025, Pawnshop
025, Pawnshop
At the hour of Mao, the morning bell rang, and the four major city gates of Kyoto Prefecture opened at the same time.
After the city gates were opened, the streets suddenly became crowded with people. There were caravans leading horses into the city, ordinary people driving mules and donkeys into the city, peddlers carrying loads into the city, old ladies carrying small baskets into the city, young ladies coming to the city to attend the market... many, many people.
Small stalls appeared one after another on the street, and shops on the street also opened for business.
That morning, just like every other day, Lu Mingfei was actively trying to drum up business for his stall. Over the course of the morning, they'd managed to sell a few items, including whatever was left over from the previous sale. They'd also managed to pull in a few odds and ends, earning them a few dozen copper coins.
He specially selected a beautiful hairpin for the proprietress to keep. When there were fewer people on the street and the business of their stall and the pancake shop slowed down, he took the hairpin and gave it to the proprietress who had kindly taken them in. "Auntie, this is for you."
"Oh, this hairpin is so beautiful." Xu Yueniang took the hairpin and looked at it, then pinned it in her hair and asked the young man and her husband, "Does it look good?"
"It looks good. Auntie, you are so pretty that you look good in anything you wear." Lu Mingfei praised.
Xu Yue Niang covered her mouth and laughed secretly, her peach blossom eyes curved with laughter.
Boss Lu glared at the guy who was trying to cheer up his wife and said, "I don't even know if my own wife is pretty or not."
Lu Mingfei looked innocent. "You know it looks good, but you have to say it. Otherwise, how will your wife know what you are thinking?"
"Alright, alright, both of you, stop praising me. Don't you think I'm pretty?" Xu Yueniang covered her mouth and smiled happily. There was no trace of embarrassment on her face. She took a small amount of money from her money basket and said to her husband, "Old Lu, you stay here and watch the shop. I'll go out and see if there's anything delicious and buy some vegetables to cook for dinner."
"Okay, go ahead and buy some more vegetables. I'll watch over here." Boss Lu waved his hand generously and said.
Seeing the boss lady leave happily, Lu Mingfei looked up and met Boss Lu's gaze. He quickly made an excuse that his mother was looking for him and ran back to their stall.
After the morning market was over, there were not many people shopping on the street.
Seeing that most of the vendors on the street had left, Lu Mingfei said to his mother, "Mom, let's pack up our stalls too."
"Let's go to the pawnshop and ask how much silver that jade pendant can be pawned for. Once we have the money, we'll find a house to rent in the city." Otherwise, staying in someone else's house all the time is definitely not a long-term solution. They said before they came to stay that it was only for two days, so they couldn't just stay in someone else's house forever, right?
It was obvious that Liu Sanniang also understood this logic. She nodded and said "Okay" when she heard it.
The mother and son worked together to pack up the items on the stall. When they were about to move them into the backyard, Lu Mingfei came over and said to Boss Lu, "Uncle, my mother and I are going to go outside for a while and will be back later. My mother and I will move the two large baskets inside and put them there first."
"Okay, go ahead. Do you need me to get it for you?" asked Boss Lu.
"No, no, I can do it alone." Liu Sanniang didn't ask the children to help. She carried the two large baskets into the backyard with a shoulder pole and put them away. Before leaving, she went into the house and said something to her husband who was lying on the bed.
After a while, she came out, took her child out of the pancake shop and to the street outside.
"Mom, I remember there is a pawnshop up ahead. Let's go there and ask first." Lu Mingfei had been to Kyoto Prefecture many times with his father, so he knew very well what kind of business the shops on this street were doing.
In comparison, Liu Sanniang was not as familiar with Kyoto Prefecture as her own child. She followed the child, and the mother and child walked along the street together, pausing at the door of the pawnshop.
Lu Mingfei looked up at the sign above, "Wu's Pawnshop?" He silently recited the words in his mind, then took the lead and walked into the pawnshop.
Liu Sanniang followed closely behind.
The layout of the pawnshop is different from that of ordinary shops. There is a screen at the entrance. This screen is placed here to save face for those who come here to pawn their items. Otherwise, this door faces the street and passers-by can clearly see who is pawning things inside.
Walk around the screen and come in here, you can see the counter inside. There is a person standing behind the counter. Judging from his dress, he should be the owner of the pawnshop.
This was the first time in Lu Mingfei's two lifetimes that he had entered a pawnshop. As soon as he entered, he looked around curiously. This place was very similar to the pawnshop he had seen on TV in his previous life.
The pawnshop owner heard someone come in, looked up, and asked, "Madam, do you want to pawn anything?"
Lu Mingfei found that the counter here was too high, and he couldn't even show his head when standing there.
It was also the first time for Liu Sanniang to enter such a place. She felt extremely nervous. When the shopkeeper asked her a question, she subconsciously lowered her head to look at the child in front of her who was standing on tiptoe, trying to stand higher.
"Mom, please hold me." After realizing that no matter how hard he tried, he was not high enough, Lu Mingfei felt helpless and could only ask his mother for help.
Upon hearing this, Liu Sanniang picked up the child and exposed his head.
Lu Mingfei climbed onto the counter with both hands, smiled and waved at the shopkeeper inside, "Hello, uncle, it's me who wants to pawn the things." The jade pendant was given to him by the little brother, so it should be his. He should be right, right?
"Oh, what do you want to pawn?" The shopkeeper had been in this business for most of his life, but this was the first time he had seen such a young customer come to his shop to pawn something. For a moment, he was also a little curious. What could such a young child come to him to pawn?
The mother and son were dressed in ordinary clothes with patches on them.
However, the shopkeeper did not look down on the customer because he was dressed in ordinary clothes. Who knows if his ancestors were wealthy and whether they left any treasures for their descendants?
Lu Mingfei didn't say what he wanted to pawn first, but asked the shopkeeper: "I wonder what the pawning method is here?"
"We offer two types of pawning: live pawning and dead pawning. Live pawning means you can redeem it later for less money; dead pawning means you pawn the item to us for more money. The exact amount depends on the value of the item you bring." The shopkeeper didn't dismiss the customer because of his young age, but replied seriously. The young man before him was beautiful and adorable, with a face full of intelligence. He didn't look like the kind of young man born into an ordinary family, but rather the kind of young master born into a wealthy family.
Hearing this, Lu Mingfei took out the jade pendant hanging on his chest and showed it to the shopkeeper, asking, "Look, if I pawn this jade pendant alive, how much silver can it be worth?"
"Let me see it." The shopkeeper asked, extending his hand.
Lu Mingfei thought for a moment, then took off the jade pendant from his neck and handed it to the shopkeeper. Seeing the shopkeeper looking at his jade pendant from left to right, he was a little worried that the shopkeeper would keep the jade pendant and not return it to them, nor would he give them the silver.
The shopkeeper turned the jade pendant over and glanced at the back, then glanced at the child before him. He felt a little puzzled... How did this jade pendant end up in the hands of this child? Although he couldn't figure it out, he still offered a fair price: "If you want to pawn this jade pendant alive, I can give you twenty taels." This price he offered was still fair. If he had gone to another place and met a less ruthless shopkeeper, he would have been lucky to get two taels.
Lu Mingfei asked, "How long is the deadline?"
"If you don't come to redeem it after a year, this jade pendant will belong to us," said the shopkeeper.
"If I shorten the time to six months, can you mortgage it to me for fifty taels?" Lu Mingfei knew that this piece of jade must be worth more than a few dozen taels of silver. They say that gold has a price, but jade is priceless. Good jade is even more valuable than gold. The jade in his hand is a fine piece of jade. If he went to buy it, he would probably not be able to buy it without a hundred taels of silver.
Thinking about the fact that they needed to rent a house in the city and that his father needed money for medical treatment, both of them needed money. If they could get more money at this time, they would have more money on hand, and having some money left over later would also make it easier for them to do other small businesses.
As for why he didn't sell the jade directly, firstly, he felt that the young man he met that day was a benefactor to their family. If he hadn't given him the jade that day, they wouldn't have the courage to bring his father to the city for treatment, so it would be better for them to keep the things given by benefactors; secondly, he felt that this jade was a good piece of jade, something that could bring good luck to their whole family, so they shouldn't sell the jade. It would be better to mortgage it here first, borrow some money to get through the current difficulties, and then redeem it next year when they have the money.
Of course, it is best to keep things that can bring good luck.
If he has the chance to see that little brother again in the future, he must thank him sincerely. At the very least, he must give him the bird's nest he planned to weave, as well as the bird mother, bird father, and bird brothers and sisters as gifts. A family...birds, should be complete!
"You have to think carefully. If you don't have the silver to redeem it after half a year, this piece of jade will belong to our pawnshop." The shopkeeper looked at the mother and son. It was obvious that they were not having an easy life. He didn't think that they would have fifty taels of silver to redeem their things after half a year.
"Well, I've thought about it. I'll redeem the jade pendant in half a year!" Lu Mingfei believed that with his clever mind and the hard work of his parents, their family of three would be able to earn enough fifty taels of silver in half a year, and then redeem the jade pendant he had pawned here!
Finally, the shopkeeper agreed to his proposal. He mortgaged the jade pendant at the pawnshop and borrowed fifty taels of silver from the pawnshop. He could redeem the jade pendant by bringing the silver within half a year. If he exceeded the time limit, the jade pendant would belong to the pawnshop.
That day, Liu Sanniang realized she wasn't even as brave as a child. She couldn't help but reflect on herself. The next time she encountered something like this, should she stand up to the child? But looking at the child, who hadn't suffered a single loss, she decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to use this opportunity to train the child.
After taking the pawn ticket and silver, the mother and son walked out of the pawnshop together.
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