Chapter 68: A Pledge Turned Final Sale
This novel is translated and hosted on BCatranslation.
After Yu Zhao and Wang You Cai left, the small tavern erupted in chatter.
“Wow, that young lady—is she really an immortal? She doesn’t look like one to me!”
“Shh! How dare you gossip about an immortal? Do you want to die?”
“Wang You Cai’s family is one of the wealthiest here. How does he even know an immortal? Is he about to strike it big?”
“Hahaha, the immortal ate pastries from my boss’s shop!”
“And drank the rice wine from ours!”
The staff from the pastry shop and the tavern jumped with joy, their excitement overflowing.
The other patrons exchanged glances.
If they had known Wang You Cai had connections to an immortal, they would have scraped together the five hundred spirit beads at all costs to help him. Who knows? Maybe they could have even spoken with the immortal themselves.
…
Wang You Cai led Yu Zhao to a pawnshop. Lowering his head in shame, he muttered, “Immortal, my family’s heirloom is inside this pawnshop.”
Everything valuable he owned had been either pawned or sold to pay off debts. Nothing worthwhile remained in his hands, which was why debt collectors from the gambling house were constantly after him.
“But rest assured, Immortal, it’s a family heirloom, so I pawned it under a live pledge. It can be redeemed for one thousand spirit beads.”
There were two ways to pawn an item: a live pledge or a final sale.
A live pledge temporarily exchanged an item for money. The owner could retrieve the item within a set period by presenting the pawn ticket and repaying the amount.
A final sale, however, was a one-time transaction. The item would belong to the pawnshop permanently, with no chance of redemption.
Even at his most desperate, Wang You Cai had refused to pawn his family heirloom under a final sale, proving just how much he valued it.
One thousand spirit beads wasn’t much to Yu Zhao. Her main concern was discovering the secret tied to the Wang Family Heirloom and how it related to her.
The two stepped into the pawnshop.
The young clerk’s eyes lit up upon seeing Yu Zhao, but his expression soured when he noticed Wang You Cai.
“Ah, it’s Young Master Wang. What, you’ve run out of things to pawn and now want to pawn a person? This is a proper business, not a place for human trafficking. Take your shady dealings elsewhere!”
Wang You Cai was no stranger to such jabs, being a regular at the pawnshop. He had long learned to ignore them. However, being ridiculed so openly in front of the immortal made his face burn with embarrassment. Unable to hold back, he shouted at the clerk.
“Watch your mouth! I’m here to redeem my heirloom! Go call your shopkeeper!”
“Redeem? Not pawn?” The clerk looked at him, puzzled.
Wang You Cai scoffed and slammed a crumpled pawn ticket onto the counter. “Get your shopkeeper! Are you doing business or not?”
The clerk, seeing Yu Zhao’s calm demeanor and dignified presence, quickly scurried into the back room.
Moments later, a lean middle-aged man walked out, smiling warmly.
“Young Master Wang,” he greeted Wang You Cai before turning to Yu Zhao. “And this young lady…”
His voice faltered as his eyes widened in shock upon seeing Yu Zhao, as if he had seen a ghost.
Wang You Cai ignored his stunned expression and suspiciously eyed the man. “Something’s off. Shopkeeper Qian, you usually stay behind the counter to deal with me. Why step out today?”
Then a realization struck him. His eyes flared with anger, and he lunged at Shopkeeper Qian, grabbing his collar.
“You damned Qian! Did you sell my family heirloom?”
Shopkeeper Qian was seized by his collar, his face turning bright red in mere moments.
The clerks rushed forward to intervene, managing with great difficulty to pull Wang You Cai away. One of them then prepared to retaliate with a punch.
Shopkeeper Qian coughed violently and stopped his employee. “You—cough, cough—lock the door immediately, and then go home. No more business for today.”
The clerk, though bewildered, complied without question.
Once the doors were shut, the pawnshop dimmed considerably.
“Please, both of you, follow me to the backyard,” Shopkeeper Qian said with a bitter smile.
Wang You Cai glanced at Yu Zhao and, seeing no objection from her, snorted coldly. “Lead the way, Master Qian.”
Shopkeeper Qian led the pair down a corridor to the backyard. Upon entering, he immediately knelt and kowtowed repeatedly toward Yu Zhao.
“Forgive my offense, Immortal. This humble one is guilty! Guilty!”
Yu Zhao had a good idea of what the Wang family’s heirloom was by now.
It must be a painting, a portrait of a woman that bore an uncanny resemblance to her—so much so that both Wang You Cai and Shopkeeper Qian had instantly recognized her.
“Where is the painting?” Yu Zhao asked calmly.
Shopkeeper Qian shuddered and whispered, “I sold it to the county magistrate.”
Wang You Cai nearly exploded with rage, itching to kick the man to death. That painting was the Wang family’s heirloom, something he had endured countless beatings from strongmen to protect. Never had he considered pawning it for good; he’d always hoped to reclaim it someday and pass it on.
But this miserly shopkeeper, blinded by greed, had sold it outright—and to the county magistrate, no less! Clearly, he had decided to take full advantage of Wang You Cai’s plight.
Yu Zhao’s lips curled in a faint, enigmatic smile. “Shopkeeper Qian, Wang You Cai claims he pawned the painting as a recoverable item.”
Shopkeeper Qian’s face twisted bitterly. “That is correct.”
Indeed, just as Wang You Cai suspected, Shopkeeper Qian had calculated that he would never recover financially.
Only a few days earlier, the county magistrate had celebrated a birthday, and Shopkeeper Qian, lacking a suitable gift, had hatched this scheme. He presented the painting as a birthday offering, which greatly pleased the magistrate, earning him commendation.
Shopkeeper Qian had been basking in his cleverness—until Wang You Cai showed up with none other than the subject of the painting: the Immortal herself.
Now he regretted it deeply, cursing his greed. He had assumed the painting depicted a figment of some Wang ancestor’s imagination. Who would have thought the figure was real?
Had Yu Zhao not appeared in the flesh, he would never have believed it, not even if beaten to death.
“Shopkeeper Qian, since you gave the painting to the county magistrate, you must retrieve it. The consequences of failing to do so are beyond what you can bear.”
“I… I…” Shopkeeper Qian stammered, drenched in sweat.
Caught between offending the county magistrate and offending an Immortal, he was doomed either way.
Truthfully, Yu Zhao could easily use her cultivation to retrieve the painting from the magistrate’s residence without anyone being the wiser. However, she preferred not to meddle in mortal affairs as a cultivator, lest she incur unnecessary karmic entanglements.
Thus, she waited in silence for Shopkeeper Qian’s response.
After a long internal struggle, Shopkeeper Qian gritted his teeth. “It was my greed that caused this mess. I will go to the magistrate and retrieve the painting.”
Wang You Cai grunted in approval. “As you should.”
Then Shopkeeper Qian added hesitantly, “I’d like Young Master Wang to accompany me. With the pawn ticket in his hands, it’ll help me explain matters to the magistrate.”
Wang You Cai, who had often visited the county magistrate’s residence with his father, agreed without hesitation.
Yu Zhao stayed behind in the pawnshop’s backyard, sipping tea, as the two men hurried off to the county city.