Chapter 627: Peeping the Leopard in the Pipe
"How is it possible for me? My father has taught me since I was a child that only by being kind can I make money. These are shoes handed down from my ancestors. They will not wear out after many years. I came here because I was in urgent need of money. , otherwise I would still not give up. Yes. Give me the number, and if it suits you, I will give you all the bags and shoes." Liu Dadao looked at the bags with an innocent look, as if he was afraid of Zhang Chaofeng at the counter. It looked like a bag of shoes had been swapped.
What a poor man! Are you so nervous about this pack of broken shoes? ! It’s true that poor people can’t live without pawnshops! However, in the past, poor people pawned their waistcoats, fur coats, and other slightly valuable clothes to relieve their urgent needs. However, this was the first time that a package of smelly and worn-out shoes was given to me!
I have been a pilgrim for more than ten years, and this package of broken shoes is the most speechless thing I have ever received as a pawned item. Let alone the valuation of this package of broken shoes, even if I put it as a pawned item, I would be surprised. My mother thinks it’s in the way, so she’s asking for an estimate. Just estimate your mother! The purpose of opening a pawn shop is to make money, not to do charity!
What about the shoes handed down from our ancestors? ! Are you here to be funny? !
well?
Wait? !
It’s just a bag of broken shoes. Why is this country bumpkin so nervous? It shouldn’t be. Could it be that there is another mystery behind it? Shoes passed down from ancestors? !
Zhang Chaofeng's eyelids suddenly twitched. At this time, he remembered the examples that his master often used to educate him when he first entered the industry:
That was twenty or thirty years after Jingnan. Around that time, not long after another pawnshop called Xinglongchang on this street had just opened, an honorable man named Zhou from Beibingmasi Hutong came to pawn a painting. This Zhou family is not an ordinary family. Their ancestors were hereditary uncles who were awarded a reward when the Ming Dynasty was founded. However, because their family was on the wrong side during the Jingnan War, their family fortunes fell into decline after the Jingnan Campaign, and their descendants were one after another. He is useless and has no choice but to make a living by selling off his property.
Xungui Zhou came to Xinglongchang Pawn Shop and asked for thirty taels of silver to pawn the painting passed down by his ancestors. The person who received Xungui Zhou at Xinglongchang Pawn Shop was an old pawn shopkeeper with good eyesight and rich experience. After taking the painting and looking at it carefully, I found that this painting should be a painting by the old Earl who practiced his brushwork. It was not a work by a famous artist. The structure of the painting and the artistry looked very immature. Not to mention thirty taels of silver, even ten taels of silver were not worth it. . In the painting, an old man is hiding behind the woods, using a bamboo tube over his eyes to observe a prostrate leopard in the woods. The painting has an inscription with the four words "Peeping the leopard through the tube." Apart from this, there is nothing else on the painting, no signature, no time, and no poem.
Seeing the leopard through the pipe? !
The old shopkeeper was experienced and discovered the secret of this "Leopard in the Pipe" painting after carefully studying it for a few minutes. At that time, all the courtiers in the pawn shop thought that the painting was only worth ten taels of silver, but the old shopkeeper stood up to the crowd and agreed to the thirty taels of silver requested by Zhou Xungui, and asked people to set up a pawn ticket for thirty taels of silver. The current period is set to three months.
This is a living pawn, a three-month pawn, which means that within three months you can redeem the painting as long as you pay 30 taels of principal and 30 taels of interest. But if If it is not redeemed after the expiration date, the painting will belong to the pawnshop.
On the night after the transaction was completed, after the pawn shop closed, the old shopkeeper took out the painting alone in the pawn shop. I lit the oil lamp, observed the painting carefully, and explored various parts of the painting with my hands, and finally discovered the secret hidden in the painting.
Generally, the scroll part of a painting is made of solid jujube wood or pear wood, but the scroll part of this painting is made of fine Xiaoxiang bamboo. When you knock it with your hand, there is an echo inside, and it is hollow. of.
The old shopkeeper showed a smile when he found out, and then fumbled around the scroll for a while, and found that the scroll was made of two sections of bamboo. If you rotate it clockwise with your hands, one section can be removed. Pull it out. After pulling it out, I found a piece of silk exposed at the other end. I carefully pulled the silk out, and then found a string of 13 rare Laokeng glass jadeite bracelets.
The old shopkeeper has a deep understanding of jade. This string of 13 jadeite jadeite beads is round and smooth, with a uniform and uniform color. It should be from the same stone, and it is priceless.
It is estimated that the ancestor of Zhou Xungui captured it when he accompanied the army to conquer the southern barbarians in Burma. It was hidden in the painting for the sake of confidentiality. A glimpse of treasure."
Feed, leave something behind. ——"Guangya"
Treasures are given in the tubes, that is, there are treasures left in the bamboo tubes.
The Zhou family's financial decline, coupled with the fact that they were on the wrong team during the Jingnan Campaign and were suppressed and purged, probably led to the interruption of this secret that was passed down by word of mouth.
The old shopkeeper calmly wrapped the bracelet in silk and put it back into the bamboo tube. Then he reassembled the scroll and put it back.
This is a well-known thing. The Zhou family relies on selling off their property to make a living, so there is no possibility of redemption. As expected, Zhou Xungui soon spent all the thirty taels of silver in a debauched manner and failed to redeem the pledged items on time.
As a result, the old shopkeeper of Xinglongchang Pawnshop made a huge fortune.
Generation after generation
This allusion has been regarded as a classic case, educating every new entrant into the industry and educating them to keep their eyes open, polish and then polish when making valuations.
After thinking of this, Ninja Zhang Chaofeng inspected the worn-out shoes over and over again, carefully rummaging through every sole and insole. From workmanship to materials, we researched it over and over again.
Then
Finally, I came to a conclusion: these are just a pack of ordinary old shoes. The materials and workmanship are all featureless, and they were only made in recent years. If there's anything special about it, it's that it stinks! ! !
"How much do you want to be?" Zhang Chaofeng asked grimly, baring his teeth.
"100 wen, no, 1 tael of silver, no more, this is my ancestor..."
Before Liu Dadao finished speaking, he saw a bag of smelly shoes. He was thrown out of the window, and then Liu Dadao was kicked out by the guys in the pawn shop.
"Damn, you dare to pawn a shop? You have no discernment at all. What a good pair of shoes. I still don't believe it. I'll try another pawn shop." Liu Dadao spat vigorously after leaving the pawn shop. He took a sip of phlegm and looked dissatisfied.
“Ouch…”
Just when Liu Dadao was about to leave and try another pawn shop, he suddenly heard a howling like a slaughtering pig from behind, and then turned around to see a man who looked like a butler falling from the steps of the pawn shop.
Ouch, ouch, ouch
With one movement, he crossed his left foot with his right leg, held the sky with both hands, threw his face on the ground, thump thump thump, and fell down the steps. When he came down, he fell right under Liu Dadao's feet.
"Everyone has seen it, you fell by yourself, don't rely on me." Liu Dadao screamed loudly to express his innocence to everyone.
"How could it be? I, Old Zheng, am not that kind of person." Butler Zheng said, holding Liu Dadao's legs and stood up.
"Thank you, this brave man, for helping me, otherwise I might have fallen badly." Butler Zheng stood up and thanked Liu Dadao.
Uh
Liu Dadao looked confused, I saved you so much, you pulled my legs up yourself.
"Hey, strong man, you just came out of the pawn shop, but you encountered difficulties in life. Do you want to pawn something? The strong man saved me just now. In order to express your gratitude, strong man, don't go to the pawn shop. Just Leave the things to me and I'll give you a high price." Butler Zheng looked like he was repaying his kindness.
"Which, which, yes, draw your sword to help when there is an injustice on the road. This is what my father has taught me since I was a child. Is what you said about the high price true?" Liu Dadao still looked righteous in his previous words. , the last sentence changed.
"Of course. I, Old Zheng, am a man who knows how to repay his kindness. Is this what a strong man should be?" Butler Zheng asked seriously.
"Yeah, yeah." Liu Dadao nodded repeatedly.
"Strong man, please negotiate a price. I, Old Zheng, will accept this thing." Butler Zheng patted the bundle in Liu Dadao's hand and felt the shoes in the bundle. He suppressed the joy in his heart and said seriously. said.
“Okay, since Mr. Zheng is so cheerful, I won’t be verbose. These baggage shoes were handed down from my ancestors. My ancestors said that if the family is in trouble, these baggage shoes will be pawned. below two I won’t sell it for ten taels. However, seeing how happy you are with Mr. Zheng, I will risk being scolded by my ancestors. I don’t want any more than ten taels of silver.” Liu Dadao patted his chest, acting as a confidant. The appearance of death.
Fuck
You had to die in the pawn shop before you dared to ask for a tael of silver! 10 taels of silver. Are your shoes made of silver thread? !
Butler Zheng almost couldn't help spitting Liu Dadao's face, but thinking of Zhao Daying's explanation, he still held back his anger, forced out an ugly smile, and reluctantly took out ten liang With silver, I bought this bag of smelly shoes.
After getting the baggage, Butler Zheng ran all the way back to the Zhao Mansion in Beibingmasi Hutong without saying a word, and reported the good news to Zhao Daying.
“Really got it?!” Zhao Daying, who was still at the wine table, looked happy after hearing this.
"What the master has told me, I have to work hard to complete. Look, master, these are the baggage shoes." Butler Zheng presented the baggage to Zhao Daying like a treasure.
"Okay, okay, okay." Zhao Daying was so happy that he said three good words in a row. As long as he gets these shoes, it will be useless for Zhu Ping'an to catch those losers. I will find a few people to support the camp. What evidence does Zhu Pingan have to prove that those losers are soldiers under my camp? !
Excited, Zhao Daying took the baggage, opened it, and took out a shoe.
Vomiting
Zhao Daying almost vomited out his overnight meal. The other civil and military officials at the banquet were also pale and weak from the smoke.
“Fuck! These are the shoes you worked so hard to get?! Are you kidding me!”
Zhao Daying looked at the patched rag shoes in his hand, became furious, and put his hand on Butler Zheng's face, unable to take them off.
These baggage shoes are all patched and broken, none of them are the blue cloth short boots from the military camp! It was obvious that he had been tricked. Thinking of Zhu Ping'an's meaningful smile before leaving, Zhao Daying's blood instantly surged to his head.
"Zhu Pingan, you and I are at odds with each other!"
A few moments later, Zhao Daying roared, breaking the tranquility of Beibingmasi Hutong. (End of this chapter)