There were people around who had seen the entire process and sided with Xu Ke, saying to the old lady, "Even though you’re quite old, you can’t just bully young people like this. You’ve been following him from the fish stall to here, taking whatever he buys, refusing when he lets you have it. What exactly are you trying to do?"
Upon hearing this, the old lady’s face imdiately fell. Her cloudy eyes fixed fiercely on the person speaking. "I’m an old lady, I can do whatever I want. What business is it of yours, youngster? What’s your relationship with him? If you don’t like , hit then, dare you?" The old lady sneered, looking at the person with disdain.
The person standing up for Xu Ke was also quite upset hearing this. "What you’re saying is unreasonable. You’re old, but you can’t act like this."
"How am I acting? Did I do sothing to you? Did I bully you? If not, why are you saying this to here? Do you think you’re so kind of hero?" the old lady said fiercely.
"You want to play the hero but you’re afraid of being talked about. Is this market your family business, and everyone has to listen to you? Let tell you, old lady, I have a bad heart. If you say sothing unpleasant, and I fall to the ground, it’ll be all your responsibility." The old lady said with satisfaction as she looked at the angry red face of the person she just riled up.
"You!" The person being addressed was incredibly angry but felt helpless against the old lady. If she were a few decades younger, he wouldn’t hesitate to tackle her to the ground, but the difficulty lay in her old age. If he dared to touch her, he’d be ruined financially.
Seeing no one in the crowd dare to stand up for Xu Ke, the old lady’s arrogance was stronger than ever. "Let be clear today, I just don’t like you, kid. I just want to follow you, I just want to annoy you. If you’re upset, you can hit , but if you dare, I guarantee you’ll face severe consequences. Don’t try to act all pitiful in front of . I’ve lived long enough, I’ve seen everything. I know exactly what you’re up to. I’m nearly at the end of my life, I don’t care about my reputation; I only seek my own satisfaction. Got it, kid?" The old lady waved her bony hand, patting Xu Ke’s face twice, the provocation and insult were intense.
Hearing the old lady’s words, the people around looked at Xu Ke with sympathy.
"Young man, I think maybe don’t buy vegetables today, go find a temple and pray to Buddha. See if you accidentally offended sothing, to be this unlucky." Soone stepped forward, patting Xu Ke’s shoulder, showing him a sympathetic expression, and spoke earnestly.
Xu Ke nodded, "Don’t worry, I will go and see. I also want to know what I did recently to get into such a big ss." Xu Ke said while intentionally glancing at the old lady.
"What do you an by that? Are you disdaining this old lady?" The old lady imdiately resorted to unreasonable antics upon hearing this.
"You misunderstood, I dare not say anything about you." Xu Ke said with a smile.
"I tell you, I have my eyes on you. You won’t escape from my hands today. Even if you don’t want to buy vegetables, I’ll follow you everywhere you go." The old lady sneered, displaying a rogue-like deanor.
"If you want to follow , I won’t stop you. I’m just worried your legs might not keep up. I may go up the mountain later to pray to Buddha." Xu Ke smiled, appearing very good-tempered, which made the people around him more sympathetic.
"You can’t go to pray to Buddha, the mountain is too far, I can’t walk such a long distance." The old lady said imdiately when she heard Xu Ke was really planning to go pray to Buddha.
"Whether you can walk such a distance is not my concern. Today I am determined to pray, if you feel it’s too far, you can choose not to go or take a cab, no one is stopping you."
"I won’t take a cab. Does a taxi not cost money? Will you reimburse for the taxi fare? Even if I took a cab, what if you leave midway and don’t go?" The old lady was unsatisfied with Xu Ke’s suggestion and argued unreasonably.
"If you want to pray to Buddha, you can co with , but you pay for the cab, then I won’t worry about you running away halfway, and I don’t spend any money; it’s the best of both worlds." The old lady said.
"But I don’t want to take a cab. I believe taking a cab isn’t sincere, and Buddha may not bless . So I must walk. It’s getting late now, if I don’t leave, it’ll be dark by the ti I reach the mountain, and descending would be difficult. So I’m leaving, you can think about how to go." Xu Ke said as he turned to leave, seeming to give up buying vegetables and truly planning to pray and ward off misfortune.
The old lady saw Xu Ke was really leaving, not joking, and got anxious. Seeing her cloudy eyes turn shrewdly, she ca up with an idea.
The old lady grabbed Xu Ke’s clothes, clutching her heart with the other hand, crying out in pain, and lay down on the ground, intending to cling to Xu Ke no matter what.
The crowd was in uproar due to the old lady’s actions. Although everyone knew she was unreasonable and extrely annoying, possibly even attempting to scam him, given her age, she could actually be in trouble. Nobody dared to take the risk that she was indeed in distress.
The old lady lay on the ground, her bony hand like iron pincers clasping Xu Ke’s clothes. Perhaps due to psychological reasons, people saw that her complexion indeed looked sowhat bad.
"Young man, she seems genuinely in distress. Why not take her to the hospital? She’s quite old; don’t let anything happen here." Those who had been sternly criticizing the old lady now turned to her side, wanting Xu Ke to accept this silent loss.
"Even if what she did earlier was wrong, she’s very old. If not truly in trouble, she wouldn’t act like this. Why not take her to the hospital, consider it a good deed?"
Upon hearing this, quite a few people in the crowd nodded in agreent, continuously urging Xu Ke to take her to the hospital, among whom the most anxious was the vegetable stall owner.
But Xu Ke could understand his anxiety; after all, if sothing happened at his stall, his business would be ruined.
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