Chapter 56

In the government office, County Lieutenant Pan Wenji presented the abduction case that was being interrogated in the county government office today to the county magistrate.

That night, Mrs. Li's son saw that his mother hadn't come back yet. He was about to go out to look for her when he heard a knock on the door outside.

He shouted "here you come" and opened the door, and asked at the same time: "Mom, you are coming back very late tonight. Did you go to a restaurant to eat good food?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the door opened.

However, the person knocking on the door was not Mrs. Li, but a dozen or so government servants wearing official uniforms, with knives on their waists, and dark and sullen faces that could make children cry.

The officials didn't give him time to think, and rushed in after he opened the door.

Two of them caught Mrs. Li's son on the spot, and the rest of the officials rushed into the house with knives in hand. For a moment, there were horrified screams in the room, followed by various scolding sounds...

clang -

crackle -

a rummaging through boxes and cabinets, and various searches. Sure enough, there was a small, dim room in the back room of the courtyard. Inside, the officials found three children huddled together, all of whom looked to be seven or eight years old.

One of them is a boy and two are girls. They were all dressed in tattered, coarse linen shorts, and their hands and feet had scars from being beaten.

Both of Mrs. Li's daughters-in-law were caught. The other son tried to escape by climbing over the wall, but was pulled off the wall by the Yamen. His head hit the water tank in the corner and broke his head. He did not survive until the next day. dead.

Xu Yi doesn't know about this for the time being.

After he rewarded A Jin with a lot of money, he gave A Xu fifty yuan and gave them a day off to go to the market at the Chenghuang Temple.

The Chenghuang Temple Market in the county town is not held every day, but often only during the holidays.

By chance, Xing Yuesen and others were free during the ten-day holiday, so they all came to ask Xu Yi to hang out.

They also knew that Xu Yi was busy on weekdays and did not dare to disturb him when he was busy. When they heard that Xu Yi was taking his children to play in the market at the Chenghuang Temple, they asked them to arrange transportation for the trip.

Not long after, a donkey cart covered with curtains stopped outside Xu's yard.

The driver who drove the bus was still the one who went back to the City God's Temple. He was very discerning. Seeing that the two children were not very old, he took the initiative to take out the stool stand from the car.

"Doctor Xu, my husband is already waiting for you at the teahouse in the Chenghuang Temple. Let's set off now." Handlebar said respectfully to Xu Yi.

Xu Yi nodded and asked Ah Xu and Ah Jin to get in the car first, and he followed.

Axu Ajin, who climbed up first, had never ridden in a donkey cart before. When he saw that the carriage inside had soft cushions and grids for storing items, and there were beautiful patterns carved on the grids, his eyes widened.

A Jin lowered his voice and said to A Xu: "Brother, this car is so big, even the cushions are soft."

A Xu touched the cushion his sister mentioned, nodded heavily, and then spread the cushion in his hand on the carriage in the middle position.

When Xu Yi came up, he saw two cushions stacked in his place, and he immediately didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He returned the mat to A Xu and told them to sit wherever they wanted without being formal.

Soon, Asu Ajin put aside the nervousness of riding in a donkey cart for the first time, happily lifted the curtain, and looked at the street outside with a look of longing and joy.

They can never get tired of looking at the streets of the county town.

The antique buildings on both sides of the street have not added a few traces of history. They are simple and gorgeous, and they are full of fireworks.

Smelling the aroma of snacks that drifted into the carriage from time to time, both of them swallowed with greed.

Seeing this, Xu Yi asked them with a smile: "Are you hungry?"

Ah Jin turned around and said, "Mr. I'm not hungry, it's just that the taste is too greedy." After saying that, she sat back on the mat with a blush.

A Xu asked Xu Yi: "Are you hungry? I'll buy some food for you."

Xu Yi shook his head and said no.

There are many foods in the market outside the Chenghuang Temple. When you go there, you will be dazzled by the food.

*

Now that we have just entered July, "July Fire" is regarded as the beginning of autumn. [Note 1] At this time, the Song Dynasty was in the midst of the Third Little Ice Age, and autumn and winter were colder than in modern times.

However, as soon as autumn begins, the temperature drops a lot.

Today, at the Chenghuang Temple Market, there are many more stallholders selling firewood than before.

At this time, every household should collect firewood. When late autumn comes, the mountains will snow and freeze, and it will be difficult to find good firewood. At that time, if you want to buy firewood, it will be several times more expensive than before the weather is cold.

Xu Yi just got off the donkey cart, said goodbye to the handlebars, and took Asu and Ajin to the market.

Xing Yuesen and others were waiting for him in a teahouse outside the Chenghuang Temple, and he told A Xu not to be separated from A Jin.

Because the gathering at the Chenghuang Temple was different from an ordinary busy market, there were street officials guarding it outside, so the kidnappers did not dare to act here. So Xu Yi didn't have to worry about them being abducted in an accident in the market.

Moreover, children all have to experience some things. Xu Yi didn't want A Xu and A Jin to dare to go out alone in the future because of Mrs. Li's incident.

After Xu Yi explained the precautions, he said: "We need to store a lot of firewood at home. If you see some good ones, ask the stall owner to leave the firewood to us. Don't worry about the money. You can bring people to the teahouse to find it when the time comes. Me."

He didn't say how much firewood must be collected, only that the more the better.

Making pills on weekdays consumes a lot of firewood. These two little guys know this and there is no need for him to remind them.

So, after Xu Yi finished explaining and watched them happily join hands and enter the lively crowd, he went to the teahouse to find Xing Yuesen and the others with peace of mind.

Xu Yi didn't walk long before he saw the teahouse mentioned by the handlebar.

As soon as he entered, a clever waiter came over to inquire. Hearing that Xu Yi was going to the second floor room, he warmly greeted him upstairs.

After leading Xu Yi to the door of the wing, the waiter knocked on the door. When he heard the guests inside shouting to come in, he opened the door and motioned for Xu Yi to enter.

In the room, Xin Shengyuan stretched his neck and looked out the door. When he saw Xu Yi coming, he raised his hand and waved happily: "Xu Yi, here, here."

Tao Qinghao also stood up, smiled and said to Xu Yi, "It's pretty good. When you come, the waiter will bring you a pot of good tea and a few plates of food."

The waiter smiled politely and said, "Okay, sir, please wait a moment and I'll bring it over right away."

After he finished speaking, he closed the door.

Xu Yi looked at them with a faint smile and said, "Why are you only drinking tea? Are you waiting for me?

" Warm yourself up."

After that, he asked Xu Yi if he wanted a heater.

However, autumn had just entered and there was no need for warm tools such as heaters, so Xu Yi refused without saying a word.

He chose a seat by the window, glanced at the bustling market outside, and asked them: "Why don't you go to the market?"

Tao Qinghao, with a casual attitude, leaned lazily on the back of the chair and said: "Every ten days If you're not going to the market, you're just going to the garden. It's really boring."

"It's boring." Xu Yi nodded in agreement.

Tao Qinghao said, how about they go to Zhuangzi in the suburbs to play before the weather has completely cooled down?

Hearing Zhuangzi, Xu Yi remembered the gossip he heard a long time ago and glanced at Xin Shengyuan.

At this time, Xin Shengyuan said: "I won't go, I won't go. Because of that incident, my father even banned me from going to Zhuangzi. He was afraid that I would also break my leg and not be able to participate in next year's scientific examination."

From ancient times, From a medical perspective, it would take a year and a half to fully recover from a broken leg. The man who fell last time is still at home recuperating. He wants to take part in the scientific examination next spring, but he is afraid it will be too late.

Xin Shengyuan's father was worried that his youngest son was playful and would fall when he went to the racecourse. A direct order was issued not to allow him to go to the racecourse before taking the scientific examination.

Xing Yuesen looked at them and said, "If you find it boring, I have an interesting story here, do you want to hear it?" "

What interesting story?"

Tao Qinghao and Xin Shengyuan both looked at him.

Xu Yi finished drinking the hot tea in his hand and looked at Xing Yuesen.

Xing Yuesen sat up straight and said seriously: "It's a funny thing, I think it's better to say 'pleasantly'. Do you know that someone from the county government went to report a case yesterday? What case was reported?"

Xu Yi heard this: "... "So familiar.

Xin Shengyuan said: "I heard my brother say it yesterday, and I wanted to ask, but he was very busy and had no time to talk to me."

"Who is as idle as you? You have nothing else to do after school. Do it." Tao Qinghao laughed without being polite at all.

Xin Shengyuan didn't care and hummed: "Oh~ you are a busy man. I can't compare with you. It's time to praise you a few times to prevent you from flying into the sky."

Xu Yi coughed twice softly. He asked, "What's going on behind the scenes?"

After he and Ah Jin left the Yamen, they didn't know what was going on behind the Yamen, and they didn't know if Mrs. Li's accomplices had been caught.

Seeing that Xing Yuesen already knows about this case, he should know something.

Xing Yuesen said: "The person who reported the crime reported that someone was abducting a child on the street. After the child found out on the spot, he tried to rob the person, but he failed and was arrested instead.

When I asked about it, I said that the kidnapper was an old woman. , she is already old enough to know her fate, yet she still does such evil things that harm her moral character. Her son and daughter-in-law are also her accomplices. She is abducting, and her son and daughter-in-law find a seller and sell the abducted person directly to Goulanli.

He was in the

backyard of a wealthy family.” "They were kidnapped."

"What happened next? Were all these villains caught?" Xin Shengyuan asked angrily. Xing Yuesen smiled and said

: "We caught him. One of them is dead."

Xu Yi was surprised and asked him: "How did he die?"

He fell down and died."

Xu Yi then asked, "Did you find any children in the den?"

"Yes, we found three abducted children." After Xing Yuesen finished speaking, he looked at Xu Yi in surprise. How did you know there would be a child?"

Xu Yi: "..." He said

calmly: "I was the one who went to the Yamen to report the crime yesterday.

"

Between them?

Tao Qinghao was the first to wake up and exclaimed: "Did you catch the old woman?"

Xu Yi said: "Strictly speaking, A Jinqiang stayed behind to capture this old woman when I arrived."

" Who is Ah Jin?" Xin Shengyuan asked confusedly.

It is really difficult for them to remember a little girl's name. Xu Yi had already expected this and told them who A Jin was.

At this time, Xing Yuesen remembered that Xu Yi had been asked to come to the market today. It was Xu Yi who wanted to come to the market. The reason seemed to be that A Xu A Jin.

Xing Yuesen asked him: "Why don't you show Ah Jin to us?"

"Yes, Ah Jin is really powerful for a kid of several years old to know the tricks of a kidnapper."

Xu Yi said: "Don't worry, I After asking them to visit the market, they came to the teahouse to find me."

When the others heard what he said, they all looked forward to it.

After chatting for so long, it was boring to just sit and drink tea. Tao Qinghao called the waiter in and asked him to serve a few more dishes of snacks and a few plates of side dishes that could go with the wine.

Xu Yi couldn't drink, but they could.

Have a drink and enjoy yourself. Nowadays, scholars not only drink tea in teahouses, but also drink some wine to enjoy themselves.

The best wine in this teahouse is rice fermented wine, which is rich in color and fragrant. It tastes sweet but not greasy and not intoxicating.

Among the kids from rich families, they can taste wine when they are in their teens. A few people drank wine and chatted, and they felt inexplicably harmonious.

It was clear that half a year ago, the two groups of people were disgusted with each other, but because of the addition of Xu Yi, they became friends who talked about everything.

Xing Yuesen would get up and compose poems when he was impromptu after drinking.

Tao Qinghao and Xin Shengyuan were both unhappy.

Tao Qinghao angrily complained to Xu Yi and said, "Xinyao and I don't know how to write poems or paintings. We hate the kind of people who just open their mouths and write poems. Xing Wu is disgusting, but he wants to do it in front of you." Show off."

Xu Yi touched his nose innocently: "..."

"When you say this, don't add me to it. I'm not you." Xin Shengyuan frowned and curled his lips in displeasure, "I've been very restrained these past few months and can't go anywhere. After Xu Shi, I had to light up the lamp and read for an hour at night. My father said that I would do my best and listen to fate. If I study hard, I will leave it to fate if it knows that I am good. "Every

family has its own scriptures that are difficult to recite. Xu Yi saw them telling each other the family's requirements and expectations for them.

He felt envious in his heart. Once upon a time, he also had parents and an older brother.

Xu Yi ate his tea and looked out the window. There was a cool breeze, and birds were passing by in the sky. I wonder if his original family members lived well in the same land and in different eras.

There were no words for a moment.

Only others noticed that Xu Yi seemed to be in a low mood.

Xing Yuesen was the eldest among them and already had a family. He quickly noticed that there was a little more melancholy in Xu Yi's eyes.

He poured a cup of tea, moved to the seat next to Xu Yi, looked out the window side by side with him, and asked slowly: "But this tea doesn't smell good."

"No, this is fine autumn tea, not as elegant as spring tea." It's fragrant, not as mellow as winter tea, and has a different taste." Xu Yi shook his head.

Xing Yuesen smiled and said, "I see that your mind is not on tea. Maybe you have something in your heart that you can't express to others."

Xu Yi also smiled when he heard this.

He suppressed the emotion in his eyes and looked at Xing Yuesen: "Yes, yes, I really can't tell you."

"I won't tell you." The tea cake seller walked by and shouted at him.

The salesman saw that there was a small official above who wanted to buy his tea cakes, so he carried a load up.

"Hello, gentlemen, my tea cakes are made from the fine tea leaves picked every spring, not the coarse tea from summer tea."

"Really?" Tao Qinghao asked doubtfully.

He held a piece of tea cake in his hand, put it to the tip of his nose and sniffed it. His family owned a restaurant and teahouse, and he knew tea better than the others.

As soon as he smelled it, he knew that the salesman was not lying.

The so-called tea cake is to steam freshly picked tea leaves into cakes and then dry them in the sun or oven. The drinking method is different from the modern Pu'er tea cake. It is boiled into tea or soup. Later, when tea culture developed into the Song Dynasty, there were more varieties. Those who were more particular would take a piece and grind it into powder, and then add some condiments to eat it.

Moreover, this tea cake lasts longer than ordinary loose tea.

Xu Yi smelled the aroma of tea leaves in the tea cake, and asked the seller: "What is the price of this tea cake?"

The seller said: "As for Xiao Langjun, the tea cake I sell is twenty cents a piece. "

This price is much cheaper than the tea in the teahouse.

It’s good to drink some cooked tea in winter. Xu Yi paid for it and bought twenty pieces of tea cakes.

Seeing that he bought so much, Xin Shengyuan was not to be outdone and asked for twenty yuan from him.

Xu Yi: "..." Seeing him buying it like this, Tao Qinghao

was happy: "Xinyao, are you used to drinking this tea?"

I'm used to it."

"That's right." After hearing this, Xing Yuesen smiled helplessly and asked the salesman how much he had left.

The salesman said excitedly: "Young gentleman, I still have about a hundred tea cakes in my load."

Xing Yuesen nodded with satisfaction: "I want the rest of the tea cakes. You can send the tea cakes to Xing Mansion on West Street "You tell the gatekeeper my name and say that I, Xing Wulang, want it. I will write a handwritten letter for you later and give it to him, and he will take you into the house to settle the money."

After he finished speaking, He went to the table, took out a pen and paper, and wrote a brief handwritten letter to the salesman.

The salesman was very grateful after receiving the handwritten letter and said many auspicious words to Xu Yi, Xing Yuesen and others.

He thought to himself that he was really lucky today. The sale of so many tea cakes was enough to cover his family's income for several months.

...

After the salesman left, Xu Yi asked Xing Yuesen why he bought so much.

Xing Yuesen said: "The next month will be the Reunion Festival. There are many housekeepers, housekeepers and shopkeepers in the family who want to come to the house to say hello. The tea cakes sold by this vendor are not cheap and the price is right. I bought them as gifts for those below. The person is just right."

This matter is not his business, but his father said that he needs to go through it and know how to deal with these complicated etiquette in the future.

After Xu Yi heard this, he realized that the master's family also gave gifts to the people below during the festival.

Tao Qinghao sighed: "I have a lot of tea at home. I don't reward the tea leaves to the people below. I just give them money directly."

"This is great, and it saves trouble." Xing Yuesen said.

Tao Qinghao gave him a "you don't understand" look.

A reward of tea and cakes, twenty dollars is enough. As for the reward of silver coins, those above the management level would not be able to get away with more than a drop of money, and the servants, wives and envoys below would also need dozens of coins. The Tao family rents many servants, and over the course of a year, the reward money alone will cost them dozens of guan.

Xu Yi and Xing Yuesen both bought tea cakes for a purpose, but Xin Shengyuan bought twenty tea cakes and didn't know what to do with them.

Everyone didn't laugh at him, they simply thought he was doing good deeds, chatted and laughed and went back to the table to drink tea.

After a while, the waiter from the teahouse came up to ask questions, saying that there were two children downstairs who were looking for someone, and asked if the young man knew any of them.

When Xu Yi heard this, he knew that it was Axu Ajin who came here.

Then he asked the waiter to take him upstairs.

Following Ah Xu Ah Jin were two young men in short brown clothes. They looked to be in their thirties, with timid expressions and did not dare to look straight ahead.

After A Xu came in, he bowed first to Xu Yi, then to Xing Yuesen and others.

Then, he said that he and Ah Jin found two stall owners selling firewood in the market, and the prices were negotiated, and they were both relatively reasonable prices.

These two young men brought a lot of firewood to sell, one of them had two hundred catties, and the other had one hundred and sixty catties.

When Xu Yi heard this, he paid the money first and then asked if they still had firewood to sell.

After receiving a positive reply, Xu Yi said: "In the future, I will come to the county to sell firewood, but I can go to the Xu family in Shijing Lane, South Street. As long as the firewood is good, I will accept it."

Qingzhuang was pleasantly surprised and said repeatedly: "Thank you, Xiaolang. " Thank you very much, Mr. Xiaolang.”

…

The next day, someone came to look after the Xu family in Shijing Lane, South Street early. A Xu went to open the door, and it turned out that it was the two young men he saw yesterday. They happened to bump into each other, and they both came over carrying two bundles of firewood. .

Seeing that the firewood was all good, A Xu ran to the house to find Xu Yi.

Xu Yi saw the two young men through the kitchen window and told A Xu to give them money to buy firewood.

The two successfully sold the firewood and left with the money in their arms, smiling happily.

Later in the evening, Xu Yi called A Xu and the others into the house and asked them to pack out some clothes that were too short, saying that they would give them away.

Speaking of which, A-Xu and A-Jin grew several centimeters taller in just two months at home. The first clothes they bought to wear exposed their ankles.

Seeing that the weather is getting colder, it is no longer appropriate to wear clothes that expose ankles. By the next year, A Xu and A Jin would grow taller again, and these clothes would become even more inappropriate.

When he went back to Baili Village last time, Xu Yi saw that the clothes worn by the grandchildren of Village Chief Zhang's family were all patched and shabby than the clothes worn by the two at home, so he thought about sending these clothes over.

A Xu and A Jin knew that these clothes were to be given to those of their own age. Although they were a little reluctant to part with them, they obediently went back to the house to pack the clothes.

The husband treated them very well. After giving away these clothes, they will have new clothes.

Thinking about it this way, I am not so reluctant to part with it.

On one side, A Xu and the others were packing their clothes. On the other side, Uncle Liu came leisurely into Shijing Alley with a bullock cart.

Whenever Xu Yi went out of the city, the ox cart he rode most often was Liu Bo's handlebar cart. Later, he thought, it would be better to hire Liu Bo's ox cart so that he could go out of the city anytime and anywhere.

When Uncle Liu heard that Xu Yi had this intention, he immediately agreed.

On weekdays, he can earn up to a dozen dollars a day from driving, and he has to make several trips to earn so much. But it costs money to maintain the car and take care of the cows. After a month, I can only earn two to three hundred yuan.

Xu Yi was generous and paid him five hundred yuan a month for hiring him.

This is much better than his exhausting work picking up individual customers. If you don't agree, you are a fool.

Today he came over and specially repaired the cart at the back, repaired the broken areas, and reinforced the railings on both sides. Even as crude as he was, he also thoughtfully spread a layer of straw. Although it was not soft enough, it was better than before. Better.

Uncle Liu felt satisfied. When he saw the Xu family's house, his mouth split with joy.