Before leaving Zhiyu Town, Lu Ning contacted Mao Yizheng according to the contact information given by Cui Fu. The person who got through was a woman in charge of the agency. Lu Ning chatted for a while and asked about the price of the painting and the conditions for the interview. , I made a reservation for a meeting two days later, but the matter couldn't be speeded up.
She followed her into the city according to the company name on Tian Qiuxian's contract. This is a company that specializes in providing nanny services, mainly for families with elderly people and children, and is not very large. Lu Ning quickly found their address.
There was a woman at the front desk who was about forty years old. Lu Ning chatted with her for a while and quickly got to the point.
"Excuse me, do you have a nanny named Tian Qiuxian here?"
"You said Xiaotian, she is a very patient child here. If you want to hire her... let me see, oops, unfortunately, she is not available recently." The front desk clicked on the computer twice. Showing a somewhat exaggerated expression.
"Aren't you free? Do you have any work?"
"That's not true. She is asking for leave. Her sister is seriously ill and needs to go back to take care of her, so she can only ask for leave from us. The time is uncertain. Why don't you think about others?"
"Is the time correct? Are you so casual in approving leave?"
"Nannies will start working as soon as they are qualified. We are not a big company. It would be good for a small place like this to do business." The front desk said with a slight embarrassment, "Of course, the rules are to work. Just make money, if you don’t work, you won’t get paid. Xiaotian knows this, and of course he wouldn’t leave if he could.”
"Then where is her home?" Lu Ning gently touched her temple.
"I can't reveal this kind of personal information casually, you...you..."
The front desk's eyes became a lot more blank.
"I'm a client, aren't I? The nanny I want to name has a problem at home. If I can solve it for her sooner, I can get her to work sooner. This will be a good thing for you and her."
"You're right."
Lu Ning secretly sighed. Requiem's psychological suggestion ability is not as strong as its main ability. At most, it makes the opponent's psychological defense a little weaker. Fortunately, the opponent's principle is not that strong. As long as she gives a suitable It is not difficult to overcome the reasons.
"She is from this province and lives in Wuyun Township. This is her address and contact information..." The front desk pulled out a piece of paper and wrote something out. "We also hope that Xiaotian will come back soon. She is our most important person here." One of the best nannies..."
"Thank you." Lu Ning took the note from the confused receptionist, turned around and walked out of the company.
Wuyun Township is another journey. Unlike Zhiyu Town, which has mountain views, Wuyun Township is just an ordinary rural town with sparse buildings and even the roads are still loess avenues. When Lu Ning settled outside Wuyun Township, a large amount of dust even kicked up.
The environment here is not very good either. There is a lot of garbage thrown on the ground, and items such as cans and drinks bottles that have been embedded in the soil have almost become part of the road. The criss-crossing ruts passed over this place one after another, and the expressions of the people walking on the road were dull and lifeless.
Lu Ning frowned and walked for a while. Wuyun Township didn't even have the freshness of the countryside. The whole place was lifeless. In the end, she couldn't help but stop and ask a canteen owner.
"This place... it takes a day's work." The boss replied emotionlessly while looking for something.
"What happened?"
"It's nothing. It's just that people have died in the village recently, and the health clinics are full. It's not the same disease, everyone has his own disease. And it's almost the Chinese New Year, and there are basically no letters from young people who go out to work. , Maybe he won’t come back. Every household has had a hard time this year. How can you usually have the strength to live?” The boss took out a bottle of drink and a pack of instant noodles and put them on the counter. “Even my little business will be lost. You Look at this shelf of mine.”
There is only one relatively empty area in the small shop, where the cigarettes are sold.
"Smoke...the profits are pretty good, right?"
"It's not that I'm selling too much. I don't want to buy any more. The years are in recession and everyone is tightening their belts. Cigarettes and alcohol can't be sold at all. Some farmers will buy these cheap foods."
"Hey, life is not easy." Lu Ning agreed and handed the twenty yuan to the boss, "Just change. Boss, I want to ask you about someone."
"Oh, okay, I'm from here and I know everything." The boss quickly put the money into the drawer.
"Has a girl named Tian Qiuxian come back recently?"
"Hmm... the girl from Tian Ermanzi's family, right? Yes, she came back recently. She should be taking care of her sister at the health center now. In fact, the family is lucky to be able to come back so soon. There are many who never come back..."
Seeing that the boss was about to start chatting again, Lu Ning hurriedly thanked her and walked out of the canteen.
The township health center is indeed overcrowded. Lu Ning can even see some signs of death. It is estimated that several people have died here. There are only a few doctors and nurses working here, and the simple hospital bungalow is full of people. There are even two temporary beds placed in the corridor.
Lu Ning walked over for a long time before a nurse greeted her.
"Excuse me, what's the matter?" she asked in Mandarin with some dialect.
"I'm here to recruit people. Is Tian Qiuxian here?"
"That room." The nurse pointed, "If there is any movement, there are patients inside."
Before Lu Ning could thank her, the nurse continued her work. Helpless, Lu Ning followed the nurse's instructions and walked into the room.
There were a total of six beds in the room. The curtains were drawn between the beds, but the narrow room was packed to the brim. There were people in every bed. There was a strong smell of medicine in the room, and even a hint of rancid smell. Lu Ning sighed slightly, looked through the gaps in the curtains one by one, and saw Tian Qiuxian in a curtain near the window. The photo of her and the contract was still the same, holding an apple in her hand and slowly peeling it, while there was a much younger girl lying on the bed, looking at the apple in her hand with a pale face.
Lu Ning raised the curtain. Tian Qiuxian, who noticed the movement, turned her head and looked at Lu Ning with a puzzled face: "I'm sorry, you...were you in the wrong direction?"
"I'm looking for Tian Qiuxian." Lu Ning laughed, "It took me a while, but I still found you. I have something to ask you, and of course, I will also provide you with a good reward."
"What..." Tian Qiuxian became more alert, "I have nothing to tell you."
"Have you ever served an elderly person in Zhiyu Town before?" Lu Ning asked her straightforwardly.
Tian Qiuxian glanced at the girl on the bed, put the apple aside, whispered a few words into her ear, then stood up and said to Lu Ning: "Don't disturb the patient... go out and talk."
"Can."
The two of them walked to a secluded corner outside the health center, and then Tian Qiuxian said, "I know that the old gentleman passed away later."
"Oh? The old man passed away not long after you left. It can be said that you are the last person to live with him. Aren't you afraid?"
"Why did you find me? I don't know why he died. I just left when the contract expired." Tian Qiuxian said.
"But you are familiar with that old man, right? Unfortunately, that old man has a little relationship with me. I need to know something about his life."
Tian Qiuxian sighed and asked, "Then what is the reward you just mentioned?"
"I dare not boast that I have completely cured your sister's disease, but it is still possible to make her better, at least it won't be so painful." Lu Ning said.
Pharmacology is very useful here, and Lu Ning can do this with all the drug knowledge he possesses. Of course, for professional treatment, he still has to go to a large hospital for diagnosis.
"Do you know what disease she has?"
"I haven't diagnosed it yet, so of course I don't know. It's just that this place is already overcrowded. Haven't you noticed that there are too many people who are seriously ill recently? There is probably a problem with the soil and water here. How to treat it is up to you. make a decision."
"...Okay, what do you want to ask?"
"During the last time you spent with the old man, did he undergo any changes or do anything surprising? By the way, the old man gave him a paperweight. Were you the one who engraved the words on it?"
"I carved it, and the materials were provided by the old gentleman." Tian Qiuxian admitted, "This is a craft I learned before, and the old gentleman even praised me."
"Okay, you are right. Please tell me about the old man, including whether anyone visited him during this time."
"My husband has a regular schedule and has always been in good health. Until I left, his health was still fine. At that time, I never imagined that my husband would pass away within a few days."
"Did anything special happen?"
"The gentleman occasionally has some friends who come to visit, and they leave after a day or two. Sometimes no one in the town even knows that someone has come to visit him. I remember three people in total. Of course, I don't know their names. , I only know what they look like and what they are wearing.”
"Tell me."
Tian Qiuxian hesitated for a moment before saying, "Both of them are collectors of calligraphy and paintings. I heard them chatting. One was young, tall, and somewhat naive. The other was about forty years old, with small ponytails. The beard looks very much like those ancient shopkeepers on TV. Both of these people left after staying for two days, and the conversations I heard about my husband and them were all ordinary calligraphy and painting exchanges."
"Well, what about another one?"
"It's a woman, very fashionable, and she only stayed here for one day. She doesn't know anything about calligraphy and painting. After all, based on my understanding of Mr., if he is a fellow traveler, he will definitely have a lot to say. The woman seems to be here to hand over It’s something sir, I don’t know what it is specifically, I just heard her telling me to keep it safe.”
"What does it look like?"
"I'm thirty or forty years old. I'm well-maintained, but I can see some wrinkles from the years. The clothes on my body are very beautiful, I don't know what brand they are, and my hair must have been permed..."
Tian Qiuxian described the lady's appearance and clothing as much as possible, and Lu Ning gradually had a person's appearance in her mind, and became more and more familiar.
The mother and daughter she met in a second-hand store before were stolen by thieves, and the woman who came forward looked like this.
"Is she the only one?"
"Yes, I will clean the guest room, there will be no second person." Tian Qiuxian nodded firmly, "These three guests all came by themselves."
"Okay. So do you have any impressions about the paintings collected by that old gentleman?"
Lu Ning just asked this question casually, but Tian Qiuxian still knew it.
Perhaps it was her carving skills that pleased the old man, who also let her appreciate some of the paintings he had collected. But Tian Qiuxian has not seen that particular painting, but has seen many of the old man's own collections. Since she has caught the old man's eye, she has some artistic talent, and now Lu Ning can still tell a thing or two when asked.
"Among those paintings, there is one that Mr. Tian particularly likes." Tian Qiuxian said, "It is a picture of a lady, the kind of picture of an ancient lady, but with exquisite craftsmanship. I think it may be the old gentleman's lover or something , he has always cherished it. I have only seen it two or three times. The old man said that he has been looking for such a painting in his whole life, and he has nothing else to ask for. Now he lives in seclusion in this landscape and countryside, and takes care of himself. It is the most comfortable .”
"Then what do you think is special about that painting?" Lu Ning asked.
"I... think it's my illusion, but the few times I've seen it, I always feel that the painting has changed." Tian Qiuxian said hesitantly, "The colors are becoming more and more full, and the characters are becoming more and more vivid. Look at it. It looks more like a masterpiece by a famous artist."
Strangely, Lu Ning and Tang Ling searched the house before and never saw a single picture of a lady.
"That's all I know, my sister..." Tian Qiuxian looked at Lu Ning pleadingly.
"Go in, let me check on her condition first."
Her sister's illness was also a bit weird. Judging from her pulse, she was weak. All the organs in her body were weak, but there were no fatal symptoms. If things continue like this, I am afraid that I will die from the loss of multiple organ functions. After Lu Ning thought about it, she prepared a set of medicines. Her knowledge of pharmacology could not cure this unknown weakness, but she could delay it by supplementing it.
"I can't cure this disease. When did your sister start getting sick?"
"My father said it was just two weeks ago. Because all the villagers were sick, I didn't plan to occupy the health center, but the situation became worse and worse..." Tian Qiuxian lowered her head and said.
"I suggest you move away from here first, even if you send her to a hospital in the city." Lu Ning said.
"The family doesn't have that much money, and my father won't agree."
"This is a problem in your family. I am just making suggestions. If you need it, I can help contact you. This is the most help I can give you."
Tian Qiuxian bit her lip, and finally nodded and said, "Okay, I'm going to give it a try. The disease has to be cured."
Lu Ning smiled.
But...two weeks ago? That time also happened to coincide with the time when he met that woman and then died on the street. If this was the start of a whole plan...
