Duan Qing had passed by this herbal medicine shop before when he came to have a "heart-to-heart talk" with the village chief, but at that time he only glanced at it casually and never came in. This time, Mengzhu pulled him over because of this. I took the opportunity to observe it carefully.
Most of the houses in Green Stone Village are simple and crude, at least judging from what Duan Qing has seen so far, the houses in the village are basically like this. The walls, window frames, door panels, and furniture inside are almost all made of wood - maybe It's probably because there is a forest next to this village. Even in serious business places such as blacksmith houses and herbal medicine houses, most of the business counters and shelves for placing various goods are very Worn wooden products. At this time, the wooden shelves of this herbal medicine shop were filled with many herbal products that Duan Qing didn't know what they were used for. Some of them were tied up with ropes in bundles, and some were already put into bottles. Bottles of medicine are gone.
The strange thing is that if you ignore the simple patterns, these wooden shelves look very worn out. The wooden board of the shelf on the left is even partially broken, but the store is still in normal use... . ..
Diligence and thrift? Or is it to create a certain culture of a "century-old store"?
I don't know if there is such a business concept in this world. Duan Qing thought for a while and then began to observe the old woman who was talking to the girl.
The old lady's clothes were also a little shabby, just like the old people in the northern countryside in Duan Qing's impression in the early years of the last century. They were neatly dressed in white and wore a worn-out cotton-padded jacket. Although there were some floral patterns on the cotton-padded jacket, there were also some Patches were put on after they were worn out. At this time, the old woman put her hands in each other's worn cotton sleeves, and followed the owner of those hands hunched in her arms, sitting in front of the old table. Maybe it was because she was old and her ears were not strong. Okay, she tilted her head slightly and looked like she was listening.
But the old man gave Duan Qing a very warm feeling.
Although time has left too many wrinkles on her face, it also gives people a sense of peace and reliability. Her mouth is tightly closed with a long line, and she may have lost a lot of teeth, making her look slightly sunken. But her pursed smile, her eyes that are slightly curved into crescent moons, neatly turned back and meticulously white, and her slight and contented swaying when listening, can make those who see her feel that she is an old person. of kindness and tolerance.
Although the girl's behavior was a bit messy on the road, Duan Qing finally figured out her current situation. He felt a little helpless and sighed at the girl's innocence. However, seeing such an elderly woman at this time, Duan Qing really couldn't help it. I know where the girl's worry comes from just now.
How could such an old lady make it difficult for you... But it's okay, it seems that there is no need to trouble yourself to prove it.
Unsurprisingly, after hearing the girl's hesitant purpose, the old lady frowned, but she still expressed her comfort to Mengzhu in a kind way, saying that it didn't matter if she didn't receive the herbs. While looking at the girl's somewhat embarrassed look: "It'll be good if you come back, it'll be fine if you're fine..."
But when the bamboo basket was mentioned, the old woman's kind smile faded away.
"That bamboo basket isn't worth much, but... that bamboo basket isn't mine either. It was made by the wife of Batstein's family in the north of the village. Batstein seemed to be... a few days ago.
When he got sick, he took some herbs. Later, when he recovered, he came over to express his gratitude, and then gave me the bamboo basket made by his wife..."
There were some leaks in what the old lady said, but the two of them still had no problem listening to it: "So, if the bamboo basket is lost, just lose it. I don't care about these things, but it would be better if I went to their house to call them.
Yeah..."
The old woman put her hands in her sleeves and looked at the ceiling, her body swaying slightly. After thinking for a while, she realized that although the family is located in the remote north of the village, they are all good people. If you go and sort things out, they will not embarrass you.
, another bamboo basket is nothing, it is much better than someone getting into trouble, etc. The girl smiled and thanked her repeatedly, but her smile was not very natural. Looking in the eyes of Duan Qing, who knew well, he knew that the girl was probably very upset about her previous random thoughts.
.
So what was the point of pulling me here before? Are you guys going to listen to the nagging together...
"Oh, if you encounter Feilin, remember to ask him to pick up today's medicine. His disease won't be cured by just taking it for a few days. Of course, if you don't encounter it, forget it..."
"Okay, old lady." Mengzhu kept smiling and responded in a clear voice. However, Duan Qing, who was standing aside, rolled his eyes, thinking that he would probably ask who Feilin was again.
"And Benny, that guy hasn't shown up for several days. Maybe he found some kind of job again. Go and see him. He's still there. Although there's nothing you can do, there's nothing you can do if you keep him busy like this...
..."
"Okay old lady..." The girl continued, but her eyes were directed to Duan Qing who was looking aside. Duan Qing looked up at the ceiling, pretending not to see it.
"And that Kara, I have already dealt with her matter with Fabre. He will definitely help her deal with it. Just let her wait for the news with peace of mind..."
"Ah, hahaha..." Mengzhu was speechless and could only keep smiling.
"And Luca..."
"And Feraz..."
The old woman nagged kindly for a long time, and then the two finally said goodbye and escaped from this hell.
"Phew, my face is about to freeze... You are still laughing! Why are you laughing? Just now you pretended not to see..." The girl looked at Duan Qing's face, which had been suppressing a smile.
, couldn't help but stepped forward and said, "Aren't you a victim?"
"Okay, okay, I won't laugh, I won't laugh... Hey, if you make trouble again, it's okay. I won't look at you anymore." Seeing that the apple on the girl's face was almost gone, Duan Qing hurriedly
He found a way to change the subject: "What's next? What are you going to do? Do you really want to go to that Tan family?"
The girl finally stopped being angry and started thinking seriously.
Under normal circumstances, if something like this happens, there is nothing wrong with going there again. However, this is a game world, and people’s concepts of good and evil and values may not necessarily use the same boundaries in the virtual world. The line of good is the same as the line of good.
The bottom line of evil is no longer the inevitable criterion for judging whether something can be done. Instead, it is often replaced by ways of measuring interests such as "Is this thing troublesome?" "Is this thing beneficial?"
After all, everyone is here to play games, and moral restraints are naturally much greater than in real society. You can do whatever you want, and don’t do anything you don’t want to do. If someone does something they don’t want to do, it’s probably because A certain task has attractive rewards or unknown benefits. On the contrary, some things that the goodwill of human nature requires people to do may not be so willing to do them, because from the perspective of value in the game, They have no meaning.
Just like what happened this time, the average player can achieve what Mengzhu is now, which is already very good. They can also use words such as "I want to apologize, so as to leave a good impression on the NPC selling herbal medicine. It may be beneficial in the future." I convinced myself with this reason. As for the follow-up? God knows what the Batstan family does. Will they give rewards? Do they also sell good things? Are they selling bamboo baskets? What do I have if I want so many bamboo baskets? Useful, not to mention they are just a family of civilians...
More people probably didn't even know how to apologize. They just threw away a broken bamboo basket. After all the hard work, there may not be much gain... As for Mengzhu when he came. There are none of those intentional worries.
Duan Qing had already seen the girl's kindness. She had lost all her weapons in that battle, and he had never seen her care so much. So he looked at the frowning girl and heard the decision he expected: "Well, let's go to one."
After the girl made her decision, she realized that Duan Qing was staring at her again. She closed her head inexplicably, and then shouted as if she suddenly realized: "Hey, we have come here, don't think about running away. Ah, I'm not afraid of you, so what else are you afraid of..."
Seeing Duan Qing laughing again, Mengzhu thought that Duan Qing wanted to be a farmer in "Crying Wolf", so he began to persuade him: "Let's go, let's go together, I won't hurt you..." .correct!"
She became excited, as if she had suddenly found a new bait: "Maybe this is some kind of hidden mission. Why don't you go and take a look? There will be a surprise! Think about it, how secretive this plot is... ..”
At this moment, you suddenly have an epiphany... Duan Qing once again lamented the girl's innocence, and then was pulled away again.
*********************
There are naturally no hidden tasks.
To the north of the village is a relatively desolate place. For this remote place to be called desolate, one can only imagine how barren it is.
The houses in the northern area are more dilapidated, especially in the northeastern area. There are ruins, which look like what was left after some disaster happened before and many buildings were destroyed. Occasionally, between the broken walls, there are There are one or two inhabited houses, but those old houses that seem to have no living people coming or going are like an island in a vast sea of ruins, lonely and lifeless. As for what it is like inside, Duan Qing Neither of them knew.
The girl who saw these scenes became a little quieter, but she still discussed things from time to time, such as how to talk in the future, how to show her sincerity, how to extract information, etc.
"If someone asks for money later, just go out first. I'm very poor..."
"Hey, hey, I paid for all the medical expenses before..."
"Don't you deserve it? Besides, you are a grown man, but you always ask me, a woman, to pay. Are you sorry..."
"Why do I think you have the potential to be a tough guy..."
"What are you!"
Walking in such a place, the two people chatted casually. Although they occasionally quarreled, Duan Qing still understood something in his heart when he saw the girl's absent-minded expression.
Although this is a virtual world, this desolate scene still gives people a negative feeling.
In comparison, Duan Qing gave Mengzhu an even different feeling. Mengzhu looked at him and looked around at those scenes with a serious look, sometimes stopping to stare at the people on the "isolated island".
What I was thinking was that I wanted to see what was behind this scene.
Hey, what can you see? People in the city have never seen the world. How about observing the life of the working people... The girl curled her lips in her heart, thinking that you can't see any flowers no matter how hard you look.
The life of a poor family...
The life of a poor family is certainly nothing to look at.
At a certain moment, Duan Qing stopped to watch again. Mengzhu, who was forced to stop again, helplessly looked in Duan Qing's direction. Not far from the roadside, a boy carrying a wooden basket walked from someone's house.
He came out, wiped the sweat from his head, and then walked one by one to a dilapidated house in the corner of a certain ruins. Perhaps he was a little tired, so his pace was a little slow. When he reached the corner, he gasped.
After taking a few breaths, he sat down with his legs folded, reached out to untie the wooden basket behind his back and put it aside, then put his chin in his hands and looked quietly in a certain direction.
He seems to be a very pitiful child... Mengzhu thought, if he starts working at such a young age, what are his family members and his parents doing to let such a child...
Could it be that he was sick? He died? Or he spent all his time eating, drinking, whoring and gambling instead of doing his job... Based on his childhood life experience, Mengzhu's imagination began to expand involuntarily. The next moment, she heard a paragraph.
Qing turned around and said, "Let's go."
So what on earth are you looking at after watching it for a long time... Uncle now, I really don’t understand.
The two of them had been searching left and right for a long time, so they didn't take more than two steps and found their destination according to the old woman's prompts. As expected, this family was as bare as they had come along this way, but the two of the Bartstein family were.
He is very kind-hearted. After hearing the girl's purpose, he showed the open-mindedness of a farmer when he lost a bamboo basket.
"Oh...it's just a bamboo basket. If you lose it, just throw it away. I'll ask my wife to make another one another day and send it over. Oh, it's worthless, it's okay..."
Duan Qing and Mengzhu were politely sent out. The whole process was full of peace and friendliness. Of course, there was no trace of the imaginary hidden mission.
The girl was naturally very happy to have fulfilled her wish to make up for her mistakes, but her expectation for the "hidden mission" that was born out of a sudden thought was not fulfilled in the end. However, looking at the appearance of this area, the girl did have some understanding in her heart.
Yes, in such a miserable place, it would be really strange if that family could come up with any strange tasks or strange rewards... The girl calmed down and suddenly remembered that she had brought someone with her to follow.
I wasted so much time, and I felt a little guilty. Although the uncle was very bad, he saved me at least, and even paid for the medical expenses...
After struggling in her heart, Mengzhu decided to talk to the man about his next plan. She might not be able to help, so she just thought of it as a thank you to the man for accompanying her... But when she looked up,
His eyes began to try to find the person he was talking to. Before the words "Next..." were spoken, Duan Qing had already walked aside.
Although you have done a lot of useless work, you don't have to act so distant... Mengzhu felt slightly unhappy in his heart and watched Duan Qing walking in a certain direction. At the end of that direction, there was the quiet man sitting in the corner.
The boy below is looking back here.
The sun went down in the west, and in the afterglow of the setting sun, Duan Qing's walking figure was gradually lengthened. The soles of his shoes were stepped on, and because there were many rubbles on the ground that had not been cleaned, the footsteps were noisy and obvious. The boy in the corner probably heard this.
There was the sound of footsteps, so I turned my head and looked at the man who was gradually approaching.
Duan Qing stopped a few steps before him. Two figures, one large and one small, looked at each other in silence, as if two masters in the world who had not seen each other for a long time finally met and were competing with each other with sharp eyes.
. Mengzhu followed slowly and stopped not far behind Duan Qing. He looked incomprehensible to the scene in front of him and didn't know what to do.
The atmosphere in front of him seemed to be telling something. The sound of the complaint seemed to echo in Mengzhu's ears, gently reminding him of the story.
There are gravels swimming on the ground, then floating and flying past. This is a sign that the wind has become stronger. Some debris will occasionally roll on the ground. Amidst the low whine of the air, the temperature in the evening has also become lower.
.Seemingly feeling the coldness, Mengzhu hugged his shoulders, feeling as if they had been standing here for a long time. When a bundle of dry weeds rolled across the ground between the two people looking at each other, the one looking at Duan Qing
The boy finally spoke his first words.
"This... sir." His voice was young and dry: "Can you help me find my father?"
This chapter has been completed!