He was born as a blacksmith, but he dominated the world

Chapter 369 Malu doesn't want to study anymore

Jiang Lin was slightly stunned. Is the millipede going to die?
He walked out from behind the blacksmith shop. The little girl raised her head timidly. Although there was obvious fear on her face, she held the corner of her skirt tightly and did not step back.

This fearful and stubborn look made Jiang Lin feel a sense of familiarity.

Reaching out and picking up the girl, Jiang Lin glanced at the couple a hundred meters away, and then took a step forward.

The figure appeared outside the city in an instant, and the couple looked at the empty blacksmith shop with horror on their faces.

They had never seen such means before.

The middle-aged man suddenly let out a long sigh: "I was lucky that I didn't get slapped to death by Uncle Hong when I scolded him back then."

The woman at the side asked in a low voice: "If he takes action, can he save Dad?"

The middle-aged man's heart moved, but then he smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I'm afraid it won't work. Dad is already exhausted and there is no way to save him."

The woman looked gloomy after hearing this and said no more.

Jiang Lin can now cover 800 meters in one step, which is incredibly fast.

The little girl hugged his neck and watched the surrounding scenery changing at a speed that was difficult to capture with the naked eye, her face full of surprise.

Not long after, Jiang Lin arrived at the former prefectural residence.

The gate here has been repaired, and the entrance is deserted. A gust of wind blows, and the fallen leaves swirl around and fall again.

There was only one servant guarding the door, and he was quite old.

When he saw Jiang Lin, his eyes suddenly widened, and then he seemed to remember something and stepped back in panic.

Jiang Lin glanced at him and recognized that this was the servant who was blocking his way and was thrown away by him that year.

I walked straight in and found that the screen wall that was broken by a punch that year had been replaced with a new one.

Compared to the numerous servants and guards at the end of that year, the courtyard now seems very quiet.

"Over there." The little girl was afraid that Jiang Lin couldn't find the way, so she pointed in the direction and looked up at Jiang Lin's tall figure, thinking to herself: "Grandpa Hongchen is so amazing... He runs so fast, faster than a carriage!"

In fact, Jiang Lin didn't need the little girl to lead the way. He could also see a hint of dim aura rising from a certain room.

He walked over and saw the door was open, revealing many people gathered there.

Although Ma Lu had resigned as prefect for several years and his home was deserted, he still had quite a few descendants, dozens of them in total.

Seeing Jiang Lin coming over, the children who were a few years old or even teenagers were all filled with surprise and curiosity.

Those who are in their twenties, thirties, forties, or fifties look terrified.

They have never forgotten the image of Jiang Lin smashing the screen wall with one punch and slapping Malu away at the end of that year.

When Jiang Lin came in, the powerful sense of oppression that emanated involuntarily made everyone step back subconsciously.

A man in his forties came forward and saluted Jiang Lin: "Uncle Hong, my father..."

Jiang Lin ignored it. The people here had nothing to do with him. The only thing he cared about was the millipede.

He turned and went into the house, leaving the middle-aged man looking embarrassed.

A younger woman next to him said angrily, "How can he be so rude! Does he think that his father has resigned..."

"Shut up!" The middle-aged man suddenly turned around and slapped him in the face.

Snapped--

There was a crisp sound, and the woman covered her face in shock, not understanding why she was being beaten, since it was clearly the man who was rude first.

The middle-aged man looked dignified and spoke in a stern tone: "This is your Grandpa Hong. If you dare to talk nonsense again, I will kick you out of the house! Now go back to your room and reflect on yourself. You are not allowed to go out for a month!"

The woman felt extremely aggrieved, with tears in her eyes, but she did not dare to refute.

She was born late and had never seen Jiang Lin's abilities.

However, the middle-aged man and many people still remember the scene when they went to attend the funeral that year and were almost overturned by a shout of "Get out" from the carriage.

Another older woman came over and pulled her out.

As they walked, he whispered, "How can you be so reckless? Uncle Hong is your grandfather's brother who grew up together. He has all-powerful abilities. When your grandfather was slapped by him, he didn't dare to talk back, let alone you."

The woman was stunned when she heard this, and then her face was filled with panic.

At this time, Jiang Lin had already come to the inner room.

The room was filled with a strong smell of herbs and the lingering smell of old people.

A doctor was sitting nearby and seemed to have just finished taking the patient's pulse. He looked up and was surprised to see Jiang Lin coming in.

Jiang Lin ignored his gaze and just looked at the bed.

Malu lay there, his face as pale as gold paper, his aura becoming increasingly faint, as if he might disappear at any time.

Jiang Lin walked up to him, and Malu seemed to have sensed something, and he slowly opened his eyes.

Such a simple action seemed very strenuous.

Only when he saw Jiang Lin, those cloudy eyes suddenly became a little brighter.

"Brother Chen..."

Although the death of blacksmith Ma created a certain gap between the two of them, after all, she watched him grow up.

From a seven or eight year old child to an old man now.

Jiang Lin bent down slightly and asked, "Why did it suddenly become like this?"

"I'm old." There was an envy in Malu's eyes that was hard to conceal.

Over the years, everything has changed, except Jiang Lin and the blacksmith shop, which have never changed.

Jiang Lin naturally understood that birth, aging, sickness and death are common to all people, just like the blacksmith Ma and his wife Lu Yinghong.

And those familiar or unfamiliar neighbors.

Millipedes are also human beings. They will grow old and die when they are old.

"Please talk to me again... maybe we will never talk again in the future." Malu's voice was very weak.

Jiang Lin nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Ma Lu, a skinny man with white hair, looked at Jiang Lin with a faint smile on his face: "When you first came to my house, I was only seven or eight years old. So many years have passed in the blink of an eye."

Jiang Lin hummed, remaining silent as always. Malu didn't need him to answer, and just kept talking.

From the time Jiang Lin first came to the blacksmith shop, until he started studying, took exams, got married, and had children.

It was as if he wanted to retell his entire life in full.

It was not until he talked about the death of blacksmith Ma that Ma Lu's face showed a hint of guilt.

When talking about Lu Yinghong, his eyes became moist.

"That day, my mother also told me many things, but they were all from my childhood."

"Later I figured it out. She was thinking about me when I was seven or eight years old, not the unfilial son she became."

"So she gave that dress to you, because over the years, I have changed, but you haven't."

"Only in you can she see the childhood me."

Malu sighed, but it caused him to cough violently, and his aura became even darker.

His face, on the contrary, turned rosy.

A group of people were crowded at the door outside, looking concerned but not daring to come in.

Malu looked at his son, daughter-in-law, grandson and granddaughter. His hands trembled and shook under the quilt, and he slowly stretched them out.

In his skinny palm, he held a cloth bag.

I used a lot of different fabrics, and most of them were good stuff, but the stitching wasn't neat, it was still crooked and had lots of different sizes.

Malu's voice became even weaker: "That bag was destroyed by you back then. Over the years, I sewed another one, but I just didn't know how to give it to you."

"Brother Chen... I know I was wrong."

"Can your candied haws still fit into this bag?"

Jiang Lin looked at the colorful cloth bag, and a faint breath began to emanate from it, and this breath was closely connected with the people behind him.

Although Malu didn't say it, Jiang Lin had already guessed that it was sewn with the cloth from these people.

His gaze shifted to Malu's face and he understood the meaning in his eyes.

There was expectation and self-blame in Malu's eyes, but more importantly, there was pleading.

He stretched out his hand, trembling.

Looking at the bony palm, Jiang Lin couldn't help but think of the way Malu looked when he first brought him the cloth bag.

"You don't feel any pain when you clean the stove with your hands, so what I'm doing is nothing! Here, I'll give you the bag, but you must keep it safe and don't let my mother see it. Otherwise, she'll blame me for playing around again."

"Maluk, where have you been again!"

"I'm coming!"

"Why are you not sleeping so late at night?"

"Nothing, just went to pee."

"How dare you lie, you little bastard! You clearly went to the woodshed! I'll beat you up!"

"Ah! Dad, save me!"

The scenes that happened in the past made it difficult for Jiang Lin to harden his heart.

He sighed softly, took the bag, and then reached out and grabbed it back.

The little girl who was peeking inside through the door frame was grabbed from mid-air.

She screamed in surprise, but after landing, her face turned red and she looked a little excited, as if this was something very fun.

Jiang Lin stuffed the bag into the girl's hands and said, "She's not bad."

Malu glanced at the little girl, who was the daughter of his second son. She was the same age now as when he first met Jiang Lin.

Although Jiang Lin's actions clearly showed that he didn't care about the entire Ma family, this girl was still pleasing to his eye.

Malu smiled more and nodded slightly: "Okay."

His palm fell on the bed, and the rosy color on Malu's face, along with the aura on his body, quickly disappeared and dimmed.

His pupils gradually lost focus.

He looked up at the ceiling, his mouth slightly open, and made a slight sound.

"Brother Chen..."

“I don’t want to go to school anymore…”

"I miss my father and mother."

All the breath completely disappeared at this moment, and the room was filled with silence.

The people outside seemed to realize something and began to sob softly.

The middle-aged man standing at the door asked tremblingly: "Uncle Hong, my father..."

Jiang Lin reached out and helped Malu close his eyes, then stuffed his skinny hands back into the quilt.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Jiang Lin didn't say anything for a long time, watching the millipede's skin gradually turn gray.

The crying sounds outside the house gradually became more frequent and louder.

A slight sobbing sound was heard beside him. Jiang Lin turned his head and saw that the girl had already clenched the cloth bag in her hand with tears streaming down her face.

She didn't dare cry out loud, and her face turned red from holding it in.

Bitter and salty tears flowed down the cheeks, nose bridge, into the corners of the mouth, and then dripped down the chin.

"Cry if you want to. You will feel better after crying." Jiang Lin said softly.

There was some confusion in his eyes, as if he had said these words to someone before.

The girl then opened her mouth, threw herself on Malu's body with a "wow" and burst into tears.

"Grandpa! I want Grandpa!"

(End of this chapter)