Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Reminiscence _1
At that time, a friend told me that he had found a place where we could swim for free.
So, led by our friend, we passed through a residential area and found a rectangular pond at the foot of the mountain. The pond was about the size of a football field. Although it was a stagnant pond, the water was still quite clean.
It was already quite lively with people swimming and playing when we arrived, so we all praised the friend who led us there. It was quite impressive that he found this place, especially since Pengcheng's only water park was not far away.
That friend laughingly said that he had discovered the place by chance when accompanying others to pay respects at the temple.
Hearing him say this, Dong Tianyu curiously asked, "There's a temple here?"
The friend pointed to a winding path next to the pond and said that not only was there a Buddhist temple inside the mountain, but halfway up, there was a accustomed cave that led directly to the other side of the mountain. However, he advised them not to get curious and explore the cave.
Upon hearing their friend's words, the group, who initially didn't have any intentions, suddenly grew curious about the cave.
But under their friend's somewhat ominous advice, the girls stayed to play by the pond while Dong Tianyu and two other boys insisted on going into the cave to explore.
The tree boys drove up the small winding road, which was not wide enough even for two cars to pass each other.
Since no one else was here, they were lucky that the road had no intersections. They almost thought they were lost as they drove for half an hour without seeing the cave their friend had mentioned.
The end of the road was a natural platform halfway up the mountain. After parking the car, the three of them saw the cave their friend had spoken of.
A Buddhist mantra was engraved at the entrance of the cave. As they peered into the cave, the three saw a statue of Buddha placed directly opposite the entrance.
"Did we get the wrong place?"
"It's the only path here, so this must be the place."
"But it doesn't look that deep from here. Are we in the wrong place or is he bluffing?"
"We've come all this way, let's get out of the car and take a look."
With that, the three got out of the car and entered the cave.
First, they put their hands together in respect and bowed to the Buddha statue. Then they pulled aside the curtain next to the statue to see what was behind it.
Looking at the pitch-black area behind the curtain, Dong Tianyu and the others knew they were in the right place.
The three exchanged glances.
"Should we go in further? It's pitch-black inside."
"Didn't we come here to explore? We're here already, so should we just head back without checking it out? Would you be content with that?"
"Exactly. We've come this far, we have to check out what's inside." With that, one of them turned on the flashlight on his phone and went in first.
Dong Tianyu and the other followed him in, also using their phone flashlights for light.
The pitch-black cave was not large, it was only wide enough for two people to walk side by side. Consequently, the three naturally progressed in single file.
The dark environment was a bit oppressive, and without the time ticking away on their phones, the three would have had no idea how long they had been in the cave.
Dong Tianyu and the others had to constantly be careful of their footing on the uneven floor inside the cave. After approximately an hour of walking, they finally saw light up ahead.
Upon closer inspection, it was a slightly ajar stone gate. With great difficulty, the three managed to open the stone gate and rushed outside.
But when they saw the view outside, they immediately let loose a string of colorful expletives.
What met their eyes was a cemetery, littered with gravestones. The tombs were grandly built - clearly not the final resting places of ordinary families.
Just as the two in front were discussing whether they should roam around, Dong Tianyu instinctively looked back the way they had come.
"Damn it!"
"What's wrong, Tianyu? You better not startle us. If you wake them up, it's not gonna be a joke."
Hearing his friend joking, Đong TiaOyun stiffly pointed to the direction they had come from.
The other two friends followed his pointing finger with their gaze.
"Damn!"
"No wonder that guy didn't want to come here."
Even though they had just come out of it, anyone looking at the door would have assumed it was simply an inhabitant of the area welcoming guests.
"Are we still going around?" Dong Tianyu's voice was somewhat shaky.
"What exploring? We need to go back and make that guy pay."
"Exactly, that guy must have been here before. We fell for his trap."
Although they knew the way back was through the stone door, it still felt awkward for the three of them to go through it. But once they did, they instinctively closed the door.
If an uninformed person were to look from afar, they would have thought the three who stepped out to bask in the sun and relaxed a bit before returning to the tomb.
The round trip took nearly four hours. When they returned, they quietly lifted the friend who was chatting with the girls and threw him into the pond.
Recalling what seemed to be a grand feast at night, a smile involuntarily appeared on Dong Tianyu's face.
If all goes well, this will be the location of the Refuge Center.
After fixing the location, Dong Tianyu started planning the next steps.
The first step was to convert all the digital currency in his hand into cash. Although it's a pity that current digital currencies haven't reached their historical peak, time-critical Dong Tianyu still gradually sold off the digital currencies in his hand.
Unlike the previous direct conversion into personal cash, Dong Tianyu is planning to set up a company first and transfer the money to the company's account.
Last time, although the authorities did not tax digital currency transactions before they were banned, Dong Tianyu still paid a 20% windfall tax when he sold his digital currencies and transferred the money into the country.
However, precisely because he paid this money, the authorities did not bother Dong Tianyu when they subsequently banned digital currency transactions.
This time, Dong Tianyu is setting up a company, and the money can pass as an investment into China. In the future, the company will only spend money on construction and procurement.
The company will always operate at a loss and will not be profitable, so theoretically it would not need to pay taxes.
In the coming years, digital currencies will also see a steady increase in value, so Dong Tianyu only plans to calculate how much they will cost each time, and he will sell off digital currencies gradually.
Moreover, since they are most likely to receive Eagle Coins first after a digital currency transaction, it is not necessary to purchase everything domestically.