I am about to die of old age, and I have awakened the character of longevity.

Chapter 9 I’ll Learn to Be a Good Person in My Next Life
dusk.

Hu Hu Hu.

After Chunlan left, Xie An practiced the Five Animal Exercises for another afternoon and was sweating profusely from exhaustion.

【Five Animal Exercises: Combining Movement and Stillness (99/100)】

[Remaining years: 15 years]

Although the progress was only improved by two points, Xie An was happy with the feeling of improving bit by bit.

"We're just one step away from a breakthrough. Don't rush it, it will happen sooner or later."

With a long life character, there is no need to worry about not being able to break through.

It just takes a little more time.

dong dong dong.

There was a knock on the door, and it was He Chunli who brought dinner.

Today, Xie An did not let He Chunli buy ingredients for a snack, so he could only eat the food from the pawnshop.

A bowl of white rice, a bowl of stir-fried tofu, and half a bowl of braised pork.

"Where's Zhang Bing?"

He Chunli placed the food on the table and said, "Brother Zhang went to the Li residence to visit the eldest brother-in-law this afternoon and just came back. Oh, by the way...Brother Zhang just slipped into the kitchen. When I saw him, he was a little panicked."

Xie An realized something as soon as he heard it.

He did not pick up his chopsticks to eat, but waited until late at night when the pawnshop was closed, then he sneaked into the kitchen with his food and found the wooden barrel for kitchen waste.

I saw three mice stealing leftovers from a bucket.

Xie An poured the food in. After a moment of panic, the three mice began to eat the fresh food with big mouthfuls, making excited "squeak" sounds.

Xie An stared at the mouse's every move with wide eyes.

Three months ago, Xie An keenly noticed that Zhang Bing was acting restlessly and had evil intentions, so he specifically asked He Chunli to pay attention to Zhang Bing's actions.

He Chunli also told Xie An about Chunlan's conversation with Zhang Bing in the pawnshop today.

Plus, He Chunli said Zhang Bing went to the Li residence to look for his brother-in-law that afternoon, and even ran into the kitchen in a panic...

Combining all the information, Xie An felt that Zhang Bing might be desperate.

Caution is the boat.

really--

The three mice were suddenly shocked and panicked. They ran around screaming and howling. After a few seconds, they kicked their legs, foamed at the mouth, and their limbs twitched... and died.

hiss!
Even though Xie An was mentally prepared, he still felt a sense of horror when he saw this scene.

Fortunately, I was careful, otherwise... it wouldn't be the mouse that died tonight, but me.

"Your master is still your master!"

"My good disciple, please learn to be a good person in your next life."

Xie An did not get angry, but went to the pawnshop late at night to look at the pawn ticket.

Although Xie An had not been to the pawnshop in the past three months, he knew from his informant He Chunli that Zhang Bing's clothes were becoming more and more expensive, and he had money to give as gifts to Li's son-in-law.

What's more, even if Zhang Bing wanted to get promoted, he wouldn't risk poisoning and killing someone just for the position of a court master, especially when he knew that he was in good health... It seemed like he was covering up something.

Xie An keenly felt that Zhang Bing might have tampered with the pawn ticket.

Being a court attendant was a lucrative business, but corruption was always risky, and Xie An had previously preferred a safe bet, only taking on private work.

As he flipped through the pages, Xie An felt something was wrong.

“Why do pawn prices fluctuate so much?”

In general, a pawnshop is a bit like a combination of an antique shop and a bank in the previous life. Its income is mainly divided into four parts: interest from loans, disposal of items, handling fees and appreciation of items.

Lending is the same as in the previous life, except that the interest rate is high, three percent per month.

The so-called disposal of items means that if the borrower is unable to redeem the collateral within the agreed period, the pawnshop can dispose of it on its own and make a profit.

Some collateral will increase in value over time, so even if a customer redeems it, they will still need to pay a premium based on the current market price. This is considered value-added services.

In addition, pawnshops need to charge a certain fee for pawning business.

It can be seen that pawnshops are a business that is sure to make a profit.

There were only a handful of pawnshops in Wuqiao Town, and most of them operated with close acquaintances, emphasizing honesty and integrity. After all, they were all neighbors, and everyone knew each other every day. If their reputation was damaged, the pawnshop would be unable to survive.

When Xie An looked through the pawn tickets, he found that the prices of several antiques pledged were significantly higher than the market price.

For example, a copper kettle was pawned for a staggering twenty taels. This kettle was right there on the cabinet, and Xie An had seen it… Although the imitation technique was extremely sophisticated, it was artificially aged and worthless.

The shopkeeper Chen Yuan was not an expert in appraisal, so he could not see any clues.

But Xie An, who was skilled in identifying objects, still figured it out.

All these abnormal pawn tickets add up to more than two hundred taels!
To sum up, a fact emerged in Xie An's mind:

Zhang Bing, he embezzled money.

The amount is staggering!

Xie An would have to go without food and drink for ten years to earn that much. As for Zhang Bing... he might not be able to earn that much money in his entire life.

If this were reported to Master Li, Zhang Bing, as a slave, would most likely be beaten to death by Master Li.

Thinking of this, Xie An couldn't help but shake his head.

"No wonder you took the risk of poisoning me. You were afraid that I'd find out about your embezzlement after I took over the shop again..."

A person just walked away like that.

Perhaps Zhang Bing really thought that Xie An was dead, and since he had currying favor with Li's son-in-law, he decided that Xie An would be his future master.

But I never expected that Xie An... is back!

But Zhang Bing was so bold as to take two hundred taels of silver. Isn't that too bold? I always feel like something is wrong...

Xie An put away the pawn ticket, extinguished the oil lamp and left the pawnshop, but did not return to the hut in the backyard to sleep. Instead, he went out again at night...

……

Two days later.

"Master, Brother Zhang was almost beaten to death by Master Li."

He Chunli knocked on Xie An's door anxiously early in the morning.

Xie An followed He Chunli to the backyard of Li's mansion. As soon as he entered the door, he heard the furious roar of Master Li and the miserable wailing of Zhang Bing.

Many maids and servants from the Li Mansion gathered around, including the pawnshop owner Chen Yuan.

Xie An walked over to Chen Yuan and asked, "Old Chen, what happened?"

Chen Yuan sighed, "Hey, yesterday Chen He brought Liu Jiang Chaofeng to the pawnshop to buy a copper kettle at a high price, but Liu Jiang found out it was a fake. I did a quick check and found out that it was Zhang Bing who embezzled the money. A total of two hundred taels. Then I told Master Li... I didn't expect Zhang Bing, a servant, to dare to betray his own people. He deserves to be beaten to death..."

At this point, Chen Yuan was furious. "I was scolded by Master Li because of this. Fortunately, Old Xie, you are recovering from illness recently, otherwise I would have been scolded as well."

Xie An showed a look of regret. Through the crowd, he saw Zhang Bing's skin was torn and flesh was ripped apart. It was a shocking sight. He tried to speak several times, but with a rag stuffed in his mouth, he couldn't speak at all.

The master of the Li Mansion would not personally do something like beating someone up. Instead, he handed it over to his son-in-law... the brother-in-law Lu Wei as Chunlan called him.

"You traitorous bastard! My Li Mansion took you in out of kindness, but you coveted our money. You're just a lowly slave, you deserve to be beaten to death."

Son-in-law Lu Weigaogao raised the wooden stick and hit Zhang Bing hard on the back.

Click!

The crisp sound of bones breaking made everyone around tremble.

In the end, Zhang Bing was beaten to death by Li's son-in-law and was rolled up on a straw mat and carried away by two servants.

Many servants and maids turned pale with fear. He Chunli, in particular, had lived with Zhang Bing for ten years, sharing a large bunk bed, and inevitably had some feelings for him. Seeing Zhang Bing's fate, he realized even more the humble and worthless life of a slave.

Obviously, Master Li called everyone over on purpose to make an example of them.

Xie An was undoubtedly the calmest among them.

How this happened...only Xie An knows best.

As he was leaving, Xie An seemed to have thought of something and asked Chen Yuan, "Old Chen, who stuffed the rag in Zhang Bing's mouth?"

Xie An was sharp-eyed and knew the inside story. He could tell that Zhang Bing had something to say before he died, but his mouth was gagged.

Chen Yuandao said, "My eldest brother-in-law brought two guards to the pawnshop early in the morning and tied up Zhang Bing. He stuffed a rag into Zhang Bing's mouth..."

Xie An's heart trembled.

Brother-in-law...Lu Wei.

(End of this chapter)