Mysterious Caravan, Retired Veteran

"This formation looks familiar, could it be them?"

Yan Jing, standing beside him, couldn't help but chuckle as he watched the wooden carts pass by.

"You know them?"

Zhao Huai turned his head, a questioning look on his face.

"Do you remember what I told you on your wedding day?" Yan Jing smiled slightly.

Zhao Huai thought hard for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't remember."

Yan Jing wasn't annoyed, clearly knowing that's just how Zhao Huai was.

So, he repeated what he had said on the wedding day.

"A week ago, I received news from Yan City that a treacherous merchant was secretly transporting a cartload of stolen goods. He approached many pawnshops, but no one dared to buy them. It was all very mysterious, and no one knew what was inside."

"I said back then, if this deal goes through, you won't have to work for half a year."

Hearing this, Zhao Huai finally remembered. He couldn't help but question, "How did you know that this merchant was transporting stolen goods?"

Yan Jing smiled wryly. "Naturally, I heard it from my merchant friend. This caravan has been traveling south, and they've hardly found any buyers. His coming here probably means he's looking for you."

Zhao Huai listened and chuckled. "Other pawnshops don't dare to take it, but you're sure I can pull it off?"

Yan Jing's lips curled into a knowing smile.

"You kid, don't think I don't know you're pretending to be poor. Your pawnshop looks shabby on the surface, but you actually have a great eye. You've collected a lot of good stuff and sold it all on the Black Market, making a fortune over the years. Otherwise, where did your wealth come from?"

Zhao Huai smiled and didn't say anything.

Because what Yan Jing said was true. There was a reason why he opened a pawnshop instead of a brothel, tavern, or fighting arena.

First of all, his golden coin's ability, in addition to fortune-telling, had another function: making money.

Once the deal is made, the money and goods are exchanged, and that's that.

After running the Huai Pawnshop for three years, Zhao Huai naturally had his own set of basic business principles.

Keep the good stuff.

Don't take the bad stuff.

This was his consistent rule.

Just by tossing the golden coin, he could know whether to accept something or not.

The most taboo thing for pawnshops is encountering money-losing goods. If the items can't be resold, it's just a losing business. This can easily lead to the shop's closure.

Also, pawning things that shouldn't be touched, encountering forbidden objects, and then being sealed off by the government or having the entire family wiped out by unknown forces.

Zhao Huai had heard of an incident in a neighboring province. A very large First-Rank Pawnshop, with more than a dozen branches, accepted a strangely beautiful Magical Treasure at a high price, and the next day, all the employees in the shop were dead.

Later, it was discovered that it was a Soul Weapon refined by a Demonic Path Cultivator, with the purpose of silently reaping lives. It was simply too tragic.

There were also many unexpected events, such as buying things from tomb raiders and being held accountable by the court, or selling ancestral jade and immediately being targeted by thieves.

But with the golden coin, Zhao Huai didn't have to worry about these problems. He could buy with confidence, the shop wouldn't collapse, and it could even grow bigger and stronger.

He dared to say that he was the largest pawnshop in all of Jin Province. If he couldn't accept something, no one else could.

"Alright then, if there's nothing else, I'll be leaving."

Since Zhao Huai had achieved his purpose, he didn't linger in the medical clinic. He turned to bid farewell to Yan Jing and planned to return to the pawnshop.

"Once you break through, don't forget to treat me to a drink." Yan Jing cursed at his back.

Zhao Huai didn't turn around, but waved his hand understandingly.

"Next time, for sure."

At this time, on the street.

In front of a series of tightly wrapped wooden carts, there was a jewelry carriage decorated with unparalleled extravagance.

Inside the carriage, a middle-aged man, no more than forty years old, sat on a pillow embroidered with famous Sichuan brocade. The man had fleshy cheekbones, a protruding and shiny forehead, and shrewd eyes, making him look like a cunning old fox.

And he was the owner of this batch of wooden carts.

"Master Huang, are you really going to sell all of this before you're satisfied?"

A middle-aged man dressed as a guard, holding a sword in one hand, couldn't help but ask.

"What? Is there something wrong?"

Master Huang raised his eyes casually and said leisurely.

"But we agreed before that if we're going to sell these relics, we should do it decisively. Either sell them all, or don't sell any. Selling them in bits and pieces like this, cart by cart, I doubt anyone will buy it."

The guard man earnestly advised.

"Do you know how to do business, or do I?"

Master Huang said lightly.

"Of course Master Huang does, but these things are mine after all."

The guard man chuckled and defended himself.

Master Huang sneered, "But I bought them from you, including you yourself. If I hadn't saved you back then, you would have starved to death long ago."

"And look at you now, if you were still a soldier, could you find such a decent job?"

The guard man sighed helplessly, "But these are all relics of the previous dynasty, and there are already few people who collect them. Many pawnshops have already turned us down along the way."

"You don't need to worry about that, I have my own ways."

The corner of Master Huang's mouth curved up, revealing a strange smile, not knowing what he was planning.

The guard man looked out the window at the bustling tiled streets passing by, and couldn't help but be lost in thought.

Time flies, and three years have passed in a flash.

Who would have thought that the dilapidated broken walls of the past have now been completely rebuilt and become so beautiful.

He was once an ordinary soldier of the Great Yan Dynasty, fighting hard on the battlefield. With the accumulation of merits, he gained the appreciation of his superiors and was promoted all the way, finally becoming a palace guard officer.

He thought he could enjoy the rest of his life, but after only a few years, he heard the ominous rumors of the Great Yan Dynasty's impending doom, and rebel armies erupted like bamboo shoots after a rain.

The main force of the Great Yan Dynasty was repeatedly defeated, and the rebel army directly attacked the capital. He was ordered to defend the city.

But when he was fighting at the city gate of the capital, guarding it for a day and a night, someone suddenly shouted the slogan "The emperor has surrendered, kneel down and be spared from death."

His efforts were directly reduced to ashes.

That day, the army outside the city poured in continuously. He ran madly towards the imperial palace.

His mind was full of incomprehension, with only one sentence.

We, your subjects, are ready to fight to the death, why did Your Majesty surrender first! Everything happened too fast. By the time he arrived at the imperial palace, news had spread that "the emperor is dead."

His brain was shocked, and his thoughts reversed again.

I must live on!

So he mixed in with the rebel army and entered the imperial palace to plunder, taking away all kinds of things, all for the sake of living a happy life in the chaotic world.

Who would have thought that these things would become his burden instead, unable to sell them or throw them away.

After escaping from the capital, he became poor and destitute, and could only rely on others for relief.

Even after many years, looking back at this crazy memory, he still felt inexplicably sad.

"We're here, Master."

"This is the pawnshop in Jin Province, called Huai Pawnshop."

"Mm."

Master Huang responded softly, and then slowly got out of the car.