Chapter 10

Cao Ning'er sighed inwardly. She was a woman with her own mind, and no matter how her third uncle evaluated things, she still preferred to quietly observe a person's abilities and characteristics.

Dan Fei was not an ordinary household slave; she made this judgment the moment she saw him. As they traveled today, she became even more certain of this.

This person was intelligent and smart. Even when facing Xiahou Heng and Cao Fu, he did not display the common traits of a household slave—either fawning over the young master or pretending to be loyal to protect the young miss.

Household slaves, after all, should be loyal to their masters.

However, Dan Fei's behavior did not have a single trait of a household slave. When he looked at you, there was no arrogance, nor any sign of inferiority. Perhaps he was more like a friend.

When this thought arose, she herself was a bit surprised. Otherwise, she wouldn't have asked Dan Fei that question. By a woman's intuition, she knew Dan Fei was a capable person.

But even the most capable person can make mistakes.

Not to mention Mr. Liu and Lu Feng, even Cao Ning'er knew that these copper coins were not valuable. In these chaotic times, the minting and use of currency were extremely disordered. Although Xu City had been peaceful for a few years, many people still did not use the copper coins minted by the government, preferring barter or using gold and silver as hard currency.

Dan Fei's offer to buy the worthless spade coins for one tael of silver was certainly a questionable move.

Wu Qing had no objections. Silver, being a hard currency, was always easy to exchange in Xu City. Upon hearing Dan Fei's offer, he almost jumped up. "Young Master Dan, I have no problem with this. I'll give you these things."

He almost forced the cloth bag into Dan Fei's hands and looked at him eagerly.

Dan Fei turned to Mr. Liu and Lu Feng. Seeing that the young miss did not object, Mr. Liu remained silent. As the manager of the pawnshop, he was the CEO of the company and had to consider the shareholders' interests; he would not make a losing deal.

Lu Feng said coolly, "Dan Fei, right? The Cao Family Pawnshop will not accept these broken copper and iron pieces."

He had long found this young man a bit annoying. Where did this presumptuous young man come from, thinking that just because he stood by the young miss, he could make decisions for the pawnshop?

"Ah?" Wu Qing was dumbfounded, only looking at Dan Fei with a pleading gaze.

Dan Fei pondered for a moment, then suddenly smiled at Cao Ning'er. "Young Miss, I don't have money. Could you lend me one tael of silver? I'll return it to you in seven days."

Cao Ning'er was slightly surprised. Cui'er couldn't help but say, "What are you... Can you even earn one tael of silver in a year..." She was cut off by Cao Ning'er's gesture.

"Alright, I'll lend you the money. Cui'er, give him one tael of silver."

Mr. Liu and Lu Feng's eyes widened immediately. Cui'er was also surprised but, seeing the young miss's determined look, grumbled a few words and finally took a small piece of silver from her embroidered purse and handed it to Dan Fei.

Dan Fei immediately passed it to Wu Qing. Wu Qing was overjoyed and suddenly knelt down, bowing deeply. "Young Master Dan, thank you for your great kindness."

Wu Qing left with many thanks. Dan Fei smiled and, before he could turn around, heard Mr. Liu say, "Young Miss, may I have a word with you?"

Cao Ning'er nodded and walked a few steps away with Mr. Liu. Mr. Liu cleared his throat and lowered his voice. "Young Miss, I don't know if I should say this."

"Go ahead."

"Dan Fei, he does have some insight, but in my opinion, he is not a person suited for business." Mr. Liu said softly. He was being fair, thinking that no matter whether the third master chose this person as a disciple, he should still say this.

Cao Ning'er smiled. "I understand. Thank you for your advice, Uncle Liu."

Mr. Liu humbly responded and Cao Ning'er added, "By the way, the matter Uncle Liu was instructed to keep an eye on by my third uncle still needs your attention."

After giving the instructions, she got into the carriage and glanced at Dan Fei. "Dan Fei, let's head back to the mansion."

The carriage slowly moved down the long street. As they approached the Cao mansion, Cao Ning'er suddenly lifted the curtain. "Dan Fei, can I ask you a question?"

Cui'er pouted, wondering why the young miss was being so polite to a household slave today.

Dan Fei smiled. "Young Miss, you're too kind. I'll try to answer if I know the answer." He thought that women were naturally curious, and it was already quite impressive that the young miss had held back until now.

"Yesterday, my third uncle asked you to choose the most valuable item from seven objects. Why didn't you choose?" Cao Ning'er said softly.

Dan Fei was taken aback, not expecting the young miss to remember this.

"You said you would try to answer," Cao Ning'er smiled faintly.

Dan Fei also smiled. "To be honest, I couldn't choose."

"I don't believe you," Cao Ning'er said slowly. "You could identify the age of the seven objects at a glance and even arranged them in order. How could you not see their value?"

Dan Fei's heart trembled. When he picked up the objects and placed them back in chronological order, he had already noticed Cao Ning'er's confusion and knew that the person who understood this answer was not Cao Ning'er.

That person was the third master, Cao.

This third master was mysterious and had keen insight. What was his background, and why was there no record of him in history?

He quickly calmed himself and explained, "To be precise, I couldn't determine the value of those seven objects in the third master's eyes."

"Is there a difference?" Cao Ning'er was taken aback, but a light suddenly flashed in her mind. "You mean... the value of things is determined by people, not by the objects themselves? You didn't know the third master's intentions, so you couldn't judge the true value of those seven objects in his eyes?"

Dan Fei was quite surprised that Cao Ning'er had quickly grasped this point. He couldn't help but praise, "Young Miss, you are indeed clever."

Cao Ning'er smiled happily, but Cui'er, hearing this, couldn't help but grumble, "What are you? Who are you to judge whether the young miss is clever or not?"

As a household slave, it was unwise to comment on the young miss. Cao Ning'er also realized that Dan Fei had overstepped, but she thought Cui'er was making a fuss over nothing. She then said, "You insisted on borrowing one tael of silver to buy those copper coins, obviously believing they were worth more than one tael of silver, even though Mr. Liu and everyone else didn't think so?"

Dan Fei didn't expect the young miss to have such a keen and agile mind. After a long silence, he said, "Yes."

To others, the copper coins he bought from Wu Qing might be worthless, but to him, they were a golden opportunity!

The opportunity came from a red mark on the copper coins, a detail even Mr. Liu had overlooked.

That red mark was cinnabar!

Cinnabar, also known as vermilion, is a natural mineral.

Why was there cinnabar on the copper coins?

Dan Fei wasn't entirely sure of its purpose, but he knew a saying from his archaeological studies: "Mercury in the Qin, cinnabar in the Han, green ointment, charcoal, and the Wei and Jin dynasties."

This saying summarized the anti-corrosion features of tombs throughout history, though it couldn't be applied universally. However, cinnabar was a distinctive anti-corrosion material used in Han tombs. The presence of cinnabar on the copper coins suggested that they were likely taken from a Han tomb.

Even someone like Wu Qing could find these spade coins, but as a professional, he could certainly find something more valuable than one tael of silver.

He knew that this was the moment that would determine whether he could rise from a household slave to a master!

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