i have three shadows

The street where Xu and his party lived was located in a district in the south of Xianshui City. The name of the district was very simple and crude, and it was called Chengnan District.

It always reminded him of "Old Things in the South of the City".

There are many old buildings in the south of the city, which can be regarded as the old sites in the center of Xianshui. There is a street in the middle, and most of the two-story old blue brick houses are on both sides.

This street looks very quiet, and its name is also very sweet, called Tanghua Street, but the atmosphere is really arrogant and chaotic.

Almost half of the facades on the street are ghost weapon shops.

In other words, those shops either specialize in stuff for dead people, or sell stuff for dead people.

The rest are mostly pottery shops.

There are also two sellers of bruise medicine, two hairdressers, two bun sellers, three noodle sellers, four tailor shops, a photo studio, a fortune teller, as well as many grocery stores and mahjong parlors.

Of course, all of this can be seen from the shop front, what kind of business is behind the shop shop, it's really hard to tell if you don't go in.

The fortune-telling shop, no, the stall, is the base of Qian Xiazi and his three apprentices.

Qian Xiazi's stall is always on the stand in front of his house, facing the street, and it doesn't exceed that line, even if it reaches the street, the urban management can't control it if they want to, and every time they see it, they jump their feet in anger.

Every time Xu Xingxing passed the fortune-telling booth, he would have an illusion that the four master and apprentice were about to lead a white horseshoe to the west.

Because it is an old street, water leaks and power outages are common. Gradually, many people bought new houses elsewhere and only opened shops on this street, or directly rented the shops to others.

But there are also many families who have been living here, such as Xu Xing's family, or Qian Xiazi and his three apprentices.

After pointing the way to Qian Xiazi's three apprentices, Xu and his party went straight back to Tanghua Street.

He wanted to go to Blind Qian's door on his way home, but when he passed by today, Blind Qian hadn't confiscated the stall, so he squatted down and lined up with Blind Qian on the steps: "Hey, old man."

Blind Qian ignored him, and Xu Xingxing didn't care. He smiled, seeing no one around, and asked, "Do you know what your three apprentices are doing? You sent them to catch ghosts?"

Seeing Blind Qian turning around, he knew that the eyes under the little round sunglasses were looking at him, so he said happily, "Ah Xiao promised to give me five bowls of talisman water today, thank you Grandpa Qian!"

After he finished speaking, he got up and left, but Qian Xiazi scolded behind him: "Xu Xingxing is a little bastard! You are taking advantage of the fire!"

Xu Xingxing whistled, which was a response, and he took two long legs, and he had already walked a long way in the blink of an eye.

"The world is getting worse, people's hearts are not old, Xu Xingxing is a little bastard—" Qian Xiazi hummed in an opera tune.

The last "ah" sound was drawn out for a long time, and at the end the breath was unstable, he stopped and coughed a few times, cleared his throat again, and insisted on finishing.

Then he nodded, as if he was satisfied with his singing, and turned to the street, playing his blind man in front of the stall.

After a while, a young man sat down on a small stool in front of the stall, wearing the school uniform of the High School Affiliated to the Provincial University. The dim street light shone on him, forming a layer of transparent clothes.

The boy smiled and said, "Grandpa, I want to do fortune-telling."

Blind Qian didn't move his head, and tilted his ears slightly: "Okay, what is it?"

"Find out if I can live on this street." The boy was still smiling.

Qian Xiazi thought he didn't hear clearly, so he asked again: "What?"

The boy said again patiently: "I want to rent a house on this street, which is close to my school so I can go to school, but I don't know if this is suitable for me to live in."

Xiazi Qian said "Oh", there are indeed people renting houses on this street, because the houses are old, and because of the legend that they like to be haunted, the rent is not as expensive as other places.

So he asked: "Money divination or horoscope? Dream divination and lottery are also acceptable, but I'm used to feeling the bones."

"Let's break it down," the boy said.

Blind Qian was stunned: "Son, you are joking, old man, I am blind."

"Oh, yes." The young man smiled, "I'm sorry, let's use the horoscope. My name is Jian Qingzhu, simple Jane, blue green, and bamboo with bamboo leaves. I'll write the horoscope on your hand."

Blind Qian was taken aback again, guessing that the child had some understanding of yin and yang, that's why he deliberately didn't say his horoscope.

Still nodded and held out his hand.

Jian Qingzhu sat with great interest, watching the blind man pinch his fingers, and heard him say after a while: "You have a doubt in your heart, and you came to this street to find the answer."

It was an affirmative sentence, and Jian Qingzhu answered "Yes" with a smile.

After a while, Blind Qian said, "You live in this street, I'm afraid you'll meet your deadly enemy. It's a big deal."

The smile on Jian Qingzhu's face grew stronger, and she responded again.

After a while, Blind Qian stopped his hands, was stunned for a while, and said, "You already have the answer in your heart, don't you? The blind reminds you to think twice before doing things."

"Why?" Jian Qingzhu tilted her head.He was very good-looking, and the expression made him look very sunny, as if questions were just questions.

Blind Qian paused, not knowing whether he was pretending or what, and said very seriously: "The destiny cannot be violated."

The smile on Jian Qingzhu's face did not fade, and she responded very politely: "I see, thank you, Grandpa Qian."

Blind Qian was startled again, and asked, "How do you know my surname is Qian?"

"Listen to what the classmate in front said." Jian Qingzhu pointed to the direction of the street, smiled again, put a piece of money into the palm of Qian Blind, and said cheerfully, "We will be neighbors on the same street from now on. , I don't have a father or a mother, so I ask Grandpa Qian to take care of me!"

After he finished speaking, he got up, but he didn't continue to walk further into the street, but turned around and left Tanghua Street.

It's as if they came here to find fortune-telling for the blind man.

The wind blows and blows.

It was only September, when school just started, and it was actually quite hot, even if it cooled off at night, but Qian Xiazi still shook his body.

As if frightened.

After a while, he began to pull his opera tone again, and he still sang "Xu Xingxing's little bastard".

The house diagonally across the door poured a basin of water out, and a sharp voice scolded: "Blind Qian, are you still sleeping? What are you singing at night? Call your soul?"

Qian Xiazi laughed a few times, stood up after singing enough, and said to himself: "I can't recruit the soul of the little bastard."

He lifted the wooden board under the stall, turned around and placed it in the house, and put away the two small benches, and the whole Tanghua Street sank into the night.

The next afternoon, when Xu Xingxing came back from school for dinner, he was surprised to see that the shop opposite him was washing tables, chairs and benches.

The house has been moved away for several years, and the front door has not even been opened.

He stepped through the door and shouted, "Sister! I'm back!"

I forgot to mention that Xu Xingjia opened a photo studio.

This photo studio has always been crowded, and people who pass by will not take a second look. The store is open for fishing for three days and drying nets for two days. The business fits well with most stores on Tanghua Street——

Mainly to take posthumous photos and make posthumous photos.

The shop is managed by Xu Xingxing's older sister, named Xu Chichi. Her official job is as an undertaker in the city funeral home.

Xu Chichi heard his voice, and gave a faint "hmm", Xu Xingxing picked up the noodles she put on the table: "What are you doing on the other side?"

"It is said that there is a child who rented his house and is cleaning it up. He is going to live in tonight." Xu Chichi picked up a piece of noodles and made a straightforward and sincere evaluation of his cooking skills, "Too It's unpalatable, can you hurry up to the weekend?"

Xu Xingxing automatically ignored her last sentence, and asked in surprise: "A child? A child lives in our street? Is there really someone renting this crappy place?"

Xu Chichi looked at him: "Well, a child just like you."

"I'm not a child." Xu Xingxing frowned, "Is there really someone renting our street?"

Talking to Xu Chichi, every time Xu Xingxing asked more than two questions, he could only get one answer, so he formed a habit since he was a child-repeat the question if he didn't get an answer, until he got the answer.

So he asked again.

It took Xu Chichi a long time to reply: "So let's say you are a child, go out and see how the housing prices in Xianshui City have risen. Your sister and I have worked so hard for so many years. Ten years ago, we could buy a small house. , thinking about buying it when you are older, five years ago you could only buy one house, and now I guess you can’t even afford a toilet.”

"Oh yes, our street is dilapidated and old, so the rent is cheap." Xu Xingxing finished eating, put the bowl on the table, and pulled a tissue, "I went to self-study last night."

Xu Xingxing had been walking for a long time before Xu Chichi put down his chopsticks and sighed, and then said to himself: "It's really unpalatable. Our street is not broken, it's the old city center."

Most people on Tanghua Street have this kind of thinking, what about the former city center.

After the evening self-study class, the ghost with the severed hand didn't show up. Xu Xingxing heaved a sigh of relief and went to the intersection with Chen Shuang. Seeing that he was far away, he entered Tanghua Street by himself.

Chen Shuang's family used to live in Tanghua Street, but his mother said that this street is a ghost, and the family made some money from business, so they moved.

Nonsense, Xu Xingxing thought, when you moved out, there was one behind you.

He thought about his own happiness, and when he passed the fortune-telling booth, he yelled into it: "Five bowls!"

The Mahjong parlor upstairs next door echoed: "Touch!"

After walking for several steps, I heard a voice from behind: "Xu Xingxing!"

He stopped, Ah Xiao ran over like the wind, jumped up and slapped him on the shoulder: "Why are you running! Don't you want your talisman water?"

"Has your master finished the painting?" Xu Xingxing asked.

Ah Xiao shook his head: "No."

"Then it's over." Xu Xingxing spread his hands and walked away.

"Aren't you going to ask me how my results were yesterday?" Ah Xiao raised his eyebrows while holding his schoolbag with one hand.

Xu Xingxing crossed his arms, thought carefully for two seconds, looked down at her, and said, "Just the three of you, you probably won't be able to catch a ghost."

Ah Xiao snorted, turned around and left: "Who do you look down on!"

Really caught?

Xu Xingxing's heart skipped a beat, no wonder the ghost brother didn't come to look for him today!He hurriedly grabbed Ah Xiao's ponytail: "Did you really catch it?"

Ah Xiao slapped his hand and nodded triumphantly: "Although it's not the one with the severed hand."

Xu Xingxing let out a "tsk" and breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to speak, a clear voice sounded from the side: "The one with the severed hand is here with me."

The street lights were dim.

He turned his head in response, and saw a boy about his own age, taller than himself by visual inspection, wearing a gray school uniform next door, with a calm face.

Thinking that it was nothing to talk to, Xu Xingxing glanced at him and ignored him, then grabbed Ah Xiao and asked, "Your master..."

"The one with the severed hand is with me." The boy next to him repeated it again.

Xu Xingxing turned around and frowned: "Hey, what's wrong with you? Do you know what others are talking about and what to say? If you want to talk, go back to your mother."

The man replied calmly: "I know what you are talking about. I don't have a mother. Also, I was talking to you. I said that the ghost with the severed hand is with me."

Xu Xingxing rolled his eyes halfway, was stunned, exchanged a glance with Ah Xiao, then looked sideways at the boy with a frown.

The young man smiled, leaned close to Xu Xingxing's ear, and asked softly, "Did you see the devil?"

"Ah!" Xu Xingxing was startled by him, and took a step back, the hot breath was very itchy next to his ears.

He stretched out his hands to rub his ears, and after such a delay, the person in front of him turned around and left, and he hurriedly chased after him.

Ah Xiao followed, and was about to run, when Blind Qian shouted, "Come back!"

"Master!" Ah Xiao stomped her feet, "That person said..."

"Come back!" Blind Qian shouted again.

Ah Xiao lowered her head, and then slid into the room. Blind Qian slapped her on the back of the head: "What do you think I have a long life?"

The voices from the fortune-telling booth quickly disappeared.

The young man walked quickly, Xu Xingxing followed behind him, before he could talk to him, he had already seen his home.

He gritted his teeth, intending to pass the house instead of entering, and chase after him first to ask for clarification, but he didn't expect the person in front to stop suddenly.

Without stopping, he slammed into it, hitting the back of the man's head with his forehead.

"I said you..." The boy turned his head and glared at him.

After such an attack, the expression on his face suddenly became much more lively, much more pleasing than the smiling expression just now.

Xu Xingxing didn't care if he stared at him or not, and hurriedly asked: "Hey, who are you, this classmate? That big brother! No! I know that ghost!"

"And then?" The boy gave him a cold look, "It's none of my business."

After speaking, he turned around and opened the thick wooden door next to him.

Xu Xingxing was startled, thinking that this is a fucking thief, he dared to do things in front of people!

Before he could think about it, the other party had already opened the door and slammed it shut again.

"Fuck!" Xu Xingxing stood there dumbfounded before he realized, "That kid?"