Lazart walked a few steps in the direction of his shop, then stopped and looked back. He wasn't sure if the cat had understood him.
The cat stood up from its squatting position and meowed twice at the side, as if to greet other cats — but there were no other cats nearby, so it followed him.
The cat followed him back into the shop. As soon as he opened the door and turned on the lights, the dazzling array of gold and silver ornaments seemed to brighten its eyes. Without waiting for him to call it, it jumped onto a chair and looked around with a critical eye.
Hearing the noise and barking dogs coming from the street, Lazart thought about how to help the Chinese tourists.
He intended to help, but he didn't want to have a direct confrontation with the locals. After all, many of them did business in the Khan el-Khalili market, and everyone kept their heads down. As a minority, it was better to keep a low profile. Otherwise, it might lead to hatred of the rich. For a long time, the wealthier Copts, who were willing to accept new things from abroad, had been stigmatized by other Egyptians as "fake foreigners."
At present, the situation in Egypt was temporarily calm, but who could say when the next unrest would occur? When the time came, the local people who hated the rich might take the opportunity to retaliate.
For the safety of his family, he could only do his best to help quietly.
His gaze fell on the calendar, and he suddenly thought of a feasible solution.
It was already June, and the weather was getting hotter and hotter. It was about to enter the local Egyptian month of Ramadan.
Firecrackers were imported products from China, and the custom of setting off firecrackers was also influenced by China.
Egyptians had a tradition of setting off firecrackers at weddings and festivals, and Ramadan was no exception. The time to set off firecrackers was usually chosen in the evening when they broke their fast.
Due to the frequent terrorist attacks and unrest, the sound of firecrackers was easily confused with gunshots, and a series of security incidents caused by the production and setting off of firecrackers, the government did not encourage the setting off of firecrackers. However, the locals felt that there was no festive atmosphere when they did not set off firecrackers, so they could not be banned.
Although it had not officially entered Ramadan, firecrackers had quietly entered the market, and there were several firecrackers in the Khan el-Khalili market.
Thinking of this, Lazart had a plan.
There were a lot of people in the Khan el-Khalili market who knew Lazart, so it was not convenient for him to show himself, and he was old and had trouble walking. So he called his son, Chris, and told him to go to a shop a little further away to buy firecrackers and set them off to attract the attention of the locals. Then he called his daughter, Kate, and told her to sneak into the crowd and bring the China tourists out.
His son and daughter were both smart and quick-witted. He didn't need to remind them again and they accepted the order and left.
Lazart stayed in the shop and waited. When the firecrackers went off, his heart was in his throat. He didn't know if his plan would go smoothly.
Kite was afraid that she would be recognized by her acquaintances, so she covered her face tightly with a scarf. She was also afraid that it would bring trouble to her own shop, so she took many detours to make sure that no one was following them. Only when she was sure that no one was following them did she bring them back.
Chris had taken a shortcut to an unfamiliar store to buy firecrackers. After setting them off, he had taken the long way back.
Seeing that his daughter had led Zhang Zian and the others safely to the shop, Lazart's heart was put back into his stomach.
Zhang Zian and the others listened to Lazart's story and couldn't help but secretly nod, praising Lazart for teaching his children well. From the details of their actions, it could be seen that the siblings were smart and brave, and would definitely become outstanding talents in the future.
Lazart himself was even more worthy of admiration. He was willing to risk offending the locals for China tourists he didn't know. This was not something an ordinary person could do.
Zhang Zian, Gao Ke, Xiao Tianyu, Du Xuetao, and Jack all stood up to thank the father, daughter, and brother and sister. He He, who had almost been skinned, was even more grateful.
At this time, Zhang Zian and the others really relaxed and were in the mood to look at the furnishings in the shop.
If they hadn't been nervous before, they would have noticed the dazzling variety of gold and silver accessories in the shop, mainly gold, but also platinum and silver. Bracelets, headwear, earrings, rings, necklaces, accessories … They were almost piled up on the three walls except for the direction of the door. There were many more in the glass counters, and the number was astonishing. Everywhere they looked, it was all gold.
Egyptians loved gold. This was one of the few traditions that had been passed down from thousands of years ago and had been inherited.
Ancient Egypt, needless to say, had 11 kilograms of gold masks and 111 kilograms of gold coffins. After all, ancient Egypt, as the world's granary at that time, was really rich.
The average monthly income of a citizen was 500 yuan. 95% of the land was desert, unable to support an exploding population. Flour, sugar, and oil had to be funded by their Arab brothers. Obviously, they were so poor that they had to eat dirt, but they had an extraordinary obsession with gold. This was modern Egypt.
The principle of the Egyptians was that their ancestors were once rich. They could starve and live on the streets, but gold must be bought!
When the local women got married, they would wear all their gold accessories on their bodies. They would even wear rings all over their fingers and several heavy necklaces around their necks. This was because the local tradition was that the more gold a woman wore, the more her husband loved her.
Under such customs, Egyptian gold and silver jewelry shops did not have to worry about sales.
Of course, the Egyptians were very poor. They could not afford pure gold, and pure gold was soft, making it inconvenient to make fine jewelry. Therefore, most of the gold jewelry that the locals bought was 18K gold.
In recent years, with the further deterioration of the Egyptian economy, the devaluation of the currency, and the rise in prices, Egyptians could not even afford to buy 18K gold. But even so, they had to put on a show, quietly pawning the 18K gold jewelry at home and buying similar gold-plated jewelry from China to replace it …
People from other countries probably could not understand why the Egyptians were so obsessed with gold.
Although there was a saying in China, "Antiques in prosperous times, gold in troubled times," this was used to guide speculation, and it referred to pure gold. If they had to rely on relief to eat, what was gold?!
Zhang Zian and the others held their breath and looked at the gold jewelry in the shop, dumbfounded. Even their pupils reflected the golden light. Even though they knew that the gold was about 18K gold, 18K gold was still valuable!
He He instinctively wanted to take out her phone to take a picture and then post it on WeChat. She touched her pocket and remembered that her phone had been snatched away. She could not help but feel sad.
In the dazzling golden light, Fei Na calmly sat on a chair in the middle of the room. Its golden fur completely blended into the resplendent background color.
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