The old well pits are actually several pits dug in various locations when Haishi opened the port in the early years. The purpose was to dig out drinking water sources. It turned out that there was no water source in this area, so a few of them were left which were of no use. Almost all of the deep water-filled pits have now become large pools.
The old well pit in Bei City has now become the central landmark of Bei City. The space in such a prosperous area will not be wasted with the density of buildings in Hai City. Even a large puddle has been built into a gorgeous water puddle. Pavilion, the colorful lights reflected in the water at night are really beautiful.
"There is no Lingxi Zhai here..."
After almost walking around the streets around the big pool, Nanzhu couldn't see the shop he was looking for. Nanzhu couldn't help but murmured his doubts.
But just as he finished speaking, Mu Aotie suddenly said: "Look."
He stopped at an alley and pointed to a sign hanging in the corner of a nearby shop. It was made of a string of lanterns, and there was a word on each lantern. Together they were the three words "Lingxi Zhai", the bottom one What is painted on the lantern is the emblem of swimming fish.
The shops on the left and right of the alley have their own signboards, and the lanterns of "Lingxi Zhai" in the corner are almost facing the alley. The three of them cast their eyes directly into the depths of the alley, and saw that there was indeed a shop at the end of the alley with the right sign. It is "Lingxi Zhai".
The three of them looked at each other, feeling quite surprised, and walked in with expectations of what they would gain from the trip.
Walking in the dimly lit alley, a few rats scurrying past my feet looked like ghosts.
After walking a few steps, Nanzhu couldn't help but mutter, "Good guy, this shop is hidden inside. It's hard to find it even if you look around. Can regular customers see it? Can this business continue?"
Having said that, it is actually quite common in Haishi to find shops that use every possible opportunity.
The alley is not very deep, and the shop door of Lingxi Zhai is almost the same as the width of the alley.
The three people who stopped at the door looked at the sign on the door. Yu Qing raised the ring on his hand again and compared it with the emblem on the sign, confirming that they were the same. When he was about to step in, he was startled and stared again. Toward the sign.
Nanzhu greeted, "Let's go in and take a look."
But Yu Qing stretched out his hand and tugged on his sleeve and asked in a low voice: "Are you sure that the news you got that day was about how many days this shop had not been open?"
"Yeah, what's the problem?" Nanzhu was puzzled. He looked at the sign again and followed Yu Qing's train of thought, and was suddenly stunned.
Mu Aotie, who stared at the signboard, said: "This shop should have been open for a long time, at least this signboard has been written for a long time."
No need for him to explain, Nanzhu himself could see that this signboard had traces of time and was slightly mottled in some places. At first glance, it was unlikely that it was a new signboard. He couldn't help but hesitated and said: "I must have remembered it correctly. Bar?"
"Have a look." Yu Qing said, already stepping in first.
The light inside is not very good. The first thing you see when you enter is that everything you see is hazy.
The small space facing the door only has a counter, and behind it is a wall. There are a row of large and small jars of different colors on the wall shelves, which looks very messy.
There was a snow-white cat curled up on the counter. When he noticed someone coming in, he just opened his eyes and looked at it, and then continued to sleep soundly.
The three of them looked behind the counter and found that there was no one there, just an empty chair.
At this moment, a hoarse old man's voice suddenly came out, "What do the three distinguished guests want to buy?"
The three brothers all raised their heads and looked up. They were almost startled. They saw a head on the wall in front of the door, a gloomy old man's head. The smile on his face was unknown whether it was due to the light. A strange feeling.
Is there a head growing on the wall? After the three of them were stunned for a while, Yu Qing's Adam's apple twitched before replying: "Let's take a look first before talking."
"Invite the distinguished guests inside." The old man dropped his words and put his head away from the top of the wall.
After the three of them looked at each other for a moment, they walked around the counter, around the wall, and around the small space at the front door. The space in front of them suddenly became spacious again, with rows of shelves and large vats placed under the dim light. .
The three of them were not interested in observing the environment for the time being. They all turned around and looked at the place where the footsteps came down. They saw a rickety old man with gray hair walking up the stairs with a wrinkled smile on his face, holding a lantern in his hand. When he came down, it was the old face he saw before under the light.
Only then did the three people understand why there was a head on the top of the wall. It turned out that there was a staircase behind the wall. The person was standing on the stairs and just stretched his head on the wall. It was a false alarm and they thought it was some kind of magic trick.
Except for the footsteps of the old man going downstairs, it was very quiet here, and a wall seemed to block out all the noise from the outside world.
"If your distinguished guest wants to see the goods, please light up the lamps."
The old man walked downstairs and shouted, then hung the lantern in his hand by the stairs.
Another light came on on one side. The three brothers looked back and saw a tall, thin, one-eyed man holding a fire stick in his hand, lighting the extinguished oil lamps in the room one by one.
After a while, the bright lights everywhere removed the gloomy atmosphere in the room, and the old man's complexion became much more normal.
"Most of the various alchemy furnaces and materials required for alchemy are not in short supply in our shop. Even if we don't have them, as long as the distinguished customer is not in a hurry, we can still contact you for help."
The rickety old man introduced him in a hoarse voice and extended his hand to invite.
The three junior brothers followed him into the rows of shelves. They saw jars and jars with various labels on them, such as cinnabar, Ganoderma lucidum, water rhinoceros osmanthus, Tibetan red, Shizhangqing, etc. They were so famous. Too much, you can see it, but you can’t remember it.
The three brothers and sisters were not interested in these things and were observing other aspects.
After the row of shelves reached the end, Yu Qing asked casually, "Shopkeeper, judging from the traces of some of the decorations in your shop, it shouldn't be a newly opened shop, right?"
The rickety old man chuckled and said, "Of course not, anyone can see it."
The three brothers looked at each other, and Yu Qing said again: "Isn't that right? I saw your company's flag on the street a few days ago to attract customers, so I went over to ask why the hired soldier carrying the flag on the street said this." Lingxi Zhai is newly opened, isn't that the customer-recruiting banner issued by your company?"
The rickety old man nodded and said as he walked: "A few days ago, we did hire some people to carry banners and solicit customers. This should not be wrong. As for why it was said to be a newly opened business, I guess the person who took over the job did not explain it clearly to his accomplices. Well, it’s not surprising to mistakenly think it’s a newly opened store, after all, most of the busy shops are newly opened stores.”
Hearing what he said, the three brothers looked at each other in confusion, but it was undeniable that it was indeed possible as someone said. They had no power here and could not find the person who carried the flag that day to verify again.
Nanzhu, who was walking slowly among the shelves, couldn't help but ask: "Shopkeeper, how many years has your Lingxi Restaurant been open?"
The rickety old man shook his head and said: "To be honest, I don't know how many years our shop has been open. I'm afraid only the owner knows. Anyway, he must be older than me."
Is there another owner behind this shop? Yu Qing looked around subconsciously.
Nanzhu was surprised, "You are the shopkeeper, so you don't know how long this shop has been open? Judging from your appearance, you must have been working in the shop for a long time. After so many years, can you resist asking the owner?"
The rickety old man chuckled and said: "Of course I have asked. The owner's words are unclear. It is not easy for us who work for people to ask to the end."
Nanzhu: "Is your boss here?"
The rickety old man said: "My boss is a kind-hearted man and rarely shows up in the shop."
Nanzhu: "May I ask what your host's surname is? Are they male or female? Where do they live?"
Hearing this, the rickety old man stopped, turned around and looked at the three brothers, "Let me tell you guys, it looks like you are not here to buy anything. I can't say much about my boss's affairs, because my boss has specially explained it. In short, I The old man has the final say on all matters above and below the shop, so if you have anything to do, just talk to the old man."
From what I heard, I could tell that this boss was a mysterious person, but it was precisely because of this mystery that the three brothers were filled with expectations, and they suspected that it might be that Liniang.
Yu Qing was silent, then raised his hand in front of him, showing the ring on his hand to the other person, "Shopkeeper, can you take a look at it and see if it looks familiar to you?"
The rickety old man was confused, but he still got closer to watch. After taking a closer look, he said "Huh" and continued to observe carefully.
Yu Qing was overjoyed and immediately asked, "Have you seen the same ring?"
"Is there the same ring?" The rickety old man looked puzzled and asked Yu Qing, who looked lonely, and then pointed in the direction of the door, "On the contrary, the pictures and texts on this ring look similar to ours. The shop emblems are exactly the same.”
Yu Qing changed his gestures, clasped his hands into fists, and cupped his hands to plead, "Shopkeeper, can you please be accommodating and let your boss know so that we can talk down below?"
The old man shook his head and waved his hands, "No, no, no, the boss said, no matter how big the business is, don't disturb him. He gave strict orders first, and it's useless no matter what you say. I don't think you are here to do business, but rather to explore." It’s private, so we won’t accept you anymore, please come back.”
Yu Qing had no choice but to put it another way, "How about this, it's up to your boss to decide whether you want to see me or not. The shopkeeper only needs to tell your boss that the pattern on the ring on my hand is the same as your store logo. I'll leave my address here. How about waiting for good news?"
The old man waved his hands impatiently and said, "No, no, let's go. If you don't leave, we will call the people from the Zhenhai Division to ask you to leave."
Seeing this, Yu Qing's expression suddenly changed, "Does the shopkeeper know Qingya?"
The rickety old man was stunned and asked, "Are you sent by Master Qing?"
Yu Qing: "Qingya is my brother. I advise you not to toast or eat as a fine. I just want to ask you, do you still want to open this store?"
The rickety old man was obviously wary and sighed: "I said that my boss is a kind-hearted person. Even if Mr. Qing comes and destroys this shop, he will not show up because of the incident."
Yu Qing: "As I just said, wouldn't it be okay if I left an address and asked you to take a message to your employer?"
He believed that as long as the shop was related to Liniang, they would definitely contact him after learning the news.
The old man thought for a while and finally sighed, "Okay, but I can't guarantee whether my boss will respond to you."
Yu Qing was too lazy to ramble, "I'll borrow a pen and paper."
So the group went to the front counter and put out paper and pen. Yu Qing took the pen and left Hu Youli's address, and attached a sentence below: Looking for his sister Liniang.
After that, the matter came to an end for the time being.
After the three brothers left the shop, they went to the surrounding shops to inquire about the situation of this "Lingxi Zhai". The result was that the situation was exactly as the rickety old man said before. Even the neighbors were stunned because no one had seen the owner. , indeed mysterious enough.
Walking on the street, Nanzhu was a little worried: "The boss is so mysterious, are you sure you can meet him with just a few words?"
Yu Qing: "That boss is not easy to meet, but Qingya should be easy to meet."
"Qingya?" Nanzhu was puzzled, "What do you mean?"
Yu Qing: "Qingya is well-informed and well-informed. It should be no problem to ask him to help us find out the details of this owner. If we don't see anyone in a few days, we will go and visit him ourselves. Let's go find Qingya." "
He had no choice. The owner was so mysterious that he had to use all means to investigate. It was not convenient for Liu Piaopiao, so he could only go to Qingya in Haishi.
