Chapter 19 The ugly board sorted out the previous paper drafts, Cui Gu was in the alley...
After sorting out the previous manuscripts, Cui Gu stood in the alley. The winter wind blew her lips white. From this angle, she could see the whole process of the people entering the shop walking towards the high cabinet.
A new screen had been put up, and she had to take a good look to see if there had been any changes, so that she would have an explanation if the princess mentioned this matter.
Even before the Lantern Festival, not many customers came to the pawnshop. Those who needed money urgently had borrowed all their money before the New Year, and the rest had to borrow more money to buy back their clothes so that they could meet their relatives and friends during the New Year.
After waiting for a long time, I saw someone come in.
The old man was holding a toy wrapped in red cloth. When he met someone on the road and asked what it was, he said nonchalantly, "Oh, it's a New Year gift for relatives. Well, you can't go empty-handed when visiting relatives and friends."
The manner in which he said this was very natural. If it wasn't natural, there would be something fishy going on. He had rehearsed it in his mind many times in advance.
Who would be willing to pawn things on New Year's Day? But there was really no other way. That master had a son who was born to be a debt collector. He owed a lot of money to people after gambling, but he ran away without hesitation. On the second day of the New Year, the creditor knocked on the door and insisted that the son pay the father's debt, otherwise he would report it to the Zuoling for a proper settlement.
All the money in the house was taken out before the matter was settled. The old man's wife was so angry that she fell ill in bed. She shamelessly asked a doctor to see her first. Although the consultation fee was not paid, she really had no money to buy medicine.
The old man sat by his wife's bedside all night, quietly finding a bronze incense burner with animal heads in the house. This thing was given to his family by a general in the past, and it looked exquisite, but the old man never wanted to use it, and only kept it in the cabinet, wiping the dust off every once in a while.
But now, I have to pawn it first to exchange some money for medicine.
He lived in the West City, but he chose to go to the pawnshop in the East City. He looked around like a thief along the way, and once he saw someone he knew, he turned around and went into the alley. It was only at this time that he arrived at the pawnshop.
There were two pawnshops on this street, one at the beginning and one at the end. As he was not familiar with both, the old man walked back and forth twice. In fact, the two pawnshops were about the same size, but the old man saw a very tall screen outside Rong'an Pawnshop, thinking it could hide his shame, so he timidly went into the shop.
When he came in, he didn't dare to say anything and just stood in front of the counter in a daze.
The clerk at the counter couldn't bear it and asked, "What can I do for you, sir?"
"Well, I... I'll do it..." The old man stammered, and said in a mosquito-like voice, "Pawn the things."
As he said this, he put the bag on the counter and untied it to show the waiter.
"Please take a look at this copper incense burner and see how much it is worth."
The clerk looked at it carefully and smiled, "It's a good thing, worth this amount."
He made a gesture, which meant eight cents of silver.
The old man frowned and said, "I heard that the price of copper has increased a lot recently. Even a copper basin has doubled in price. My copper incense burner is even more precious.
"You are right. The price of copper is rising," the clerk said. "If you had bought this incense burner a year ago, it would have only cost five cents. Now it is a very good price."
"Besides, your incense burner looks so good. It's not like a copper basin. If you take it back and melt it down, you can sell it to the government to make copper coins, or cast other things. You can't melt this incense burner, right?"
The clerk said, "From your appearance, I think you are in a difficult situation temporarily. If you are lucky in the future, you will definitely redeem this incense burner. Is that right?"
This touched the old man's heart. He nodded and said, "Okay, that's it. Be the one for a month."
"Okay."
The clerk carefully wrote out a pawn ticket, stipulating that the pawn would be for a period of one month with an interest rate of two cents. When the pawn was redeemed at maturity, nine cents and six cents of silver would be required.
The man took the pawn ticket and watched the clerk cut the silver with a scale and weigh it on a small scale before he breathed a sigh of relief.
This Rong'an Pawnshop was quite honest, and the silver was of good quality and weight. He had been to some unscrupulous pawnshops before, which used poor quality silver to deceive people, saying that there was something fishy about it, saying that it could be pawned for eight cents of silver, but when it really came out, six cents of silver was enough.
He wrapped the silver in a handkerchief and kept it close to his body, then prepared to leave.
Cui Gu came out and greeted with a smile, "Sir, I am sorry to bother you for a moment. I wonder if you have noticed this screen?"
"I saw it," the old man said, "this screen is very good. It saves me from embarrassment. I came in just to see it."
Cui Gu thanked him and went back to her room to memorize everything. She then observed for a few days and accumulated a thick stack of notes. After sorting them out, she mustered up the courage to go to the Fourth Princess's residence to look for someone.
With her status, it would be impossible for her to ask to see the princess directly. After thinking about it, she decided to go find Aunt Wu who had come to Rong'an Pawnshop that day.
As the saying goes, the prime minister's family is a seventh-rank official, and Nanny Wu is the fourth princess's wet nurse, not someone Cui Gu can see just because she wants to. If she rashly goes to the door, she will be rejected by the doorman before she even says a word.
After thinking about it, he chose a safe approach. He asked for help from a small official from the Ministry of Internal Affairs who used to be in charge of Rong'an's pawnshop, and then they went to pay their respects to Nanny Wu's house.
Wu Ma's home was not far from the princess's residence. Cui Gu and her husband, along with the minor officials, came with gifts and were very polite, but they only saw Wu Ma's father. It was said that Wu Ma was serving the princess and was not in the residence.
"It's not that I'm too confident," said Nanny Wu. "She is the Fourth Princess' right-hand man. She is currently preparing for the Lantern Festival and sometimes has to accompany the Princess to the palace. It's really hard for you to see her. I also have a lot of things to take care of. To make a long story short, I'll inform Nanny Wu again, and it will be the same."
Cui Gu said, "I shouldn't bother you, but the master asked me about the screen earlier, so maybe I should get a reply. Thanks to the master, the business is now more prosperous, and I have the notes to prove it."
As he spoke, he handed over a box containing a note and ten taels of silver.
Aunt Wu opened the box and took a look, then stroked his beard and said, "You are sensible, remember this."
When Nanny Wu came back at night, Nanny Wu's father told her the whole matter in detail.
Madam Wu didn't care much about the ten taels of silver. She recalled the princess's attitude. The fact that the princess was allowed to go to the shop in person and then give advice showed that the princess was concerned about the operation of Rong'an Pawnshop.
Now the news coming from Rong'an Pawnshop is good news. The princess's method has worked. I think when the princess hears this news, she will be happy.
Because of this, when Nanny Wu went to the princess's mansion to serve her the next day, she specifically mentioned the matter and exaggerated it a little, indirectly praising the princess for her intelligence.
"The princess is indeed very good at predicting things. She just asked them to add a small screen as a shame board, but it actually brought good luck to this pawnshop and increased its revenue a lot..."
Mu Xue flipped through a few pages of her notes and said with a smile, "How can it be as miraculous as Mammy said? How can it be so great in just half a month? However, this shopkeeper is thoughtful."
This notebook not only mentions the current situation of pawnshops in the capital, but also records some scenes when customers visit, the storage process of goods, etc.
She spent the whole night reading the manual. When she turned to the last page, the orange light illuminated the ink words, which read "Respectfully presented by Cui Gu". Mu Xue's eyebrows jumped and she suddenly smiled.
It turned out that it was not the male shopkeeper, but a woman.
That's really good.
The next day, Muxue summoned the owner of the notebook, Cui Gu, to her house.
This is a woman who is about thirty years old. She is not tall and has a slightly square chin, which makes her look more resolute.
After paying her respects, Muxue ordered someone to bring a stool for Cui Gu to sit on.
"I read your notes, they are very good. You are also very good, a natural shopkeeper."
With just one sentence, Cui Gu's vision was blurred by tears in an instant.
No wonder there is a saying in the opera that "a gentleman will die for his friend", now she really understands it.
She tried her best to hold back the urge to cry, and thanked the princess calmly: "It is a great blessing for me to be favored by the princess."
"Don't say that," Mu Xue said, "It's my blessing to meet you."
Cui Gu lowered her head, and a tear fell on the dark black floor tiles, leaving no trace.
Seeing her like this, Mu Xue was a little at a loss: "What's wrong? I'm not being sarcastic, I'm serious."
"Well, it's nothing. I just lost my composure." Cui Gu sniffed, took a deep breath, and then reluctantly replied in a normal manner.
Muxue asked someone to bring some desserts for her to eat. Seeing that she gradually calmed down, she talked to Cui Gu about the matter.
"I was worried before that I would not be able to take care of Rong'an Pawnshop in the capital after I went to Mobei. Now it's better with you here." Mu Xue said, "You can write a letter regularly about the business status of Rong'an Pawnshop and send it to Madam Wu's house at a fixed time. Although the two of them are going with me, my uncle is staying in the capital and can pass on the letter."
She reminded him of several details. The first was to run Rong'an Pawnshop with sincerity, not to treat customers as fools, to pawn goods for what they were worth, and not to play tricks with the money they paid. The second was to pay attention to developing the deposit business. Since the court liked to issue silver and collect interest, the people must also have this demand.
"As long as you are willing to deposit money, we will give you interest regularly, and we will give you 1% interest for deposits. If you want to borrow money, we welcome you too, and we will charge you 2% interest for loans."
Cui Gu calculated the situation in recent years and said, "I understand, but I am afraid that by then there will be more people willing to save money than those willing to lend money."
"It's okay," Mu Xue said with a smile, "As long as I can get the money, it's fine. With enough capital, I have other plans for how to make money later."
These days she has figured out one thing: Mobei is remote and commercially underdeveloped, which is a disadvantage but can also be an advantage.
Maybe there is a blue ocean of economy just waiting for her.
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