Pick up a princess to be your wife

"Who are you? Who gave you the right to speak?" The fat man turned his gaze to Li Mu.

“I will pay back the money my elder brother owes you,” Li Mu said.

The fat man looked Li Mu up and down with disdain. He was dressed so poorly that he didn't look rich at all.

"Then hand over the money," the fat man said dismissively.

"Give me a few days, and I will definitely raise a thousand taels and deliver it to your residence," Li Mu said earnestly.

The fat man deliberately came to cause trouble, wanting to forcibly abduct a young woman to sell for money, and then tie up Li Tian like a beast of burden, making him work for him for free for the rest of his life.

Even if Wang Xiulian and Li Xin were captured and sold to brothels, they could only fetch a hundred or so taels of silver.

But if this kid really gives him a thousand taels of silver, that would be a windfall.

"What if we can't get it out?" the fat man asked.

“If I can’t come up with the money, then so be it,” Li Mu replied.

"Alright, I'll give you three days. But to ensure the safety of your family of four, I'll have people guarding this place day and night. You and Li Tian can go out, but these two young ladies shouldn't go out; it's dangerous outside," the fat man laughed.

"Three days it is."

The fat man left, leaving all his men behind.

Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But this huge debt of one thousand taels of silver was like a mountain weighing down on Li Tian and Wang Xiulian.

Li Tian originally thought that Wang Xiulian would scold him.

This time, however, Wang Xiulian surprisingly did not react.

"A thousand taels of silver, what am I going to do? Even if I sold myself, I wouldn't get that much money."

"It's all my fault, I've dragged you all into this," Li Tian said in a low voice. "Should we run away?"

Although life is poor now, at least we live in the county town.

If we really wanted to run away, there were no way to escape, as the area outside the city was full of ruthless bandits who would devour people without spitting out their bones.

"Brother and sister-in-law, don't worry, I will find a way to raise the money," Li Mu said.

The elder brother and sister-in-law initially thought that Li Mu's actions were merely a temporary measure, but looking at Li Mu's expression, it was clear that he wasn't joking.

"Erlang, do you really have a way to get a thousand taels?" Li Tian asked in a low voice.

“That fat man is only after money. As long as we can get some silver, no matter how much, we can keep him in check,” Li Mu said.

"But you've only just found a job and received a considerable salary. Where are you going to get the money?" Li Tian asked anxiously.

"Erlang, you mustn't steal or rob!" Wang Xiulian warned, then added, "Let me see if there's anything else at home that we can sell. If all else fails, I'll borrow some from my family."

"I will not do anything illegal or criminal."

Li Mu still has over 2000 points. If he exchanges them for some supplies, he can easily get 1,000 taels of silver.

However, doing that would attract too much attention, so we had to find another way.

It was evening, in the small room.

Li Xin sat on the edge of the bed, at a loss. She had finally managed to escape thousands of miles and find a relatively safe county town, but now she was facing the risk of being sold to a brothel by a local bully.

If fate is so unfair to her, she might as well die to preserve her honor.

“By the way, that hairpin of mine is actually worth some money. If you take it to a larger pawnshop, you should be able to get quite a bit of silver,” Li Xin said.

“I’ve replaced your hairpin with your life-saving medicine; it’s gone,” Li Mu said truthfully.

"what?"

She no longer had any valuables on her.

"You don't need to worry about this. Go to sleep early."

Tonight, the room next door is unusually quiet.

That's fine too. Li Mu already has a beautiful woman lying next to him, and it would be really uncomfortable to keep hearing that kind of sound.

The next morning, Li Mu went to see Li Ertie and delivered a batch of cushions to him.

Then Li Mu pondered ways to make money.

Going out hunting is impractical; not only is it too dangerous outside the city, but the mountains have probably been ravaged by bandits countless times already. Otherwise, why would meat prices be so exorbitant these days?

Upon arriving at the market, Li Mu saw a gambling stone shop, which was bustling with people, and it seemed that there were quite a few gamblers.

The system can automatically identify antiques; if it could also identify stones, wouldn't the money be perfectly legitimate?

So Li Muxian exchanged some grain for some silver and went to the stone gambling market to try his luck.

"Is this a new face, young master? Is this your first time visiting Jubaoge?" The waiter quickly stepped forward to greet him.

"Ah."

"Young master, you've come to the right place. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who have made their fortunes at our Jubao Pavilion. Play a few games, and becoming rich is not a dream..." The waiter was very attentive.

"How do you play?" Li Mu asked.

"Buy the stones here and have them cut on the spot. If you find good quality stones, Jubao Pavilion will buy them back at the same price. As you can see, each stone has a price tag."

The Treasure Pavilion was quite large, with shelves of varying sizes around it displaying stones, and several stone-cutting tables in the center.

Li Mu walked to the shelf, glanced at it, and his eyes immediately focused on an inconspicuous stone.

[Rock #6.8 contains an irregularly shaped piece of green jade, weighing approximately 1.2 jin (600 grams), valued at 500 taels (approximately 250 grams). It can be exchanged for 500 points.]

Li Mu was secretly delighted. This system was truly amazing; it could not only identify antiques but also raw stones.

"I want this one."

"Thank you for your kind offer, five taels."

Li Mu paid on the spot, and the waiter immediately moved the raw stone to the central table.

“One cut, one tael of silver,” a craftsman said.

"Okay, open it." Li Mu nodded.

At this moment, quite a few people gathered around.

"People are actually opening these ordinary stones? Isn't that just throwing money away to the Treasure Pavilion?"

"Hehe, it's only five taels of silver, not much money. What if it sells well?"

"If this kind of stone could be eaten, I would eat the outer layer of the stone."

Li Mu chose the cheapest rough stones, which have the lowest yield. Even if you cut thousands or tens of thousands of stones, you might not be able to sell any at all; it's definitely a losing proposition.

However, as soon as the craftsman made his first cut and scraped off the stone, his eyes lit up.

"It's green!"

"What?"

Everyone was waiting to see Li Mu lose money, but in the blink of an eye, they saw green?

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed true.

This stone, weighing just over a pound, actually contained a piece of green jade weighing just over a pound!

After weighing it, the craftsman announced loudly, "Congratulations, young master, you have unearthed a piece of green jade weighing one pound and two ounces! Young master, would you like us to process and buy it back, or would you like to take it with you?"

"How much silver will you pay for it?" Li Mu asked.

"If you were born in a peaceful and prosperous era, our shop would be willing to buy back these items for five hundred taels. But these rare items are not worth much now, so we can only offer eighty taels," the craftsman explained.

"Then let's recycle it."

"okay!"

Everyone was talking about it.

"This person looks unfamiliar; is he new here?"

"Heh, I've gambled on so many ordinary rough stones and never got anything good, but this kid got something good with just one cut, it's infuriating."

"It's normal for a newcomer to have a bit of luck."