Jin Mei Pawnshop

The sign ' Jin Mei Pawn Store' was designed in striking calligraphy. It was a classy pawn store with dark wood ,glass counter tops and display cases. Not some cheap, sketchy place at the back of an alleyway.

Behind the counter was a heavy set middle-aged man.His skin dark in complexion riddled with acne scars;a scruffy mustache framing his mouth that showed two gold capped fillings. Currently he paged through a car magazine in a flippant manner. Only a couple people in the store browsing through the apparel. Few pieces of excellent calligraphy were on the wall as well as some ink paintings.

There was a sales women who greeted her politely at the door. She was well-dressed in formal black pumps, a white blouse and red blazer.

When Song Xia entered she felt a strong pull to a cabinet in the corner of the shop. There on the bottom shelf lay an old dusty puzzle box. The box was marked for 60 yuan. Across from the cabinet on an antique table she found a ring with a red stone in the middle in a porcelain jar along with other jewelry. The ring itself was filthy and greasy so one didn't know what to make of it. It did not fit in and was priced at 20 yuan along with the other small miscellaneous pieces of jewelry.

''Good day, Miss, how can I assist you?''the saleswoman inquired.

''I would like to make a purchase as well as sell a jade pendant.'' Song Xia replied.

The saleswoman answered,'' If it is a sale to our store we will give you market value for it but if it is mortgaged we will only give you 7/10s market value until it is redeemed.''

''That's great, who can I see about the sale of my pendant ?''Song Xia asked.

''Usually we get an appraiser from the jewelry store to evaluate the value of jade before we can give you a quotation of what we will pay.''The saleswomen explanation helpfully.

A loud snort sounded and the Store manager looked up from his magazine. "Look, girl these no need for all of that. Come show me whatever you are selling." The man didn't believe a young student like her would have anything of value. He was used to seeing desperate people selling their precious heirlooms and jewelry. Most of the stuff was fake and not worth much money. He started to look down on those people and thought of them as inferior.

Song Xia pulled the purple pendant from her backpack pocket." Here it is, Sir."

"Look kid, that looks fake. I can only give you 60 yuan for it." The pendant look like fake purple jade shaped in an unrefined flower strung with a black string. The manager didn't bother to examine it and Song Xia was flabbergasted.

She was beginning to wonder if she should leave and find another store. Song Xia also thought she needed to verify it was real before selling it, by a jewelry appraiser.

'' Yuan Kang! Is this how you are conducting business?''. An elder man in his late sixties walked in. He had annoyed look on his face that spoiled his amicable looking face.

"You, are forgetting the rules of this shop! We always have an appraiser afflicted with Jin Mei Jewelry come examine jewelry.''

The manager Yuan Kang paled in fright. He was dumbfounded that Mater Chang the owner of Jin Mei Pawnshop and Jin Mei Jewelry Store Franchise came to visit today. Usually Mr. Chang evaluated his branch store in G city a month later so this was an unscheduled visit.Yuan Kang did realized that he was lazing around on the job, but he had gotten the manger position without any effort on his part thanks to his father. His father was a long term employee and friend of Master Chang who had worked in G City Store since it began.

"Come, girl, let me examine your pendant.'' The elderly man offered kindly to Song Xia while giving her a good- nature smile.

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Song Xia followed the elderly man into the appraisal room at the back of the store with the saleswoman following behind them.

The room was lined in book shelves, wooden floors with an elegant Persian rug around a desk. After being seated the saleswoman offered them refreshments. The smell of incense and books encompassed the room.

''Master Chang, have some tea.'' The tea was poured very elegantly into a porcelain cup before being offered to Master Chang. Then she poured a cup of tea for Song Xia before quietly placing it on the desk in front of her and exiting the room.

The elderly man was Chang Xiaosi he was a self made billionaire who had started a pawn store and jewelry franchises. He had gotten his capital for starting a business by mortgaging his grandfather's watch and wife's wedding jewelry so he had a special fondness for pawn store. When you were desperate they could give you a boost and occasionally you find a rare or wonderful object. The mystery of the whole concept was still fascinating to him. His main business was running a jewelry store in B City that had numerous branch stores across the country .All his stores were named Jin Mei in honor of his wife Jiang Mei-she brought joy ,passion encouraged his dreams -she was the true gold in his life.

Chang Xiaosi downright disliked Yuan Kang but his good friend who had run the business with such care was the only reason he could stand his lazy son .He had no idea how such a meticulous and hardworking man had such a sloth as a child .He shook his head in pity.

Yuan Kang may have no eyes nor sense but he was not the same .The little girl who walked in had an aura of confidence and was sure her necklace was real. There were some people who think their heirlooms were real ;panic when they hear it was fake but this girl had a contemplating look on her face not panic so his instincts told him to look at the pendant himself

The man introduced himself, ''Girl ,I am the owner of Jin Mei Pawnstore and Jeweler's.I am a jeweler myself as well as a jewelry appraiser so I can give you a quotation for your pendant. May I see it?''

Song Xia handed over the pendant ,quietly sipped her tea observing Master Chang.

At first glance it looked fake because of the black string. The design of the pendant was immature and a crude shaped flower ,the size of his palm .Looking carefully he concluded that it was violet jade,rare and the quality wasn't bad ,it was a glutinous rice type. Violet jade was rare and a piece this large and of good quality was hard to come by.The only thing taking away from its value was the crude design and the slight scratches along the sides.

Chang Xiaosi was astonished but quickly composed himself this jade was exactly what he required. He was a firm believer in fate, that if one path was closed there would be a better path in the future. This jade was exactly what he was looking for. An old friend of his had a grand daughter who was graduating from university and wanted to him to make her a pair of earring's and pendant in violet jade .Master Chang did not want to disappoint his friend so he spent a long time looking for violet jade. Currently there was no jade of superior quality in that color in any of his shops that weren't already booked so this was pendant was heaven sent. This jade was big enough to be re-cut and carved by a designer to make a new set of jewelry and the minor scratches could be polished off.

''Girl ,I will give you a fair price. The market price for this jade would have been around 5.2 million yuan but the crude design of the flower deducts from the value.I can offer you 5 million yuan.''

Master Chang explained patiently while Song Xia was in a daze.5 Million Yuan! That was an astronomical sum of money. She couldn't believe the pendant was worth so much. At most she thought she would get 30 000 yuan .It looked like she needed to familiarize herself with the jade market as soon as possible.