Chapter 61: Chapter 52: Bullying by Power_4
Upon hearing this, Lu Tong paused in his movements.
Yin Zheng had already casually asked, "Really? Does Sister Song know which pawnshop they went to? We might as well try our luck there too; maybe we’ll pick up something cheap, and find some good items."
Sister Song laughed upon hearing this, "Miss Yinzhen, there are good items indeed, but how could one easily pick them up for cheap? No matter how down on their luck the Ke Family might be, their clothes and accessories are still luxurious. I heard the items were taken to the Lu Yuan Pawnshop on Qinghe Street to the south of the city. Miss Yinzhen, if you want to have a look, you could indeed go there for the excitement."
Yin Zheng smiled and said, "Then when I have some free time, I’ll definitely go and see."
After a bit more conversation, as the sun rose higher and more customers started filling West Street, the vendors all dispersed, and Yin Zheng placed the broom against the wall and went into the back shop.
Once the permit to continue selling the finished medicines was secured from the Bureau of Medicine, Lu Tong started on the medicinal preparation for Dong Lin. Since the recipe from Chun Shui Sheng had not yet arrived, there were fewer people during the day than before.
Approaching noon, Lu Tong said to Du Changqing, "The pills for Young Master Dong still lack a few herbs that aren’t available in the clinic. I’ll go elsewhere to buy some."
Du Changqing said, "Why don’t we send Ah Cheng to buy them?"
"Ah Cheng is not yet fully recovered; let’s not have him walk around so much," Yin Zheng, putting away the rag she used for dusting, handed it to Du Changqing. "It won’t take much time, Shopkeeper Du can rest assured." Having said that, she pushed Lu Tong out the door.
The Lu Yuan Pawnshop was located on Qinghe Street in the south of the city, as was the gambling den "Kuaihuo Tower," owned by Lord Cao. Before going to Mount Wangchun the day before, Lu Tong had already sent someone to explain to Lord Cao that Wan Quan would be released after Wan Fu came down from the mountain.
The easiest places to gather information in Shengjing were unquestionably the gambling dens and brothels, where a mix of people from all walks of life frequented, making it much easier to inquire about news. Lord Cao was a businessman concerned only with making silver, and there might be use for his services in the future, requiring one to "feed" him with silver now in anticipation of future returns.
After all, money can make the devil turn the millstone.
As they thought, they had already reached Qinghe Street, and they saw the Lu Yuan Pawnshop in one glance.
The pawnshop was large, spanning the width of three ordinary shopfronts along the street and rising several storeys, the characters "Lu Yuan" carved in gold atop ebony wood, the epitome of opulence.
Reportedly the largest pawnshop in Shengjing, as soon as Lu Tong and Yin Zheng entered, a friendly-looking elderly shopkeeper came to greet them, "Miss, are you here to pawn something?"
Lu Tong said, "I want to buy something."
The elderly shopkeeper was momentarily surprised, then asked with a smile, "Miss, would you like to buy unredeemed pawned items?"
Lu Tong nodded.
The shopkeeper understood.
Most of the pawnshop’s business came from people who pawned items for silver in urgent need. Among these, some who couldn’t afford to redeem their items or wished to pawn more for additional silver would opt for outright selling (known as "dead pawn"). There were also items that became the pawnshop’s property when they weren’t redeemed by the maturity date. These items would be marked up and sometimes sold off by the pawnshop.
After all, among the items left behind in the pawnshop, there were indeed some valuable ones.
The shopkeeper asked Lu Tong, "Miss, is there anything in particular you wish to purchase?"
"I’d like to buy some jewelry," Lu Tong said. "Do you have any?"
"We do," the shopkeeper said cheerfully. "Coincidentally, just yesterday the pawnshop took in a batch of unredeemed jewelry, and their quality is still quite decent. If the miss is interested, I can bring them for your perusal."
Lu Tong nodded her head, "Thank you."
"It’s no trouble at all. Miss, please wait here for a moment," the shopkeeper replied before instructing a young clerk to fetch the items and poured cups of tea for Lu Tong and Yin Zheng.
Lu Tong and Yin Zheng sat in the lower hall waiting, with Yin Zheng holding a cup of tea murmured to Lu Tong at her side, "Miss, what exactly do you want to redeem?"
Lu Tong looked down.
"Nothing much, just a hairpin."