Rise From the Humble

"How is it possible for me? My father has taught me since I was a child that only by being kind can you make money. These are shoes handed down from my ancestors and they will never wear out after many years. I came here because I was in urgent need of money, otherwise I would not give them up. You Give me the number, and if it suits you, I will give you all this bag of shoes." Liu Dadao looked innocent, looking at the bag, as if he was afraid that Zhang Chaofeng at the counter would give him a bag of shoes. It seems like the package has been dropped.

How poor! 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. Not to mention the valuation of this package of broken shoes, even if I put it in the pawned item, it would be too much of a nuisance. What's the estimate? Let's estimate it! The purpose of opening a pawn shop is to make money, not to do charity!

Are these shoes handed down from ancestors? ! Are you here to be funny? !

well?

etc? !

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 moment, he remembered the examples his master often used to teach him when he first entered the industry:

It was about 20 or 30 years after Jingnan, 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 that the old count 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.

A glimpse of the leopard? !

The old shopkeeper was experienced and discovered the secret of this "leopard in the tube" painting after carefully studying it for a few minutes. At that time, all the court officials in the pawn shop felt 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. The current period is set to three months.

This is a living pawn, a three-month pawn ticket, which means that within three months you can redeem the painting as long as you pay thirty taels of principal and three hundred and two cents of interest. But if you do not redeem it after the expiration date, The painting belongs to the pawnshop.

That 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 after groping around the scroll for a moment, he found that the scroll was made of two sections of bamboo. One section could be pulled out by rotating it clockwise with your hand. 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 uniform in color. It should be from the same stone and is priceless.

It is estimated that the ancestor of Zhou Xungui captured it and kept it privately when he joined the army in conquering the southern barbarians in Burma. The reason for hiding it in the painting is to keep it secret. "Peeping the leopard in the tube" is the secret language of treasure hiding, and the essence is "peeping in the tube".

Feedback, legacy. ——"Guangya"

Treasures are given in the tubes, that is, there are treasures left in the bamboo tubes.

The Zhou family was in decline, and they were on the wrong team during the Jingnan War and were suppressed and purged, which 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 the original thing 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 is regarded as a classic case to teach every new entrant to the industry to educate 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 worn-out shoes. The materials and workmanship are all featureless, and they were only made in recent years. If there is anything special about it, it is special. Smelly! ! !

"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 thrown out of the window, and then Liu Dadao was kicked out by the pawn shop clerk.

"Damn, you dare to pawn a shop? You don't have any eyesight at all. What a good pair of shoes. I still don't believe it. I'll try another pawn shop." After Liu Dadao left the pawn shop, he spat hard and looked like I am 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 an ouch and a movement, he connected his left foot to his right leg, held the sky with both hands, threw his face to the ground, and fell down the steps, falling right under Liu Dadao's feet.

"Everyone has seen it, you fell on your own, don't rely on me." Liu Dadao screamed loudly to show his innocence to everyone.

"How could that be? I, Old Zheng, am not that kind of person." Butler Zheng said, holding on to 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.

Well

Liu Dadao looked confused. I saved you so much. It was you who pulled my legs up.

"Hey, strong man, I see you just came out of the pawn shop, but you have 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 give the thing to me. , I will pay a high price to the strong man." 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 childhood. Is what you said about paying a high price true?" Liu Dadao still looked righteous and awe-inspiring in the first sentence, but changed in the second sentence. Tasty.

"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, just tell me a price. I, Old Zheng, will accept this thing." Butler Zheng patted the bundle in Liu Dadao's hand, felt the shoes in the bundle, suppressed the joy in his heart, and said seriously.

"Okay, Mr. Zheng is so cheerful, so I won't go on. This baggage shoe was handed down from my ancestors. My ancestors said that if the family is in trouble, these baggage shoes should be pawned. It doesn't cost less than twenty taels." Sell ​​it. However, seeing how cheerful Mr. Zheng is and how you like me, I will risk being scolded by my ancestors. I don’t want a penny more than ten taels of silver." Liu Dadao patted his chest, as if a soldier would die for his confidant. look.

Hold

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 endured his anger, forced out an ugly smile, and reluctantly took out ten taels of silver and handed over the baggage. Bought the smelly shoes.

After getting the baggage, Butler Zheng ran all the way back to 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.

"I have to work hard to complete what the master has told me. Look, master, this is the baggage shoe." 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.

vomit

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 bags of shoes are all patched and broken, and 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's roar broke the tranquility of Beibingmasi Hutong.