I was lost in thought when my thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the ringing of the phone. As soon as I picked up the phone, I heard my grandma crying anxiously:

"Grandson! Come to the hospital quickly! The doctor says your mother is dying!"

"What?! I'll come right away!"

I grabbed the phone and rushed out of the store. As soon as I stepped out of the counter door, I saw the tall black figure standing at the top of the stairs.

It’s the shadow from last night!

At this time, it was blocking the stairs lifelessly, with a pair of black and white eyes looking at me fiercely.

It obviously doesn't want me to leave the pawn shop!

No! Nothing can happen to my mother!

No matter what the rules are, I must leave the pawn shop now!

After making up my mind, I rushed down the stairs decisively and rushed towards the black shadow with my eyes closed.

As I walked through the shadows, I smelled the smell of burning paper.

I rushed out from behind the counter as fast as I could, but the black figure didn't seem to expect that I would escape in this way.

Although I didn't see it chasing me with my own eyes, the cold feeling on my back almost confirmed my thoughts.

Fortunately, I was not far from the door of the store, and I crawled out of the pawn shop.

Who knew that as soon as my heels left the threshold of the pawn shop, a chill would run along my ankles and into my trouser legs!

How dare I look back, pull back my feet, stand up and run!

I didn't slow down until I reached the intersection, hailed a taxi and rushed to the hospital!

On the way, my grandma called again and said that my mother had been pushed into the emergency room. The doctor issued a critical illness notice and asked her to sign it. She couldn't write and urged me to go to the hospital quickly.

When I heard the news, I cried helplessly. For a second, I hoped that money could really solve everything, but this was not the case.

As soon as the taxi arrived at the entrance of the hospital, before it stopped, I opened the door and rushed out. Just as I was about to run into the hospital, I heard two voices shouting at the same time.

"Give me money!"

"Zhang Qi!"

It was the voice of the taxi driver and grandma.

I saw my grandma trotting up to me from the door of the hospital. Her eyes were red and she had obviously just cried.

"I'm sorry, the kid was so anxious to see his mother that he forgot to pay."

Grandma smiled apologetically and explained a few words to the taxi driver, and then paid for the taxi for me. She didn't even look at me during the whole process, and she acted in a leisurely manner.

"Grandma, why are you..."

I originally wanted to ask my grandma why she wasn't guarding my mother in the hospital, but in the middle of the conversation I suddenly couldn't continue.

Because when I saw my grandma’s tear-stained face, I had already guessed the answer.

Grandma turned around, gave me a smile, raised her hand to wipe my face, and said softly:

"Qi, now you are the only one with grandma, so you have to be good, you know?"

I nodded. I originally wanted to imitate the way she comforted my mother at my father's funeral, but when I opened my mouth, I found a bitter taste in my mouth.

Grandma said nothing and led me to the front desk of the hospital to sign the relevant procedures, and later contacted the funeral home.

I acted very calmly throughout the whole process of picking my mother up from the hospital.

It wasn't until the black van parked in front of me that I finally accepted the fact that my mother had passed away.

In the month since I inherited the pawnshop, I have called and video-challenged my mother every day.

But every time I talk to my mom, we talk about my life.

Because as soon as she talks about her treatment and physical condition, she will find an excuse to hang up the phone.

Later, every time I called, the nurse or grandma would answer the call.

I thought maybe my mother's condition was not getting better, and the nurse was just lying to me when she said it was getting better.

Just when I was immersed in guilt, the heel of my left foot suddenly hurt, like being pricked by a needle!

Since we were in a hearse, I couldn't take off my shoes to check, so I could only grit my teeth and endure the pain, and put my fingers into the shoes to explore.

But except that my feet felt extremely cold, I didn't find anything in the shoes.

The hearse drove safely all the way to the funeral parlor. Because the cremation furnace was turned off at night, my mother's body needed to be parked overnight.

Starting from my great-grandfather's generation, my family only has one child, so we don't have many relatives.

As for why my mother has no relatives or friends, my grandma said that she broke up with everyone in her family in order to marry my father.

To be honest, for so many years, I have never been able to figure out why my mother married my father.

After all, my father is a romantic kid who drinks and makes trouble every day. Even if he has great abilities, he may not be able to achieve what my mother can!

In the words of my grandma:

"Your mother is the daughter of a well-off family. Her ancestors were all officials. She is different from a small family like mine!"

As I recall, the staff at the funeral home had already carried my mother into the mortuary, and my grandmother was skillfully talking to the staff about the funeral process.

Looking at grandma's frail figure, I felt sour in my heart.

It is said that a white-haired person sending a black-haired person away is the most painful thing in the world, but grandma experienced it twice.

I was about to walk towards grandma when someone pulled my heel!

It's as if someone was lying on the ground behind you, and pulled your foot as if to prank you just as you were about to take a step forward.

I staggered and almost fell to the ground!

Fortunately, a staff member passing by helped me so I didn't fall.

There has been something wrong with my feet since I left the pawn shop. Thinking of the vicious look in the eyes of the dark figure in the pawn shop, I decisively took off my shoes and unzipped my trousers to check!

When I saw it, I instantly felt a chill in my back!

I saw that my entire heel was completely blue. What was even more strange was that after I took off my shoes, a white thing actually fell out of my shoes.

Just now in the hearse, I was sure there was nothing in my shoes, but what fell out?

I put on my shoes and was about to pick them up when I heard my grandma's anxious voice.

"Why can't you walk smoothly?"

While grandma was talking, she walked towards me. I bent down and quickly picked up the things on the ground and put them in my trouser pocket.

"I'm fine. Grandma and my mother's funerals will be arranged according to the price. I've earned enough money!"

Afraid of worrying my grandma, I didn't tell her what happened just now, but changed the subject and talked about money.

Because of money, I didn't even see my mother for the last time. I held a cell phone with 150,000 yuan in my hand, and I felt a little ashamed.

After hearing what I said, grandma showed a happy smile, patted me on the shoulder and said:

"Silly boy, you should keep the money you earn to marry your wife, don't spend it randomly!"

"But..." Her tone was full of exhaustion,

"Okay, go see your mother, grandma is waiting for you outside."

Grandma suddenly interrupted me, and without waiting for my response, she turned around and walked to the rest chair aside.

I'm actually afraid to see my mother because I'm afraid, I'm afraid I won't be able to help crying, I'm afraid I'll embarrass her, I'm afraid I'll disappoint her...

Finally, I met my mother under the guidance of the staff.

She was thin and out of shape, with high cheekbones, giving her a mean look, which was nothing like the gentle and elegant look in her memory.

Under my gaze, the two coroners neatly arranged my mother's remains.

When they saw the bruises on the back of my mother's hands, they used powder puffs to cover them several times. They were caused by long-term injections.

I stood there watching them busy with mixed emotions, and suddenly I heard a voice in the room.

"Ta! Ta! Ta!"

It’s the sound made by beads falling on it!

I heard it clearly, but the two masters acted as if they hadn't heard and continued busy with what they were doing.

"Ta! Ta! Ta!"
Chapter completed!