Chapter 207: Zhou Yue is so poor she has to pawn her things

Zhou Yue stood at the entrance of Dazhong Pawnshop, dragging the suitcase full of luxury goods in her hand. She bit her lip, and in the end, she slowly walked inside.

She had never imagined that one day she would come here.

Just a moment ago in the car, she had called Li Yongquan. The latter had answered quite readily, but before she could even speak, he told her directly not to look for him again; he was now prepared to be an honest, small-time employee and live a stable life.

Hearing this, Zhou Yue knew that Li Yongquan could no longer be relied upon. During the time she had been with Li Yongquan, she had spent three or four hundred thousand on bags, jewelry, and beauty salon memberships. At the time, she hadn't thought anything of it because Li Yongquan would give her five hundred thousand every month. But she hadn't expected that after receiving the money for only one month, there would be no more.

Now Zhou Xiaojun was in the hospital waiting for money, and Zhou Yue only had a little over twenty thousand in cash on hand. After thinking it over, the only thing she could do was see if she could sell some things to get some money for the emergency.

"Hello, welcome to Dazhong Pawnshop," the receptionist said with a professional smile. Her gaze lingered briefly on Zhou Yue's slightly haggard face, which still couldn't hide her elegant temperament, before falling onto the heavy suitcase beside her.

Zhou Yue took a deep breath and tried hard to squeeze out a smile, nodding in response. She then dragged the suitcase forward and placed it carefully on the counter, her fingertips stroking the surface of the case, her eyes revealing deep reluctance.

The receptionist watched her with a smile, seemingly unfazed by this kind of expression.

Zhou Yue carefully opened the suitcase and looked at the pile of bags and jewelry inside, a look of heartache appearing in her eyes once again.

She gently stroked the Hermès crocodile skin Birkin bag, thinking of how she had spotted it at the flagship store in Paris at first glance and had readily shelled out two hundred thousand to make it hers. Yet, since buying it, she hadn't even carried it a few times.

Under the pawnshop's lights, the leather of the crocodile skin Birkin bag was delicate, and the metal hardware shone as if new. Beside it, the fifty-thousand-yuan Van Cleef & Arpels clover necklace, with its red agate and diamonds intertwined, shimmered with light.

"Hello, miss. May I ask which items you would like to pawn?" the receptionist asked with a polite smile.

Her gaze swept over the items, taking in a rough estimate of what was in the suitcase, and no look of surprise appeared on her face. As an employee of a pawnshop, her eyes were the most discerning; what kind of good things hadn't she seen? The few things Zhou Yue brought could only be called small potatoes.

"Please take a look at all of them for me," Zhou Yue said.

"Very well."

The Teller said with a polite smile, then put on white gloves and picked them up one by one to inspect them.

"This Hermès handbag, although it's a classic model, has a large inventory in the second-hand market now, and the condition has some wear, so we can only offer forty thousand at most."

Zhou Yue's heart gave a sharp tug. She opened her mouth to argue, but was cut off by the minute scratches and slight fading on the edges revealed under the magnifying glass the Teller handed over.

"I spent over two hundred thousand when I bought this," Zhou Yue said, somewhat unwillingly.

"Miss, the economy is poor right now. Many new luxury goods change prices every day, let alone second-hand ones."

The Teller smiled, put down the bag, and picked up the Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry, saying: "Take this Van Cleef & Arpels piece, for example. Although it's a popular model, there are many imitations, and the recycling risk is high. Factoring in the gemstone quality and craftsmanship depreciation, eight thousand is the absolute limit."

Zhou Yue's eyes turned red. Recalling how carefree she had been when swiping her card and signing, and comparing it to her current plight, she felt a pang of regret that made her heart ache.

The next few items were about the same. No matter how much she begged the Teller to offer a little more, all she received were sympathy and rejection.

"Miss, I have just calculated these items of yours. If we buy them all back, it comes to a total of eighty-one thousand yuan. Does that work for you?" the clerk asked politely.

"Only eighty-something thousand? I spent over four hundred thousand buying these things, and it's been less than a month," Zhou Yue said, touching the luxury items one by one and biting her lip.

"Miss, there's nothing I can do; that's how second-hand luxury goods are," the clerk said, still smiling, with an unhurried expression on her face.

She had seen many people like Zhou Yue. Luxury goods were meant to fleece these wealthy suckers; don't look at how expensive they are when you buy them—they aren't worth anything when you sell them second-hand.

"I, I want to keep one," Zhou Yue said, unwilling to give in.

If she sold all of these, she wouldn't have a single valuable luxury item left.

"Of course, that is your freedom," the clerk said with a smile.

"I won't sell this one; I'll keep it," Zhou Yue said, picking up the Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry.

"Very well. Deducting the price of this piece, the total is seventy-three thousand yuan," the clerk said.

"Can you add a little more?" Zhou Yue asked, still unwilling.

"I'm sorry, miss. The price I just quoted you is already the final industry price. If you feel the price is too low, you can go check elsewhere," the clerk said with a smile. Her polite attitude was impeccable, but the message was clear: if you want more money, no way.

"Alright then, let's process the paperwork," Zhou Yue sighed, giving up the resistance.

"Very well, please wait a moment."

The clerk operated skillfully, and after a while, placed a pawn contract in front of her.

Zhou Yue picked up the pen and signed her name.

Watching the clerk take away her belongings, Zhou Yue's eyes turned red, and she fought back the tears to keep them from falling.

Looking at the seventy-three thousand yuan added to her card, plus the original twenty-something thousand, it still wasn't even one hundred thousand. In the past, she would have thought this was quite a bit of money, but looking at this small sum now, Zhou Yue felt she was so poor she was practically begging.

Especially since she couldn't even spend this money; she still had to go to the Imperial Capital to treat her younger brother's illness!

After coming out of the pawnshop, Zhou Yue took out her ride-hailing app, preparing to call a car to the train station and then buy a ticket to the Imperial Capital.

Just at this moment, a bright red Porsche 911 pulled up to the entrance.

"Sister, why are you here?" Zhang Xiaoli rolled down the window and waved at Zhou Yue.

Zhou Yue looked at this woman, a surge of anger rising in her eyes.

The next moment, she walked up to the car in a few steps and said coldly: "You ask why I'm here? Zhang Xiaoli, do you know that you are Xiaojun's wife? Xiaojun has been lying in the hospital for so long, yet you don't care at all and are out fooling around with that bastard Lin Dazhi every day. Do you have any conscience toward Xiaojun? Do you have any conscience toward our Zhou Family?"

Seeing Zhou Yue's angry appearance, Zhang Xiaoli giggled.

"Sister, look at what you're saying. What 'fooling around'? I'm just sleeping with Lin. Anyway, you were all one family before. If you look at it from your side, Lin is my brother-in-law too. With Xiaojun in this state, we can't do that kind of thing. You tell me, as a newlywed young woman just over twenty, you can't expect me to live like a widow, right? Besides, I didn't plan on cheating on Xiaojun; I agreed to a divorce, but he won't sign the papers. What can I do?" Zhang Xiaoli said with an innocent look.