Chapter 202 Two Things (Two Chapters in One)

When Aunt Ji came over and heard that Xiuxiu had encountered a kidnapper, she pieced together all the stories she had heard and told them in a frantic manner. Everyone was terrified and asked how much they could be sold for.

"Xiu Xiu, Ling Bo, you two are not ugly, and you are both educated. You can sell for at least ten taels."

"Wang Xing, your face is quite white. If you take it to a waiter's shop, you can sell it for five taels."

"Loach, tsk tsk, you're so small, I'm afraid it's not easy to sell you. Only the black kiln that the old man mentioned can accept you. One hundred coins, no more."

"Hey, Xiaoye brother, you're a bit old. If you were only three or four years old, you'd be easier to sell than them. You'd be a grandson if you were bought back. But you're nine years old now and you can remember things. You definitely can't be a grandson anymore. You can only be sold to a wealthy family as a servant. That's only five taels of silver."

All in all, loach is the cheapest and the least valuable.

The loach was depressed.

Zhao Shiqing found it funny and suddenly remembered the story of the Sui Dashi brothers who sold themselves. Yes, Zhao Tingluo lost a younger brother, and it was this that inspired the Sui Dashi brothers to sell themselves to bury their brother.

"Aunt Ji, I have a friend who is a member of the royal family. His brother is also missing. I'm sure the kidnapper wouldn't have the guts to go to the palace and kidnap a child, right?"

Aunt Ji snorted, "The bigger the house, the more dirty things there are. Whenever a child is lost in a big house, nine out of ten times, no, absolutely ten out of ten, it's their own family who did it."

Zhao Shiqing stopped talking. She thought of the little princess Aying. Wasn’t she sent to the kidnapper by her own aunt?

But then I heard Loach say, "When I picked up my brother, the aunties in the yard all said that my brother looked like a child raised by a wealthy family. Could he have been thrown out by his own family? My brother is so pitiful."

Zhao Shiqing was stunned. She remembered the scene when she first met Niuqiu's younger brother Xiaobao in that old and small house. The child was as cute as a piece of jade, especially when he snuggled up to the dark and thin Niuqiu. The contrast was obvious. One seemed to be carefully molded, while the other looked like a mud dot casually thrown by Nuwa.

Zhao Shiqing secretly apologized to Niu Qiu. She really didn't mean to belittle her friend. It was just that the two brothers were too different.

She asked Loach: "I only know that you were picked up from the muddy pond. What about your brother? Where did you pick him up from?"

Loach was a little embarrassed: "I didn't make a single sale all day, and I was so hungry that night that I wandered around the streets, hoping to find some melons I could pick up..."

Zhao Shiqing knew that what Niqiu meant by "doing business" was not a business at all. At that time, Niqiu was only twelve years old. His grandfather who raised him had died, and he could only make a living by relying on his "craftsmanship".

Loach continued, "I walked to Rouge Lane in the south of the city. As you know, there are customers there at night, and those customers are all well-off."

The friends all shook their heads: "We don't know, we are all good kids."

Loach said, well, compared to him, they are really good kids, at least they have never been thieves.

"It was already quite late when I saw a woman carrying a large bundle, this big." Niuqiu gestured with his hands and continued, "I saw her sneaking into Beijia Street. You know Beijia Street, right? It's the street where you go north from Yanzhi Lane at the first intersection. There are several brothels."

The friends all shook their heads again: "We don't know, we haven't been there."

Loach had another heart attack. He had clearly heard them excitedly talking about what they saw and heard on Yanzhi Street, so how come none of them had ever been there?

He had no choice but to continue, "I saw that the bag in the woman's hand seemed to be a bit heavy, so I quietly followed her. It was already dark, and the red lanterns were dim. The woman looked around, and I was hiding in the shadows, so she didn't see me. She first went to Yuerenge, only took a look at the door, and then went around to the back alley of Yuerenge. I guess she was going to Yuerenge, but someone happened to come out at that time, so the woman lowered her head and continued to walk forward.

Before "The Song of the Yue People" comes "Furongjin". At that time, a young waiter from Furongjin jumped into the river and died. Furongjin was sued and did not open its doors for business for two days. Other houses even had lanterns hanging at their back doors, but only Furongjin's back door was dark and deserted.

The old woman went into the darkness, and when she came out her hands were empty. When I saw her leave, I went over to take a look, and saw the bundle was placed outside the back door of Furongjin.

The back door of Furongjin was closed at that time and there was no one else around, so I picked up the bundle.

I was very happy at first, but the more I walked, the more I felt something was wrong. If there was money inside, who would leave it outside the Hibiscus Brocade?

At this moment, there was a sudden movement in the bundle, and then the cry of a child could be heard.

I found a place behind the outer wall of the yard, opened the bundle, and saw Xiaobao. He was so small at the time, probably just woke up, and was crying at the top of his lungs.

At that time, I couldn't even support myself, so how could I raise another one? So I left him on the side of the road and turned away.

But after I took a few steps, I heard him crying so miserably. This is Yanzhi Street. If he was really picked up by someone, he would have to live here for the rest of his life. It would be better to take him away from here. Maybe he could be picked up by a kind-hearted person.

Strangely enough, he stopped crying as soon as I picked him up, and looked at me curiously with his big eyes.

I was soft-hearted for a moment and couldn't bear to leave him on the roadside after leaving Yanzhi Lane. I carried him all the way to where I lived. At that time, there were two families in the compound who had breastfeeding children, so I took Xiaobao over and asked them to help feed him.

When the aunts from the two families saw Xiaobao, they praised him for being well raised and said that it was obvious that he was not a child from a poor family.

After that, after raising him for a few more days, I couldn't bear to let him go. Someone asked me to sell Xiaobao, but I refused. I took him to a charity and happened to see the charity's manager beating a child with a stick, so I took Xiaobao back. After that, I decided to raise Xiaobao myself. As long as I had food to eat, I wouldn't let Xiaobao go hungry.

When Loach said this, he found that his friends were all looking at him with wide eyes.

"Loach, you're so tall!"

"Loach, there's light on your head!"

"Loach, next time we eat chicken, I'll give you the chicken leg."

Aunt Ji wiped away her tears and said, "Loach, whatever kind of wife you want to marry, I will help you find one."

Then Niuchi thought of something else: "Oh, right, when I found Xiaobao, he was wearing cloth, not silk. Later, when I followed the Second Miss to Wu, I learned that there was a kind of cloth even more expensive than silk. Now that I think about it, the little clothes Xiaobao was wearing seemed to be made of that kind of cloth."

Zhao Shiqing thought about Xiaobao's age and wondered how old Zhao Tingluo's younger brother was. She would remember to ask Zhao Tingluo next time she saw him.

On this day, Loach received unprecedented preferential treatment. The big chicken leg was his, the pork belly with skin was his, and even Zhen Wuduo gave him a big red envelope.

The next day, Xiuxiu made snacks by herself, and Aunt Yuji accompanied her to the Ministry of Revenue.

Xiuxiu once traveled thousands of miles with her cat. She was a very brave and courageous girl.

But after what happened last time, Zhen Wuduo ordered that no girl or boy in the family was allowed to go out alone. Even Zhang Ye had to be taken to and from school by Lao Fan.

Therefore, although the Ministry of Revenue is a government office, Zhen Wuduo also asked Aunt Ji to accompany her.

Aunt Ji was a native of Beijing, and people from Beijing are naturally good at dealing with government offices. She said a few words to the gatekeeper, and the gatekeeper shouted towards the door. A moment later, someone came out. Xiuxiu recognized that this person was one of the people who sent the kidnapper to the Beijing government office that day.

The man also recognized Xiuxiu and said with a smile, "Little girl, you are here to inquire about those kidnappers. Don't worry, the government will definitely punish them."

After Xiuxiu was rescued that day, she kowtowed to the yamen runners to express her gratitude. Therefore, she came here today to bring them some snacks to express her gratitude.

She thanked him again and said, "I made this myself. I'm giving it to you to try. It's not expensive, but it's just a token of my appreciation."

The man smiled and said, "Miss, you are too polite. We are just following the orders of the adults. It's just a small favor. I will accept the snacks for you brothers. We are in for a treat."

After watching the man carry the food box in, Xiuxiu and Aunt Ji turned and left.

There are two other yamen on the street where the Ministry of Revenue is located, namely the Ministry of Rites and the Taichang Temple. Among them, the Ministry of Revenue is the busiest, and is almost busy from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. The officials of the Ministry of Revenue only go to the yamen and never leave the yamen, because they are still busy when it is time to leave the yamen.

In contrast to the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Rites and the Taichang Temple are only busy during festivals and holidays. For example, in the twelfth lunar month, when people from all over the country come to offer New Year gifts, this is the busiest time for these two government offices.

Although Xiuxiu has lived in the capital for more than a year, this is her first time back here. Even Aunt Ji, who was born and raised here, has only been here a few times. After all, ordinary people can't usually come here.

The two men looked straight ahead, not daring to look any further, and walked forward quickly.

Only when they reached the street corner and got on their own mule cart did they breathe a sigh of relief.

Aunt Ji smiled and said, "As expected of a government office, walking down the street and breathing in the air is filled with the air of an official."

Xiuxiu also said: "We have sent you our sincere regards, but we won't come here again."

Aunt Ji: "That's right, we can't come here often. We ordinary people can't stand it."

The two chatted and laughed. Xiuxiu thought about the materials she bought for disguise last time. It was a waste of money. Except for those that were spilled in the accident, the rest were thrown away somewhere after she was knocked unconscious and stuffed into the mule cart.

"Auntie Ji, please wait for me. I need to go to Wenmiao Street to buy some things."

Aunt Ji knew the shop Xiuxiu was going to. It was the first one at the intersection of Wenmiao Street and could be seen from the mule cart.

The mule cart stopped and Xiuxiu got off and walked towards the shop. This shop had more complete products than the one she usually went to, but it was a little far from her home, so she didn't come here often.

Just as she was about to enter, a voice suddenly came from behind her.

"Girl, please stay!"

Xiuxiu was stunned for a moment before she realized that someone was calling her. She stopped, turned around, and saw a familiar face.

Just now, she had seen him. This was the big brother of the Ministry of Revenue.

"Hey, sir?"

The man smiled and said, "Miss, I finally caught up with you. You don't know, when I took the snacks in, I happened to meet my master. My master said that the people from the Beijing government were looking for you."

Xiuxiu frowned slightly. Although she was not afraid of reporting to the authorities, this was a kidnapping case after all, and she was an unmarried girl. Instinctively, she did not want to go to the government office.

Seeing her look troubled, the man pointed to the side and said, "My master understands your difficulties. He said he just has two doubts that he wants to confirm with you. You don't need to go to the government office in Beijing. Just talk to him."

Xiuxiu looked in the direction he pointed, and sure enough, there was a sedan chair parked there.

That's the official sedan chair!

Xiuxiu asked hurriedly, "Is this the man who asked the officials to stop the kidnapper?"

The man said, "Yes, it is this gentleman. He has just arrived at the Ministry of Revenue. Other gentlemen are reluctant to go out of the city on business during the first month of the year. It is thanks to Sir Yang that he volunteered, otherwise he would not have met the girl."

Xiuxiu was grateful in her heart. What a good official! This is what a good official is.

"Is your surname Yang?"

"Yes, our Lord Yang was the top scholar last year."

Xiuxiu's heart moved. The number one scholar, she remembered. The number one scholar and the second young lady had known each other since childhood. That time when the second young lady and her friends went to Tong'an, the number one scholar had come. She told the second young lady about it later. She didn't know if the second young lady had contacted the number one scholar.

Thinking this in her mind, Xiuxiu walked to the front of the official sedan chair.

The curtain of the sedan chair was slowly lifted, revealing a fair and handsome face.

Although he was wearing an official robe, Xiuxiu recognized him at a glance. This was the young man she had met before.

Even though he was wearing a brightly colored official robe, the top scholar still gave her the same feeling as when she met him that day, pure and light, as if he had walked out of an ink painting.

Xiuxiu's face turned red involuntarily.

She remembered that she had only thanked the yamen runners that day, and the top scholar was the one she should be thanked the most. After all, if it weren't for his order, the yamen runners would not have acted on their own and stopped the kidnapper's mule cart.

Xiuxiu was lost in thought when she heard Yang Shengqiu's gentle and pleasant voice: "Miss, due to the need for an investigation in the Beijing yamen, I have two questions to confirm with you. Is it convenient for you?"

Xiuxiu hurriedly said, "It's convenient, please ask, sir."

Yang Shengqiu asked, "Excuse me, did you notice that you were being followed before the incident?"

Xiuxiu shook her head: "No."

Yang Shengqiu asked again, "Have you ever seen those two female thieves who appeared on the way that day?"

Xiuxiu shook her head again: "No."

Yang Shengqiu smiled: "That's no problem, thank you for your cooperation, young lady."

Xiuxiu knelt and saluted: "I am the one who wants to thank you for saving me that day. I have no way to repay your kindness. I only wish you good health and good fortune."

Yang Shengqiu said hurriedly: "This is my job, young lady, there is no need to be so polite. By the way, I think you look familiar, I think I have seen you somewhere..."

Xiuxiu was about to speak when Aunt Ji's voice came from behind her: "What's going on?"