This pawnshop has always been the most impressive of all the businesses. In other businesses, even if the goods are hard to sell, the buyers will be greeted with a smile. But this pawnshop is the opposite: the customers who come to pawn their goods beg the pawnshop to give them a fair price, which naturally makes them look down on themselves.
The guys in the store were fine, but the gentleman sitting behind the counter was the one with the biggest airs. He acted as if he didn't care and was dispensable, and then he severely devalued the items so that he could get the price down easily.
Shen Qing had come to the pawnshop with his mother once before: a few years ago, Mr. Shen had a serious illness, which almost drained out all the family savings. At that time, the crops in the fields had not yet been harvested, but they were in urgent need of money, so they had to borrow from all their relatives and friends, but it was still not enough.
Old Lady Shen decided to pawn two quilts to exchange for money to buy medicine. She was reluctant to use her two sons, so she let Shen Qing carry the load and follow her into the city.
Shen Qing saw with his own eyes how the old lady Shen, who used to show off at home, became timid in front of the gentleman at the counter at the pawnshop. The gentleman then belittled the two quilts that were made of solid material and were 80% to 90% new, and finally only gave them half the price that old lady Shen had expected.
When Mrs. Shen was in the pawnshop, she didn't dare to say much and could only agree. But on the way back, she scolded Shen Qing and vented her anger all the way.
But this time Shen Qing pawned silver jewelry, which, unlike quilts and household items, did not have an exact standard for measuring prices. No matter what, the price offered by the pawnshop could not be lower than the value of the silver itself, so how much lower could it be?
Little did he know that the gentleman at the counter was not even going to pay him the price in silver!
The old man looked at Shen Qing with sidelong eyes, and then carefully examined the three pieces of jewelry on the tray. An idea came to his mind: in addition to the poor people who could not make ends meet and needed to pawn their items frequently, there was another type of people who were frequent customers of the pawnshop, and that was thieves.
There is no need to talk about some big thieves who have their own skills. Let's just talk about those small thieves who have no connections. They stole things from rich families. They have no background and no market, so they can only come to the pawnshop to pawn them. Otherwise, if they sell them easily in the market and are found out by the owner or the government, it will be a big deal.
Behind these pawnshops, there are often some powerful forces and connections. Not only can they not deal with the government, but they can also steal the stolen goods out of the city and transport them far away to other places, making it difficult for the government to track them down.
However, for items of unknown origin, the pawnshop will severely lower the price, and it would be considered a lot if they can give 20% to 30% of the original price of the goods.
The three pieces of silver jewelry that Shen Qing brought, although not very heavy, were exquisitely designed and looked very new. They did not look like what a poor man like Shen Qing could wear, nor did they look like old items handed down from his family. The pawnshop owner naturally guessed that they were of illegal origin - in a sense, he was not wrong. These things were indeed not obtained by Shen Qing through "normal" means. If it were not for the special encounter brought by the magical cave, Shen Qing's family would never have been able to obtain such good things.
This is the ruthless vision of the old man in the pawnshop. Looking at Shen Qing's appearance, he seems to be a boy from a poor family, not like the habitual thieves on the street. Maybe he just did such a thing in a moment of confusion.
The pawnbroker couldn't help but raise his attitude even higher - it's not that he didn't intend to accept the stolen goods, he was just going to give the thief a scare and then give him a few small bribes to get rid of him.
Shen Qing didn't know what the pawnbroker was planning, but he had prepared a story long ago: just like when he tried to fudge Aunt Zheng at the dental shop, since he would have to cover up a lot in the future, he had to get used to it now. Knowing that he was not good at talking and might not be able to come up with a story at the last minute, he prepared for all possibilities in advance: "This is the dowry my family prepared for me a few years ago, but then something happened at home and the marriage didn't work out, so I can't use it for a while, and someone in my family is sick and needs money urgently, so I pawned it."
He originally thought that it was his mother's dowry, but now that life could not make ends meet, he took it to exchange for money: Miao's dowry did have a silver bracelet, but it was not as heavy and patterned as these two. It was a thin plain ring, weighing only three or four coins, and it had been taken away by Shen Zhigao to exchange for money for drinking.
Considering that the two bracelets and the silver locket were really new and didn't look old, she pretended that they were her dowry. Shen Qing felt that she had considered all aspects carefully, so even if people had some doubts, they couldn't find any major problems.
Nowadays, it is very normal for families who love their daughters or sons to buy one or two pieces of silver jewelry for them before the wedding.
After listening to Shen Qing's words, the old man obviously didn't believe it - or he was unwilling to believe that things didn't develop according to his prediction. He looked at Shen Qing with a raised eyebrow and said, "Look at your clothes and physique. You don't look like someone whose family can afford such an expensive dowry."
Shen Qing looked like someone who was used to farm work. Who would be willing to let a spoiled kid go to the fields? "Besides, I've never seen the pattern of this bracelet before. It's not a style sold in several jewelry stores in our county. Tell me the truth, where did this thing come from?"
Their pawnshop has dealings and cooperation with several jewelry shops in the county. There are only a few gold and silver craftsmen, and they only know a few skills. He has never seen anyone make such a pattern.
Shen Qing was a little annoyed. He originally thought that his excuse was quite complete, but after being criticized by the pawnshop owner, he now felt that there were many loopholes. He still lacked experience!
At the same time, I was a little confused. It was just a transaction where money was exchanged for goods. This person was weird. Why did he have to dig into the matter?
Seeing that he did not answer for a while, the old man felt that he had been tricked and made the other party speechless, so he said with some complacency: "I have seen many people like you, who did shameful things in a moment of confusion... Humph, if this thing has any origin, you'd better tell me clearly as soon as possible, and I can help cover it up. But as for the price... If you just keep hiding the truth and don't tell the truth, the government will come to your door one day, and neither you nor I will be able to explain it!"
This was his usual tactic, one of intimidation and one of inducement. If it were an ordinary guy, he would be frightened and at a loss for words even if the stolen goods were not stolen. And then the price would be whatever he said.
But the person he met was Shen Qing!
"What does this have to do with the government? Something shameful? Tell me clearly, what is shameful!" Shen Qing's mind turned several corners before he understood what the old man meant. He was experienced but not stupid. He was immediately very angry: this was no longer an ordinary question about the origin of something, but an insult to his character!
In the past, when he had no food to eat and his stomach was growling with hunger, Shen Qing never picked a cucumber from other people's vegetable gardens or collected an egg from other people's homes. Instead, he would risk going up the mountain to find something to eat.
Even in another world, he only picked up unwanted things whose owners had died. He had been looking around in front of the store for a long time but had never set foot in it!
Shen Qing has always been a man of integrity. Why should he be slandered like this by a pawnshop owner?
Shen Qing laughed out of anger: "You mean, I stole this thing? What evidence do you have?"
The old man looked up at Shen Qing, with a smile of seeing through everything and full of mockery on his lips. He said nothing, but his meaning was obvious, which made people even more angry!
Although Shen Qing was very angry, as Aunt Guixiang said, he was really not good at arguing, and he didn't know how to refute for a while. In addition, he was in the city, on someone else's territory, and he didn't have much chance of winning if he fought, so he had to swallow his anger. He felt very aggrieved in his heart, and now he understood more deeply what Aunt Guixiang meant by asking him to learn to speak more.
But this can't be changed immediately. Shen Qing could only suppress his anger at this time and said with a sullen face: "Since you think my things are not obtained legitimately and you are afraid of taking risks, just don't accept them." Shen Qing stepped forward with a clear look in his eyes: "You are not the only pawnshop in the county, I will change to another one. I am here to pawn things, not to be slandered for no reason."
The pawnshop owner choked. He didn't expect that the guy was not panicked at all and was so tough. He held the bracelet in his hand and it was not right not to return it, but he was reluctant to part with it. The patterns mass-produced by modern technology are naturally inferior to those by the top craftsmen in ancient times.
But Anping County is just a small county, where can top craftsmen come from? These two bracelets are far above the local average, and they look very delicate. They can be sold at a good price!
Seeing Shen Qing's eyes full of anger but without any guilt, the pawnshop owner was a little shaken: Could it be that he guessed wrong?
The duck that he had just caught was about to fly away, which made him feel more uncomfortable than swallowing a nail!
Shen Qing was already a little impatient, thinking that the source was not legitimate, but he was unwilling to let go. What did he mean by that? "Are you trying to slander me for stealing my things and embezzling them? Give the things back. If you think my things are stolen and dirty, just report them to the police. I am not afraid. If you don't give me the things and you don't report them to the police, then I will report them to the police! Let everyone see what kind of black shop you are!"
You know what, Shen Qing actually guessed something by accident: although he didn't intend to embezzle the money, he only planned to give him a hundred or two hundred coins and send him off.
But after Shen Qing said this, the pawnshop owner knew that his plan was no longer possible as he had run into a tough opponent.
Judging from the guy's expression, the item was probably not stolen. In fact, his original intention was just to lower the price. Whether the item was stolen or not was not that important. However, he was not happy at this moment because he failed to lower the price. He was even more unwilling to admit that he had said something wrong and wronged someone, and he still wanted to gain an advantage by talking. He pulled a long face and said, "If you say it's not stolen, then it's not stolen? We are also afraid that we will run into trouble in the future. Do you have to ask in detail?"
Shen Qing was not so easily fooled: "Since you suspect the things are stolen, just don't take them. You can also report them to the police. I'll wait for the officials to come here. You don't report them to the police, but instead hold on to the things. What do you mean?"
"Oh, he is old and confused, and his words are not pleasant to the ear. Don't take it to heart, young man." The shopkeeper, who was originally drinking tea in the inner room, had heard the two people arguing for a long time. Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, he hurried out to smooth things over.
He was not afraid that a young man would be angry: no matter how bad their business attitude was, they had no shortage of customers. Every day there were poor people who could not make ends meet begging them to accept their pawn items.
But this guy insisted on reporting to the police, and their store had indeed done a lot of stolen goods business. It would be fine if they didn't investigate, but it would be very painful if they really investigated. This guy looked like he had a hot temper, and if he continued to talk nonsense, he would really report to the police! So he stepped forward to calm him down.
The shopkeeper pretended to reprimand the old man, drove him to the back room, sat down at the counter, and personally entertained Shen Qing. He looked much more amiable than the previous one, with a round, chubby face, naturally with a festive and kind look, and said in a gentle voice: "Brother, do you want to pawn your life or death? I'm sorry for what I did just now, I'll give you a higher price."
People say that you shouldn't hit someone who smiles at you. Shen Qing couldn't care less about the shopkeeper's behavior: after all, it was someone else's territory! But he was still very annoyed. After the shopkeeper interrupted him, he sorted out some of his thoughts and guessed the intention of the gentleman just now.
Ultimately, it all comes down to my own failure to be careful enough. My clothes and appearance do not match the items I want to pawn. Even if I change to another pawnshop, I am afraid I will encounter similar problems.
But going to a few more pawnshops would only attract more attention. If I met someone who was greedy and picky and secretly followed me back to the village to inquire about things, I would be afraid that more trouble would arise.
Shen Qing took a deep breath, and suddenly realized that he did not exchange the gold and silver treasures from another world for money and live a good life in his imagination. He still thought things were too simple, and rashly took out wealth that did not match his status. Even if he did not provoke anyone, others would regard him as a fat sheep!
Just like the pawnshop owner, he thought he had made a perfect excuse - no, even if his excuse was perfect, as long as this person wanted to take advantage of him, he would try every means to bite off a piece of meat from him.
This realization made Shen Qing extremely depressed, diluting a lot of his joy of getting a big bag of jewelry yesterday and becoming rich. At this moment, he just wanted to finish the matter quickly, and didn't want to change pawnshops and attract more attention, so he said to the shopkeeper: "Pawn it to death."
The shopkeeper carefully held the bracelets, looked at them again, and weighed them. Both bracelets weighed a little more than one tael, and the silver lock weighed three qian: "This silver is of good quality and the workmanship is also exquisite. If you pawn it, I will give you a total of three taels of silver, okay?" Fearing that Shen Qing was not satisfied with what happened just now, he added: "My price is already high, no other shop can give you this price."
In fact, pawnshops usually devalue the items they want to pawn to lower the price. It has become a common practice. If they say the silver is of good quality, it is actually very good.
The metal purification technology in ancient times cannot be compared with that of modern times. The official silver required for paying taxes and grain as stipulated by the imperial court was called "Full Silver of the Ministry of Revenue", also known as Fine Silver and Pure Silver. Although it is called full silver, according to modern standards it is only 93.5%, close to 925 silver, and far from the modern purified 999 silver.
This "100% silver" is more of a "virtual silver" as a unit of measurement. It is difficult to refine and is rare in the market. It is not widely circulated. It is more common for the public to use 70% silver or 80% silver, but it has to be discounted when calculating accounts. The same is true for gold.
Shen Qing naturally didn't know the ins and outs of this, but he just stared at the scale and calculated in his mind that, apart from the value of the silver itself, he would have to pay an extra hundred coins for each piece of jewelry.
He sold four loads of firewood in the morning and only made a little over 100 coins. Shen Qing didn't know if it was a good deal or not, but it was beyond his expectations. In addition, he had a bad impression of this pawnshop and was afraid of getting into trouble if he stayed any longer, so he agreed without further ado.
The shopkeeper took out a box filled with silver coins. He rummaged through it and found a silver coin, which was half of a five-liang silver ingot. He weighed it on the scale and it was exactly three liang. A businessman like him who often counts can not only calculate the weight of silver by weighing it, but also calculate the purity by mental calculation, and can do it almost to the last cent.
Shen Qing watched him weigh the silver, and seeing that there was no problem with its weight and purity, he took the pawn ticket and silver coins, put them in his arms, and quickly left the pawnshop.
Not long after walking, Shen Qing realized that someone was secretly following him. He knew without thinking that it was sent by the pawnshop! Fortunately, he often walked in the mountains and learned some tracking and hiding skills from the old hunter. In addition, the other party was not a professional tracker, so he got rid of the person without much effort.
But this incident made Shen Qing even more angry: Why are there so many bad people in this world! He didn't provoke them at all, but he didn't want to be cheated, forced to lower the price, or swallowed up. He was stared at and followed by others. How hateful!
Should he just let others bully him?! If others want to lower the price, he should accept it. If others want to embezzle his things, he should just let them take them away?
But there are some people in this world who think that if they don’t pick up the money, they will lose it! If they don’t get any advantage, they will feel that they have suffered a loss. If someone doesn’t let them get an advantage, they will even get angry!
The pawnbroker just now was really such a person. Not only did he not get the bracelet at a low price, but he was also humiliated by a fellow, which made him even more angry and resentful, so he asked the clerk to secretly follow Shen Qing.
Not long after, the fellow who went out came back and waved his hand and said, "We lost him. Don't tell me, he's a guy, but he's quite fast. He disappeared in a few turns. Either he's on guard against us, or he's quite familiar with this area." After thinking for a while, he said, "But he definitely doesn't live around here. It's rare to see a guy with this hairstyle. I've never seen one before."
The shopkeeper shook his head and said, "Forget it, if it's lost, it's lost. This deal is not a loss." He said he would give Shen Qing a higher price, but he also wanted to scare Shen Qing into not knowing the market. If such exquisite and good jewelry is sent to a store in the capital, the resale price can be doubled, and they still have a lot of profit. "Why bother to get angry with a young man?"
The pawnbroker was unwilling to give up: He was particularly aggrieved because the other party was a boy! He couldn't even control a boy, which made him lose face in the shop: "Do you believe that thing is his? Even if he didn't steal it, it must have other origins! What if he has something else in his hand?"
This made the shopkeeper's heart move. Although he was too lazy to get angry with a young man, if there was a greater benefit to be gained by keeping an eye on Shen Qing, he might as well give it a try. Even if nothing happened in the end, it would only cost some manpower and there would be no loss.
But if he really guessed right... the shopkeeper's eyes flashed with a gleam, and he ordered: "Luckily, just as he said, guys with that kind of appearance are rare. Tell people on the street to be careful, and if they see him again, keep an eye on him and find out where he is from."
If it was really the dowry prepared by his family as he said, it would be fine. But if it had another origin... no matter how tough this guy is, they have a way to make him spit it out!
At this time, Shen Qing, who was being targeted by several people in the pawnshop, had already thought of a way to deal with it.
In the clothing store, Shen Qing selected two 70% to 80% new outer garments made of good material, both of which were the size that would fit Miao. The proprietress, who was sitting beside him and eating melon seeds, could not help but praise him, "You have a good eye, brother! These clothes were just delivered to me, very clean. They were originally the old clothes that the servants of the county magistrate changed out of. Even though they are worn by the servants in the mansion, they are all made of good material and well made!"
Servants in wealthy families were allocated new clothes every season. When they got new clothes, some people who were good at budgeting would secretly sell their old clothes for money. The two clothes that Shen Qing liked were the ones that the housekeeper's wife had given away. One was made of dark blue ramie cloth, and the other was made of dark purple coarse cotton cloth. Both were good materials that were strong and durable.
The dark purple coarse cotton cloth was also sandwiched with a thin layer of cotton and edged with different colored fabrics, making it look more refined than what ordinary people wore. In addition, the first requirement for a housekeeper in a wealthy family was cleanliness, and there must not be any lice or fleas on the body, for fear of passing them on to the master. Naturally, these clothes had to be cleaner and more reassuring than those collected from ordinary people's homes, and most importantly, they were cheap!
In those days, clothes and fabrics were hard currency. It was common for a family to pawn a couple of sets of clothes when they could not make ends meet. As a result, a business was born: selling used clothes.
Take the street where Shen Qing is now, for example. It is full of people doing the business of apparel. The better ones have shops to shelter from the wind and rain, while the worse ones just set up stalls on the roadside, and the stall owners stand by and shout loudly. Now that winter is approaching and the New Year is coming, some people are afraid of the cold and need to buy thick clothes; some people cannot afford new clothes for the New Year, so buying apparel is also good; some people can't even get together the money to buy New Year's goods, so they can only come to sell a few clothes for the New Year...
There were buyers and sellers, people coming and going on the street, shouting sounds were endless, it was very lively.
Shen Qing also thought that these two pieces were very good. Although they were appraised clothes, they were many times better than his and Miao's clothes: when they were in old Shen's house, they had not worn new clothes for many years. They picked up other people's rags and patched them up again and again.
If they really made two new ones, it was not that they could not afford them, but they suddenly became rich, and the villagers would inevitably see them and talk about it: How could a mother and son who lived a hard life suddenly become rich? This would give rise to many troubles.
He immediately asked the proprietress to pack up the two pieces of clothing, and then looked for something he could wear.
He was taller than the average man, and the clothes that men usually wore were much shorter than they were on him. The proprietress looked at him in a dilemma and helped him look for clothes: "I'm afraid they don't have clothes of your size." She looked at Shen Qing's height and found a few men's clothes: "Why don't you take these and go home and alter them yourself?"
The clothing styles of boys and men are different. Men can wear short brown clothes, but boys' clothes should be like women's, with the tops reaching the thighs and knees, covering the waist and hips, and not sticking to the body to show curves. Otherwise, it would be shameless and seducing men, so even the poorest families would not dare to save two feet of cloth.
Therefore, the proprietress did not take short clothes, but several long Taoist robes.
Shen Qingyuan had this plan, and the landlady took the initiative to mention it, saving him from having to make excuses. He took a bean green Taoist robe and put it on, which made the landlady's eyes light up: If it weren't for the mole between his eyebrows, with this figure and appearance, he would be a handsome scholar!
"It looks good! It looks really good!" the lady boss exclaimed. The only flaw was that Shen Qing had been doing farm work before, so her skin was a little tanned, which didn't go well with the bean green. She took out an indigo-blue ramie gown and handed it to Shen Qing: "Try this one, it makes you look fairer!"
However, Shen Qing didn't want to buy the one made of hemp cloth anymore. Instead, he set his eyes on a royal blue silk straight-leg dress that was about 60% new.
"This is not cheap," the lady boss kindly reminded. Silk is made from tussah silk, which is not as good as mulberry silk, but it is still silk! This dress was sold by a gambling loser. His family was originally quite wealthy, so the material and workmanship of this dress are very good, and the dyed color is also bright. The price is eight cents of silver: this is because the dress is only 60% to 70% new. If you want to make a new silk, you can't get less than two taels of silver!
At this moment, Shen Qing was still wearing coarse cloth clothes with patches on top of patches. It would be fine if he bought a few pieces of fine cloth clothes, but this silk clothes was really not something Shen Qing could afford.
Shen Qing touched the cocoon silk fabric. He had never worn silk clothes before, and he had rarely touched it. When he was a child, he went to the cloth shop with Miao. If he touched it secretly, the shop assistants would criticize him. He really thought it was good, so he asked the boss's wife, "How much does this one cost?"
It’s not that Shen Qing is unfilial, as he only buys cotton clothes for Miao and silk for himself, but he has his own plans and considerations!
If people on the street respect the clothes first and then the person, and if people think the jewelry is stolen because he is wearing shabby clothes, then wouldn't it be more reasonable for him to take out the jewelry if he is dressed more luxuriously?
If people in this world always look down on men, thinking that they are easy to bully, then if he puts on men's clothes and walks around like a man, will people no longer dare to bully him?
Anyway, with his stature and appearance, no one would recognize him even if he dressed up as a man!
Shen Qing thought of the "strange clothes" he had exchanged from Song Kaiji in another world. If he could wear other clothes to disguise himself in that world, why couldn't he do so in the county town?
The identity you have in the outside world is given by yourself! Although Shen Qing had never heard of this sentence, he figured out this truth without any teacher.
Shen Qing thought this silk dress was very good: it was good to have something that was neither new nor old, as it showed the family's financial status without being too luxurious; it was not easy to be looked down upon, but it was not more eye-catching than brand new clothes. Shen Qing was very satisfied.
The proprietress looked at the other clothes Shen Qing had chosen and said, "This one alone costs eight cents of silver. If you take them all, I can give you a discount. These two women's clothes, plus the bean green Taoist robe, you can take all four together and I'll charge you one tael of silver."
Afraid that Shen Qing would be embarrassed because he couldn't afford it, he pointed to the three items he had chosen before and said, "If it's just these, three coins of silver will be enough."
Shen Qing secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought that the clothes would be very expensive. In the past, he would never have dared to dream of spending eight taels of silver to buy clothes, but now it is nothing. Shen Qing took out the three taels of silver and handed it to the proprietress: "Pack all these pieces together for me."
The proprietress didn't expect Shen Qing to be rich despite his shabby clothes. She was not as curious as the pawnshop people to find out where the customer's money came from. She was just happy that she had made such a big deal.
She quickly packed up the clothes that Shen Qing had chosen, and took out a pair of scissors and a scale to weigh the silver.
Every shop on the street had scissors and scales. When customers paid with large ingots of silver, the shopkeepers would not give out their own small change as change, but would simply use scissors to break the large ingot of silver into pieces, and cut off as much as the customer paid.
In addition to being convenient, breaking it open can also prevent you from receiving fake silver filled with lead or copper, killing two birds with one stone. A scale is a very accurate small scale, usually used to weigh gold, silver, and medicinal materials, and can be accurate to one centimeter.
Even many customers who often use silver would bring their own scissors and scales. After the store owner weighed the goods, the customer would weigh them again in case the store owner's scales were inaccurate.
The proprietress, who is used to doing business, can pick up the silver almost accurately.
Shen Qing saw the proprietress cutting silver coins, and his heart moved. After what happened at the pawnshop, he didn't dare to think about taking other things in his home to the pawnshop or jewelry shop to exchange for money: there were three pawnshops in Anping County, and Shen Qing didn't know if he would meet bad people again when he went to the other two. He couldn't help but feel a little worried: last night he was thinking about exchanging jewelry for silver to build a mansion and recruit a son-in-law, but now he has encountered a problem just after taking the first step. Is he just going to guard a pile of gold, silver and jewelry without being able to spend them?
Before he could figure out a solution, the boss lady's action solved the problem that had been bothering him: "Auntie, where can I buy these scissors and scales?"
The proprietress pointed outside and said, "In front, between Guiyi Street and Caisi Lane, there is a small shop that runs horizontally. It is a silver shop. Businessmen on our streets all go there to borrow silver. It charges much less than a money house."
Shen Qing thanked the proprietress, took the wrapped clothes and the change, and went to the Qingyin shop.
This Qingyin Shop, as the name suggests, is engaged in the business of breaking silver ingots: people often use scissors to break whole silver ingots for daily purchases, and the shop owners have accumulated too much broken silver, which is very inconvenient to store and count, so they will go to the Qingyin Shop to exchange the broken silver or break it into whole ingots, charging only a small fire consumption fee.
If someone has a whole ingot of silver but doesn't have pliers and scissors, they can go to the silver shop to exchange it for loose silver. The shop has very accurate scales and weights, and also sells tools such as pliers and scales.
Shen Qing spent two coins to buy a pair of scales and scissors. He could no longer go to the pawnshop. He still had a lot of silver jewelry left at home. It would be better to cut it into small pieces and spend it directly, or cut it into pieces and then exchange it for a whole ingot at the silver shop. Although this would be a loss, his money came from an odd source, so he should not attract attention. It would be better to be low-key and cautious.
One's fate is really changing rapidly. Half a month ago, Shen Qing would never have thought that he would have a day when he would give up more than 100 Wen for the craftsmanship fee. But now he has more money, what is more than 100 Wen? He spent it before he did anything: there are too many things that need to be bought at home!
After solving this problem, Shen Qing felt much more relieved: it would be easy to make money in the future, and he had such a big bag hidden at home, so he didn't have to spend every penny. Shen Qing planned to do some shopping and buy everything the family needed!
There was enough food, but there were not enough handy things. The first thing they lacked was a kitchen knife and an iron pot! Miao was very distressed when the clay pot cracked last night, so Shen Qing bought two at once today!
One was a large iron pot commonly seen in the village, used for cooking rice and stewing; the other was a small flat-bottomed pancake maker. Miao had previously complained that a clay pot was not suitable for making pancakes, but her skill in making pancakes was also very good.
The cabbage and radish in the vegetable garden are about to be harvested, and the big jars for storing sauerkraut and pickled vegetables should also be bought! Thinking about the situation in the other world, Shen Qing thinks that he should store more sauerkraut and pickled vegetables this year, because the people over there will definitely like to eat them!
I simply bought two large jars for storing sauerkraut and five large jars for pickles at once.
To store sauerkraut and pickled vegetables, you need to buy a few more kilograms of salt: salt and sugar are both rare, a kilogram of fine salt costs forty coins, and coarse salt is cheaper but also limited. Shen Qing bought five kilograms of coarse salt and a kilogram of brown sugar, so that Miao can often soak in water to nourish her body. In the morning, make some egg tea with a spoonful of sugar and drink it hot, it will sweeten your heart!
They also needed to buy a pair of buckets and shoulder poles for carrying water. Their family still used clay pots to carry water, and they had to run to the well several times a day. They also needed to buy a hoe for plowing the land. They borrowed the hoe from Aunt Lian's family when they started the vegetable garden. After buying salt and sugar, they had to buy some sesame oil, soy sauce, pepper, and star anise.
Shen Qing was thinking of buying two more rolls of cloth and a bag of cotton to make a few quilts: he and Miao each had only one old quilt, and the cotton inside had not been fluffed for a long time and was no longer warm. There was no mattress either, so they had to cover themselves with thick straw these days, and luckily the weather was not too cold.
After buying the outer garment, he also needed to make a close-fitting inner garment, which made it difficult to buy a good-looking garment. He also needed to make a thick cotton-padded jacket, and he also needed to buy needles and thread to make clothes... But he had no money left! The little money he earned from selling jewelry and firewood was not enough to buy so many things.
If you spend this money, it will be really hard to spend! Shen Qing asked someone to send the things to Aunt Zheng's dental shop, and then he found a small noodle shop and ordered a bowl of hot rotten meat noodles for lunch.
A large spoonful of braised pork was poured over the white noodles, sprinkled with chopped green onions and coriander, and two drops of sesame oil were added to the red soup base. After stirring it evenly, it was fragrant. Shen Qing thought as he ate that next time he might as well bring Miao to the county town to taste the food in the city. Miao was also better at buying needles, thread, cloth, and cotton than he was.
But how should he explain to Miao the origin of the silver and money?
With the last bit of money in his pocket, Shen Qing bought ten kilograms of taro cakes and carried them back to the dental shop. Aunt Zheng was shocked. She knew Shen Qing was going to buy some things, but she didn't know he would buy so much: "Wow, there have been people delivering things all morning. I thought I went to the wrong place."
But seeing that they were all useful things for daily life, he did not think much of it: "The water jars and pots have been tied to your cart. Be careful when driving. These things cannot be touched!"
Shen Qing thanked Aunt Zheng and took the cart of things back to Lantang Village. As soon as he entered the village, he was surrounded, causing a small sensation.
"Why did Qingge buy these old things?"
"How much does this old iron pot cost?"
"What do you mean? You don't have an iron pot at home?"
"It is said that Qing'er's family is having a hard time..."
"It's not easy," Shen Qing jumped off the car and led the mule to the yard. "I've always wanted to buy an iron pot, but I couldn't afford it. I sold some pork yesterday and finally got enough money. Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll have to save it until after the New Year. We made a fuss last night, and we were cooking at home. When I came back, the clay pot was cracked. I can't use it if I don't buy it."
Thinking of the wild boar, the villagers felt that it was reasonable. Looking at the things bought in the car, although there were many, they were all the most common and most useful things at home. After discussing for a while, the envy and jealousy gradually subsided, and they felt sorry for Shen Qing and Miao: In the past, they didn't even have a water jar, a bucket for carrying water, or a shoulder pole. What kind of life did the mother and daughter live?
Then he started chattering about the bad things about the Shen family.
Only Miao's face changed when she saw the things in the cart: she knew very well that Shen Qing had not asked her for the money from selling pork yesterday before he left today. In the past, Shen Qing had kept all the money he earned from chopping wood in her hands without asking her for it. So where did Qing Ge'er get the money to buy all these things?
Shen Qing turned around and saw Miao standing there in a daze, and hurriedly pushed her into the yard: "Mom, go back to the house first, I have something to talk to you later."
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