Linxia

Chapter 139, Illness

Just when the old Fang family in Xiaohe Village, the eldest wife Fang Boxian and Fang Chuanhui, and the second wife Fang Zhonggui, Fang He, Fang Caoer and Fang Xiaoxiao rushed to the provincial capital.

In Huai'an Prefecture City, the craze for the first part of Romance of the Three Kingdoms has cooled down a little. Now Fang Lin's Xuan Mo Zhai's business is naturally much worse than when it was the most popular last month, but compared to before Romance of the Three Kingdoms went on sale and when Manager Liu was there, it can also be said to be extremely popular.

——This is because the release of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" attracted quite a large number of customers. Even though most of them were unable to stay due to distance, habit and other reasons, there were still quite a few who stayed. In addition, many old customers of Xuan Mo Zhai came back, so it is not surprising that the store is so popular today.

Huang Di, Chai Yiwei, Liu Hongwen and Geng Shi were enough to handle the situation in the store. Fang Linqing had some free time and walked around the city to select locations for the two bookstore branches.

After running around for two days, he found two branches and bought them, signed the deeds, and then recruited staff. As a branch, the most important thing is to find someone like Fang Lin who can be a shopkeeper and stand on his own, who has good character, is literate and numerate, and has certain management skills.

Fang Lin was still worried. Those who could meet these requirements were mostly scholars, and they were arrogant and hard to find. At this time, a man came over to recommend himself. It was Liu Hongru, the second son of Manager Liu. This man was a scholar and also had the title of scholar, but he was a bit unorthodox and had little hope of passing the imperial examination. He usually did some work like copying books and teaching, and now he came here.

Of course, there was another more important reason why Liu Hongru came here, and that was that Fang Lin was urged to submit the second part of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" every day - well, readers came to urge him to submit the manuscript.

The other person, Zhong Zongdian, has been coming over frequently recently to exchange writing experiences. After hearing about it, he recommended Dai Zongqi to him. Although this person was refuted by Fang Lin at the beginning, he was able to recognize the general trend and had self-knowledge. After the debate conference, he decided to go back and continue to take the imperial examination. The next academy examination will be in one or two years, so he decided to come here to work first.

After Fang Lin had a conversation with the two men, he made the decision. He had made an investigation and believed in his own judgment. He would trust people if he did not trust them, and would not employ them if he did not trust them.

Besides, the business of a branch store is limited, and even if something happens, they can afford the loss. But at that time, he treated people with sincerity and acted in an upright and just way. If the other party was unjust, he would have something to say, especially when his background and connections were stronger than the other party.

Not to mention, the two of them have achieved fame and took the imperial examination, which requires reputation.

Considering all the reasons, these two people are smart and can think of it, so they probably won't do anything unwise.

After the two branch managers were decided, the remaining clerks were easy to hire. If they could read and do math, that would be even better, but if not, that was fine too. As long as they had some strength or were good at talking, it would be relatively easy to find a job with one of these outstanding qualities. What's more, it was such a respectable job, so there would be no problem finding people.

Fang Chuanhui and Fang He, who had not arrived yet, were the first to be stationed in two branches. Having two family members watching over them could be considered a form of invisible supervision, to guard against good guys rather than bad guys!

Then, they would ask around among the villagers who had stayed in Xiaohe Village and the neighbors in Xixiang Hutong about the characters they knew, and people like Zheng Yu would be hired to cook - after all, it would be easier to worry about whoever they knew well.

After the two branches were established, Fang Lin felt more relaxed. He read books every day, studied the Four Books and Five Classics, and wrote some manuscripts for the second part of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

He is still waiting for pirated copies to spread in other places. This will take a long time, so there is no rush and he can write slowly.

In addition, every now and then, he would find time to take Tian Xuan back to reunite with Fang's father and mother, and their lives were quite relaxing and comfortable.

……

In the evening of that day, Fang Lin brought Tian Xuan back. At Xuan Mo Zhai, there were some leftover oily and meaty meals from lunch in the kitchen. Huang Di, Chai Yiwei, Geng Shi, and Liu Hongwen had left them in the store, so there was no need to worry, they could just heat them up themselves.

When he came back today, he bought a lot of things, such as braised meat, roast chicken, roast duck, pig ear cold dishes, wine, as well as persimmons, apples, dates, cucumbers and other fruits and vegetables. He and Tian Xuan both had their hands full.

After entering the alley and walking along the way, every time I met adults and children, after saying hello, they would generously give me two.

Passing by the Xin family, Sha Xiaoyun was collecting eggs.

The Xin family has been raising chickens for five or six months. Now it is autumn, the time for the chickens to lay eggs. They have been walking around here and there these days. When she saw them, she took a few pieces of firewood from the eaves, placed them in a few places, and covered them with straw.

Today I heard the cluck, cluck, cluck sounds of a hen, so I thought she had laid eggs, so I went over to take a look... and sure enough!
Sha Xiaoyun's face was red with excitement. He picked through several holes in the firewood and found six eggs at once. There were traces of blood on them. He couldn't help but say, "The first egg was bloody. It must have burst my butt."

Xin Yaer was placed in the pocket of her clothes, lying on her stomach and looking out. There were only a few sparse hairs on her little head.

"Be good, Ya'er. Mom will make you some egg custard tonight."

Sha Xiaoyun said, turning around to see Fang Lin and Tian Xuan, and happily gave them two eggs: "These are new eggs laid today, they are good eggs!"

Fang Lin and Tian Xuan took the gifts without any hesitation, and also took some apples, dates and persimmons as return gifts.

"I don't know if Dad and Youzi have eaten these fruits before. They will definitely be happy to see them."

Sha Xiaoyun felt that she had taken advantage and was embarrassed. She wanted to give all the eggs to Fang Lin and Tian Xuan, but they naturally refused. After declining and thanking them, she took Xin Yaer in her pocket, held the eggs and fruits in her arms, and walked into the house. She put the fruits on the table and put the eggs in the basket she had put there for eggs today.

"It's not easy for Sister Xiaoyun to raise her. That's great!" Tian Xuan said with a soft smile, which made people feel soft in their hearts.

"Yeah, that's great."

Happiness is invisible and intangible, but at this moment, Fang Lin looked at the smile on Sha Xiaoyun's face, as if he really saw and felt it.

……

When they came back, Fang's mother saw how many things the two of them had brought and hurried over to take them: "All these, braised meat, roast chicken, roast duck, pig ears, wine, as well as persimmons, apples, dates, cucumbers... Why did you buy so much? Even if you have money, you shouldn't spend it like this!"

"Yes, I know you've made money, so it's only right that you improve the food. But only one or two items each time will be enough. Too much won't be finished and will go bad in the summer." Father Fang also came back at this time and said this.

"Dad, Mom, no, there's good news today." Tian Xuan said, looking at Fang Lin, meaning for him to speak.

"Yeah, it doesn't happen on normal days, but today is different." Fang Lin said, taking out a title deed. This is the title deed of this house.

Yes, today he bought the house in Xixiang Hutong.

"House deed? Linzi, did you buy the house we live in?" Fang's mother looked at the house deed, and her voice suddenly became much higher because of surprise.

"Good, good, good!" Father Fang was also happy and said three good words in a row.

Although the Fang family has saved a lot of money recently, money is different from a house. The people of Daxia have a unique feeling for two things: one is the field, and the other is the house. Otherwise, why is there a saying called "asking for fields and asking for houses"? "Earlier, I saw that you made money in the store, so I wanted to buy the house for my family. Later, I heard that you were going to open a branch, and I didn't know if the money was enough, so I swallowed it... Linzi, do you have enough money on hand? If not, take it from our family." Fang's mother asked after she was happy.

"It's enough. The store is not mine alone, so how can I use our family's money to subsidize it? Besides, the house is not expensive, so this little bit is not a big deal. Not only the title deed, but our household registration has also been transferred. From now on, we are no longer temporary residents, but registered residents of Huai'an Prefecture, and we are considered real residents of the prefecture." Fang Lin said with a smile.

Father Fang listened, and then he leaned over to look at the title deed like a treasure next to Mother Fang, and said happily: "With this title deed, we don't have to worry about being evicted. It's good to live here, and the neighbors are good... After the household registration is transferred here, we don't have to worry about being checked in the future. We can go back to the countryside. This is a great thing!"

"Isn't it? In the past, when we wanted to add something big to our home, we always thought that it wasn't our own home and we might have to move and have trouble if we couldn't take it with us. Now we don't have to worry about that anymore." Fang's mother also said happily.

"Brother Lin, this will be our home from now on." Tian Xuan's face was also filled with a happy smile.

"Yes, our home!" Fang Lin exclaimed.

Mr. and Mrs. Fang looked at the house deed over and over again until it was time to eat, then they reluctantly put it down and put it away.

The dinner was extremely sumptuous. Not only were there cold and hot dishes bought, but Fang's mother and Tian Xuan also fried two more dishes, making a total of eight dishes and one soup, to celebrate the purchase of a house and the change of household registration.

Mr. and Mrs. Fang, who have always been frugal, don't think this is a luxury today.

During the meal, Fang's mother mentioned something: "Linzi, Xiaoxuan, you don't know yet? Madam Ou is sick..."

"Oh?"

Fang Lin put down his chopsticks and said, "Mom, what's wrong? What's wrong? Is it serious?"

He had great respect for Master Ou and was very fond of Mrs. Ou, a good person, and he hoped for the best from the bottom of his heart.

"Mrs. Ou has a sore on her left chest. She boiled some herbs and applied them, but it didn't get better. Later, the sore began to expand and get bigger. Now it is as big as a date..."

"That must hurt, right?" Tian Xuan asked.

"Isn't it? According to Mrs. Ou, the pain was like being stretched out like a long noodle. It would be worse than death... I once saw her shaking with pain." Fang's mother sighed.

"God is blind. Mrs. Ou is such a good person, but she got such a strange disease and suffered such torture." This is what Mr. Fang said after hearing this.

Fang Lin planned to visit the Ou family after dinner.

……

After dinner, Fang Lin and Tian Xuan brought some persimmons to the Ou family to visit Mrs. Ou. Other fruits such as apples and dates were not easy for older people to bite, so they were not taken.

When Fang Lin saw Mrs. Ou, he was shocked. Mrs. Ou was much thinner and thinner than he had remembered, and her whole appearance had changed.

Madam Ou covered her chest, stood up and greeted them, her lips trembling slightly from the pain: "Linzi, Xiaoxuan, you are here?"

"Mrs. Ou, why are you so thin?" Fang Lin asked as he came closer. His nose twitched subconsciously and he smelled a disgusting odor like rotten meat. His face was restrained and expressionless.

Tian Xuan put down the persimmons and came over. She also smelled the fishy stench and instinctively wanted to raise her hand to cover her nose, but she immediately realized something and just tidied up her hair under her forehead and let it down again.

"It smells bad, doesn't it? My disease has caused this part to rot..." Mrs. Ou pointed to her chest and said, "The flesh is rotten, and my body smells bad. I dare not go out. I have brought shame to him. He is a teacher, a scholar, respectable, and has a good temper. I..."

"What nonsense are you talking about? I've lived through this my whole life, how could I possibly despise you? It's not your fault that you're sick. Once you're cured in a couple of days, you might even live to be a hundred years old!"

Mr. Ou usually had a slightly irritable temper. For example, he slapped the palms of primary school children in school, took off Man Gensheng's shoes and beat him, and beat him even more severely on the night when Grandma Man pretended to be dead. But now, facing the sick Mrs. Ou, he was extremely patient.

He comforted her slowly, and to show that he was not disgusted, he moved closer, took Mrs. Ou's hand without any strange expression on his face, and gently stroked it. Her palm was rough, with deep lines all over it, and many of them were pigments left over from work, which could not be washed away no matter how hard he tried.

This scene made Fang Lin and Tian Xuan silent. They both felt extremely uncomfortable, but Master Ou, who was always clean, did not show any strange expression on his face. How could he do this if they did not have a deep relationship?

"If it were me, could Brother Lin do it? Of course I could. If it were Brother Lin, I could do it too." Tian Xuan thought about it and glanced at Fang Lin secretly.

'It sounds like breast cancer. It seems to be incurable these days. I hope not!'

Fang Lin thought about it, sat for a while, and came out.

Master Ou said as he sent the two people off: "She has been with me all her life, but she has not enjoyed any happiness. When I was young, I was studying, and life was hard back then. She did everything, sewing, washing clothes, growing vegetables, and raising me, my parents, and I had a bad temper at that time. Later, she gave birth to three daughters and one son, but only two survived... Now she is in her old age, and has contracted this strange disease..."

When Fang Lin heard this, he suddenly thought of Mrs. Ou's hands that he had just seen. Compared with the hands of many beasts in human form, who looked glamorous on the surface but extorted money in secret, those hands had an ugly cleanliness.

"Everyone says that she has a blessed face, but she has never enjoyed any happiness since following me." At this time, the moon rose, and the moonlight shone on Master Ou's face. He took a deep breath and said this again.

Fang Lin felt a little sad when he heard this, and comforted her: "Master, Madam Ou is blessed by heaven, and she will definitely get better."

"Yes, good people will be rewarded." Tian Xuan said.

"I think so too."

Master Ou forced a smile, looked at Fang Lin and Tian Xuan, and said, "Xiao Xuan is good, Fang Lin you are good too, you are all good, and you are all so young, it's great! Fang Lin you are also better than me, you must keep up the good work in the future, don't learn from me, I didn't know how to change until I got older...Haha!"

After bidding farewell to Master Ou, Fang Lin and Tian Xuan held hands tightly and went back under the bright moonlight with different feelings.

……

(End of this chapter)