After the people from Chuiliu Village set off with the troupe, they traveled more than 20 miles in a row. Half of them wanted to quickly return to Ninghai Prefecture to meet with the Military Control Commission and then go home to celebrate the New Year; the other half wanted to quickly bring food back, so there was not much delay on the way.
Near noon, the sky suddenly turned gloomy. After a while, velvet-like snowflakes began to fall. After just one meal, the distant mountains and the surrounding areas became a world of dazzling white ice and snow. The road also became graceful and hazy.
Everyone in the troupe on the carriage was shivering from the cold. Everyone was tired after traveling for a long time. Seeing that the snow was too heavy to keep going, the class leader had no choice but to let the leader take everyone up a gentle slope to the west of the post road, where there was an abandoned temple.
This is a courtyard with three entrances. The main hall in the front yard was burned to the ground by fire. The mountain gate has collapsed and even the sign is gone. Fortunately, someone made a big hole in the west wall, so everyone drove the carriage into the yard, and the villagers from Weeping Willow Village also came in pushing wheelbarrows.
Yang Ertang, Li Dachun and others walked around the dilapidated main hall and came to the empty backyard. They saw that except for the rooms in the west wing, only one corner had collapsed, and the row of rooms in the east wing had broken purlins and broken eaves. snow cover. The whistling north wind echoed throughout the courtyard. If there weren't so many people in their group, it would really make people feel sick.
Li Dachun turned around and looked around, and saw a well in front of the dilapidated east wing. The black wellhead was particularly conspicuous in the snow. After driving all the way in the morning, he almost finished drinking the water in the gourd, so he thought about getting some water. Unexpectedly, as soon as I took two steps, there was ice on the ground, but it was covered by snow. With a "chi" slip, I suddenly fell into a big horse!
Pfft, Yang Ertang and others were all happy, and just as they were about to speak, the straw curtains of the west row of wing rooms moved, and a dozen unkempt beggars came out. Each of these people was wearing rags and bloated clothes, and they were holding dog-beating sticks in their hands, and they were on guard.
"For what?"
Yang Ertang and others were shocked. They didn't expect that there were people living here. The female lead named Cuicui whispered in a high voice: "Eh~ I'm so embarrassed."
It's not nice to call someone dirty in front of a beggar, so Yang Ertang hurriedly said: "I'm sorry, we are just passing by. It's snowing too much and we need to get out of the way."
None of the beggars moved. After a while, someone said in a hoarse voice: "Go inside and warm yourself by the fire. What are you doing!"
Yang Ertang followed the voice and saw that the man was wearing an old sheepskin robe stained with oil stains, a pair of dirty coarse cloth boots, and a worn-out felt hat that was pushed down so low that only half of the dirty hat could be seen. bearded face.
After hearing this, all the beggars turned around and entered the house. Seeing this, Yang Ertang had no choice but to call Li Dachun and others back to the front yard and tell the troupe about the situation.
Everyone was dumbfounded when they heard that someone had occupied the backyard. In the end, they had to go to the ruins of the main hall that had been scorched black by the fireworks, cleared an open space, and used the flagpole from the theater troupe and the sticks in the hands of the Weeping Willow Villagers to prop up a large piece of oilcloth, and finally managed to settle down.
But just having a place to hide from the snow is not enough. You also need to get firewood to make a fire. It is best to boil a pot of hot water so that everyone can get rid of the cold and eat dry food. Li Dachun volunteered and took the two of them to the collapsed east wing in the backyard to look for wood. Yang Ertang didn't want to stay in the cold tent, thinking that there must be hay in the beggar's house, so he decided to go and use the hay as a fire starter. things.
…
He came to the backyard and patted twice on the window edge of the west wing that was blocked by the straw curtain. After a while, the hoarse voice rang again: "What are you doing?"
"Brother, is there any hay in the house? I will make some with you to light a fire."
After waiting for a while, he heard a rustling sound coming from the room, as if someone was moving, and then the voice said again: "Come in and get it."
"Thanks!"
Yang Ertang opened the straw curtain and entered the house, and was hit by a wave of hot air mixed with sweaty and smelly feet. The light in the room was very dark, and when he first came in from the white snow, he could hardly see anything clearly. After I calmed down for a while, I took another look. The two rooms were actually connected. More than a dozen people were squatting on the floor against the west wall. There was a fire on the ground, and a handful of people were covered by the smoke. The scorching black kettle hung on the shelf and made a sizzling sound, steam rising from the spout. On the earthen kang at the north end, the man who was wearing a sheepskin robe was sitting cross-legged, looking at him with squinted eyes.
This person is not wearing a hat at the moment. He has a slightly thin round face, big eyes, a flat nose, and a wispy beard. His face looks dirty, and he can't tell. The sludge is still smoked.
Before coming to this opera troupe, Yang Ertang traveled around the world with other opera troupes for more than ten years, meeting countless people from all walks of life. At this moment, he felt that something was wrong with the bunch of flowers in front of him, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong for a while.
The guy on the kang said in a hoarse voice: "It's almost Chinese New Year, what do these people like Nen do?"
Yang Ertang said with a sneer: "What else can I do, just make a living with the troupe."
At this time, a beggar on the floor suddenly became energetic and asked: "You can sing? Come and listen to me."
"I'm just an errand boy, but I don't have the skills." After Yang Ertang said this, he grinned. Only then did the beggars see that this guy was missing a front tooth, so their expectant expressions dimmed again, and they lowered their heads. Ignore him again.
Yang Ertang said again: "Hey, when I passed by the county a few days ago, I heard that the Yamen was giving out porridge and food. Why didn't you go?"
"If the government's words can be believed, an old sow can climb a tree." He cursed in a hoarse voice, put his hand into his arms and groped for a while, caught a flea, threw it into the fire under the kang, and said: There was a "pop" sound. Then he said to someone who was laying a bed on the ground: "San'er, take some hay from under your bed and use it to light a fire. It's not easy to go out in this situation."
Yang Ertang blinked, took the hay that was handed to him, put it in his arms, bowed and thanked him, and turned around and left the house. He quickly walked out of the yard, and then his stride became fast and he almost slipped several times. Arriving under the oilcloth tent, he grabbed the troupe leader and whispered a few words to everyone's puzzled looks.
The troupe leader was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then looked at Yang Ertang and said, "Nenmu got it wrong?"
Yang Ertang said anxiously: "You can't be wrong! I have been running around for more than ten years, and I still have this sharp eye!"
The class leader thought for a moment, then turned to everyone hiding in the tent and said, "Listen to me now, everyone, stop talking!"
Although everyone felt strange, they still fell silent. As the troupe leader began to explain softly, everyone's expressions became more and more ugly. After a stick of incense, everyone got out of the tent, tying up the carriage, and tidying up. In a blink of an eye, the bustling place was gone again. It becomes a cold place.
…
Li Dachun and the two of them finally found a few relatively dry rafters from the ruins. When they returned to the front yard, they were dumbfounded. The tent they had set up before had been evacuated, and everyone was packing their things in the wind and snow. The car was loaded and it looked like it was going to hit the road immediately.
He carried the wood and walked to the carriage and said fatly: "Come then?"
A person from the same village came up and said softly: "Dachun, don't say anything, I'll tell you."
After a while, Li Dachun's eyes widened and he said with surprise: "You said they are old melon thieves?"
"Absolutely true!"
"Come on, mother, why are you running away? Just fuck them!"
"What a fat boy! What are we doing here? Hundreds of people are waiting for us to transport food back!"
Well, Li Dachun sighed helplessly and had to set off quietly with everyone.
The group of people went up the post road and walked seven or eight miles. The man named Cuicui asked Yang Ertang out of curiosity: "Ertang, how do you know that those Huazis are Laogua thieves?"
Yang Ertang said proudly: "If you want to hide it from me, you are still young!"
"Second cousin, tell us, it will help us gain some knowledge."
"That's right, you're still holding it and not talking about it!"
"Hey~~ Why do you, such a big man, pinch people!" Yang Ertang escaped Cuicui's "devil's claws" and then told the people around him what he saw in the room, and then explained: "I have been running around in the world for many years. , Hanako has seen countless people. If the real Hanako caught fleas, they would eat them as meat, but that person was thrown into the fire. I saw something wrong at first sight. How can there be such a Hanako in the world."
"When I followed my master around the world, I heard his old man say that there is a group of old melon thieves in Shandong who love to show off. They wear tattered clothes, and they come in groups of three to five, and there are more than ten or twenty people. They usually mail In the empty temples, empty kilns, and thatched sheds beside the road. Wait until the five drums in the evening, and if you encounter one or two travelers on the road alone, you will murder them. Either kill them with a knife or strangle them with a rope, and then kill them. They stripped off the clothes of the deceased, put on their own tattered clothes, and then threw some baskets, dog beating sticks, bowls and chopsticks next to the body, so as to pretend that Hanako was killed. When the government discovered this, They are often treated as someone seeking revenge, and no one else can find out."
Everyone smacked their tongues after hearing this, thinking that there was such a vicious person. At this time, the troupe leader who was sitting in the car huddled with Cuicui to keep warm said: "I have heard from a familiar government servant before that this old melon is very evil and ruthless! In addition to what Ertang said, there is another way to dress up. Become a merchant, mix in and travel, and if you focus on a single traveler carrying property, let a thief sleep with him. The relationship becomes very familiar, which is called a lobbyist in the trade. If there are two travelers, arrange for two thieves to be the lobbyists. guest"
Everyone was listening with high spirits when the troupe leader suddenly stopped talking and loudly said to the people marching in the snow: "Work harder, it seems we won't be able to reach Zhoucheng in the afternoon. Let's bear it before we go." Ten miles away, go to a village ten miles south of the city to deal with it for one night."
"Okay!"
"Master, you haven't finished speaking yet! What else is there?" Everyone was curious and kept walking, not caring about their hard work for a moment.
"In addition to lobbyists, there is also a group of associates called gangsters. The gangsters go first to dig holes in the areas they have found in advance. As for the lobbyists, they will induce travelers to get up early the next day and go on their way together. Wait until they arrive The ground is digging holes, just in case you are not prepared."
…
As the troupe owner said this, he suddenly grabbed Cuicui from behind, startling him and causing him to scream. The theater owner then said: "The lobbyist will pull the rope out of his sleeve and strangle it from behind."
Despite the cold weather, Cuicui's face turned red and she lowered her head in shame. At this time, everyone around her pursed their lips and lowered their heads in joy, and the snow on their hats and shoulders fell rustlingly. I thought to myself that the boss was really bad, he actually took advantage of me in front of everyone.
The troupe owner had eaten enough tofu, and then he let go of Cuicui's hand, put it into his sleeve with satisfaction, and continued: "They call this going online in the industry. You can carry it on your back for more than ten steps, no matter how strong you are. He was going to die. When he got to the pre-dug pit, he was afraid that the person would not be completely dead and would still have to deflate, so he took a knife and hit his stomach like this. Alas!"
At this time someone asked: "What then?"
Someone said thoughtfully: "Then after robbing the things, just throw the people into the pit and bury them! Who can find them in the wilderness? These people will suffer a thousand blows!"
Everyone listened in silence, and the more they thought about it, the more frightened they became. If they still stayed in the ruined temple to hide from the snow, something unexpected might happen at night. Although there are many of them, most of them are timid and honest people. If they really encounter the armed thieves, not many of them dare to resist. So they looked at Yang Ertang with gratitude in their eyes, thanks to his thoughtfulness.
"Dachun, I feel so young that I have to apologize to my second cousin."
"Huh?" Li Dachun asked, "What's going on?" Just say that you are a thief, why did you get me involved?
"Yes, I think Erhuai is right. Dachun, you shouldn't hit others."
"." Li Dachun was so angry that his nose was about to smoke. He rolled his eyes and decided to ignore it.
After that, the group walked for two hours, and when the snow became lighter, they finally arrived at a village ten miles south of Ninghai Prefecture to stay. The Beihai Navy has a checkpoint here. When they see the performance team returning from the countryside, they all greet them with a smile and speak very kindly. Although the people in Weeping Willow Village did not dare to talk to the people in the theater troupe, they were still very curious to watch.
Yang Ertang found the platoon leader in charge of the checkpoint and told him about the group of flowers he met in the ruined temple. The platoon leader listened solemnly. In the past month or so, there have been many cases of missing merchants in Ninghai Prefecture and Haiyang County in the south. The Military Control Commission also sent people to investigate after receiving reports from family members, but there was no clue. .
The mission of the army is to fight, but it is not good at investigating crimes. In addition, the police officers and government officials in the Manchu Dynasty were all idle at home. The matter was brought together to Lu Shoushan and Li Bi, who were also very worried. In desperation, he sent a telegram to Beihai Town a few days ago, requesting the Public Security Police Headquarters to send some experienced people over to investigate the case and set up a public security police system for the four counties.
The problem is that the Chinese New Year is coming soon, and there is no time to wait for the security police to come. The platoon leader at the checkpoint recorded all Yang Ertang's report on paper, and then sent his men to the Ninghai Prefecture Military Control Commission overnight.
In the early morning of the next day, two platoons of troops came from Ninghai Prefecture, all riding horses, looking murderous. They were accompanied by two former Qing agents in civilian clothes. They first asked the checkpoint platoon leader, and then asked him to lead them to Yang Ertang and the troupe leader. They checked the map to find out the location of the ruined temple, and then hurried southward.
At this moment, no one expected that when they went there, they would actually find out a major case that shocked Jiaodong.
Forty-eight years of Qianlong's reign
