flstandardbreds Chapter 4: Exchanging Money and Gathering Information
Chapter 4: Exchanging Money and Gathering Information
But for now, he needed to protect himself first; he had other things to deal with. With that thought, Wu You shrugged and headed towards the pawnshop. Thinking about the TV dramas he'd watched before, Wu You felt he should be able to perform well…right?
Upon entering, one is greeted by a set of old-fashioned tables and chairs, with an old cabinet next to them, indicating that this pawnshop has been around for quite some time.
At the window, a man in his forties or fifties was using an abacus. Behind him were shelves displaying vases and unfamiliar items, presumably from the pawnshop's collection.
"Shopkeeper, can you pawn anything here?" Wu You asked him.
"Of course, young man. What do you want to be a pawn for, to die or to live?" The man raised his head, his eyes revealing the shrewd calculation of a businessman.
"Then how much do you think you can offer for this?" Wu You took a teacup out of his backpack and placed it on the counter.
"It's completely transparent, smooth and delicate, with a lustrous sheen. This is a fine item." The shopkeeper picked it up and examined it closely.
"That's right. If we didn't need the money urgently, we wouldn't have brought our ancestral property back from overseas and pawned it. If we had just pawned it, we wouldn't have had the money to redeem it later."
"Although it's a good item, I can only give you 100 taels at most. This should just be a cup, and it's not of any other use." The shopkeeper habitually tried to lower the price.
Wu You didn't speak, but just stared at him, putting pressure on him without his words.
"I can only give you two hundred taels at most, that's all I can give," the shopkeeper said with a hint of reluctance.
"Are there any other spare parts you could buy?"
"That's natural."
"How much do you think these cost?" Wu You took out the teapot and another teacup.
"This, this is a teapot?" The shopkeeper excitedly picked up the teapot and stroked it. "I have never seen such a beautiful teapot before. I want this teapot, plus two cups, how about 1,500 taels in total?" The shopkeeper thought to himself that if he took it to the capital, someone would probably want it for 10,000 taels.
Wu You quickly did the conversion and said, "Okay, give me two five-hundred-tael silver notes, the rest in silver, and twenty taels in loose silver and copper coins, is that alright?"
"Of course, please wait a moment while I go and get it." With that, he went into the inner room.
About ten minutes later, the shopkeeper came into the outer room carrying a box and placed it on the table. "Count it, is it enough?"
Wu You picked up two silver notes. The notes were silvery-white, and the meaning of the patterns on them was unclear. In the middle, there were a few traditional Chinese characters that read "five hundred taels". The shopkeeper said that the rest of the silver was fifty taels each, and there were nine in total. The rest was put in a cloth bag. It was a big bag that jingled when he picked it up. When he opened it, he saw that the broken silver and copper coins were mixed together.
Wu You couldn't tell either. He pretended to shake it a few times and said, "That's enough." He grabbed a handful of loose silver and copper coins and put them in the bag that came with his clothes. He packed the rest into his bundle and left the shop.
Wu You wandered around, found a secluded spot, and brought the box containing the silver into his home. The bundle was still there; he secretly used his mind to put a few books inside, making it impossible for anyone to find anything.
After walking all afternoon, Wu You was starving, so he retraced his steps. If it weren't for his good memory, he would have had a lot of trouble. He found a noodle shop and said, "Boss, a bowl of noodles, please." "Alright, a bowl of plain noodles is five coins, and with meat it's nine coins. Which would you like?" the boss asked while cooking noodles for other customers.
"Boss, what kind of meat is this?" "Pork and chicken." "Then give me a bowl of meat noodles." "Alright, sir, please have a seat." They chose a quiet spot to sit down. It was lunchtime, and several tables were full; this place was doing good business.
Before long, a steaming bowl of noodles was served. "Please enjoy, sir." The noodles smelled wonderful, with minced chicken, sliced pork, a few pieces of vegetables, and a few drops of chili oil—it was incredibly tempting. I savored it slowly, and it was indeed delicious. After finishing the noodles, I put nine coins on the table, called to the owner, and left.
With money and enough to eat, it's time to get things done. Wu You came to the street and saw three or four ragged little beggars begging on the roadside, their bodies dirty and their eyes numb, pleading with passersby for help.
Wu You thought of something and walked over to them. He asked, "Is it just the few of you? I have some questions for you. If there are any others, please call them over as well. I'll pay you."
"And another one, I'll go call them right away." A seven or eight-year-old boy stood up and ran outside. About four or five minutes later, five or six children came over with the boy from before.
"Let's go over there, so as not to disturb other people's business." With that, Wu You pointed to the side and walked towards a big tree, followed by a group of beggars, attracting the attention of passersby.
Reaching the tree, Wu You chose a rock to sit on and directed them to sit in front. There were about ten young beggars there, the oldest being thirteen or fourteen and the youngest two or three. They were all emaciated and looked like they hadn't eaten in a long time, which was truly heartbreaking. To be honest, sitting here, close by, the smell was indeed unpleasant. He frowned but didn't say anything.
Seeing all the eyes staring at him, Wu You coughed and said, "I called you over here because I have some questions for you. If you don't know the answer, shake your head. If you do know, raise your hand to answer. If many people know the answer, I'll choose one person to answer. If you have any additional or different answers, you can continue. Don't repeat your answers. Do you understand?" Everyone nodded in unison.
"You get paid for answering each question. Don't answer questions you don't know, understand? You can divide the money among yourselves later. Now, bring two bowls over." After saying that, two bowls were handed over and placed on the ground in front of Wu You.
"First question, what's this place called?" Wu You took out a handful of money from his pocket, including loose silver and copper coins, and held a coin in his right hand above the empty bowl.
Many of the little beggars were excited when they saw the wad of money. They wanted to speak up but then thought of something and raised their hands high.
"You're the one." Wu You casually pointed to a little beggar. "No need to rob, you can split the money equally later."
"Fish Town!" the boy who was pointed to shouted excitedly.
"That's really nice." Wu You put the money into the bowl and picked up another coin. "Did the villagers here name the place because they make a living by fishing?"
"Yes, many uncles and elders catch fish and take them to town to sell, and there are some really big fish."
Are there any other villages nearby? Are they all fishing villages? Do you know any of them?
"There are also Zhangjia Village, Wangjia Village, Wujia Village, and Lijia Village nearby, all of which are fishing villages, but I have never been to any of them."
Have you ever been to the city? What's the city's name?
"I've never been there, I think it's called Xuancheng."
"How far is Xuancheng? Do you know how to get there?"
"It's several hundred miles away. If you want to go there, you have to go to the east side of the town to rent a horse-drawn carriage. I saw a lot of people going there to rent them."
Has anything major happened recently?
"I heard that Li Xiangyi, the number one martial artist, and the leader of the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance are fighting in the East China Sea. It's causing a huge upheaval. I wish I had martial arts skills too."
Do you know which country this is?
"The Great Xi Dynasty".
How much is a steamed bun?
"Vegetarian buns are one coin, meat buns are two coins."
How many coins can one tael of silver be exchanged for?
"1000 coins."
…………
Through this question-and-answer session, Wu You asked about everything he knew, didn't know, and wasn't sure about, and learned a great deal. Although the little beggars didn't know the answers to some questions and weren't sure if they were true or false, it was enough.
By the time the Q&A session ended, more than an hour had passed. Wu You received news that the little beggars had received a bowl full of copper coins and a few pieces of silver, and both sides were satisfied.
Back home, after thinking for a while, Wu You told her brother Wu Lu everything that had happened that day. At first, Wu Lu didn't believe it and ran home to check. In the end, he found that everything was still there except for the fact that no one was home, so he had no choice but to accept this absurd reality.
Finally, he reminded Wu You to be careful and to contact him anytime if needed, sending him a message every day. Wu You repeatedly promised, and they chatted for a long time before hanging up. Then she called her company to resign from her part-time job.
Feeling a bit tired after a day of bizarre experiences, I soon fell asleep.