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

By the time I returned to the pawnshop, the sky was already bright.

The shop assistants were busy wiping the doors, windows, and counters, sweeping the floor clean, and opening the doors to welcome customers.

No one mentioned Zhang Bing's death anymore.

In this world, a slave's life was cheap.

It was common for disobedient slaves to be beaten to death by their masters, and even the government wouldn't interfere much.

A bill of sale was not just for show.

This incident reminded Xie An of something.

He leaned against the counter and began to think… He had to start planning how to get his bill of sale back.

Now, Xie An could lift four hundred pounds, and his speed and strength had reached a level that ordinary people couldn't match. Although he hadn't practiced any fighting techniques, his strength and speed made him a match for almost anyone below a martial artist.

Now, considering his freedom was much easier.

With enough strength, Li Ru would not dare to make things too difficult for him to buy back his freedom.

The question was, what would he do after leaving the pawnshop? What kind of business would he find?… These were all questions that Xie An needed to consider carefully.

However, the immediate priority was the son-in-law of the Li family, who was watching him like a hawk.

Although Zhang Bing was a bit of a petty person, he wouldn't have the courage to embezzle two hundred taels, let alone poison him.

Obviously, there was someone behind him.

That person was the son-in-law, Lu Wei.

Xie An felt that Zhang Bing was probably helping the son-in-law embezzle money, and the poisoning was probably also at the son-in-law's instruction.

This son-in-law was a ruthless person, having practiced martial arts and coming from a rough background. He was recruited by Master Li to be his son-in-law to help the Li family with some shady dealings.

However, in this world, a live-in son-in-law was not a good term. He was just a high-level lackey. If he really had the ability, he would have married properly. Why would he need to move into the bride's family?

Fortunately, he didn't directly go to Master Li to expose Zhang Bing's matter, but instead sought Chen He's help to make it look like an accident. In this way, no one would suspect him; they would only think that Zhang Bing brought it upon himself.

"Goodness, Old Xie, did you take some kind of magic medicine? Why are you so energetic? Hey, you really look younger…"

Just as Xie An was in a daze, Chen Yuan walked over, looking Xie An up and down, clicking his tongue in amazement.

Xie An and Chen Yuan had been partners for ten years, and there was nothing to hide. "Thanks to the health cultivation technique you gave me, Old Chen."

Chen Yuan, who was over forty years old, had reached his twilight years, so he bought half a copy of the Five Animal Frolics to cultivate his health, hoping to live a few more years.

Unfortunately, he had practiced for several years without any effect.

Now, seeing Xie An like this, he was extremely envious.

"Why didn't I have such miraculous effects when I practiced the Five Animal Frolics…"

Xie An took out the half copy of the Five Animal Frolics and returned it to Chen Yuan. "Maybe it's because I have a good attitude."

Xie An had already memorized the contents. There was no reason not to return it to him.

Chen Yuan accepted the Five Animal Frolics, seeming to have realized something. "Could it be that I was too eager for success?"

Xie An: "Possibly…"

A simple "possibly" gave Chen Yuan great encouragement, and he secretly resolved to practice harder.

"In any case, it's a great thing. I estimate that Master Li will come to see you in the next few days and let you resume your work at the shop. We still need you to be in charge of the shop; only then will I, as the shopkeeper, feel safe. Damn, otherwise I'll be scammed to death without even knowing it."

After Zhang Bing's incident, Chen Yuan was filled with fear.

"Haha, Old Xie, congratulations on your recovery!"

A hearty laugh entered the pawnshop, and it was Master Li of the Li family, Li Ru, wearing an expensive scholar's robe, who walked in.

Li Ru was only in his forties, a few years younger than Xie An. However, he was strong and elegant, revealing the aura of a scholar.

Along with Li Ru, there was also an old doctor and the son-in-law, Lu Wei.

Li Ru had Lu Wei bring some health supplements, showing the benevolence of the head of the family. "Old Xie has been working diligently for my pawnshop for thirty years, and I have seen it all. I specially asked Doctor Li to take a look at you."

How could Xie An not see through Li Ru's thoughts?

It must have been that Chunlan ran to Li Ru a few days ago to report that Xie An's health had fully recovered, and Li Ru didn't quite believe it, so he specially asked the doctor to examine him.

Li Ru gave the old doctor a look, and the latter stepped forward to take Xie An's pulse, check his eyeballs, knead the muscles of his hands and feet, and so on. After a series of examinations, the old doctor couldn't help but feel surprised.

Strange!

He had been treating Xie An's stroke all along. At that time, Xie An was clearly on his last breath. Even if he survived the stroke, his internal organs were failing, and he wouldn't live for many more days.

How could Old Xie be getting stronger now?

In his thirty years of practice, he had never seen a case of an old man in his fifties growing younger.

Lu Wei spoke first: "Doctor Li, how is Old Xie's health?"

Doctor Li withdrew his hand. "Master Xie's stroke has not left any sequelae. On the contrary, he is strong and healthy, with abundant qi and blood. Living for another ten years will not be a problem."

A hint of disappointment clearly flashed in Lu Wei's eyes.

Li Ru was as smiling as ever. "Old Xie is lucky. You can continue to take care of the shop's affairs in the future."

Lu Wei, who was standing aside, actually glared at Xie An.

… …

Xie An's life returned to peace.

Compared to the period of recuperation, he had to go to the pawnshop from time to time. But he didn't have to spend all day in the pawnshop.

He Chunli's appraising skills were good, and he was honest and reliable. He Chunli could handle some trivial tasks on weekdays. Only when encountering some more valuable pawned items or rare and strange objects did Xie An need to come forward to identify them.

The rest of the time, Xie An mostly stayed in the small house in the backyard to practice health cultivation.

His body became stronger and stronger, and his strength, speed, and endurance were steadily improving.

As for Lu Wei…

"You'd best not be plotting anything funny. This old man isn't so easily trifled with these days."

Two days later, in the evening, Xie An heard a commotion coming from the pawnshop in the backyard, mixed with He Chunli's obsequious voice.

Xie An went to the pawnshop and found that the appraiser was gone, and the manager was also absent. Instead, Lu Wei had brought a customer who was arguing with He Chunli.

"What's going on?"

He Chunli stammered for a long time before finally explaining the situation.

It turned out that Lu Wei had brought a friend named Zhang Wei to pawn a jade pendant. Zhang Wei said it was an ancestral jade pendant worth at least one hundred taels of silver. However, He Chunli, being conscientious, insisted it was only worth five taels. Moreover, his words were rather blunt, leading to the dispute.

Lu Wei felt that He Chunli was not giving his friend face, causing him to lose face, so he slapped He Chunli twice across the face. He even threatened to beat He Chunli to death...

"Old Xie, your apprentice is too clueless. My jade pendant is valued at a minimum of one hundred taels at the pawnshop next door. If I weren't familiar with the son-in-law of the Li family, I wouldn't have come to patronize your business," Zhang Wei said, weighing the jade pendant in his hand, clearly disgruntled.

Lu Wei also urged impolitely, "Old Xie, quickly fill out the pawn ticket. I still need to go drinking with Brother Zhang."

"Let me take a look."

Xie An pulled He Chunli behind him protectively and picked up the jade pendant to examine it.

A deliberately aged high-quality fake. It's worth at most two taels, and that's only because the material and workmanship of the jade pendant are decent.

He Chunli's valuation of five taels was partly due to his lack of skill and partly because he was intimidated by these two.

Xie An returned the jade pendant to Zhang Wei with both hands, "Master Zhang, pardon my poor eyesight, but I must ask you to go to another pawnshop."

Zhang Wei was visibly displeased, and Lu Wei angrily spoke first, "Old Xie, what do you mean by this? You're eating the Li family's rice and deliberately making things difficult for my friend, aren't you?"

Xie An, with his sharp eyes, naturally saw that Lu Wei had colluded with Zhang Wei to set a trap and cheat the pawnshop out of money.

Previously, Zhang Bing must have fallen into Lu Wei's trap, leading him to embezzle two hundred taels.

Now they're trying to scam him?

Although pawnshops rely on the appraiser's expertise, it's common for even experienced appraisers to misjudge occasionally. The master of the house wouldn't blame them for it.

But this is a loss of one hundred taels! It will come to light sooner or later.

When that happens, Xie An will have to bear the blame.

How could Xie An agree to that?

"In my opinion, this jade pendant is worth about five taels. If the son-in-law insists on pawning it for one hundred taels, then we'll have to ask Master Li to write a letter of guarantee in person. Otherwise, I can't afford to bear the consequences if we lose the money in the future."

Lu Wei was so angry that he jumped up and down.

He thought that the old man was being uncooperative.

When Zhang Bing was in charge of the pawnshop, he would have given the green light directly.

But he didn't expect Old Xie to be so stubborn and even bring up Master Li to suppress him. He really couldn't say much. After all, he was just an adopted son-in-law.

"You ungrateful old thing, just you wait!"

After leaving those resentful words, Lu Wei dragged Zhang Wei away angrily, giving Xie An and his apprentice a venomous look before leaving. He thought to himself, "Let's see how long you can keep jumping around."

He Chunli was so frightened by Lu Wei's gaze that he shrunk his head into his neck, "Master, we've offended the eldest son-in-law... Will there be good fruit to eat?

Xie An also had a headache. Working in a wealthy family, the most frightening thing is offending the master's people.

However, now that Xie An had power in his hands, he had grown bolder, "If you obey him out of fear, you will offend Master Li. That would be courting death. Understand?"

Although the reasoning was sound, it was not easy for He Chunli to put it into practice.

"Understood, Master."

Xie An sighed in relief, looking at He Chunli's face, which was swollen like a pig's head from the beating, "Does it hurt?"

He Chunli covered his face and smiled shyly, "It doesn't hurt anymore with Master's concern."

"Stay away from him in the future. If he comes to make trouble, tell me or go find Manager Chen."

"Disciple will remember."

"By the way, how many taels of silver do you think that jade pendant is worth?"

"Two taels. I said five taels because I was afraid the son-in-law would get angry..."

"I didn't teach you my skills for nothing."

Xie An, having received a satisfactory answer, turned and returned to the small hut in the backyard. He changed into a set of black clothes, took his life savings of twenty taels of silver, and also tucked a dagger into his belt before hurriedly leaving to go to the black market.

Xie An wanted to buy all the medicinal herbs on the Tang Qingfeng prescription, as well as a complete Five Animal Frolics exercise manual and a martial arts manual.

Twenty taels... It's a bit tight.

...

"Damn it, I didn't expect Old Xie to be so unyielding, blocking my path to wealth, damn him! Zhang Bing is also a useless piece of trash. Even the arsenic I gave him couldn't kill this old man."

Lu Wei, who had left the Li family pawnshop, was sullen and drinking heavily with Zhang Wei at the eatery.

Zhang Wei said, "Son-in-law, it is said that the Three Flowers Gambling House has changed its owner, and they are pressing hard for debt repayment. If you cannot repay the gambling debt in time, I'm afraid the owner will have to go to the Li family to demand it."

Yes, Lu Wei had become addicted to gambling and owed a large gambling debt. Although he had done petty theft and robbery, the amount of gambling debt he owed was too large, so he had to reach out to his own pawnshop...

If the owner of the Three Flowers Gambling House were to go to Master Li, then his future as a son-in-law would be over.

Thinking of this, Lu Wei's eyes became extremely resentful, "I don't believe Old Xie can hide and never come out. Otherwise, I'll get rid of him sooner or later!"

Gambling addiction is more destructive than indulging in wine and women. Once addicted, one is no longer a normal person, and it's not strange for them to do anything.

Zhang Wei suddenly looked towards the distant street, "Hey, isn't that Old Xie?"