Chapter 55 Are you from another world too?
"Yutong" pawn shop.
Behind the tall counter, an old man was looking at Xu Qingwan with a rather indifferent expression.
Most women who dress like this don't have anything good to offer, probably just some tattered jewelry.
But since they are here to do business, no matter how small a mosquito leg is, it is still meat. He still asked politely.
"Girl, what do you want to be?"
“This knife.”
Xu Qingwan hesitated for a moment before handing Queti into the window, with a look of trepidation on her face.
"Oh, let me see."
The old man took the Queti and his pupils suddenly contracted after just a glance at the handle.
Hundred-year-old Huanghuali! Although the handle alone is not that valuable, the knife must be extraordinary if it can be made of this wood! After looking at the scabbard, he slowly pulled out a section of the blade.
"Swoosh~"
The sound of the sword being unsheathed is as clear as the chirping of an oriole, without a trace of noise.
The old man's somewhat shriveled fingers brushed across the cold blade, and the next second his expression changed drastically, and he looked at Xu Qingwan with his mouth wide open.
"This knife...how did the girl get it?"
"Why are you asking that?"
Xu Qingwan showed a vigilant look on her face: "How much can it be worth? If you can't tell, I'll go to another place."
“No, no, no!”
The old man waved his hand and stood up: "Wait a moment, young lady. I can't make the decision on this matter alone. I need to discuss it with the shopkeeper."
After he finished speaking, without waiting for Xu Qingwan to reply, he immediately went into the inner room with the knife in his arms, and did not come out for a full quarter of an hour.
"Miss, you've been waiting for a long time."
The old man carefully placed the Queti on the table, and then actually ordered the waiter to close the door and refuse customers.
After all the doors and windows of the pawnshop were closed, he looked at Xu Qingwan and slowly stretched out three fingers: "Girl, if you want to pawn this knife, we can give you this amount."
"Three hundred taels?"
Xu Qingwan was very surprised.
Ordinary weapons on the market usually only sell for a few cents of silver, and even "official weapons" such as scimitars forged from fine steel only cost a few taels.
The cry of a bird is equivalent to a hundred scimitars. No wonder she was so shocked.
Xu Qingwan didn't know what kind of precious sword could be worth this price, but before she could figure it out, she saw the old man shaking his head with a complicated look and gently corrected: "Miss, it's three thousand taels."
"Three, three thousand taels?"
Xu Qingwan's eyes widened suddenly: "Is this knife worth three thousand taels?"
"It's not worth three thousand taels, it's worth three thousand taels."
The old man took a deep breath and looked at Queti as if he was looking at a stunning beauty who had just emerged from the bath.
"A knife is worth a thousand taels of silver. This knife is worth at least ten thousand taels of silver."
"Ten thousand taels..."
Hearing this record-breaking price, Xu Qingwan seemed to have turned into a parrot, unable to utter a word. She just kept repeating the word "ten thousand taels" in a daze.
The old man was not in a hurry. He waited for a while and saw that Xu Qingwan's emotions had calmed down a little before asking, "I wonder if the young lady is satisfied with this price?"
"If you want to sell it, that's even better. Yutong Pawnshop can give you the banknotes right away."
“…I won’t accept it, and I won’t sell it.”
Xu Qingwan shook her head bitterly: "I just wanted to ask how much it is worth..."
"What?"
The old man was stunned, and then his face showed anger: "There is no such rule! If you want to take the knife back, it's not impossible. One hundred taels of silver..."
"Dang~"
Something suddenly fell on the counter. It was not silver, but a black token.
The old man's face flushed red as if he was choked. After a long while, he forced a smile: "So it's the master from Xuan Jingsi. I'm sorry for offending you just now. Please don't take it to heart..."
Soon, Xu Qingwan walked out of the pawnshop holding Queti.
Instead of the joy of making a fortune on her face, she looked worried.
Ten thousand taels, so expensive...
I only have a little over 1,000 taels now, and I don’t know when I can save enough money to pay him back…
She looked down at the words "雀嘶" (bird's cry) on the scabbard and clenched her little hands tightly.
Xu Qingwan suddenly showed a determined look on her face and waved her little fist, as if to cheer herself up.
Keep making money! I can do it! …
Just when Xu Qingwan took on the "huge debt" of 12,000 taels of silver on her own initiative, Wei Changtian, the "creditor", had already returned to Wei Mansion and was listening to Li Yang and Wang Er's work reports.
The preparatory work for Chunshen Bookstore has been basically completed. Li Yang bought a yard with a storefront and a warehouse. The front can be used as a bookstore and the back can be used as a printing factory.
The assistants have been recruited, the printing equipment is in place, and Lu Jingyao has already handed "Journey to the West (Part 1)" to Li Yang.
Everything is ready and the opening date is tentatively scheduled for August 28th.
"…About that. I have also arranged for the Masonic brothers to blend in with the normal guys. Ordinary people will never be able to tell."
Li Yang hesitated for a moment, then continued, "Brother Wei, I have an idea about selling books, and I want you to make the decision."
"What do you think?"
Wei Changtian nodded in satisfaction: "Brother Li, just say it directly, no need to be polite."
"Okay, then I'll just say it straight."
Li Yang scratched his head awkwardly: "I want to sell Journey to the West together with the playing cards you invented, Brother Wei."
"Playing cards are something new that has never existed before. I think they will be very popular if they are promoted properly."
"Now that we have our own printing workshop, we can reduce the production cost of playing cards to a very low level. If we can sell them together with Journey to the West, it will not only greatly increase sales, but also..."
Li Yang tentatively explained his "new idea", and Wei Changtian became more and more surprised the more he listened.
My goodness, isn’t this a bundled sale?
Do you understand such a modern concept?
"Brother Li, I think it's feasible!"
Wei Changtian quickly gave full affirmation: "Just go for it, this move will be a great success if nothing unexpected happens!"
"Really? Then Brother Wei, how about you listen to my ideas?"
Li Yang was very excited to receive the affirmation, and simply told him everything he had figured out in the past few days.
In the following period, Wei Changtian heard the shadows of many modern marketing methods such as "hunger sales", "celebrity endorsements", "brand packaging", some of which were even very similar.
Damn, you didn't travel through time as well, did you? ! "Brother Li, you are truly a business genius!"
Looking at Li Yang as if he were an alien, Wei Changtian sincerely exclaimed: "If you were born a few decades earlier, there would be no Xu family. The position of the richest man in Daning would definitely be yours!"
Li Yang was surprised and delighted when he heard this: "Brother Wei, I feel embarrassed by what you said."
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. You don't need to ask me about the bookstore business in the future. Just make all the decisions yourself!"
Wei Changtian patted Li Yang on the shoulder, and then suddenly said: "Odds change, but evens don't!"
???
Li Yang looked confused: "Brother Wei, what are you talking about?"
"Hahaha, nothing..."
Wei Changtian laughed twice and raised his teacup as if he wanted to drink tea.
But at the moment when the rim of the cup touched his mouth, he blurted out again, "Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron!"
Li Yang: “…”
Wang Er: “…”
(End of this chapter)
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