bayedsolid Chapter 281 Lao Jia
Chapter 281 Lao Jia
The stall owner was a slender middle-aged woman, sorting her merchandise with her head down. She glanced up, spotted Lin Panpan, and greeted her enthusiastically, "Hey, isn't that Panpan? What brings you here? Are you here to buy some clothes?"
Lin Panpan nodded quickly and glanced at the goods on the stall.
Seeing this, the stall owner immediately became alert and started to sell while searching swiftly:
"Look, these are all winter cloths, which I got from various channels with great difficulty. They are in great demand!
This cotton cloth is soft and thick, and has excellent warmth retention. You can make a cotton-padded jacket or cotton pants out of it and you won’t be afraid of the cold all winter long.
And this corduroy one is so smooth to the touch, and the color is so bright, it makes the clothes look so lively when worn.”
As she spoke, she picked up a piece of navy blue corduroy fabric, shook it out in her hands, and showed it to Lin Panpan.
Lin Panpan's eyes were drawn to a cotton-padded jacket hanging on a rack. She pointed at it and asked, "How much is this cotton-padded jacket?"
The stall owner quickly took off the cotton-padded jacket and handed it to Lin Panpan with both hands:
"You have really good taste! This cotton-padded jacket is my signature item.
It is made of high-quality cotton inside and out, and is fully filled with cotton, so the warmth retention effect is beyond doubt.
If you touch the fabric, it is soft and dense, and the stitches are very fine. You can tell at a glance that it is the work of a master craftsman.
Others ask for fifteen, but I'll give you ten."
The price was not expensive. Lin Panpan picked out two cotton-padded jackets and said, "You guys change into them first. It's too cold out today. Also, get two pairs of cotton-padded shoes."
The stall owner quickly brought two pairs of suitable cotton shoes. Feng Erniang's eyes were red. She wiped her tears and said, "Panpan, thank you..."
Lin Panpan quickly waved her hand and said, "You're welcome. I really want to thank you for making the clothes! I didn't expect you to be so skillful and your embroidery skills are so amazing."
Feng Erniang nodded gently, her eyes fell on her rough hands, and she said slowly:
“If my hands weren’t a little rough, the embroidery would be even better.
My family has been associated with embroidery since I was young, and I learned the craft from an embroiderer since I was young.
That embroiderer was once considered a top embroiderer, but later her family fell into poverty and she was taken in by my family.
Her needlework is superb, whether it is flat needle, rolling needle or gold embroidery, she can use it just right.
I know all these stitches, and I can make clothes for you. Whatever clothes you want, I can make them for you."
Lin Panpan smiled and said, "Okay! Put on your clothes first."
She picked out a few new clothes from the stall. The Chinese New Year was coming soon, and everyone in the family needed one.
She took a fancy to a military coat and said to Gu Mobai, "Do you like this coat? I'll give it to you."
Gu Mobai chuckled and said, "Well, it looks pretty good."
After buying clothes, Lin Panpan bought a lot of miscellaneous things, and everyone's hands were full.
Just as she was about to go back, she heard someone calling her: "Miss...Miss Panpan, wait for me."
Isn’t this the tomb robber we often encountered in the black market before?
The local scholar looked at Lin Panpan with flattering eyes: "Miss Panpan, I am glad to see you at last."
Lin Panpan looked at him and asked, "What's wrong?"
The tomb robber looked at her and said, "Can we talk for a moment?"
Lin Panpan nodded quickly and took the local scholar to find a restaurant. The local scholar was not polite and took his grandson to eat.
"I...I haven't smelled the fragrance of food for a long time. I'm really starving."
His little grandson nodded and said, "Isn't it? I'm almost suffocating after staying underground every day."
The tomb robber covered his mouth with his hand and said, "Hey! My little ancestor, you are not allowed to say such things here. It will be terrible if others hear it."
The little grandson smiled gently and said, "Grandpa, you are just so cautious. Isn't Sister Panpan one of us? What's the big deal?"
The tomb robber looked at Lin Panpan and said:
"My last name is Jia, and my grandfather and my father are both farmers.
In the early years, they relied on their skills in finding dragons, exploring caves, dividing gold and locating tombs to travel among ancient tombs.
In our hometown, most people in the whole village eat this meal.
Back then, our ancestors were descendants of tomb robbers. Passed down from generation to generation, the skills, rules, and code words of tomb robbing have long been integrated into our blood."
Lin Panpan looked at him and said, "Then I'll call you Mr. Jia!"
Old Man Jia laughed heartily and said, "Don't be so pretentious, just call me Old Jia!"
Lin Panpan poured him a glass of wine and said, "So you guys have a family background in art, right?"
Old Man Jia sighed and said, "What family background? In the end, it's just to make a living."
Seeing that Lin Panpan and the others were listening with great interest, he continued:
“My grandfather told me that in the past, men in our village, once they reached a certain age, had to follow their elders to visit graves.
At that time, everyone knew nothing except farming, and the only way they could make a living was by robbing tombs.
There are many rules for visiting a tomb. For example, before entering the tomb, you must first light a candle in the southeast corner and place it in a conspicuous place.
Then he bowed and kowtowed sincerely to the tomb owner, stated his purpose, and begged for the tomb owner's forgiveness.
If the candle goes out, you must quickly put the things back to where they were, leave the tomb, and say that the tomb owner is unhappy. If you don't listen, you will definitely suffer the consequences in the future. "
This is similar to what is said in Ghost Blows Out the Light and Grave Robbers' Chronicles. It turns out that many things in the novels are true. Lin Panpan listened with even greater interest.
"At that time, every time the men in the village went to the graves, the women at home were terrified and waited anxiously at the village entrance.
Every time someone returned safely, the women would cry for joy, but if someone didn’t make it back, the cries would drown the entire village.”
"Then, times changed. The authorities cracked down on tomb robbing more and more forcefully, and propaganda spread everywhere that tomb robbing was a crime.
Police cars began to drive in and out of the village, and the families of those who were arrested could not hold their heads up.
Gradually, everyone became afraid, and many decided to quit and learn other ways to make a living."
"But I'm used to this quick-earning business, so it's not easy to change careers suddenly!
Some go to work on construction sites, where they are exhausted and have back pain, but they still earn little money.
Some started small businesses, but didn't know how to run them, and ended up losing everything.
So there are still people in our village doing it secretly, and I am one of them. This time our village has encountered a big job.
Someone hired us to go to a large tomb. The scale of the tomb was beyond imagination. I regretted it very much.
Twelve people died in the village this time. If I had known this would happen, I would never have taken this job." Lao Jia's eyes were filled with tears.