Chapter 80 I'll cover for you:
Shen Bingsi flew on her sword all the way to Bliss City, which was under the jurisdiction of the Liujin Sect, and headed straight for the Yuanbao Auction House's main store.
He went in looking like a vengeful demon, banging on the counter and demanding that the owner of Yuanbao Auction House come out and speak to him.
The owner was not there, but the chief accountant, who was in charge of all affairs, was in the back doing the accounting. When he heard that the judge had arrived, he hurriedly came out to greet him.
"What? Photonics Bailan? You mean... someone pawned your precious sword?" Chao Feng's expression changed, and he asked his assistant to bring the list of pawned items, while inviting Shen Bingsi to sit in the back reception room.
One of the most taboo situations for auction houses is when valuable items are pawned with unclear origins. Ordinary collateral is one thing, but for valuable items, such as a famous sword like the Guangdian Bailan, the provenance must be traced. Shen Bingsi's arrival to demand answers led the auction house manager to mistakenly believe that his manager had mistakenly accepted stolen goods and lent money to thieves. Now that the real culprit has come knocking, the auction house has lost both money and goods. Losing money and goods is bad enough, but the real problem is that the auction house's golden reputation in the industry has been tarnished. If he finds out who this fool is, he will definitely punish him severely.
While calming Shen Bingsi down, the clerk flipped through the list the waiter had brought, searching one entry at a time. Finally, the entry for "Optical White Orchid" appeared on his fingertips. The clerk put on his crystal glass and looked—
"Lu Yinglin? Old Lu? How could he make such a foolish mistake?"
"He's confused. You should get rid of him quickly," Shen Bingsi said impatiently. Just hearing the name Lu Yinglin made Shen Bingsi feel like flies were buzzing around her head. Although he wasn't threatening, he was still very annoying.
"This..." Chao Feng hesitated. Lu Yinglin was the backbone of their auction house, with an excellent reputation. How could he make such a basic mistake? "Sword Saint Shen, could there be some misunderstanding? Why don't we start by investigating the person who pawned the item? Thank you, Sword Saint Shen, have you heard of this name?"
"I've heard of him, he's my friend, what's wrong?" Shen Bingsi asked, puzzled.
"...The current situation is indeed like this: no matter how much you guard against it, it's hard to guard against a thief within your own ranks. Your friend stole this sword..." Chao Feng continued following Shen Bing Si's words, when he suddenly noticed that Shen Bing Si was staring at him angrily.
"Who said he stole this sword? I gave it to him!" Shen Bingsi was furious and looked ready to draw her sword to protect her friend's reputation.
The clerk was stunned by what he said: "No, it wasn't your friend who stole it?"
"no!"
"That's strange. Since the sword belongs to him, there's no problem with the collateral. So why is Sword Saint Shen coming to question us?" Chao Feng looked at Shen Bing Si with a puzzled expression.
“This mortgage is no problem, of course. I’m asking—wait, you said this sword is a mortgage, not an auction?” Shen Bingsi suddenly realized something, her eyes widened, and she grabbed the catalog in front of the clerk, her gaze locking onto the line “Optical White Orchid”.
It is indeed a mortgage, a flexible loan, and a three-year term.
Although Shen Bingsi didn't know what the convoluted markings on the table of contents meant, he recognized the three normally written words: "mortgage," "pawn," and "three years."
Even so, he still pointed to these three words and patiently asked what "朝奉" meant.
"This means that the Optoelectronics Bailan is in a pledged state, a 'live pledge,' which can be redeemed at any time," Chao Feng explained to Shen Bingsi carefully, though he didn't know why Shen Bingsi's attitude had suddenly improved. "The pledge period is the longest three years. This means that within three years, the auction house cannot resell the pledged item without the original owner's permission. If the original owner has not redeemed the pledged item after three years, the 'live pledge' becomes a 'dead pledge,' and how to dispose of it will be entirely up to the auction house."
Shen Bingsi listened attentively, nodding as she spoke, as if she were genuinely interested in the auction house's mortgage system.
“However, our auction house’s Manager Lu has always been of good reputation. He should have repeatedly confirmed the ownership of the Guangdian Bailan sword. If Sword Saint Shen has no objection to the ownership of this sword, then the mortgage is valid, and it is reasonable for us to lend money,” Chao Feng emphasized again.
“Of course,” Shen Bingsi replied readily.
"Then there's no problem." Chao Feng closed the list of mortgaged properties. "I wonder what brings Sword Saint Shen here to question us?"
The clerk was also a man with a temper. Even if Shen Bingsi was of unusual status, her sudden rush to the counter of Yuanbao Auction House and slamming the table affected their business. Without a reasonable explanation, it was difficult for the clerk to pretend that nothing had happened.
"Oh..." Shen Bingsi knew she was in the wrong, touched her neck, and said, "Although this sword was a gift from me to my friend, I put a lot of effort into it and didn't want it to fall into the hands of a third person for no reason. You can understand this feeling, right?"
Chao Feng wore a polite but distant smile. At this moment, Shen Bing Si's image in his mind had plummeted. He never expected that the famous judge of the cultivation world and the promising young demon-slaying sword saint would be such a stingy person!
Why would you care how someone uses a gift you've already given away—whether they pawn it or auction it off? Only poor, pedantic scholars would have such a strong possessiveness towards gifts they've already given away after a falling out with a friend.
"Well, actually, what I wanted to say was, if you're going to sell this sword, could you contact me first? I'm willing to pay a high price to buy it back," Shen Bingsi said.
Upon hearing this, Chao Feng's face immediately brightened, and he said with a smile, "Of course, that's no problem. If Sword Saint Shen wants to buy it now, he can. As long as he can offer 35,000 spirit stones or more, our auction house can talk to the original owner."
Shen Bingsi cursed the unscrupulous merchant in his heart. He bought it for only 30,000 spirit stones, but now it had been raised to 35,000 spirit stones. Moreover, he was certain that the collateral given to Rong Xiefang for this job was definitely not that high; he would be lucky to get half of that amount.
“No need for that. I think he’s just mortgaging it here; he doesn’t really want to sell it. He’ll eventually have to redeem it. I’m just saying that if it really comes to the point where he can’t redeem it, then I’ll cover for him,” Shen Bingsi said confidently.
"Hehe, that's hard to say. People who come to our auction house to pawn their treasures all think they can redeem them at first, but as time goes on, there are many variables. What if the original owner is in a hurry to sell, and we can't find you? I can't make that promise." Chao Feng was also an old fox; why would he do something that wouldn't bring him any benefit?
“That’s because you don’t understand him. He…” Shen Bingsi was about to introduce how sentimental and nostalgic her best friend was, but then she thought, what’s the point of introducing this shrewd merchant? She just chuckled and said, “Fine, it’s just 35,000 spirit stones. I’ll reserve it first. If he redeems it, we’ll pretend nothing happened. If he doesn’t redeem it, then I’ll buy it. Is that alright?”
Chao Feng beamed and rubbed his hands together, saying, "That's good, that's good. Shen Jiansheng is truly magnanimous. I'll go and inform Lu Yinglin right now and tell him to stop this bidding."
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Chaofeng." Shen Bingsi cupped her hands in greeting. With her goal achieved and the flies no longer having an excuse to swarm around Rong Xie, Shen Bingsi felt refreshed and left the Yuanbao Auction House with her head held high.
Shen Bingsi had gained a lot from this trip. When she returned to Huanxue Manor, she looked much better. When she saw the three little ones squatting on the steps in front of the kitchen eating, she even threw them spirit stones and told them to go to the stonemason in town to have a new stone table made.
Shen Bingsi happily entered through the middle gate, while the three children looked at each other in bewilderment.
"What's wrong with the Master this time? Did he really go to see Brother Rong?" Long Shaoye mouthed.
"That's impossible." Shen Yan patted his pocket and shook his head at the two of them, meaning that he had already contacted Rong Xie using the sound transmission stone, and Rong Xie had not mentioned anything unusual.
The three younger ones tried to communicate by gesturing for a long time but couldn't come to any conclusion. In the end, they decided that Shen Yan would take advantage of the cleaning to go in and gather some information.
Since Rong Xie left Huanxue Manor, the backyard of the manor has been opened to the three children. Considering that Shen Bingsi's cleaning and tidying abilities are limited, the specific work of managing the manor is still done by Shen Yan and the others. Therefore, it is reasonable for Shen Yan and the others to appear anywhere.
At this very moment, in Rong Xie's bedroom.
Shen Bingsi spread her bedding on Rong Xie's empty bed, lay on the bed in a crooked position, and a set of silk netting hung down from the top of the bed, inside which was a luminous pearl that was about the same size as Rong Xie's old pearl - this was what Shen Bingsi found in the inventory. Rong Xie's pearl had long been classified as Rong Xie's property and had gone with its owner, leaving only this abandoned object to accompany Shen Bingsi, who was also abandoned.
However, Shen Bingsi has now shaken off his dejected look and is reading the letter sent by Rong Xie with great interest. He has already read it several times, but that doesn't stop him from finding something new each time he reads it. In particular, the letter has become even more interesting when combined with the vivid impressions of his field investigation. Before he knew it, Shen Bingsi was completely engrossed in reading it.
Only when a muffled thud came from the floor in front of the bed did Shen Bingsi raise her head, shifting her gaze from the letter to the ground with a cold stare.
"What are you doing?"
Pretending to fall, Shen Yan got up from the ground and showed Shen Bingsi the rag in his hand: "Reporting to the Master, I was wiping the floor."
"Mop the floor? Now?" Shen Bingsi raised an eyebrow.
"Um……"
Shen Yan was still making up excuses when Shen Bingsi generously let him off the hook: "Fine, wipe it if you want."
Shen Yan's eyelids twitched; sure enough, there was a problem.
"Master, where have you been these past few days..." Shen Yan asked tentatively.
"Didn't your brother Rong tell you not to ask where the master of the manor went?" Shen Bingsi's gaze remained fixed on the letter.
"He did say it..." Shen Yan thought of the long list of taboos that Rong Xie had summarized about the manor lord. So the manor lord knew that he had many flaws.
“However, I’m in a good mood today, so I might as well tell you,” Shen Bingsi said in a light and casual tone, “Your brother Rong will probably be back soon.”
"Huh?" Shen Yan suddenly raised her head, staring at Shen Bingsi in disbelief.
"Sigh, life out there is tough. Renting a place to experience it is fine, but it's not a long-term solution."
Shen Bingsi leisurely crossed one leg over the other, assuming a more comfortable position, and couldn't suppress the smile on her face.
Two days later, Shen Yan finally found an opportunity to go to Yingbin Town. After carefully observing the surrounding environment and making sure that no one was paying attention to him, he took out his communication jade pendant and contacted Rong Xie.
He told Rong Xie about Shen Bingsi's unusual behavior over the past two days, speculating that Shen Bingsi might have been to Lan Yuan and, perhaps, seen something there. He was certain that Rong Xie couldn't survive there and would have to come back sooner or later.
"Brother Rong, are you really doing well?" Shen Yan asked worriedly.
"It's alright," Rong Xie said hesitantly. At this moment, he had not yet found a way to make money and was anxious, so his words were not so certain.
But when exactly did Shen Bingsi arrive? How could he, who is usually so headstrong, be secretly sneaking around and stealing someone's boyfriend?
Rong Xie angrily gripped the communication stone and pondered for a while. Suddenly, a hunched figure appeared.
"No way..."
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