Shen Renjie had a very long dream.

In the dream, he was floating in warm seawater, with his head and upper body above the surface and his lower body soaking in the water.

It felt a little like seawater, but more like a hot spring.

The sunset glow shone on the surface of the water, making it as comfortable as being in his mother's arms.

Shen Renjie closed his eyes and didn't want to move a finger.

However, the sunlight gradually became too intense, causing his eyelids to ache. Shen Renjie frowned and endured for a moment.

The sunlight was so bright that it could shine through his eyelids, and it was no longer the sunset but the midday sun.

Shen Renjie opened his eyes angrily, thinking that he couldn't even have a peaceful dream.

But his expression quickly turned to surprise, shock, and even extreme astonishment.

Golden, full of golden color.

But it wasn't sunlight, it was gold.

Golden treasures of all shapes and sizes filled Shen Renjie's vision.

There were gold bars, round coins, and even horseshoe-shaped pieces. He couldn't even begin to identify them all, but he didn't care.

It was like a dream come true.

He picked up a piece and took a bite, savoring the hard yet soft texture that could only be gold. Shen Renjie couldn't contain his joy. He had never seen so much gold in his life, and he doubted even the wealthiest and most powerful people in Shanghai had either. He had climbed his way up from the bottom, always dreaming of making more money.

Now, his ultimate dream had suddenly come true.

Shen Renjie was so happy he didn't know what to do with himself. He just wanted to frolic in this sea of gold and never leave. So much gold lay beneath him.

He rolled around on it, holding it close, but surprisingly didn't feel uncomfortable. Exhausted from all the rolling, Shen Renjie lay content on top of the gold, dreaming of the future.

First, he needed to buy a big house. His current one was too small for his family of three, and it was inconvenient to do anything at night.

If he had the money, he would definitely buy a house with a courtyard and a wing room. The master bedroom had to be large and spacious, and he would also buy a few servants.

His wife had always complained about having too much housework and no one to help share the burden. With the money, he wouldn't have to listen to her nagging anymore.

And then there was the matter of their child's education. With money, he could always find a way to get them into a good school.

Wait a minute, who was this "she" and who was this child?

Shen Renjie thought for a moment but couldn't remember their names, so he gave up trying to recall them.

He squinted his eyes and turned over, burying his face completely in the gold.

What does gold smell like?

Shen Renjie had never smelled it before. He thought it would be sweet like honey, fragrant like freshly baked hot cakes, or the delicate and delicious scent of flower buds in spring.

But it seemed not.

It was actually a slightly fishy smell.

Shen Renjie frowned, lifted his face slightly, and hesitated to move away from the gold.

How could gold have this smell?

It should be a collection of all the beauty in the world, but no matter how he smelled it, it was like dead fish that had been left in the market for a few days.

No, it was even worse than dead fish.

It was like...a corpse.

Suddenly, Shen Renjie was startled, feeling like he had forgotten something very important.

What did he forget?

As soon as he started to think deeply, his head began to ache. He couldn't help but cover his forehead, trying to drive away the shadows in his mind.

"Go away! Go away!"

All he needed was happiness. With this gold, he could have everything he wanted. He could have the wind and rain at his command. What couldn't he get with just a snap of his fingers?

Even his career, he could use the gold to pave the way for his promotion. He could knock on every door and open them one by one, and who knows, maybe one day he could even become the first Chinese director in history!

With this, he would return home in glory, dressed in fine clothes and basking in the admiration of his ancestors. The mayor of his hometown would surely beg to erect a plaque in his honor. In the Qing Dynasty, only scholars and heroic women were granted such an honor. As a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Works, he was no less than a Qing scholar.

The thought of it made him feel triumphant. Those arrogant foreigners and traitors who used to look down on him would now have to bow and scrape before him. Even his wife, who was usually so fierce, would have to acknowledge his authority.

Wait, what was his wife's name again?

Why couldn't he remember?

Shen Renjie furrowed his brow, the stench becoming too strong to ignore.

'Why does gold taste like this? It would be so much better if it was more fragrant and sweeter,' thought Shen Renjie.

His head was buzzing, as if someone was talking to him from behind a veil, the words muffled and indistinct.

Shen Renjie reached up to scratch his ear, but found that his arm was heavy and unresponsive.

When he turned to look, he saw that it wasn't gold weighing down his arm, but a heavy stone.

He was shocked and looked around, only to see that the dazzling gold was losing its luster and turning dull and rough at a visible speed.

The bars and ingots were now irregular chunks.

This was not gold at all, but stones!