The shopkeeper scrutinized Chen Nuo's attire carefully; both the material of his clothes and his demeanor seemed out of place for their small town, suggesting he might be there on business.
"I may look old, but I'm not foolish. Don't think you can pull the wool over my eyes with just any words," the shopkeeper said.
Chen Nuo gave a resigned smile, thought for a moment, then pulled a few taels of silver from his pocket and placed them on the table. "It's real, shopkeeper. If you don't believe me, I can give you a deposit now. Someone will come to collect it in a couple of days. Does that sound alright to you?"
No one would refuse silver. The shopkeeper picked up and felt the silver, examined it to make sure it was genuine, then took out a piece of paper and wrote down how much grain was required.
