Duan Qing had passed by this herbal shop before when he came to have a "heart-to-heart talk" with the village chief, but he only took a casual look at it and never came in. This time, Mengzhu pulled him over and took this opportunity to observe him carefully.
Most of the houses in Green Stone Village are simple and crude. At least 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 the blacksmith's house and the herbal medicine house, most of the business counters and shelves for storing various goods are made of very old wood. 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 in bundles with small ropes and some were already put into bottles of medicine jars. .
The strange thing is that if you ignore the simple patterns, these wooden shelves look very worn. The wooden board of the shelf on the left is even partially broken, but the store is still in normal use... ..
Thrifty and frugal? Or is it to create some kind of "century-old store" culture?
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, with neatly dressed white hair and 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 being worn out. At this time, the old woman put her hands in each other's worn cotton sleeves, followed the owner of those hands hunched in her arms, and sat in front of the old table. Perhaps it was because of her old age that her ears were bad, so she tilted her head slightly, pretending to be listening.
But the old man gave Duan Qing a very warm feeling.
Although time has left too many wrinkles on that face, it also gives people a sense of peace and reliability. Her mouth was tightly closed in a long line, and she probably had lost a lot of her teeth, which made her look slightly sunken, but her pursed smile, her eyes that were slightly curved into crescent moons, her neatly tilted back hair, and her meticulous white hair, She also shakes slightly and contentedly while listening, which makes those who see her feel the kindness and tolerance of an old person.
Although the girl's behavior was a bit messy on the way, Duan Qing finally figured out her current situation. While feeling a little helpless, he also lamented the innocence of the little girl. However, seeing such an elderly woman at this time, Duan Qing really didn't know where the girl's worries came from.
How could such an old lady make it difficult for you... But that's fine, it seems like there's 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 expression: "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 say some words of thanks, and then gave me the bamboo basket, saying that his wife had made it..."
There were some leaks in what the old lady said, but there was still no problem with the two of them: "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 and told them. Something..."
The old woman put her hands in her sleeves and looked at the ceiling, her body swaying slightly. After thinking for a while, she said that although the family was located in the remote north of the village, they were all good people. They will embarrass you, and say that a bamboo basket is nothing, it is better than someone getting into trouble, etc. The girl smiled and thanked her repeatedly, but her smile was not very natural. In the eyes of Duan Qing, who was well informed, 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 taking only these 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 find out who Feilin was again.
"And Benny, that kid hasn't shown up for several days. Maybe he found some kind of job again. Go and see him. He's still young. Although there's nothing you can do about it, there's nothing you can do about keeping him busy... ....”
"Okay old lady..." The little girl continued to nod her head, but her eyes turned to Duan Qing aside. Duan Qing looked up at the ceiling and pretended not to see it.
"And that little Carla, I have already told Fabre about what she said. He will definitely help her deal with it. Just let her wait for the news with peace of mind..."
"Ah, hahaha..." Mengzhu had nothing to say 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.
"Huh, my face is frozen... 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, can you make trouble again? It's okay if I don'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: "Now what's next, what are you going to do? Do you really want to go to that Tan's house to talk about it?"
The girl finally stopped being angry and started thinking seriously.
Under normal circumstances, if something like this happens, there is nothing wrong with talking about it. 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 top line of good and the bottom line of evil are no longer the inevitable criteria for judging whether something can be done. Instead, they are often replaced by "is this thing troublesome", "is this thing beneficial" and other measures of interest. Way.
After all, everyone is here to play games, and moral constraints are naturally much smaller 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 of the things that goodwill in human nature requires people to do may not be so willing to do them, because they are meaningless from the perspective of value in the game.
Just like what happened this time, it is already very good for ordinary players to be able to achieve where Mengzhu is now. They can also convince themselves with reasons such as "I'm going to apologize. This will leave a good impression on the NPC selling herbal medicine, which may be beneficial in the future." As for the follow-up? God knows what the Batstan family does. Do they give rewards? Do they sell good things? Do they sell bamboo baskets? What use do I have with so many bamboo baskets, not to mention they are just a civilian family...
More people probably didn't even know how to apologize. They just threw away a broken bamboo basket. After putting so much effort into it, there may not be much gain... As for Mengzhu when he came. There are none of those petty worries.
Duan Qing had already seen the girl's kindness. She had lost her own weapons in that battle, and he had never seen her care so much. So he looked at the frowning girl and heard his expected decision: "Well, let's talk about it."
After the girl made her decision, she realized that Duan Qing was staring at her again. She combed her hair 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 the other party wanted to be a farmer in "The Boy Who Cried 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, just like what was left after some disaster happened before and many buildings were destroyed. Occasionally, one or two inhabited houses will be found between the broken walls, but those old houses that seem to have no living people coming or going are like an isolated island in a vast sea of ruins, lonely and lifeless. . As for what it looks like inside, Duan Qing and the other two have no way of knowing.
The girl who saw these scenes became a little quieter, but she still talked about some discussions from time to time, such as how to talk in the future, what to do to show her sincerity, how to talk to get 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 little girl, to pay. Are you sorry..."
"Why do I think you have the potential to be a tough guy..."
"What did you say!"
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 watched him often look around at those scenes, with a serious observation look, and sometimes stopped to stare thoughtfully at the people on the "isolated island", as if he 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 behold.
At a certain moment, Duan Qing stopped and watched again. Mengzhu, who was forced to stop again, helplessly looked in Duan Qing's direction. Not far from the road, a little boy carrying a wooden basket walked out of someone's house, wiped the sweat from his head, and then walked little by little to a dilapidated house in the corner of a ruined area. . Perhaps he was a little tired, and his pace was a little slow. When he reached the corner, he took a few breaths, then sat down with his legs folded, reached out to untie the wooden basket behind him and put it aside, then put his hands on his chin, quietly looking in a certain direction.
He seems to be a very pitiful child... Mengzhu thought that if he started 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 is sick? died? Or he spends all day 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 Duan Qing turn around: "Leave."
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 looking left and right for a long time, so they found their destination according to the old woman's prompts without taking more than two steps. As expected, this family was just like those who had come all this way. The two Batsteins were very kind-hearted. After hearing the girl's purpose and explanation, they showed the open-mindedness of the peasant family about the loss of 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 just send it over. Oh, it's worthless, it's okay..."
Duan Qing and Mengzhu were politely sent out, and the whole process was full of peace and friendliness. Naturally, there was not even a shadow of the imaginary hidden mission.
The girl was naturally very happy to have fulfilled her wish to make up for her mistakes, but her expectations for the "hidden mission" that came out of her whim were not fulfilled in the end. But looking at the appearance of this area, the girl understood something.
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 felt a little guilty after wasting so much time. Although the uncle was very bad, he at least saved himself and paid for his medical expenses...
After struggling for a while, Mengzhu decided to talk to the man about his next plan. Maybe he could be of some help, so just think 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 he said the beginning of "Next...", he found that 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 walk in a certain direction. At the end of that direction, the little boy sitting quietly under the corner was looking back.
The sun sets in the west, and in the afterglow of the setting sun, Duan Qing's walking figure is gradually lengthened. The soles of the shoes stepped on, and because there was a lot of rubble on the ground that had not been swept away, the footsteps were noisy and obvious. The boy in the corner probably heard these footsteps, so he turned his head and looked at the man who was gradually approaching.
Duan Qing stopped a few steps before him. The two figures, one large and one small, looked at each other in silence, just like two masters in the world who had not seen each other for a long time finally met, and they were talking to each other with sharp eyes. Contest. Mengzhu followed slowly and stopped not far behind Duan Qing. He looked incomprehensible to the scene that happened in front of him and didn't know what to say.
The atmosphere in front of me seemed to be telling something. The telling voice seemed to echo in Mengzhu's ears, gently reminding her 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. . Mengzhu seemed to feel the coldness. He hugged his shoulders and felt that they had been standing here for a long time. When a bundle of dry weeds rolled on the ground between the two people who were looking at each other, the little boy looking at Duan Qing The boy finally said his first words.
"This...sir." His voice was young and dry: "Can you help me find my father?"
