The person Jia Huan scolded was a shabby little pawnshop, the kind of small shop that would be considered shabby even in Nancheng.
The counter of the small pawn shop faces directly outside, and it doesn't even have the "shame board" that a serious pawn shop should have. In other words, the owners who come to pawn shops of this level are not afraid of being embarrassed when others see them pawn. Although the store is small, the height of the counter has not been reduced, it is still four feet eight inches high.
People who pawn things can only look up at the pawnbroker sitting high up from the outside. If they want to pawn something, they have to lift it up high before putting it on the counter for pawn.
This is because being condescending helps the pawn shop lower the price. Secondly, it is because people in the pawn shop are afraid of being beaten.
People who come to such places to pawn things are either extremely poor and short of money, or are eager to get rid of something. They are just waiting for the money to be used, but when they meet the pawnshop clerk, he deliberately devalues the quality of the goods and lowers the valuation.
, naturally there is anger in the heart, and if there is a disagreement, once the anger arises, there is no guarantee that the person in the pawnshop will not want to grab him and use his old fist.
For example, Jia Huan is now blocked by this counter. Even if he makes a fuss, he can only get angry and curse outside.
This pawn shop is located in an inconspicuous small alley. It usually does business for the poor, and also does some collecting stolen goods.
Since it is stolen goods, of course the stolen gongs and drums cannot be beaten, so the pawnshop will naturally take the opportunity to lower the price and have a "black and white crime".
The little thief suffered a loss due to being exploited by this pawnshop. The worst he could do was to steal something and sell it in another pawnshop next time. If a few days later he found out that another pawnshop was also taking advantage of him, he might even come back here to sell the stolen goods. No one would dare to make a fuss.
It was such a big fuss.
It happened that Jia Huan started making trouble.
The pawn shop clerk didn't know what to do for a while. Seeing that he was young, he thought he would just make a fuss. Unexpectedly, Jia Huan actually kicked and cursed at the wooden counter, causing everyone in the teahouse to rush into the alley.
Coming to see the fun, the guys were all panicked for a moment.
When the pawnshop owner saw that it was nothing, he had to take a step back and gave Jia Huan another ten taels of silver.
When Jia Huan saw it, he even cursed:
"The bison is such a bastard. If I add ten more taels, I want to send your third master to put out the fire and live out your mother's spring and autumn dream!
Is it possible that the Third Master has never seen money? If I don’t add thirty taels of silver today, the Third Master will drag you to see the official!"
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Although Long'er quietly squeezed into the crowd, he found a very suitable position, pretending to watch Jia Huan quarreling, while secretly staring at Lai Da.
The crowd watching the excitement did not recognize Jia Huan. They saw a richly dressed young man kicking the counter and cursing non-stop. They all smiled and pointed at Jia Huan and started talking.
Only Long'er noticed that the door of a house next to the pawnshop was opened a crack, and a man who looked like a clerk sneaked out sneakily, slipped around the wall and entered the tea house. Seeing that no one was around, he quickly slipped to Lai Da's side.
, leaned forward and whispered something.
Lai's big eyes were always looking outside the teahouse, as if waiting for someone, and ignored the waiter's words.
Suddenly, Lai Da stood up and said impatiently to the waiter: "If you don't leave, I'll beat you." Then he hurried out to greet him.
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Longer was overjoyed:
I really caught a big fish today!
It turns out that this black pawn shop is Lai Da’s property!
I asked him why he came to this teahouse every now and then to sit there, just to keep an eye on his business.
And the person Lai Da is waiting for today must be very important to him.
Huh?
The person Lai Da brought in turned out to be him!
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Over there, Lai Da very diligently invited in a fat, white old man in his fifties with a smiling face.
The old man had a kind face, wore a brown plain satin robe, and held a shiny white copper pipe pot in his hand. He seemed to be a teacher or the chief accountant of some big business.
Lai Da is slightly younger than this old man, but his attitude is respectful, as if he is the younger generation of this fat and white old man. The old man invites him to sit down, but he still dares not to sit down.
Because they were some distance away and the surroundings were noisy, Long'er couldn't hear what they were saying. He could only see Lai Da standing up and bowing from time to time. The fat and white old man just smiled and shook his head and nodded, but he couldn't tell at all.
Any change in expression.
Suddenly I heard: "Oh my mother, I beat someone to death!"
When Long'er followed the sound, he saw only four or five guys, holding wooden sticks and brooms in their hands, hitting Jia Huan on the buttocks and thighs, shouting loudly:
"You're not here to be a pawn, you just make trouble and run wild, aren't you a scoundrel? Fight quickly! Fight quickly!"
Those guys obviously got the order, and they only hit Jia Huan on the thick fleshy parts of his body that were not in the way and out of sight. The guys beat him until Jia Huan jumped around like a monkey with its butt burned, and cried at the same time.
Cursing:
"Isn't this a black shop that deceives people? I robbed your third grandfather's things and didn't give you any money!"
The guys also yelled:
"You look like a human being, but you have the nerve to come here and cause trouble? I won't beat you to death, you straight bitch!
If you dare to come here again to make trouble, it will be cheap to send you to see an official, but it will be serious to send you to hell!"
Only then did Jia Huan feel regretful, and instead cried and begged:
"I won't ask for more, as long as it's the price I just mentioned."
The shopkeeper stuck his head out from the counter and spat:
"Don't bother chewing maggots! You didn't pledge anything. Who told you the price?"
Wave to the guy:
"Keep fighting and let this prisoner understand!"
When Jia Huan saw the guys coming up to beat them with sticks and brooms, he was so frightened that he didn't dare to ask for the glass plate back. He cried and ran away with his head in his arms, making all the tea drinkers who were watching the fun laugh their heads off.
The one who was beaten ran away, the one who beat him withdrew his troops, and everyone in the teahouse returned to their seats. Long'er had to pretend to have finished delivering the things and left the teahouse, and just stood guard outside secretly.
After a while, I finally saw the fat old man coming out. Lai Da greeted him attentively from behind until the fat old man boarded a carriage waiting outside the tea house and left, not stopping behind to bow and bow attentively.
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Long'er hurriedly followed the carriage all the way from South City back to North City, then turned all the way east. Finally, the carriage stopped at the gate of Beijing Prince's Mansion.
When the fat old man got out of the car, several Qing Dynasty guests from Beijing Palace happened to go out. They all bowed to the fat old man and said:
"Secret Master Zou is well."
It turns out that this person is actually Zou He, the chief steward of the Prince's Palace in Beijing.
Longer was puzzled:
Why did Lai Da, the chief steward of the Rongguo Mansion, and Zou He, the chief steward of the Beijing Prince's Mansion, meet in a noisy teahouse in Nancheng? What on earth did they say?
No wonder the second master Lian suddenly ordered him to pretend to be sick the next day and stay in the capital to investigate the situation in the afternoon before going to Yangzhou. However, he suddenly had a stomachache at night, so he took advantage of the situation and did not go with him. After these days, it turned out that
Great discovery.
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Long'er changed his clothes and returned to the mansion, waiting in the wing room outside the Yimen.
There are many servants in Jia's house, but there really isn't much to do. Unless the master tells someone to do something, most of the time no one will care if there are more or less servants.
Around dinner time, Wang Xifeng's roommate Lai Wang'er staggered into the room. When he saw Long'er alone, he cursed:
"Where did you go to pick up the corpse during the day? Everyone went to dig in the sand, even Wang Xin was not here, leaving me alone to guard it?"
Long'er smelled that he had drunk a lot of wine, so he just said: