"Gurgle."
"Gurgle."
After making a fuss all morning, Lu Qiqi and Lu Yao hadn't eaten breakfast and were already starving.
Lu Qiqi had just boasted that she would take Lu Yao out for drinks and food, but she couldn't do it yet. She could only smile awkwardly and ask Lu Yao, "What's there to eat?"
Lu Yao ran to the stove next door and brought over two bowls of bitter vegetable soup.
Looking at the bowl of bitter vegetable soup that had no fishy smell or oil at all, Lu Qiqi's face turned green. She never thought that on her first day after transmigrating, she, the senior sister of the Emei Sect, could only drink bitter vegetable soup, ruining her lifelong reputation.
"Gurgle."
Her stomach growled again, but Lu Qiqi didn't care about anything else. She picked up the chipped bowl and drank it.
Damn, this tastes awful.
Lu Qiqi forced down a few sips before putting the bowl down.
Lu Yao put down the bowl of bitter vegetable soup, which was completely empty, and seeing that Lu Qiqi was not drinking anymore, she finished it all in one go.
Seeing this, Lu Qiqi secretly gave Lu Yao a thumbs up.
After drinking the bitter vegetable soup, Lu Qiqi asked Lu Yao to lock the door and take out the household registration book.
Lu Yao crawled under the bed and took out a coarse cloth bag. Inside the bag were four household registration documents stamped with the official seal, belonging to the four members of their second wife's family.
According to the original owner's memories, Lu Qiqi's grandparents had four sons and two daughters. Her father, Lu Dashan, was her second wife. He married her mother, Chen, and they had two granddaughters, Lu Qiqi and Lu Yao.
Lu Dazhuang, the eldest son, married Jin, the daughter of a butcher, and they had a grandson, Lu Changhu, and a granddaughter, Lu Changping.
Lu Dahai, the third son of the family, married into the Li family in the neighboring Li Village and had two grandsons, Li Changlong and Li Xibao.
Lu Dachuan, the fourth son, married a woman surnamed Lin, but they have not had any children to this day.
The eldest daughter, Lu Baomei, married the brother of the first wife, Jin Shi.
The youngest daughter, Lu Xiangxiang, married a merchant, but it was more like she was sold to him as a concubine.
Besides the household registration book, the cloth bag also contained a string of blue tassels with several round jade beads hanging from them, and a piece of Shu brocade fabric.
"What a wonderful thing!" Lu Qiqi stroked the Shu brocade, feeling its delicate and silky texture.
Unfold it, and twelve lifelike ladies appear, some with lowered brows, some pinching flowers, some teasing dogs, and some waving fans.
Right then and there, Lu Qiqi decided to take Lu Yao to town for a nice meal.
After hiding the household registration, Lu Qiqi led Lu Yao toward the town.
They had no oxcart, so they had to walk, and after an hour they finally arrived in town.
Two years without rain, the land is parched, and crops have failed.
There weren't many peddlers in the town, and Lu Qiqi found the embroidery workshop where her mother, Chen, used to work, based on her memory.
The gates were tightly shut, and the building was deserted.
It seems that selling it to its former owner is not an option.
Then we'll have to go to the pawnshop.
Lu Qiqi took the jade bead tassel to the pawnshop and exchanged it for five taels of silver. She then went to the clothing shop next door and bought clothes and shoes for herself and Lu Yao.
After buying the clothes, Lu Yao only had one or two taels of silver left. She didn't have much of a concept of money, and she was overjoyed to have new clothes to wear.
Lu Qiqi bought two pancakes at the entrance, handed one to Lu Yao, and told her to wait inside the clothing shop.
She ate while searching for the Tongfu Pawnshop where her mother had pawned things, a place she remembered.
Tongfu Pawnshop was deserted. After finishing the last bite of her pancake, Lu Qiqi strode into the pawnshop.
When the shop assistant saw Lu Qiqi swagger into the store, even though she only had a wooden hairpin in her hair, and she was thin and dark-skinned, she still had an extraordinary air about her, so he immediately went to greet her.
"Young lady, are you pawning it or redeeming it?"
"Call your manager out, I have something good." Lu Qiqi smiled slightly, and the shop assistant hurriedly went back to the inner room to find the manager.
Lu Qiqi sat to the side waiting, and a waiter brought her a cup of tea.
After finishing the pancake, she was choking, so she picked up her teacup, took a sip, and cleared her throat.
A moment later, the pot-bellied shopkeeper came out, and Lu Qiqi stood up and gave a curtsy.
After returning the greeting, the shopkeeper asked, "Miss, what would you like to pawn?"
Seeing Lu Qiqi's elegant demeanor, the shopkeeper guessed that she might be a young lady who had suffered hardship and urgently needed money while passing through the area.
Lu Qiqi handed the cloth bag on the table to the waiters, who then opened it.
The shopkeeper was overjoyed to see the Shu brocade embroidery. The old lady loved Shu brocade embroidery the most, and this particular piece was a picture of twelve ladies, which really touched her heart.
If I can win her over, I'll definitely make a good impression on the old lady, and it won't be difficult for me to have a bright future.
Seeing the shopkeeper's feigned difficulty, Lu Qiqi knew the matter was settled.
Next comes negotiating the price.
"What is your surname, young lady?"
"My surname is Lu." Lu Qiqi was not in a hurry. She sat down and slowly took a sip of tea.
Seeing Lu Qiqi's appearance, the shopkeeper knew she wouldn't be easy to deal with, so he asked, "Miss Lu, would you like this painting as a contract for life or a contract for life?"
"A death pact".
In the banking industry, a "living contract" (or "active contract") earns interest; the pawned item can be redeemed by exchanging the money for silver within a specified period. A "dead contract" (or "fixed contract") is equivalent to a buyout and cannot be redeemed.
The shopkeeper smiled and said, "To be honest, Miss Lu, this Shu brocade embroidery of ladies is a fine piece. In a prosperous era, it would be worth five hundred taels of silver. But now, in these chaotic times, with people fleeing famine, I can't offer that price. I can only offer three hundred taels of silver at most."
Lu Qiqi knew that this Shu brocade embroidery was a good thing. In a prosperous era, it was unknown whether it could sell for a thousand taels of silver. However, there was famine everywhere at present. Although Shu brocade was good, it could not fill an empty stomach. This was the largest pawnshop in town. It would be difficult to sell it outside of this shop.
Lu Qiqi put down her teacup, pretended to be troubled for a moment, and then relented: "Alright."
"I don't want silver notes, give me one hundred taels of loose silver, and exchange the remaining two hundred taels for grain."
In chaotic times, real gold and silver are the only hard currency. Ancient banknotes were not waterproof and would be destroyed by water, easily becoming worthless.
Moreover, the two sisters taking large sums of money to a money exchange shop would easily attract attention, which was not a good idea.
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