Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 22 Favors

Paper figures are made around and percussion instruments are played.

These two families were well-known families back then. They were not as powerful as they are in TV dramas, but they had already controlled the entire funeral industry in Los Angeles before the country implemented the cremation system. No matter who held a funeral or burial, from the emcee to the paper-made things, from the coffin to the percussion band, no one could avoid these two families.

Thanks to this deal, the Zhou and Yang families, who were unknown in the world, quickly accumulated a huge fortune.

It is not difficult to see how wealthy the Zhou family was back then just by looking at the three-hall and two-cross- hall house in front of us.

Even if he cannot be called a prominent figure, he is still far beyond the scope of ordinary people.

Xiao Ran was actually also confused. In comparison, his family was still outsiders. After his parents passed away, his grandfather brought him to Luo City. Relying on his own skills, it took him a long time to slowly gain a foothold in the local area.

What on earth could this outsider family have done to make the local tyrant Zhou family owe them a favor? ?
"Bang bang!!"

The sound of crutches behind the door made Xiao Ran look up. He recognized the figure coming out at a glance. It was the old lady who had just left.

Although his clothes changed and his white hair turned into a bald head, his appearance did not change at all.

The old man seemed to notice Xiao Ran's strange gaze, but he just smiled and didn't explain.

The man stepped forward and supported the old man's arm, and asked with concern: "Dad, is my mom resting?"

The old man nodded and said, "Your mother likes to eat sweet things these days, so save some snacks and don't let her eat too much."

"Hello, old man. My grandfather asked me to come visit you and disturb your rest."

Xiao Ran stepped forward and spoke politely, looking the old man up and down, but couldn't tell anything. However, listening to his voice, it was clearly different from before.

"Hey."

The old man nodded and motioned Xiao Ran to sit down. His cloudy eyes looked Xiao Ran up and down, and finally locked his gaze on Xiao Ran's eyes.

"How is your grandfather?"

"Fortunately."

If it were someone else's family, Xiao Ran would have to explain that his grandfather had passed away.

But this time it was different. I came here under the name of my grandfather, and I was afraid that I couldn’t explain it clearly about his death.

The old man didn't ask any more questions, and asked Xiao Ran directly: "My wife just told me that you are here to ask for a favor. Our family recognizes this favor, but what exactly do you want to do?"

Seeing that the old man was so direct, Xiao Ran simply said that he was worried that others would use his horoscope to harm him, but he did not explain the specific reason.

"My grandfather said that I can only come to you for this matter. It's a matter of life and death. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare to come and disturb you rashly."

After hearing what Xiao Ran said, the old man's face relaxed and he grinned, "If you have something else, I dare not tell you, but this matter is simple. You wait here."

After that, he looked up at his son and said, "Take good care of the child. I'll go to the back hall."

"Ugh."

The man nodded cautiously and helped the old man to his feet.

After the old man walked into the back hall, the man turned around and looked at Xiao Ran. For a moment, the two of them stared at each other and the atmosphere suddenly became a little awkward.

After a moment, Xiao Ran took the initiative to give the other party a way out: "I'm sorry for offending you just now, uncle, please don't take it as an offense."

"Good boy, you are quite capable despite your young age. Come on, my family owes you a favor. I was wrong just now. Here is my business card. If you need anything in the future, you can call me."

The man took out a business card and handed it to Xiao Ran.

Xiao Ran took it and took a look, and couldn't help but frowned slightly.

【Agricultural Trade Wholesale Market, General Manager, Zhou Shen】

Xiao Ran knew clearly that most of the fruits, vegetables, poultry, side dishes, grains, oils, rice and flour in Los Angeles came from here.

"Sure enough, the family is very wealthy, otherwise how could they control such a large market."

Xiao Ran knew clearly that to be able to control such huge profits, it was not enough to just have some money. If one's connections and strength were poor, it would not be your turn to do this business.

Although the Zhou family lost the funeral business, they were able to regain control of such a large wholesale market. I don't know whether this was Zhou Shen's own idea or the old man's method.

"Uncle Zhou, with such a large market, there must be a lot of cattle, sheep and poultry every day."

Xiao Ran asked seemingly casually.

Zhou Shen didn't think much about it and nodded, "Except for those who go back to the district, most of them go to the farmers' market. We have a slaughterhouse here, and the meat is all fresh."

"Great, then can I buy some undismembered cows, pigs, and poultry?" Xiao Ran explained, "You know, my family makes a living by craftsmanship, but my grandfather passed on the craft to me, but there are not so many corpses for me to practice on, so I was thinking if I could practice on these livestock, you see..." Zhou Shen's mouth twitched, thinking: "Good fellow, hitting the snake with a stick, this speed is too fast."

However, Zhou Shen was too embarrassed to refuse the boast he had just made. After thinking about it, he realized that it was not a big deal. "It's not difficult and you don't have to spend any money. I'll call the slaughterhouse and find some corpses for you to practice with. As long as it doesn't affect sales, there's no problem."

Zhou Shen picked up the phone and called the slaughterhouse in front of Xiao Ran. Perhaps he wanted to save face in front of Xiao Ran, so he turned on the speakerphone. When the person on the other end of the phone heard Zhou Shen's request, he agreed without hesitation.

I just told Xiao Ran that if he wanted to go, it would be best to go around two in the morning so as not to affect the shipment starting at three o'clock.

This problem is naturally not a problem for Xiao Ran.

The two sides agreed on a time. After Zhou Shen hung up the phone, Xiao Ran naturally cooperated and praised him, which made Zhou Shen's face look much more relaxed.

"Zhou Shen!!"

At this time, the old man's voice came from the back hall.

Zhou Shen quickly stood up and said, "Go to the back hall. My dad has probably finished helping you."

"it is good."

Xiao Ran stood up and walked to the back hall, and Zhou Shen did not follow her.

Walk through the central hall, along the corridor and through another door to reach the back hall.

I saw the back hall filled with smoke. It was not big, but spacious. The three doors were open. Looking inside through the doors, I saw the tablets of Zhou family ancestors on the huge altar.

Xiao Ran walked into the room and saw the old man sitting on a chair with a teacup in his hand, pointing to the side.

Xiao Ran looked closely and saw that it was a 30-centimeter-tall paper man.

What surprised him was that the paper man looked exactly like himself.

The expression, hairstyle, and clothes are completely a smaller version of myself.

The only thing is that the eyes are left blank, without any eyeballs.

"You just made this?"

Xiao Ran looked at the old man in surprise.

Zhou Shen and I only chatted for less than fifteen minutes, and it’s done?
But on second thought, I felt relieved. After all, he was the big boss who controlled the funeral industry back then. How could his cooking skills be that bad?

"I'm old, and my craftsmanship has faded. Take this paper figurine home, paint its eyes with blood, write your original date of birth on the back, and burn it. Remember, the time you burn it is your new date of birth. If you encounter any evil spells that harm you, it can protect you from disaster."

"So simple?"

"It's that simple. However, your new horoscope can only help you prevent others from harming you. If you encounter a fortune teller in the future, you must report your real horoscope. Also, this new horoscope can only protect you for one year at a time. After that time, it will be ineffective."

"Oh, thank you, old man."

Xiao Ran nodded and wrote this down, holding the paper figure in his arms: "Thank you for your trouble. I will go back first without disturbing your rest. If you need me for anything in the future, I will definitely not refuse."

"Hahaha, okay, okay."

The old man smiled and nodded, then called Zhou Shen again, asking Zhou Shen to send Xiao Ran out.

It took Zhou Shen only a cup of tea to come back. When he came to the back hall, he asked unhappily, "Dad, I remember the Xiao family seemed to be outsiders, right? When did our family owe them a favor?"

It’s no wonder that Zhou Shen is unhappy. From the time he can remember until now, others have always owed his family money, and it is still the same now.

But I have never heard of a family owing a favor to another family, let alone someone coming to my door to ask for a favor.

Upon hearing this, the old man put down the thermos in his hand and looked up at the spirit tablet on the altar.

Although he didn't say anything, the invisible silence gradually made Zhou Shen dare not say anything.

After a long while, the old man slowly spoke: "Xiao Zhenye is not an outsider. He just hid away for a while and came back later."

"Then... our family..." Zhou Shen also heard that his old man seemed to have a special relationship with the Xiao family, so he asked carefully, "Do we still need to owe him a favor?"

"You only know that your mother is on me on weekdays, but you don't know why she is on me."

As he said this, the old man stood up, unbuttoned his clothes and opened his chest.

I saw a woman's face cleverly sewn onto his skinny and dry chest. His tightly closed eyelids trembled a few times before slowly opening a crack. He said with a resentful expression, "Damn old man, didn't I tell you not to tell this to the children..."

(End of this chapter)