Power Up, Artist Yang!

Upon seeing Yu Zixu, Yujia was about to blurt out "Senior Brother!" before she caught herself. She bowed her head down, respectfully saying, "Young Master, what a coincidence to see you here." 

They were still in public, after all. Breaking character would not be good.

Zixu, a hand behind his back and another hand fanning himself lightly with a foldable fan, glanced at her. "Yu'er, what are you doing at a pawn shop? Did you find some valuables to sell?"

"Well, I think it would be better to step aside to tell Young Master," she gestured her head outside. 

Zixu was alone, but the store owner behind the counter was definitely listening in on their conversation. The manager wasn't subtle about it either, his eyes completely fixed on Yujia without moving. He must've thought that she had some good valuables he could buy for a deal.

Hearing this, Zixu was quick to oblige, taking a step outside while Yujia followed.

Once outside, in the shadows by the side of the building, Yujia thought of it as perfectly excusable to break character. She pulled out her satchel of taels, explaining to Zixu, "Senior Brother, I'm just trying to buy some pretty hairpin or necklace to call my family heirloom."

Zixu, who wasn't testing her this time, didn't point out her act of breaking character. The expression on his face morphed into a crooked grin. "Couldn't you just steal something from the Yang Villa and call it your family heirloom? Technically, you're not in the wrong."

"And get caught as the thief?" Yujia crossed her arms. "I would prefer not."

He tilted his head. "Then, what do you need a fake family heirloom for?" She told him her plan. At the end of it, another smile bloomed across his face. "That sounds decent," he agreed.

"Now that I've told you why I'm here, it's your turn," Yujia replied.

He answered in a straightforward manner. "I'm looking for paintings that may have been pawned."

"Oh. Well then, you can go look for your paintings. I'll go buy my fake heirloom." With that, Yujia turned to step back into the shop.

Zixu's arm reached out, gently grabbing her arm. "Wait." 

She stopped, and he dropped his hand just as quickly, moving to untie a pendant from his waist. It was made of precious white jade, but unlike the Lingxin one, which was circular, this pendant was a rounded rectangular shape. Attached to this block of jade were two rings of white jade that were locked together in a chain. From the chain, an elegant, dark, and twisted string hung. The bottom had a green jade bead and an attached tassel made from the same threads as the threads at the top. 

He pressed the pendant into her palm. When she raised her eyebrows at him, pushing the pendant back, he immediately responded, "Take it. I originally planned to sell this anyways in exchange for a few paintings, but it seems more useful to give to you."

"Think about it. If the pawnbroker sees someone dressed as a poor maid pulling out a full, bulging satchel of silver taels like that, would he not see you as a thief? It's better to just take this pendant from me." That was how Zixu explained his logic.

"But—" Yujia, with a pendant in one hand and a satchel of taels in the other, suddenly thrusted the satchel in Zixu's direction. "Take this then. I can't take something without paying for it, and if you were to give me the pendant like that, you wouldn't have any money to buy paintings either."

Zixu took the satchel, nodding with a smile. "Thanks. I'll be sure to buy a few good paintings."

"You better. Part of that money is from my hard earned funds," Yujia pointed out, pocketing the pendant. "You made a good point about the pawnbroker getting suspicious too," she added on, "Thank you for that. And the pendant."

"No problem," he informed her, dismissively.

"Then," Yujia raised her bucket of clothes, "I still have to do some washing. I'll be leaving, Senior Brother."

"Of course. Hope that all things go well for you. " He waved his hand.

While Zixu went inside the pawn shop, Yujia ran back off towards the river.

…

Once inside the shop, Zixu reached into his pocket, pulling out his own satchel of taels, which was more than full. He raised his other hand, looking at the satchel of taels his junior sister just forced him to take.

He didn't plan on selling the pendant at all. It was one of his favorite pendants that he wore on most days. But there was nothing else on him that could pass for a decent family heirloom.

What could be the reason behind him giving Yang Yujia his favorite pendant? Well… 

While he looked through the paintings, he glanced through his peripheral vision at the pawnbroker who sat behind the counter that Zixu and Yujia talked near earlier. The middle-aged man sitting there looked normal now, but moments ago, during the conversation, Zixu saw something different in the man's gaze— something really quite lecherous that his junior sister either didn't notice or chose to ignore.

He waved his fan at himself a few times, pretending to be occupied by the lackluster paintings on the walls. From the corner of his vision, he continued to watch as a maid— seemingly employed by the store— walk into the room. And then, he watched as the pawnbroker stood up, going behind the young girl, leaning a little too close, and reaching over with his hands. She visibly stiffened up.

Bile rose up in Zixu's throat. He didn't need to continue looking to know that his previous observations were definitely correct. Who knew what the filthy old man would try to do to his junior sister if Zixu didn't stop her from going back to the store?

The world was filled with disgusting people who would dare to do such acts even in broad daylight. Zixu had known this for a while now, with today only enforcing this knowledge some more in Zixu's mind. 

The thought of buying any sort of painting completely wiped from his mind, Zixu shut his fan with a flick of his wrist and took a step back. He gestured at an object on a shelf and called over the maid who was being harassed to come help him with it. The girl immediately scurried over, glad to be given a reason to move. The pawnbroker stared at Zixu, fuming, but seeing that Zixu was a customer, he didn't dare to do anything. He turned his attention way soon enough.

As Zixu asked the maid a few questions, he passed some taels into her hand. She looked up, eyes wide and filled with bewilderment, but she understood his meaning soon enough. 

Once finished with that, Zixu tapped his fan against his chin and headed out the shop.

On his way out, the pawnbroker jumped up, alert. His eyes were fixed on the two large satchels of taels Zixu had in one hand. "Noble, you're not going to buy anything?" He clasped his hands together. "I saw you looking at paintings earlier. You were not interested in any of those?"

"Hm?" Zixu stopped in his steps, raising his eyebrows. "Your items were all garbage, just like the person who sells them. Apologies, but I have no interest in buying things from human trash like you," Zixu hummed, a wide smile across his face.

The man flinched, raising his voice and shouting, "You—" 

Zixu didn't have any interest in staying and hearing whatever this pathetic excuse for a human wanted to say, so he simply walked out.

On his way back to the villa, he thought about why he helped that maid out. He didn't usually help people if it didn't benefit him to some degree. But in that situation, he just helped her out without thinking. 

Something within him had changed.