A wealthy young man recently came to Anping County.
This young man is tall and handsome, and he looks wealthy yet low-key. But if you look closely, the things hanging around his waist and in his hands are not cheap, and some of them have never been seen in this small county.
No one knew where this young man came from or why he suddenly appeared in Anping County. He often walked on the streets on weekdays, and his favorite places to go were jewelry shops, silk and cloth shops, teahouses, and dim sum restaurants. He was also quite generous, spending a few taels of silver every once in a while - don't think that a few taels of silver were a small amount, as farmers were more frugal and a whole family would only spend a few taels of silver a year!
Many families secretly inquired about the origins of this young man, with all kinds of intentions: some were just curious and liked to pry into other people's affairs; some saw that he was rich and handsome and wanted to inquire about his marriage; some had bad intentions and wanted to make friends with him and get some money to spend...
But this young man had a bad temper and didn't like to talk to people. Even in the silk shop he often went to, if the clerk asked a few more questions, he would lose his face immediately, and would not want the things he had chosen and would just walk out. After two or three incidents, who would dare to touch this master's reverse scale? Isn’t that pushing the God of Wealth away?
But recently, some people heard that this young man asked a pawnbroker to buy a shop and a property, and it seemed that he was going to settle down in Anping County. The familiar shop owners would laugh in their dreams: Ever since this young man came to Anping County, his shop's business has improved a lot compared to the previous few months. Who wouldn't want the God of Wealth to stay in Anping County? Some people even bribed the broker, just hoping to introduce the young man to a house close to his shop!
At this time, Shen Qing, the wealthy young man, was standing in the lobby of Ruyi Pavilion, apparently looking at the jewelry on the counter, but actually listening to the clerk and the shopkeeper introducing the newly-arrived agate, white jade and jadeite to a wealthy lady. It was said that they were choosing a decent piece of jewelry as a dowry for their daughter who was about to get married.
Shen Qing is very busy now. He has to go to the end of the world and come to the county town often. He is as busy as when he was chopping wood. He often visited these jewelry shops and walked on the streets, with the biggest purpose being to gain more knowledge!
Shen Qing could not tell what the jewels he got from the end of the world were, except for gold, silver, pearls and those that looked like they were made of jade. Even if he wanted to sell them, he would easily be cheated. If they can't be exchanged for money, what's the difference between having those jewels piled up at home and a pile of stones? But now, he has been hanging around in these shops for quite some time and can barely tell one thing or another apart, so he is not completely blind.
More importantly, he gradually learned how to communicate with these guys by observing other wealthy customers on the street:
The shopkeeper took out several items. The rich lady looked at them and was obviously not satisfied with any of them. Shen Qing took off a pendant from her waist and said, "Shopkeeper, can you help me take a look at this one?"
Shen Qing often came to this shop and bought two silver hairpins. The shopkeeper naturally treated him as an honored and familiar customer, thinking that he was just showing off his things to others or to amaze others.
How could the shopkeeper spoil his fun? However, after receiving the pendant, I felt that it was really valuable: I wonder what kind of skilled craftsman could achieve such sophisticated polishing technology? There definitely isn’t one in Anping County! Looking at the material again, it turned out to be a piece of agate with clean texture and bright color!
In ancient times, agate was extremely valuable. Those who wore it were either rich or noble. Some dynasties even allowed only officials to wear it. Fortunately, the current Chu Dynasty does not have such regulations, but agate is expensive and still rare among the people. There are only two of them in Ruyifang, and their quality and texture are not very good, with many impurities. However, they are extremely rare in this small county.
Because agate is very hard, it was extremely difficult to mine in ancient times. But it is different in modern times. Since a certain country used blasting technology to mine agate in the 19th century, the value of agate has dropped sharply overnight and it has become a very popular jewelry material. And the pendant that Shen Qing received was not even given to him by Song Kaiji, but was picked up in the souvenir shop in the amusement park.
"Young master's agate Ruyi lock with auspicious cloud pattern is so exquisite. I'm afraid it's hard to find such a good item even in the capital! All the things on my plate combined are not as valuable as this!" The shopkeeper sighed sincerely. The rich lady had been looking at the Ruyi lock with bright eyes, and was ready to try it. But when she heard the shopkeeper say, "All the things on my plate combined are not as valuable as this," she quickly withdrew her gaze.
Shen Qing: ...
He needed to maintain his image, so of course he couldn't rush to find that lady to sell things. So, it was another day when he failed to take advantage of the situation to sell his things.
But at least I know that this Ruyi lock is very valuable, so it’s not a complete loss. He has several such Ruyi locks at home, all of which he picked up for free...
Seeing that there was no hope of selling the goods, Shen Qing walked around the store again, walked out without saying hello, and went to the dim sum shop next door. The shopkeeper and his clerks were not surprised, and even thought it was no wonder that the young man had only bought two silver hairpins before. How could he be interested in these vulgar things in the store when he has agate of such quality?
This is also what Shen Qing realized: As a rich person, there is no need to be too polite! On the contrary, the more arrogant and cold your attitude is, the more these shopkeepers and clerks will flatter you!
Shen Qing asked the waiter at the dim sum shop to prepare a dim sum box and put some of each kind of dim sum in it. He turned around and went to the delicatessen shop to cut a few pieces of braised food, then leisurely walked out of the city gate carrying them.
Arriving at a deserted grove, Shen Qing looked around carefully and saw that there was no one around. He then took off his outer clothes, revealing the farm boy's clothes underneath. He then pulled out a square cloth towel from his waist, wrapped the straight garment, the purse and the pendants in it to make a bundle, and finally wiped off the blemish between his eyebrows: instantly he changed from a young man from a wealthy family to a farm boy carrying a bundle as if he was going to visit relatives.
He had become quite skilled at disguising himself like this every day, and he kept walking back to Lantang Village. Miao had already cooked the meal, and was not surprised to see Shen Qing bringing back snacks and braised meat.
Now, only more than half a month has passed since Shen Qing first went to the end of the world. Perhaps because her family was rich and she ate too well, Miao became visibly plumper, and even her skin and hair seemed to have improved. She looked even more radiant in her brightly colored, half-new clothes. But now she no longer has to worry about her livelihood, but she has something else to worry about: "Your uncle asked someone to ask, saying that didn't we say we were going to the dock to sell some food? We also brought back a lot of cabbage and radishes. How come some people from Shiqu Village went to work at the dock, but we were not seen? Did we do business?" Miao put the braised meat on a plate - Shen Qing bought half a braised pork elbow that was shiny black and red, and asked the store to cut it up, and also added a few pieces of braised chicken liver and two braised eggs.
On the stove was a dish of freshly fried leeks and eggs. Miao placed the two dishes on the table and said worriedly, "How should I respond to this?"
Business was done, but it was not done in this world. In the past half month, Shen Qing went to the end of the world almost every other day. He exchanged a lot of gold, silver and jewelry with Song Kaiji, all of which were hidden at home. Now Miao didn't dare to invite her sisters to come to the house to do work easily, for fear that something would be exposed.
"I'll go over to his house in a couple of days to talk to him. I have some important business to attend to." Shen Qing picked up an egg with his chopsticks. Being poor has its own pains, but having money but having to pretend to be poor and not being able to spend it openly is also very painful! During this short month, Shen Qing was torn between these kinds of pains, and finally he figured it out: he had to have a name, a proper job, so that the money could come in a clear and unobtrusive way.
If he were a modern person, he would know what "money laundering" means. But he was just a farmer, so it was not easy for him to come up with this idea: "I have found some clues about what I asked Brother Song to find out for me."
That day he asked Song Kaiji if he was willing to move to another place. Although Song Kaiji rejected him at that time, the relationship between the two of them became much closer later, so much so that now when talking about Song Kaiji in front of Miao, he has changed from "that person" to "Brother Song".
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