The slanting sun shone into the house through the space of the window lattice, and the tofu guy was tying the dried yuba with a small rope and putting it in a large basket, when he heard the sound of footsteps outside the door, he turned to look back.

Tofu guy Liu Junqiu is nearly fifty years old, tall, his dark face is like a chopping board, his eyebrows are short and thick, his eyes are like copper bells, his pupils flash with strange light from time to time, there is a mouthful of yellow teeth in his big mouth, the short stubble of his chin is black and thick like a steel needle, stretched out in all directions, the flesh of his arm is protruding, and there seems to be a little mouse running back between stretching and bending.

Seeing Zhu Deren and the two of them dressed, the tofu guy knew that there were business merchants, so he stood up and faced Zhu Deren and them: "You are-"

Before Zhu Deren could answer, Feng Inspector spoke first according to the pre-said "lines", he pointed to Zhu Deren and said, "His surname is Zhu, and he recently opened a restaurant specializing in vegetarian cuisine in the provincial capital, and he wanted to buy some mushrooms, yuba and other goods in the countryside." ”

Zhu Deren said casually: "I don't know how many goods your tofu workshop can supply me in a week?" How many production tools are there? ”

When the tofu guy heard that someone was going to buy a large number of goods, he was happy, pointed to the inner room and replied, "I have two mills at home, and two cauldrons that make yuba." ”

Zhu Deren: "But you are only one person busy, how many people are in your family?" ”

Tofu guy: "I'm ashamed, my parents died early, I am not handsome, my family is poor, and no woman is willing to marry me, so now I am the only one in the family." ”

Zhu Deren: "Can you take me to your tofu workshop?" ”

Feng Inspection: "Yes, if we don't see it with our own eyes, we can't rest assured." ”

The tofu guy shouted one after another: "Okay, okay, okay." ”

The tofu workshop of the tofu guy was at the back of his house, pushed open the old wooden door, and after stepping through the threshold, Zhu Deren saw that the light was dim inside, and there were two stone mills placed on the left and right sides of the entrance, and some tools for producing tofu were placed around.

The tofu workshop also has a small back door to go out, outside is a green vegetable field, a little far away from the vegetable field is a large fish pond, the pond base is planted with dozens of banana trees, wide banana leaves, many long banana buds hanging down. The pond is surrounded by lush wildflowers such as cockroaches and chrysanthemums, and yellow flowers are blooming. The water in the pond is dark green, and from time to time fish jump out of the water.

Zhu Deren said to the tofu guy: "My restaurant business is very prosperous, and I need a lot of tofu and dried tofu. If I sign a contract with you to ask for goods, how will you deal with it?"

Inspector Feng said: "Yes, business is trustworthy, if we receive an order for a big feast, and you can't supply the goods, we will compensate the guests several times the money!"

Tofu guy: "You can rest assured, I can do what I say." ”

Zhu Deren's eyes stared at him: "How can you be busy alone?"

The tofu guy explained: "Business is not good on weekdays, so I am busy alone, and I will be able to forget about two meals." If I order a lot, I hire someone in the countryside to help. ”

Zhu Deren nodded with satisfaction and said, "Okay, if I have a big banquet to be held, I will send someone to tell you one day in advance, and you remember to rush out for me." ”

The tofu guy grinned, and a smile appeared on his face: "Thank you boss for taking care of you." ”

After the two left Tofu's house, they came to the big banyan tree at the entrance of the village and sat down on the long granite bench.

At this time, the farmers in the village were busy with their own work, and there was no one else around, Zhu Deren stared at the big fish pond for a long time, then turned his head sideways, and asked Feng Xunjian: "Did you find anything unusual when you entered the tofu guy's house just now?"

Inspector Feng shook his head: "No." ”

Zhu Deren continued to ask in depth, "What about inside the tofu workshop?"

"Not either." Feng Inspector was still shaking his head.

Zhu Deren closed his mouth, thought for a while, and proposed, "How about we come fishing tonight?" ”

Feng Patrol was confused: "Fishing? In the past half a month, in order to solve the murder case, we have spent so much energy and scheming but have found nothing. I'm worried about how we're going to get back to the top when the deadline comes. And you still have the leisure to go fishing? If you want to eat fish, tomorrow we will go to the market and buy a few to be processed in the restaurant for you to eat. ”

Zhu Deren: "We may be able to catch a clue when we fish." ”

"Fishing will lead to a clue?" Inspector Feng looked sideways at Zhu Deren with disdain, "People say you are extremely smart, but I say you have a neuropathy." It's obviously a casual matter that has nothing to do with the overall situation, but you have to get to the case. ”

Zhu Deren's face was still mysterious: "You listen to me this time, if you catch a fish, I will tell you the case." ”

Inspector Feng knew that Zhu Deren's personality was very stubborn, and it was futile to argue with him, so he had to say, "Okay, isn't fishing in someone's pond tantamount to stealing?"

"If you say steal, you steal," Zhu Deren's expression looked a little secretive, "Anyway, let's come here to fish secretly, don't let anyone else know." ”

Inspector Feng muttered dissatisfiedly: "You are a mysterious person, and you don't know what medicine is sold in the stuffy gourd." Fishing is done with shrimp as bait, and now that it is dark, there is no way to find shrimp, so I can only wait until tomorrow to go to the market to buy shrimp, and I also need to prepare rods and lines, so the fishing can only be arranged for tomorrow night. ”

The next night, when the clouds covered the moon, there was darkness and silence all around, and the people in the village were sleeping soundly in their beds, and the dogs were sleeping soundly, and there was no barking in the village, only the sound of insects and frogs coming from the grass by the fish pond from time to time.

Zhu Deren and Feng Inspector came to the bush by the pond of the tofu workshop, held the rod, hung the shelled prawns on the hook as a lure, threw them into the fish pond, and in less than a bag of cigarettes, they caught two fat and big white eels, the eels were three or four feet long and weighed five or six pounds.

Zhu Deren looked at the two white eels placed in the barrel: "That's enough." ”

Feng inspected the inspection unclearly, so "It's so hard to come here to fish in the middle of the night, it's enough to catch so two?" ”

Zhu Deren: "Yes, that's enough, let's go back to the inn." ”

Zhu Deren and Feng Inspector left the village and returned to the Yuelai Inn.

Zhu Deren scooped up a white eel from the wooden barrel, handed it to Feng Xunjian's eyes, and said: "You see, there are indeed white eels in this pond, and these white eels are three or four feet long, and their bodies are so big and thick. “

"Yes, this white eel is fat enough," Inspector Feng pointed to the big white eel in front of him and said excitedly, "Tomorrow you and I can have a good drink." ”

Zhu Deren: "Eat? You just want to eat a big meal. ”

Feng Inspector: "The big white eel caught is not used to eat, but what is it used for?" ”

Zhu Deren: "I am confirming my judgment, what the villagers said is true, I found clues to solve the case." ”

Inspector Feng's eyes blinked: "Will these white eels be related to the murder case we want to solve?"

Yes. Zhu Deren nodded.

The mountain wind blew from that side, blowing the long beard of the big banyan tree outside the window, fluttering and dancing, blowing through the window lattice to people's bodies, as if an invisible hand was patting their cheeks, which made people's minds suddenly sober up.

"That pond belongs to the tofu guy, and the tofu guy did it when he bought the white eels back into that pond," Zhang Inspector pondered for a while, "I saw your look and listened to your voice, based on this alone, do you suspect that the murderer is the tofu guy?"

"A complex case is made up of many factors, and this can be regarded as one of the proofs." Zhu Deren's eyes flashed with a bright light, "I am already eighty percent sure of solving this case in my heart." ”

Inspector Feng was not confident: "Take 10,000 steps back, even if this tofu guy kills people, but after more than 10 years, any traces of the crime will be destroyed by him." Did you make any new discoveries? ”

"Yes." Zhu Deren nodded, "The day before yesterday, when you and I went into the village to visit the people to investigate, I found that there were suspicious points.

Feng Inspection: "What is the suspicion?"

Zhu Deren analyzed in a serious tone: "Generally speaking, grass carp, bream, etc. are so big that they can be sold after being raised in the pond for a year. Therefore, it is a common practice in the countryside to dry the fish pond once a year in late autumn or winter. ”

Feng Inspector recalled: "Yes, when I was a child, adults in my hometown did this once a year. At that time of year, we also go down to the pond to catch those fish larvae and shrimp hair! ”

Zhu Deren: "But yesterday I learned from an old villager that the tofu guy hadn't been to his pond to catch fish and sell them for 10 years. ”

Feng Inspector still disagreed: "Maybe he wants to raise the fish to be bigger and sell it in the pond to make a big profit!" ”

"The problem is not so simple, but there is a mystery inside," Zhu Deren pointed at Zhang Inspector with a halberd and said, "Actually, I walked into the tofu workshop yesterday and found a major suspicion after careful observation. The color of the stone grinding plate on his tofu mill is relatively grayish, and compared with the slightly darker lower plate, it can be seen that it was newly added later. ”

After Zhu Deren mentioned this, Inspector Feng squinted his eyes and thought for a while, then nodded: "After you mentioned it, I remembered that his tofu grinding plate is indeed relatively new, but I don't understand, what is the problem with the new and old stone grinding plate?" If something breaks, you have to replace it with a new one! ”