Gourd of Douluo

Chapter 642 Turtle and Crab

In the quiet night, the chirping of insects and birds can be heard, leaves and bushes are moved, and a figure staggers out from inside.

Old Xing looked up at the faint lights in the distance and breathed a sigh of relief subconsciously.

Fortunately, he returned to the vicinity of the village before the sun went down. The surrounding terrain is familiar, and it is not difficult to walk back even without moonlight.

If it is in the mountains, it is dark and you can't see anything. It is common to accidentally step on the air and roll down the mountain.

Old Xing dragged his heavy body back to his usual work and boarding place, the "Drink Not Enough" tavern.

There are not many things to do in the village at night. The most lively place is the tavern. As one of the only three taverns in the village, the "Drink Not Enough" tavern started business early, and the sound of drinkers laughing and cursing came from the brightly lit house.

Old Xing entered the kitchen from the side door, and the smell of food and wine immediately entered his nose, making his hungry stomach roar loudly.

After a day of running around in the mountains, I only ate some wild fruits. It would be strange if I wasn't hungry.

The auntie who was busy washing dishes in the kitchen saw him and complained: "Why did you come back now? The business in the store is good today, and everyone is too busy."

"Sorry." Old Xing smiled bitterly.

The auntie who was washing dishes saw that he was covered in mud and looked very miserable. She had to swallow the complaints that had been raised to her throat.

She paused for a moment and reminded in a low voice: "When the boss knew you were not there, he was so angry that he even broke two kitchen knives. If you don't want to be fired, remember to apologize to him after the business is over tonight and be submissive. Although Yuri has a bad temper, he is a nostalgic person."

"I understand." Old Xing nodded. As the old man who stayed in the tavern the longest, he certainly knew the boss's true character.

No one would take in a child who was more than a dozen years older but knew nothing except fishing, but the boss Yuri took him in without hesitation.

Although only food and lodging were provided without salary, it also gave him something to eat and prevented him from starving to death on the street.

Old Xing returned to the small compartment at the corner of the stairs. This compartment of less than five square meters, which was too small to store things, was the room he had lived in for more than ten years.

He took out a piece of black bread from the bottom of the closet that was flattened, dry and hard by the many clothes, and swallowed it with water. After having food, his hungry stomach finally stopped making noises.

Old Xing stuffed the clothes that had been turned over back into the closet. Inadvertently, an old and familiar piece of clothing made him pause.

It was a brown vest.

Looking at it, Old Xing suddenly fell into memories.

Old Xing's ancestors and fathers have always made a living by fishing. By Old Xing's generation, if nothing unexpected happens, he will also become a qualified fisherman and take over the dilapidated fishing boat from his father.

But when he was a child, he encountered a sudden storm during an ordinary fishing trip. He fell into the water accidentally. Fortunately, his father was quick-witted and fished him out with a fishing net in time, saving his life.

Unfortunately, the bad drowning experience made him afraid of the sea water. He trembled all over and his body stiffened as soon as he got into the water.

Old Xing's ancestors have always been the best at playing with the tide and water. If a descendant who is afraid of water is spread out, he will be laughed at.

So Old Xing concealed the truth from his family and just said that he didn't want to be a fisherman anymore.

The furious father drove him out of the house with a broom on the spot and threatened to sever the father-son relationship with him.

Old Xing was also tough. After leaving home, he never asked for money from his family. The money he saved from working was also secretly sent to his mother to subsidize the family.

It was not until Old Xing was working as a handyman in a tavern that he accidentally heard an adventure story with a hunter as the protagonist from a drunkard.

The cold snowy mountains and the scorching underground world were unknown scenes that he could not imagine.

Old Xing, who was in a daze, suddenly realized that since he could not become a fisherman who conquered the sea as his father said, he would become a hunter who conquered the forest.

Since then, he has been determined to become a hunter.

The locals live by the sea, and there is no such profession as hunter.

But he did not give up. If no one taught him, he would learn by himself. If he could not read the words in the book, he would start by learning to recognize words. Even sitting in the classroom with a group of little kids and facing their mocking eyes could not make him lose his will.

With such efforts, he really combined the things in the book and figured out some practical tricks. Although the traps he made could only catch small animals such as mountain rats, which were far from the standard of hunters, they were enough to save his life in the complex forest.

If he was lucky, he could also pick up some mountain delicacies.

Unfortunately, such good luck ended this afternoon.

Thinking that he almost died in the mouth of a bear, Old Xing felt a little scared.

Perhaps he had been hypnotizing himself for so long that he even thought he had some talent to become a hunter. It was not until he faced real death that he realized that his previous efforts were a joke.

Maybe it's time to accept reality.

As soon as Old Xing, who had just changed into his work clothes, came out of the cubicle, he saw his old partner holding a tray with both hands high, which was full of beer, and he was busy.

"Oh, Old Xing, it's good to see you. There's a silly boy in the pub today, and I'm almost too busy."

Old Xing took the tray from him calmly, put the beer on the guest table, and asked casually, "What's going on?"

The old partner pursed his lips, "Did you see the silly young man in front of the bar? As soon as he entered the door, he invited all the drunkards present to have a glass of beer each, and said that he was a traveling writer. As long as someone could tell a story he had never heard of, he would pay for all the consumption of that person tonight."

"Thanks to him, less than an hour after opening tonight, only two-thirds of the beer in the warehouse was left."

Old Xing followed his line of sight to the bar counter, where there was indeed a young man whose appearance and temperament were incompatible with them. There was an indescribable feeling in his every move, and even the extremely beautiful female companion next to him seemed a little dull next to him.

Suddenly, a fierce quarrel broke out in the crowd.

It turned out that the story told by the previous storyteller was a nursery rhyme that had been circulating in their town for a long time. Any child could hum a few sentences. It was not a story at all. Some drinkers couldn't stand it, so they said a few more words, and then a fierce quarrel broke out.

But the young man at the bar didn't seem to care. He just said that he had never heard of the nursery rhyme and asked the bartender to put the man's consumption tonight on his account.

And the drinker who stood up for him was not ignored.

The young man took out a full purse from his arms and grabbed a handful of gold soul coins from it and put them on the bar. There were at least twenty of them.

The young man said that before the money was spent, the kind-hearted drinker could drink for free in the pub.

Compared with the other two pubs in the town, the "Not Enough" pub has always been known for its high cost-effectiveness. Two copper soul coins can drink a full glass of beer.

So many gold soul coins can at least last a whole year.

The drinkers looked at the lucky drinker with envy, regretting why they didn't stand up just now.

The young man who calmed the incident asked: "Are there any other interesting stories?"

"I'll do it." Seeing the real financial strength of the rich, the drunkards were no longer reserved and actively signed up to recommend themselves.

𝔰𝔱𝔬55.𝔠𝔬𝔪

The longest night will be bright, and the most interesting story will end.

Through word of mouth, most of the drunkards in the town gathered here tonight. After the drunkards ate and drank, there was not a drop of wine left in the tavern.

Not to mention the ingredients, even the seasonings were not much left.

The boss had expected it, and went out to order ingredients and drinks overnight. Even if the big money owner left tomorrow, he could make a good fortune in the next few days with this trend.

The drunkards who were not satisfied with the drink rushed to the next one, and those who were unconscious were dragged away by their companions. The "drinking not enough" tavern was hastily forced to close its business.

After sending his female companion back to the room, Wang Xiaofeng returned to the first floor and chatted with the bartender. Even Lao Xing sighed in his heart that this young man was really energetic.

After settling the drunkard who was unconscious, Lao Xing and his partner skillfully cleaned up the messy venue.

The old partner poked him and whispered, "I remember you told me the story of a turtle fighting a crab. It's rare to meet a big boss who is interested in this kind of thing. Why don't you give it a try? When he's happy, a little bit of it leaking through his fingers is enough for your salary for several years."

Old Xing didn't say anything, but lowered his head to clean up the vomit of some drunkard.

That wasn't actually a story, but the scene he saw on the seabed after drowning, but it was too bizarre, so no one would take it seriously.

Wang Xiaofeng stood beside the two of them at some point and smiled, "I seem to hear someone talking about a story."

Old Xing cleaned the floor and said seriously, "That's not a story, but an experience I had when I was a child. It may not meet your requirements."

"I have my own judgment."

Wang Xiaofeng asked the bartender to take out four clean cups and put them on the table, poured the mellow wine from the gourd to fill the cups, and pushed them in front of everyone.

"Come on guys, put down your work, let's enjoy the wine and listen to the last story of the night."

Before leaving, the tavern owner told everyone to take good care of this big money sponsor, so they all sat at the bar honestly.

Old Xing silently raised the wine glass in his hand and took a big sip. The spicy wine went straight to his stomach along his throat.

It was very spicy, but very fragrant. I didn't expect that high-concentration wine could be so delicious. It was a completely different style from beer.

Old Xing coughed twice, and with the help of the alcohol, he began to recall his story.

"Children of poor families grow up early. I started helping my family with things I could do when I was four years old. When I was ten years old, I went fishing with my father."

"Limited by the fishing boats at home, we usually only fished in the coastal waters within a range of fifty miles. Although the harvest was not as much as those fishing boats that traveled a hundred miles to fish in the sea, the daily catch was enough to meet the family's food and clothing."

"The coastal waters are very safe. Where there are reefs and undercurrents, our ancestors have long known it clearly. However, when I was thirteen years old, it was also the annual migration period. My father and I were fishing in the sea twenty miles away, and suddenly encountered a storm at sea."

"Without any signs or warnings, dark clouds suddenly covered the entire sky, and brilliant thunder kept falling like an electric net. Our fishing boat was like a dead leaf falling into a whirlpool, and we could only let the violent waves push us."

After saying this, Old Xing was silent for a long time. It can be seen that he has not been able to get rid of the shadow brought to him by this incident until now.

Old Xing took a big sip of wine, calmed down, and then continued, "Humans are too small in front of nature. The waves exhausted all my strength. I fell into the sea, and then I saw a scene that I will never forget in my life."

"Endless flames, burning on the bottom of the sea, the flames that should have been extinguished by the sea water, burned so hot. In the center of the flames, there is a crab with flames all over its body, and a white turtle."

After waiting for a long time, Old Xing did not continue to speak. The bartender could not help asking: "Then what?"

"Nothing happened. That one glance exhausted all my strength." Old Xing drank the last drop of wine at the bottom of the glass. "When I regained consciousness, it was three days later. My mother said that I had a high fever and was unconscious for three whole days. I spent all the family savings to barely save my life. This is the end of the story."

Everyone looked at each other. This is indeed not an interesting story, but what they said is not.

Everyone turned their eyes to the big moneybag, only to find that he was mumbling something and writing, with several full sheets of manuscript paper scattered on the table.

Well, this is completely in line with their perception of writers. Genius writers with a little quirk are indeed like this.

Old Xing put down his wine glass and wiped his mouth, adding: "And I don't know if I was hallucinating because of drowning, but I vaguely heard the sound of a bell, which is similar to the sound of the big bell that rings every day in the Wuhun Hall in the town."

"Great story, I feel that inspiration is constantly pouring out." Wang Xiaofeng stood up happily, "I'm sorry, gentlemen, it seems that I have to leave first."

As he said, he packed up the manuscript paper on the table and walked up the stairs without looking back.

The partner looked at the figure disappearing on the stairs and smacked his lips, "What a pity, it seems that he has no money in his pocket."

Old Xing said nonchalantly: "I think it's enough. This wine tastes good, isn't it? It seems that I can sleep well tonight."

Thinking it was a small episode, Old Xing was rudely awakened by his boss Yuri the next morning, "Wake up, kid, you are lucky."

Until he sat down at the table, Old Xing still looked confused.

Looking at the temporary employment contract in his hand and the fifty gold soul coins neatly placed in front of him, Old Xing's heart beat suddenly unconsciously. No one can stay calm in front of a pile of golden soul coins. The boss sitting next to him wanted to push him away and sign his name on the contract.

Wang Xiaofeng gently stirred the coffee in his hand with a spoon, "Your story gave me a lot of inspiration. I believe I can write a very good story, but I want to make this story more perfect, so I want to go to the source of the story to see."

"It's not worth that much money." Old Xing put down the contract in his hand and shook his head.

"I really didn't make a mistake." Wang Xiaofeng pointed to another authorization statement outside the employment contract, "Don't rush to refuse, this is the money for two contracts, I'm just avoiding some unnecessary troubles, and my money is not that easy to get."

When Lao Xing heard that the other party was going to take a boat to the original place, he was stunned for a moment, and a trace of hesitation flashed in his eyes.

Although the hydrophobia has not recurred over the years, it may be related to the fact that he has never been close to the sea again.

But looking at the golden soul coins in front of him, and thinking of the fourth sister who has not yet married, Lao Xing gritted his teeth and said, "I sign."

Even if it is a life-saving money, he accepted it.

Wang Xiaofeng looked at the tavern owner on the side, "Yuri, are my things ready?"

Yuri was refreshed and couldn't wait to take credit: "Of course, when I purchased the ingredients, I also bought your share, and it can be delivered within an hour."

Wang Xiaofeng nodded with satisfaction, "I like to leave things to professionals, which can save me a lot of unnecessary time."