The Jadeite Hairpin

In an instant, Sikong Jing's hand paused again as he took out the money. He was quite surprised.

Where had Su Yuexi gotten so much money...

Right, she hadn't been home all day. He had no idea where she'd gone.

Doctor Sun, who had taken the money, let out a sigh of relief. He hurried out of the room and told the medicine boy to prepare the medicine.

Su Yuexi hurried nervously to Su Zhenglong's bedside and called, "Father, get well soon. We can't live without you."

"Yuexi, where did you get three Gold Crystal Coins?"

Mei Xiaofang's voice rang out abruptly behind her. There wasn't a single coin left at home, and the money Su Yuexi had received had been confiscated by Su Xuefeng after she married Sikong Jing, the criminal.

Mei Xiaofang naturally found it strange.

Su Yuexi's body abruptly trembled. Her lips dry, she replied, "Mother, I pawned the Jadeite Hairpin."

"What!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Mei Xiaofang shrieked. She rushed up behind Su Yuexi, hauled her to her feet, and shouted, "You pawned the Jadeite Hairpin? That was the last gift your older sister gave you!"

Su Yuexi's eyes turned completely red. She wept as she said, "I'm sorry, Sister, but I had no choice. Tomorrow is the day we have to pay Aunt Li and the others their wages. If we don't have the money, Sikong Jing will... will... lose his life!"

Sikong Jing's whole body shuddered.

Su Yuexi hadn't been home all day because she'd gone to the pawnshop for his sake—and pawned the last gift her sister had given her!

The Jadeite Hairpin had to be something very precious to her.

"Whether he lives or dies, that's the last thing your sister gave you. That was..." Mei Xiaofang's voice began to tremble. She couldn't manage to finish a single sentence.

"Mother, now it's also money to save Father's life," Su Yuexi said through her tears.

Boom!

Mei Xiaofang staggered back two heavy steps. She shut her eyes and couldn't say a word.

She knew very well that even if she went to beg Su Xuefeng now, he might not give her the money. And even if he did, Sikong Jing and Su Yuexi might still have to live at the Pig Farm forever.

They might even have their hands and feet broken to avenge Su Yang.

"Life's become impossible."

The more she thought about it, the more stifled she felt. Mei Xiaofang gave a bitter laugh and stumbled out like a madwoman.

Sikong Jing walked over and said earnestly, "Yuexi, didn't I tell you I could get the money?"

Su Yuexi raised her head and gazed at him through tear-filled eyes. Forcing a smile, she said, "You don't have to comfort me. How could you earn ten times the wages in only three days? It's impossible."

Sikong Jing was a criminal exiled here. It was basically impossible for him to find a way to earn money, and nobody would dare hire him.

Even if he weren't a criminal, he was still an outsider. How could he earn money when he didn't know his way around?

Jingle, jingle...

Just then, Sikong Jing shook the money pouch in his hand, then opened it and held it up before Su Yuexi.

Gold Crystal Coins gleamed before her eyes.

Su Yuexi was stunned. She covered her mouth, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"Yuexi, I told you the Lord of Yun Province deliberately arranged this marriage for me. I'm no ordinary person, so you really don't need to worry about money." Sikong Jing's expression was utterly serious and solemn. He couldn't let the same thing happen again.

Still covering her mouth, Su Yuexi asked, "How did you do it?"

At a glance, there were at least dozens of Gold Crystal Coins. This wasn't something just anyone could take out.

"Don't ask so much yet. Let's go redeem the Jadeite Hairpin right now." Sikong Jing didn't explain. Telling her about carving a Yellow Grade High Tier martial skill involved too many things.

Su Yuexi shivered hard and nodded. "All right, I'll take you there."

If she hadn't been driven into a corner, she never would have pawned the last gift her older sister, Su Yuexian, had given her. Now that Sikong Jing had money to redeem it, Su Yuexi naturally wouldn't stand on ceremony with him.

After letting Mei Xiaofang know, the two hurried out of the house.

But Mei Xiaofang clearly wasn't in the mood to listen to them. She was discussing Su Zhenglong's condition with Doctor Sun.

Half an hour later, they arrived in eastern Yunye City at a pawnshop called Hengyu Pawnshop.

The next instant, Su Yuexi's shriek rang out from inside.

"What did you say? How could you sell my Jadeite Hairpin?"

Su Yuexi stared fixedly at the shopkeeper of the Hengyu Pawnshop before her, her face agitated and her whole body trembling.

Pawnshops usually set a term. When customers pawned an item, they were given a period in which they could redeem it—for example, they could come back three months later and pay a higher price to get it back.

Only after the deadline passed would the item belong to the pawnshop.

Su Yuexi had planned to redeem the Jadeite Hairpin once she had money in the future.

But in less than half a day, the Hengyu Pawnshop had already sold it. That was a breach of their agreement!

The shopkeeper merely shrugged and said airily, "Who doesn't know that the ugly girl from the Su Mansion could never afford to redeem it? Not in a hundred years. The price was right, so of course I sold it."

"You've gone too far!" Su Yuexi was furious and anxious, her face full of anguish and despair.

Crash...

Suddenly, Sikong Jing tore down the wooden lattice in front of the counter. He grabbed the shopkeeper by the hair and dragged half his body out, then slapped him across the face and shouted, "You think you can call her ugly?"

The slap left the shopkeeper's head ringing. He shrieked, "You bastard! You dare hit me and wreck my counter?"

Smack!

Sikong Jing slapped the shopkeeper across the face again.

"I hit you because you deserve it. If you insult my wife, you'd better be ready to get beaten. That's the first thing."

"Second, who gave you the nerve to sell something my wife pawned?"

Sikong Jing glared at him with tigerish eyes. On the way here, he'd already learned how important the Jadeite Hairpin was to Su Yuexi. It wasn't just a gift from her sister, Su Yuexian; it was also what she and her parents clung to as a reminder of her.

When Su Yuexian had been taken away by the Noble Young Master, she'd told the family that whenever they missed her, they should take out the hairpin and look at it.

It was the family's spiritual connection to Su Yuexian.

But the Hengyu Shopkeeper didn't care about any of that. He screamed like a madman, "Men! Come here! Beat this pair of dog bastards to death!"

Crash, crash...

A dozen men rushed into the pawnshop. Every one of them was a guard at the fifth or sixth level of the Bright Realm.

Su Yuexi's face went pale again. She was about to say something...

But Sikong Jing had already thrown the shopkeeper aside and charged out. Bang, bang, bang... Before the dozen guards could react, they were all sprawled on the ground, howling as Sikong Jing pounded them down.

The next second, Sikong Jing returned to Su Yuexi's side and grabbed the shopkeeper by the hair again. "I'm redeeming the Jadeite Hairpin right now. Get it for me immediately, or your head will roll."

As he spoke, Sikong Jing casually drew a cleaver toward him from one of the pawnshop guards and pressed it against the shopkeeper's neck, murder in his eyes.

The shopkeeper was terrified, staring fixedly at Sikong Jing.

Wasn't Su Yuexi's criminal husband supposed to be a sickly weakling? How could he be this terrifying?

"Here are the twenty Gold Crystal Coins agreed on for redeeming it. Get the Jadeite Hairpin for me right now." Sikong Jing tossed twenty Gold Crystal Coins onto the counter and stared coldly at the shopkeeper, the blade carrying an icy chill.