General of the Heavens

Chapter 95 Temporary Worker [Seeking Recommendations]

"Old Hu, do you think we still have a chance? How about we go find Ning Chen?" Fatty Wang said, tugging at Hu Bayi's shoulder.

"You go, I'm not going!"

Hu Bayi thought to himself, "Can a living person die from holding in their pee? Can he starve to death without Ning Chen? Big Gold Tooth even said he'd treat them to hot pot."

So, the three of them headed to a hot pot restaurant.

A hot pot restaurant in Dongcheng was packed with diners, the air thick with the aroma of mutton, and the sounds of clinking glasses filled the air.

The three ate and talked, and Big Gold Tooth was very talkative. When the conversation turned to tomb raiding, he pointed to his gold tooth and said:

"I got this gold tooth in Panjiayuan. It's a Ming Dynasty gold leaf, taken from the mouth of a zongzi (sticky rice dumpling). I couldn't bear to sell it, so I had my own tooth pulled out and replaced it with this one."

"puff!"

Upon hearing this, Fatty Wang nearly choked on a mouthful of mutton. Was this guy out of his mind? What was so good about a dead man?

"Holy crap, that's disgusting!"

Hu Bayi was also quite shocked. It was disgusting to talk about this during dinner, so Hu Bayi quickly stopped him from saying it.

There's nothing a few bottles of alcohol can't solve between men; if one can't, then add another bottle of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor). Big Gold Tooth clearly has a strong yearning for the tomb raiding industry.

He said, "Back then, my father was an apprentice to a tomb raiding expert surnamed Cai from Hunan. He knew a lot about the business of digging up graves."

After 1923, the Luoyang shovel was invented. Before that, when the Luoyang shovel was not yet popular, people mainly used their noses to smell it.

Fatty Wang couldn't understand, but with Hu Bayi there, he only needed to focus on eating. However, Hu Bayi listened with great interest.

Big Gold Tooth continued, "For example, the soil brought up by the Luoyang shovel can be used to examine the composition of the underground soil."

Big Gold Tooth counted on his fingers as if listing a treasure: "If there are any porcelain shards, wood shards, cloth shards, gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, mercury, lead, including rammed earth, bricks and tiles, etc., we can use these clues to deduce the age and layout of the underground tomb."

Unfortunately, this craft was lost after it was passed down to me. My father was paralyzed, and I had congenital asthma since childhood, so I stopped working in the tomb raiding industry. Later, I simply used my expertise to do antique business.

Hearing this, Hu Bayi laughed: "Master Jin, your ancestors' skills were a bit lacking, so you can't really be considered a tomb raider."

True masters never use iron shovels or Luoyang spades; those are clumsy and ineffective tricks. Take the tomb raiders you mentioned, for example.

When people walk into a place, they can tell at a glance whether there is an ancient tomb underground, where it is buried and what its structure is. They can tell at a glance.

This is called "finding the burial site by dividing the gold," meaning that any place with excellent feng shui will inevitably have a large tomb. Those buried there were no ordinary people in life, and the tombs are full of treasures. Moreover, ordinary tomb raiders who use Luoyang shovels are not worthy of the title "tomb raiders."

"Master Hu is a truly capable man!"

After listening to Hu Bayi's words, Big Gold Tooth felt as if he had gained more knowledge than he had in ten years, and his admiration for Hu Bayi grew even stronger.

Then Big Gold Tooth asked again, "Master Hu, you understand feng shui and have served as an engineer, so it's a real pity you're not a tomb raider with these skills."

Hu Bayi shook his head and said, "I would never do such a despicable thing. Besides, what I just heard was from my grandfather."

He, too, was once a tomb raider, but he encountered a giant zombie in a tomb and almost lost his life.

Big Gold Tooth thought to himself what a pity. With such skills, he could easily pull off a heist rather than just loaf around and wait to die. However, Big Gold Tooth then thought that Hu Bayi was no ordinary person and that this kid knew Ning Chen!

Then Big Gold Tooth excitedly said, "Uncle Hu, since you don't want to do tomb raiding, why don't you try working under Director Ning? Archaeology isn't tomb raiding; it's contributing to the people!"

"I said I wouldn't go, and I definitely won't go."

Big Gold Tooth knew that Hu Bayi had his own ideas, and no amount of persuasion from others could change them. The three of them drank until after midnight before going home.

Before parting, Big Gold Tooth gave each of them one of these hook-shaped objects, a little over an inch long, jet black and shiny, and incredibly hard.

Upon closer inspection, two seal characters were engraved on it, ancient seal script used for tomb raiding. This object is very old and looks like an antique.

"Hey! Thanks a lot, Mr. Jin!"

Fatty Wang was dirt poor and still owed the convenience store money for two cases of beer. He didn't care and just took the beer from Hu Bayi and hung it around his neck.

Big Gold Tooth said, "We hit it off immediately. These two are amulets made from pangolin claws. I'm leaving them for you two as a keepsake. As long as the mountains remain green and the waters flow, we'll meet again someday."

Until we meet again!

On the way, although the two were a little tipsy, they were still relatively clear-headed. Fatty Wang once again urged Hu Bayi, "Why don't we try going to Ning Chen's archaeological research institute? We can't really go tomb raiding, can we?"

"Let them rob tombs then, I don't believe in this nonsense. I'd better go back and get some sleep. We'll talk about tomorrow's problems tomorrow."

However, when the two returned to Fatty Wang's cramped apartment, they found that everything, including bedding, clothes, and toiletries, had been thrown out.

There was also an older woman standing next to her.

"Hey, you two comrades have finally come back after having a good drink. Xiao Wang, I'm not being unreasonable, but you haven't paid rent for two months. If you don't have any money today, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Fatty Wang: "..."

Hu Bayi: "..."

It's like when it rains, it pours! Hu Bayi said angrily, "Little Fatty, let's go tomb raiding tomorrow, and then we'll buy a big house to live in!"

Fatty Wang said quietly, "Do we even have any money left? We don't even have enough for a train ticket. Are we going to beg and then go tomb raiding? Old Hu, how about we go to the research institute tomorrow? We can work there for a month, make some money, and then go tomb raiding?"

Hu Bayi: "I'm not going!"

……

So the next day, the Beijing Archaeological Institute.

Hu Bayi looked up at Ning Chen's business card and thought, "Wasn't this a prince's mansion before? Are archaeology really this lucrative now?"

In Ning Chen's office, Hu Bayi and Fatty Wang were both a little nervous. The staff at the research institute were coming and going, all focused on their work, but the key was that neither of them could understand what they were saying.

Ning Chen smiled as he looked at Hu Bayi and Fatty Wang. They had arrived later than expected and had managed to survive for two days without a single penny. It was quite remarkable.

"I know a little about your situation. Our archaeological institute is very strict about hiring now. Since the college entrance examination has been reinstated, we must at least hire college students."

Fatty Wang panicked: "What? A college student?"

These days, college students are practically a rare breed, and the two never expected that Ning Chen's research institute would have such high requirements for recruiting.

"However, there are always exceptions. Hu Bayi is exactly the kind of professional talent we need who is short of money. I can make an exception and let you enter the research institute."

Hu Bayi frowned and asked, "What about Little Fatty?"

"Comrade Wang Kaixuan, if you can enrich your professional knowledge in this area, you can also join us when conditions permit," Ning Chen said.

"No way, I can't leave Little Fatty behind. Chief, could you please make an exception? If we don't have work, we won't have anything to eat. We slept under the bridge last night..."

Hu Bayi said, feeling wronged.

Ning Chen thought for a moment and then said, "If that's the case, then I'll have to lower your pay. I can only give you a temporary job, how about that?"

"A temporary worker?" Hu Bayi's lips twitched...

P.S.: Please add to your favorites and recommend!

(End of this chapter)