Beijing, East Shitiao, Guaizi Hutong, Er Auntie Zhajiang Noodles.
When I saw Hou Dayong, the boy was holding a bowl of fried noodles and eating them deliciously.
Seeing me, Hou Dayong hurriedly shouted: "Hu Tian, over here! Come on, come on, sit down!"
I pulled up a bench and sat down. I looked at this kid with noodles on his face, frowned and said, "Your old man can't be found. How the hell do you still want to eat fried noodles?"
Hou Dayong wiped his mouth with his sleeve and said, "As the old saying goes, people are like iron and rice is like steel. If you don't eat even one meal, you will be hungry."
I scolded: "Where did there come from so many farts? Seriously, what's going on?"
Hou Dayong did not answer me directly, but took something out of his pocket, threw it on the table in front of me, and said, "Do you recognize this thing?"
I picked up the thing and took a look and found that it was a tortoise shell piece the size of a thumb.
This tortoise shell is very old, very light and thin, and has a light dark brown color overall. It is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. There are two lines of strange words engraved on it, which look like tadpoles or some kind of tortoise shell. Weird symbols.
This thing was exactly the same as the tortoise shell in the photo that Uncle Xu gave me. I took this tortoise shell and looked at it carefully for a long time. It wasn't until Hou Dayong pushed me several times that I came back to my senses and just listened to him. Said: "Hey, what's wrong with you kid?"
Hou Dayong stuffed the last few bites of noodles from the bowl into his mouth, and after a while he slowly said: "Your family runs an antique shop, so you are more or less knowledgeable than me, a second-rate dealer who sells fake goods in Panjiayuan. , I don’t have many friends, so you’re the only one I can ask for in this regard. Please help me, do you know what this thing is?”
I took this piece of tortoise shell and asked Hou Dayong: "Where did you get this?"
Hou Dayong looked at me and said, "I found it on my old man's desk."
I held the tortoise shell piece and looked at it for a long time, and then said slowly: "Are you sure this thing does not belong to your old man?"
Hou Dayong shook his head and said: "I'm sure! Our family is different from yours. We don't have such a big family business. It doesn't matter what my old man has. I know it in my heart. This thing absolutely cannot belong to our old man. As for why it is It will appear on our old man’s desk, I don’t know.”
As he spoke, Hou Dayong took out the Zhongnanhai from his pocket and handed me one. He lit one himself, took two puffs, and then slowly continued: "A few days ago, a man came to see our old man. The two of them chatted in the room for most of the day. I didn't care what they said because I wasn't interested in hearing it. I just knew that since that person came, my old man has become very weird and his temper has become much worse. Something happened. I smashed things when there was nothing wrong. I didn't take it seriously at first, but who would have thought that at around five o'clock last night, the old man went out and never came back. I found this on his desk this morning. Then, I called you and that’s what happened.”
I took a puff of cigarette and fiddled with the piece of tortoise shell in my hand. After a while, I said slowly: "Monkey, this is not an easy matter. It seems that our two families are in trouble."
Hou Dayong frowned and said, "What do you mean? Does this thing have anything to do with your family?"
I nodded and said, "Of course it is related. Because our old man is also missing, our family also received such a piece of tortoise shell."
Hou Dayong almost jumped up when he heard my words, and said loudly: "What? Your Mr. Hu is also missing?"
I didn't speak, just nodded.
Hou Dayong said: "What should we do now?"
I thought for a while and said, "I think the two of us have to find someone."
Hou Dayong asked: "Who?"
I said word by word: "Chengdong Luo blind man!"
Blind Luo, although he is called a blind man, this guy is not blind at all. Not only is he not blind, his eyes are many times stronger than those of a normal person. No matter what he looks at, he can tell the origin and price of anything. years.
He was originally the store manager of our Hu's branch, but later he became obsessed with gambling. As the saying goes, nine out of ten gamblers cheat. In less than half a year, he lost all his belongings. In desperation, he started gambling. Yi Yuanzhai's idea was to secretly trade the civet cat for the prince.
But the good times didn't last long. Within a month, our old man discovered him. He broke one of his legs according to the rules and kicked out Yiyuanzhai.
After leaving Yiyuanzhai, Luo Xiazi relied on the craftsmanship left by his ancestors to start a fortune-telling business. With his sharp tongue, let alone, the business was pretty good. Although it was not a lot of money, it was still good for food and drink. No worries.
Luo Xiazi is not difficult to find. There are only three places to find this guy: the place with the most first girls, the best second wine, and the most densely populated place in front of the gate of Sanyonghe Palace.
When Hou Dayong and I found him, this guy was touching the little hands of two young girls with great interest in front of the gate of Yonghe Lama Temple, and was reading palms for others to predict their marriage.
This guy is dressed as a Taoist priest, with his hair in a bun, three strands of green beard under his chin, wearing sunglasses, a gray cloth gown, and a mahogany demon-suppressing sword on his back. There is a flag banner standing beside him, which reads: One mouth can tell the whole world; the secrets of heaven are unpredictable.
What a fairy-like appearance.
This blind man from Luo was probably in his forties. He was old and smart. From the corner of his eye, he saw Hou Daguang and I walking towards him menacingly. He didn't care about taking advantage of the two girls. He packed up his bed and ran away. .
But this guy's legs and feet weren't as fast as the two of us. Seeing that he was about to run, Hou Dayong rushed over, grabbed him by the collar, and said loudly with a smile: "Master Luo, Master Luo, you are really too great." That's right. The prediction you gave me last time told me that a big disaster is coming. I should stay away from home for five days to avoid the disaster, otherwise it will harm my family. It's really accurate. Fortunately, I have your guidance. Little brother, I just escaped a disaster! This time I came here to express my gratitude in large sums of money! Why do you think you can leave just as you say!"
Hou Dayong spoke in a loud voice, and many people around him were attracted by his words for a while. The two young girls who asked about marriage just now were still doubtful, but now their eyes were full of admiration.
Blind man Luo was able to pretend. Seeing that Hou Dayong had no intention of tearing him down, he instantly changed back to the image of an expert with an immortal air. He stroked his sleeves and said calmly: "My little friend, you don't have to be polite. Although I have revealed a secret to help you out of trouble, it is actually due to fate between us. As for the so-called gift reward, it is not necessary, it is not necessary!"
Hou Dayong said in an extremely exaggerated tone: "How can it be done? Master, I really want to thank you sincerely!"
Before Hou Dayong finished speaking, a very pure and lovely girl next to him came over and said coquettishly: "Master, master, please take a good look at it for me, okay?"
The girl was very close, and the two towering little buns on her chest inadvertently rubbed against Blind Man Luo's arm, which made the old boy feel excited.
After saying that, the girl handed her little hand to Blind Luo and begged, "Master, please help me take a good look!"
The coquettish tone and the charming body fragrance made Blind Luo shudder. However, the old boy knew what was going on. He gritted his teeth and shook his head and said: "This female lay practitioner, our fate has ended today. If we are destined, we will meet each other in Japan. Of course, if the female layperson really wants me to touch your bones and read your physiognomy, that’s fine. Come on, come on, you can add me on QQ and leave your contact information, and we will meet another day Goodbye. Today, I..."
I couldn't stand the mean look of this old boy anymore, so I pulled him away before he could finish his eloquent words.
Our car was parked not far away. After getting in the car, the three of us went straight to a Northeastern restaurant called Jinshoushao near Yonghegong Temple.
After entering the hotel, I found a private room and ordered five special dishes and six bottles of wine. Since Hou Dayong and I had already eaten, we didn't use our chopsticks much and went straight to the topic.
Hou Dayong took out the piece of tortoise shell, placed it in front of Blind Luo, and asked in a deep voice: "Old Luo, do you know this?"
Blind Man Luo originally thought that the two of us were looking for him to settle the debt for not paying back the money we owed him. Once he saw that we didn't have any ill intentions and that we invited him to dinner and drinks, he didn't worry anymore. So, he shook his head and ate the meal. In less than five minutes, a plate of pot-roasted meat was all in the old boy's belly.
Hearing Hou Dayong's question, Luo Xiazi drank the beer in front of him in one gulp, smashed it twice to taste, then took the tortoise shell piece, looked back and forth, and said leisurely: "Isn't this ghost money?"
"Ghost money?" Hou Dayong and I asked in unison.
I asked, “What is ghost money?”
Luo Xiazi served himself a bowl of pickled cabbage and pork ribs, drank two sips, and thought about it for a while with a look of enjoyment. Then he slowly said: "As the saying goes, ghost money, ghost money, since it is called ghost money, of course it is not given to people." use."
I asked, "Isn't it for people? Who is it for?"
Blind Luo said: "I said, Mr. Hu, it's not for people, of course it's for ghosts. And in this Sijiu City, you can use this ghost money, don't I have to remind you, right?"
I looked at Blind Man Luo and asked, "Are you talking about the ghost market?"
Luo Xiazi gnawed a large piece of soy sauce bone and said leisurely: "Money can make the devil grind the mill, and the ferry woman on the Styx River; don't ask about your past life or this life, just ask for a lot of gold, silver and jade."
Blind Luo finished chewing the bones in his hand, drank two glasses of wine, and said slowly: "It is said that the Palace of Hell only issues three pieces of this ghost money to the outside world every year, and it is hard to get a thousand pieces of gold. With this ghost money, Only then can we cross the Styx River and enter the ghost market. As for what is in the ghost market, we ordinary people do not know."
