American Pawnshop: Starting with a Mixed-Race Beauty

Li Mu, a Chinese international student, inherits his grandfather's dilapidated pawnshop in America. Business is abysmal, the tax bills grow heavier by the month, and the dusty second-hand goods sit untouched on the shelves. If the trend continues, he won't be able to pay the property taxes by year-end – his only options are slinking back to China or joining the ranks of Los Angeles' homeless. Then one day – His first customer is a mixed-race girl on the verge of losing her car to repossession, her eyes red as she begs for help. Next comes a burly black guy with an apparently legitimate Hermès bag, who slaps his thigh and delivers a crash course in street economics that outshines any business school lecture. Then a geeky babe in Harley Quinn cosplay shows up with a camera memory card full of unforgettable images. A pair of bankrupt sisters follow – one bold enough to say anything, the other a woman of few words but fierce actions. And that's just the beginning: a faded Disney sweetheart, an aloof South Korean senior, and a deceptively innocent Japanese girl all wander through his doors. There's also the Chinatown cheongsam shop owner, who shows up every night after closing with a bowl of soup. "Xiao Li, I made too much again," she says with a smile. Li Mu soon realizes that this system isn't just filling his wallet – it's filling his life with a steady stream of captivating women. It's America, after all. People here are pretty open-minded.