C1 Tripterygium sepium schneid

My surname is Shen and I'm from Sichuan. My family sells Chinese medicine for a living.

The shop was on an old street in the village, two floors above and two below, with people staying there.

In the nineties, I was in the same city as every other.

Apart from the bus station, most of the women who had lost their footing on the street were located in the villages in the city.

There were many alleys leading in all directions, and as long as the sky was dark, it was almost everywhere that women in revealing clothing could be seen standing at the side of the street, inviting customers to come and go.

There were two types of people who were most popular with these women.

One was the guest.

The other type of person was called Ma Da, Third Brother.

This person was just like his name – Ma Lao San had a face full of pockmarks. Normal people wouldn't be able to bear looking at him for more than a few seconds, but if there wasn't any phobia, he would force himself to become sick.

But it was strange, Ma Laoban had no money, no sex, and no rights, but he was especially welcomed by the girls who had lost their footing. There were even a large number of girls who were willing to stick up for him.

As for why this was so, no one would believe it.

He opened his fortune-teller's office on a street not more than 100 meters away from my house. Usually, he would make a living by giving eight words of approval to a person, but the only thing that would really benefit him would be helping the girls who had lost their marriage to "bewitch the eyes".

According to many young mistresses, Ma Ol 'Three needed three things to urge someone to marry him.

The first was Miss's birth date, the second was Miss's impurities during the month, and the third was Miss's eyelashes.

By wrapping these three things together and putting them into the stomach of a little grass doll with a spell drawn on it, he would burn the grass doll and let the ashes dissolve into the water.

Every time before the young miss started doing business, she would first take out some talisman water and casually daub it on a "place of trouble".

As long as he did this, most of the men who came and went with the little miss would be obsessed with her. They would even come every day to take care of her business. It could be seen just how effective that rune water was.

At the end of the day, Ma Lao San was not a good person either. It wouldn't even be wrong to describe him as a lecherous evil spirit.

He had once said this to the young ladies.

"Whoever continues to be my wife for a month, I'll give her two months worth of rune water for free."

From the day he let out the word, Ma Laoban's family had never lacked women. Every night, no less than three young ladies entered his house.

It had to be said that many of the men were very envious of Ma Laowu. It wasn't that they were envious of his endless luck with women, but rather that he was envious of that person's "special abilities."

Many people were whispering to themselves, how did Ma Laoban manage to survive such a day of debauchery? Aren't you afraid of dying in bed?

Ma Laowu had come forward to explain his doubts, patting his waist as he spoke to the neighbors.

"An iron-beaten kidney made of steel? How could a bunch of b * tches like you compare?"

Ever since Ma Lao San moved to the old street, the business of our Chinese Medicine Shop was basically all thanks to him.

At the end of every month, he would come to my shop to buy a dozen or so types of medicinal herbs, the most expensive of which were the four medicinal herbs.

Antler, Ganoderma lucidum, Cordyceps sinensis, Tiger Bone Powder.

From the straightforward way he bought the medicine and paid for it, he could tell that this son of a bitch had earned a lot of money. At the very least, he was much richer than my family.

But strangely, Ma Laowu was clearly the God of Fortune in our medicine shop. It wasn't even time to warmly welcome him, but the old man was very annoyed. Every time he saw Ma Laowu, he would scold him and even kick him out.

Having been scolded by the old tutor, Ma Lao San didn't get angry. He smiled cheekily and apologized, then left with the medicine. He didn't argue with the old tutor at all, and didn't seem to dare argue with him.

Although I don't know what's going on, but the reality is like this. I've also asked the old man, why does Ma Laoban seem a little afraid of him?

"Evil cannot be righteous. How can he not be afraid when he sees someone as upright as me?"

The old man gave me an answer in all seriousness. Then in the next second, he overturned the mahjong in front of me and laughed maniacally at the old men. "I'll pay for it as soon as I can!"

The pace of life in Chengdu was very slow, and the pace of life in the village was even slower. It was as if no one could change anything.

However, I never expected that the death of Ma Laowu would break the unchanging silence of the old street.

I remember that it was the end of March 1990, the day that Ma Laowu came to the store to buy medicine.

As the old gramps likes to play mahjong, most of the time, it's me who receives Ma Lao San, the god of wealth.

That afternoon, Ma Laowu punctually rushed to the medicine store according to the usual time. He raised his hand and patted on the counter twice, signalling for me to come over.

"Little Shen, where's your grandfather?" Ma Laowu asked me.

"He went to play mahjong." As I said this, I helped him to hold the medicine in his hand. "Is there something you need from him?"

"A bit... "There's something I want to ask him …" When Ma Xiaoru spoke, her voice was clearly trembling. It was as if she was afraid of what she was going to say, but there was a hint of nervousness in her tone.

Hearing Ma Xiaoru's words, I couldn't help but turn back and look at him, thinking to myself, "Even if you were afraid of the old man in the past, you still wouldn't be afraid of him like this. What's wrong with you today?"

When I turned around, I was stunned.

For some reason, the man's face was paler than when he had first entered the shop. His forehead was covered with sweat and his hand holding the cigarette was trembling.

"What happened to you?" I asked carefully.

"I'm fine." Ma Ol 'Three grinned and laughed unnaturally. He subconsciously took out a cigarette case and wanted to give me a cigarette.

Seeing this, I hastily waved my hands, saying that I wouldn't.

"Big bro pockmarked, you even forgot that I don't know how to smoke?" I asked him, amused.

"F * ck, my brain isn't working as of late. I have been too busy …" Ma Lao San smiled awkwardly and patted his head, "Pack the medicine and do me a favor. Go find your grandpa and ask him if he has anything to ask of you."

Just as I was about to nod in agreement, I saw my grandfather slowly walk in from the door with a cigarette in his mouth. He seemed to have heard Ma Ol 'Three's words and said rudely, "If you have any trouble, go and pray to God. What's the use of begging me?"

The moment he saw the old man, Ma Lao San's expression changed, as if he had found a savior. His deathly pale face flushed red with excitement.

Immediately after, without any hesitation, he dropped to his knees with a thump, pressing his forehead against the ground and asking Master Shen to lend a hand or he would lose his life.

"Big bro pockmarked, what are you doing?!" I hurried over to help him, but he wouldn't get up, and he gave me a shove to get me to leave him alone.

"I only sell medicine here, I don't want to get involved in other things." The old man laughed as he walked into the house. He pulled over a chair and sat down, looking at Ma Lao San. "If you've finished buying the medicine, then go back."

"Master Shen! If you don't save me! I will really end my life then! " Ah San was so anxious that tears almost flowed out of his eyes. He kowtowed three times in succession, "Please be merciful and help me! I beg you, Master Shen! "

"Master, don't be in such a hurry to refuse." I tried to smooth things over. "Let's listen to pockmarked brother first and see what he has to ask of you."

The old man took two puffs of the cigarette, looked at me in silence, then lowered his head to look at Ma Ol 'Three and said: "I'll listen to my grandson. Tell me, I'll listen to the fun …" "Little one, get out!"

"I'm going out?" I was stunned.

"Just close the door and close the door." The old man nodded.

After hearing that, I obediently walked out of the store and pulled the door shut.

Actually, I'm very curious about why Ma Laowu is begging the old man, but based on the situation, he obviously doesn't want me to know, so … So I'm getting more and more curious!

Only after chatting with the old man for a long time did the old man open the door and walk out. His face was extremely pale, and his eyes were filled with a lifeless look.

When I saw him, I subconsciously greeted him, but he ignored me and walked away with his head down.

"Master, what is he begging you for?" I asked, curious.

"It's none of your business." The old tutor seemed to be a bit impatient as he waved his hand, "Close the door early today. Your father will take you to the hotpot and throw away your bad luck."

"Unlucky?" I scratched my head.

"Those who are about to die have come to the store to buy medicine. What else can they be other than bringing me misfortune?" The old man was smoking his cigarette as he said expressionlessly, "I don't think Ma Lao San will live past tomorrow."

At that time, I thought that the old man was joking, that he was just carelessly cursing someone, and that there wasn't much meaning behind it.

But what I didn't expect was that Ma Laowu was like what he said, he really didn't live past tomorrow.

The next morning, shortly after I opened my shop, I heard the sound of sirens coming from the old street. Many of the old streets were running behind the police cars, as if they were going to watch something exciting.

By the time I rushed over with the crowd, the public security officers had already sealed off the area and no one was allowed to approach Ma Laowu's office.

But standing in the crowd, I could also see the pockmark hanging outside the gate.

Unlike an ordinary person, Ma Laowu was hanging on his feet. When his feet stepped on the ground, even his neck was caved in and deformed.

Not only that, Ma Laowu's right hand was tightly clenched into a fist, and there was also a lot of blood on it.

At the time, I was thinking that he seemed to be holding something in his hand, something different from the way he usually clenched his fists.

It was only when the police put his body down and opened his hands that I saw he was holding half his tongue.