Of course it's true. I'm already the owner of this place. As for the money, I won the second prize in '200X'," Su Wei said, showing Colin a photo of the winning lottery ticket.
'200X' was a special instant lottery launched in Massachusetts, with a top prize of 15 million US dollars.
But Su Mo wasn't interested in actually buying a lottery ticket. He mortgaged Ba Li Gen's house, then, as a police officer, took out various loans from major banks, and finally borrowed some money from Frank. He then used that money to buy a winning lottery ticket.
Everything he had done before was for the words he was about to say to Colin at this moment,
"You are my brother, and I'm only telling you this: I actually went to a pawnshop and pawned my love and friendship in exchange for this year's career success and this sum of money."
After speaking, he handed Colin a card with the business details of the Eighth Pawnshop.
"Fulfill all wishes? Accept any item for pawn?"
Colin looked at the card in his hand and fell into deep thought.
After parting ways with Su Wei,
Colin returned to his apartment.
It was a simple, dilapidated apartment, fitting his Irish-American identity.
His parents died young, he was poor from childhood, and he harbored ambitions of rising in the world.
So, as a child, Colin was immediately won over by Frank with a pile of snacks when they first met.
He knew that as a doorman's child, it was already difficult to survive on his own. Frank, the king of Boston's underworld, would be his best ladder to climb up.
So when his only relative, his grandmother, passed away,
He decisively sold himself, serving Frank for an entire summer.
He had wanted to become a powerful and imposing boss like Frank,
But because he liked to read and was good at tests,
Frank sent him to become a police officer.
From being unwilling at first to now enjoying it,
He found that he was very suitable to be a police officer. This path was broader and longer than the underworld, and he might even gain more power than Frank and enter City Hall.
But he often woke up in his dreams, where his identity as a gang informant was exposed,
He was disgraced, lost everything,
And was forever stuck scrambling at the bottom.
Especially now that he was about to be promoted to the Special Investigation Team, which had been fighting Frank for decades,
Selling intelligence would become the norm,
He could be exposed at any time and lose everything.
Colin suddenly envied his friend. They were both low-class Irish-Americans. He had sacrificed so much and lived in constant fear to achieve his current success, yet his friend had caught up so easily, and even bought the dream home he couldn't afford.
Fulfill all wishes? Accept any item for pawn?
Looking at the business card in his hand, Colin felt an impulse to pawn something.
If he could, why couldn't he?
He closed and opened his eyes,
The world had already changed.
Colin subconsciously took a step back.
He had appeared in this strange place in just the blink of an eye. How magical!
He couldn't help but believe a part of his friend's story about the pawning transaction.
Steadying his feet, he took a deep breath, gripped the card, and took a step forward.
"Welcome, Mr. Colin."
Su Wei had already been waiting in the study. All this effort was to ensnare one of the two protagonists of "The Departed" into his game.
"Hello, Boss." Colin had excellent psychological resilience and had now returned to normal.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Su Wei quickly replicated Colin's body and absorbed his short-term memories.
"I want a sum of money." Colin said it straightforwardly.
Su Wei already knew Colin's thoughts; he wanted to test the waters with his first pawn.
Of course, he would grant the request.
"No problem. How much money?"
"800,000!?"
"No problem. What do you want to pawn?"
"My… my friendship. I will pawn my inability to make a true friend in this life."
From the moment he entered, Colin had already decided what to pawn. Anyway, he lived behind a false mask, unable to distinguish if he was human or ghost. Friends were something that could disappear at any time, truly useless. So he might as well pawn it and see if this pawnshop was really that magical.
"Alright." Su Wei readily agreed. After all, it wasn't his money being used, and the system didn't object.
He didn't want Colin's friendship; it was merely a tool to entice him to become their customer.
Seeing the other party agree so readily, Colin was stunned. He had only named an amount that could buy his ideal apartment, just to test it out.
He hadn't expected the other party to agree so readily, without any bargaining.
He suddenly regretted not asking for more.
"Sign this contract, and this money will be deposited into your account tomorrow."
Su Wei didn't rush him, handing over the contract.
Colin thought for a moment, and finally signed the contract.
"Pleasure doing business."
The next day,
Colin stared at the 800,000 extra in his account,
Stunned.
It was actually real.
However, he needed to find an excuse to cover up this extra 800,000.
He suddenly remembered that his friend must have laundered the money by buying a winning lottery ticket.
This was a good method.
He specifically took a week off.
He found a discreet channel,
And bought a winning lottery ticket.
After claiming the prize, he immediately took a real estate agent to look at houses.
The floor was better than the previous one,
And the golden dome of City Hall was visible outside the window.
Colin was very satisfied and signed the contract on the spot.
After seeing the real estate agent off,
Colin sat on the empty living room floor,
Looking at the golden dome in the distance,
A smile appeared on his face.
Much later, he picked up that pawnshop business card again.
Fulfill all wishes?
Then could his identity as an underworld informant also be whitewashed, as long as the value pawned was sufficient?
At this moment, he remembered the price he had paid for his previous comeback.
Friendship?
He quickly pulled out his phone and called a few friends from police academy.
For some reason,
They either didn't answer the phone or their tone was cold.
That pawnshop really took his friendship away!
But Colin didn't feel any regret at all.
He was just curious how it was done.
While Colin was still somewhat incredulous, he also felt a bit more anticipation.
The other party's methods were so magical, which meant his identity as an underworld informant could be whitewashed, as long as the value pawned was sufficient.
He had only pawned friendship for 800,000.
His identity as an underworld informant, in his opinion, was worth far more than 800,000. What would he have to give up?
Limbs or?
Colin hesitated to make a decision.
On the sofa in the apartment downstairs,
Su Wei held his phone, a smile playing on his lips.
He had answered Colin's call just now, but deliberately acted far less intimate than before.
The system had repeatedly guaranteed that although it couldn't temporarily provide resources other than money, all items pawned by customers would definitely be collected.
Given this, he, as a former friend, couldn't let his guard down.
This deal was concluded for now.
Colin's next transaction could already be prepared for in advance.
Once the door of desire is opened, it is difficult to close again.
Su Wei firmly believed this.
Just a few months later,
Su Wei saw Colin again in the pawnshop study.