Chapter 10, The Pawnshop
Five taels.
As Guo Baiwen listened, he couldn't help but scratch his ear.
How much did you say?
The shopkeeper thought he was complaining about the price, so he explained a few more words, "Young man, what you brought is indeed a good thing. A green sandalwood comb like this usually sells for one to three taels outside."
"But that's the price you get for a new comb. Even if you take it to another pawnshop, you won't get a higher price for it."
"The craftsmanship of this comb is indeed excellent, but the peach wood box outside is worthless. Only the mother-of-pearl inlay on it is somewhat interesting. If we sell them together, I can only give you five taels at most."
The shopkeeper spoke eloquently, and Guo Baiwen nodded inwardly, but on the surface he still looked hesitant and stammering.
The price of sandalwood mentioned by this shop was not much different from what he had heard from the carpenter selling cabinets at the market before.
The pawnshop owner didn't deliberately try to lower the price just because he was dressed in shabby clothes.
The price of five taels had exceeded his initial expectations, but agreeing too easily made him seem like he didn't understand the intricacies of the matter.
After all, the shopkeeper had said that the mother-of-pearl inlay on the wooden box was quite interesting, and his willingness to explain after quoting a price showed that he valued the item.
So Guo Baiwen deliberately put on a troubled look, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "My family really needs money urgently. Do you really not want to give me a little more?"
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper stroked his goatee and glanced at him again.
The two remained silent for a while, watching as the cleaning staff put the feather dusters back and prepared to start sweeping. Guo Baiwen reached out and pinched his thigh hard, finally squeezing out a few real tears.
Seeing this, the shopkeeper finally relented, "...then I can only give you an extra three hundred coins."
Three hundred coins it is. He knew that if the shopkeeper eventually agreed, the pawnshop would probably still make a profit at that price. But asking one more question and getting the extra money could buy him the cheap beechwood cabinet he had his eye on last time.
He was happy inside, but his face still showed grief as he accepted the pawn ticket prepared by the shopkeeper.
This was the first time he had ever seen the writing of this era. Fortunately, it wasn't some kind of small seal script. He certainly wouldn't recognize the individual traditional characters, but by using the few characters with the same traditional and simplified forms in the sentences of varying lengths, along with his test-taking skills of guessing the meaning from half of the character and connecting it to the context, he could roughly understand what was written on it.
However, the purpose was to prove that he voluntarily pawned the gift box and comb, with no intention of redeeming it, and that the subsequent storage of the goods was no longer his concern. The transaction was settled for five taels and three hundred copper coins, and at the bottom were the names of the pawnshop and the manager in charge.
He pressed his fingerprint in the place where his name was, as the pawn ticket was in duplicate. After pressing both fingerprints, he received his copy of the pawn ticket, and the money was finally in his pocket.
He took the money, pretending to accept it, while suddenly slapping his forehead, "Oh dear—I forgot about this."
The pawnshop owner was fairly honest; he planned to pawn the glass bottle as well.
Since the soy sauce bottle was quite large, he didn't take it out of the warehouse at all. Instead, he pretended to carefully rummage through the basket for a while before finally taking out the small pepper bottle.
"Shopkeeper, please take another look and tell me how much this thing is worth?"
The pawnshop owner had initially intended to read the words on the pawn ticket, but upon seeing that the boy could read, he realized that although the boy was dressed in shabby clothes, he must have truly lived a prosperous life in his younger days, as he himself claimed. Otherwise, how could an ordinary family afford to send someone to learn to read?
He was about to ask the waiter to see the guest out, but unexpectedly, the young man brought something with him.
Thinking of the sandalwood comb from earlier, he assumed it was something similar. But when he looked up and saw what Guo Baiwen took out of the basket, his bottom, which had been sitting comfortably, suddenly jumped up from the stool.
"This! This! Quick, bring it here so I can take a closer look!"
He pushed up the wooden bars that had been separating them on the counter, revealing a large empty space, so the two were finally no longer talking to each other through the wooden shelves. Even so, he was still a little uneasy, so he took the thick cushion from his chair and placed it on the table, then carefully put the small glass bottle on the cushion.
Such a precious thing, if it gets bumped or scratched, there's nowhere to complain.
He didn't dare touch the crystal-clear bottle directly with his hands, afraid that the lines of his fingers would be imprinted on it and affect its appearance. He deliberately took a soft handkerchief from his pocket, carefully held the edge of the glass bottle, and then marveled at it in the sunlight.
There are absolutely no bubbles.
"The spiral pattern on the bottle neck has exactly the same spacing between each mark."
"Even the bottom of this bottle, which is so thick, is clear and without any impurities."
"Great stuff, really great stuff!"
The price of glass has always remained high. Even now, with improved craftsmanship, ordinary glass can be afforded by wealthy families. But the glass this young man brought out was of such high quality that it had no impurities or bubbles, clearly a masterpiece by a skilled craftsman.
The bottle is a bit small, and it doesn't look like a vase or a wine pot, otherwise the price could be even higher.
The pawnshop will definitely take this item. Even if they can't resell it at a high price, it would be good to keep it as a family heirloom.
He admired the glass bottle for a long time, then remembered that Guo Baiwen was still waiting for him to make an offer at the counter.
So he carefully placed the glass bottle on the cushion, and this time when he spoke, he was no longer as assertive as when he spoke with the sandalwood comb.
He looked at Guo Baiwen in silence for a while, then gave the price he could offer at the moment—"Three hundred taels."
This time, Guo Baiwen didn't even need to speak; the shopkeeper explained himself, "The thing the young master brought is indeed excellent. Its transparency and purity are both superb. This kind of glass bottle, let alone the two hundred taels I'm offering you today, could easily fetch over a thousand taels in a wealthy place like the capital."
“But that’s the price in a wealthy place. Qianzhou is remote, and there aren’t many people in this county who need such exquisite items. Even if it’s exquisite, we don’t know if the pawnshop can resell it. Besides, young master, this glass bottle is indeed a bit small, and it looks like the craftsman didn’t finish it.”
“This glass bottle is transparent. If it were colored, the price would be much higher.” As he spoke, he gestured to the spiral pattern on the mouth of the pepper shaker. “I think there should be something else on this glass bottle.”
Guo Baiwen was startled. The pawnshop manager was indeed a seasoned veteran with a sharp eye.
However, the lid of the pepper jar was specifically for grinding pepper into powder, and it was made of plastic, so he naturally couldn't take it out. He threw it into the stove and burned it with the firewood while taking a shower yesterday.
Later, when he went out to get water, Xiaohua asked if he hadn't showered in a long time, because the kitchen smelled strange after he showered.
What could he say? He could only grit his teeth and accept that he smelled strange when he showered, and then silently went to open the window to ventilate the room.
But the price of three hundred taels of silver was not something he could accept.
"As you said yourself, shopkeeper, the transparency and purity of this bottle are beyond what ordinary craftsmen can achieve. Even if it were unfinished, it could sell for thousands of taels of silver in the capital."
“I know that Qianzhou is not as wealthy as the capital, but although there aren’t many people in this large county who need this kind of thing, there are still some. Surely my glass bottle can’t even sell for a third of the price in the capital?”
One thousand taels and three hundred taels, that's a difference of a full seven hundred taels.
The shopkeeper knew he had set the price too low, but pawnshops make their living by buying low and selling high to earn a profit.
In the county town, people usually pawn their books and jewelry, like the two sandalwood combs he just sold. The highest price they usually fetch is only a dozen or so taels of silver.
The price he offered was already quite reasonable.
"So, young master, how much do you plan to value this bottle for?"
"At least five hundred taels."
"Five hundred taels?! No way, no way. This is a pawnshop, not a charity. If I bid this price, even if I resell it, I'll still lose a lot of money. No way, no way." The shopkeeper stroked his beard and patted the counter. "I'll add another fifty taels for you, three hundred and fifty taels should do, right?"
This price is finally about a third of what it costs in Beijing.
"Four hundred and fifty taels." Guo Baiwen sighed and looked at him sincerely. "I sincerely want to do this business with you, boss. You know I need the money urgently."
Four hundred and fifty taels is actually not too far off.
But the shopkeeper wanted to negotiate a little more. "How about this, I'll offer four hundred taels. Don't rush, listen to me. If you agree to this price, young master, you don't need to go to the bank to get the banknotes and withdraw the money. I can give you the cash in a bit."
Although many people still use banknotes, and they are much easier to carry than a heavy bag of silver when going out, withdrawing money with banknotes is extremely troublesome. Not only do you have to compare various information and anti-counterfeiting marks with the money shop, but you also have to pay a certain handling fee called 'paper and ink fee'.
Even withdrawing money requires withdrawing the fixed amount on the bank draft; if you want to withdraw other amounts, the procedures become even more complicated.
Guo Baiwen was unaware of this rule. After thinking about it, he realized that four hundred taels of silver was indeed heavy, but he could put it all in the system warehouse and take it back with him.
You don't have to worry about your money being stolen or lost on the way.
So he nodded, "Alright, four hundred taels of silver it is."
The shopkeeper forced a smile. "Young master, you're so straightforward. It's settled then." He called to the young waiter who had been cleaning, "Arui—"
The round-faced young waiter ran over and called out in a clear voice, "Grandpa, what's wrong?"
Guo Baiwen then realized that the young shop assistant who had been busy cleaning the shop was actually the shopkeeper's grandson.
"Go and get the box of good tea that Grandpa has on the shelf. Make a pot of hot tea for this guest. Grandpa will go to the room in the backyard to get something."
A note from the author:
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I'm back! Sending love!
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