Reborn in America: I Have an Equipment Slot

Chapter 136 Five-Star Equipment Reappears

"Don't worry, I know the rules."

Elizabeth quickly filled out the form and then pushed it in front of Owen, introducing it as, "What I'm pawning today is a piece of jewelry left to me by my grandmother. It's over 200 years old—"

Irving wasn't initially interested in the jewelry the other party was pawning, but when he heard that the jewelry was over 200 years old, his eyes lit up instantly, and he quickly opened the jewelry box.

Ordinary jewelry is one thing, but based on his experience, jewelry with such a rich history is very likely to be special equipment!

In Owenda's jewelry box, a ring engraved with mysterious patterns and set with a sapphire suddenly appeared before his eyes.

With just one glance, Irving was completely captivated by the ring.

Unlike ordinary jewelry rings, this sapphire ring is engraved with mysterious patterns throughout, and its exquisite craftsmanship makes it clear that it is not an ordinary piece.

Suppressing his excitement, Irving reached out and took the sapphire ring from the jewelry box.

Sure enough, the moment his fingertip touched the ring...

A notification popped up instantly.

"The Mysterious Sapphire Ring has been detected. Equip it?"

Upon seeing that the ring was indeed special equipment, Owen was so excited he almost shouted out.

However, he calmed down in the blink of an eye.

"Was this ring left to you by your grandmother? May I ask about your grandmother's background?"

Irving swallowed hard, suppressing his excitement, and looked at the elderly white woman in front of him to ask her a question.

"My grandmother wasn't anything special, just an ordinary Englishwoman. This ring is said to have been bought from an indigenous chief in the Americas, and it's said to be many years old."

Seeing Irving subconsciously frown, Elizabeth asked somewhat nervously, "Excuse me, may I ask if this ring can be pawned for $5000?"

"$5000?" Upon hearing the offer, Irving instinctively raised his voice.

"If $5000 isn't feasible, how about $4000?"

Before Owen could refuse, Elizabeth spoke first, sighing and playing the victim: "My property taxes are already a week behind. If it drags on any longer, the court might just auction off my house."

"If it weren't for that, I would never have pawned this ring that my grandmother left me."

"$4000 is too low; it's not enough to solve my current predicament. Boss, can you raise the price a bit?"

"$4500, that's not enough."

Hearing the sadness in her voice, Owen sighed helplessly. "I'm sorry, ma'am, this is the price I can offer. This sapphire ring is very nice, but you're not selling it, you're pawning it, so this is the highest price I can give."

Seeing the other person's conflicted expression, Irving didn't urge them on. Instead, he stood quietly behind the counter and waited patiently.

During this period, he saw far too many middle-class people go bankrupt due to various unexpected events.

Some even receive generous pensions every year.

To be honest, in the United States, except for some big cities, the cost of food for ordinary people is not high.

But aside from food, the expenses in other areas were simply enormous.

Of the four aspects of clothing, food, housing, and transportation, apart from clothing and food, the remaining two aspects, housing and transportation, cost more and more money.

In terms of "housing", although houses may not seem expensive, most of the expenses after buying a house are hidden.

The annual property tax, home insurance, property management fees, maintenance and repair fees, and water and electricity bills alone amount to a large sum of money.

As for the aspect of "transportation", it is even more obvious. Apart from some large cities, public transportation in many American cities is quite bad.

If you want to travel smoothly, buying a car is essential.

The key point is that no matter what price range a car is in, it cannot escape the vehicle registration fee and vehicle and vessel tax every year, not to mention the cost of vehicle insurance and fuel.

So Irving was already used to the sight of this seemingly wealthy elderly white woman pawning and selling things because she needed money.

Although the middle class in America may seem to live a good life, most of them are not as glamorous as they appear, and very few of them are able to save money.

"Fine, $5000 it is."

Seeing the atmosphere suddenly become tense, Owen thought for a moment and then took the initiative to back down and compromise. However, before the other party could express their gratitude, Owen spoke again: "However, I have an additional condition."

"What are the conditions?" Elizabeth's eyes lit up when she heard that the other party was willing to offer $5000.

"If you don't come to redeem this sapphire ring in a month, then it's mine. Of course, I'll give you a sum of money based on the market price," Owen said, feigning calmness.

Elizabeth was about to refuse, but then she thought about her health insurance, vehicle registration fees, utility bills, and a whole host of other expenses... She opened her mouth, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Sure, but could I ask what the market price of this sapphire ring is?"

"Around twenty-three thousand US dollars," Irving said truthfully after thinking for a moment.

"Although this sapphire ring is indeed an antique, due to the nature of its silver material, even with the value of the sapphire, its market price will not exceed 23,000 US dollars."

"Of course, if you have any objections to this price, you are welcome to take it to other pawnshops and other brokerage firms for a look."

"Irving said confidently."

When he first received the sapphire ring, he had already used his skill [Estimation] to determine that the ring's market value was only $20,000.

If I offer an extra three thousand dollars, even if this little white old lady goes to other pawnshops and brokerages to inquire about the price, she will definitely come back obediently in the end.

Seeing Irving's confident expression, Elizabeth knew that the price couldn't go any higher.

Thinking this, she nodded and extended her somewhat shrunken right hand to Owen: "Alright, young man, I agree to your plan, but let's make it clear first, I don't want cash, I want checks!"

"No problem, ma'am!" Owen's face lit up with joy, and he quickly took out the checkbook from the safe.

He wrote 5000 in the amount column of the check, signed it, and then handed it to the other party.

Irving finally breathed a sigh of relief after watching the other person drive away in a yellow Volkswagen Beetle and slowly disappear at the end of the street.

He hadn't experienced the feeling of finding the next special equipment before even completing the previous one's skill quest in a long time.

I have to say, this feeling is awesome!

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