Li Hu was stunned.
Sketches are nothing new to the people of Fenghe County who are used to writing and drawing with charcoal.
However, Li Hu had been in the mountains for a long time and had fallen behind the "trend" of Fenghe County. Now, when he suddenly saw his appearance clearly drawn on paper, his first reaction was fear.
In addition, the painting is in black and white. Although the use of light and shadow is very clever, in Li Hu's eyes, it is like pasting his own shadow on it.
Late at night, it is inevitable to think about ghosts and gods.
The officer shook the sketch, as if wanting him to see it more clearly, and just with this shake, the face in the drawing seemed to come alive.
Li Hu shuddered violently, dodged backwards, and began to speak without thinking: "Who, who locked my shadow in? Take it away quickly, don't come over!"
He tried so hard to avoid the sketch that he didn't notice that the expression of the policeman holding the painting changed slightly.
In fact, based on this sketch alone, we cannot say for sure that it is him.
After all, people are similar, and there are many people who look similar.
What's more, this Li Hu is an outlier. As a bandit, he not only has no obvious scars, but he doesn't even have any distinctive facial features to identify him.
What really confirmed the policeman's suspicion was Li Hu's extreme reaction after the villager Xu San started shouting, and his confession at this moment.
So the officer quickly put away the wanted order, waved behind him, tied up Li Hu tightly, and gagged him to prevent him from disturbing the people. Then the officer quickly returned to Fenghe County to report.
After hearing the news, County Magistrate Zhuang immediately issued an order.
Find a good day and parade Li Hu through the streets to serve as a warning to others.
And reward those who have made contributions.
Among them, Ding Jiu, who drew this sketch, naturally made an indelible contribution. He was directly promoted to an official in the yamen and received imperial salary.
At the same time, County Magistrate Zhuang began to promote sketching courses on a large scale.
Even the government allocated money to encourage people to study more.
This puzzled Zhuang Xun, the son of the Zhuang County Magistrate. He approached his father and asked, "Although this sketch is more detailed and realistic than the previous one, it still doesn't directly identify the criminal. Furthermore, what if the criminal has disfigured himself?"
County Magistrate Zhuang had already considered these possibilities: "Actually, I've never thought of relying on sketches to solve everything."
Zhuang Xun was stunned.
Then, County Magistrate Zhuang continued, "Now, Fenghe County has become a major transportation hub. Many caravans pass through here, bringing with them a large number of outsiders. With more people, there are more problems. It's inevitable that some malicious individuals will want to commit evil deeds."
Zhuang Xun nodded slightly. In fact, after Fenghe County was rebuilt, despite the bustling and prosperous scene, petty thefts and the like had never ceased.
County Magistrate Zhuang pointed at the sketch on the table and said in a deep voice, "Since that's the case, we must find a way to tell them so that they can consider whether they can afford the price before committing evil."
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Xun bowed and said, "I hope Father can help me solve this problem."
County Magistrate Zhuang didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "The sketch is just to let them know that the government can catch them. If they dare to do evil, they will never reveal their true appearance. If they want to hide, they can either go to a secluded place and never see anyone again, or destroy their appearance, which will also come at a heavy price."
Mr. Zhuang understood for a moment: "Just to scare them?"
County Magistrate Zhuang smiled and said, "It's more appropriate to say it's a deterrent."
Since ancient times, it has been impossible to catch all the evil people, nor to kill them all.
Instead of making amends afterwards, it is better to let the criminals know the price of crime early on, and think carefully before doing anything, whether they can bear the darkness and the unrecognizable appearance.
County Magistrate Zhuang never wanted to use the number of thieves he caught to gain credit for himself. Now, the most important thing for Fenghe County is peace and stability, and the development of construction and economy is the top priority.
Zhuang Xun also figured this out and said, "So, parading Li Hu through the streets this time is probably also to deter the bad guys?"
County Magistrate Zhuang smiled and nodded. "This is also to educate the people, to tell them that Fenghe County has the ability and capacity to protect their safety. Therefore, this parade must be lively and lively, and it is best to let all the people and caravans know about it."
Zhuang Xun understood what County Magistrate Zhuang meant and immediately stood up and bowed. "I'll make the arrangements right away."
Not only do we need to arrange the parade, but we also need to arrange the rewards.
County Magistrate Zhuang specifically instructed, "Since it's a reward, give it all together. Mention the outstanding work done by those factories, especially the craftsmen who are researching charcoal pencils. Remember, don't leave any behind."
"yes."
Soon, the reward was delivered.
In addition to the painter Ding Jiu, the arresting policeman, there was also the farmer Xu San who was the first to discover Li Hu.
Soon, someone came to the village, found the Xu family, and gave them three strings of cash.
Although it’s not much, it’s very decent.
Especially in their remote village, where everyone has nothing to do except farming, it is a rare sight to see something new.
Soon, half of the village went to the Xu family to congratulate them.
Among them was Wang Da.
Ever since his younger brother Wang Er and his three sons went to the county town, the task of taking care of their parents and farming the fields fell on Wang Da alone, and he was extremely busy every day.
Now that the weather has turned cooler and the New Year is approaching, it is also the slack season for farmers, so he finally has some free time.
Because the two families had a good relationship, he even said to his wife, "I can't go empty-handed. Bring me a jar of wine."
Wang Da's wife immediately went to the kitchen to get it. She tied the wine jar tightly with a straw rope, leaving a handle. Then she handed it to Wang Da and asked, "Do you want to go with me?"
Wang Da waved his hand and said, "No need. Go buy some fish and raise them for when my second brother, his family, and the three boys come back to eat them."
Mrs. Wang was stunned for a moment: "When did they say they were coming back? I haven't heard any news."
Wang Da was very confident: "Second brother promised before that he would come back before the New Year. It's always a good idea for you to prepare first."
After saying that, he carried the wine jug out of the door and headed straight for the Xu family.
The two houses were not far from each other, and they arrived there soon.
Wang Da walked into the courtyard and saw Xu San at a glance, so he walked up to him and congratulated him.
Xu San smiled innocently: "What I did is nothing. I just happened to run into him. Uncle Wang and An Lang are the ones who are really capable."
As soon as these words were spoken, the villagers who had come to watch the fun immediately started talking at once.
"That's right. I heard that Wang Er has even bought a house in the county town."
"My third uncle's daughter-in-law's cousin also works in the county town. He's managed by Wang Er. He's said to be very successful and earns more money than anyone else."
"And Wang Er's wife has also made a lot of money."
"I don't know how Anlang is doing, but I think he should be very promising."
Every word of these words seemed to be coated with honey.
Even someone as serious as Wang Da couldn't help but smile faintly at this moment.
But when there are too many people talking, there will always be some noise: "But I think it's not good to be too capable. If you are too careless, you may not be able to come back once you fly away."
After these words were spoken, the scene fell silent for a moment.
Xu San's brows twitched, and he hurried to check Wang Da's expression. Seeing that he wasn't angry, he heaved a sigh of relief and said to the others, "Don't talk nonsense. How could you possibly know about Uncle Wang's family affairs?"
Someone actually chimed in: "That's true. Wang Er is indeed quite capable, and he really hasn't come back yet."
Wang Da said in a deep voice: "The second brother said that there are too many things to do in the factory and he is busy."
Then the man said, "Don't trust him too much. Go out for a walk if you have nothing to do. Don't let him forget you're at home taking care of the elderly and the land while he's enjoying the good life in the county town and forgets all about you."
"That's right. Don't be too honest. You can't bully others even if they are your brothers."
"Your children followed him, didn't they? Don't look back, the children you worked so hard to give birth to are now being raised by others."
Wang Da is a person who doesn't like to talk much. When he found that people didn't believe what he said, he stopped talking. He knew the character of his family members best, and these gossips would not shake him or make him angry.
But Xu San frowned.
After all, Uncle Wang came to congratulate me and even brought some wine, but now he has to listen to a bunch of bad words from him.
Although they all said it in a caring tone, no one is deaf or stupid. How can they not hear that many people there just want to stir up trouble and have fun?
Xu San's face turned serious, and he stared at the person who had spoken first and said, "Don't talk nonsense. We all live in the same village, so who knows who? You're jealous of someone who's doing well. If you have the ability, go try working in a factory in the county town. Otherwise, stop gloating over other people's misfortunes and making innuendos."
As soon as he said this, Wang Daxian looked at him with surprise on his face: "Little Sanzi, you can use idioms now?"
The onlookers who originally wanted to watch the show: ...Are you focusing on the wrong thing?
Xu San didn't expect him to say that. He was stunned for a moment, then scratched his head innocently: "My son learned it and taught it to me, hehe."
The man who was pointed at by Xu San and thrown two idioms in the face turned red and white in the face, and was very angry.
I was angry that my little thoughts were exposed, and I was also angry that I was scolded but didn't know how to fight back.
After all, he didn't even know many characters, so he had no idea what the two or four-character words Xu San blurted out meant...
After a long pause, he stiffened his neck and said, "I'm not saying that. My brother also works in that factory. He had previously agreed with the people from the same village to come back together. He even asked Wang Er, but it was Wang Er who said he wouldn't go back with them."
Xu San was slightly stunned when he heard this, and turned to look at Wang Da: "Uncle, are you serious?"
Wang Da's expression was calm: "They said before that they would come back for the New Year, so they will definitely come back."
But the man refused to give in. "I'm afraid they're lying to you. Otherwise, why would they expect you to stay home and help him take care of the fields? If I were to ask you, you'd better pay attention. Otherwise, what's their ability? They have nothing to do with you, and yet they're throwing a mess at you. Even their son won't come back. In the end, you're nothing."
These words were indeed a bit harsh, and Wang Da finally became angry. He directly stuffed the jar of wine to Xu San and was about to go up and argue with him.
Just at this moment, bursts of gong sounds suddenly came from outside.
There was a loud clang, clang, clang sound.
This made everyone in the yard stop what they were doing and they all ran outside to see what was going on.
Then he saw the village chief jogging along. When he saw Wang Da, his eyes lit up and he ran straight towards him, panting and saying, "Finally I found you. Come on, follow me! Someone is coming from the government office!"
The people around him gasped, and Wang Da was also shocked.
For common people like them, it is difficult to talk to Muramasa, let alone the government, unless they are involved in a lawsuit.
Now everything is fine, why did he end up in trouble with the government?
Xu San hurriedly asked, "What happened? Why did it alarm the government? Uncle Wang hasn't been anywhere recently, how could he have committed a crime?"
The man who had just said the sour words muttered in the crowd: "Look, I told you, going to the county town is not a good thing. I don't know who I offended, and now it looks like it's a big deal, and it might even involve my family."
Many people looked at each other, with surprise and doubt in their eyes, and then they began to murmur.
Muramasa heard this as well and wanted to scold them, but he had more pressing matters to attend to, so he didn't have time to pay attention to their speculations. He simply said, "Don't talk nonsense. What kind of crime are you talking about? This is a happy event for the Wang family, a big one!"
Wang Da immediately asked, "Is it my brother who has returned?"
Muramasa had already caught his breath and a smile appeared on his face: "Yes, not only did he come back, he also brought something with him."
At this moment, the team beating the gong appeared in everyone's sight.
Decorated in red and decorated with colorful ribbons, it looks festive at first glance.
Perhaps because they arrived at the destination, the team stopped and the gongs and drums stopped.
Xu San was extremely surprised: "It's not even the New Year yet, why is there so much excitement? Is someone getting married?"
Wang Da also looked confused: "I haven't heard of it before."
Muramasa smiled and pulled Wang Da aside, pointing over there and saying, "That's a plaque I've come to give to your family. It was written by the Zhuang County Magistrate himself, specifically as a commendation for your family! You have a good brother and a good son. This has earned you great respect."
As soon as these words were spoken, those who had been talking about it just now seemed as if their tongues had been cut off, and were left in stunned silence.
For a moment, you could hear a pin drop.
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