Chapter 28: Asking Price
Jiang Mixia and his group soon found a ox cart on East Street and headed slowly towards the county town.
There were many people walking towards the county town, and people kept stopping carts on the road. At the beginning, there were only Jiang Mixia and three others on the ox cart, but by the time they were halfway there, the number had doubled.
The ox cart naturally seemed a bit crowded, so people could only sit as far to the side as possible, with their legs hanging over the edge of the cart.
It took more than two hours of driving without stopping. By the time they arrived at the county town, Jiang Mixia's feet were numb.
Jiang Youcheng and Song Jingyun were not much better off. When they got off the car, their feet were slightly limp.
Jiang Youcheng had only been to the county town twice and was not familiar with the route. He asked people along the way before he found his way to the most prosperous East City District in the county town.
There is a lot of traffic here, people coming and going, all kinds of shops line the streets, many people come in and out, and the waiters greet and see off customers. It is quite lively.
The three of them walked all the way to the entrance of Zhenbaozhai that they had inquired about.
"This shop is really grand." Jiang Youcheng looked at the tall and exquisite door of Zhenbaozhai and the gold-plated sign hanging above it, smacking his lips repeatedly, and secretly pulled Jiang Mixia to talk, "Such a grand shop must be rich, and it should not be stingy."
There is no necessary connection between these two things.
Jiang Mixia said, "Let's try it first."
As they talked, the three of them walked into the shop.
"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? Why are you rushing in in such a hurry?"
The guy at the door reached out his hand to stop the three of them, then looked them up and down.
They were all wearing short coarse cloth clothes and looked like ordinary farmers. Jiang Youcheng was carrying a needlework basket strung together with a hemp rope on his back.
His whole body exudes the air of a peasant!
The waiter did not hide his contempt and disgust, and rolled his eyes, "This is Zhenbaozhai, a shop that sells gold, silver, jade, and all kinds of jewelry. I wonder if you have come to the wrong door?"
"You're right, this is the place to come." Jiang Youcheng smiled.
The guy crossed his arms, "What are you doing here?"
"I fished out the clams from the river and found pearls there, they're pretty good-sized, so I wanted to see if we could collect them," Jiang Youcheng replied.
I told you, you’re definitely not here to buy anything.
Zhenbaozhai is well-known and recognized by many people, especially farmers. Those who want to sell off old jewelry at home, as well as those who have picked up jade in the mountains or fished out pearls in the river, all come here, hoping to sell them at a good price.
There are many people like this, and the waiter is used to it. "Then take it out and let me take a look first?"
Jiang Youcheng reached out to grab the small cloth bag.
Jiang Mixia stopped him and said to the waiter, "There are so many people on the street, I'm afraid it's not appropriate. Pearls are not big things. If they fall or are snatched away by someone, it will be hard to explain."
"Our Zhenbaozhai is such a big shop. Since we usually buy these things, there should be people who specialize in appraising their prices. Could you please take us to see them?"
The guy originally thought that these farmers must have never seen the world, so he could fool them a little, buy from them at a low price, and then sell them to the shop to make a profit.
It turns out these guys are quite smart.
Seeing that he couldn't fool the guy, the guy curled his lips and said reluctantly, "Okay, follow me."
After saying that, he led Jiang Mixia and the other two through the alley beside the shop to the back of Zhenbaozhai, entered a courtyard from a corner door, and then entered the house in the corner of the courtyard.
The light in the room was a little dim. An old man with a long beard was sitting behind a large table, drinking tea leisurely. When he saw someone coming, he raised his eyelids and asked, "Selling things?"
"It is said that pearls have been found in the river clams, and they want to sell them here for some money." The clerk nodded and bowed, with a smile on his face, and turned to Jiang Mixia and the other two, "This is Qian, the shopkeeper of our Zhenbaozhai."
"Hello, Manager Qian." Jiang Mixia greeted.
Shopkeeper Qian nodded slightly in response, then stroked his beard, glanced at Jiang Mixia and the other two, and slowly put down the teacup in his hand.
"The rivers here are shallow, and the wild clams are not very big, so they usually can't produce pearls. It's rare that you can produce pearls."
"But I still say that even if you can get pearls from wild clams, they are not good quality and cannot be sold at a good price."
"It's just like ginseng. The price depends on the age of the ginseng. It doesn't mean you can sell it at a high price just because it's called ginseng. I'm reminding you first, don't say that the price we give is unreasonable."
"We understand that we should give a price based on the goods, but we would like to trouble Shopkeeper Qian to give us a fair price."
After Jiang Mixia finished speaking, she and Jiang Youcheng pulled down the small cloth bag on the chest of the collar, took out the three pearls inside, and placed them on the table.
"Manager Qian, take a look at these three pearls. How much can you give me?"
Shopkeeper Qian picked up the pearls one by one and looked at them, then looked at Jiang Mixia and the other two, and thought for a moment, "These three pearls are not of good quality, they are not big, not round enough, and have many flaws. If you really want to sell them, I can give you three taels of silver."
Three taels of silver?
Isn’t it better than what he earns by weaving baskets in the tea garden?
Jiang Youcheng was immediately disappointed and blurted out, "It is said that pearls are not cheap even for medicine. Three taels for three pearls, isn't that too little?"
"Is that not enough? Then go to the pawnshop and see how much they are willing to give you. Even if it's a dead pawn, I guess two taels and five cents is the most they'll give."
The waiter at the side was full of anger, "We are a place called Zhenbaozhai. We always sell genuine goods at fair prices and never cheat anyone. The prices we offer are also the most fair. If you don't trust us, go somewhere else."
As he spoke, the waiter wanted to chase Jiang Mixia and the other two out.
Shopkeeper Qian raised his hand, signaling the clerk not to do so, but he also looked at Jiang Mixia and the other two, "I am a clerk who speaks frankly, so don't take it to heart. But this is the market price of pearls, it really can't be higher."
"It's not easy for you to come to the county town. I'm a hard-hearted person, so I'll give you another 200 yuan. If you want more, it's really impossible."
Seeing that Shopkeeper Qian and the clerk were a little impatient, Jiang Mixia reached out and picked up the pearls again and put them into the small cloth bag. "Excuse me, Shopkeeper Qian, we will go ask the price somewhere else. If we can't sell it at a high price, we will come back again."
"Okay." Shopkeeper Qian nodded, but added, "But let me be frank. If you sell it now, you can get an extra two hundred yuan. If you ask for prices elsewhere and come back to me later, I can only give you three taels of silver."
"Thank you for the reminder, Manager Qian. Goodbye."
Jiang Mixia put away the pearls, bowed to the shopkeeper Qian, and left.
The guy sent the three people out with an unhappy look on his face.
A new week, please support~ Thank you "book friend 20180607234007601" for the monthly ticket, thank you "nanasalichen" for the reward of Bingkuoluo, thank you little cuties for your support~ (End of this chapter)
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