Chapter 9: Pawnshop Struggle

  Ren Zhong Hu burst out laughing: "Little guy, you're too... We've only met once, and you're telling me such a big thing. Aren't you afraid I'll go report it to the Hu Zhong people? You should know how powerful they are, right?"

  Liu Qingqing solemnly replied: "I believe you, because of the chance encounter, you cured my dumbness, which shows that your heart is kind. You are the ugly bell-ringer Quasimodo. Moreover, here, I only know you and trust you."

  Hu Zhongren was stunned by Liu Qingqing's sincere eyes. He hesitated for a moment, "But I'm alone and can't do two things at the same time. Which one do you want me to help you with? I can go to Liu Family Village to investigate Yang Liuying and your family situation, or I can leave on your behalf. Which one do you want me to do?"

  "Alright," Liu Qingqing thought seriously for a moment. "I think you should go to the Liu family village to gather information, and I'll stay in the Hu family and endure it for a while, bearing the title of Mrs. Hu Shaodi. They won't dare do anything to me."

  "Aren't you afraid that the people of Hu Zhong will be unfavorable to you?" Ren Zhong Hu said, "Why don't we flee to the ends of the earth and let us become a pair of birds with the same fate at the ends of the earth." Ren Zhong Hu took Liu Qingqing's hand.

  "Don't joke around, big brother. I don't have any romantic feelings for you, don't get the wrong idea." Liu Qingqing brushed off Hu Zhongren's hand and said.

  "Are you ashamed of how ugly I look?" Hu Zhongren made a sorrowful expression, "I didn't even say that I'm ashamed of how ugly you look."

  "I don't dislike your appearance, I just don't have feelings for you. Love is about fate." In Liu Qingqing's romantic mind, she thought of Hu Zhongren and Yang Liuqing's pretty faces. She was a member of the "Appearance Association". A beautiful appearance was what she cared about first.

  "Is he a perfect man? Apart from his leg disease, he can be said to be perfect." Ren Zhonghu asked. Liu Qingqing shook her head.

  "Is that Yang Liuqing? He's so charming and handsome." Qing nodded "I do have a crush on Yang Liuqing, but..."

  "What's wrong?" Ren Zhong hurriedly asked back.

  "But I don't like him, and I dare say his character is definitely not as good as his looks." Liu Qingqing was full of confidence, she just felt that Yang Liuqing was not a good person.

  "But I heard she likes you very much and has been looking for an opportunity to get her hands on you." Ren Zhong stared at Liu Qingqing with piercing eyes.

  "Is this for real? I was just bored and had nothing to do, so I thought I'd practice on him. These past few days have been so boring that my hands are about to scratch the walls." Liu Qingqing sneered coldly, making Ren Zhonghu feel a chill run down his spine.

  "That's it, I'll endure a few more days at the Hu family. You quickly go to Liu Family Village to investigate, be careful not to be discovered by the Liu family and Yang Liuqing." Liu Qingqing said, taking down a package from her back "Is there a pawnshop around here? I want to pawn these things for some money."

  Zheng Zhong Hu took a look and jumped down, it turned out that Liu Qingqing had taken the pearls from the wind crown of the Hu family's wedding, as well as the silver fork and jade bowl from the wedding banquet. "Where did you get these things?"

  "These are the jewels on my coronet and the tableware from the Hu family's wedding banquet, I've performed with them before, they're all genuine and quite valuable." Liu Qingqing looked like she knew her stuff.

  "But all the pawn shops here are owned by the Hu family, if you go there, they will know, can't you see that there is a mark?" Ren Zhonghu tried to persuade her to put it back.

  "I'm not afraid, I'll go myself. Let's see who dares to fart. Liu Qingqing was complacent, thinking that as a lone woman who ventured into Beijing, participated in the Grand Way, and won the championship, what is there to be afraid of?"

  "If you insist on going, I'll only send you to the main street. I don't dare go to the pawnshop with you. If Hu Zhongren finds out, he won't just skin me alive, he'll also ransack my home."

  "Be careful, what's there to be afraid of? I'll take care of everything. Let's go." Liu Qingqing didn't mind at all.

  Two people went to the main street and rushed to Hu's pawnshop. Ren Zhong pointed at something from a distance, and then quickly disappeared. When Liu Qingqing looked up, she saw a big sign that read "pawnshop". She didn't rush to the pawnshop but instead turned into a small restaurant and ordered a bowl of millet porridge. After wiping her face with the porridge, the scars on her face immediately disappeared, revealing her original beautiful appearance. Covering half of her face with a handkerchief, she threw a silver coin on the table and said "keep the change". With a swagger, she walked out of the restaurant and arrived at the pawnshop door, shouting loudly "pawn it!"

  A fellow inside came out and said, "Hey, what are you going to do?"

  Liu Qingqing took out the package, "All of it is pawned, how much will you give me?" The shop assistant opened the package and looked at it, "Customer, please wait a moment, I need to consult with our manager. These things are too valuable, I'm not authorized to make a decision." The shop assistant quickly went into the back room and immediately a manager came out. After seeing the contents of the package, he became furious, "Seize this thief and take her to the government office!" Four young and strong men were about to subdue her. Liu Qingqing was also furious, "How dare you call me a thief? What evidence do you have?"

  The shop assistant also learned her tone, sneering: "It's not that these things are bought, this pearl was bought by Hu Shao and given to the Liu family as a betrothal gift, the silverware is what I personally brought back, your guts are too big, daring to come to the Hu family pawnshop to sell stolen goods."

  "I am Mrs. Liu Qingqing of the Hu family."Liu Qingqing hastily took out her magic treasure.

  "Alright, you dare to call yourself a young lady? Who doesn't know that my family's young mistress is nicknamed 'Ugly No Salt'? You also dare to impersonate her, I'll beat you up!" Several henchmen rushed out with menacing looks. Liu Qingqing ripped off Changchang's sleeve and wrapped it around her waist, assuming a fighting stance. "If you don't surrender, let's fight together!" The four of them started fighting at the same time, engaging in an intense battle.

  At this moment, Liu Qingqing's mother was like all mothers who hoped their daughter would become a great actress, so she enrolled Liu Qingqing in many extracurricular classes. As a result, Liu Qingqing's martial arts skills were exceptionally good. Her strengths included being agile and clever, except for her poor academic performance, everything else about her was excellent.

  What we saw was: four big men with broken heads and bleeding, gasping on the spot. The manager was stunned and couldn't move. Liu Qingqing punched the counter of the pawnshop, "Do you admit it? Look, how much silver can my things be exchanged for?" The manager stuttered and couldn't speak. A person wearing a green cloth headscarf whispered a few words in his ear, and the manager opened his mouth: "Five thousand taels of silver. One million taels of national banknotes."

  Liu Qing was overjoyed. "I've become rich." After thinking for a moment, "Give me 1,000 taels of silver, keep the rest in the cabinet, and give me all the silver notes." The steward acted quickly and followed his instructions. Liu Qing happily took the silver back to Ren Zhonghu's garden, pulled out 500 taels of silver, "You take it and do things, if not enough, come find me again."

  Looking at Ren Zhong's stunned expression, "You didn't think I could get so many factors either, did you? It's actually a small matter, but if you keep looking at me like that, I'll become proud!" Liu Qingqing also felt a little complacent. She hadn't expected her martial arts to still have a market here.

  "So you're this beautiful." Ren Zhong's saliva was about to drip down, oh god, how could there be such a stunning person, it's as if they're an immortal who doesn't eat human food.

  "It's just so-so, Alala. Everyone has been saying that since I was a kid, I'm already immune to it!" Liu Qingqing giggled.

  "But why are you so ugly?" Ren Zhonghu wondered.

  "It's fun, isn't it?" Liu Qingqing said nonchalantly. "Big brother, you've seen my true face now, and I'm being nice to you, so you should be devoted to me and do things seriously for me!"

  "Alright, I'll go right away. You should head back early too." Ren Zhong Hu replied, leading out a horse, "Let's go." And with that, he galloped off into the distance.

  Liu Qingqing patted her hand and muttered to herself, "I should go back too, or that cripple will come looking for me." She ran along the path, assisted by a few steps, jumped up onto the wall, climbed down from the tree, took three turns and five detours, tiptoed quietly, and returned to her dormitory. Xiao Lian rushed in hastily, "Young Mistress, it's not good! The old lady is furious and wants you to go to the main hall!"

  Liu Qing slowly changed her clothes, "What's the big deal, they're just angry, it's their nature, no..."

  "Ha! I'd be surprised if you weren't angry." As Xiaolian arrived at the main hall, she saw that the four burly men from the pawnshop, as well as the manager, were all kneeling on the ground. The servants and maids were standing in silence, not daring to make a sound. The old lady and Hu Zhongren sat in the center of the room. When they saw Liu Qingqing arrive, the old lady said, "Take a good look, everyone. Is this not the young mistress who caused trouble at the pawnshop today?"

  Several people stared intently and turned pale, "No." How could a lady be so handsome? This guy is ugly.

  "Come on, give me a beating! First, beat Hu Neng, give him 100 big sticks. See if he dares to talk nonsense about Young Master's wife again." It was the steward who gave the order. Two slaves holding big sticks took aim at the steward's buttocks and started whipping, after a few strokes, his skin split open and he fainted. Liu Qingqing saw that they were serious, this old society really had no human rights! Looks like she had to be honest with herself.

  Liu Qing shouted loudly: "Stop." The slave stopped the stick. "No mistake, today in the pawnshop fighting is me, I took away the silver and silver tickets, it was me who took jewelry and tableware from home."

  The four burly men were moved to tears. "Young mistress, we are grateful that you saved our lives, but we know that the one who actually fought wasn't you."

  Liu Qingqing said that people in ancient times were really sincere, if it were now, they would have already spoken nonsense.

  "Xiao Lian, bring me that basin of water." Xiao Lian responded with a sound and brought over the basin of water.

  Liu Qingqing applied some medicinal water to her face and then applied a facial mask. After wiping her face clean with a handkerchief, everyone was shocked. Only Hu Zhongren could still control his intense emotions, "Madam, why did you disguise yourself? Why do you need these jewels, what do you want so much money for?"

  "I wanted to buy some silk embroidery, but I didn't dare ask Mother, so I came up with this idea." Liu Qingqing had long heard them say that their embroidery skills were the best in the world, and thought that saying this would surely get everyone's approval. Sure enough, no one doubted her anymore.

  "Mother Ball, please don't punish them. They didn't mean any harm." Qingqing pleaded on their behalf.

  "All right, you quickly embroider, I can provide you with goods." The old woman said with a sigh "Huh? You go to the account and take 100 taels of silver for treatment and recuperation, go down."

  Hu Neng and others responded with a "yes" and retreated. The old woman asked with a smile: "I don't know what kind of silk thread and silk satin you use, daughter-in-law?"

  Liu Qingqing suddenly had the feeling of picking up a stone and hitting her own foot. She coughed dryly, "Ah, let's talk about it later, I feel a bit uncomfortable, I'd better go back and rest first, adapt."

  "Xiao Lian, quickly support Young Madam, wait until he's a bit better, then give him Zhao Si Si and satin." Liu Qingqing retreated in disarray.