Just as the Attendant Student was anxiously stamping his feet, an old man with a full white beard rushed over with his men.

"Cai Gui, what treasure has you calling me over in such a rush?" The old man’s eyes locked onto the box on the counter the moment he walked in.

He stared at it for a good while before finally sizing up the strangers in the shop. "I’m the owner of this pawnshop. My surname is Tang, but most people call me Old Tang. And you are, young sir?"

"What a hassle. You have to ask all this just to pawn something?" the young master muttered, then said reluctantly, "My surname is Jia. Are you going to take this thing or not? This Shopkeeper said he couldn’t make the call. Now the person in charge is here, so give me a straight answer!

If you can’t, I’ll just go find another shop. You’re wasting my time!"

The Shopkeeper exchanged a glance with Mr. Tang and silently retreated, ceding the floor to him.

"What can you tell me about this item?"

The young master looked impatient but answered nonetheless. "Didn’t I already tell you? It’s a glazed cup. I don’t know the specifics, but as far as I’m aware, there isn’t another one like it. This is completely unique."

Mr. Tang carefully picked it up for a look. Seeing the rainbow-colored light it refracted, he couldn’t help but purse his lips, trying his best not to let his excitement show.

"I’ve never seen anything like it. Taking it would be a first for me. But as for the price... what did you have in mind, young sir?"

"That question again. What if I asked for one million taels? Would you pay it?"

Mr. Tang just smiled, unbothered by his attitude. "You probably couldn’t find a single person in the entire country who could pay that price. How about this much instead?"

Seeing the man hold up one finger, Young Master Jia scoffed. "I don’t get it."

Mr. Tang was speechless.

Cai Gui was also speechless. ’Where did this oaf come from, speaking so bluntly? Does his father know?’

"It’s my first time in a pawnshop. Is it so strange I don’t understand?" Young Master Jia, realizing he might have been too blunt, quickly tried to smooth things over. "Let’s not play guessing games. Just say what you mean."

"You’re a straightforward young man." Mr. Tang carefully placed the glazed cup back in its box. "My offer was ten thousand taels of silver."

Young Master Jia froze. "That cheap? My old man told me this was a priceless treasure.

In that case, I’ll go ask around at other shops. I refuse to believe the old man would lie to me."

He made a move to close the box, but Mr. Tang quickly stopped him.

"Now, don’t be hasty. A deal is something to be negotiated. First, tell me what price you have in mind. If we can agree, we’ll seal the deal. If not, then I suppose this treasure and I are not meant to be."

Young Master Jia glanced back at his Attendant Student. "Maybe we shouldn’t pawn it then. Ten thousand taels of silver won’t be enough to fix my problem."

The Attendant Student nodded emphatically. "Yes, Young Master. Let’s hurry and put it back before your father finds out.

If worst comes to worst, just confess to your family. I’m sure they can figure something out."

"But this is a debt of tens of thousands of taels of silver! My parents will never agree to help me.

If we have to, we’ll just ask around at the other shops. Someone is bound to recognize its true worth."

Although the pair never explicitly stated the problem, Mr. Tang and Manager Cai immediately suspected gambling debts. They knew in their hearts that if they didn’t pay a premium to acquire this treasure right now, they would truly miss their chance.

The two men quickly blocked Young Master Jia’s path. They tried everything from subtle probing and expressions of sympathy to offering strategies and advice. In the end, by appealing to both his emotions and his reason, they managed to secure the item for thirty thousand taels of silver.

With the transaction complete and the master-servant pair seen off, Mr. Tang cradled the glazed cup like a precious treasure. "We really met a fool today. Old Cai, you’ve performed a great service. I’ll have my butler send some reward silver over to you later."

"Thank you, sir. It was my duty."

"However, this stays between us. Don’t let word of this get out for the time being."

Manager Cai nodded. "I understand. Rest assured, sir. As far as anyone is concerned, nothing happened today. We just took in a few simple pieces of jewelry."

Mr. Tang patted his shoulder, then carefully shut the box and clutched it to his chest.

"I’ll head back now. If any other treasures come in, remember to send someone to inform me." Chuckling and patting his belly, he summoned his guards and swiftly departed from the pawnshop.

Carefully avoiding pedestrians and seeing that no one was following them, Mr. Jia led his Attendant Student into a dead-end alley, where the two of them instantly vanished.

"Phew, I thought I was going to burst!" Jin Qianqian clutched her stomach, laughing. "You played the part of a prodigal son perfectly. It was so convincing! Look, I pinched my own palm red trying not to laugh."

As she spoke, she held up her hand, revealing several distinct nail marks pressed into her skin.

Ancient Wen Heng huffed. "Was it really that funny? This was all your rotten idea. Of all the disguises, you just had to stick pimples on my face."

He wiped his face as he spoke, and a fake pimple fell into his palm.

Jin Qianqian pointed to the corner of his mouth. "Not all of them, though. See? That one’s real."

Ancient Wen Heng covered his one real pimple. "The climate difference between the north and south is just too great; it’s normal for the body to react strangely. Besides, I’m not the only one. Some people in our caravan are covered in rashes because they can’t get used to the new environment."

Jin Qianqian scratched her head, trying not to picture it. "So, we’re rich now. Does this mean we can go on a shopping spree?"

They had already agreed on the road to use this rare trip as an opportunity to sell off some of their items.

"Counting the items we sold at the last few stops, we’ve made almost 50,000 taels of silver in total," Ancient Wen Heng mused. "We should stop now. We can’t keep doing this."

Jin Qianqian understood his reasoning. "We’ve changed our disguises so many times, you don’t think anyone will recognize us, do you?"

Ancient Wen Heng looked at her disguise as an attendant, then pointed to his own made-up face. "Even if they recognized you, one look at me would make them second-guess themselves.

Hurry up and get out the makeup remover. My face feels awful. People usually use makeup to look handsome, but you made me look ugly."

Jin Qianqian smiled placatingly. "It was for the sake of the plot! And look how natural your performance was. If we were shooting a real movie, they’d probably give you an award.

Senior, did you really never consider a career in acting? You could have been a shining star."

Ancient Wen Heng lightly tapped her on the nose. "What goes through that head of yours all day? I think you’ve just been too bored lately. Maybe you should find some time to learn needlework from the master’s wife and the others?"

Jin Qianqian’s eyes widened. "Do you really mean that? Are you sure?"

Ancient Wen Heng recalled the shapeless sachet she had given him before and immediately shook his head.