Concubine's three acres of pastoral garden

Chapter 20
The old man turned his cloudy eyes to Xianglai, and said, "I, I can't do it anymore, please do me a favor..."

Xianglai helped him to sit up hard, and said: "Tell me, as long as I can do it, I will help you."

The old man said: "Help me, give me... son, bring a sentence..."

Xianglai said, "What are you talking about?"

The old man continued: "Tell him... the gold mine, below, there is... a big dragon."

Xianglai thought that he would ask his son to avenge him, or don't hurt him, how to divide the inheritance, etc., but he didn't expect it to be such a sentence.Although she felt a little strange, she was in a state of panic and was unable to react too much, so she asked instinctively: "But where do I go to find him?"

The old man said: "You are on the door of the house, use, use red rope, tie a... three-pronged, poplar branch..."

He tried his best to finish this sentence, and then his head fell to the side feebly.

Chen Xianglai didn't expect him to die so soon, he shook and shouted unwillingly: "Hey, wake up! What's your son's name? That... who are you?"

But no matter what he called the old man, he didn't open his eyes again.

The second aunt's hands haven't been washed clean yet, and she rubbed her hands with snow until they are almost wooden ,he died."

Xianglai trembled in fright, and almost pushed the old man's body out, but she still managed to hold back, and slowly put the old man's body down again together with the second aunt.

The second aunt asked: "Xiang'er, what did he say just now?"

It was only when Chen Xiang came here that he began to think, such a strange old man with a severed hand, who allowed himself to convey such a strange sentence, shouldn't he be a good person, right?If this is the case, it's better not to let the second aunt know about it, so she said: "He said let us find his son and help him collect his body."

The second aunt believed it was true, and said: "But this one has no name or surname, how can I find it?"

Xiang Lai said: "Yes, I was about to ask his name when he died."

The second aunt looked at the old man on the ground and said: "Oh, it's really pitiful, maybe it was killed by the gold mine again!"

Xianglai thought about the old man's last words, and thought: It must be related to the gold mine, but I don't know if he really offended him.

At this time, the second aunt looked around worriedly, and said: "What's the matter? It's winter, the ground is freezing hard, we can't bury him at all? We can't carry this dead boy back to the village .”

Chen Xianglai also said: "That's right, it seems that this man is destined not to be buried in the ground, this man who is full of wolves, tigers and leopards, might not have any bones left when his son finds him."

Erniang looked at the old man again, wondering: "Xiang'er, how about... let's tie his body to some tree, even if the meat is gnawed, the bones can't be moved far, and his son will come to collect the body You can take it back sometime.”

Chen Xianglai said: "It seems that this is the only way to go, anyway, even if it is buried, the only thing left is bones."

The two were worried that they would be troubled by gold mine workers if they dawdled for a long time, so they moved the old man's body to the side, tied it to a pine tree with a noose, and pushed the surrounding snow to cover him. , pressed some collected fallen tree poles, and then left here to go home.

In the next few days, the two of them did not dare to come here again, nor did they mention this matter to others.

As for what the old man said about tying branches to the door and sending a message to his son, Chen Xianglai has been hesitating whether to do it or not.

Because from her point of view, the old man's death itself was not normal, and there was even more mystery in the words he passed on, plus the way father and son communicated was so special, all of the above added up, he was obviously doing something shameful when he was alive. If I get involved in it in a daze, will it lead to disaster?
With such worries, she temporarily put the matter on hold, planning to wait a few days to figure it out before talking about it.

On the third day after meeting the old man with a broken hand, Xianglai and his second aunt took all the covers back, sorted out the accumulated leather at home, and prepared to sell it in the county.

In the past, the two of them just dragged the wild things back, and Wu Lai Niang was responsible for collecting the skins. It wasn't until now that they moved out that they realized that they had already saved so much after the winter. Zhang was the fox skin. There are more than 20 skins, plus deerskins, raccoon skins, wolf skins, and worthless roe deer, roe deer skins, rabbit skins... The stacks are as tall as a person.

Even the good hunters in the village didn't have as much harvest as they did.

With so many things, even a family of four would be exhausted to carry to Songning City only by manpower, so Xianglai had to go to the middle room to borrow oxen to use the plow.

Dachang had nothing to say, and agreed with all his mouth.And Wu Zhaodi didn't eat less game from Xianglai's house this winter, and even her father got a whole roe deer by the way. Although she was reluctant in her heart, she couldn't just say no, she just muttered: "Two Go out of a woman's house, don't let someone snatch it!"

When she said it, Guifang heard it, and she went back and told Zhang.

The next day, when Xianglai, his mother, and the second aunt came out, they saw Dachang fully dressed and put on the sledge. While helping the three of them put the leather on, she said: "My mother is afraid that it will be unsafe for you two to go out. Let me Follow along."

Xianglai Niang said: "How good is this, don't delay your fishing!"

This winter, Wu Zhaodi was jealous seeing Xianglai and Second Auntie dragging their prey back in pairs, so she asked Dachang to dig ice and fish with others.

Dachang said: "It's okay, I just happened to bring some dried fish to the county to sell, and I will bring back some New Year's goods."

When Xiang Lai Niang heard about this, she stopped being polite to him.

Xianglai also went to see Dachang, and felt that there was no need for the three of them to go together, so she said, "Second Aunt, since Brother Dachang is going, you can stay at home, there is no need for one more person to suffer from the cold."

The second aunt thought she would need one more person's room and board money, so she nodded in agreement.

After the sledge was installed, Xianglai said to her mother, second aunt and Tianlai, who was watching, "We are leaving, you go back to the house... Tianlai, don't look, you will grow up in two years." Yes, my sister will take you with me!"

Xianglai Niang and Second Aunt reminded: "Be careful all the way, how careful you are, others will be deceived..."

Tianlai also waved his hands reluctantly.

Xianglai thought to himself: "However, if you go for a hundred miles, it's like going abroad, alas! It's really hard to mix up in this time of inconvenient transportation..."

While thinking, he and Dachang drove the sledge out the door.

Dachang walked and said: "Xianglai, you said how about we invite a good doctor to come back and show it to your second aunt and me?"

Xianglai said: "Well, okay, I originally wanted to take my mother with me, but it's too cold and I'm afraid I'll ruin her, so it's best to invite a doctor back."

(End of this chapter)