Chapter 2: The Old Woman Who Sells Chaos
Because he was mentally prepared, Zou Kun was not lost, but he felt strange, there were no more people in this town, how could there be such an old man selling noodles here?
Not long after, a few people came in twos and threes not far away, like workers. There used to be a quarry here www.biquge.info where stone quarryers would eat, and occasionally sailors and drivers would come to eat.
Zou Kun paid the money, put his backpack on his back and stood up: "Boss, is there any place to stay here?"
The shopkeeper waved his hand: "I haven't had an inn for a long time, but if you don't have a place to live, just look at which door is unlocked and go in to sleep, there are many empty houses here."
After Zou Kun thanked the shopkeeper, he planned to walk around the town with his bag on his back to see if he could meet the old man and inquire about the whereabouts of Luolong Village.
Walking out of the town, he climbed a hill and saw several small boats sliding on a small river, and it was impossible to verify whether it was a fishing boat or not. As the sun slowly sets, the sunset over the water is beautiful.
After seeing the beautiful scenery, Zou Kun's mood improved a lot, and he returned to the street, and when he was slowly wandering, he saw a deserted school.
The doors of the school were wide open, and there was silence all around. The two rows of empty school buildings occasionally whistled after being blown by the wind, and the basketball hoops on the basketball court were already rusted.
Zou Kun didn't know why he wanted to come in and have a look, so he wandered around the campus aimlessly.
When he walked to a billboard, he was attracted by a headline: Tragedy in the water, silence on the ferry, all 10 middle school students were killed, and the students needed to increase their safety awareness.
When the ferry sank, when he saw these four words, Zou Kun didn't know why he felt a little heartache. Then I looked down, and it was roughly said that three years ago, a ferry boat carrying ten middle school students capsized in the river, and all the students died.
Looking down, there are pictures of ten children.
Zou Kun looked at them one by one, and when he saw one of them, he felt very familiar, and after carefully identifying them, he was scared into a cold sweat, wasn't the person on it himself?
Zou Kun felt as if he had a stone blocked in his heart, and swallowed his saliva vigorously; if he looked closely, there was only one word difference between the name below and himself, and he was called Zou Qian.
At this time, Zou Kun's heart tightened, is there such a coincidence in this world? Two people look exactly the same, not to mention, and there is only a word difference in their names?
The more Zou Kun thought about it, the more panicked he became, and he wanted to leave here immediately. He immediately put on his backpack and ran out of the campus, and the rapid running was like someone chasing him from behind, and he stopped until he couldn't see the school.
Zou Kun put his hands on his knees, gulping out a lot of air, fleeing an inexplicable fear in his heart.
After resting like this for a few minutes, Zou Kun finally calmed down. Looking around, I felt unusually unfamiliar. He carefully checked the direction and found that the town was devoid of street lights. Fortunately, the air here is not polluted, and the moonlight in the sky is very bright, and you can see it clearly from the stone road.
Zou Kun thought about it, but in fact, he didn't have to deliberately discern the direction, because he didn't know where he was going. It's better to find a place to sleep nearby, there are sleeping bags anyway.
Thinking of this, I looked around and found that there was a small alley in the east, and there seemed to be almost everyone in it. So he adjusted his backpack and began to set foot on the bluestone path.
Although I was wearing sneakers, I don't know why I stepped on this bluestone slab, but there was a banging sound, as if leather shoes were stepping on it.
Soon after entering the alley, I saw a few houses.
The houses here look old, but they seem to be much more upscale than the wooden houses you see outside. The stone of the entire faΓ§ade is polished so smooth that it can even reflect the moonlight. On the big cyan iron door, a pair of iron peppers are very hideous in the eyes.
There are still couplets carved in stone on both sides of the gate, and the plaque on the lintel has decayed, and it is impossible to see what the words are.
Seeing everything here, Zou Kun couldn't help but open his eyes wide, this house should be a big family, it's amazing that it can be preserved so completely. It's a pity that no one lives in such a good house.
After deciding that this place was empty, I wanted to open the door and take a look, and if there was no problem, I could stay in it for the night, but I was inevitably a little apprehensive.
Just when I was hesitating, I suddenly heard the voice of an old woman selling: "Copying hands, fragrant copying hands." After each shout, there was a thump of empty bamboo tubes, and the sound spread far through the alley, so real.
Zou Kun knew that in ancient times, some women would open a small window in the pavilion when it was inconvenient to go out, and at night, when they saw a snack seller walking by, he called out to him to stop and put down a basket containing small bowls and rice supplies. After the seller of snacks has put the food in the bowl, the person on top of it pulls up the basket.
Could it be that there are people living in this courtyard?
Zou Kun quickly dispelled his thoughts, how could it be? This is not yet the time to sleep, there is not even a light around, how can there be someone to live.
Thinking that the old woman was still selling things when it was dark, she must be lonely and helpless, and she couldn't help but feel compassion. I followed the sound and walked a short distance, and saw a mother-in-law pushing a bamboo cart and knocking on a small bamboo tube to sell.
Zou Kun rushed over: "Mother-in-law, how much is a bowl of copying?"
The old woman stopped the car and looked at Zou Kun. Only then did Zou Kun see the old woman's appearance clearly: her hair was held in a circle by a long black turban, and an old silver hairpin was tied on the turban. The face was full of wrinkles, and I couldn't tell how old I was.
The shirt made of dark blue homespun cloth on his body was cleanly washed. A butterfly clasp made of old silver is pinned to the neckline.
Black pants under a pair of cloth shoes with mille-feuille soles.
Zou Kun thought to himself, at such a late hour, this old woman still has to sell chaos outside, she must be old and helpless. Giving money directly was afraid that it would hurt people's self-esteem, so I made a decision immediately: "Mother-in-law, there are still a few bowls of copying hands, I want them all, and I haven't eaten well today." β
Zou Kun looked at this small bamboo cart and thought to himself how many bowls of chaos could this cart hold?
"Young man, my copy is a bit expensive. When Zou Kun heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little drumming in his heart, he wouldn't encounter a slander, right?
"How much is a bowl of the old woman?" Zou Kun was curious, he wanted to know, what price can a bowl of chaos be offered, is it like a sky-high price of prawns?
"I don't take money, do you want that silver ring on your finger?" asked the old man in an extremely flat tone.
Zou Kun was a little reluctant to hear this.
In fact, the silver ring weighs only two grams at most, and the price of the current silver plus the manual fee is at most twenty or thirty yuan. But this ring is what he remembered before, which means that this ring is one of the memories he has forgotten.
Zou Kun was looking at the old woman, he knew that some old people would buy some gold and silver for themselves when they were old, and bring them with them when they were buried, as if they could bribe the little ghost in the underworld to have a good baby or something.
Zou Kun thought to himself, even if he gave the old man money to let her go to the city to buy jewelry, it would be inconvenient to be so old. It's better to give it, just go back and play one.
Thinking of this, Zou Kun took off the ring with some reluctance and handed it to the old man, the old woman opened her hand, and the moment the ring fell into the palm of the old man's hand, she felt dazzled, and the ring actually emitted a silver-white light, which flashed and disappeared.
Zou Kun shook his head, thinking that he should quickly finish eating Chaos and find a place to rest, he must be too tired.
After the old woman took the ring, she took it in her hand and took a mazar from the car: "Son, sit down." Zou Kun sat on the horse, originally wanted to ride the chaos by himself, but was stopped by the old woman, and finally waited honestly to eat.
The old woman quickly took out a white porcelain bowl from the bamboo cart, and the bowl contained a dozen little chaos: "Child, eat it while it's hot, that's all." Zou Kun took the porcelain bowl and found that the old man had a pair of silver bracelets on his wrist, and it seemed that he had guessed correctly.
Zou Kun took the porcelain bowl and felt that the porcelain bowl was terrible cold, as if it was made of ice, but it was very light. However, in such a hot summer, such a cold makes people feel cool.
Zou Kun began to eat the little chaos with a spoon, and to be honest, it was really fragrant.
The old woman sat not far from him, watched Zou Kun eat chaos, and asked, "Child, where are you going to fight?" Zou Kun remembered that this old man was so old, maybe he knew where Luolong Village was.
"Mother-in-law, I want to go to Luolong Village, do you know how to get there?"
The old man was silent for a while, and then said, "Child, I advise you to go back and forth, the place where Luolong is not where you should go." β
When the old man said this, Zou Kun was stunned: "Mother-in-law, do you know where Luolong Village is? Please tell me, I must go." β
The old man shook his head: "Why do you bother?"
As she spoke, she went to pick up the empty bowl that Zou Kun had eaten, then put the bowl back in the bamboo cart and pushed the cart towards the depths of the alley.
Zou Kun saw that she didn't want to say, and he didn't force it, so he chased two steps: "Mother-in-law, I don't have a place to live, can I go in and sleep in the house here?"
The old woman pointed to a fork in the road: "Go ahead, there is a courtyard not far away, which is close to the river, the air is good, and there is a place to sleep." You just go to sleep. β
After speaking, he continued to push the bamboo cart forward.
Zou Kun was excited for a while, and he could finally fulfill his wish, said thank you to the old man, and then ran towards the ancient mansion.