Chapter 235 The Strange Old Woman

He Lingchuan looked up and found an old woman, looking around as she walked, with her feet turned inward.

She was thin and shriveled, but her belly was a little bulging, which reminded He Lingchuan of the dead wood piles by the river.

"Are you the shopkeeper?"

When she spoke, her voice was much younger than her face, and He Lingchuan found that she had all her teeth, and she didn't seem as old as she looked.

"I guess so." He told the truth, "This store has just been taken back, and it may take some time to reopen."

"What do you want to sell?" The old lady touched and rummaged around, not being polite to him at all.

"It's not clear yet." He didn't have the energy to manage the store in his dream, so he would entrust the official to rent it out and count the money quarterly, "What are you doing?"

"I, I'm collecting things." The old woman's eyes wandered among the pile of debris, up and down, not only not dizzy but also very energetic.

Somehow, He Lingchuan felt that she was very much like an otter on the riverbed in the dry season. That kind of creature also likes to stay in the pile of miscellaneous items that they have built with their own hands.

But she is too thin, her eyes are a little bulging, and full of bloodshot.

"Do you still want these?" The old woman said dryly, "If you don't want them, just give them to me, okay?"

"No, you can take them all."

The old woman immediately bowed to him: "Good man, good man, 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 move things.

She took away a jar first.

The jar was covered with a thick layer of yellow mud and was hidden under two stacked tables, and the tables were blocked by a screen. He Lingchuan didn't see it at all when he first counted the 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 was not big, at most it could hold five or seven pounds of wine. All the sauce jars He Lingchuan had seen were bigger than it.

"I'll help you move it?" He was just being kind.

The old woman held the jar tighter, as if she was afraid that he would come and snatch it: "No, no!"

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

The dolls were poorly made, and He Lingchuan always felt that they were staring at people with bad intentions. Perhaps the former shopkeeper thought so too, so he threw them in the warehouse, out of sight, out of mind.

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

He Lingchuan really wanted to ask her son how old he was and still playing with this, but suddenly there was a clang outside, and the cart was knocked down.

The old woman screamed and ran out quickly.

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 the mud skin on the outside of the jar had peeled off, revealing the grayish-white and yellowish base inside.

Jars of this color seem to be rare in Panlong City?

The old woman was also distressed. She picked up the jar and turned it around twice to check. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found that there was no more damage.

At this moment, someone approached and greeted He Lingchuan.

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

"I went to the pharmacy in front to pick up the medicine." A Luo turned around and pointed, "The goods I ordered a few days ago arrived today. Is this your shop?"

"Yes."

"You just came to tidy up today. It seems that you are not short of money." The shop was rented out one day earlier, and the money was collected one day earlier.

As the two of them talked, the old woman stood up.

Perhaps because she had been squatting for too long, she swayed twice as soon as she stood up and almost fell.

A Luo helped her.

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

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

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

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

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

A Luo pressed the handle of the cart: "You are pregnant, you know it, right?"

When this was said, 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 mind your own business!"

She looked very angry, and obviously knew about it, so A Luo had to let go and let her push away.

Her back quickly disappeared at the corner of the street, and she didn't look back the whole time.

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

"Well, I felt her pulse, although it was only for a moment."

"Could it be..." Wrong?

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

He had seen the old woman's belly bulging before, but many old people looked like this, so he didn't think much about it.

Who knew it was so weird.

"About four or five months."

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

A Luo shook his head: "I only know that the pulse is stable and a little agitated, and the fetuses in her belly are so active that there is even a risk of miscarriage, but fortunately they are still strong."

"They?" He Lingchuan was shocked, "She is pregnant with several more?"

"At least two or more." A Luo said, "Do you think I am a god and can tell exactly how many I am pregnant with just by touching her?"

Someone suddenly said: "Are you sure? Is Ji Dasao pregnant?"

The two turned their heads and saw the owner and his wife of the fur shop next door standing at the door of the store, with an incredible look on their faces.

"What are you sure about?" A Luo had a bad temper, and was particularly dissatisfied with others questioning his medical skills. "Believe it or not."

The shop owner was kind and apologized quickly: "Don't be upset, General, we just can't imagine it. This is too weird."

His wife was much more straightforward: "Does Sister Ji have someone outside? This is really a case of knowing a person's face but not his heart."

He Lingchuan brushed away the debris on the steps: "What's wrong with an old tree sprouting new buds?"

The shop owner's wife said directly: "She is not too old, only four years older than me, but she has been a widow for many years. After losing her son, she has been talking nonsense all day long. I didn't expect that she could find another man."

She looks less than 40, so Sister Ji is in her early 40s, much younger than her appearance.

"Lost a son?" He Lingchuan thought of the row of ceramic dolls that Sister Ji took away, "How many children does she have?"

"Two sons, both died on the battlefield."

A Luo lowered his eyes, and He Lingchuan sighed silently.

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

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

As for the old tree sprouting new buds, although this kind of thing is a bit strange, others have no right to ask.

The shop owner said in a serious tone, "She used to be my neighbor, and I often heard her wailing loudly in the middle of the night. If it was ten days or half a month, everyone would sympathize with her and endure it, but who can stand such wailing for half a year? She became more and more confused, and even wanted to take away other children. Later, the neighbors had to drive her away. I heard that she moved to the suburbs."

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

"Uh..." The shop owner and his wife looked at each other, "Almost, three years?"

She has aged like this in three years?

After saying that, the door of the store returned to calm, and the shop owner and his wife next door shrank back. A Luo also said to He Lingchuan: "I'm going to the military review hall today. Do you want to go?"

"Okay, take me to play." He Lingchuan locked the store with his backhand and put the little episode that just happened behind him.

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

This is a place where heroes exchange skills. To put it nicely, it is a place to make friends through martial arts. To put it practically, there is no other place better than martial arts.

He Lingchuan has been practicing 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 arena.

The predecessor of the Martial Arts Review Hall was a horse farm. It was still in the suburbs at that time. Later, Panlong City expanded outward and soon included it. So this piece of land is destined to be large and empty, but Panlong City built a high wall to enclose it, and only one-fifth of the land is exposed to the public.

The sign of the Martial Arts Review Hall is very large, and these three characters are flying and dancing, and the small characters on the side are signed by Zhong Shengguang.

It turned out that it was written by Commander Zhong himself.

However, He Lingchuan has little experience. This is the first time he has seen a sign with black characters on a white background. Ah, this is really solemn.

A Luo took him in, and the guard checked the two people's signs before letting them 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 felt that this place was even bigger. He knew that the military review hall was actually divided into two courtyards, north and south, with the casket building in the middle as the boundary. The south courtyard was close to the gate, facing the soldiers and patrols of Panlong City, with a total of five venues; the north courtyard was only open to the Dafeng Army. Everyone in the south courtyard could only look north across the fence, secretly envious.

The casket building was a two-story building separating the two courtyards, which was specially designed to provide logistical support for the warriors. Here they could rest, sharpen their weapons, remove and change their equipment, and there were special doctors sitting in the hall in case of accidents.

A Luo came here to take over the doctor's job. He was short of money.

Now there are dozens of people in the south courtyard. The edge of the martial arts training ground can be used for individual training, but the center of the venue must be cleared for the competition. He Lingchuan saw six people fighting against each other. The knives and swords in their hands were all made of wood, and the blades were smeared with red powder.

Those who were hit would leave red marks on their bodies. If the two sides fight to the end without a substantial knockout, the winner will be determined by the number and location of the red marks on each person's body.

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

Thin Man.

This guy waved a dozen notes in his hand, stood on the side of a fight, and shouted at the top of his lungs.

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

With a bang, the contestant in the field was knocked unconscious by the shield.

There was a burst of boos from the sidelines, some people left unhappily, and some people shouted to the thin man for money: "I won, I won, give me money!"

This money cannot be owed, the thin man turned his back and blocked the hands from behind, while grabbing the charcoal stick to scratch off the notes: "Don't worry, don't worry, come one by one!"