Chapter 213 Female Neighbor

He steals from many people every day, how could he remember He Lingchuan, who he had only met once?

"Give me back my things!"

"I sold them and exchanged them for food!" The boy patted his belly, "Here they are!"

He Lingchuan smiled sinisterly, pulled out a long knife, and slashed it against his belly with the back of the knife: "If you ate my food, then squeeze it out for me!"

The unique coldness of the metal frightened the boy so much that he stepped back and shouted: "Panlong City has its own laws, you can't kill me!"

"Panlong City has its own laws, how dare you steal?" Although the kid is young, he is a habitual offender who refuses to change his ways. He Lingchuan asked the woman, "What did you lose?"

"An IOU and a warrant of atonement."

A warrant of atonement? He Lingchuan was startled. How could a commoner have such a thing?

The woman shook the boy, like shaking a puppet: "Who sent you to steal from my house?"

The boy shook his head: "No one, I was hungry and had to find something to eat. Your family is too poor, there is not even a grain of rice, so I just took it."

"Do you know how to read? Or did someone write the words "expiation order" for you to recognize in advance?" The woman laughed, "Otherwise, there are many books in my house, why don't you just take one?"

It would be strange for a six or seven-year-old thief to know how to read.

The boy didn't say anything, his mouth was tighter than a clam shell, but his eyes were "What can you do to me?"

"Who did you give the expiration order to?"

The boy blinked.

He Lingchuan took out a little silver from his arms and shook it in front of him, but before he could speak, the woman had pushed his hand back: "No need to ask, just send it to the government, and someone will ask it."

"Can you ask?" It was the first time that He Lingchuan saw someone confident in the efficiency of the government.

"The expiation order is serious. Stealing this thing is insulting the heroes. The government will deal with it severely if it receives it." The woman patted the boy's head, "He is too young to chop off his hands. Maybe he will carve his face with ink characters to remind others that he is a thief."

If the characters are carved on his face, will he still be able to survive in Panlong City in the future? The boy was shocked and his attitude softened immediately: "Sister... Sister, please be kind. I didn't mean it!"

He turned to He Lingchuan, tears overflowing: "I have a three-year-old sister. If I am arrested, she will have no food to eat!"

He Lingchuan remained cold and watched. His loss was minimal, so let the biggest victim deal with this kid.

The woman was unmoved: "Where is my expiation order? Who has it?"

"In the city, by the Chenghu Lake in the west of the city, in the hands of Liu Tailai. Others call him Ergunzi."

"It turned out to be him." The woman nodded.

At this time, several officials passed by. The woman waved to stop them and pointed at the boy and said that the thief had stolen from seven families.

The boy was very angry: "I told the truth, why did you send me to the police?"

"If I don't send you to the police, how can I get back my lost property?" She said lightly, "I am a weak woman, do I have the ability to snatch the expiation order from Liu Ergun?"

When the two officers heard the "expiation order", they were immediately moved: "This kid actually stole the expiation order?"

"He confessed that he was the mastermind of Liu Ergun from Liu Tailai in the west of the city. That guy was a black loan shark, and my brother owed him a large sum of money before he died. He wanted me to continue to pay the debt, so he sent this kid to steal the expiation order."

He Lingchuan listened on the side and felt that the plot was really familiar.

The woman pointed at He Lingchuan and said: "This little thief also stole from six nearby families. This one is also a victim. He lost a bundle of firewood and two fish."

The officer carefully wrote it down, and then said: "What is your name?"

"Sun Fuling."

"Let's take him back first, and ask you if there are any questions."

He Lingchuan looked at the expressions of the two people and knew that they were only concerned about the expiation order.

Then the two officers took the boy away.

He Lingchuan looked at his short and thin back: "He begged for mercy pitifully, I thought you would be soft-hearted."

Women are soft-hearted, such as Madam Ying.

"The city has its own rules. If everyone is soft-hearted and follows their own interests, they will have small benevolence but no great righteousness."

He Lingchuan was in awe.

The woman paused for a moment before continuing: "Besides, last time he was caught stealing on Maliu Street, he also used the same excuse."

She turned around and pushed the door - the door next to He Lingchuan.

"You live here too?" Only a wall separated them.

Speaking of which, he never paid attention to who lived next to his house, but he saw a baby in the neighbor's house to the east on the night of Emperor Liujiang's arrival. And the woman was his neighbor to the west.

Anyway, it was just a dream, wasn't it?

"Yes, it seems that we are neighbors." The woman looked at his wooden door, "That little devil came here for my pardon order, but stole your things. Sorry."

As soon as the voice fell, He Lingchuan heard a gurgling sound.

The woman took a step back with her hands covering her lower abdomen. Although she was wearing a face scarf, He Lingchuan seemed to be able to see her embarrassment.

Thinking of what the thief had just said, "You don't have a grain of rice in your house", He Lingchuan's heart moved, and he took out an oil paper bag and handed it over: "Here, this is a thank you gift for catching the thief."

The woman wanted to refuse, but she smelled the fragrance seeping out of the oil paper, so she took it: "Thank you!"

After He Lingchuan had enough wine and food, he packed a lotus leaf chicken at Yixianglou, originally wanting to have it as a midnight snack. This is the signature dish of the restaurant, using seven spices, including sand ginger powder, which are all raw materials sent into the city by merchants from other places. It is salty, fresh and juicy. He Lingchuan ate a whole one himself and still couldn't eat enough.

The woman probably smiled, because He Lingchuan saw her almond eyes narrowed into slits. Then the two said goodbye and opened the door respectively.

He Lingchuan practiced martial arts in the yard all afternoon, and next door was quiet and silent, as usual.

He didn't take it too seriously. Panlong Desert was windy and sunny, and Panlong City, although located on the Chiba Plateau, was not immune. Many people here had the habit of wearing face scarves when going out, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed to block the wind, sand and strong light. He often saw this on the road.

When the sun was about to set, he heard the woman's door being knocked and someone talking.

He Lingchuan had good hearing and could hear the conversation from his yard.

It was the police who came to the door and asked the owner for details again, and promised her that the case would be investigated to the end and justice would be done to the family of the hero.

Then they left.

He Lingchuan finished his practice and took a cold shower. Just as he put on his pants, the gate of the yard suddenly rang.

The people he knew should be lying at home drunk at this time.

When he opened the door, he saw a girl of about 17 or 18 years old standing outside. Although she was wearing plain clothes without any decoration, she was still as pretty as a person from a painting.

A strange face? He Lingchuan was slightly stunned: "Excuse me, who are you looking for?"

The girl smiled at him, and a small dimple appeared on her left cheek.

"I am Sun Fuling." She raised her head and said generously, "Your neighbor."

"Oh!" He Lingchuan took a closer look and found that the almond eyes were indeed familiar.

She was holding a bundle of firewood in her left hand, and when she saw He Lingchuan, she quickly pushed it forward: "I heard the sound of water. You should not have firewood and charcoal to boil water for heating? It's a courtesy."

Since it was a return gift, He Lingchuan took the firewood.

It was a big bundle, very heavy.

"The lotus leaf chicken is delicious." The female neighbor nodded to him, "It's the sign of Yixianglou, it's very expensive, right?"

He Lingchuan blurted out: "How do you know it's from Yixianglou?"

"... There's a mark on the inside of the oil paper package."

"Oh." He didn't know where his sharp tongue in reality had gone. It was obvious that "He Lingchuan" could tease young girls and wives and would say anything.

The two fell into a strange silence.

The female neighbor moved first: "Then see you later..."

For some reason, He Lingchuan inexplicably spoke: "Do you want to come in and sit for a while?"

Every time he entered a dream, he was either practicing or fighting, and he almost never had a serious conversation with ordinary residents of Panlong City.

Her almond eyes narrowed again.

"Okay."

The woman followed He Lingchuan into the courtyard and looked around.

The weather was very cold, but the room was too small. There was no room for people to sit on the bed, unless both of them sat on the bed. That was obviously too rude, He Lingchuan brought out the only bench and said casually: "Please sit down, I'll go get you a glass of water."

After saying that, he was stunned. There was no fire in this yard all day, where did the boiled water come from?

Let the guests drink raw water?

There is also wine in the house, good wine. But if I take out the wine, will it seem that I have bad intentions?

The female neighbor waved her hand very considerately, "No, really no, I'm not thirsty."

He Lingchuan still went into the kitchen to bring out a small stove, started to light the fire and boil water, and also kept the two warm: "Is your brother Sun Jiayuan?"

"Yes, the pension has been sent." Sun Fuling's eyes turned to him, "You can survive, which means you are more capable than him."

"Just lucky." Just relying on not dying in dreams.

He thought that Sun Jiayuan's sister was really beautiful, not like him at all, especially when she raised her eyes, she was shining, as if she could see into people's hearts.

"I was there when your brother died. In fact, I almost followed his footsteps." He Lingchuan flicked the ash in the furnace. "Before he died, he specifically asked us if becoming a hero could write off the old debts."

To his surprise, Sun Fuling's eyes and tone were equally calm: "He is really hopeless, so he came up with this idea."

The ash was a bit heavy, and He Lingchuan almost sneezed: "He finally wrote off the debts left behind to avoid implicating you. By the way, does Sun Jiayuan live here too? I don't think I've ever seen him nearby."

"No, he lives in a mud house." Sun Fuling said lightly, "How can a person who owes a lot of bad debts be qualified to live in a wooden house?"

The mud house is the lowest-level house in Panlong City, only one level higher than the slaves' dwellings. The whole house is six square meters, barely enough to put a bed, and the remaining space is not enough for an adult to stretch his legs.

If He Lingchuan's wooden house is where civilians live, then the mud house is the standard for the poor.

"But sometimes he comes here to eat for free." Sun Fuling's eyes were full of curiosity. "I heard from Miss Willow that after my brother was killed, you also jumped into the nest of the burrow spiders?"

"Yes." The fire was lit, and He Lingchuan quickly put the kettle on and added water.

The fire burned too slowly.

"Then can you see Zhu Erniang? She is the leader of the burrow spiders." Sun Fuling stretched out her hands to warm herself by the fire. The firelight reflected in her eyes, sparkling and jumping, especially naughty.