dusk.
Changfengfang in the south of the city.
A awning boat floated gently onto the shore.
"Mr. Xing, we're here."
"Well."
Xing, who was taking a nap while leaning against the cabin, let out a "squeak", got out of the awning and stretched out.
He has been exhausted these past few days.
Chasing the murderer and the Dionysian festival, the two most troublesome things in his life, suddenly collided, leaving him busy without even touching the ground. No, he was just taken over by the county magistrates today, given some instructions and a few lectures.
He was just released back home now.
Damn it, the little brats under his command are still ignorant. They obviously have the opportunity to escape from the bad things, but they insist on holding on to the hard money for the sake of some untouchable money. They don't understand the hard work of the old man at all.
He shook his head and laughed at himself: "It's hard work."
Throwing a copper coin to the boatman, he cheered up, raised his belly and chest, held on to the hilt of his knife, and regained his demeanor as the chief catcher of Xiaoshui County.
He jumped onto the stone steps on the shore, and pedestrians on the shore immediately came up to pay their respects.
When meeting wealthy people, he bowed in return and greeted them warmly.
When he met a poor person, he would either nod or say "hmm" as a response.
When he met someone who was shameless, he would walk over to them with a swagger and hand them over with a roll of his eyes.
In this way, they are divided into categories and dealt with one by one.
Along the way, I also bought a few steamed cakes and half a roast chicken.
Finally, he turned around and entered an alleyway on the street.
…
Wisteria is blooming everywhere in Xiaoshui City.
The flowers in this lane are particularly prosperous, and the bright purple "flows" from the high walls on both sides, like two flower waterfalls. In an instant, the small alley was flooded.
And it was evening.
The setting sun hanging on the Western Mountain spreads out the sunset, and coats the dizzying purple with dazzling red.
As a result, the colorful colors all merged into one color.
And this flower was roasted by the sun all day long, and the fragrance became more refreshing, which made Lao Xing's fatigue disappear a lot.
Just being in full bloom is not necessarily a good thing.
Not only do they block the road ahead, their branches, leaves and petals also like to get into the neck of clothes, annoying passers-by.
"Hire someone to shovel some some other time."
Lao Xing murmured as he pushed aside his flowers. After walking about ten steps inside, his eyes suddenly opened up and he arrived at a small dam. Opposite the dam was an all-too-familiar house.
Got home!
His whole body relaxed unconsciously.
"Uncle Xing."
The sudden words from the side startled him, and he quickly turned around.
I saw a little girl of eight or nine years old, holding a boy of four or five years old, and carrying a baby boy of one or two years old, who turned out to be the third sister of the neighbor's family.
You can't lose the face of an adult in front of children.
Lao Xing quickly bulged out his belly again, straightened out his chest, put on a straight face, showed the authority of an elder, and scolded:
"It's so late, why are we three little kids still playing outside? What should we do if we encounter bad guys? Why don't you go home quickly!"
"I know."
The two siblings responded politely, but they seemed to have roots under their feet and did not move at all.
Lao Xing looked over in confusion and saw the little girl staring straight at the pancake in her hand. The boy was even more blunt, and his stomach growled.
Lao Xing frowned.
"The old lady that my family invited didn't come today?"
"Here he comes."
"Cooking a big pot of rice."
"She ate it all herself."
With one sentence, the younger brother sorted things out, and then looked at Lao Xing eagerly, which made him feel uncomfortable. The cold pancakes seemed to be scalding hot, and he couldn't hold them in his hands, so he simply gave them to him. My little brother.
"Take it to fill your stomach."
"Why."
The little girl gave a sweet cry.
"Thank you, Uncle Xing."
Then he had to follow the catcher's instructions, go home and close the door to share the cakes.
Can……
"Wait."
The little girl turned around timidly holding the pancake, her eyes misty, as if she was afraid that Uncle Xing would take the pancake back.
And Lao Xing didn't say much. He caught up with her in a few steps and stuffed the roasted chicken into her arms.
"Take this too."
The little brother suddenly burst into laughter, and even the baby boy began to babble.
"Thank you, Uncle Xing."
"Thank you for what?"
Lao Xing blew his beard and stared.
"You want money!"
He counted on his fingers:
"Three steamed cakes total nine cents, and half a roast chicken costs forty. Let's take it on credit and let dad make up for it later."
"Why."
The little girl responded with a quick mouthful, and then happily took the second child, carried the youngest on her back, and went back to the house to share the cake and eat the meat.
Lao Xing had a straight face one second, but when the kids went back to the house and locked the door, he stuck out his two little heads and said together again: "Thank you, Uncle Xing." The next moment, he could no longer hold his nerve. Stop, grinning, a smile trembling between his brows and eyes.
But when he turned around, he saw his old wife leaning at the door, taking in everything just now, her face was cold at this moment.
His heart immediately trembled, his smiling face turned into a bitter one, and he yelled with frowning eyes:
"Lady."
He quickly went up and waved his hand to explain:
"Don't be angry. I just borrowed it, not as a gift."
"What did you say?"
When the old wife heard this, she spat at him.
"Am I stingy with those few copper coins?"
With that said, he pulled Lao Xing into the house, helped him take off his waist knife and official uniform, and said while working.
"Those three little people are very pitiful. Their mother died early, and their father is busy supporting the family and is often away from home. So he asked a related mother-in-law to help take care of her, which is not easy for anyone to think about. We are all neighbors, It’s also necessary to help him a lot on weekdays.”
"Then..."
"I'm not annoyed, I'm just annoyed with myself."
The old wife sighed quietly.
"On weekdays, even though I don't say it, how could I not know that this person likes children the most, but he married me, a person who doesn't live up to expectations? Others at this age should have grandchildren, but we don't even have one. Not even half a girl.”
"We've been an old married couple for decades, why are we talking about this?"
Lao Xing held his wife's hand and comforted her.
"Besides, isn't there Tzuyu? I treat him as my own."
When it comes to her nephew, my wife always complains.
"That brat entered the yamen and forgot about home. I heard my sister complain several times. This brat hasn't even seen a shadow in the past few days."
Lao Xing laughed.
But he didn't dare to say that his nephew had his teeth broken, and he deliberately refused to let him go home, so he quickly changed the subject.
"Otherwise, it's okay to say that as long as I'm looking after him, there won't be any big problems. But his temper is still a bit reckless. In the past few days, he has been instigated by those old guys, and he has always been in trouble with those who exposed the list. He wants to go Fight for the credit of Lao Shizi."
The more Lao Xing talked, the angrier he became. His wife stroked his back and scolded him.
"Does wealth and silk move people's hearts?"
The old couple usually talked about everything, so the wife knew very well about some of the dirty things in the yamen, such as the reward of one hundred taels of silver.
But she was not talking about her nephew Bo Ziyu.
The child and the old couple have seen each other since childhood. Although some young people are often reckless and arrogant, their nature is not bad and they will never resort to dirty tricks for the sake of a reward.
What she was scolding were those old fools in the government office who used their nephews as weapons.
Lao Xing also nodded, but there was still anger left.
"We didn't consider each one of them. Didn't we mess up the matter and the boss just issued the reward?"
The wife shook her head and smiled:
"Whether you have the ability to take it is one thing, but whether you let others take it is another."
As he spoke, the conversation changed.
"It's also my fault, Mr. County. If there is any information, why bother hiding it? If not, the murderer might have been caught, and there wouldn't be so much trouble."
"How can the people below understand the considerations from above?"
Xing Captou sighed.
"It's just a job to eat food, so do your best."
Finally, the two couples talked to each other for a while. As the sky was getting dark, there was a knock on the door.
Weird.
It's already this time, why are there still people visiting?
bad!
Could it be possible that he killed someone again?
God! Didn’t one of them die just yesterday?
Lao Xing screamed in his heart, but he didn't dare to neglect. He hurried over and opened the door.
Eh?
"Taoist Master Xuanxiao?"
…………
After a while.
The main hall of Xingzhai.
"So, the Taoist priest thinks that the people killed by the murderer had bulimia before they were killed?"
"That's right."
The short-haired Taoist opposite nodded in response.
"Um."
Xing catches his head and caresses his beard and chants.
He was talking about these "righteous men" one second, but he didn't expect that they would come to the door the next second, claiming that he had found important clues.
only……
"Taoist Master Xuanxiao is eager to solve the case, and I understand it deeply."
He chuckled.
"But it's just normal for this person to have a big appetite from time to time. For example, I often delay lunch due to official duties and am very hungry. I can eat a few more bowls than usual at night."
"According to what the Taoist Master said, shouldn't I have died several times long ago?"
The catcher shook his head, picked up the tea cup, and signaled to see off the guests.
But the Taoist priest opposite was not moved at all, and instead said something incomprehensible.
"Ten pancakes, three pounds of rice, two pounds of pork, half a hare and a duck."
"This is?"
"This is what Qian Dazhi used for one meal before his death."
Be good!
Xing Baotou made a calculation in his mind.
If ordinary people ate this way, they would probably die from gastrotomy.
He put down the teacup again, tugged at his beard and thought for a while, then hesitantly said:
"But after all, eating too much or too little is just a matter of family property. If you don't fill your stomach for a while, it will lead to rumors. Ordinary people will probably tolerate it and hide it and won't reveal it to others."
"I can't hide it."
The Taoist priest had already thought about this problem, he explained.
"For example, the mother who was killed last night was so hungry that she even ate her own child. Such behavior is like being possessed by evil spirits. It makes the house restless. How can it be covered up?"
Hearing this, the catcher laughed and said, "Taoist priest is joking, where does the evil worship come from in this peaceful world?"
Peaceful world?
where?
The Taoist priest was stunned when he heard this, and his mind vaguely grasped something, but suddenly it was so confusing that he couldn't say anything.
But now is not the time to dwell on these details, just let it go as if the head catcher is professionally whitewashing the peace.
While thinking about it, I heard Captou say again: "It's just as the Taoist Master said."
He had been persuaded to seven or eight points, but due to Hua Li's temperament, there was still evasiveness in his words.
"But the Taoist priest doesn't know that our brothers in the yamen are very busy during this period. They have to handle cases during the day and take turns guarding the night. In addition, these two days are the 'Bacchus Festival', so they really want to be alone. Make it two people."
"To follow the Taoist leader's wishes, we have to mobilize manpower and conduct door-to-door inspections. This will delay other matters."
"Besides, speculation is just speculation after all, and there is no real evidence. It's easy for me to talk here, but I'm afraid I won't be able to convince the county magistrate."
This is why Taoist priests don't like to deal with official people.
But after all, he was unfamiliar with the place. To do this, he needed the cooperation of local cowards. If we don’t seek cooperation from the government, how about we seek cooperation from local ruffians?
He silently cursed a few times, but still reminded:
"Did the head catcher forget Feng Chong?"
"Feng Daoren?"
Xing Baotou was stunned for a moment, then suddenly patted his thigh.
"That beggar!"
He stood up suddenly and walked around the hall several times, but in the end he still looked bitter.
"But this manpower..."
"It doesn't matter."
"The catcher only needs to find the beggar, and the rest..."
The Taoist laughed.
"One person is enough for me."
