, I'll talk, I'll talk!"

The young man quickly begged for mercy and began to confess:

"I was eating at the state-run restaurant just now, and I overheard your conversation with that manager and even saw you making a deal with him."

"I only followed along out of curiosity."

Li Kaixin nodded, recognizing that these were indeed the diners from the restaurant earlier.

The young man cautiously asked again, "Brother, can you let me go now?"

Li Kaixin shook her head and put her hand on his shoulder.

"W-why, brother?"

The young man tried to appear calm, but his mind was racing: Could it be that he had stumbled upon the deal between the manager and the manager, and the manager was trying to kill him to cover it up?

As I thought about it, my legs started shaking uncontrollably.

Seeing his expression, Li Kaixin was speechless.

I don't think I did anything besides scaring him at the beginning.

"Don't be nervous, relax. I'm not a bad person," Li Kaixin said, her tone softening.

The young man thought to himself: "He comes up here gesturing to slit his throat, can he be a good person?"

But she still forced a smile: "Brother, I believe you! Then... then can you let me go?"

Li Kaixin ignored him and stared at him again, asking, "What exactly are you following me for? I don't believe it's out of curiosity. If you don't tell the truth, you're not leaving."

"I, I..." The young man stammered, lowering his head and his voice growing softer and softer: "I just saw that you could pull out a whole pig all at once, so I wanted to follow you and ask if you had any more."

"You want to buy meat too?" Li Kaixin understood.

The young man nodded a few times in agreement.

Li Kaixin released her grip, her tone softening: "Why didn't you say so earlier? I wouldn't have scared you."

After hearing this, the young man dared to raise his head, still a little timid on his face: "Brother, do you really still have some meat in your hand?"

Yes! There are many more.

"Really?" The young man, his previous fear gone, became excited. "Big brother, where is he? Money is no object!"

Li Kaixin looked at him strangely as his expression changed so quickly.

"What's wrong, brother?" the young man asked somewhat awkwardly.

Li Kaixin raised an eyebrow: "Are you very rich? Aren't you afraid I'll be tempted by your wealth?"

The young man realized that he had gotten too excited and revealed his true intentions.

He involuntarily took a step back, forcing a smile: "Big brother, I... I believe you're not that kind of person, right?"

Li Kaixin looked at him as he took a half step back, trying to appear calm, and found it somewhat amusing.

"Alright, I won't tease you anymore." Li Kaixin's joking expression vanished, and she asked seriously, "What are you going to do with the meat?"

Amidst Li Kaixin's fluctuating expressions, the young man looked at him warily: "Of course it's for eating, what else could it be used for?"

"So who are you, and what do you do for a living?" Li Kaixin continued to ask.

The young man became even more wary: "Why are you asking this? What does it have to do with me buying meat?"

"There's definitely a connection," Li Kaixin said unhurriedly. "I don't even know who you are. What if you double-cross me during the transaction?"

His words were both a question and a probe into a certain suspicion in his mind.

The young man's lips twitched slightly, but upon reflection, he realized the words made sense, so he could only reply in a low voice, "Brother, my name is Zhao Yu, and I... I haven't found a job yet."

After saying that, he lowered his head somewhat awkwardly.

Hearing Zhao Yu say that he had money even though he didn't have a job, Li Kaixin became even more certain of her guess: this person was most likely a descendant of the Eight Banners.

These days, people like them have a hard time finding decent jobs because of their background, but the wealth they've inherited from their ancestors is incredibly substantial, perhaps even surpassing that of the black market.

In Li Kaixin's eyes, Zhao Yu was an absolute fat sheep.

Zhao Yu felt a chill run down his spine from being stared at so intently, and couldn't help but ask, "Big brother, what... what kind of look is that?"

"Sorry, I was a little distracted just now." Li Kaixin immediately switched to a warm attitude, rubbing his hands together. "What kind of meat do you want to buy? I'll see if I can get it for you."

"Big brother, any meat is fine, I'm not picky!" Upon hearing the word "meat," Zhao Yu immediately forgot his vigilance and unconsciously licked his lips.

He hadn't had any meat for days and was really craving it, otherwise he wouldn't have followed Li Kaixin so rashly when he saw that Li Kaixin could produce so much meat.

"Okay." Li Kaixin nodded, then added with a smile:

"I'm out today. If you really want some, come back here at this time tomorrow, and I'll bring some more. We'll price it at the black market rate, okay?"

He figured it out; this guy was a complete glutton.

But this is good too. It's much better than those cunning old fogies in Beijing. They don't have so many ulterior motives.

Zhao Yu's eyes lit up, and he quickly replied, "Okay, okay! Big brother, you absolutely have to come tomorrow!"

"Don't worry, I keep my word." Li Kaixin smiled, then asked casually, "But Brother Zhao Yu, where do you live? How about I just deliver it to your doorstep tomorrow?"

"No need, no need!" Zhao Yu had completely let his guard down by now. "I don't live far away, just up ahead in Mao'er Hutong."

Li Kaixin secretly noted down Mao'er Hutong, thinking that if necessary in the future, he would still have to go and investigate the situation there.

He now knows how to upgrade the secret realm, and the gold he can get from the black market is ultimately limited.

In those days, who could compare to the wealthiest people among the Manchu bannermen?

Now that we've encountered this opportunity, it's a good time to plan ahead and reap the rewards when gold becomes worthless in the next year or two.