Lin Ziren and Tang Yu got their wish in the compilation room of "The Biography of Heroes and Martyrs" and got the miraculous "Walking with the Tiger", a thin booklet, bound with a blue silk cover, yellowed pages, and a crumpled cover. It didn't look so surprising that the two wondered if they had taken it wrong?

Tang Yu held it in his hand and took a closer look at the book cover, which was indeed printed with three words "Walking with the Tiger" in a thick official script, and there was a line of vermilion characters in the lower corner of the title: This is the remnant. He handed the book to Lao Lin again and said, "It should be this one." ”

Lin Ziren took it and flipped it slightly: "The handwriting is a little blurry, and the incision is relatively rough, I don't think it should be printed by a famous bookstore?"

"Let's not rush to conclusions, Lao Lin, how about finding an expert to see?" Tang Yu asked for the advice of his partner.

Lin Ziren is calm and has no other opinions: "Then let's go to Bi Xiaoxuan on Lion Street......

"Listen to you. ”

Bi Xiaoxuan is at the intersection of Wenhua Street and Lion Street, the most lively in Chuzhou, the façade is not big, several antique blue brick buildings, carved beams and painted buildings, cornices and corners. The vermilion doors and windows are also extremely quaint. When I entered the door, I saw a fat man eight feet tall standing behind the counter, with broom eyebrows, garlic nose, and thick lips stacked on top of each other. The two eyebands are not open, and they wear a square scarf and a round-necked silk robe.

Lin Ziren nodded and arched his hand: "The shopkeeper, it's polite." ”

The fat shopkeeper woke up, his face perked, and he hurriedly greeted: "Courteous and polite, I don't know what you want to buy?" and then introduced it diligently: "Our store has the best lake pen, Hui ink, rice paper, and inkstone, and also repairs ancient books and paintings on behalf of people, and identifies porcelain and jade, I don't know what you want to ......."

Tang Yu took out the book "Walking with the Tiger" from his arms, put it flat on the counter, and flashed the waist card in his hand: "We are the government arresting fast, and we are investigating a case." Here's an important piece of physical evidence, could you please take the trouble to take a look at it?"

The shopkeeper saw that the two of them were very official, so he didn't dare to slack off, so he hurriedly stepped forward to take the thin booklet, turned a few pages seriously, and smiled all over his face: "I don't know what the two officials want to ask?"

Lin Ziren raised his eyes and said, "According to you, which bookstore should have engraved this book?"

The fat shopkeeper glanced at it twice: "Shangcha, this book is a few years old, the paper is crunchy, if the contemptible person is not mistaken, it should be engraved and printed with the library......"

"The same library?"

"Not bad. The fat shopkeeper said as he took out two books from under the counter and spread them out carefully, "This is a collection of celebrity poems printed by Wenhuayuan and Qi Baozhai. One yard of red silk binding, brocade cover, opened, each page inside is overprinted with five-color smooth spotted paper, black and red two-color overprint, not only beautiful, but also high-grade. "Of course, the price of this printed book is very expensive, and it is definitely not affordable for ordinary people......

"Where is the same library you are talking about?"

"It turned out that in Laobei City, the shopkeeper's surname was Song, because the books he printed there were not in good condition and were not well-made, and generally wealthy eunuchs and vassal scholars rarely patronized them. Therefore, we can only solicit and print some bullet words, sayings and barnyard official history that are preferred by the flow of pulp sellers. ”

"And now?" Tang Yu asked.

The fat shopkeeper bared his teeth and sighed: "It's been two or three years since it closed down and closed down." ”

Lin Ziren shook his head and asked, "Do you know the whereabouts of the shopkeeper Song of the same library?"

"He's alive and well, he's not dead yet, anyway. The fat shopkeeper grinned and smiled, "Just three days ago, this shopkeeper Song came to my shop with two old books and asked me to consign them to him. Look, that's not mixing well lately......"

"Did you consign it to him?"

"What is it selling, according to himself, he brought a Song version of the book, if it is true, this can still be worth more than a dozen taels of silver. But I showed him a fake...... I could buy a bunch of such fake things for a couple of silver. ”

Tang Yu put away the book and said with a pleasant face: "Thank you, shopkeeper." Delaying you for so long. It's just a small favor for us, can you tell me where that shopkeeper Song lives?"

"Wuyi Lane, Old North City, when you go there, you ask Song Cripple, who used to print and sell books, likes to drink and gets drunk three times a day. Everybody knows that. "The fat shopkeeper talks heartily.

"So we don't bother.

Lin Ziren and Tang Yu said goodbye to the shopkeeper and walked out of Bi Xiaoxuan.

Due to its proximity to Dingyuan County and Langya in the north, Laobei City has convenient transportation. It flourished during the Mongol rule. Later, with the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the new city moved south and the center of gravity shifted, and it gradually declined.

Tang Yu and Lin Ziren rode horses, one after the other, and rushed to Beishi. Enter the street and walk slowly.

Although the entire Old Taipei City is no longer in the golden age, it was prosperous in the past, the framework is still there, and it still looks lively at a glance. On both sides of the road, there are many teahouses and restaurants, and people come and go on the street. There are stalls to sell things, there are lottery fortune tellers, there are trick-style performers, and some people say that books, singing, operas, and foreign films.

The casinos on the street are noisy and noisy, and the laughter of prostitutes can be heard from the brothels.

Lin Ziren got off the horse and asked the owner of a ceramic shop on the side of the road where the shopkeeper Song lived, and the owner pointed to a deep alley across the street and said, "You ask him, enter Wuyi Lane and turn left, and the last door is the first one." That's a wine fairy, he goes to sleep after drinking, and if you don't buy a bottle of wine and put it under his nose, he won't wake up for a while?"

Lao Lin nodded yes, bought two jars of good "Pear Blossom Spring" wine in the tavern, and went to the deli next to him to spend 300 yuan to buy a fragrant roast goose. Rushed back with both hands.

Tang Yu was puzzled: "Why are you buying these?"

Lin Ziren smiled but did not answer.

The two walked through the street aisle and entered Wuyi Lane. After walking for a long time in a crooked and dark alley, I found a dilapidated doorway.

Tang Yu pushed it with his hand, and the door squeaked and staggered open.

The room was dark and small, with some coarse porcelain dishes and tea sets, and a man with a brown face and a loose pair of cloth trousers lying on a long wooden bench.

When he saw someone entering the door, he suddenly opened his eyes, jumped up, crossed his hands on his hips, and roared in a rough voice: "Who are you who dare to trespass into my house without permission?"

Tang Yu stepped forward to greet him: "I don't know if Mr. is the shopkeeper of Song?"

The man ignored it.

Lin Ziren didn't say a word, pretended not to see anything, walked over slowly, sat down on a small bamboo stool, and put the two bottles of wine on the table.

"Good wine, good wine! The next door is drunk for three days, and the altar is ten miles of incense. The man became active, turned around and brought two large porcelain bowls, put them on the table, and bent down to open the seal of the wine jar.

Lin Ziren put his hand on the wine jar: "Wait, Mr. Song, before drinking, you should at least ask who we are, right?"