The next morning, it was cold in late autumn.

The river was covered with thick fog, and if it weren't for the boat docking at Jinmen Wharf before the fog started, most of them would have been trapped on the river at this time.

However, because the morning fog was too heavy, I was not able to get off the ship for the time being.

But the docks were already full of people, and there were hawkers everywhere who were selling early.

The Lifu came early in the morning, spent two pennies to buy a shortbread, and if they were greedy, they bought a fried cake and twist flowers, and then added a bowl of noodle tea, and the noodle tea fried with sorghum noodles, millet noodles, hemp seeds, sesame sauce, and lard was also very oily and watery, and they were full and hungry.

Of course, there are also more elaborate ones, on both sides of the wharf, there are many shops to make food for a living.

Jinmen is the transit place before the canal goes north to the capital, and most people will stay here to rectify one or two before going north, so there is no shortage of business for the shops on the wharf.

Although Jia Qiang is not familiar with these, fortunately, there is an old river and lake by her side, and Li Jing, who is dressed as a man, suggested that Jia Qiang and Xiangling get off the boat with her, and go to eat some Jinmen breakfast while the fog has not yet dissipated.

So the three of them, the iron head, the pillar, and the two good men of the Jinsha Gang got off the boat early in the morning and went to a restaurant named Lao Guixiang on the east side of the pier to have an early breakfast.

The shop opened early, but there were not many customers in the store.

The old shopkeeper was busy in front of the cabinet, and the two women seemed to be mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, chopping something in the small room, clanging.

Seeing Jia Qiang and his entourage entering, the shopkeeper obviously didn't expect someone to come to eat before the fog cleared, both a little panicked and a little surprised, after all, it was opened, so he was busy out of the counter to welcome customers.

Jia Qiang, Li Jing, and Xiangling were three people at one table, and the four of them at another table, Li Jing was the host, ordered five or six dishes, ordered, and was about to let Tietou and them order, but saw that Zhu Zi and a Jinsha Gang had gone outside to buy a large portion of noodle tea and shortbread and came back.

Jia Qiang looked back at the pillar and said strangely: "You have even been to the Drunken Immortal Tower with me, and you have come here to learn to be thrifty?" ”

Tietou hurriedly said: "No, no, uncle, don't get me wrong." It is precisely because I am more and more comfortable with my uncle that I don't pretend to be fake now. We really can't get used to eating those good ones, not to mention the small amount, and the taste is not to our taste. The noodle tea and shortbread on the Jinmen pier are our favorites. ”

Jia Qiang didn't bother to persuade again, so she only said: "Cheng, you can eat by yourself." After a pause, he said: "By the way, don't forget to give each person a few dollars for the table after eating, and people have to contribute to cleaning the table." ”

The shopkeeper who came back from the back kitchen looked at it and said with a smile: "I was going to collect it, but I can't do it if I don't give it." Now that I have your words, I can't accept it. Either it is said that the reader should be respected, and the words spoken should be used in the heart. ”

Jia Qiang smiled, the words of the trader don't have to be taken too seriously, let alone the opening of the shop on the dock where dragons and snakes are mixed......

He said the right thing: "This shopkeeper, you look like an old Jinmen, you must be familiar with all the things in Jinmen." I want to ask for advice or two about something, and I hope that the shopkeeper will not hesitate to give advice. ”

"Ouch!"

The old shopkeeper waved his hand and said with a smile: "Although I am indeed an old Jinmen, I don't dare to say anything to point out or not, but the guest officer can only ask if there is anything." Looking at the appearance, the guest officer is a noble person from Beijing? ”

Jia Qiang smiled, but did not take this stubble, but asked: "I heard in Beijing that the Taoist priests in this Jinmen church are proficient in Western medicine, although they are different from the medical skills of Middle Earth, but they also have some miraculous effects, is this true or false?" ”

The shopkeeper's face changed when he heard this, and he actually looked at Fan Jia Qiang carefully, and then looked out, and saw that the fog had not yet dissipated, and there were no guests coming to the door, Fang Chang sighed and said: "The guest officer is the right person, if you talk about the side things, I am short-sighted, I may not know." But I know a lot about the foreign religion. ”

Jia Qiang raised her eyebrows lightly and said, "The shopkeeper knows that there is really a good means in the foreign sect?" ”

The shopkeeper nodded and said, "Naturally, there is, otherwise the Church of Mercy would not have saved so many people and accepted so many believers." Not to others, even the old man's mother-in-law was revived by Father Andrew of the Church of Mercy, so our family is all believers in the Church of Mercy......"

Li Jing was overjoyed when she heard this, and asked with a smile: "If that's the case, that's a good thing, why is there so much sadness on the shopkeeper's face?" ”

The shopkeeper shook his head and said: "I thought it was a good thing, but I heard that the Hall of Mercy was short of manpower, and I sent my eldest son to help, just to thank others for saving their lives." But who would have thought that Father Andrew was a good man, but the pastors below him were not necessarily good people. Some priests were very bad, and they used gold, silver, and means to gather a lot of green-skinned ruffians to be thugs for him, and they did some bad things. It's easy for my family to get in, but it's hard to figure it out. No, the Hall of Mercy has had another accident recently. ”

Jia Qiang stared and asked, "What's wrong?" ”

The old shopkeeper hesitated, but still said: "This year's drought in Shandong, although there are not too many displaced people, and there are not many starvations, there are many more families who can't afford to raise children, and the male children are better, they can pass on the ancestry, and they can be laborers when they grow up." But many of the girls were thrown into mass graves as soon as they were born. After the Church of Mercy learned about this, it sent people to Shandong to adopt these abandoned babies......"

Li Jing raised her eyebrows and said, "Isn't this a matter of immeasurable merit?" ”

The old shopkeeper sighed and said: "It is indeed a matter of immeasurable merit, and my family also donated five hanging money, but who would have thought that after the autumn, the Mercy Hall somehow, many of the two hundred or so children were infected with the wind and cold, and they could not be cured, so they could only watch most of them die." The Church of Mercy put two or three of the babies into a coffin and buried them in a cemetery outside the city, but the annoyed person did not care, and buried them too shallowly, and as a result, the baby's body was picked up by wild dogs...... Alas, when it was discovered, it was like hell on earth. ”

The iron head, the pillar and the two Jinsha gangs put down the noodle tea and shortbread with expressionless faces, and faintly wanted to gag.

Jia Qiang looked much calmer than the others, and he said: "This matter is indeed hateful, could it be that the government can't stand it and sends someone to arrest the pastor of the Church of Mercy?" ”

The old shopkeeper's face was solemn and said: "Not here, although the people are in a heavy mood, they will not be angry indiscriminately." Those female babies in Shandong, if they hadn't saved Jinmen, they would have been gone. The point is that it is not only the children who died in Shandong, but also some of them were fostered in Tianjin. In addition, there has always been a loss of children in Jinmen in the past two years, and the day before yesterday, a thief who stole a child was caught, but he confessed that the person who instructed him to steal the child was the Western Taoist priest in the Hall of Mercy! He also said that this is because in order to spread their Taoism, Western Taoist priests will accept more babies and promote their good deeds. If all the children are dead, and they cannot give an account, no one else will believe in their Lord. Those who have lost their children, there are a few big local families in Tianjin, where are they willing to follow? In the past few days, there has been a lot of trouble, and the Church of Mercy has also closed its doors, and it is no longer afraid to receive believers. Nothing else, but pity those bastards for causing Father Andrew. ”

When Jia Qiang heard this, she frowned and said, "This Hall of Mercy really deserves to die!" Heaven is good, these bastards will reap the consequences of such great evil in the future. However, there is still a good one. The shopkeeper, yes, I have a family member suffering from a serious disease, and many famous doctors in Beijing have seen it, but they all say that there is no medicine stone. I was unwilling, I heard that the Western Fandao has a unique way of medical skills, so I specially came to Tianjin from the capital to seek medical treatment. The shopkeeper said that Ling Lang was now in the church, and that Father Andrew had saved Mrs. Ling's life. So can the shopkeeper help introduce the skilled Father Andrew? And it's better now, because the disease waits for no one. Of course, I'm not going to let the shopkeeper do it for nothing. ”

After saying that, he stretched out his hand to Li Jing, and as soon as Li Jing's slender hand flipped over, two ingots of silver and ten taels of silver appeared in his hand.

Jia Qiang took it, put it on the table, and then said softly: "If this matter is successful, there will be heavy thanks afterwards." ”

……