Hong Baotou said with a cruel smile: "I see you are toasting him instead of drinking a fine wine! Come on, tie him up and give him a whip first."
So Li Dashan was tied up at the door of his house. The policemen whipped up their whips and fired their bows from left to right, beating Li Fu until he cried for his father and mother.
When they were fussing at the door, Li Fu's family was immediately in chaos. They were crying, shouting, and some even ran out to kowtow to Mr. Hong and beg for mercy.
Mr. Hong sat on a tree stump and asked, "Where did the jar come from? What is in it? Why is it hidden in the firewood?"
Li Fu's clothes had been damaged by the whip, and the blood seeping out of his skin had stained his inner clothes with red marks.
"Hong Captou, the conscience of heaven and earth, I really don't know!"
"Hit me, hit me hard!!" Hong Bao's head looked like an angry lion, looking as if he was going to pounce and tear Li Fu into pieces.
"I'll say it! I'll say it!" Li Fu couldn't bear the beating, so he had to agree casually.
Chief Hong waved his hand to stop the whipping of the policemen: "Since you are willing to talk, tell me, what is in this clay pot?"
Li Fu took a breath, his whole body was in pain, but he didn't dare to complain at all.
"Hong Captou, I really don't know what's in this clay pot, but people come to collect firewood every day. I'm just selling firewood. Maybe someone else put it here, and it has nothing to do with me. "
"Collecting firewood? Who will collect it?" Hong Captou looked at Li Fu's expression and felt that he didn't look like he was lying.
"I don't know him either. He just said that he wants to use my firewood and needs a cart of firewood every day. He hasn't come today yet. If he comes later, you can ask him."
Mr. Hong glanced to the side and saw some firewood piled in the yard next to Mr. Li's house, so he walked over and asked, "Is there anyone at home?"
This family is Li Fu's neighbor. When they saw Mr. Hong tying up Li Fu and whipping him several times, they were so frightened that they stood at the door and asked, "What's the matter?"
Mr. Hong asked: "Has anyone come to the village to collect firewood recently?"
"Yes, yes, we are indeed collecting firewood. Each bundle of firewood costs three taels of silver. We have been collecting it for many days." The villagers answered all questions and told them everything they knew.
"When we saw that firewood was so valuable, we all went to the mountains to chop it. Unfortunately, they didn't want it, so we only accepted firewood from Li Dashan's family."
Captain Hong nodded: "Very good, you answered very well." He turned around and strode to Li Fu, grabbed the whip from the catcher's hand, and whipped it towards Li Fu headlong.
"What kind of firewood is worth thirty taels of silver per bundle? Do you think I am a three-year-old child? Why don't you accept other people's firewood and only accept yours?"
After the whipping, Li Fu had passed out.
Although Capt. Hong beat him hard, he still retained his strength, fearing that he would really beat Li Fu to death and still not be able to get the mysterious seasoning.
After a while, Li Fu woke up and said as soon as he opened his eyes: "Sir, don't fight again. I am willing to fight. I am willing to fight for anything."
Mr. Hong shook the pottery pot in his hand: "Where did this thing come from?"
"I picked it up." Li Fu replied weakly.
"Where did you pick it up?"
"It was dug out of the ground near the village."
"There are many?"
"No more, that's all, no more." Li Fu was beaten until he uttered nonsense.
Hong Baotou thought for a while, took a few steps closer, and whispered to Li Fu: "You sell this thing to others but not to me. Have I offended you or do you have a grudge against me?"
Li Fu said quickly: "I don't dare anymore, I don't dare anymore."
Hong Baotou winked to the left and right: "Untie his rope and let him lead the way."
He had to see the land to feel at ease. Since it was dug out from the ground, there must be holes and traces of new soil being turned over.
Li Fu also knew that if he couldn't find a trap, he would be beaten severely, so he started to use his brain and thought like crazy about where there was new construction near the village.
In desperation, he really remembered a place.
Some time ago, a group of people from Shangjing passed by the village and dug a big hole in the south of the village at the junction with Zhoujia Village. They seemed to have found a stone tablet. However, the stone tablet was not moved because it was too heavy.
Li Fu limped and led Hong Baotou towards the big pit in the south of the village.
Anyway, as long as he finds the pit now and insists that the things were found in the pit, and now that they are gone, these head catchers should not embarrass him.
Hong Baotou was also feeling uneasy along the way. He not only hoped that what Li Fu said was true and could take them to the place where the thing was dug out, and maybe more would be dug out; but he also hoped that what Li Fu said was a lie, because once it became true, it would mean that this Things are very rare, use them less and less, and you won't have them anymore.
Not walking far, we came to the junction of the south side of the village and Zhoujia Village. There was indeed a big pit here. The pile of soil looked like it had been recently turned over. There was half a stone tablet in the pit, but there was nothing else. .
Li Fu pointed at the big pit and said, "This is it. This is where I found it..." Now he just hopes that this matter will be settled soon. It doesn't matter even if he has to pay some money, as long as he is not beaten.
Hong Captou looked at the big pit in front of him and fell silent. If this matter was true, it would not be a bad thing for him and Hong Shengde to end it.
At least this kind of thing that can only be used once it is used up will never be used again. With the skills of the cooks in Dashunzhai, the restaurant is still difficult to turn over.
I'm just afraid that Li Fu is lying. There are many more things. In that case, Hong Shengde will become the same as Dashunzhai sooner or later.
The difference is that Zhang Dashun can insist on not closing the store for a year in that deserted state, but Hong Baotou may not be able to persist.
Strictly speaking, Chief Hong has no right to inquire or resolve cases. His duty is to arrest people.
It's just that he found an excuse to arrest Li Fu and beat him up, to scare him. If he really took Li Fu back to the county government and imprisoned him, Li Fu might not be fine, but Chief Hong would definitely be fine.
Now that things have come to this point, Hong Captou can only give up.
He stood next to Li Fu, looked at the big hole and said, "You'd better not lie to me, otherwise, I won't be able to spare you!"
Chief Hong left with the detectives, while Li Fu fell into worry and fear.
It’s true that when people sit at home, disaster comes from heaven. How come that clay pot appeared inexplicably among the firewood? Someone had obviously stuffed it inside on purpose.
Maybe the purpose was to put the blame on him and make him take the blame.
So he must find the person who bought his firewood as soon as possible. That person is doing everything secretly. As long as he finds him, everything can be changed.
