Chapter 8 This Pawnshop Eats People

The shop's frontage was large and deep, occupying an area that was about as spacious as the two shops next door. The outer gate was carved with patterns, the windows were inlaid with screens, and above the main hall inside the vermilion door there was a plaque with the words "Make friends with all kinds of people" inscribed on it. To the right of the plaque, behind a partition separated by an antique shelf, it looked like a private room for receiving guests. To the left was a wooden counter that was twice as tall as Li Yaoguang, with the upper half separated by a wooden fence. This must have been the stage.

Li Yaoguang touched the place on his chest where the mirror was tucked in, and stepped in. A waiter in blue clothes at the door came up to greet him warmly.

"Good morning, young guest. Is this a pawn or a redemption?"

Li Yaoguang saw that the clerk had a good attitude and didn't look down on him at all. He subconsciously felt that this pawnshop was okay and should not cheat people. He nodded and took out a mirror wrapped in a disposable face towel from his chest, "Excuse me, brother, I'll pawn my things."

The guy came to ask subconsciously because of the job requirements, but unexpectedly the little guy turned out to be a customer.

Knowing that Li Yaoguang really wanted to pawn his things, the waiter smiled even more, raised his head and shouted behind the counter: "Over the counter, a customer has arrived, pawn your things."

As the waiter finished speaking, Li Yaoguang, who was far away across the counter, saw an old man, about fifty years old, with a half-long gray beard and wearing silk clothes, appear in the partition behind the tall counter. He was stroking his beard with his left hand and raised his right hand to gently knock on the vermilion lacquered tray placed in front of the half-arched door of the partition in front of him, with a majestic voice.

"Present the item and wait for me to examine it."

Li Yaoguang looked at the people, then at the high, inhumane counter, and muttered to himself, and then the waiter's voice rang out, "Sir, please deliver the goods."

"Oh, alright."

Li Yaoguang came to his senses and took two steps forward. He stretched out his hands and feet to put the things in his hands on the table, but he couldn't reach the table at all. Li Yaoguang...

The waiter beside him was quick-witted and suppressed his laughter. He took the red lacquer tray from the counter, walked up to Li Yaoguang, bowed politely and said, "Why don't you give me the goods and I'll bring them to you on the counter?"

Li Yaoguang, who had no chance to choose at all, thought about the waiter's good performance just now and decided to trust him this time. He pretended to be calm and put the things in his hand, including the packaging, on the tray held by the waiter with both hands, and watched the other party respectfully put it on the counter.

"Shopkeeper, please inspect the goods."

"Ah."

The old man at the counter, who was also the shopkeeper, hummed calmly, continued to hold his beard with one hand, and slowly uncovered the strange thing in front of him that was neither cloth nor paper with the other hand.

He kept wondering what the hell this thing was, as he had never seen anything like it in all his years of running the pawnshop. Suddenly, he saw a flash of light in front of his eyes, and the shopkeeper's hand, which was stroking his beard, began to tremble. He couldn't help but narrow his eyes, and didn't care that his shaking hand had pulled out several strands of his beard. His eyes shot out fast to the things wrapped in the strange thing on the tray.

This is a big treasure! Big treasure!
The shopkeeper rubbed his hands subconsciously, and wanted to take the things to examine them carefully. Realizing that the owner was still looking at him under the counter, the shopkeeper made a decision in an instant. He quickly restrained the gaffe on his face and tried to stay calm. Then he grabbed the mirror as if inadvertently, suppressed his excitement and looked at it over and over again. His eyelids drooped, and he looked at Li Yaoguang under the counter outside.

"A small broken beryllium copper mirror is worth four coins when alive and one ounce when dead."

Li Yaoguang's face changed immediately after hearing such an offer.

"Boss, don't look down on me because I'm small. This mirror is a family heirloom. It can reflect people and objects in every detail. How can it be an ordinary thing? Oh, one or two taels, forget it!" Damn, does this old guy think he is blind? Just now, his out-of-control appearance was fleeting. Although she was short, she was standing far away, so she could see it clearly.

Besides, she is not a real child. If there is nothing fishy in these continuous changes, the three words "Li Yaoguang" should be written backwards!

Seeing that the old man was not honest, Li Yaoguang's face darkened.

The old guy at the counter and the guy next to her who had been polite to her just now also changed their expressions when they saw her rude words and sudden tough attitude.

Seeing this, Li Yaoguang thought to herself that something was wrong and thought to herself that she might have entered a shady shop. Fortunately, she saw this shop just now and saw that the clerk was polite and enthusiastic, and even said that this was a good shop. It seemed that she was too naive.

Now that the things are in other people's hands, but I am small and powerless, what should I do?
Li Yaoguang was thinking in his heart that the clerk outside the counter, who had already received the notice from his boss, had taken this opportunity to quietly occupy Li Yaoguang's retreat. Seeing this, the old man inside nodded secretly with satisfaction, then looked down at the prey that seemed to be unable to escape, and spoke while stroking his beard in a pretentious manner.

"Well, seeing that you are so young, I will be merciful this time. If you die, I will give you two taels of silver."

"Two taels?" She pouted. "I don't want to be one anymore. Give me back the mirror!"

Li Yaoguang was also furious. With a sound of inappropriateness, the faces of the two people inside and outside changed at the same time. The shopkeeper, who had already decided on the destination of the magic mirror, would not allow the meat at his mouth to be thrown away.
Seeing Li Yaoguang's expression change, he simply lost all shame, changed his mask of "warm and gentle" just now, slammed the counter, pointed at Li Yaoguang and shouted at him.

"Hey! Where did you come from, little thief? How dare you steal at the door of my Guangfa Pawnshop? Do you know who is the owner of my pawnshop? Do you know what crime stealing is in this dynasty? Humph, you failed to steal, but you still want to take it back. Little thief, if you are sensible today, you can leave now. I, the shopkeeper, will be merciful and not pursue the matter because of your young age. Otherwise..."

"If not, what?" Damn it, is he going to rob someone if trying to trick them fails?

Li Yaoguang forced himself to remain calm, his mind working quickly, but he did not dare to show any weakness on his face, for fear that he would be eaten alive by the other party on the spot. He pretended to be arrogant and stood with his hands on his hips, with contempt on his face.

"I'm not someone who is scared. What kind of place is this? Is this the Western Inner City where the rich and powerful gather in Kyoto? How can ordinary people enter easily? Since I can appear in this area and dare to enter your pawnshop, I must have some background to dare to do so."

With such an attitude and these words, the two people inside and outside the room paused obviously. Li Yaoguang continued to speak, trying to make himself look more confident.

"Everyone knows that there are many nobles in Kyoto. Not to mention the inner city, I'm afraid that in the outer city, a tile falling from the wall can easily hit a seventh-rank official. You bully me like this, how do you know that I have no one behind me? I'm not afraid to tell you the truth. My master has more than one mirror. Today, my master is in a tight spot, so he asked me to pawn one behind someone's back. If the shopkeeper sees that I am small and wants to bully me? Ha! At worst, I am willing to sacrifice my life and report to the master when I go back. If my master gets angry and a fight breaks out over this mere mirror, I think you, the shopkeeper, will be in big trouble!"

"Hiss~" the old fellow hissed, with a cold smile on his face, but his heart was still beating fast. The words that came out of his mouth were still unconvincing and sarcastic, "I'm so scared!"

He didn't believe the nonsense that the mirror had another side, but this girl was able to enter the West Inner City as she said, so she must have an owner, otherwise where would such a treasure come from for an ordinary commoner?

Although his family is supported by a noble family and his master is the wife of the prince, he wants to keep the mirror for his own benefit and it will never go into the public account.

If there really is a master behind this little girl and things get out of hand, not to mention what happened today, but also the little things he had done in private before, once the master's wife knows... he would be either dead or disabled, and his entire family would be in danger.

(End of this chapter)