"Yutong" pawn shop.
Behind the tall counter, an old man was looking at Xu Qingwan with a nonchalant expression.
Most women dressed like this can't bring out any good items. They are probably just tattered jewelry.
But it’s business when it comes, and mosquito legs are still meat no matter how small they are, so he still asked politely.
"Girl, what do you want to do?"
"This knife."
Xu Qingwan hesitated for a moment and handed the bird's cry into the window, with some anxiety on her face.
"Oh, let me see."
The old man took the bird's cry and glanced at the handle of the knife before his pupils suddenly shrank.
Centennial huanghuali!
Although the small piece of the knife handle is not very valuable, if the handle can be made of this wood, the knife must be very simple!
After looking at the scabbard, he slowly pulled out a blade.
"Hey~"
The unsheathing sound like the cry of an oriole was clearly audible without a trace of noise.
Some withered fingers brushed the cold blade, and the next second the old man's expression changed drastically, and he looked at Xu Qingwan with his mouth wide open.
"How did the girl get this knife?"
"Why do you ask?"
Xu Qingwan looked wary: "How much can I pawn? If you can't tell, I'll go somewhere else."
"No, no, no!"
The old man quickly waved his hand and stood up: "Wait a moment, miss. I can't make the decision alone on this matter. I need to discuss it with the shopkeeper."
After he finished speaking, he didn't wait for Xu Qingwan to reply, and immediately went into the inner room with the knife in his arms, and it took him a full quarter of an hour to come out.
"Girl, you've been waiting for a long time."
The old man carefully placed the bird on the table, and then directly ordered the waiter to close the door and turn away customers.
After all the doors and windows of the pawn shop were closed, he looked at Xu Qingwan and slowly stretched out three fingers: "Girl, if you want to pawn this knife, we can give you this number."
"Three hundred taels?"
Xu Qingwan was surprised.
Ordinary weapons on the market generally cost only a few taels of silver, and even "official weapons" made of fine steel like lancets only cost a few taels.
And this bird's cry is directly worth a hundred lancets, no wonder she was so shocked.
Xu Qingwan didn't know what kind of sword could be worth this price, but before she could figure it out, she saw the old man shaking his head with a complicated expression and correcting him softly:
"Girl, it's three thousand taels."
"Three, three thousand taels?"
Xu Qingwan's eyes widened suddenly: "This, this sword is worth three thousand taels?"
"It's not worth three thousand taels, but it can be used as three thousand taels."
The old man took a deep breath and looked at the bird as if he were looking at a stunning beauty who had just come out of the bath.
"A sword is worth a thousand gold. This sword is worth at least ten thousand taels of silver."
"Ten thousand liang..."
Hearing this record-breaking price, Xu Qingwan seemed to have turned into a repeater. She couldn't say anything, but kept repeating the word "ten thousand taels" in a daze.
The old man was not in a hurry. He waited for a while and saw that Xu Qingwan's mood had calmed down a little before he asked:
"I wonder if the girl is satisfied with this price?"
"If you want to sell it, that's even better. We at Yutong will be able to give you the banknote right away."
"...I don't think so, and I won't sell it."
Xu Qingwan shook her head bitterly: "I just wanted to ask how much it is worth..."
"What?"
The old man was stunned for a moment, then showed an angry look on his face: "There is no such rule! If you want to take the knife back, it's not impossible, a hundred taels of silver sword..."
"Danglang~"
Something suddenly fell on the counter. It was not silver, but a black token.
The old man's face suddenly turned red as if he had been choked. It took him a long time to force out a smile: "It turns out to be the Master of the Xuanjing Division. I was so offended just now. Please don't take it to heart..."
Soon, Xu Qingwan walked out of the pawn shop holding the bird in her arms.
Not only did her face not look happy at making a big fortune, but she looked worried.
Ten thousand taels, so expensive...
I only have more than a thousand taels now, and I don’t know when I will be able to save enough money to pay him back...
He looked down at the word "bird cry" on the scabbard and held it tightly with his little hands.
Xu Qingwan suddenly waved her fist with determination, as if to cheer herself up.
Keep making money! I can!
…
Just when Xu Qingwan took the initiative to take on the "huge debt" of 10,000 taels of silver, Wei Changtian, as the "creditor", had returned to the Wei Mansion and was listening to Li Yang and Wang Er's work report.
The preparation work for Chunshen Bookstore has been basically completed. Li Yang bought a yard with a facade and warehouse. The front can be used as a bookstore and the back can be used as a printing factory.
The clerks have been recruited, the printing equipment is in place, and Lu Jingyao has also given "Journey to the West (Part 1)" to Li Yang.
Everything is ready, tentatively scheduled to open on August 28th.
"...That's about it. I have made arrangements for the Masonic brothers to mix with the normal guys. Most people will never be able to tell the difference."
Li Yang hesitated for a moment, then said: "Brother Wei, I have an idea about selling books, and I want you to make the decision."
"what idea?"
Wei Changtian nodded with satisfaction: "Brother Li, just say it directly, no need to be polite."
"Okay, then I'll tell you straight away."
Li Yang scratched his head in embarrassment: "I want to sell "Journey to the West" together with the playing cards invented by you, Brother Wei."
"Playing cards are a new item that has never been seen before. I think they will be very popular as long as they are promoted properly."
"Now that we have our own printing workshop, we can reduce the production cost of playing cards to a very low level. If we can sell them together with "Journey to the West", we can not only greatly increase sales, but also..."
Li Yang tentatively explained his "new idea", while Wei Changtian became more and more surprised as he listened.
Hey guys, isn’t this a bundled sale?
Do you understand such a modern concept?
"Brother Li, I think it's feasible!"
Wei Changtian quickly gave full affirmation: "Just go ahead and do it. This move will definitely be a great success!"
"Really? Then Brother Wei, why don't you listen to these ideas of mine?"
Li Yang was very excited when he got the affirmation, and simply said everything he had thought about in the past few days.
In the following time, Wei Changtian heard references to many modern marketing methods such as "hungry sales", "celebrity endorsement", "brand packaging", etc., and some were even very similar.
Damn, you didn’t come through time as well, right? !
"Brother Li, you are truly a business genius!"
Looking at Li Yang as if he were an alien, Wei Changtian admired sincerely: "If you had been born a few decades earlier and had nothing to do with the Xu family, the position of the richest man in Daning would definitely be yours!"
Li Yang was surprised and happy when he heard this: "Brother Wei, I'm embarrassed by what you said."
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. You don't have to ask me about the bookstore business from now on. Just make up your own mind!"
Wei Changtian patted Li Yang on the shoulder, and then suddenly said: "Odd will change to even, but it won't change!"
? ? ?
Li Yang looked confused: "Brother Wei, what did you say?"
"Hahaha, it's nothing..."
Wei Changtian laughed twice and raised his tea cup as if to drink tea.
But the moment the rim of the cup touched his mouth, he was caught off guard again and blurted out: "Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron!"
Li Yang: "..."
Wang Er: "..."
