Chapter 9

Liu Zangjie was very surprised, but still smiled and said, "If the Third Young Master has his eye on someone, I would also like to take a look."

Cao Ning'er smiled and said, "Actually, I don't know what Uncle San sees in him either. Perhaps there's more to it. Speaking of the pawn business, the Cao family can't do without Manager Liu."

Liu Zangjie felt much more comfortable. He had followed Third Young Master Cao for many years and was confident in his own judgment, even if he had no great achievements, he had certainly put in a lot of effort.

Although Third Young Master Cao refused to take him as a disciple, he knew there must be a reason. If he intended to take this young man as a disciple, there must be a plan behind it. What kind of luck did this young man have? From the tone of the young lady, it seemed she also had this view, which made Liu Zangjie quite pleased.

Seeing Liu Zangjie's smile, Cao Ning'er also whispered with a smile, "When Shan Fei inspects the goods, I hope Manager Liu can give him some guidance." She was the one who handled the Cao family's assets and, noticing Liu Zangjie's confusion, managed to turn his worry into joy with a few words.

Liu Zangjie nodded and led Cao Ning'er outside, looking at Shan Fei who was sitting in the sun and said, "Brother Shan?"

Shan Fei was quite surprised, thinking to himself, "I'm just a household servant. Why is this boss calling me like that? Has his head been hit by a door?"

But seeing the polite manner, even though he didn't understand the situation, he still clasped his hands and smiled, "What does Manager need?"

Liu Zangjie, seeing that the young man still had some manners, nodded slightly and said, "Some goods have arrived. If Brother Shan is interested, why don't you come and take a look with me?"

Although he was confident, after hearing what the young lady Cao said, he thought that if this young man really became Third Young Master Cao's disciple, his future achievements would be hard to predict. It wouldn't hurt to start cultivating a relationship with him now.

Shan Fei was somewhat interested. In this era, even the bricks and tiles he saw could be sold for money in his time. The goods in this pawn shop would, of course, be rare items in his time.

Nodding, Shan Fei followed Liu Zangjie and Cao Ning'er to the gate of the courtyard, where he saw Lu Feng standing at the door. Opposite him stood a man in a short jacket and worn-out shoes, holding a small, old cloth bag, clearly a poor person from the lowest class of Xudu.

Cao Ning'er felt a bit disappointed, thinking that such a person wouldn't have anything valuable. She was determined to test Shan Fei's judgment, but this time it seemed she had miscalculated.

Lu Feng had already turned around and was about to say something, but seeing Liu Zangjie's signal, he tactfully changed his words, "Just some old copper coins."

The man hurriedly said, "But can't they be pawned for some money?"

"Brother Shan, can you take a look?" Liu Zangjie said casually.

Shan Fei didn't hesitate, looking at the man and asking, "What's your surname?"

The man blinked, not understanding at first, so Shan Fei rephrased, "How should I address you?"

"Wu Qing," the man finally understood. Seeing Shan Fei's friendly manner, he felt a glimmer of hope and, seeing Shan Fei extend his hand, immediately placed the cloth bag in it, "Sir, please take a look. I beg you."

"I'm not a sir, my name is Shan Fei," Shan Fei said, looking at Wu Qing.

"Master Shan," Wu Qing bowed and said.

"What kind of look is that? I'm dressed like a servant, not a master," Shan Fei thought.

Seeing Lu Feng's impatience, Shan Fei didn't waste any more words. He opened the cloth bag, glanced inside, frowned, and then turned the bag upside down, pouring out its contents onto the ground.

There was a clinking sound as about a dozen copper coins fell to the ground. However, these coins were not the usual round ones with a square hole in the middle, but rather spade-shaped coins with some inscriptions.

Shan Fei was slightly startled.

He immediately recognized the age and history of these coins. If they were in his time, they would be highly valuable for collection. But seeing the impatient expressions of Lu Feng and Liu Zangjie, Shan Fei quickly understood the problem.

"These are the ten spade-shaped copper coins from the Tianfeng period," Shan Fei said casually.

Lu Feng was taken aback. He had been hinted by Liu Zangjie to let Shan Fei inspect the goods, and he was quite annoyed, thinking that this household servant was getting too cocky around the young lady. But he didn't expect Shan Fei to immediately identify the coins, which left him speechless.

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Mang took power and, to save the court from crisis, carried out four monetary reforms, minting ten types of spade-shaped copper coins, including "Xiao Bu Yi Bai" (Small Spade One Hundred) and "Da Bu Huang Qian" (Large Spade Yellow Thousand).

Lu Feng had never seen these coins before, but he recognized the seal script. Recalling what Liu Zangjie had taught him, he finally identified the coins, feeling somewhat proud. He never expected Shan Fei to identify them so easily.

Picking up the coins one by one and putting them back in the bag, Shan Fei sighed, "Wu Qing, these things..."

Wu Qing looked at Shan Fei nervously, on the verge of tears.

Seeing his expression, Shan Fei hesitated to tell Wu Qing the harsh truth—that these things were not valuable!

In his time, these coins were highly valuable for collection, but in the current Three Kingdoms period, they were merely inflated currency from the previous dynasty. To put it simply, if they were in modern times, these coins would be like the currency issued during the Chinese Civil War, where a bag of money couldn't even buy a few pounds of grain. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, these coins were not only useless for transactions but also dangerous to keep, as they could get you in trouble.

The only value these coins had now was the copper they were made of, but even then, you would have to pay a fee to have them melted down and recast. Moreover, minting coins was a government monopoly, and private minting was considered counterfeiting, which could result in execution in any dynasty. For the pawn shop to accept such items would be of no value at all.

"These things are not valuable," Lu Feng finally interrupted.

Liu Zangjie also nodded. With his extensive experience, he knew these coins had little value and was ready to end the conversation.

Wu Qing's body trembled slightly, and he said in a low voice, "Master Shan, can you at least give me a price?" He could see that Liu Zangjie and Lu Feng were shrewd businessmen, but Shan Fei looked at him with a kinder expression.

Shan Fei thought to himself, "I'm just a household servant, not a manager. What use would my pricing be?" But seeing Wu Qing's anxious expression, he sighed and was about to say he would buy them himself, as he still had some wages this month.

Just as he was about to speak, Shan Fei suddenly paused, pinching a "Da Bu Huang Qian" and his expression changed slightly.

The "Da Bu Huang Qian" was the largest denomination among the ten spade-shaped copper coins, about twice the size of the "Xiao Bu Yi Bai."

The study of epigraphy and archaeology only began in the Song Dynasty, so counterfeit goods in this era were not as sophisticated as in modern times. Therefore, Shan Fei could basically determine the era of the coins with just a glance, without needing to spend much effort on authentication. However, when he picked up the spade coin, he noticed a tiny, dark red spot on the seal script for "Bu."

If not for a closer look, it would not have been easily noticed.

It was a very familiar color.

When Shan Fei saw the dark red spot, he felt a slight joy. Before putting the spade coin back in the bag, he quickly sniffed it, feeling even more confident.

Slowly standing up, Shan Fei smiled and said, "Wu Qing, where do you live?"

"I live in the southern part of the city," Wu Qing replied, puzzled.

Shan Fei's mind raced, and he said casually, "I'll give you one tael of silver for these copper coins. Wu Qing, will you sell them?"

What?!

Everyone immediately widened their eyes!