"Ah, what a beautiful moonlit night, what a beautiful sky! What does this clean night sky look like?"
Shi Deren's thinking tentacles were opened...
A sudden resonance made him realize: "Ah, lakes and fish ponds!"
The next day, Shi Deren and Su Jinwang searched for clues in villages with fish ponds.
That evening, they came to the vicinity of Mawang Village under the jurisdiction of Shangsha Town.
The gorgeous sunset shines on the large maple forest in front of the village, making it very dazzling and spectacular.
As the sun sets, farmers working in the fields walk in the afterglow of the setting sun on the maple-tree-wrapped home path in front of the village.
Shi Deren was attracted by this rare evening view and couldn't help but stop and watch it.
The gorgeous sunset, like spilled paint, spreads to the horizon, setting off the blood-red sunset.
The rays of the setting sun shine on the mirror-like fish pond near the hut not far away.
The setting sun is like a drunken poet, falling into the fish pond.
The water on the surface of the fish pond is swaying, making the fish pond shine more eye-catchingly.
The water in the fish pond was sparkling, and from time to time it emitted a red glow towards Shi Deren, as if signaling something to him.
"Is it possible that there is heaven and earth in the pond, and the rays of light show people?"
Shi Deren triggered his spiritual connection and asked the farmer who was walking on the path home with a hoe: "Uncle, who lives in that hut near the fish pond?"
The farmer looked at Shi Deren and saw that he was polite and polite, not like a bad guy, so he said truthfully: "That's where Ding Niu, a widower in the village who is engaged in tofu and yuba business, lives."
After Shi Deren thanked the farmer, he touched Su Jinwang with his elbow and said, "Brother Su, let's go and have a look."
Su Jinwang was puzzled: "What are you going there for?"
Shi Deren pretended to be mysterious: "You will know when you get there, why ask first."
Su Jinwang had no choice but to follow Shi Deren to the home of Tofu Guy Ding Niu.
The setting sun shone through the window lattice and shone into the house. The tofu man was tying the dried yuba with small ropes and putting it into a large basket. When he heard footsteps coming from outside the door, he turned and looked back.
Tofu Man Ding Niu is nearly forty years old, tall, with a ruddy complexion, a face like a chopping board, thick black eyebrows, eyes like bells, a big mouth, and a thick and black stubble on his chin that stretches out in all directions like steel needles When he opened his arms, the tendons of his arms protruded, and between stretching and flexing, there seemed to be two mice walking back and forth. At a glance, you could tell that he was a man of great energy, like a wolf and a tiger.
When Ding Niu saw two people coming in, a look of surprise flashed across his copper bell-like eyes.
Before Ding Niu could speak, Su Jinwang pointed at Shi Deren and said, "This is my boss, surnamed Zhang. He is in the restaurant business in the provincial capital. I came to you mainly because I want to talk to you about ordering yuba business."
Shi Deren looked at Ding Niu: "I wonder how many production tools your tofu workshop has. How many beancurd sticks can it produce in a week?"
When Ding Niu heard about the business, he happily pointed to the inner room and said, "I have two stone mills at home and two big pots for making yuba."
Shi Deren looked inside: "How many people are there in your family? Why are you the only one working here?"
"My name is Ding Niu. My parents died young. I was born ugly. My family is poor. No woman is willing to marry a poor guy like me. I am the only one in the family." Ding Niu said embarrassedly.
"Uncle Niu, can you take us to visit your tofu workshop?" Shi Deren looked at him inquiringly and asked.
Ding Niu kept saying: "Okay, okay, okay."
Ding Niu pushed open the old wooden door, and after crossing the threshold, Shi Deren saw that it was dimly lit inside. There were two stone mills placed on the left and right sides of the entrance, and some tools for producing tofu were placed around them.
There is also a small back door to the tofu workshop. Outside is a green vegetable field. A little further away from the vegetable field is a large fish pond. Dozens of banana trees are planted at the base of the pond. Among the broad banana leaves, there are many Long banana buds hang down. The edge of the pond is covered with weeds, chrysanthemums, etc., and lush wild flowers are blooming with yellow flowers. The water in the pond is dark green, and fish jump out of the water from time to time.
Shi Deren said to Ding Niu: "My restaurant is very prosperous and needs a lot of yuba, tofu and dried tofu. If I sign a supply contract with you, how can you cope with it?"
"Yes, business requires credit. If we receive an order for a big banquet and you fail to deliver the goods, we will compensate the customer several times the amount!" Su Jinwang said matter-of-factly.
"You can rest assured, I can do what I say." Ding Niu assured him by patting his chest.
Shi Deren stared at him closely: "How can you do this alone?"
Ding Niu said: "On weekdays, when the business is not good, I work alone and just have two meals. If the business is good, I will hire a few villagers in the village to help."
Shi Deren nodded with satisfaction and said, "Okay, if I have a big order for a banquet, I will send someone to tell you three days in advance. Just remember to rush out the goods for me."
Ding Niu grinned with a smile on his face: "Thank you boss for taking care of me."
"Then it's a deal and we'll see you later." After saying this, Shi Deren and Su Jinwang left.
After the two left Tofu Man's house, they came to the big banyan tree at the entrance of the village and sat down on the long granite bench.
At this time, all the farmers in the village were busy with their own work in the fields, and there was no one else around. Shi Deren stared blankly at the big fish pond for a long time, then turned his head and said to Su, "You came in just now. Did you notice anything unusual in Tofu Man’s home?”
Inspector Su shook his head: "No."
"Where is it inside the tofu workshop?" Shi Deren asked further.
"No." Inspector Su still shook his head.
Shi Deren shut his mouth tightly, thought for a while, and suggested: "How about we go fishing tonight?"
Inspector Su was confused: "Fishing? In the past half month, we have spent so much energy and effort to solve that case but found nothing. I am worried that the deadline has expired, how can we go back to the peak to report. And you Do you still have time to go fishing now? If you want to eat fish, I will go to the market tomorrow to buy a few and process them in restaurants for you to have a full meal."
Shi Deren said mysteriously: "Perhaps we can find a clue by fishing."
"Will fishing bring out a clue?" Inspector Su looked sideways at Shi Deren, "People say you are extremely smart, but I say you are mentally ill. It is obviously a leisurely matter that has nothing to do with the overall situation, but you insist on dragging it into it. Here comes the case.”
Shi Deren's face still had a sense of mystery: "Listen to me this time. After I catch the fish, I will tell you the case."
Inspector Su knew that Shi Deren was very stubborn and it was futile to argue with him, so he had no choice but to say, "Well, if you fish in someone else's fish pond, doesn't that mean you're stealing?"
"You can just steal if you say you steal." Shi Deren's expression looked a little mysterious, "In short, we come here to fish secretly, don't let other people know.
Inspector Su muttered dissatisfied: "You are a mysterious person. You don't know what kind of medicine is sold in Menghulu. When fishing, you need to use shrimps as bait. It is already dark and there is no way to find shrimps, so we can only wait until tomorrow to go to the market. To buy shrimps, you also need to prepare fishing rods and lines, so the fishing can only be arranged for tomorrow night.”
The next day, they went to the market to buy the above-mentioned supplies, and even bought a fish basket. Then they visited the market for a while, had lunch, returned to the inn, fell asleep and recharged their batteries.
They slept until the red sun set in the west before waking up.
Shi Deren got up, stretched, and woke up Su Jinwang. After dinner, he strolled around Wei City for a while, then returned to the inn to continue sleeping.
"Dang-dang-dang-", after the clapper struck at midnight, Shi Deren got up and pushed the window to look out.
The dark night sky is full of stars, and there is silence outside. People have already fallen asleep.
Shi Deren woke up Su Jinwang, who was still sleeping. Taking advantage of the late night supper, he went to the banana bushes beside the fish pond in the tofu workshop in the dark. He took out his fishing rod, hung a peeled prawn on the hook, and threw it to the fish. Go to the pond.
In less than a pack of cigarettes, I caught two fat and big eels, each weighing five or six kilograms.
Shi Deren looked at the two eels in the basket and said, "That's enough."
Su Jinwang didn't know why: "You work so hard to come here to fish in the middle of the night, but just catching two is enough?"
Shi Deren nodded: "Yes, that's enough. Let's go back to the inn."
Shi Deren and Su Jinwang left the fish pond and returned to the inn.
Shi Deren caught an eel from the fish basket, handed it to Su Jinwang, and said proudly: "Brother Jinwang, look, there are indeed eels in the fish pond, and these eels are three or four feet long, and their bodies are big and thick. , if it hadn’t been raised for 10 years, there wouldn’t be such a big one.”
"Yes, this white eel is really fat." Su Jinwang pointed to the big white eel in front of him, "Tomorrow you and I can have a hearty meal."
Shi Deren was dissatisfied: "Eat? You just think about eating!"
"The big white eels we caught are not for eating, so what do we do with them?" Su Jinwang glared at Shi Deren.
"I am confirming my judgment. I have found clues to solve the case." Shi Deren explained.
Sujin Wangba blinked: "Have you found any clues to solve the case? Are these eels related to the unsolved case we want to solve?"
"Yes." Shi Deren nodded affirmatively.
The night wind blew slowly, causing the long beards of the big banyan tree outside the window to flutter and dance. It blew through the window lattice and onto Su Jinwang's face, as if an invisible hand was slapping his cheek, making his mind suddenly clearer. .
"That fish pond belongs to Ding Niu, and he was the one who bought the eel seedlings and put them in the fish pond..." Su Jinwang thought about it for a while, "Deren, I see your look and listen to your voice, just based on this One thing, do you suspect that the murderer is that tofu man Ding Niu?"
"Yes!" A bright light flashed across Shi Deren's eyes, "A complex case is composed of many factors, and this can be regarded as one of the evidence. I am already 80% sure of solving the case."
"Taking a step back, even if this tofu guy killed people and silenced them, all traces of the crime have been destroyed by him after 10 years. Have you discovered anything new?" Su Jinwang didn't have much confidence in this. .
"Ten days ago, when you and I went into the village to visit and investigate the villagers, I discovered something suspicious." Shi Deren reminded.
Su Jinwang asked in surprise: "What's the doubt?"
Shi Deren analyzed: "Generally speaking, grass carp, bream, etc. are raised in fish ponds for one year before they are big enough to be sold on the market. Therefore, every year in late autumn or winter, the fish pond owners will drain the water to catch fish. This is already a rural phenomenon. practice."
"Yes, when I was a child in my hometown, people in the village used to catch fish in the pond once a year. At that time of year, I would go down to the pond to catch fish and shrimps!" Su Jinwang recalled.
