Chapter 198 - 190: Chen’s Pawnshop
Chapter 198: Chapter 190: Chen’s Pawnshop
Liu put on a wronged expression, but the old matriarch didn’t even glance at her. She simply turned and went into the house, where she found her two sons arguing over who should carry the Jade Pendant.
She strode forward, snatched the Jade Pendant from her second son’s hands, and shoved it into her eldest’s. "Dazhu is tall and sturdy, so it’s safer for him to carry it," she declared, full of self-righteousness. "But then again, as long as you don’t run into robbers, it doesn’t matter who has it. Whatever you get for it, make sure you bring every last bit of it back."
Bai Erzhu was furious. ’But what good would getting angry do? It wouldn’t change anything.’ He could only hang his head and follow Bai Dazhu out of the Bai Family home as they hurried toward town. They didn’t dare rest for even a moment. The town was a full thirty li away, and if they didn’t hurry, they feared they wouldn’t make it back by nightfall.
「Chen’s Pawnshop」
The Shopkeeper’s expression changed the moment he saw the Jade Pendant Bai Dazhu handed him. His eyes were glued to it, unable to look away. ’This texture, this feel, this design... This isn’t something an ordinary family could possibly own.’
He had been appraising goods in Qingyuan Town for many years and had taken in some fine treasures, but he had never seen a Jade Pendant like this one. It was, without a doubt, incredibly valuable.
He glanced sideways at the two brothers outside the small window. They looked utterly destitute, and their eyes were full of greed. They didn’t show the slightest hint of regret or reluctance at parting with such a Jade Pendant. ’Clearly,’ he thought, ’this item doesn’t belong to them.’
’He didn’t want to know how they got it, and there was no need to ask. It didn’t matter. Now that it had entered his pawnshop, it belonged to the pawnshop. It belonged to Chen’s.’
He said to the two brothers outside, "This Jade Pendant seems exquisite, but upon closer inspection, it has obvious cracks. It’s not worth much."
Bai Dazhu’s face fell, the joy vanishing from his expression. "So how much is it worth, then?" he asked hurriedly. "Name your price."
The Shopkeeper decisively reached into a cabinet below, took out two silver ingots—each a ten-tael ingot—and placed them on the counter with a THUD. "Twenty taels. Take it or leave it."
Hearing the offer of twenty taels, Bai Dazhu immediately broke into a wide grin. ’And here I was, thinking we’d only get a few taels for it!’ Getting twenty taels was beyond his wildest dreams. ’This is great, just great!’
"We’ll pawn it, we’ll pawn it," Bai Dazhu said hurriedly.
The Shopkeeper’s lips curled into a scornful smile. ’What an ignorant lout,’ he thought.
He pushed the silver through the small window and, as he was writing out the pawn ticket, casually asked, "Where are you from, brother?"
Bai Dazhu quickly replied, "We’re from Huangtuo Village. The surname is Bai. In Huangtuo Village, just mention Bai Dazhu, and everyone knows who you’re talking about."
The Shopkeeper jotted this information down in a separate ledger. The Jade Pendant was extremely valuable, after all, and there was no telling how they’d come by it. If any trouble arose later, it would be best to know the source.
Bai Dazhu and Bai Erzhu took the twenty taels of silver and the pawn ticket, leaving the pawnshop beaming. On their way, they spotted a meat vendor and bought two jin. They hadn’t eaten a full meal in days; today, they would feast on meat.
As the saying goes, fame is to a man as fat is to a pig—both invite trouble, and one shouldn’t flaunt wealth. But Bai Dazhu paid no mind to such wisdom. He had never held such a large silver ingot in his life and practically wanted to walk around with it balanced on his head. When he bought the meat, he deliberately bellowed, "Hey, butcher! Can you break a ten-tael silver ingot?"
The young butcher glanced up at him and said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, "You’re pulling my leg, big brother. If I couldn’t break a ten-tael silver ingot, how could I possibly stay in business?"