"That's right. If I hadn't forced him to study when he was a child, with the thought of letting him get fame and get ahead, how could this child be like this?"
The aunt's stiff smile made the wrinkles on her face a little deeper.
"Why would studying for an official position lead to such a bad gambler?" Lin Xixue couldn't figure out what the connection was between the two.
"Ha," the aunt smiled sadly, "This child is precociously intelligent. My husband said he is a good youngster. Who would have expected that after ten years of hard work, he could not even pass the national examination."
"Is there something hidden in this?"
"Hehehehe," the aunt was obviously smiling, but the sound coming out of her throat was clearly crying, "it's just that the examiner's money for a bowl of tea and a bag of cigarettes is missing."
When Lin Xixue heard this, her heart trembled. The aunt put down the iron cone that held the shoes in her hand, wiped her tears, and continued to tell.
"This kid is honest, and I don't have much knowledge. It was only in his fourth year that he learned about this 'throat fee' from his classmates."
"I collected shoes day and night, and finally managed to get enough money for his two throat lozenges. But the boy was stubborn and thought he was too talented. He refused to listen to me and gave the two coins to the examiner. "
"But without the throat soothing money, people didn't even bother to look at his test paper and just threw it into the stove."
"After two more years of taking the exam, he still failed, so I advised him to learn a trade to make a living. It would be fine if he didn't take the exam. But this kid asked me, if he was asked to learn a trade now, why did I ask him to do it earlier? read."
"I can't answer, girl, I can't answer."
"They say that studying can help you get ahead, so I asked him to study, but I really don't have much knowledge. I really don't know so many ways."
"Girl, is it really wrong for children from poor families to study and seek fame?"
The aunt lifted up her apron and covered her eyes, bursting into tears. The salesmen and passers-by just stopped and looked at her, and then continued their work.
The world is so vast and all living beings are busy, who would care about the cry of a dying lady under the willow tree?
Lin Xixue lowered her eyes, bit her lower lip, and shook her head. However, she couldn't think of anything to say to comfort this lady, so she could only curse the dog emperor in her heart.
I'll settle the score with him next time I enter the palace.
"Auntie, what happened next, why did he get involved in gambling?"
"Every year he takes the exam and fails every year, he must have something to look forward to, right?"
"At first he played small, and unexpectedly made some small money. Then he played more and more. Not only did he lose all the money he had won before, but he also owed a lot of money."
Lin Xixue thought that this trick was not uncommon in previous lives. At first, they used small profits to lure people into the game. Once people were completely defeated, they began to harvest heavily.
"I paid off his gambling debt, and I thought he would stop there, but he still didn't repent, and all the land deeds at home were pawned."
Lin Xixue felt that the dog gambler was certainly not worthy of sympathy, but if he could really gain fame under fair competition, would he become a gambler again?
She didn't know and had no way of knowing, but anyway, since the person was dead, these assumptions were naturally meaningless.
"When debt collectors came to visit, he went out to hide from the debt. A few days ago, he told me that he accidentally met Miss Yan's family and could help him introduce her, but he disappeared again in the past two days."
Lin Xixue didn't know how to react, and suddenly she felt a little pitiful about this person. Maybe he really saw hope for the future when he first met Miss Yanfu.
It's a pity that he eventually fell into a complete tragedy. It's no wonder that he didn't care about the world at that time.
Ever since he was a child, he had been living in elaborate lies weaved one after another, and when these lies were shattered time and time again, he finally gave up hope.
"Hai, I really made the girl laugh after saying so much. Don't you look at my shoes? They are all made of mille-feuille soles by me. They are durable!"
The aunt forcibly suppressed her melancholy expression, raised a smile that was uglier than crying, raised two shoes and knocked them against each other to show their sturdiness and durability.
Lin Xixue was a little hesitant whether to tell this lady about his son's death.
Tell her, she is old and doesn't know if she can bear the pain of losing her son. But if he didn't tell her, wouldn't it mean that he had also made up an exquisite lie for this aunt?
If it is a lie, it will eventually be shattered. At that time, the aunt will only face deeper despair.
After thinking about it, she finally said slowly: "Auntie, your son is already dead."
The aunt was stunned at first, her neck was like a zombie, she raised it stiffly and mechanically, her lifeless eyes stared at Lin Xixue, and she said hoarsely: "You said... he is dead."
"Yes, dead."
"That's it, that's it." The aunt didn't cry, she just put down the embroidered shoes in her hand sluggishly, and then slowly sat on the somewhat decayed bench behind her.
"Girl, was he beaten to death by a debt collector?"
"No, the person who killed him has no name."
"Then, does it hurt when he leaves?"
"It doesn't hurt, kills with one stab, and goes very fast."
"That's good, that's good." Although the aunt said yes, she breathed weakly as if all her strength had been taken away.
She lowered her head and looked at Lin Xixue's feet, then tremblingly handed over a pair of embroidered shoes and said, "Girl, thank you for telling me, thank you. These shoes are for you."
Lin Xixue did not refuse. She accepted the embroidered shoes and said, "Madam, before your son died, he asked me to tell you a passage."
"He asked me to tell you that he has been recommended by someone and will be an official in a far away place. Everything is going well. Please don't worry about him."
"Oh, this silly boy, before he died, he still thought that I really wanted him to get a degree." The aunt shook her head sadly.
Lin Xixue took out the vial containing the ashes and handed it to the aunt: "This is the remaining ashes left by your son. My condolences, aunt."
"Originally, he asked me to sprinkle the remaining ashes under the tree behind you, but after thinking about it, it's better to leave it in your hands, aunt."
The aunt took the vial and looked up again, only to find that the girl she was talking to before was gone, but there was an extra piece of gold on the table.
After leaving, Lin Xixue and Feng Buyou walked side by side, but Feng Buyou's face was obviously a little confused and said: "Is this the scene you want to show me?"
"Oh, that's not it. I'm just on my way to see this lady. I want to take you somewhere else."
"So how did this aunt's son die?"
"I killed him." Lin Xixue had nothing to hide.
"Then why did you kill him?" Feng Buyou didn't believe that Lin Xixue would kill an innocent person.
"After hearing this son's story, don't you think that his heart has already died?"
"He was assimilated into a slug, and more than half of his body was deformed. He was unable to recover, so I gave him a happy life according to his wishes."
"And the place I want to take you to next is the place where I kill him."
