Chapter 30 Carrying Corpses
"Okay, okay, grandma is waiting for Fubao, let's go to the front and take a look. Thank you very much, young lady, the handkerchief is really beautiful, but I can't afford it. I will buy it from you when my granddaughter grows up."
She smiled and thanked the stall owner.
It seemed that he took Jiang Fubao's words seriously.
"You're welcome. I'm also happy that my handkerchiefs are appreciated by others. Little girl, I set up a stall here every day. When you make money in the future, you must come to buy from me."
The stall owner started teasing Jiang Fubao.
"good!"
Jiang Fubao nodded heavily.
The grandfather and grandson left.
They walked to the corner and went to another street.
Just stepped in.
A familiar fragrance penetrated into Jiang Fubao's nostrils.
The wooden sign at the entrance reads "Disease-free Street".
It seems that this place is equivalent to a modern hospital.
Sure enough, the first shop on the street was a pharmacy.
On the right is the hospital.
Then there is the medicinal wine shop.
And massage hall, etc.
They are all closely related to medicine.
There are not many shops here, only about twenty or so in total.
There are five alleys, all named after medicinal herbs.
Jiang Fubao knew it better than anyone else. When she was in college, she held a thick book on medicinal materials every day and memorized them so hard that she felt like dying.
Naturally, every kind of medicinal herb was firmly memorized in her mind.
There are mostly houses in the alleys.
Look at the appearance of a wealthy family.
I know that those who live here are almost all wealthy people.
It is convenient to see a doctor.
The house price is estimated to be expensive.
"Doctor, please save my mother. If you can save her, I will ask my father to give you two hundred taels when he comes back."
Suddenly, there was a burst of crying.
Jiang Fubao turned his head and looked.
I saw a little boy kneeling outside the clinic I just passed by.
About six or seven years old.
Next to the boy lay a woman with a pale face and a black mouth.
Pretty appearance.
Half of her black hair was tied up, and the other half fell to the ground. The pearl hairpin on her head was exquisitely crafted and must have been worth a lot of money.
Even with her eyes closed, the woman still exudes a gentle temperament.
She looks just like the rich girl who grew up in a scholarly family in ancient costume dramas.
"I've said before that your mother's body is like a burnt candle, there's no way she can be saved! She must have used up all her energy during childbirth, and it's a blessing from God that she's still alive today. I don't have the ability to compete with Yan Luo for people, so prepare for her funeral as soon as possible while she's still breathing her last breath."
The old doctor finished speaking coldly.
He flicked his sleeves.
Closed the door of the clinic.
"mother--"
"Mom, please don't go. Don't abandon Chi'er. Mom, please wake up—"
The little boy checked the woman's breath and suddenly burst into tears.
"It's really pitiful. He is so young and already has no mother."
Zhang Jinlan sighed and shook her head with regret.
"If anyone can help me carry my mother home, I will give him a pound of silver!"
The grandfather and grandson looked at it for a while.
As I was about to leave, the boy suddenly shouted.
This area is inhabited by wealthy people, and no one would move a corpse for a few ounces of silver.
Very unlucky.
The people who went to the clinic for treatment were not poor either. After all, the poor could not afford to see a doctor, so they would rather die than ask the barefoot doctor to prescribe a prescription and get the medicine.
So much so that people passing by looked at the boy as if he were watching a play.
No one stepped forward to help.
"I'll do it, I'll do it—"
When Zhang Jinlan heard that she would be rewarded with one or two taels of silver for moving a fresh corpse, her eyes lit up.
The person who just died is still warm.
There's nothing to be afraid of.
She rushed over quickly, fearing that her job would be snatched away by others.
I can't even take care of my granddaughter.
Jiang Fubao was blushing on the spot.
Grandma is willing to do anything to make money.
"Young Master, are you really going to give me one or two ounces of silver?"
Although the boy's clothes made him look like a rich young man, he was too young. Zhang Jinlan was afraid that he would default on the debt, so she asked again.
"Really? If you can carry my mother back home, I will give you one or two taels of silver."
The boy's tears were still flowing, so his voice was nasal when he spoke.
"Okay, I'll carry it, but what about my backpack?" Zhang Jinlan was used to sneaking through doors, and she couldn't bear to leave the backpack here because it would definitely be stolen.
But my granddaughter was only three years old and almost as tall as the backpack, so she couldn’t carry it.
"Give it to me." The boy seemed to see her embarrassment and took the backpack on his own initiative.
Zhang Jinlan breathed a sigh of relief.
She bent down, slowly lifted the woman up, and carried her on her back.
"Fubao, follow us and don't get lost. Young master, you lead the way." Zhang Jinlan shouted to her granddaughter and then spoke to the boy.
So, an old man, a corpse and two children walked towards Qulian Lane.
Until it stopped in front of a gate with a plaque of Shen's House hanging on it.
“Boom boom boom—”
"Open the door—"
The boy knocked on the door for a long time, but there was no movement inside.
He was a little anxious.
After waiting for a full quarter of an hour, a sound was finally heard from inside.
"Did your mother survive?"
Jiang Fubao squatted in the corner and listened carefully.
The person talking in the house seemed to be a woman.
The voice is somewhat mature, probably that of a woman.
"No, auntie, my mother is gone. Open the door quickly. I want to write a letter to my father, asking him to come back soon. Also, please help me with my mother's funeral."
the boy shouted back.
His expression left Jiang Fubao puzzled.
It seemed mixed with hatred and extreme sadness.
"Dead people cannot enter the house. It's unlucky! Carry it outside the coffin shop. Buy a coffin and bury it in a mass grave. Don't leave it at the door. I won't let the doorman open the door. Forget it. If you don't want to see the corpse stink and rot, just carry it away quickly."
The words fell.
The door opened a little, and three pieces of silver flew out.
Look at the size.
It should be three and a half taels.
"Aunt! My mother is the legal wife, she should be buried in the ancestral tomb! How dare you let my mother go to a mass grave? If father comes back, how will you explain it to him?"
The boy kicked away the silver coins and banged on the door.
But there was no more movement inside.
"Young Master, what should we do now? Your aunt is really something. Why doesn't she send two servants to help?"
Zhang Jinlan couldn't stand it anymore and she muttered a few words under her breath.
His eyes were fixed on the silver coins on the ground, and his mouth was watering.
Here, there is a piece of silver which is her salary!
"Please carry my mother to the coffin shop, and I will give you an extra ounce."
The boy seemed to know that crying was useless.
He wiped away his tears with his sleeve.
His eyes were full of hatred.
I saw him bending down and picking up the silver coins one by one.
"Okay!" Jiang Fubao was so excited when he heard the increase in money.
He carried the body on his back and walked away.
There is no coffin shop on this street; after all, coffin shops are for the dead.
Rich people are cautious.
The three of them came to Wanlu Street.
This place seems like an ancient slum.
Compared with the streets just now, it was like suddenly appearing from the modern city center to a village in the city.
The gap is too big!
On Wanlu Street, there were inns, people buying and selling horses and cattle, servants, and people renting horse-drawn and ox-drawn carts.
As well as renting porters, recruiting casual workers, etc.