Chapter Seven: The Handsome Young Man

  Yang Qiuchi looked at the silver fragments in his palm, is this what silver looks like? He had only seen silver necklaces and silver bracelets before, but never silver used as currency for buying and selling. He found it quite novel. In TV dramas, wasn't silver supposed to be ingot-shaped like a horse's saddle? Why did the shopkeeper give him these small greyish-white stone-like things instead? He didn't know that those ingot-shaped silvers were usually obtained by the government after collecting taxes and then melted down and cast into 50-tael ingots in the shape of a horse's saddle, which was the standard form for official silver. Ordinary people mostly used fragmented silver.

  Yang Qiuchi and the shop assistant walked out of the pawnshop, Yang Qiuchi took a look at the shop assistant, only to see him staring at the small pile of silver coins in his hand with shining eyes. This kind of greedy gaze couldn't be faked, it seemed that the silver was real, and Boss Qian hadn't cheated him. Yang Qiuchi picked up a small piece from the pile of silver coins and flipped it over before handing it to the shop assistant: "A reward for you!"

  The shopkeeper stared at Yang Qiuchuan for a moment, seeing that he didn't seem to be joking. He pointed to the small piece of silver in Yang's palm and then pointed to his own nose, swallowing hard: "Give it to me?"

  Yang Qiuchi handed over the piece of silver in his hand: "Is it too little?"

  "No, no, no!" The shopkeeper was both startled and delighted, his hands trembling as he took the silver, clutching it tightly in his fist. He stuttered out a thank you: "Th-thank you!... Th-thank you, sir! Y-you're r-really... a g-good man!"

  This piece of silver is almost as heavy as one or two taels, and the inn where the shopkeeper is located is just an ordinary small inn in the county town. The guests who come and go are generally peddlers and travelers, all of whom are reluctant to spend even a single copper coin, let alone give tips. If they encounter a generous guest who can tip them a few big coins, it's already very good. His monthly salary is only 600 wen, but Yang Qiuchuan gave him almost one or two taels of silver as a reward, equivalent to the shopkeeper's salary for nearly two months. How could he not be excited? In the Ming Dynasty during the Yongle period, one tael of silver was worth about RMB 1,000. Giving a small tip of RMB 1,000 is still considered very generous even in today's society.

  "It's nothing!" Letting others be grateful is a very pleasant thing, Yang Qiuchu smiled and picked up the few pieces of silver in his hand to take another look. Suddenly, a small hand beside him quickly snatched the silver away. Yang Qiuchu was shocked and hastily withdrew his hand, but it was too late. His palm was empty, and the silver had disappeared. Yang Qiuchu turned around to see a young boy standing next to him, about 14 or 15 years old, with two bright black eyes shining brightly, and a handsome face. He wore a white satin tight-fitting short jacket, clearly from a wealthy family. The boy was holding a rope tightly in his hand, with a small black dog tied to the other end. The little dog's body was dirty and covered in mud and dust, its neck tightly bound by the rope, which made it roll its eyes and desperately scratch at the rope around its neck with its paws.

  Yang Qiuchi saw that this person didn't seem like a robber, but rather a half-grown child, and must be some family's young master playing a joke on him. He slightly relaxed and stretched out his hand: "Return my silver to me!"

  "Return it to you?" The young man tossed the silver coins, "Don't you have a lot of silver? You're always rewarding others at every turn, consider this silver as a reward for me!"

  "Are you going to reward me?" Yang Qiuchi forced a smile, the silver was in someone else's hands, and it seemed that not taking action wouldn't work. However, this little kid looked weak and fragile, and he could easily knock her down with just one finger. But since he had just arrived and didn't know the local customs, it was better not to cause trouble, so he spoke kindly to her, deciding not to use force: "Alright, little friend, I, Yang, have become friends with you, you keep one piece, return the rest to me, that should be fine, right?"

  "He actually gave a reward, of course he rewarded everything! Who would give just a small piece like that?" The young man squeezed his eyes and smiled mischievously.

  A piece of broken silver was still not enough, and Yang Qiuchi couldn't help but laugh and cry: "Who are you? Why should I give you so much money?" Turning his head to look at the shopkeeper, he saw him shrinking back in fear, looking at the young man with a fearful expression. He asked, "Hey, little second, do you know this kid?"

  The shopkeeper nodded slightly, just about to speak, when he saw the young man's face turn cold and quickly shook his head again, not daring to make a sound.

  Seeing the shopkeeper's appearance, Yang Qiuchu was full of doubts and stared at the young man. The young man smiled: "You don't even recognize me, are you new here?"

  Yang Qiuchi was about to respond when the small dog behind the young man let out a mournful cry, desperately scratching at the rope around its neck. The young man's brow furrowed and he gave the rope in his hand a fierce tug, causing the dog to tumble forward, flip over onto its back, and try to bark but unable to make a sound. It stuck out its tongue and gazed pitifully at Yang Qiuchi.

  Yang Qiuchi frowned, seeing the young man treating a small dog so cruelly, he was somewhat angry and didn't care if it would cause trouble: "Why are you torturing a little dog? Let it go quickly!"

  "Haha, who do you think you are, why should I let go of this little dog? It's not like it's yours!" The young man said while wrapping the rope around his fingers and playing with it.

  Yang Qiuchi was too lazy to say more, and reached out to grab the young man's hand holding the rope. The young man smiled and didn't move, waiting until Yang Qiuchi's hand was about to grab his arm before flipping his wrist and pointing two fingers at Yang Qiuchi's elbow. Yang Qiuchi's upper body felt like it had been electrocuted, numb and tingling, and he hastily retreated several steps, shocked in his heart. The terms from the martial arts novels flashed through his mind - "pointing the?"!

  Could it be that this young man knows how to use the acupoint technique, but he himself only felt his right hand numb and sore, yet still able to move, and not quite like the legendary acupoint technique where one can't move at all? Or perhaps he was pointing at his own sore spots on purpose, making himself feel sore instead of being unable to move?

  "That guy sneered with a smile: 'Is it fun? This is just a little punishment for you, who asked you to interfere and use your hands and feet without being serious.'"

  This young man is skilled in martial arts, and the shopkeeper looks very afraid of him. It can be determined that this young man should be a child of a wealthy family in the county town, spoiled. It seems that he cannot be defeated by force, only by wisdom.

  Yang Qiuchi smiled and raised his thumb: "Good kung fu! A young boy like you has such a high level of skill, it's truly rare and precious!"

  The young man smiled and said, "Your flattery is useless, this silver is a gift from you, thank you!" He made a triumphant face, took out an embroidered purse from his bosom, put the few pieces of broken silver into it, then put it back in his bosom, shook his head, and turned to leave.

  Yang Qiuchi burst out laughing: "What's this little bit of silver worth? You really haven't seen the world!"

  "What? You country bumpkin dare say I'm inexperienced!" The young man's face was icy. He walked up to Yang Qiuchuan, reached out and grabbed him.

  Yang Qiuchi took a step back and waved her hands repeatedly: "Men and women should not be too familiar, what kind of behavior is this!"

  The young man was startled: "How did you know I'm a girl?" This sentence inadvertently admitted that she was a girl. The young man turned his head and stared at the shopkeeper: "You told him!" The shopkeeper quickly shook his head with a bitter smile: "Miss, how dare I? You've been here all along, I haven't even opened my mouth, what can I say?"

  Big sister? This girl is indeed impressive.

  The girl nodded and then asked Yang Qiuchi strangely: "Hey! How did you know I'm a girl? Is my disguise not good enough, or did I reveal something?"