Chapter 3 (1/2)

Translator: Atlas StudiosEditor: Atlas Studios

“Not bad.”

Shen Lang wrote a record and noted down the results of the appraisal. Meanwhile, Xu Hongtao, who was beside him, took out a wooden box and sealed the green jade inside. After labeling it, he handed a bamboo stick to Chen Shaojun.

“Thank you, Uncle Xu!”

Chen Shaojun thanked him.

This bamboo stick was actually equivalent to a kind of tally used by dock porters. At the end of every month, they could use these tallies to receive their monthly wages.

Even though Chen Shaojun had signed a contract to sell himself and was only an apprentice pawnbroker, he could still receive a salary every month. His salary would depend on the tallies he obtained after appraising items.

However, he would not obtain much. Every tally would only add up to 30 wen1.

Even if he obtained one tally every day, he would only receive 900 wen in a month. He wouldn’t even receive one tael of silver.

Then, he turned around and headed towards the backyard.

As he turned around, his gaze couldn’t help but turn towards an arch beside the side hall.

That place was connected to the main hall and was also where the Lin Pawnshop was located. There was a platform inside the pawnshop that blocked his line of sight. In a certain sense, it also sealed him within the pawnshop.

Even though the pawnshop didn’t restrict them from going out, the backyard behind the Lin Pawnshop had a high wall that blocked them from going out. Thus, if the staff of the pawnshop wanted to go out, they could only go through the front door.

Furthermore, in the pawnshop, those who might have come into contact with pawned items would have to report to the shopkeeper when they went out. They would also have to go through a body search, equipment inspection, and questioning… The person who questioned them was imposing, and the person who searched their bodies was rough. Thus, unless necessary, no one really wanted to rashly go out.

In Chen Shaojun’s memories, his previous self had not gone out for three months.

…

The backyard of the pawnshop was very spacious. It was somewhat like a courtyard house. There was a large, flat area with many rooms around it.

Chen Shaojun walked into one of the rooms and saw a large bunk bed. It was connected from the top of the wall to the bottom of the wall. Furthermore, there were a few cabinets beside the bed, making it difficult to move around.

This was where he lived.

There were 12 beds that were all connected to one another. Currently, there were a total of seven people living here, including him. They were all apprentice pawnbrokers in the pawnshop.

At that moment, a few apprentices had returned and were gathered together.

“Brother Chen, you’re back. Did anything happen?”

Upon seeing Chen Shaojun return, a small man quickly approached him and asked with concern.

“It’s nothing.”

Chen Shaojun shook his head. He recognized this person as Zhao Hu. In the past, they had only barely known each other as they were both domestic servants in the Lin family mansion. Half a year ago, they were arranged to enter the Lin Pawnshop together. Only then did they know each other better.

The others had also previously been working for the Lin family. They were either odd-job workers or family servants. It was just that they were not familiar with each other.

At this time, all of them were extremely dispirited, as if they hadn’t slept for three days and three nights. They either had red eyes, excited looks, or ashen expressions with eyebags that were as black as ink, making them seem extremely exhausted and peculiar.

From this, it could be seen how great the consumption of the Divine Vision technique was.

If Chen Shaojun had not swallowed the Essence Augmenting Pill to clean his marrow, replenish his energy, nourish his spirit, and enhance his vigor, he probably would not be much better than them.

“Brother Chen, have you heard? Something happened to Zhang Wang today.”

Zhao Hu leaned over with a mysterious and nervous expression.

“Did something happen?”

Chen Shaojun was stunned. He had some guesses.

“Zhang Wang was infected by an evil aura during the appraisal. When he was carried out, he was on the verge of death.”

Zhao Hu didn’t leave Chen Shaojun hanging and directly revealed this.

“Zhang Wang might usually be arrogant, but he is indeed the most skilled appraiser among us and has the most profound Divine Vision technique. Now that even he is in trouble, we…”

Each of their tired faces was filled with worry and even some fear.

The topic of sudden death was often taboo. Meanwhile, the most taboo topic among the pawnbrokers in the pawnshop was encountering an accident while appraising an item.

This was because any accident could endanger their lives.

Furthermore, every single one of them had personally experienced the scene of five apprentice pawnbrokers collapsing.