Jiang Michia and his party quickly found an ox cart on East Street and wandered toward the county seat.
There were a lot of people walking towards the county seat, and people stopped people on the road one after another. At first, there were only three people, Jiang Mixia, on the ox cart, but by the time they were halfway through, the number had doubled.
Naturally, the bullock cart seemed a bit crowded, so I had to sit as far to the side as possible, with my legs hanging down on the edge of the cart.
The journey lasted for more than two hours with almost no stops. When we arrived at the county seat sitting like this, Jiang Michia's feet were numb.
Jiang Youcheng and Song Jingyun were not much better. When they got out of the car, their feet were slightly bent.
Jiang Youcheng had not been to the county town twice and was not familiar with the road. After asking around, he found the most prosperous Dongcheng District in the county town.
There is a lot of traffic and people coming and going here. There are many shops on both sides of the street. Many people come in and out, and the waiters in the shops welcome and drop off. It can be said to be quite lively.
The three of them arrived at the entrance of Zhenbaozhai where they had inquired.
"This shop is really grand." Jiang Youcheng looked at the tall and exquisite door of Zhenbaozhai and the gilded plaque hanging above, smacking his tongue repeatedly, and then secretly pulled Jiang Michia to talk, "Such a grand shop, He must be rich, and he shouldn’t be pushy when it comes to taking action.”
These two things are not necessarily connected.
Jiang Michia said, "Let's try it first."
As they spoke, the three of them walked into the shop.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing? Rushing in in a hurry?"
The guy at the door stretched out his hand to stop the three of them, and then looked them up and down.
They were all wearing coarse cloth shorts and looked like ordinary farmers. Jiang Youcheng also carried a bunch of sewing baskets strung with hemp rope on his back.
The whole body smells like mud legs!
The waiter made no secret of his disdain and disgust and rolled his eyes, "This is the Treasure Shop, a shop that sells gold, silver, jade, and various jewelry. Are you afraid that you have gone to the wrong door?"
"You're right, we're just here." Jiang Youcheng smiled with a smile on his face.
The guy crossed his arms and said, "What are you doing here?"
"The mussels fished out of the river have produced pearls. They are of decent size. I just want to see if we can collect them here." Jiang Youcheng replied.
Let's just say, I'm definitely not here to buy anything.
Zhenbaozhai is well-known and recognized by many people, especially farmers. People who want to sell their old jewelry, people who find jade in the mountains, people who find pearls in the river, all come here, hoping to sell them. Good price.
There are many people like this, and the clerk is used to it. "Then you take it out and let me take a look first?"
Jiang Youcheng stretched out his hand to pull the small cloth bag.
Jiang Michia stopped and said to the guy, "There are so many people on the street, so I'm afraid it's inappropriate. Pearls are not big objects. If they fall or are snatched away by someone, it's hard to tell." ”
"Our Zhenbaozhai is such a big shop. We also collect these things on weekdays. There should be someone who specializes in estimating the price. Could you please take us to see him?"
The clerk originally thought that a few mud-legged guys from farmers must have never seen the world. With a little fooling around, he could buy them at a low price from these people and then sell them to the shop to make a profit.
It turned out that these people were quite shrewd.
Seeing that he couldn't be fooled, the boy curled his lips and said reluctantly, "Okay, come with me."
After that, he led Jiang Michia and the three of them around from the alley next to the shop to the back of Zhenbaozhai, entered a courtyard through a corner door, and then entered a house in the corner of the courtyard.
The light in the room was a bit dark, and behind a large table sat an old man with a long beard who was drinking tea slowly. When he saw someone coming, he raised his eyelids and said, "Selling something?"
"It's said that pearls came out of the river clams, and they wanted to come here to sell them for some money." The waiter nodded and bowed, with a smile on his face, and then turned to Jiang Michia and the others, "This is the money manager of our Zhenbaozhai."
"Hello, shopkeeper Qian." Jiang Michia greeted.
Shopkeeper Qian nodded slightly as a response, then stroked his beard, glanced at Jiang Michia and the others, and then slowly put down the tea cup in his hand.
"The river water here is shallow, and wild clams are not very big. Generally, they cannot grow pearls. It is really rare that you can grow pearls."
"But again, wild river mussels, even if they produce pearls, are not in good quality and cannot be sold at a good price."
"Just like that ginseng, the price depends on the year. It doesn't mean that it can be sold at a high price just because of the word ginseng. Let me warn you first, don't say that the price given by our Zhenbaozhai is unreasonable."
"It depends on the price of the goods. Of course we understand this principle, but I would like to trouble the shopkeeper to give me a fair price."
After Jiang Michia finished speaking, she and Jiang Youcheng pulled off the small cloth bag on the collar and chest, took out the three pearls inside, and placed them on the table.
"Shopkeeper Qian, take a look, how much can you give for these three pearls?"
Shopkeeper Qian took a look at the pearls one by one, then looked at Jiang Michia and the others, and thought for a moment, "These three pearls are not in good quality, they are not big, not round enough, and have many flaws on them. If you really want to sell it, I can give you three taels of silver."
Three taels of silver?
Not as much as he earns from weaving baskets for tea gardens?
Jiang Youcheng was immediately disappointed and blurted out his words, "They say that pearls are not cheap even if they are used in medicine. Three taels for three is too little."
"Isn't that too little? Then go to the pawn shop and see how much they are willing to give you. Even if you pawn to death, I guess giving you two or two to five dollars is enough."
The waiter on the side was full of anger, "Our Zhenbaozhai is a place where the products are always genuine and honest, and the prices given are the most reasonable. If you don't believe in our Zhenbaozhai, go somewhere else."
As he spoke, the waiter started to drive Jiang Michia and the others out.
Shopkeeper Qian raised his hand to signal the clerk not to do this, but he also looked at Jiang Michia and the other three, "My clerk is an upright person, so don't take it to heart, but the price of pearls is the same, and it really can't be high."
"Seeing that it's not easy for you to come to the county seat, I'm a person who never does things with a ruthless heart, so I'll give you another two hundred dollars. If you want more, it won't work."
Seeing that Shopkeeper Qian and the clerk were a little impatient at this time, Jiang Michia reached out and picked up the pearls again and put them into a small cloth bag, "If you bother Shopkeeper Qian, let's go and ask about the price. If it really can't be sold, If you pay a high price, we will come again.”
"Sure." Shopkeeper Qian nodded, but added, "But let's talk about this for now. I can get an extra two hundred yuan for the sale now. If you finish asking about the price next to it, come back to my place. If so, I can only give you three taels of silver."
"Thank you, shopkeeper Qian, for reminding me. I'll take my leave."
Jiang Michia collected the pearls, gave the money shopkeeper a blessing, and went out.
The guy sent the three people out with a displeased look on his face.
