All the guests at Yipinju have left, even Sikong Zhaiyue has disappeared.
Only Ding Xiaodao was still sleeping on the table.
Mr. Hu Ba didn't kill him. A drunkard who didn't know martial arts wasn't worth his while. Moreover, he felt that Ding Xiaodao saw nothing at all when he went downstairs. I just saw a few people drinking and drinking tea.
The restaurant was originally a place for guests to drink and taste tea.
Winter month twenty-eight.
clear.
No wind.
The snow on the street has almost melted, except for places where the sun doesn't shine.
Some places don't even get sunlight.
When Ding Xiaodao woke up, he only felt a splitting headache.
I have been drunk for three days in a row, and I must not drink again today. People who drink often have some strange reasons. They drink when they are happy, drink when they are sad, drink when they are lonely, and drink when they are busy. You should drink it when you say goodbye, and you should drink it when you meet again after a long separation.
But there is only one reason not to drink, and that is that I can’t drink anymore.
Ding Xiaodao was neither sad nor happy, but he drank for three days until he was extremely drunk.
The reason why he got drunk was even more ridiculous. He just wanted to test how much alcohol he would have to drink before he got drunk.
On the first day of drinking, he went to the latrine five times and came back still very sober. At least he felt very sober. On the second day, he only drank one jar and was already drunk. On the third day, Sikong Zhaiyue invited him to drink it. He was only half red, but he didn't wake up until almost dark.
Little did he know that while he was sleeping, there was a pair of eyes staring at him secretly.
The shopkeeper of Yipinju is called Lao Du. He is almost as old as Mr. Hu Ba, but he looks much older and has a slightly hunched back.
At this moment, he was kneeling in front of Mr. Hu Ba. He didn't even dare to raise his head, and his face was as white as paper.
Mr. Hu Ba didn't even look at him and said coldly: "Were you responsible for cleaning the inn the night before yesterday?"
"Yes." Lao Du was sweating profusely.
Mr. Hu Ba frowned and said, "Did you receive the order to clean up all the guests in the inn and not allow anyone to stay overnight?"
Lao Du replied tremblingly: "The order I received was that the proprietor was happy, so he vacated the guest room to greet the guests and asked the guests to find another inn." Seeing that Mr. Hu Ba was sullen and silent, he continued: "Because It was the end of the year, and there weren’t many people staying at the inn. There were only five guests in total, four of them were fur traders who rushed back to Yangzhou for the New Year, and the other one was Xiao Ding..."
"Xiao Ding, is that the drunk young man? Are you familiar with him?" Mr. Hu Ba looked at Lao Du and said.
"I'm not very familiar with him. He has been staying in the inn for seven or eight days. He looks like a homeless young man. I thought he was friendly and I had a drink with him once." Old Du Lian's teeth were chattering.
"We only had one drink, and you treat him as your friend? Have you forgotten what I asked you to do?" Hu Baye's voice became colder and colder.
"No, no, I will never forget what Mr. Ba told me. However, just two days ago, Xiao Ding suddenly asked Xiao Er to send seven or eight jars of wine to his room. When he was cleaning the inn the day before yesterday, Xiao Ding discovered that... Ding was so drunk that he fell into unconsciousness and did not wake up even after falling off the bed. He also drank about seven or eight jars of wine and broke two wine jars. At that time, it seemed that it would take him two or three days to wake up. Come here, so..." Lao Du was lying on the ground and did not dare to speak anymore.
Mr. Hu Ba said: "A homeless young man, you don't know where to send him. It's not your fault, but you should tell me, do you understand?" He sighed. : "You go down."
Lao Du Rumeng was pardoned and staggered downstairs. Mr. Hu Ba did not punish him. Lao Du had been with Mr. Hu Ba for twenty or thirty years. Mr. Hu Ba had given Lao Du enough. He believed that his vision of people was not wrong. He has always been good at employing people, and he believes that Lao Du will not make the same mistake again.
Nangong He said: "If Master Eight is worried, why not...?"
Mr. Hu Ba said: "There is no need to add extraneous matters at this time. That Xiao Ding doesn't know martial arts at all. He can't even hold a wine jar from Sikong Zhaiyue."
Nangong Xundao: "But his hand looks like a hand that often holds a knife!"
Mr. Hu Ba smiled and said: "Yes, the thumb and index finger of his right hand are covered with calluses. It seems that they are caused by holding a knife for many years, but the knife in his hand is not a knife."
Regardless of whether a wooden sword is considered a sword or not, it is a sword that cannot kill anyone.
If a person's hands often hold the same thing, they will inevitably develop calluses. For example, a person who often writes or plays with antiques will have calluses on their hands. Even carpenters, masons, cooks, etc. Wait, they will get calluses on their hands. This principle is very simple, extremely simple.
Mr. Hu Ba turned back, looked at Brother Nangong and said, "If we are mistaken, it means he has accomplices, then we can't take risks, we have no time to take risks!" He looked back out the window and murmured : "If he's just a person, he's just a drunk."
What's so scary about drunkards? A drunkard who goes into danger alone under such circumstances is even less scary.
Mr. Hu Ba walked back and forth for a few steps and said to Brother Nangong: "Ask Lao Du to go and see him. In addition, send two groups of people to keep an eye on him and report his whereabouts to me at any time."
Although the drunkard was not terrible, he could not afford to lose, because this matter was so important that he could hardly stand up straight.
Ding Xiaodao is no longer in the room.
Of course, Ding Xiaodao was not in the room. Anyone who drinks alcohol knows that when you are drunk, you would rather sleep for a long time than wake up, but after you wake up, you cannot sleep for a moment. Unless, then get drunk.
Ding Xiaodao definitely didn't dare to drink anymore today. He didn't eat a grain of rice yesterday, but now he felt like he could eat a cow.
In fact he ate no less than an ox. He just ate a bowl of eight-treasure porridge, two pork elbows in sauce, two drawers of crystal shrimp dumplings and three hairy crabs.
After eating and drinking, of course he had to go out for a walk. He found that if he didn't bask in the sun, bugs would grow on his body.
But he found that Lao Du didn't even say hello when he saw him. He murmured: "I don't seem to owe you any wine money. I just broke two wine jars. I'm so petty..." He rolled his eyes at Lao Du's back. , swinging the wooden knife and left.
Except when drinking, Ding Xiaodao's small wooden knife never seems to leave his hand.
He swung the wooden knife like a windmill, which made several little kids jealous and kept chasing him for the wooden knife. One kid even offered to exchange a bunch of candied haws with him for his wooden knife. In the end, he had to ask Each little kid ate two bunches of candied haws before giving up.
"He woke up this morning and ate a bowl of eight-treasure porridge, two braised pork elbows, two drawers of crystal shrimp dumplings and three hairy crabs. He walked around the street for a few times and stopped for a while at Lao Qin's grocery store. , and chatted a little with the madam at Chunhua House at the end of the street. The dinner was the same as in the morning, except that the eight-treasure porridge was replaced with white rice." This was Nangong He's reply to Mr. Hu Ba.
"Not drinking?"
"No."
