Zhang Zhen walked out of the Black Tiger Gang compound, and the vendor selling wontons at the gate of the courtyard heard the movement and turned his head, and first shouted in a sharp voice, "Mother!" With a shake of his hand, he threw the long spoon, and the handle quickly sank into the steaming bubble soup pot. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Then he watched with wide eyes, wincing with curiosity, as the bloodied, strange-looking man crossed the threshold, walked a little erratically out into the street, and looked left and right for a while as if he had lost his way, before he chose a direction and left.

Everywhere the man went, pedestrians retreated, and as twilight deepened, the figures of passers-by blurred in the shadows of the street on a wide street. At a glance, the peddler seemed to be the only man walking alone on the entire street, and his back was a little depressed and lonely.

The wonton vendor looked at it in amazement, and his mind flashed through countless legendary stories that he had heard since childhood, and he never got tired of hearing them, and the protagonists in the stories seemed to have such backs.

"I'm a god, someone single-handedly smashed the Black Tiger Gang's field, this thing is really enough for me to blow for a year." The peddler muttered.

When Zhang Zhen raised his eyes again, he was already on Tongping Street, as if there was a silk thread pulling in the dark, he didn't mean to, but magically returned here.

Everything seems to be the same as before, the money shopkeeper of the vase shop is still shouting at his porcelain, Xu Xiaoer from the Drunken Immortal Building is still showing off his high-pitched voice, and the girls in front of the Spring Courtyard of the Xiulou are still scratching their heads.

But everything was different again, no one greeted him anymore, no one called him "shopkeeper" affectionately, they hid and frightened, and while avoiding his eyes, they secretly raised their eyes to peep, and put their lips to whisper in the ears of their companions.

This kind of scene Zhang Zhen is too familiar, twenty-five years, he has spent at least half of his time in this situation.

Deeply hated, disgusted.

"Let's go."

With a soft sound, Zhang Zhen felt a pain in the back of his head, as if something had fallen down, and when he looked down, it was a wooden stick, and Zhang Zhen then raised his head.

On the second floor above his head, a window opened, and a face with a youthful and amorous face leaned out, and that face was looking at him.

Unlike the people on the street, there was no disgust, no fear, no dark strangeness in those delicate eyes, only a slight astonishment, like seeing a three-legged toad talking horse, or a mouth full of white teeth full of green leeks.

This simple stunned moment vanished without a trace, and soon regained its calm.

"Come up." Her lips lifted lightly and spat out two words.

Zhang Zhen looked down at the blood stains on his body that had not yet dried up, and hesitated.

"Come up." She repeated these two words, her tone a little more commanding and unrefusable.

So Zhang Zhen stepped into the gate with the "Yixiangyuan" plaque and the crimson curtain.

Zhang Zhen only walked three steps, and the hall of Yixiang Yuan completed the transformation from laughing and scolding to silent, and then from silent to screaming.

Seeing that it was Zhang Zhen, she was a little surprised at first, and after looking Zhang Zhen up and down, her surprise turned into a faint smile, as if she had expected this, and the foresight was finally fulfilled.

"Boss Zhang, ...... are you?" Feng's mother asked.

Zhang Zhen said: "I'm looking for Lian Rui." ”

Mother Feng glanced at Zhang Zhen very resentfully, as if she didn't notice the blood dripping from his body at all, and said in a sweet voice as usual: "Alas~ I thought you were coming to me." A few days ago, I heard you praise my mother for my charm, and said that you are sincere, which made me really happy for a few days, thinking about Boss Zhang, you can come, let's sit together and say some intimate words. Now it seems that it is pure coaxing. Alas, after all, he is an old man, and he can't treat people like those young girls. ”

As she spoke, she took out a silk handkerchief from her sleeve and wiped the corners of her eyes with a sad look.

Acting like this towards a person covered in blood, no matter how you look at it, it makes people feel weird, and the faces of several guys behind Feng's mother are very unnatural.

Mother Feng wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and without waiting for Zhang Zhen to speak, she reached out to the second floor and said, "The flower girl's room is on the second floor." ”

As a frequent visitor to Yixiangyuan, Zhang Zhen has always had a good impression of Feng's mother, although she often leans over to tease herself, but she never tries to trick him into paying money, which is quite rare for a hypocritical businessman in Fengyuechang.

Zhang Zhen had already stepped up the steps with one foot, but he still stopped, thought about it, and turned around to remind: "The blood on my body ...... It's Fan Meng's. ”

Feng's mother was already grateful that she was still able to treat him with a normal heart in this situation, and he didn't want her to get into trouble without knowing it. If she doesn't want to, he will leave Yixiangin immediately.

"Who?" Feng's mother tilted her ears, as if she didn't hear clearly.

"Fan Meng."

"Fan what?"

"Fan Meng!" Zhang Zhen raised his voice.

"What's fierce?" Feng's mother leaned her ears to Zhang Zhen's side again, and her face was blank like a ninety-year-old man with his ears behind his ears.

Zhang Zhen was deflated, and his voice returned to normal: "I'd better go find Hua Lianrui." ”

Mother Feng's expression suddenly brightened, and she was completely different from the dazed two of them at the previous moment, and she said enthusiastically: "Go upstairs and turn left, until you go to the end, the last room is the flower girl's." ”

Walking to the end of the corridor on the second floor, Zhang Zhen pushed the door in, and Hua Lianrui sat at the round table facing the door, already waiting. This fairy, who is usually charming, is surprisingly reserved and dignified at the moment, with a touch of coldness.

"Sit." Hua Lianrui's phoenix eyes gestured to the round stool on the side of the door, and on the round table in front of her with curved willow wood inlaid with granite, there was a set of pale cyan Ru porcelain tea sets and a bronze Boshan incense burner, and the light smoke curled in the incense burner.

It is agarwood that is burned, and Tieguanyin is soaked.

Zhang Zhen sat down.

After knowing each other for so long, this was the first time he had entered Hua Lianrui's room. Unexpectedly, the decoration of her room was not as amorous as her dress, a bed, a table, a cabinet, a lamppost, not even a door curtain and a gauze tent, simple and almost cold, not like a daughter's boudoir.

Hua Lianrui looked at Zhang Zhen quietly, and Zhang Zhen also looked at Hua Lianrui, and neither of them spoke. Soon, the water on the small vermilion stove began to boil, Hua Lianrui retracted his gaze, lifted the pot down, heated the cup, washed the tea, poured the first brew into the tea tray, refilled the water, waited for a while, poured the tea in the well pot into the tea sea through the fine gauze, and then poured two cups with the tea sea.

Keep your eyes and hands steady, and the water will be fine and even.

"Taste it." Hua Lianrui took a cup and placed it lightly in front of Zhang Zhen.

Zhang Zhen picked up the teacup, the porcelain cup was as smooth as fat, the tea soup was light yellow and bright, and before the mouth, a wisp of tea fragrance had penetrated into the nostrils like silk threads.

After a cup of drinking, the lips and teeth are sweet.

Rao is Zhang Zhen doesn't understand the tea ceremony, but he also has to praise from the bottom of his heart, "Good tea!" ”

Zhang Zhen drank three cups in a row, and the sea of tea bottomed out. Hua Lianrui put down the cup in her hand, looked directly at Zhang Zhen, and said lightly: "If you have anything to worry about, tell me." ”

There was no snooping in her tone, like a family affair between friends.

Zhang Zhen thought for a while and said, "There is a person who doesn't know whether to kill or not." ”

This sentence, as the shopkeeper of a noodle restaurant, is a bit shocking, like the blood stains on his body. And there are some things that he didn't plan to tell outsiders, preferring to rot in his stomach and slowly settle or forget, but for some reason, he just said it naturally at this time.

He didn't say who to kill, he knew she must know.

The smell of tea and incense mixed in the room, filling the room.

Hua Lianrui moved her eyes down, looked at the teacup in front of her that had not moved her mouth, a chives-like index finger fingertip gently rubbed the mouth of the cup, and said leisurely: "How about killing?" What if you don't kill? ”

Zhang Zhen said: "Don't kill the grudge, kill the heart." ”

"Heartbreaking?"

"I vowed never to kill again, and I don't want to kill again."

"Oh, is that so...... Wanting to kill, but not being able to kill, sounds like a dilemma. The pot was filled with water again, and Hua Lianrui looked at the hot water washing the dark green tea leaves, her slender eyes narrowed slightly like a cat, and the curvature of the corners of her eyes became more and more obvious.

Zhang Zhen exhaled heavily, reached out and pulled the collar.

"Why don't you want to kill anymore?" Hua Lianrui asked again.

"If you kill too many people, you will lose your humanity, and I don't want to go back to being a butcher with bloody hands and gray eyes."

Hua Lianrui suddenly looked up at Zhang Zhen, her eyes bloomed with a strange look, and her gaze became deep, as if she wanted to see Zhang Zhen through. But Zhang Zhen clearly had an illusion that she had seen through him and understood everything that happened to him in the past.

"So you became a noodle shop owner?" The corners of the lips raised in a playful arc.

"I want to be in the future." Zhang Zhen said.

Hua Lianrui said: "Since you don't want to hold the knife yourself, why don't you borrow a knife?"

Zhang Zhen thought for a while and said, "What do you mean?" ”

Hua Lianrui said: "You must know that if you want to deal with Fan Meng, you have to face the entire Black Tiger Gang. ”

Zhang Zhen nodded and said, "Well, this is natural." ”

"What is the Black Tiger Gang? It's the underworld. People who want to deal with the underworld ......"

"Do you mean to ask Wu County Ling for help? His county order is also very aggrieved, will you help me? Zhang Zhen said.

Hua Lianrui smiled: "It is precisely because his county order is very aggrieved that he will help you." Then she added: "It's not just the official face, there is another power to borrow, and the power is even stronger." ”

Zhang Zhen glanced at Hua Lianrui suspiciously.

Hua Lianrui glanced out of the window and said, "Tens of thousands of civilians in Tongyu City. ”

Zhang Zhen was even more confused, and frowned: "What do you mean?" ”

"Do good, uphold righteousness, and win the hearts of the people."

Doing good deeds? Zhang Zhen suddenly felt that he had heard this word somewhere, he thought for a while, and said: "I don't dare to claim to be deeply involved in the world, but I also know the truth that the people are willing to benefit, I can't give them all benefits, why should they help me." ”

"If you are willing to deal with the Black Tiger Gang, you are giving them benefits. However, the people's hearts are very ethereal, they are not only to the benefit, but also to the force, the power of the force, if it is not for the victory, you don't expect them to help a little. ”

Zhang Zhen couldn't hear it clearly, so he simply asked directly: "What should I do?" ”

Hua Lianrui said: "As an official, gradually disintegrate the deterrent power of the Black Tiger Gang, so that the oppressed people on weekdays can see the hope of victory, this group of docile sheep will become wolf-like thugs. Wu County Ling hates the Black Tiger Gang more than you, and when the time comes, he will help you settle your account with the Black Tiger Gang. ”

Zhang Zhen frowned slightly, he was born in the rivers and lakes, and he had an instinctive resistance to officialdom: "I can't be an official, besides, an official is not something I can be if I want to be an official, right?" ”

Hua Lianrui giggled: "It's not easy to be an official, but it also depends on when and where, this is Tongyu, Tongyu who is the Black Tiger Gang's inaction in Wuzhi County." Do you have the ability to kill Fan Meng, but don't you have the ability to be an official? ”

Zhang Zhen looked at Hua Lianrui's amorous face fixedly, the fog in front of him gradually became a little clearer, he seemed to think of something, and suddenly blurted out: "Wu Xiaoran, Zhao Laohu's son Zhao Lei, it's all because of you that you came forward to help me, right?" ”

Hua Lianrui did not speak, did not admit or deny.

Zhang Zhen stood up and took a deep look, and said solemnly and seriously: "Thank you!" ”

Hua Lianrui shook her head and said, "I don't have many friends, you are one, you don't have to be polite." ”

Zhang Zhen's expression was a little agitated, his lips moved, but he didn't say anything, just clenched his fists with both hands, arched his hands hard, and then turned around and strode out.

When Zhang Zhen's body was about to disappear behind the door, Hua Lianrui suddenly spoke: "Plain is not mediocre, low-key is not the same as aggrieved." In this world, if you want to live a peaceful life, you can't hide your ability. ”

Zhang Zhen paused and left thoughtfully.

Hua Lianrui looked at the empty door frame, the smile on her face faded, showing a little stunned, and sighed softly: "When everything is done, I hope your noodle restaurant can reopen." ”

sighed and picked up the teacup under his hand, the tea was cold.