Power and Wealth

Afternoon.

14:30 pm.

Dong Xuebing was panting as he carried a big bundle of coins back to his ward. He dropped the big bundle of coins on the floor beside his bed, in front of the old man and his son. Clink…… Clank…… the coins made a loud noise as it was dropped on the floor.

The old man was stunned: "What are you doing, young man?"

The tired Dong Xuebing turned to him and smiled: "I bought some ancient coins."

The old man's son said. "You also do not need to buy so many coins."

"Hehe…… I am just buying these coins for fun." Dong Xuebing saw the old man's son's Samsung laptop beside his bed. He asked: "Brother, I saw you surfing the net yesterday. Are you using the 3G network? If you are not using the laptop now, can I use it?"

The old man's son generously pushed his laptop towards Dong Xuebing: "Sure. Use it."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Your Aunt had helped my father get water and wash his trays when I was not around. I still need to thank her."

To prevent the nurses and doctors from gossiping about him, Dong Xuebing did not dare to pour all the coins out. He placed the bundle of coins at a corner beside his bed and took out the coins bit by bit to count them. After counting the coins, Dong Xuebing was pissed. What 1,400 coins? There were not even 1,000 coins in the bundle. Damn.

Dong Xuebing switched on the laptop and connect to the internet. He starts to look at the pictures of ancient coins on the net and match it to the coins.

He was not an expert on antique appraising and had to rely on the internet.

5 minutes……

10 minutes……

20 minutes……

As Dong Xuebing examines each and every coin, he realized that there was a vast variety of coins in the bundle.

There were Chong Ning Zhong Bao, Kai Yuen Tong Bao, Xuan He Tong Bao, metal and copper coins mixed in the bundle.

Dong Xuebing starts to read up about coins collection on a few websites and forums, at the same time he was sorting out the coins. Those that were more prominent were easily picked out. He sorts it according to the dynasty like Song, Tang and by the types of coins. Most of the coins were not worth much. At most, it was worth a few RMB per coin. Some does not even have value.

Dong Xuebing picked those worthless coins and placed it into another bag.

1 coin……

10 coins……

50 coins……

This was tiring and tedious work. It needs lots of patients.

After sorting the coins for the whole afternoon, the meal trolley appeared outside the ward. It was dinner time.

Dong Xuebing took a break and ate his dinner. After dinner, he continued to sieve through the coins.

330 coins……

350 coins……

410 coins……

He had sorted more than 500 worthless coins. There were only about 300 coins left.

At 7.30pm, Qu Yunxuan called Dong Xuebing and told him that she was still at work. She will not be able to visit him this evening. She will drop by tomorrow morning. Dong Xuebing asked her not to come if she was busy. But Qu Yunxuan does not listen and hang up.

That night, the old man's son did not leave the ward. He remained in the ward to accompany his father. Dong Xuebing asked his permission to continue using his laptop. The son was generous and told him to carry on using and no need to worry about the internet charges. He can get reimbursement from his company. Dong Xuebing thanked him again. He made a mental note to buy a laptop in the future.

Dong Xuebing was an impatient person and does not like to leave things for tomorrow. He decided to sieve through the coins all night. He can't sleep unless he found all the valuable coins.

So, he carries on with the tiresome task…….

580 Coins……

650 coins……

670 coins……

The remaining coins were not quickly sorted. For example, Chong Ning Zhong Bao. This type of coin has several variations. It comes in different scripts and had different dominations. It was hard to tell the differences.

Dong Xuebing starts to check the coins one by one with the pictures on the internet.

Hmmm…… This coin is from the Qing Dynasty. There is a large number of this coin circulating in the market. Pass……

Oh, this coin is chipped, and it was too rusty. Even if this type of coins were valuable, it will also not fetch a high price. Pass……

Another 3 hours passed. He still did not find any valuable coins.

At about 1 am, Dong Xuebing yawned and was about to give up. He noticed a rusty copper coin among the remaining coins. This coin is called "Jiading Yuanbao". He checked on the internet, and there were all sorts of value for this coin. The value differs by the year the coin was produced and the size. The difference was wide. Dong Xuebing took the coin and try to match it to the descriptions on the website. Not this….. Not this one either…… It does not match this too……

After scanning through all the pictures on the website, he could not see any coins that look like the one he was holding.

He went to another website and try to identify the coin in his hand. He chanced upon an auction website and saw a description of a coin that matches the one he in his hand.

Southern Song dynasty, Jiading Yuanbao, 10 cash. Square hole and diameter 54 millimeters.

From the picture, the color, wordings, and diameter were almost exactly the same as the coin he was holding. The only difference was the picture in the auction site was perfect. There was no rust on the coin. Dong Xuebing's coin was slightly rusty.

Dong Xuebing scrolled up and look at the transacted price. He was stunned.

Starting price: 30,000 RMB.

Transacted price: 62,000 RMB.

Damn! The price is high!

Yes! This must be the coin.

This must be one of the coins picked by Teacher Cheng!

Dong Xuebing took in a deep breath. He stared at the transacted price on the website. He thought the coins would worth about 8,000 to 10,000 RMB. Who would expect a coin to worth more than 60,000 RMB? Wait…… The prices at auctions should be higher as there were still commissions and charges. The real value should be lower than 60,000 RMB. Could this coin a fake coin? Many counterfeit coins were circulating around. But this should not be. Although Teacher Cheng was an asshole, he was an expert in ancient coins.

Dong Xuebing put the coin aside and continue to check the remaining coins on the internet.

The remaining coins were only worth 1 to 2 RMB each.

Dong Xuebing wrapped all the coins with the cloth into a bundle and stuff it under his bed. He took out the Jiading Yuanbao coin to examine it closer. That Teacher Cheng must have picked those 9 coins yesterday to deceive others. Jiading Yuanbao should be the only coin he wanted.

Hahaha……. I can see the money already……