"Second girl, go call your brother back for dinner."
In a small courtyard near the city wall in the West City, the woman working in the kitchen poked her head out from the door frame and shouted to the young woman who was concentrating on embroidery under the old tree in the center of the courtyard.
"I know, mother."
The delicate woman named Erya agreed, carefully placed the silk handkerchief that had just been embroidered with half a mandarin duck in the bamboo basket beside her, stood up, carefully smoothed the wrinkles on the skirt, and put a few strands of hair hanging down from her forehead. With a strand of hair tucked behind her ears, she walked lightly towards the door of the courtyard.
Outside the courtyard gate is a narrow alley that can only accommodate two people walking side by side, and the ground is an uneven yellow mud road. Erya looked around and saw no trace of his younger brother, frowned and muttered dissatisfiedly.
"Thousands of people are annoying me, and I don't know where I'm going."
Complaints are complaints, but Erya still lifted up her skirt to avoid being stained by the splashed dust. According to her memory, she carefully avoided the raised dirt bags or pits on the ground and walked toward the west entrance of the alley. There is a long-abandoned house not far over there, which is the paradise for the half-grown children nearby. Erya guesses that her little brother is probably there.
The Bo area located on the edge of Kyoto is not as prosperous as the center. At this time, when Xu is approaching, the sky is dark and it is difficult to see pedestrians on the street.
The deserted house was in the alley diagonally opposite. Erya walked to the entrance of the alley and looked inside. It was darker inside than on the street, and she couldn't help but feel a little scared.
"Xu Tieniu...Xu Tieniu...Mother calls you home for dinner."
Erya put her hands together like a trumpet, stood at the entrance of the alley and shouted into it.
"Drive...drive...drive..."
The sounds of children playing could be heard from the abandoned house located in the middle of the alley. Xu Tieniu, who was already playing crazy, didn't seem to hear his sister's shouts.
Erya stomped her feet angrily, and was hesitating whether to go in and pull out her little brother when she heard the sound of gurgling wheels behind her.
Following the sound, I looked sideways and saw that a carriage with an unclear color was driving slowly towards this direction. The driver sitting in front of the carriage pulled his head and seemed to be dozing off.
Finally seeing the figure, Erya became more courageous and wanted to rush into the deserted house before the carriage had gone far.
Lifting up the skirt again, Erya had just raised her right foot when a rope with a loop was thrown out of the carriage and wrapped around Erya's neck.
The panicked Erya subconsciously wanted to shout, but the rope suddenly tightened, and the speed of the carriage suddenly accelerated. When he drove behind Erya, the driver who pretended to be dozing cut Erya on the back of the head with a palm knife, knocking her unconscious, and then He picked up the unconscious Erya with one hand and threw him into the car behind him.
The carriage never stopped, still driving leisurely, and the coachman returned to his half-asleep appearance.
"There are a few little ones in the alley, why don't we get rid of them all together? Taking advantage of the recent good market, we two brothers can also make more gambling money. Tsk, tsk, tsk, this little girl looks thin and frail, but her breasts are big Not small."
A man's voice said from inside the carriage.
"Shut up! The boss specifically told me that each district can only catch one sheep within ten days. If you catch too many and work diligently, and attract the attention of the government, you will be chopped into pieces by the boss and fed to the dogs. Bar."
The coachman shouted angrily in a low voice.
"Humph, they say that the older you get, the less courageous you become. In my opinion, the boss has already earned enough money for his retirement. He is thinking about washing his hands in a golden basin and finding a place where no one knows him to live happily. He has never considered us at all. Brothers who worked tirelessly to help him.”
Hearing the complaint from the man in the carriage, the coachman wanted to refute, but he still remained silent after he flattened his lips.
"Hey Huzi, let me tell you something. But first, I treat you as my brother. Don't turn around and sell me out."
“If you have something to say, say it, and if you have something to say, let it go.”
"A few days ago, someone under Boss Xue from Nancheng came looking for me."
"You are looking for death, aren't you? That person named Xue is the sworn enemy of our boss. If the boss finds out, not only you, but also me will suffer."
the coachman said angrily.
"Don't be impatient. Listen to me. The person who is looking for me is not an outsider. He is a fellow villager. He is the second pillar of Lao Li's family at the head of the village. He buried Batai when he was a child and snorted rhubarb snot all day long. You Do you remember?"
"Hmm... After hearing what you said, I remembered, what does he want from you?"
"The second pillar is not what it used to be. He is now the white paper fan of Boss Xue, the second boss. He said that the big seller behind the scenes has noticed that our boss wants to get out, so he thought..."
The man leaned half out of the car, put his palm across his throat, and made a motion of wiping his neck.
The coachman's body trembled, and after pondering for a long time, he asked in a low voice.
"Is the news reliable? Don't let others fool you."
"We are fellow villagers with Erzhuzi. He can't deceive us either."
"Even if his information is reliable, why did he come to you? It can't be that he wants you to kill the boss and replace him."
"Stop it, don't you know what kind of a tiger I am? I'll just be a runner in this life. Erzhu said that as long as I can provide them with the location of the boss's hideout, I will give them the number after the incident is completed. "
The man spread his fingers and shook them in front of the driver's eyes.
"Five hundred taels! On the contrary..."
"Look at your potential, it's a full five thousand taels!"
The man interrupted proudly.
hiss!
The coachman took a deep breath when he heard this, and his heartbeat couldn't help but speed up a lot.
The carriage gradually drove away and disappeared into the night.
The five and a half-year-old urchins in the deserted house waited until they were hungry and tired, then they reluctantly said goodbye and went home, and agreed to come back here tomorrow to continue playing.
In the dark narrow alley, Xu Tieniu jumped over a smelly puddle with great skill, jumped back home and shouted.
"Mom, I'm hungry!"
"It'll be ready soon. We'll start dinner when your father comes back."
The woman poked her head out of the kitchen, looked at her youngest son and said with a doting look on her face.
"Look at how dirty you are. Go back home and change into clean clothes. By the way, let your second sister wash the dirty clothes."
"Okay!"
Xu Tieniu responded cheerfully, took off his clothes and ran into the house, throwing the dirty clothes on the ground.
He washed his face randomly and changed his clothes. After he came out, he saw the dirty clothes he had just taken off still scattered in the yard, so he yelled at the top of his voice.
"Second sister, mother asked you to wash clothes. Second sister...Second sister..."
After shouting several times but no one answered, Xu Tieniu ran to the door of the kitchen and shouted.
"Mom, where is the second sister?"
"Young boy, you two came back together, why are you asking about me instead?"
"I came back by myself, and I didn't see the second sister."
"ah!"
The woman quickly put down the spatula, grabbed Xu Tieniu's shoulders and asked.
"I asked your second sister to call you home for dinner, didn't you see?"
"I told you, I came back by myself and didn't see the second sister."
Xu Tieniu shook his shoulders vigorously, shook off the woman's hand and replied impatiently.
The woman looked up at the dark night sky and realized something was wrong. She told Xu Tieniu to stay at home and wait for her father to come back, and then ran out to find her daughter.
As soon as she ran to the door, the woman bumped into someone. She looked closely and saw that it was her husband-in-law.
"What are you doing in such a hurry?"
The man, who had just finished his odd job and looked exhausted, scolded weakly.
"The second girl is missing."
"What!"
After the woman told her what happened, the angry man would slap her with his mouth.
"Last month when Lao Li's wife was lost, I told you that Er Yatou and Tieniu are not allowed to go out after dark. Why don't you stinky old woman have a long memory? I'll beat you to death!"
"It's useless even if you beat me to death now, go find the second girl quickly."
The woman cried out in a tearful tone.
The two fathers hurriedly told their youngest son not to run around, locked the courtyard door and looked for him at both ends of the alley.
"Second girl...Second girl..."
Most of the people living in this area are poor people who are reluctant to buy lamp oil and go to bed early after eating. It was a cloudy day again tonight. Thick layers of dark clouds blocked the moonlight and starlight. We could only barely make out the scenery within three or four steps. Any further away would be completely dark.
The woman also felt a little scared. She hugged her shoulders tremblingly and kept calling her second daughter's nickname in a trembling voice.
…
"I have already taken note of the situation, and I will inform you two as soon as possible if there is any news."
With the help of the weak firelight from the Huozhezi, Li Jun faithfully wrote down what the two elders of the Li family said, closed the case and said.
This family is related to Li Jun, also surnamed Li. The son went out to learn business with relatives, and there was only an old couple and their daughter-in-law in the family.
Last month, the daughter-in-law of this family went out to buy groceries and never came back. After searching to no avail, the couple had no choice but to go to the Yamen to report the crime.
Regarding the cases of reported missing persons, the Kyoto Prefecture only kept rough records, but the specific time of disappearance, the physical characteristics of the missing person, and other detailed information were not recorded. The arresters had no choice but to visit again.
After asking about the situation, when Li Jun said goodbye to the old couple, he was grabbed by the old woman, and the old man spread his hands into his arms and took out more than 20 copper coins to force Li Jun.
"That's all we have left at home. I hope Mr. Chai will take the trouble to find my daughter-in-law. Otherwise... otherwise, how will I explain to my son when he comes back?"
The old man begged with tears in his eyes.
"I accept the wishes of the two old men, but as we have said, we are not allowed to take advantage of the common people. If I accept your money today, I will be beaten tomorrow morning. So you two elders keep this money, don't worry , I will definitely try my best to find your daughter-in-law."
As the old couple thanked each other with tears in their eyes, Li Jun left the small courtyard, turned around and closed the courtyard door.
Alas, poor!
Li Jun sighed in his heart.
It was already too late, most of the people living here had gone to bed, and they could only come back tomorrow morning to continue the visit.
Putting the case into the cloth bag behind his back, Li Jun groped the wall and walked out of the dark narrow alley. As soon as he walked out of the alley, he heard a woman's cry in the darkness.
"Er Yatou, please answer my mother's question quickly, Er Ya... ah... ghost!"
Li Jun's heart tightened. Could it be that another woman has disappeared?
Without thinking too much, I followed the sound and found it.
The woman who came out to look for her daughter was walking and realized that she seemed to have bumped into something, and she screamed in fright.
"Don't be afraid, I'm not a ghost or a bad person."
Li Jun quickly explained in the darkness.
It's a pity that the woman was in panic and couldn't hear all of his words. She just heard the words "ghost" and "bad guy" and let out another shrill scream. Her eyes turned white and she was about to faint.
"What's the old lady's name? But I found the second girl."
Men's questioning voices and the sound of hurried running came from the alley.
