Chapter 6: Only I Have My Own Law Chapter 6: Pawnshop

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

Chen Congyu was always generous with pocket money for the children.

Every month, Chen Yi received at least ten thousand yuan in pocket money, with extra allowances during holidays. He and his elder brother were both low-key and always had money left over.

His little sister was the opposite: her money went either to electronic devices or to studying under masters. Most programmers at Chen Group had been brought down to earth by her, and friends she met on forums often couldn't resist her silver bullet offensive, inevitably passing on a few tricks.

Such spending habits meant pocket money alone wasn't enough, so Chen Rongxi often hit up her elder and second brothers for cash.

In the past, Chen Yi might have been persuaded by Chen Rongxi, but things were different now. He shook his head and said, "I don't understand any of that, but gambling always carries risk. I can't give you this 100,000 yuan right now."

"Second Brother..." his little sister drawled, shaking his arm.

Chen Yi didn't argue with her, stood up, and walked toward his own room, saying at the same time, "Wait a few days, and if you really want it then, come find me."

A small delaying tactic—with the help of that Magic Subway, it might actually work.

"Floating Mountain Game Platform, Floating Mountain..." his little sister chattered behind him, looking like someone who had entered a treasure mountain and left empty-handed.

The two of them tangled together, and Chen Mu said in a gentle tone, "You two siblings, what are you sneaking a look at?"

Chen Yi involuntarily glanced down, and sure enough saw that beautiful Investigator, and from top to bottom, snow-white snow-white ***.

He blinked, realizing he had suddenly fallen into a dilemma: tell the truth and betray his little sister's plan—which would surely earn him his mother's criticism—or lie and admit to peeping at the beauty.

It seemed the lie was more believable than the truth.

His little sister went "whoosh," darted to her mother like a rabbit, and used her special way of addressing her to free Chen Yi: "Mommy, I was looking for Second Brother to chat."

"Skipping school?" Lady Fang Man Yi saw through everything at a glance, glancing at Chen Yi from afar without pressing the peeping issue.

Chen Rongxi wriggled her body, acting coquettish as she said, "I've been at school for half a month, and tomorrow is the weekend."

"And you ran away today?" Chen Mu said with a laugh, pulling her daughter off herself, saying, "I have to go out. You two play at home by yourselves, and don't disturb your father working in the living room."

"Got it." His little sister agreed with a put-on aggrieved expression.

Seeing her carrying a handbag, Chen Yi said thoughtfully, "Mom, it's so late—where are you going?"

Chen Mu didn't answer, just waved her hand and went downstairs.

Bolstered with confidence, Chen Yi thought about following her, walking side by side with her as he said, "Mom, I'll go with you."

"I'm going to the company—you'll come with me too?" Chen Mu glared at him, though she didn't look displeased.

Chen Yi hehe-laughed and said, "Dad's at home. What are you going to the company for?"

Lady Fang Man Yi was one of Jiangning's well-known philanthropists. Her charity foundation appeared in major newspapers and TV almost every month, spending a considerable amount. Of course, the foundation's role was also extraordinary—a classic case of using small money to leverage big money. It not only opened markets for the Chen Family and attracted attention, but also reduced countless troubles.

Such a large foundation meant Fang Man Yi had to devote herself full-time and couldn't or lacked the power to hold a part-time post in the Group. Chen Yi understood this, so he knew that with his father absent, his mother acting merely in a personal capacity had no real authority in a properly managed company.

With a beautiful Investigator in the living room, Chen Mu couldn't say much. The two left the room silently, and only then did she sigh and say, "A Yi, you understand the situation at home. Your father and I will handle it. You and your sister just need to study hard—your big brother is the same."

Chen Yi's elder brother was in the military and presumably would be similarly implicated.

"It's not convenient for you to go alone—I'll go with you." Chen Yi wanted to take part in this upheaval with utter seriousness. He firmly believed that even if he couldn't solve the problem now, there was still a great possibility of finding a way to solve it.

Thinking this, he squeezed the backpack behind him hard.

Seeing his serious attitude, Fang Man Yi had to say, "Since you want to go, then go. But no making a sound for a while."

Chen Yi was delighted and said "Okay," then asked, "Where are we going?"

"Pawnshop."

Just as Chen Yi was stunned, his mother had already disappeared.

The Investigator from the National Tax Bureau was still sitting on the sofa, discussing something with Chen Congyu. The latter furrowed his brow from time to time—he seemed to have indeed run into trouble.

Hesitating on the stairs for a while, Chen Yi boldly took out a dark red Level 3 Intelligence Scroll and tore it open with force.

At the same time, his fingers traced three circles in the air, vaguely pointing at his father.

The Scroll "bang" shattered into powder and vanished without a trace. From afar, at his left hand's Tiger's Mouth, specks of light suddenly flashed.

"It seems to have worked." Chen Yi was just breathing a sigh of relief when Liu Xinyu thoughtfully raised her head and looked up above.

Chen Yi was frightened and immediately shrank his head back.

Liu Xinyu saw nothing, looked around suspiciously, and still found nothing.

"Miss Liu?" Chen Congyu, enhanced by the Level 3 Intelligence Scroll, felt his mind crystal clear. He flipped through the account books he had just looked at and said, "Let me explain this part again..."

Liu Xinyu had to turn her head away, but her doubts did not lessen in the slightest.

Chen Yi discovered that after releasing the Scroll, his father noticed nothing, Wang Weigang at the door noticed nothing, his little sister upstairs noticed nothing—only Liu Xinyu's expression was unusual.

"Something strange," he silently thought.

At a time like this, doing whatever he could at least ease some of his parents' pressure.

Running out the door, a familiar Mercedes-Benz happened to pass by. Chen Yi cheerfully hailed it, looking like he was on a spring outing.

Chen Mu couldn't help but laugh, then after letting him in said, "You don't seem worried?"

"I am worried. Is the situation very bad?" Chen Yi tried to act relaxed. In fact, he was far more relaxed than his mother expected.

Without a doubt, the subway that could contact the Magic World had helped a great deal.

Chen Mu weighed her words and said, "3.5 million yuan in taxes must be paid immediately." She then pointed to her bag and said, "The things inside can sell for at least 5 million, so don't worry."

She still had words left unsaid. Besides the 3.5 million yuan in taxes, those looking for trouble could still find trouble, and 1.5 million wasn't enough to grease palms up and down.

On the other hand, the most serious problem the company faced was dried-up cash flow. If the bank didn't lend anymore, it couldn't hold on no matter what.

The tax issue was no longer merely a matter of money; otherwise there would be no need for an Investigator to appear.

She omitted the hardest part, and Chen Yi's spirits lifted. "I haven't spent last year's New Year's money..."

"Keep it for yourself."

Fang Man Yi spoke, a smile appearing on her face.

The Mercedes-Benz slowly drove into a small courtyard, where evergreen cypresses and pines could be seen; two security guards stood at the entrance, and even more could be seen after passing through the iron gate.

"This place is quite remote, isn't it?" Chen Yi asked.

"It's by the sea, very convenient for boarding a ship," Chen Mu explained, slowly bringing the car to a stop.

This is the pawnshop's warehouse.

The boss looked very old, but his steps were nimble, his body healthy, especially a pair of eyes, bright to a startling degree.

He ushered the mother and son inside, then silently set about pouring tea.

The teapot was purple clay, the tea leaves were Longjing Tea Tea, and the old man's movements were elegant and orderly, quite possessing the flavor of a tea ceremony.

By the time they drank the tea, it was already 10 minutes later; the restlessness from the long drive had completely dissipated, and the fragrant tea leaves gradually put one at ease.

Only then did the boss speak: "Madam Chen, I heard you brought a few items?"

Fang Man Yi nodded lightly, taking out a jewelry box from her handbag.

The box was new, but the jewelry inside was familiar to Chen Yi — all pieces his mother often wore. His heart trembled slightly; he did not want to continue watching, so he stood tall and began pacing around the room.

This is the pawnshop's central location; the room displayed not only ornaments, but more "dead pledges" — items customers failed to redeem by the deadline.

As the operating party, the pawnshop naturally had to resell them; compared to similar items on the market, the prices were several tenths lower.

Chen Yi could not discern good from bad; he walked two circles around the spacious room, slowly stopping before the cabinet displaying porcelain.

Due to his grandfather's obsession with a scholarly lineage, the Chen Family had bought no small number of expensive porcelains; he understood a fair amount.

The pawnshop's porcelain intake was mixed; the famous, high-quality pieces were mostly sent to the auction house for operation, while those left in the room were either mid-range ancient porcelains with decent condition, or cheap vessels the appraisers were not very certain about.

A censer covered in scars all over caught his attention. Its full name was the Green Ground Famille Rose Gilded Openwork Floral Censer; merely 30 centimeters in height, its body chubby, as if beaten swollen by someone.

Chen Yi found it somewhat amusing; looking at the price, he clicked his tongue even more.

For an absolute piece of junk censer, a price of 80,000 was too startling.

The boss, who had assigned the work to the appraiser, heard the sound, rubbed his neck, and walked over, smiling: "Interested in porcelain? This item is not simple — it was used in the Qing palace; if it hadn't been faked by someone, the price would be more than 10 times higher."

"This is a fake?" Chen Yi asked strangely. With such obvious scars, what would be the point of faking it?

The boss treated it as passing the time and explained: "Not entirely fake, but look at the second section below the bottle neck?"

"The color is comparatively faint?" More than just comparatively faint; if not under the spotlight, Chen Yi simply would not have discovered such a tiny flaw.

"Exactly." The boss smiled: "Because it was restored, at first they thought all the fragments were real, never expected that this one piece alone would reveal the flaw — it was artificially aged. Just because of this one piece, everyone suspected more fragments might be fakes, and an item worth millions turned into tens of thousands."

"If it were all genuine, it would be worth millions?" Chen Yi's expression was somewhat strange.

"At least." The boss affirmed: "This censer, whether in form or history, is top-tier; although it was indeed broken, the restoration was near perfect, except for that one piece."

Chen Yi rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

The boss then added: "Most items I've placed here have some flaws, so the prices are pressed to the bottom; but if one misjudges, the value jumping tenfold or twentyfold is not rare."

He has actually said this sort of thing many times. Many people bet on him having misjudged, and bought items. In fact, appraisers immersed in this way for decades — how could they possibly easily miss something?

However, Chen Yi's thinking was vastly different.

……