diskusbooks Chapter 284 Conch
Chapter 284 Conch
Xu Sheng hadn't slept all night and rushed to the market town at the crack of dawn. When he returned to the Goddess Temple, the person sitting on the prayer mat in a daze was startled and blurted out, "Starving to death..."
Xu Sheng's face darkened slightly as he put down the two large packages: "Even if you don't know my name, you should at least know how to be polite, right? I'm older than you, shouldn't you call me brother?"
The man said, "I didn't see you when I woke up, so I thought I was dreaming last night."
Xu Sheng handed him an oil paper package: "This is for you."
A plump, white, and tender meat bun. The person took a bite and exclaimed with delight, "It's still hot, so delicious!"
Xu Sheng said, "This temple is your home, and I stayed at your home last night. It would be impolite not to reciprocate, so I'll provide you with some things."
One package contained miscellaneous items such as firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, and stationery; the other package contained books, clothes, blankets, towels, and so on...
The floor was piled high with things. The man almost burst into tears: "You're so kind. No one has ever been so kind to me."
Xu Sheng coughed. "Alright, from today onwards you'll be with me. As long as I have food to eat, you won't get any soup. My name is Xu Sheng, you can just call me brother."
The man looked at the goddess statue, as if seeking her opinion.
Xu Sheng tossed him a bag of clothes, containing everything from head to toe: "Put these on and see if they fit."
The man took the clothes and went behind the goddess statue to change. After changing, he came out from behind the Buddha statue and saw Xu Sheng concentrating on painting.
The painting depicts a handsome face with delicate features and a cool, aloof demeanor.
The man blurted out, "It's really beautiful."
Xu Sheng raised an eyebrow: "Am I prettier than you?"
The man looked at the painting and then at Xu Sheng: "Both are beautiful."
Xu Sheng persisted, "Who's prettier?"
The man seemed somewhat embarrassed.
Xu Sheng paused, stunned, when he saw the person: a white undershirt and a sky-blue coat, clean and crisp. A slender, fair neck like a swan's, paired with those pure, clear eyes…
Xu Sheng unconsciously swallowed: "Why isn't your hair tied up? Didn't you buy hairpins and hairbands?"
The man was completely unaware of Xu Sheng's thoughts: "I won't."
Xu Sheng touched his hair, then took the jade comb and mirror: "I'll teach you how to tie your hair. I'll only teach you once. Study hard."
Xu Sheng first combed his hair into a small bun, letting the rest of his hair hang down. He then inserted a hairpin into the bun, wrapped the hairpin tightly with the remaining hair, and tied it with a headband. In the mirror, there was a handsome young man.
The man looked at himself in the mirror, his smile widening: "You're amazing."
Xu Sheng rolled up the dried drawing paper: "I'm going to the temple fair, do you want to come with me?"
"Okay." The man took out the conch shell and hung it around his neck. "Let's go."
He was indeed naive and innocent, completely unguarded when shown even the slightest bit of care. Growing up alone in a temple, without friends or family, it must have been truly difficult for him.
As Xu Sheng thought about it, he opened the door, but the chilly sea breeze slammed it shut with a snap.
Xu Sheng said, "The weather is bad, you should stay here."
Xu Sheng reopened the door and took a few steps, only to see the person standing at the door, staring blankly at him. Xu Sheng's heart softened instantly: "Hey, if you want to go, then go."
The man ran up to him and politely said, "Thank you."
Xu Sheng said, "We can't just keep calling you 'Hey,' why don't you give yourself a name?"
The man said, "I've never been to school, can you help me choose one?"
Xu Sheng said, "There used to be a beautiful, kind, hardworking girl who was loved by everyone, named Tianluo. Since you are so pretty, innocent, and pure, loved by everyone, let's call you Hailuo."
The man readily agreed, "Okay."
The sky was overcast, and the sea was churning as if it were boiling. No seagulls or fishing boats could be seen.
Xu Sheng said, "Seashell, this temple... your house is so close to the sea, won't it be flooded?"
The conch shell said, "No, the water will only reach the doorway and won't come in. The goddess will really protect me."
Xu Sheng didn't argue and took Hailuo to the Sanyuan Temple Fair. The weather wasn't good today, but the fair was still bustling with activity. There were so many people and so many things that Hailuo was dazzled.
The two stopped in front of the candied hawthorn stall, and the stall owner immediately said, "Young master, two coins a skewer, would you like two?"
Xu Sheng hung a money pouch on Hailuo's waist: "Buy whatever you like, buy whatever you want."
Conch thought Xu Sheng wanted to eat candied hawthorns and wanted him to pay, so she rummaged in her purse and said, "Here you go."
In my palm lay white silver, yellow gold, translucent pearls, emerald green jade, and sparkling jade...
The stall owner, feeling uneasy, took the tael of silver, took out a string of coins, removed four copper coins, and handed the two strings of candied hawthorns and the string of coins to Hailuo: "Young master, this is your change."
The conch shell asked in bewilderment, "You took so little, but gave me so much back?"
A girl nearby chimed in: "Brother, silver coins may be small, but they're valuable. One tael of silver is worth a thousand coins. Two strings of candied hawthorns cost four coins, so of course he'll give you that much change back."
Hailuo gave an "oh" and handed the candied hawthorn to Xu Sheng. Seeing that the little girl was clever and endearing, he took out two coins and gave them to the stall owner to buy a skewer of candied hawthorn for the little girl.
A group of children immediately surrounded him, some reaching out, some tugging at his sleeves, some pulling at his clothes: "Brother, I want one too! I want one too..."
This was the first time Hailuo had ever seen such a lively scene, the first time he had ever heard so many people enthusiastically call him "brother." Overwhelmed with emotion, he exclaimed, "Shopkeeper, I'll buy everything..."
Once the candied hawthorns were sold out, the number of children following behind them didn't decrease, as they pushed the conch shells forward.
The sugar painting stall next door was even more enthusiastic: "Young master, take a look at our sugar paintings. We can paint whatever you want."
It was the same little girl again: "Brother, I want a little bunny."
The vendor scooped up a spoonful of syrup, spun the spoon in the air, and the golden syrup slowly flowed down, creating a lifelike rabbit.
The stall owner used a small stick to stick it up and handed it to the little girl, but said to the conch shell, "Three coins."
"Brother, I want some too... Brother, I want some too..."
Shouts rose and fell, and Hailuo simply couldn't refuse. Next to the sugar painting stall were clay figurines, and further on were whip-making machines, dough figurines, blown sugar figures, Kongming locks...
The saying "spending money like water" probably describes this situation perfectly: a string of copper coins is getting less and less...
The little girl who had been following him was holding a cloth tiger. The stall owner smiled and said, "Young master, three coins!"
The conch shell clutched the last copper coin, reaching into its purse, but couldn't find it: the purse was gone.
Conch's voice trembled with anxiety: "Where's my money? Brother... Mr. Xu... Mr. Xu..."
The money is gone, and so is Xu Sheng.
With tears welling up in the seashell's eyes, the little girl next to it quickly returned the cloth tiger to the stall owner, and the surrounding children scattered in all directions.
The little girl felt very guilty: "Why don't you go to my house first? My dad catches bad guys here, he'll definitely help you catch the thief and find your brother..."
The conch shell remained silent, thinking to itself: If it weren't for you, things wouldn't have turned out this way!