Chapter Six: The Pawnshop
The shopkeeper's smile froze: "No money to stay...". He caught sight of the tiger skin rolled up under Yang Qiuchi's arm and immediately changed his expression: "Sir, you're a hunter, aren't you? You've caught such a big tiger, you're really impressive!" He gave a thumbs-up, "No money, no problem! You have tiger skin, sell it and you'll have money! Sir, our shop is a hundred-year-old shop, clean and hygienic, with many delicious dishes, such as steamed mandarin fish..."
The shopkeeper was about to count on his fingers when Yang Qiuchuan waved his hand to interrupt him. When he heard that the tiger skin could be sold for money, he was delighted: "Excuse me, where can this tiger skin be sold?"
The shopkeeper pulled Yang Qiuchuan a few steps onto the street, pointing into the distance: "Just turn a corner ahead and you'll be there." After thinking for a moment, he added: "Anyway, there aren't many customers now, I'll tell the boss and take you there!"
Yang Qiuchi nodded gratefully, it seemed that people in this Ming dynasty were still quite simple and honest.
The shopkeeper ran into the store, and soon came out again, smiling at Yang Qiuchuan and said: "It's done, let's go." He led the way in front. Yang Qiuchuan followed the shopkeeper through several streets and arrived at a pawnshop, lifted the curtain door and walked in.
In Yang Qiuchi's mind, this pawnshop was linked to the evil old society. The common people were really struggling to make ends meet, taking their slightly valuable belongings to the pawnshop to exchange for rice. The shopkeeper would definitely be a ruthless bargainer, trying to squeeze out every last penny from the people's meager possessions. So, Yang Qiuchi didn't have a good impression of this pawnshop. However, apart from in movies and TV shows, he had never seen a real pawnshop before, and couldn't help but feel some curiosity.
As they entered the pawnshop, a high counter stood in front of them, with a person standing behind it who was more than one meter tall. The counter had a black railing on top, and behind the railing sat a stout middle-aged man with big ears, fiddling with an abacus. Next to him lay a thread-bound book, apparently calculating accounts. When Yang Qiuchuan and his companion entered, the stout middle-aged man only slightly raised his eyelids to glance at them before lowering his head again to continue fiddling with the abacus.
The shop assistant patted the counter with his hand: "Hey! Boss Qian, a customer has come to pawn something!"
The shopkeeper raised his eyes and looked at the store clerk, then turned his head to look at Yang Qiuchuan. When his gaze fell on the tiger skin under Yang Qiuchuan's arm, a bright light flashed in his eyes, but it was fleeting, like a shooting star. He quickly regained his lazy demeanor: "What is this?"
Yang Qiuchi took out the tiger skin and handed it over the counter: "One piece of tiger skin!"
Qian Zhanggui didn't even bother to flip over the tiger skin, but just looked at it from left and right with a tilted mouth. He picked up a brush, turned it upside down, and poked the pen holder into the several bullet holes on the tiger's head, muttering to himself: "The skin on this old tiger's head is all rotten, it's worthless." He threw down the brush, touched the tiger's fur with his hand, pinched it: "The hair is almost falling off, who knows where it was picked up from."
Yang Qiuchi was taken aback: "What are you talking about? Haven't you seen the fresh blood on the tiger skin that hasn't even dried yet? I just slaughtered it!" He turned his head to look at the shop assistant, with a hint of pride in his expression. The shop assistant bowed and smiled, with a face full of admiration.
Qian Zhanggui didn't respond, gazing up at the sky with a drawn-out tone, and a few words sprayed out of his nostrils: "Tattered and worn - one tiger skin, worth - ten taels of silver!"
Ten taels of white silver? How much is that worth? As for how much the white silver was worth in the Ming dynasty, Yang Qiuchi had no concept at all. Moreover, he didn't know how to respond, so he just looked at the shopkeeper and then at the store clerk, unsure of what to say for a moment.
The shopkeeper smiled and said: "Sir, this tiger skin is priced at ten taels of silver. Will you take it or not?"
"How much is ten taels of silver?" Yang Qiuchi felt a bit embarrassed.
Doesn't he know the value of silver? This person probably hasn't even seen silver before. When Moneybags heard this, his intestines turned green with regret. Except for a few small holes on the head, the skin on this tiger hide is intact and clearly freshly peeled off from an adult male tiger, its value is not trivial, if sold in the market it can easily fetch over 70 taels, but he only asked for 10 taels, originally he had already gotten a great deal, now it seems that just giving him a few strings of cash would be enough to satisfy him, why did he need to give 10 taels?
The young innkeeper was an honest man, after all, he had seen all sorts of people coming and going in his line of work. However, someone like the one in front of him who didn't even know the value of ten taels of silver was truly rare. Although it was somewhat laughable, his face didn't reveal any expression, and he still spoke politely: "Ten taels of silver is equal to ten strings of copper coins, which is 10,000 big coins."
Ten taels? One hundred thousand big coins? How much is that in RMB? Yang Qiuchi was still confused. He thought of the most common method of converting ancient currency, which was to use purchasing power as a reference. The same goods were worth so much money in ancient times and how much they are worth now, and the exchange value of the two currencies would be roughly calculated. What kind of goods should be used as a reference? Of course, rice is the most common one, but Yang Qiuchi never goes to buy rice and doesn't know how much a kilogram of rice costs in modern society. He thought about using something he knew to convert it, such as a big bowl of noodles or a roasted duck or a plate of dumplings. It seemed that none of these were easy to calculate, so he thought of his favorite food, small steamed buns with meat fillings, and asked: "How much does your store charge for one small steamed bun with meat filling?"
The shopkeeper heard this and some of the monks were confused, why did he suddenly ask about meat buns? It seemed that this person was starving, hahaha. "A steamer basket of small buns costs three big coins, a steamer basket has six buns, calculated, two meat buns sell for one big coin."
One big coin for two meat buns, nowadays one yuan can buy two meat buns too. That means in the Ming Dynasty, one big coin was equivalent to about one yuan, so ten taels of silver would be worth 10,000 big coins, which is also equivalent to 10,000 yuan. This tiger skin was pawned for 10,000 yuan, not bad at all. Yang Qiuchuan didn't know that the tiger skin was very valuable in the Ming Dynasty either, anyway he had no idea what it was worth. He hadn't eaten anything all day and first needed to find some money to buy something to eat. Anyway, it's just pawning it, later when he has money he can redeem it back. As soon as he thought of food, Yang Qiuchuan's stomach started growling.
The shopkeeper looked at Yang Qiuchuan's face, which was sometimes worried and sometimes happy, and didn't know what he was thinking. He also heard his stomach growling with hunger, and knew that he was extremely hungry. The shopkeeper almost burst out laughing: "Sir, our guest house's steamed buns are famous in Guangde County. They have a thick filling and thin skin, made from the finest meat. When you've finished shopping and return to the guest house, I'll give you two baskets to try."
Yang Qiuchi was already starving, and now hearing the shopkeeper talk about the fragrant and hot steamed meat buns, he couldn't wait to fly to the inn and order a few large baskets of meat buns to eat. He hastily said: "Come on! Come on! Give me the money quickly!"
Qian Zhanggui sighed, although he regretted it, but since the words had already been spoken, how could he take them back? He had no choice but to open a bill and weigh out ten taels of loose silver for Yang Qiuchi.
