Dusk.

City Chang Feng Fang.

A canopy boat floated gently ashore.

"Master Xing, it's here. ”

"Hmm. ”

Xing Zhutou, who was leaning on the cabin and napping, squeaked, got out of the black canopy and stretched a big lazy waist.

These days have exhausted him.

Chasing the murderer and the Dionysian sacrifice, the two most troublesome things in this life collided together, and he was so busy that his feet didn't touch the ground. No, I was just carried over by the county officials today, arranged a thing, and gave a few lectures.

Now it will be released and returned home.

The hateful little cubs don't know anything yet, and they obviously have the opportunity to get rid of the bad things, but for the sake of some untouchable silver, they have to hold it in their hands, and they don't understand the hard work of his old man at all.

He shook his head and laughed at himself: "Work hard." ”

Throw a copper to the boatman, cheer up, bulge his belly and chest, hold the handle of the knife, and restore the style of the chief head catcher in Xiaoshui County.

He jumped up the stone steps on the shore, and the passers-by on the shore immediately came up to salute.

When he met a rich person, he bowed down and returned the salute and greeted him warmly.

When he encounters a poor, he either nods his head or says "um", and responds as appropriate.

When he met a shameless one, he swaggered over, and handed one to him with a white eye.

And so on, sort them out and deal with them one by one.

Along the way, I also bought a few steamed cakes and half a roast chicken.

Finally, I turned around and got into a laneway on the side of the street.

......

The city is full of wisteria.

And the bloom in this alley is extraordinarily prosperous, and the brilliant purple "flows" down from the high walls on both sides, like two flower waterfalls. In a moment, the small alley was submerged.

It was evening.

The remnant sun hanging on the west mountain spreads out the sunset, and gilds the dazzling purple with dazzling red.

As a result, the purple and red all converged into one color.

And this flower was also roasted by the sun all day, and the aroma became more and more refreshing, so that Lao Xing's fatigue disappeared a lot.

Just blooming is not necessarily good.

Covering the road ahead, the branches, leaves, and petals love to drill into the neck of the clothes, which annoys passers-by.

"Hire someone to shovel some another day. ”

Lao Xing muttered while brushing his beard, walked in for more than ten steps, and suddenly opened up in front of him, and arrived at a small dam field, and opposite the dam field was a familiar house.

It's home!

His whole body unconsciously slackened.

"Uncle Xing. ”

The cold words next to him startled him, and he quickly turned his head over.

I saw an eight or nine-year-old girl, holding a four or five-year-old boy, and a one- or two-year-old baby on her back, who was originally the neighbor's third sister and brother.

You can't lose face as an adult in front of a child.

Lao Xing hurriedly raised his stomach again, straightened his chest, put on a straight face, put on the majesty of an elder, and reprimanded:

"It's so late, why are the three little dolls still playing outside, what should we do if we meet a bad guy?

"Yes. ”

The sister and brother were well-behaved and responded, but their feet seemed to have roots, and they didn't move at all.

Lao Xing looked over, only to see the little girl staring directly at the cake in her hand, and the boy was even more straightforward, with a gurgling in his belly.

Lao Xing frowned.

"The mother-in-law invited by the family didn't come today?"

"It's coming. ”

"Cooked a big pot of rice. ”

She ate it all to herself. ”

The younger brother said a word, sorted things out thoroughly, and looked at Lao Xing again, which made him uncomfortable, and the cold cake seemed to be hot, and he couldn't hold it in his hand, so he simply stuffed it to the younger brother.

"Take it and fill your stomach. ”

"Hey. ”

The little girl screamed sweetly.

"Thank you, Uncle Xing. ”

Then they should follow the instructions of the head catcher, go home, close the door, and divide the bread.

Can......

"Wait. ”

The little girl turned around timidly holding the cake, her eyes were foggy, as if she was afraid that Uncle Xing would take the cake back.

And Lao Xing didn't say much, he chased after him in three or two steps, and stuffed the roast chicken in his hand into her arms.

"Take it too. ”

The young brother immediately laughed, and even the milk baby babbled.

"Thank you, Uncle Xing. ”

"Thanks for what?"

Lao Xing blew his beard and glared.

"I'm going to give money!"

He counted on his fingers:

"Three steamed cakes totaling nine wen, half a roast chicken for forty, first on credit, go back and let dad make up for it. ”

"Hey. ”

The little girl responded crisply, and then happily pulled the second child, carried the old man on her back, and went back to the house to share the bread and eat meat.

Lao Xing had a straight face a second ago, and when the little babies went back to the house and locked the door, they poked out two little heads and said again: "Thank you, Uncle Xing", he couldn't hold back anymore the next moment, grinned, and smiled between his eyebrows.

But as soon as he turned his head, he saw his old wife leaning against the door, looking at everything just now, and his face was cold at the moment.

His heart and liver trembled immediately, his smiling face turned into a bitter gourd face, and he shouted with a frown:

"Lady. ”

Hurriedly went up and waved his hand to explain:

"Don't be angry, we borrowed it, not gave it away. ”

"Say what?"

When the old wife heard this, she spat him.

"Shall I spare those coppers?"

As he spoke, he pulled Lao Xing into the house, helped him untie his waist knife and official clothes, and said while he was busy.

"Those three little people are also strange and pitiful, the mother died early, and the father was busy supporting the family and was often not at home, so he invited a mother-in-law who was close to the family to help take care of it, and whoever wanted to it was also uneasy. If you are a neighbor, you should help more on weekdays. ”

"That's ......"

"Where am I annoyed, I'm just annoyed myself. ”

The old wife sighed faintly.

"On weekdays, although I don't say it, how can I not know that this person likes children the most, but he married me who has a bad belly, and everyone else should have a grandchild at this age, but we don't even have a son and a half daughter. ”

"Decades of old husband and wife, what are you talking about?"

Lao Xing held his wife's hand and comforted.

"Besides, isn't there still Ziyu? I treat him as my own. ”

When it comes to her nephew, his wife complains.

"When the stinky boy entered the yamen, he forgot about his house. I've heard my sister complain a few times, and this stinky boy hasn't even looked at a shadow for a few days. ”

Lao Xing laughed.

I didn't dare to say that my nephew had his teeth broken, and he deliberately didn't let him go home, so he quickly changed the topic.

"It's okay to say anything else, with me taking care of it, there won't be a big problem. It's just that his temper is still a little reckless, and in the past few days, he has been instigated by those old oilmen, and he is embarrassed by those who unveil the list everywhere, and he wants to compete for the credit of Lao Shizi. ”

The more Lao Xing spoke, the more angry he became, and his wife stroked his back and scolded him without being salty.

"Wealth is moving? ”

The old couple usually talked about everything, so the wife also knew a lot about some filthy things in the yamen, such as the reward of one hundred taels of silver.

But she wasn't talking about her nephew Bo Ziyu.

The old couple of children have seen it since childhood, although some young people often have recklessness and arrogance, but their nature is not bad, and they will never use selfish means for some rewards.

She scolded the old fritters in the yamen who used their nephews as guns.

Lao Xing also nodded, but he still had no anger.

"Don't weigh them one by one, isn't it a reward that we just opened up after we messed things up?"

The wife shook her head and smiled:

"It's one thing to have the ability to take it yourself, it's another thing to let others take it. ”

As he spoke, the conversation changed.

"It's also to blame the county master, why hide any news? If it weren't for that, the murderer might have been caught, and there wouldn't be so much trouble. ”

"How can the people below be clear about the considerations above?"

Xing Zhutou sighed.

"It's just an errand to eat food, so do your best. ”

At last, the two husbands and wives spoke to themselves for a while, and as the sky was getting dark, there was a knock at the door.

Weird.

It's all at this time, why are there still people visiting the door?

Bad!

Could it be that he will kill again?

Oh my God, didn't one die last day!

Lao Xing shouted in his heart, but he didn't dare to slack off, so he hurriedly trotted over and opened the door.

Huh?

"Xuanxiao Dao Chief?"

............

A moment later.

The main hall of the Xing house.

"In this way, the Taoist chief thinks that the person killed by the murderer had binge eating before he was killed?"

"That's right. ”

The short-haired Taoist on the opposite side nodded in response.

"Hmm. ”

Xing Zhutou stroked his beard and groaned.

He was still talking about these "righteous people" one second ago, but he didn't expect that people would come to the door the next second, and keep saying that he had found important clues.

Merely......

"Xuanxiao Daoist is eager to solve the case, and the old man also has a deep understanding. ”

He smiled.

"But it's not uncommon for this man to have an occasional appetite. For example, the old man often delays lunch due to official business, and he is very hungry, but he can eat a few more bowls than usual in the evening. ”

"According to what the Taoist chief said, wouldn't the old man have died several times ago?"

The catcher shook his head, picked up the teacup, and motioned for the send-off.

But the Taoist priest on the opposite side was unmoved, but said something inexplicable.

"Ten cakes, three pounds of rice, two pounds of pork, half a hare, and a duck. ”

"What is this?"

"This is a meal used by Qian Dazhi before he died. ”

Good boy!

Xing Zhutou had a plan in his heart.

Ordinary people eat like this, I'm afraid they would have died of gastroschisis a long time ago.

He put down the teacup again, tugged at his beard and thought for a while, before he hesitated and said:

"But after all, eating more and eating less is furniture, that is, it is not enough to fill the stomach for a while, and it is inevitable that there are rumors, and ordinary people will probably be patient to conceal it and will not disclose it to others. ”

"I can't hide it. ”

The Taoist priest had thought about this question a long time ago, he explained.

"For example, the woman who was killed last night was so hungry that she even devoured her own child. This kind of behavior is like being possessed by evil cults, and it makes the family restless, where can it be covered?"

Hearing this, the head catcher smiled and said: "The Taoist chief said that he was laughing, where did the evil worship come from in this Qingping world?"

Qingping Shidao?

Where?

The Taoist priest listened to it for a while, and his brain vaguely grasped something, but suddenly it was chaotic and he couldn't say it.

It's just that now is not the time to dwell on these details, just when the headhunter professionally whitewashes the peace, he will let it go.

While thinking about it, I heard the head catcher say again: "As the Taoist chief said." ”

He has already been said to be moved by seven or eight points, but the temperament of the slippery official dictates that there is still prevarication between the words.

"But the Taoist chief doesn't know that during this time, the brothers in our yamen are too busy to take a break, they have to handle cases during the day, and they have to take turns at night, plus these two days are the 'Dionysian Sacrifice', and they can't wait to break one person into two people. ”

"According to the Taoist chief's wishes, we have to mobilize people to conduct door-to-door investigations, so other things can be delayed. ”

"Besides, speculation is just speculation after all, and there is no real evidence. I'm easy to say here, but I'm afraid that I won't move the county honor. ”

This is the reason why Taoist priests do not like to deal with people in the official face.

But after all, he is not familiar with life, and to do this, he must have the cooperation of the local snake. If you don't look for the government to cooperate, do you want to go to the ruffians and hooligans?

He silently scolded a few words, but still reminded:

"Could it be that the head catcher forgot Feng Chong?"

"Feng Daoren?"

Xing Zhutou was stunned for a moment, and suddenly slapped the thigh meat.

"The beggar!"

He stood up and walked around the hall a few times, but finally his face was bitter.

"But this man ...... manpower"

"It doesn't matter. ”

"The headhunter just needs to find the beggar, and the rest ......"

The Taoist laughed.

"One person is enough. ”