Rebirth: Slice-of-life Cultivation Chapter 18 – Chapter 18 Chapter 18 Money Comes

Chapter 18: Chapter 18 Money Comes Chapter 18: Chapter 18 Money Comes Morning dawned.

Jiang Ning slung a backpack over his shoulder, packing several Golden Beans.

Xue Yuantong sat at the doorstep, playing with her phone and laughing from time to time like a fool.

“What are you looking at?” asked Jiang Ning.

“Scrolling through forums, hahaha, it's so funny. The poster wanted people to photoshop some class into his picture, and everyone responded with all these spoofed images.” Xue Yuantong was nearly laughing herself silly.

Hearing her, Jiang Ning realized that he had seen these kinds of posts in forums before; they really were quite amusing.

In 2013, forums were still the hottest online communities, showing no signs of decline. Emperor's Bar embarked on campaigns, their influence reaching far and wide, leaving no stone unturned wherever they went.

There were a series of bars leading the way in every domain, such as the one frequented by Fishing Man.

A multitude of domains coexisted, creating absurd, comedic, and fantastical chaos.

Unfortunately, due to a series of operational issues, the talents of the forum communities gradually dispersed to various major websites, and the forum's glory days were no more.

Now, upon suddenly hearing the name of the forum, Jiang Ning actually felt a pang of wistful nostalgia.

“I'm planning to head to the urban area; do you need me to bring you anything?” Jiang Ning asked as he pushed along his mountain bike, preparing to exchange some gold.

“Nope, I'm good. Off you go.” Xue Yuantong wanted to buy some snacks, but she had run out of pocket money.

Jiang Ning rode his mountain bike toward the urban area along the dam, aware that the origin of his gold couldn't withstand scrutiny, so when it came to liquidating it, pawning seemed like the best option.

And he knew just the pawnshop to visit.

In his previous life, during his senior year of college, he had worked in Yuzhou, and a colleague found an ancient coin that turned out to be worth over six hundred thousand when he looked it up online.

So, he visited that very pawnshop. At the time, the boss lady was a woman in her mid-thirties who glanced at the ancient coin and told the colleague it wasn't valuable.

The colleague didn't believe her at all and showed her the auction listings on his phone, the highest bid reaching over eight hundred thousand.

The ancient coin was exactly the same as the one he held.

The boss lady chuckled and shared some insider knowledge with him, explaining that many auction houses were a scam. If you truly took a coin to auction, they would first charge you a hefty appraisal fee, running into the thousands, followed by another fee like a consignment charge. After you paid these fees and signed the contract, the auction would start, and if the item failed to sell, the coin would be returned to you, but the fees you'd paid were non-refundable.

Many auction houses were pulling this con. Although the colleague was skeptical at first, his experience with the auction houses turned out to be almost exactly as the boss lady had described. Only then did he believe her.

Consequently, the colleague shared this as a joke in the office, showing everyone the ancient coin and joking that if it weren't for the boss lady, he might have gotten carried away by the thought of suddenly owning a fortune worth seven or eight hundred thousand and then getting scammed by the auction house. He even went back to thank the boss lady later.

Jiang Ning remembered this after hearing about it and kept the name of that pawnshop in mind.

The boss lady used her own storefront, which had been open for many years.

Jiang Ning guessed that at this point in time, it was probably still there.

Based on his colleague's story, the boss lady didn't seem to be of bad character; otherwise, she might have scammed his colleague.

However, Jiang Ning wasn't too worried. As a Cultivator, he possessed abilities far beyond those of ordinary people. Even with his current capabilities, if he wished to disregard the rules, he could easily amass hundreds of millions.

He simply valued his current life too much to want to disrupt it.

But if someone tried to cheat him, with Jiang Ning's prowess, retaliation would be effortless.

So, without looking back or hesitating, Jiang Ning was prepared to deal with any foul play. He was confident he could teach them what it meant to be a Cultivator.

Jiang Ning cycled all the way to the pawnshop's location. The pawnshop's sign wasn't particularly eye-catching, but with his remarkable eyesight, he spotted it instantly.

The pawnshop was small, just a single storefront, with a sign advertising services for real estate, cars, watches, jewelry, and loans, followed by a string of phone numbers.

Jiang Ning parked his mountain bike in front of the shop, locked it, and then, carrying his backpack, he opened the glass door. A chill from the air conditioning greeted him as he stepped inside.

He pushed aside the semi-transparent plastic curtain and saw a woman in her late twenties sitting at the desk, clad in a black work uniform, her lips painted red, holding a mouse in one hand, looking in his direction.

“May I help you?” Shao Shuangshuang asked the young man standing before her.

Jiang Ning absentmindedly fiddled with the Gold Bean,
“Do you buy gold?”

Shao Shuangshuang noted the gold in Jiang Ning's hand and became serious,
“We do. Please, have a seat.”

She pointed to a bench nearby, stood up to pour Jiang Ning a glass of water from the water cooler, and then sat elegantly opposite him across the coffee table, embodying a mature allure.

“My last name is Shao, you can call me Sister Shao. May I ask for your honored surname?”

“Jiang Ning.” Jiang Ning didn't bother to be elusive; after all, in modern society, unless one completely changed their appearance, it would be difficult to hide one's identity amidst ubiquitous cameras.

As soon as he had stepped into the room, he had used his Divine Sense to sweep through it, noticing the camera in the upper-right corner, and beyond that, a pinhole camera hidden near the air conditioning power strip.

“Have a look first.” Jiang Ning put down the Gold Bean.

Shao Shuangshuang opened a drawer beneath the coffee table, took out a toolbox, put on gloves, and began to examine the Gold Bean, squeezing it with her fingers to confirm its texture, before saying,
“It's gold. Do you have an invoice or identification?”

Jiang Ning shook his head.

Shao Shuangshuang nodded in understanding, and then said,
“I get your point. If we bypass the formalities, the price will be slightly lower than the market rate, and the purity of the gold is not very high.”

“What's the price?” Jiang Ning had no desire for idle chatter.

“The international gold price is 310, for yours, I'll tentatively offer 270, cash.” Shao Shuangshuang added,
“I need to check the purity exactly, is that alright?”

270… Jiang Ning wasn't familiar with this industry; practically another world for him, the finer details were elusive, but internally he was quite satisfied, it was a little higher than what he had anticipated.

“Test them all.” He pulled out six Gold Beans and placed them on the coffee table in succession.

Shao Shuangshuang glanced at Jiang Ning, who remained expressionless. He had acquired the gold through his own efforts, not by theft or robbery, but by digging it up. If, years later, someone had discovered gold during a renovation of that house, it would have led to a frenzy and bloodshed. His current use of it, in a way, was considered a good deed.

Next, Jiang Ning observed Shao Shuangshuang using several methods of testing, such as measuring volume and weight, and even using a pair of delicate scissors to cut a Gold Bean in half to ensure there were no fillers inside.

After a while, Shao Shuangshuang pointed to the number on the scale,
“Seven Gold Beans, total weight 152g, at the price of 270, amounts to forty-one thousand and forty. I'll round it up for you, forty-one hundred and one hundred.”

“Is that alright?”

“Yes.” Jiang Ning nodded.

Shao Shuangshuang packed up the gold and placed it in front of Jiang Ning, saying, “Just a moment, please.”

She swayed gracefully to the back room and returned clutching a black bag, which she checked with a machine in front of Jiang Ning.

Once the transaction was confirmed, Jiang Ning stuffed the stack of cash into his backpack.

Mobile payments were unpopular; cash was the main medium. Despite the substantial amount, fear of loss was not a concern for him—no pickpocket could evade his Divine Sense to steal his money.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” Shao Shuangshuang displayed a smile. Having run a pawnshop for several years, she'd encountered an array of unorthodox characters. Jiang Ning looked young, but he carried an indescribable composure uncommon in adults.

It was also why she was willing to proceed with the transaction.

Jiang Ning waved his hand and walked out the door; he now needed to do some serious shopping.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on N𝘰vgo.co

Chapter end