After the Fairy Disappeared

  Chapter 238 Strange old woman

  He Lingchuan raised his eyes and found that it was an old woman, looking around while walking, her walking posture was a bit condescending.

  She is thin and shriveled, but her belly is a little bulging, which reminds He Lingchuan of the dead wood pile by the river.

   "Are you the shopkeeper?"

  As soon as she spoke, her voice was much younger than her appearance, and He Lingchuan found that her teeth were complete, as if she was not as old as she looked.

   "Well." He said honestly, "This store has just been taken back, and it may take some time to reopen."

   "What do you want to sell?" The old lady fumbled here and there, not polite to him at all.

   "It's not clear yet." He doesn't have the energy to take care of the shop in his dream, so he will entrust an official to rent it out, counting the money on a quarterly basis, "What is this?"

   "I, I collect things." The old woman's eyes wandered among the debris, high and low, not only not dazzled but also very energetic.

   Somehow, He Lingchuan felt that she looked like an otter on the river bed in the dry season. That kind of creature also likes to be in the clutter heaps of its own making.

   It's just that she is too thin, her eyes are a little protruding and bloodshot.

   "Do you still want these?"

   "No, take it all away."

  The old woman bowed to him immediately: "Good-hearted people, good-hearted people, God will bless you!"

   This is too polite.

  He Lingchuan soon saw that the old woman got a cart from somewhere and parked it outside the store, and then went into the store to carry things.

  She took away a jar first.

  The jar was covered with a thick layer of yellow plaster, hidden under two nested tables, and the table was blocked by a screen. He Lingchuan didn't see it at all when he first counted things, and he didn't know how the old woman found it.

  He couldn't help asking: "What's the use of this jar?"

   "Pickled...pickled vegetables."

  The jar is not too big, it can hold five or seven catties of wine at most, and any soy sauce jar He Lingchuan has seen is bigger than it.

   "Shall I help you move?" He was purely out of kindness.

  The old woman hugged the jar even tighter, as if she was afraid that he would **** it: "No, no!"

   Then she removed two incense burners, several inkstones, and a row of ceramic dolls.

   This row of dolls is poorly made, and He Lingchuan always feels that they are staring at people with malicious intent. Probably the former shopkeeper of the shop felt the same way, so he threw them in the warehouse, out of sight and out of sight.

  The old woman liked it very much, and said cheerfully: "This is good, take it back and give it to my son to play with."

  He Lingchuan really wanted to ask how old her son was to play this game, but suddenly there was a bang outside, and the cart was knocked down.

  The old woman let out a cry and rushed out.

   Several things on the cart were knocked to the ground, and the jar rolled several times.

  He Lingchuan saw at a glance that a large piece of mud peeled off the outside of the jar, exposing the grayish-white and yellowish bottom inside.

   It seems that jars of this color are rare in Panlong City?

  The old woman was also distressed, picked up the jar and checked it twice, and found that there was no more damage, so she let out a breath.

   At this moment, another person approached and greeted He Lingchuan.

   "Ah Luo?" He Lingchuan was surprised, "Why are you here?"

   "Go to the pharmacy ahead to get the medicine." A Luo turned around and pointed, "I ordered a few days ago, and it just arrived today. Is this your shop?"

"yes."

   "I just came to tidy up today, it seems that you are not short of money." The earlier the shop is rented out, the earlier the payment will be collected.

  The two of them talked, and the old woman stood up.

  Maybe it was squatting for too long, she swayed twice as soon as she stood up, and almost fell.

   Arlo gave her a hand.

  After the old woman stood still, she grabbed the handle of the cart and pushed it out.

   "Old lady, do you only take this?" The two of them saw that there were not many things in the cart.

   "I can't take much." The old woman seemed very pragmatic, "Give the rest to others."

  Alo's expression and eyes were a bit strange, he asked the old woman: "Are you okay?"

   "Okay." The old woman pushed the cart to leave.

  Alo pressed the handlebar: "You are pregnant, you know that?"

  When he said this, He Lingchuan was shocked.

Pregnant? This old woman?

  The old woman was also stunned, but immediately said: "It has nothing to do with you, don't meddle in your own business!"

   She looked annoyed and obviously aware that Arlo had to let go and let her push away.

  Her figure quickly disappeared into the corner of the street without looking back.

  He Lingchuan scratched the back of his head: "What did you just say, she is pregnant?"

   "Well, I feel the pulse, although it's only for a moment."

   "Could it be..." Got it wrong?

   But seeing A Luo's eyes, He Lingchuan immediately changed his words: "How many months?"

  He had seen the old woman with a slightly protruding belly before, but many old people had this image, so he didn't think much about it.

   I didn't know it was so weird.

   "About four or five months."

  The listeners all took a breath, but couldn't tell.

  A Luo shook his head: "I only know that the pulse is stable and a little restless. The fetuses in her womb are so active that there is even a risk of tire slippage. Fortunately, they are still strong."

   "You?" He Lingchuan was startled, "How many times is she pregnant?"

   "At least two or more." A Luo said, "You think I'm a fairy, and you can know how many babies you have with just one touch?"

  Someone suddenly interjected: "Are you sure? Mrs. Ji is pregnant?"

   The two turned their heads, and saw the owner and his wife of the leather goods store next door standing at the door of the store, with disbelief on their faces.

   "What are you sure about?" A Luo has a bad temper, especially dissatisfied with others questioning his medical skills, "Believe it or not, you will be defeated."

  The owner of the store was also kind, and quickly apologized: "Don't worry, Mr. Jun, we just can't imagine it, this is too weird."

  His wife was much quicker: "Sister-in-law Ji has someone outside? This is really knowing people and faces but not heart."

  He Lingchuan brushed off the debris on the steps: "What's wrong with the old tree sprouting new shoots?"

  The shop owner's wife said directly: "She is not too old, she is only four years older than me, but she has been a widow for many years. After losing her son, she talks about it all day long. She never expected to find another man."

  She looks less than forty, so Mrs. Ji is in her early forties, much younger than her appearance.

   "Breaking a child?" He Lingchuan thought of the row of ceramic dolls that Mrs. Ji took away, "How many children does she have?"

   "Both sons died on the battlefield."

  A Luo lowered his gaze, and He Lingchuan sighed wordlessly.

   This is the fate of all the good sons in Panlong City, but no one knows it before they arrive, except He Lingchuan.

  The pain of losing a child, and having to bear it twice, no wonder the old woman was a little crazy, and said she wanted to take the doll back to play with her son.

  As for the sprouting of old trees, although this kind of thing is a bit weird, others have no right to ask.

The shopkeeper said in a concentrated voice, "She used to be my neighbor, and I could often hear her wailing loudly in the middle of the night. If it took ten and a half months, everyone would be sympathetic to her and bear it, but who can stand it for half a year? She is getting more and more confused, and she still I wanted to take another family’s child away. Later, the neighbor had to drive her away, and I heard that she moved to the suburbs.”

  A Luo suddenly said: "How long have you not seen her?"

   "Uh..." The owner and the couple looked at each other, "Almost, three years?"

  Three years old?

   After finishing speaking, the store's entrance returned to calm, and the owner and his wife next door shrank back. A Luo also said to He Lingchuan: "I'm going to sit in the Martial Arts Hall today, will you go?"

   "Okay, take me to play for a while." He Lingchuan locked the shop with his backhand, forgetting the episode that just happened.

  Panlong City has three martial arts arenas. The Martial Arts Hall is located near the west gate. It has the largest area and the largest number of people.

   This is a place where heroes compete for skills. It sounds good to make friends with martial arts, but it is practical to say that martial arts are second to none.

  He Lingchuan has been working hard for several months, day and night. It can be said that he has put in three or four times more effort than ordinary people. Of course, he also wants to test his recent achievements in the martial arts field.

  The predecessor of Yuewutang was a racecourse, which was still in the suburbs at that time. Later, Panlong City expanded outwards and quickly included it. So this land was destined to be large and empty, but Panlong City built a high wall to surround it, and only one-fifth of the land was exposed to public view.

  The signboard of Yuewutang is very big, these three characters are flying like dragons and phoenixes, and the small characters on the side are signed by Zhong Shengguang.

  It turned out that Commander Zhong wrote the inscription himself.

  However, He Lingchuan has little experience, and this is the first time he saw a signboard with black characters on a white background, ah, this is really solemn.

  A Luo took him inside, and the guard checked the signs of the two before letting him go.

   This place is not open to the public, only soldiers registered in Panlong City can enter.

  As soon as he walked in, He Lingchuan realized how big the place was. He knew that the Martial Arts Hall was actually divided into north and south courtyards by the tower in the middle. The south courtyard was near the gate, facing the soldiers and patrols of Panlong City. There were five venues in total; the north courtyard was only open to the Gale Army. , everyone in the south courtyard could only look north through the fence, secretly envious.

  椟lou is a two-story building that separates the two courtyards. It is designed to provide logistical support for warriors. Here you can rest, sharpen your weapons, unload and change equipment, and there are special doctors sitting in the hall to prepare for emergencies.

   Aruo came here to take over from the sitting doctor, and he was short of money.

  Now there are dozens of people in the South Campus. The edge of the training field can be used for single-person self-training, but the center of the field must be cleared and reserved for fighting. He Lingchuan saw six people fighting each other. The knives and swords in their hands were all made of wood, and the blades were smeared with red powder.

   Those who are hit will have red marks on their bodies. If the two sides do not have a substantial knockout at the end of the battle, the game will be won or lost based on the number and location of the red marks on each person's body.

  He Lingchuan turned his eyes again, and found another familiar face:

  Skinny.

  Waving more than a dozen notes in his hands, this guy stood on the sidelines of a competition, roaring hoarsely.

   But he was not conspicuous at all, because the shouts of the onlookers were overwhelming!

  With a bang, the players in the field were knocked unconscious by the shield.

   There was a burst of boos from the side, some people left in dismay, and some people yelled at the skinny man for money: "I won, I won, give me the money!"

This money is absolutely not owed, the thin man turned his back and flicked left and right to block all the hands stretched out from behind, while grabbing a charcoal stick to scratch off the note: "Don't worry, don't worry, come one by one! "

  (end of this chapter)