Quick Transmigration: Drama Queen's Daily Life-Chapter 775 - 764: Nouveau Riche

The gold in Ye Qiu’s possession was specially selected by him to be without any distinct marks from specific eras, so when the Shopkeeper asked about it, he shook his head.

"I’m not sure from which dynasty it’s from; there’s no mark on it, only some patterns. You have a keen eye, Shopkeeper." Saying this, he took the gold bar out of his pocket.

The quality of the gold bar was still very well preserved. The Shopkeeper’s eyes lit up as he hurriedly took it and inspected it carefully, but with his experience, he could not discern much, and thus he sighed in regret.

"There are no special marks on it, so we can only calculate the price based on the current gold price. By rule, the price I offer is slightly lower than the market rate, but since your gold bar is of fine quality, I can give you the market price. What do you think?"

"You are too kind, Shopkeeper; let’s go with that price," Ye Qiu agreed without objections.

"Let’s weigh it first," said the Shopkeeper solemnly, wrapping the gold bar in a handkerchief, inviting Ye Qiu to follow him to the back room.

The scale here was the ancient type, old yet very accurate.

"Rest assured, my scale is fair to all and devoid of deceit," he reassured.

Ye Qiu, holding his son who was quietly eating candy, smiled, "Having come here, I naturally trust the Shopkeeper."

Hearing this, the Shopkeeper felt even better about Ye Qiu, carefully weighing the gold. In truth, he had already estimated its weight the moment he took it; this procedure was merely to reassure Ye Qiu.

"This gold bar might indeed have some history; look, it weighs exactly a jin. But according to the current system, that’s one jin and six taels, which is 800 grams."

"Perhaps, but without evidence, receiving the current market price from you is already my fortune," Ye Qiu responded.

"For 800 grams, at the current market price of fifty-two yuan per gram, I can offer you a maximum of forty-one thousand six hundred yuan," the Shopkeeper said as he manipulated his abacus, his own reaction a startle at the sum of over forty thousand yuan—it was almost all the cash he had on hand.

Ye Qiu was also taken aback by the price; he hadn’t expected gold to be so valuable now. For comparison, a house with a courtyard in the county could be bought for about a thousand yuan—forty thousand could buy an entire street. At the same time, he gained new respect for the Shopkeeper who was able to offer forty thousand, proving that he possessed significant cash flow, not to mention the most valuable items in his pawnshop were antique artifacts.

"Shopkeeper, you are generous. I’ll forego the six hundred yuan change; just consider it a way to facilitate friendship between us," Ye Qiu said sincerely.

With this remark, the Shopkeeper naturally couldn’t just accept it, chuckling, "Six hundred yuan is not a small sum, and in our business, integrity is paramount. Please keep it."

Ye Qiu still shook his head: "But if it wasn’t for this place, I might not even get forty thousand elsewhere, so I am still the gainer. Please, no ceremony needed, Shopkeeper."

"Since you insist, I won’t say more—do you want cash, or should we transfer the amount at the bank?" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"I don’t have a passbook; cash would be better, Shopkeeper," Ye Qiu replied.

"Alright, I will have someone withdraw it momentarily; please, have a seat and a cup of tea in the meantime," the Shopkeeper, pleased by the completion of a deal, suggested. Though he spoke generously, he had actually made a significant profit.

Though the gold bar had no distinct marks, its pattern was very unique and its quality was extremely high. If sold to someone knowledgeable, he could earn an additional ten to twenty percent profit—an easy few thousand yuan in profit, proving living in a small county had its benefits.

Big cities might be preferable, but people are shrewder and power struggles abound; he was too old for such commitments. This quiet, stable life suited him just fine.

He personally poured a cup of tea for Ye Qiu and also had his staff bring over two plates of exquisite snacks. With a gentle smile towards Ye Qiu, he said, "If you have any other nice items in the future, comrade Ye, feel free to bring them here; I guarantee a fair price."

Ye Qiu also smiled, "I trust you, Shopkeeper. If I have anything to sell in the future, I’ll definitely bring it here for your appraisal."

Hearing this, the Shopkeeper’s eyes lit up, sensing an opportunity. Someone who could produce such a large gold bar surely had other valuables at home.

Now, seeing the economy growing stronger, and people’s basic needs being met, there’s a saying, "Gold thrives in chaos and antiques in prosperous times." If he could gather more such treasures now, his descendants wouldn’t have to worry at all.

With such thoughts, the Shopkeeper’s expression grew even warmer, and when Ye Qiu was set to leave as the Mid-Autumn Festival was nearing, he asked his wife to bring the mooncakes they had prepared for gifts, stuffing them all into Ye Qiu’s hands.

With the intention of remaining on good terms with the Shopkeeper, Ye Qiu did not decline, considering he had plenty more items in his storage, and it wouldn’t hurt to take out one or two more in the future.

But now that he had forty thousand yuan in hand, he did not urgently need more, but how to use this money was something he needed to carefully consider.

First, he went to a jewelry store to buy a gold ring, then to the market to buy a lot of oil, rice, and pork, before finally heading to the school to pay off the overdue tuitions fees. Only then did he carry little Ye Shuai back home.

The village where Ye Qiu lived was called East Stone Village. Although it was close to both the town and the county, the land was poor, so the village was not wealthy. However, as more villagers sought work in the county or city over recent years, they gradually became prosperous. Only a few households, like Ye Qiu’s, remained poor.

Other families had built brick houses, but only Ye Qiu’s was still a thatched cottage. Although simple, the place was fairly spacious. Living at the edge of the village, he encountered many mocking gazes on his way home, but seeing him carrying cloth on his back and holding pork in his hand also surprised many, leading them to wonder where he had gotten the money.

They guessed he might have borrowed it, as they thought, given that he had tarnished the reputation of the simple-minded girl Yu Xiaolin, he had to marry her no matter what. Though it could not match the heavy bride price from when he married Cai Juhua, he still needed to save some face.

Thinking this, they further considered Ye Qiu foolish for not being intimate with such a beautiful wife and instead getting involved with a simple-minded girl and even driving his wife to divorce him, wasting a hundred yuan on a bride price and depriving his son of a mother—what else could this be if not foolishness?

With everyone’s life improving, yet he was making his worse—it seemed they should keep their distance from his family in the future, lest they come asking to borrow rice, oil, or even money, which they surely wouldn’t be able to repay given their situation.