Crossing the Mountains

Chapter 31 Pawn Again
Badan walked into Guangde Pawn Shop with the sapphire beads in his pocket.

Aisha instructed them to trace back every person who had handled the beads until they found the source. Since the pawnshop was the most important clue, they could use the beads to fish for the person who had pawned them.

Badan took out the sapphire beads from the silk bag, showed them to the pawnshop owner, and said, "Pawn this and see how much it's worth."

The shopkeeper, busy checking the accounts, glanced up and casually said, "A sapphire bead necklace. Let's see which one it is..." Suddenly realizing something, he leaned over, took the beads and examined them carefully. He said in surprise, "Why is it this one again? The color, the flaws... It's similar, so similar. Xiao Yu, come and take a look. Is this the one Juedang gave us earlier?"

A clerk named Xiao Yu came over and after examining it, he said, "That's it. I remember the flaws on these three gemstones."

It is not uncommon for things to be pawned again. Some people often pawn their family property and then redeem it just to get money for emergency use. However, they rarely encounter situations like this where things are pawned again from other people after being forfeited.

Badan had excellent hearing and heard the shopkeeper whisper to Xiao Yu from inside, "Did you buy it on the black market?"

Xiao Yu nodded. "Didn't you say this thing looked unlucky and wouldn't sell in a dental clinic? So I bought it on the black market."

After listening to them mutter for a long time without getting to the point, Badan urged, "What's the matter? What's the point of pawning it? I'm in urgent need of money. How much can this thing be pawned for?"

The shopkeeper said hurriedly, "Sorry for the long wait. We just want to see the quality of this pearl necklace. Although it is a sapphire from Mohe, it has too many imperfections and flaws to be considered top quality. How about this, I'll exchange it for 27 strings of cash and 5,000 coins."

"What? Only this much? My family told me it could be exchanged for at least 40 strings of cash!"

"You definitely can't get it for forty strings of cash." The shopkeeper lowered the price. "I'm not trying to take advantage of you. To be honest, this string of beads just came into my shop last month and was a total pawn. The price I offered was only slightly higher than this. I don't know how many times it's passed through your hands. The price you offer can only be lower, not higher."

"No, at least thirty-eight kan! Don't think I'm easy to fool!" Badan slammed his palm on the counter. "Just tell me clearly, how much did Juedang give you before? I want the same price."

"Why would I try to fool you? I only gave you thirty-two strings of cash."

"You merchants are the best at deceiving people. Who knows if what you say is true or not? Do you have any proof? Show it to me. If it's really thirty-two strings of cash, I won't mind giving you a little less."

"We have our own rules in this business. Each transaction is a separate one. It all depends on whether both parties can reach an agreement. What price someone else offers is none of your business." The shopkeeper said in a serious tone, "If you don't trust us, you can go find another pawnshop."

"My wife only recognizes your family." Badan begged, "That's perfect. Your family has already offered a price. Just show me what it is. I'll have an idea and can give my wife an explanation."

"I really can't do this..."

The shopkeeper was about to argue with him, but Xiao Yu flipped through the pledge book and said, "It's exactly thirty-two strings of cash. I'm not lying to you!"

The Bataan man was tall and strong, with long arms. He took the opportunity to pull the wooden scroll over, took a quick look at it, and said, "It really is 32 strings of cash, a sure thing. The pawner, Wu Chou..."

"Hey! Why are you stealing someone else's notebook?" Xiao Yu quickly snatched the wooden tablet back. "Whoever stole it, I'll take a look." Badan asked, "Who is this Wu Chou?"

"I'm just a delivery guy, how can I know who they are?"

Without waiting for the shopkeeper to start a fight, Badan said cheerfully, "Alright, alright, then just give me twenty-eight strings of cash, okay? Such a translucent sapphire string of beads. What's wrong with making money for you?"

The shopkeeper thought about it and was too lazy to argue with him, so he quickly exchanged the silver and money.

When Badan left with the silver, the shopkeeper looked at the beads over and over again and said to Xiao Yu, "I still think this bead string is unlucky and very strange..."

Xiao Yu was quite calm: "Don't overthink it. The man just now didn't look like a poor guy. He looked like he needed money to make ends meet in a few days. He should be able to redeem it soon. We won't lose money on this deal."
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That day, Tan Huaike met the shopkeeper Lu of the herbal medicine shop. He put the accounts of unauthorized withdrawal from the warehouse and resale in front of him and gave him a scolding without any hesitation.

Shopkeeper Lu had already learned about her scheming and manipulative nature from the apprentice who dispensed the medicine, but he still held out a glimmer of hope, believing that she was young and inexperienced and could get away with a few words of excuse. So, at first, he used Mr. Tan's embezzlement of a large sum of money to exonerate himself. Unexpectedly, Tan Huaike changed the subject and listed all the selfish motives and actions that led to his poor management.

Tan Huaike scolded him, "It's normal to have deficits and bad debts. But instead of trying to make the business prosperous and make up for the deficit, you use this as an excuse to let the hole grow bigger and bigger. You're robbing Peter to pay Paul, only thinking about making a small profit for yourself, completely ignoring the life and death of the shop. Is this how you run a shopkeeper?"

Now Shopkeeper Lu knew he couldn't escape this. He had committed many serious offenses. If he lost his job under this boss, his reputation would be ruined, and no one would dare to hire him as shopkeeper again. So he quickly gave in and begged Tan Huaike to give him another chance to make amends and fill the gaps he had made before.

In the following days, Tan Huaike reviewed the account books for the past three years in more detail, sorted out the clues, and personally followed Manager Lu to select and purchase medicinal materials.

She discovered that the higher prices for common herbs her shop bought were due to the price gouging by the herbalist village they had long traded with. This village was home to many herbalists, who had previously made a living collecting and selling herbs. However, since discovering they were the sole supplier of prescriptions to the herbalist shop, many of them had developed ulterior motives.

They repeatedly raised the price, claiming the herbs were of better quality. Initially, they were worried the Tan family would try to undercut them after comparing prices, but it turned out no one pursued the matter.

After Mr. Tan embezzled the money, the shop was managed by Tan Anfeng for a while. He accepted the benefits from those herbalists and became even more arrogant. He designated that Manager Lu should use the herbs here in the future. This caused the cost of most herbs in the herbal medicine shop to soar, and naturally it was not as affordable as other shops.

After understanding the situation, Tan Huaike immediately canceled the agreement between Tan Anfeng and them and asked Shopkeeper Lu to select at least three suppliers of medicinal herbs and use the one with the best quality and the best price. Of course, this village with whom they had long-term business relations was also among them. Their medicinal herbs were still good, but this was just to force them to lower their prices and give his shop more room for choice.

The pharmacy also needs to invite back the doctors. Doctors are not saints. If they are not respected and do not make enough money, who would be willing to work here for free?
But this cannot be accomplished overnight, and we need to think of other solutions.

After four or five days of continuous work, Tan Huaike finally had some free time. That day, she and Pei'er were browsing the shops on Xiangling Street and passed by Guangde Pawnshop again.

This time she didn't meet the human trafficker, but when she reached the alley entrance, she heard two people talking.

One of them said, "Someone on the black market is offering a reward for that sapphire bead necklace..."
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　Next chapter: Tan Huaike suddenly smelled the incense again.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)