"I didn't hit it, it was like this when I took it." The shopkeeper quickly explained.

"That's what it was like when you received it? The shopkeeper is lying to me, how can this jade be broken. Or, I put it another way, that is, how could the shopkeeper receive a broken jade pendant. ”

"I didn't want to accept it, but I can't help it, I can't afford to offend that person." The shopkeeper shook his head: "That's all for now, so I won't hide it from Mrs. The man who sold me the jade pendant was a notoriously land scoundrel, but this land scoundrel is still a little bit related to my family. In the early years, he borrowed two taels of silver from me. The money didn't do anything serious, it was just used to gamble, and the gamble was lost. After that, I met him and asked him for money, but he couldn't take it out. Last time, the last time, I met him again, and he still didn't have any money to pay me back. Just as I was about to leave, he suddenly took out this jade pendant, saying that someone else had lost it to him, and he happened to use it to pay off his debts. What to say about this jade pendant, if it is intact, it can be worth a little money, but it is broken, who wants this broken jade pendant. Don't talk about two taels of silver, even two coins of silver, people have to weigh it. I didn't want it, but that man was a scoundrel, and if he wanted it, he would have nothing if he wanted it. I thought, yes, there is something better than nothing, so I took this jade pendant back. As for who he got this jade pendant from, and when it was broken, I don't know anything. Anyway, that's what it looked like when I got my hands on it. ”

"Since it is a worthless jade pendant, why is the shopkeeper so precious?"

"Who's babying it, isn't it a fool." The shopkeeper's expression was a little weird, as if he was smiling but not smiling, and he seemed to be crying but not crying: "Look, as soon as I took this jade pendant to the store, a lady came to ask." I also held my breath in my heart, opened my mouth and asked for five taels of silver, but I never thought that she would agree. But she didn't have that much money in her hand at the time, so she said that I should save this jade pendant first, and then come to get it when she has saved enough money. As soon as I heard it, of course I was happy to do it, so I agreed. But after many days, I didn't see the man come to pick it up, so I wondered if she regretted it, after all, it was a broken jade, not worth as much as five taels of silver. ”

"This jade is indeed not worth five taels of silver."

"What Madame said was that it was indeed not worth five taels, and I immediately thought that if that lady came to buy fish again, I would sell it for three taels of silver. To put it bluntly, just have a profit. But I didn't know the lady, and I didn't know where to look for her, so I asked the man to draw a figure in the shape of the jade pendant, and pasted it at the door of our little shop. The price is written as five taels. Of course, I am a buyer and seller, and it is impossible to give the reserve price as soon as it comes up. If she is willing to buy it for five taels, I will earn more. If she doesn't want to, I'll make a bid of three taels to make her feel that she has taken advantage of her, and I won't lose anything. I waited and waited, waited for two days, and instead of waiting for the lady, I waited for the person I didn't know. That person is the person I said earlier had given me the money. ”

"What does that man look like?"

"Two eyes, a nose, a mouth, very ordinary." The shopkeeper described: "It's really ordinary, just like a random person we meet on the street, and it's not very characteristic." Besides, when he came, it was night, and my jade shop was closing. He looked at the jade pendant, and without saying a word, he gave it a set, and he gave three taels of silver for this fixed amount alone. As soon as I saw it, yes, this must be profitable, so I kept this jade pendant. ”

"Did the lady come again?"

"I'm here, but I've already given this jade pendant to someone else, even if she comes, I can't sell it to her anymore, right?"

"Yes, I can't sell it to her. This jade pendant will be won by the one with the highest price. Bai Li picked up the Pisces jade pendant: "One price, fifteen taels of silver, I want this Pisces jade pendant." ”

"Fifteen taels?" The shopkeeper opened his mouth.

"What's the matter, don't you want to? You don't have two dollars of silver, I paid fifteen taels, and you're still not satisfied. ”

"It's not that I'm not satisfied, but I've promised this jade pendant to others, and I've received all the money. If you confiscate the fixed money, let alone fifteen taels, I will give you five taels of silver. ”

"You also earned five taels of silver." Bai Li played with the silver ingots in his hand: "The reason why I bid fifteen taels is to understand your difficulties in the shopkeeper." Strictly speaking, you are the shopkeeper who promises more than one. It stands to reason that this jade pendant should be sold to the lady who came to buy it first. The shopkeeper can break the contract for the first time, and he can break the contract for the second time, what is this promise, of course, it is only in cash. We don't talk darkly, five taels of the fifteen taels of silver are for the shopkeeper to make liquidated damages. If the man comes, the treasurer shall pay him five denarii. If you don't come, the shopkeeper can make another profit. ”

"This, how can this work?"

"Why can't it work, this is not sold by the shopkeeper, but I bought it myself. If he is not willing, let him go to the yamen and sue me. Remember, it's against me, not the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper can rest assured, even if he doesn't know each other and wants to sue the shopkeeper, I will stand up and help the shopkeeper speak for you, and take the matter of reselling jade pendants on my own head. My husband still has some relationship with the yamen, he is an outsider, how powerful can he be. ”

The shopkeeper's eyes rolled twice.

"I'm fifty taels here, in addition to this jade pendant, I want to buy this jade pendant again, as well as that hosta."

"Ma'am, you-"

"Okay, okay, you just said, my husband is a master, whether these things are worth fifty taels or not, my husband can see it, and you also know it in your heart. I can't be fooled, and you can't sell at a loss. Fifty taels, if the shopkeeper is willing, I will take these three. If I don't want to, I'll take my money with me, and I'll treat it as if I've never been to your shopkeeper's shop." The jade shop in Huaxi Town is not only the shopkeeper, you don't earn this silver, but someone has to earn it. ”

"Okay, deal!" The shopkeeper slapped his thigh hard: "Just think it's me opening today." It's easy to say anything else, even if I suffer a loss, I'm willing to sell it to Mrs., just this Pisces jade pendant, Mrs. should be promised, in case there is really trouble in the future, Mrs. and Mr. Bai can't ignore me. ”

"Don't worry, we and I look like that." Bai Li put down the silver ingots, let the shopkeeper wrap the things separately, and got up and left.

In the market, a particularly eye-catching carriage was parked, and a beautiful woman in the carriage was lifting the curtain to look at the side of the road. Following the woman's gaze, Bai Li saw a well-dressed middle-aged man with an extraordinary appearance, and the man's gaze stopped on a poorly dressed woman.

That woman was Yu Niangzi, whom Bai Li had only met not long ago.