Chapter 415: True feelings revealed in trivial matters

Many traditional things in the town can be preserved because the economy is not yet developed. Places like pawn shops may still exist in some places until now. read

It's just a different approach, generally leading to the same goal.

There is only one pawnshop in the town. It has been open for more than 30 years and the business is pretty good.

Because there are always a lot of things that are not needed at home. If you are short of money, you can just go out and exchange money for emergencies.

Most people are reluctant to pawn off the bottom of the box, but the situation in Zhao Lanzhi's family is different. Almost everything that can be pawned but cannot be pawned is pawned.

At that time, in order to buy textbooks, exercises, stationery and schoolbags for little Du Rong, I even pawned the silver bracelet left by my old father, and I was able to support myself for a while.

Although Zhao Lanzhi works as a waiter in a noodle shop, there are only two or three noodle shops in the town, and business is not good. Fifty yuan a month is a good price.

Little Du Rong has basically never eaten meat until now. He only goes out to buy some meat during holidays and festivals, and he has to eat every ounce of meat carefully.

From here you can see how enviable factory workers are. Although they are very tiring for a month, they can at least get a salary of a hundred or ten yuan. You must know that more people can't even hope for a salary of one hundred yuan. !

After being in business for so long, Li Yi has seen rich people spending a lot of money, living in deceit, and cheating on each other. He has also seen poor people scrimping and struggling to survive for only two or two meters, so he feels that children like little Du Rong are even more valuable.

Thinking of little Du Rong, Li Yi thought of his wife Xu Qingnan and his daughter Li Youwei. Unknowingly, he didn't go home for a few months.

But now I still have to go to the pawn shop to see if I can redeem the things Zhao Lanzhi pawned.

Although Li Yi has no intention of supporting Zhao Lanzhi's family, he can't let others spend money on him. This doesn't make sense!

Following the route just pointed out by the residents of the town, Li Yi quickly found the pawn shop.

This pawn shop looks like a store, but the counter is like a bank counter. There is only one window for transactions, and the rest is a huge barbed wire fence, full of the flavor of the era, and the things inside the store are also .

Pocket watches, televisions, radios, and all kinds of jewelry are all available.

At this moment, the shop owner was playing with two silver dollars in his hand. They were items from a long time ago, but they looked like they had been professionally cared for and they still sparkled.

After hearing someone push open the door and walk in, the owner of the store pushed up the reading glasses on the bridge of his nose, and then he saw clearly that the person who walked in was a young man wearing coarse clothes.

Li Yi took a look at the boss. He looked to be in his sixties, but he was full of energy, wearing a string of Buddhist beads on his wrist. His half-century-old mottled hair was neatly taken care of, and he was wearing a mandarin jacket. , it seems that he is also wearing a pocket watch, looking very elegant.

Such people are usually very rich and very low-key. Li Yi has met many people before, and he can tell at a glance that that kind of temperament cannot be faked.

"Hello, boss, I would like to ask if Zhao Lanzhi has been here before and lives in the household next to the mayor's house?"

The pawn shop owner nodded and took out a small box from under the counter, which was exactly the one Zhao Lanzhi was holding in his hand.

After Li Yi confirmed it, he said with a smile: "How much does the stuff inside cost? I will redeem it at the original price!"

The well-dressed old man at the pawn shop smiled and shook his head and said: "Young man, the things here are fake and not worth a few dollars, at most two dollars!"

Li Yi was stunned for a moment, two dollars?

Two dollars can buy two eggs and two pounds of pork?

What is this?

Is pork so cheap in this small town?

The pawn shop owner took out the contents of the box. Li Yi took a closer look and saw that it was a jade bracelet. But upon closer inspection, he could see that the color was not right at all. It was obviously just a stone!

"Boss, what exactly is going on?"

The pawnshop owner sighed, put the bracelet neatly into the box, and said in a deep voice: "The life of this family is really hard. Zhao Lanzhi's parents and the old couple went to look for a living outside, and they took a provincial job. There was a minibus coming in, but there was something wrong with the minibus. It leaked oil. When it reached the Henghe Bridge, it caught fire. There were more than 20 people on the bus, but not a single person survived! There’s a way to identify it!”

"Later, Zhao Lanzhi's man went out, saying that he was going to work on the sea and work as a crew member. But he heard that he had an accident just after he arrived at the seaside. He boarded a black ship, and his body was found on the beach within a few days. Later, the Coast Guard After catching everyone on the ship, it became clear that these people were running a smuggling business! The old man Xiao Du Rong discovered it and wanted to report it, and that's what happened! "

Li Yi was stunned for a moment when he heard this. He didn't expect that Zhao Lanzhi's husband was gone!

But Zhao Lanzhi seems to have no idea!

Is there another story here?

The pawn shop owner continued: "I was the first to know the news at the time. After discussing it with the mayor, we finally decided not to tell Zhao Lanzhi's family yet. The baby was still too young at the time, and I was afraid that Zhao Lanzhi wouldn't be able to accept it!"

Li Yi nodded, and then asked curiously: "What happened next? Have you kept it secret until now?"

The old man nodded, sighed, and said, "Damn God, this family's livelihood was almost cut off. The noodle shop business in the town was not good. Zhao Lanzhi often brought some items to me to pawn, saying that they were left by her parents. In the end, they were all fakes. However, I still paid them according to the price. I pawned this bracelet for fifty yuan. It has always been like this!"

The people in the town are very kind. The few who knew that Zhao Lanzhi's husband had passed away almost kept their mouths shut. They didn't even tell their family members when they returned home. This is why Zhao Lanzhi's husband was brave enough to report the group of smugglers.

This is the folk customs!

Even those who didn't know the truth in the town comforted Zhao Lanzhi, saying that your husband would definitely come back and make a lot of money.

Li Yi suddenly felt that this town was indeed a Feng Shui treasure land, not because of the mysterious things like dragon veins, but because of the people!

Everyone lives in harmony. Isn't this the Datong mentioned in the book?

"I see. Thank you, boss."

After saying this, Li Yi took out a hundred yuan from his wallet and put it on the counter.

"I bought this bracelet!"

The boss was stunned for a moment and asked, "Why?"

Li Yi did not intend to answer, shrugged his shoulders and left the pawnshop.