I really don't want to be a teacher

"Brother, what do you need? The first and second rows of shelves are filled with snacks and drinks, and the back is rice, noodles, grains and oils..."

The owner stood up and greeted,

"Look at what you need, just bring it here."

Glancing at the shopkeeper, Lian Ge nodded, opened the side freezer, took out a bottle of water,

He took out a piece of money from his pocket and handed it to the shopkeeper.

"...Shopkeeper, may I ask, what is this place now?" Looking back, Lian Ge asked casually.

"Brother, are you from out of town?" The shopkeeper took the money, looking for the change, and replied,

"We're just on the right side of the river, and going north is Ezhou. Brother, you came from Ezhou, right?"

Lian Ge nodded upon hearing this.

"Is it better to pass by when you come to travel?" the shopkeeper said, and handed the change to Lian Ge.

"Let's go out for a walk." Responding, Lian Ge took the change and put it in his pocket again.

"It's good to go out for a walk, but why did you come to our remote village?" The shopkeeper stood behind the counter, chatting with Lian Ge,

"I've seen the prosperity, and it's not bad to look at the 'backcountry'." With a slight smile, Lian Ge turned his gaze and looked outside the convenience store.

"...Hey, yes." The shopkeeper replied, and looked outside the convenience store.

"If you want to talk about our place, it used to be lively. But it's not good now. The young people have gone out, leaving some old guys like us and some little guys. Sometimes, there are not many people on the street for a long time. Live alone." The shopkeeper shook his head while talking, "There are fewer people, this street, the houses on the street, seem to be like us old guys, getting old slowly, looking lifeless. "

Hearing this, Lian Ge turned his gaze away, glanced at the shopkeeper, and looked at the street outside the convenience store again, without saying anything.

……

At this moment, a thin figure appeared at the door of the convenience store.

It was a little boy, who seemed to be less than ten years old, wearing single clothes and trousers, and a pair of white sneakers on his feet.

The clothes on her body were all clean, but the pair of shoes looked a bit old, the edges and toes of the shoes were a little faded, the uppers looked a little mottled, and were stained with dirt, covering up the original white color of the shoes.

At this moment, the little boy was clutching a piece of money in his hand, and walked into the convenience store from the steps with his head depressed.

"...Xiao Yao, are you here to buy something?"

The shopkeeper noticed the little boy, leaning slightly towards the outside of the counter, with a smile on his face, he greeted him,

"What do I need to buy, can I get it, if I can't get it, I will get it for you."

It's just that the little boy didn't seem to hear the shopkeeper's words, and didn't respond. He just stopped in front of the freezer next to the counter, then pulled open the door of the freezer with some effort, and took out a large bottle of Coke from inside.

Holding the Coke in his arms, the little boy put the big bottle of Coke on the counter,

Seeing this, the shopkeeper quickly reached out to help take it.

The little boy glanced at the shopkeeper without saying a word. After handing over the money in his hand, he lowered his head again.

"Ten yuan, here, here, I'll find you four yuan." The shopkeeper still smiled, said to the little boy, and handed over the change at the same time.

The little boy still didn't respond, but after taking the money, he hugged the bottle of Coke and walked out of the convenience store without saying a word, his head sullen.

After the little boy stepped out of the convenience store, a middle-aged woman walked over, stretched out her hand and quickly took the bottle of Coke, turned around, smiled and nodded at the shopkeeper, who also greeted him with a smile.

And the little boy still kept his head sullen and didn't speak, just followed the middle-aged woman and gradually walked away.

……

Seeing that the little boy and the person who seemed to be his mother disappeared from sight, Lian Ge looked away.

On the side, inside the counter, the owner turned his gaze back, shook his head,

"...The child in the past, how could he be like this now."

Hearing this, Lian Ge turned his gaze to the shopkeeper.

Noticing Lian Ge's gaze, the owner continued talking,

"...This child lives not far from us, and I watched him grow up. In the past, he was really obedient and sensible... since the previous month..."

While talking, the shopkeeper shook his head and looked outside the shop again.

"In our poor place, there is not much work. The younger ones like to go to other places to work, and the child's parents are also away from home all year round. They only come back and forth during the Chinese New Year.

Just leave this child and his grandpa at home, and his grandpa loves this grandson very much. He is always close to his grandson on weekdays.

But this child is also good and sensible, so there is no need to worry too much... On weekdays, this child comes to buy salt and oil at home.I used to ask him why he came here, and he would tell me that his grandfather is old and has bad legs, so it would be very tiring to walk so far. "

While talking, the shopkeeper paused again,

"...Since last month, this child has been in a bad mood. When he came to buy things, he stopped talking and became more and more silent... At first I thought it was because this child was being bullied at school. , and asked him, he didn't speak...

I didn't know, later, I found out that his grandfather passed away, and he disappeared at the beginning of the previous month... The point is, half a month after the child's grandfather passed away, the child's parents are still around people know.

The child stayed in that room with his grandfather's body for half a month..."

Chapter 279 The Little Boy

"...For more than half a month, the child went to and from school by himself as usual, and would come to my store to buy something to take home from time to time.

Although it was a bit strange that he became less talkative at the beginning, the neighbors around him, and I, didn't think much about it.As for the child, maybe something is on his mind, and he may be fine in a few days... I don't know...

...It has been a few days, and the neighbors around slowly began to smell something in the corridor. At first, they thought that a mouse died in a corner of the corridor. Several people still searched in the corridor. Didn't find anything either.

I didn't care about it any more, thinking that there was wind in the corridor anyway, after a few days, the smell would dissipate by itself, who knew that the smell not only did not dissipate, but became stronger and stronger..."

While talking, the shopkeeper shook his head,

"...In the past ten days, it's not that the child's parents haven't called. In the middle, they called home.

The child answered the phone. While on the phone, the child told his parents that his grandfather was taking a bath in the bathroom. His parents didn't doubt it too much, so they didn't let the child's grandfather answer the phone, and talked to the child for a while After talking, he hung up the phone. "

"...After that, a few days later, when the couple called home again, the grandpa still didn't answer. When I asked the kid, the kid still told his parents that his grandpa was in the bathroom just like last time. Take a shower, it will take a while to come out.

This time, the parents of the child felt that something was wrong, so they asked the child to ask his grandfather to come out and answer the phone. Who would have thought that the child said, 'Grandpa likes to be quiet when he takes a bath, so don't disturb him'. Hang up.

Now, his parents felt that something was wrong, and they were really worried, so they called his neighbor and asked him to take a look.

At that time, the neighbors around him were wondering where the increasingly strong smell in the corridor came from. When they received a call from the child's parents and walked to the door of the house, they found that the smell was even stronger, as if it came from there. It came from behind the door.

The neighbor felt that something was wrong, so he knocked on the door quickly.

As a result, the door rang for a long time, and the neighbors upstairs and downstairs surrounded the door, but no one answered the door, let alone opened the door.

The neighbors also felt that something was wrong, and after talking to the parents of the child, they broke down the door with just a few of them.

As soon as the door was opened, the stench came out all of a sudden, and several big men couldn't help retching... After several people entered the room, they walked towards the inside while calling for the child and the old man , but no one responded.

When these people were about to reach the door of the bathroom, they saw the child. The child was sitting by the door of the bathroom, with his back to them, vaguely as if he was talking or muttering something to someone.

Immediately afterwards, they saw the child's grandfather, right in front of the child, collapsed in the bathroom, his body already...

The child probably couldn't drag his grandfather, so he let his grandfather stay in the bathroom for more than ten days..."

With that said, the shopkeeper turned his gaze again, and looked outside the shop,

"...I only knew what happened when I heard the neighbors around me mention it when they came to buy things... They said that when they entered the house and saw the child and the child's grandfather, one by one Their faces turned pale with fright, and the big men couldn't stop vomiting, and after returning home, they had nightmares for several nights..."

While talking, the shopkeeper paused, shook his head,

"...What a crime... After that, the child became what he is now. He didn't talk much, and was silent all day long... After his parents came back from other places and took care of the child's grandpa's affairs, his mother I also stayed at home and stayed with him all the time, but after so long, the child is still like this."

"...But think about it, after just ten days, let alone a child, even an adult, it is impossible for him to not respond at all."

After finishing speaking, the shopkeeper was silent for a while, then shook his head again,

"...Brother, do you think you want to order anything else?" Looking up, the owner looked at Lian Ge and asked.

Glancing outside the shop and in the distance on the street, Lian Ge withdrew his gaze, shook his head slightly,

"No need. Just asking, is there any place to eat in this town?"

"There are no high-end restaurants in our town. If you want to eat, go there and there is a restaurant. It's not very big, but the taste is good. On weekdays, when you don't want to cook at home, you will have a meal there. .”

Hearing this, the shop owner stretched out his hand and pointed in a direction outside the convenience store.

"Thank you." Lian Ge thanked him.

Hearing this, the shopkeeper waved his hand,

"You're welcome."

While talking, the owner sat down behind the counter again.

Lian Ge glanced at the owner again, turned around, and stepped out of the shop.

……

Along the somewhat quiet street, Lian Ge moved towards the direction the shopkeeper just pointed out.

The little white mouse on the shoulder stood upright, turned its head from time to time, glanced at the water in Lian Singer, and then looked at the street in the distance.

Shops with closed doors or open shops passed by.

……

"Squeak, squeak..."

Not far forward, Lian Ge stopped in his tracks again, and the little white mouse on his shoulder stood up and stared greedily in front of him.

In front of him was the restaurant that the previous owner pointed out. The restaurant was not big, and the signboard on the facade had faded a little. The glass door was opening inward, and the aroma of the food lingered from it from time to time.

After sweeping his eyes, Lian Ge moved away and stepped into the lobby of the restaurant.

The lobby of the restaurant is not very big, along the counter near the door, there are several round tables behind one by one,

There are some pictures of the dishes on the wall, which are already a little yellowed and stained with some restaurant oil,

Some of the white wall ash has fallen off, and it looks a little mottled.

The ceiling fan above the head was whistling, and the sound seemed a little overwhelming.

Although it was noon, there were not many people in the restaurant, there were only two people sitting around the round table,

At one table is an old lady and a little girl. The old lady is leaning forward while eating, hunched over, talking to the little girl with a smile,

The little girl was also holding the bowl, obediently responding, while eating the rice in the bowl with somewhat elongated chopsticks,

The other table is further inward, at the corner of the restaurant,

A middle-aged woman and a little boy, the middle-aged woman and the little boy are talking, while the little boy is keeping his head down, silent and neither speaking nor responding,

The middle-aged woman and the little boy are exactly the two people I saw in the convenience store before,

Looking at the little boy and his mother, Lian Ge paused, moved his steps, and walked towards the two.

……

"...Brother, what do you think you want to eat?"

Walking to the side of the little boy and his mother, Lian Ge stopped and sat down at the dining table next to him.

The only waiter in the restaurant quickly walked over after serving dishes to the table next to him.

"Let's have two signature dishes." Lian Ge said casually,

"Then I'll bring you fried bacon with Artemisia quinoa, and fried pork with leftover dried chili, what do you think?" The waiter replied,

Hearing this, Lian Ge nodded,

"Then please wait a moment."

After pouring Lian Ge a cup of tea, the waiter walked away again.

……

Turning his eyes away, Lian Ge looked at the middle-aged woman and the little boy at the side dining table.

Sitting at the dining table, the little boy still bowed his head, silent without saying a word,

And although the middle-aged woman didn't get a response from the little boy, she still talked to the little boy.

Chapter 280 Still missing a bowl