A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 1147 Reunion with Zhu Zhiming

Zhao Ding wasn't annoyed. He slowly opened the box, which was lined with dark red velvet and contained a set of silver-inlaid jade jewelry—a pair of earrings, a hairpin, and a small pendant. The jade looked quite lustrous, and the silver ornaments were engraved with intertwined floral patterns; the workmanship was indeed quite exquisite.

He picked up the hairpin, examined it carefully against the light, then rubbed the jade surface with his fingertip, his brows furrowing slightly. He then put it down, picked up the earring and examined it for a moment before finally closing the box and looking at everyone.

“Sir,” Zhao Ding said calmly, “to be honest, this set of jewelry is quite exquisitely crafted, and the jade is also of good quality. However, the jade material is not top-grade, and the silver is of average quality. If we're really talking about the price, I'm afraid…”

"Afraid of what?" the middle-aged man immediately pressed, his eyes sharpening.

“Under normal circumstances, this set would be worth a hundred or two hundred silver dollars.” Zhao Ding paused. “If we were to pawn it, it would be worth at most a hundred dollars.”

"One hundred yuan?" The middle-aged man slammed his hand on the table, his face turning bright red. "Are you trying to fob me off like a beggar? This is a token of my parents' love, passed down through three generations! I had it appraised last time, and they said it was worth at least five hundred! Are you trying to rip me off?"

Zhao Ding smiled and said, "But right now the store has too much jewelry, especially silver-inlaid jade pieces. We can't even fit all the stock, so we're not closing down the stock for now. We're just helping you check the goods for free because our young lady is a classmate."

"You, you're all talking nonsense! You're all trying to conspire to scam me!" The man was extremely embarrassed, his face turning pale and then red as he stood up and cursed.

Xie Bolan's parents looked somewhat embarrassed, wanting to offer some advice but hesitant to speak. Xie Bolan tugged at the man's sleeve: "Uncle, Mr. Zhao is an expert; he wouldn't say anything carelessly..."

"Expert? I think you're just heartless experts!" The man glared, snatched the jewelry box, and hugged it tightly to his chest. "I knew you pawnshops were up to no good! Trying to take advantage of my misfortune? Let me tell you, this is a keepsake left to me by my parents. Even if I starve to death, I will never sell it for a pittance!"

He turned and walked away cursing, staggering as he reached the doorway, bumping into the door frame. He didn't look back, disappearing into the crowd at the street corner.

Silence fell over the small cubicle. Sheberan's mother sighed, "This... I'm so sorry, you must have found this amusing."

"It's alright." Zhao Ding waved his hand. "The family heirloom is definitely valuable in his own eyes, but the market price is another matter."

Xie Bolan looked at Gui'er apologetically: "I'm so sorry, I didn't expect it to turn out like this. I've even caused you to be scolded."

"It's alright." Gui'er shook her head. "It's good that I can help."

After seeing Xie Bolan's family off, Gui'er stood at the pawnshop entrance, gazing at the bustling crowd on the street. Everyone was in a hurry, their faces showing either anxiety or numbness. She sighed, intending to turn back and ask Acheng to take her home.

Suddenly, a figure walked into the store from outside. Gui'er was so frightened that she stared in disbelief. It was Zhu Zhiming. He walked straight into the store from the street right under Gui'er's gaze.

He went to the counter, took out a package, and said, "Shopkeeper, could you tell me how much this is worth? It's a genuine item."

Zhao Dinggang returned to the counter, took the package, and unfolded it to see a pair of silver candlesticks. The workmanship was quite exquisite. He smiled and said, "Sir, the workmanship of your candlesticks is average, and they are not very old. We can only estimate their value based on their weight. They are probably worth about 30 silver dollars."

Zhu Zhiming was somewhat disappointed. He sighed, hardened his heart, and said, "30 yuan it is, I'll pawn it."

Gui'er quickly stepped forward and said, "Brother Zhu, are you Brother Zhu?"

Zhu Zhiming was taken aback for a moment, then stammered defensively, "You, you've mistaken me for someone else. I, my surname is Zhang." He then glanced at the counter.

Zhao Ding realized that Gui'er seemed to know Zhu Zhiming, so he stopped what he was doing.

Seeing that Zhao Ding hadn't taken out any money, Zhu Zhiming took the candlestick back, wrapped it up, and said, "Then I won't take it," before quickly walking out.

Ah Cheng quickly stepped forward and said, "Brother Zhu, how come you don't recognize us? You are Brother Zhu, not his brother, right? Our young lady has been looking for you everywhere since you disappeared. She was heartbroken for a long time after hearing the news of your death. Was the person we met on the street a while ago your brother? We all thought he was your brother and even wanted to find him to help us out."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zhiming stopped in his tracks. He looked at Gui'er and seemed to remember something.

"I've seen you before." Then he nervously looked around.

"Brother Zhu, let's go inside and talk." Gui'er knew there must be more to the story, so she quickly led him into the private room.

The private room was dimly lit. Gui'er poured Zhu Zhiming a cup of tea and saw his hand trembling slightly as he gripped the teacup. She said softly, "Brother Zhu, do you still remember Mr. Chen Zhongyu? He used to run a bookstore called Xinmin Bookstore and was a comrade of ours."

Zhu Zhiming paused, his hand holding the teacup twitching, his brows slowly furrowing as if trying to recall. After a moment, he exclaimed "Ah!", the defensiveness in his eyes gradually fading, replaced by a hint of sorrow: "I remember, how could I not remember... Mr. Chen was a good man, what a pity."

Seeing that he had let his guard down, Gui'er breathed a sigh of relief: "When we heard that you... had an accident, we were all very sad."

Zhu Zhiming gave a bitter laugh, picked up his teacup and took a big gulp, not even noticing the tea dripping down his chin: "To be honest, I don't know how I survived." He rubbed his face, his voice blank, "I only remember that day when my brother Zhiqiang and I were walking on the road, and suddenly a few people rushed out, shouting my name, and started hitting us with sticks and knives, as if they wanted to kill us."

“We ran for our lives, but my brother was a step behind and they surrounded him…” His voice choked up. “I was frantic. I saw a steep slope and jumped down. My head hit a rock with a thud, and everything went black. I don’t know anything anymore.”

Gui'er's heart clenched. It turned out that the person she saw that day was indeed him, and the one who had died was her younger brother.

“When I woke up, it was already dark, and there was no one around me. My brother… my brother was no longer there.” Zhu Zhiming wiped his face. “My mind was a mess, and I couldn’t remember many things. I didn’t know why I was being chased, or where to go. I only thought that my sister-in-law and children were waiting for me to come back, so I stumbled home.”

“A few days later, I saw my brother’s portrait in the newspaper, but I didn’t dare to claim it,” he said with a self-deprecating laugh. “I don’t know why, but I felt in my heart that they were after me. My brother became my scapegoat. After all, we were twins and looked exactly alike. So I took the name Zhiqiang and moved to another place to hide with my sister-in-law and children.”