Volume 1 Chapter 11: Hu Lao Si Has Arrived (Seeking Bookmarks)

  "I know what's in your heart." Huang Li patted his shoulder and explained with a smile: "But your family is here, and you still have to continue living. If you're really implicated, you also need to think about Lao Die, Zhen Niang, and Niu Niu. I'm alone, I can leave or stay as I please, even the powerful Bai family can't do anything to me."

  When mentioning his family, Zhang Xiaosuo fell silent, with a hesitant and uncertain expression on his face.

  "Big carp in the sandy river, big green shrimp in the canal..." As the vendors shouted loudly, they had already walked to the vegetable stalls and meat stalls. On the ground stalls were wild chickens, wild ducks, wild rabbits, and all kinds of vegetables with different colors.

  "Give it to me, Little Lock." Huang Li found a piece of empty land, stretched out his hand and pressed down the carrying pole with the small lock, and took out the tiger skin from inside.

  Zhang Xiaosuo sighed helplessly and set up a stall next to the calendar, arranging the wild goods and animal hides.

  Meng Shitou stood there, hesitated for a moment, and said: "I'll go to the Chinese medicine shop to sell the medicine, and I'll be right back."

  Zhang Xiaosuo reluctantly nodded, he looked down on Meng Shitou's cowardice and timidity from the bottom of his heart. He was afraid of this and that, how could such a poor man survive?

  Huang Li reached out and took Zhang Xiaosuo's carrying pole, drew several large characters on the ground with force, then inserted the carrying pole into the ground and covered it with tiger skin. Although this carrying pole was used for carrying things, it was slightly different from a shoulder pole, its two ends were sharp iron tips. When carrying firewood, it was easy to insert into the bundle of firewood, in case of danger, it was also a weapon to defend against wild beasts.

  As the sun rises higher, more and more people gather at the market. Men and women, old and young, dressed in all sorts of clothes, carrying all sorts of things, mix together. Everyone is in high spirits, and even if someone accidentally steps on or bumps into another person, there's no quarreling or scowling, not even a glance. Everyone's enthusiasm is so high that whenever they see something for sale, they rush forward to take a look, whether they plan to buy it or not, just to broaden their horizons.

  People keep coming to watch the tiger skin, admiring it for a while before leaving; some also ask about the price, Huang Li simply points to the ground and says "300 yuan, no bargaining", and those who ask the price all shake their heads and leave.

  Zhang Xiaosuo's stall was doing pretty well, two pheasants and a wolf skin had already been sold. He glanced around and came over to comfort him, saying: "Huang Dage, don't worry, this tiger skin isn't for ordinary people to use."

  "I'm in no hurry." Huang Li smiled faintly and sat down on the ground, watching with interest as people came and went.

  Everything is different from what he imagined. He thought that Zhang Xiaosu's family was a mountain dweller, and when they went out of the mountains, he would definitely see familiar clothes and characters. But now, Huang Li feels deeply disappointed, and at the same time, he has doubts, wondering if those scenes were just his own dreams? He had only forgotten his identity and experiences, not that his mind was a complete blank, unable to remember anything. This made his mind even more confused, with a dreamlike feeling lingering around him.

  Huang Li's gaze swept across the shops opposite, a two-story restaurant where the sound of guessing fists came from. He stopped his eyes and stared at a window on the second floor.

  A man in his late twenties sat by the window, drinking alone. His back was straight, and despite wearing a large pair of sunglasses, his prominent nose and resolute lips were still visible.

  This guy came over to take a look at the tiger skin just now, and earlier, he seemed to have caught a glimpse of him outside the tofu shed. Now, this guy is still glancing over here from time to time, Huang Li narrowed his eyes slightly, unable to guess what this guy's intention was.

  "Good tiger skin, it's really not bad." A loud voice called Huang Li's attention back.

  The new customer was a man in his forties, with a square face, a sturdy build, and a loud voice. His entire body was more rough than robust. He had a dark complexion, a pair of bright black eyes, thick eyebrows and hair, and a wide mouth.

  Beside him was a man in a long gown, about the same age as him, of medium build, very thin, but with broad shoulders, and some white hairs in his black beard; he had a bundle on his back, and an expression of pleasure on his face, but it seemed to be rather cunning. Beside him was a young man who looked like a small shop assistant, with a waxen face, but a pair of big eyes that kept moving very nimbly.

  "Look, there are no other scars on the tiger skin. Was it poisoned to death?" The stout man said to himself and shook his head again, "No, I've heard of poisonous snakes, but not poisonous tigers. Never mind! Old Wu, do you think this tiger skin is impressive enough when draped over a chair?"

  The thin man who called Lao Wu smiled and nodded, pointing to the words on the ground and said: "Boss, this price is too expensive. If you give a discount, I can consider it."

  Huang Li flipped his eyes and lazily didn't want to answer. Zhang Xiaosuo, however, hurriedly came over and said: "This price is very reasonable, you won't be able to find such good tiger skin anywhere else, it's just that in this mountain valley, the price can't go up. If we take it to the county town, at least it will increase by 20%."

  "We bought it for our own use, not to make any money." Old Wu smiled slyly and glanced at the calendar on the ground.

  "Brother Huang, look——" Zhang Xiaosuo looked up at Huang Li with expectation.

  "How much are you planning to spend?" Huang Li asked with a hint of helplessness as he looked at Zhang Xiaosuo's anxious expression.

  "Let's shake hands!" Old Wu rolled up his sleeves and extended his hand.

  Huang Li didn't understand this and looked bewildered, stretching out her hand in front of her eyes to examine it carefully.

  He let out a laugh, his voice was somewhat shrill but very clear.

  Zhang Xiaosuo hastily stretched out his hand, and the two of them made gestures in their sleeves for half a day. Xiaosuo withdrew his hand and leaned close to Huang Li, saying in a low voice: "Two hundred and fifty, I think it's okay."

  Two hundred and fifty, upon hearing this number, Huang Li subtly curled her lip and nodded her head. The amount of money was neither here nor there to her; since Zhang Xiaosuo was in a hurry, the deal was settled then!

  "Old Wu gave me the money, this tiger skin is mine!" The stout man said loudly, and happily reached out to take down the tiger skin.

  "Wait a minute, nobody can buy this tiger skin." A cracked gong-like voice suddenly rang out.

  Bai Huashui hastily brought a few people over, the crowd at the fair scattered like they had encountered a raging torrent, parting to reveal a narrow alley. The noisy chatter of the fair fell silent in an instant.

  "This tiger skin was ordered by the White family, no one else can buy it." Bai Huashui ran up three steps at a time, his triangular eyes staring wide, and said loudly.

  The sturdy man was also taken aback, opening his mouth to argue, but was pulled by Old Wu and had to let out a loud breath.

  Huang Li took two steps forward, staring fiercely at Bai Huashui and said in a deep voice: "My things, whoever wants to buy them can buy them. If you come again to stir up trouble, don't blame me for being impolite."

  "Hey, no need for courtesy, I'm Hu Lao Si and I'd like to see what kind of discourtesy you have in mind?" Along with the voice, a big man walked up.