Before dawn, Li Changan, Huang Wei, scholars, salesmen, and masons had gathered outside the city early, waiting for the morning bell to knock on the city gate.
They all tidied themselves up and were all smiling.
After working hard for more than half a month, it was finally time to settle the bill and distribute the money. According to the accounts and the written contract, after erasing the change, I could get one hundred and seventeen taels of silver.
"After the money is divided, don't say anything else. First, go to the Baiwei Restaurant in Dongwazi and order a table of good dishes. The dishes should be meaty, not vegetarian at all. The meat should be fat, not lean at all! Then pour it on
Serve with garlic sauce~”
"Haha, are you stuck now?"
"One hundred taels cannot stand still!"
"Did you forget the '10,000-dollar sticker'?"
"Can't Taoist Master let me have fun first? Damn it, my money is going to be given to ghosts!"
"I'm afraid Shopkeeper Cao thinks so too."
The ghosts burst into laughter.
Shopkeeper Cao is Huang Wei’s partner. He is quite well-connected in the Qiantang funeral industry, and he also runs a coffin shop, a burial utensil shop and a paper-making shop. The "funeral viewing" business requires blowing, crying,
He took the lead in making the banquets, tomb bricks, inscriptions, etc., so the money was also in his hands.
Joking room.
The city gate finally opened.
The group merged into the crowded crowd and poured into the golden morning mist of Qiantang City.
Everyone wandered into the bad market.
The market was deserted, perhaps because no one came to the coffin shop so early in the morning, and the paper money shops were wandering around.
When I found Shopkeeper Cao's coffin shop, I was surprised to find that all the shops next to him were open, but the door to his house was closed.
Everyone laughed at the shopkeeper for being so lazy.
I turned the corner again and found the underworld shop. The door was also locked.
Everyone looked at each other.
I hurriedly found the Zhizhe Shop again. Fortunately, the door of the Zhizhe Shop was open, but there was only a young man leaning on the door frame and yawning. The shopkeeper Cao was nowhere to be seen.
"The Ghost King's birthday will be in two days. Which family is so blind to the dead that they dare to bury them at this time? Are you not afraid of being caught by the big ghost under the cave city and chewed as snacks?"
Young people deal with it carelessly.
"Since there was no business anyway, my boss closed the shop and took his wife out to relax."
"Relax?!"
The ghosts couldn't believe it.
Li Changan suppressed the noise of the ghosts, and Huang Wei stepped forward and bowed a few times: "Little brother, I wonder where Shopkeeper Cao went to relax? When will he come back?"
When the waiter saw the excited expression on the other side, he couldn't help but be wary: "I wonder what you want to do with my boss?"
Huang Wei smiled helplessly: "We made a deal with shopkeeper Cao in partnership, and we agreed on the payment at the beginning of the month in black and white, but when I came today, I couldn't find anyone..."
After hearing this, the waiter said bitterly: "I'm just a waiter. My boss only said he would be away for a while. He hasn't been seen since yesterday. I really don't know where he went."
Huang Wei held on to his luck and said, "Does Shopkeeper Cao have an explanation before he leaves?"
The clerk waved his hands hurriedly: "I'm just a clerk. I need to settle the accounts at the beginning of the month. It must be a large amount. How can I get involved?"
The clerk didn't know anything about it and just shied away.
The ghosts immediately became angry: "Why are you talking nonsense to him? That guy is clearly trying to steal our money!"
If you go up there, you will be smashed.
The guy didn't stop him at all, he just jumped in the door with his head in his hands and yelled: "I'm just a guy, you can hit me as you please, don't beat me."
The movement had already attracted onlookers, and Li Changan quickly stopped them.
The matter is uncertain, and if you do it casually, it will not end well in the future.
They left the papermaking shop and went to inquire about the news. The Taoist priest also contacted the local ghost leader. When the news was finally compiled, the result was even worse than the waiter said.
Since yesterday, no one has seen Shopkeeper Cao. It seems like his family disappeared overnight.
…………
The white vermicelli is topped with a whiter fish soup, garnished with green onion for a rich aroma, and then covered with a large piece of fish.
Such a bowl of fish noodle soup, the ghosts would not be willing to order it on weekdays, they could only secretly watch others eat and swallow their saliva.
Nowadays, when delicious food is available, no one is in the mood to use chopsticks.
If you can't find shopkeeper Cao, you won't get the money. If you can't get the money, you won't be able to pay the "ten thousand yuan subsidy". If you can't pay the "ten thousand yuan subsidy"... all kinds of scary rumors suddenly came to mind.
Everyone was frightened and frightened, unable to control themselves.
The old salesman murmured: "How can I tell you that credit business is a good business?"
The scholar's tone was filled with sadness and anger: "Ghosts are harmless to people, but people are harmful to ghosts. How dirty the world is, and how sinister people's hearts are!"
The country folk were already choked with sobs.
Every time a coffin is moved or a grave is moved, they put in the most effort and have the most expectations. Unexpectedly, in the end, their hopes are like a dream that is easily shattered for no reason.
Dahan wiped his tears: "Taoist priest, brother, what should we do?!"
Huangwei was equally distraught.
He hesitated: "If there is really no other way, we can only leave..."
"Did you hear that?"
The diners next to me were shouting loudly and showing off their knowledge.
His deskmate replied to him: "Is it about that family in the western suburbs?"
"You also know? Haha! A whole family of seven people was hanged from an old tree on the roadside. They were taken down for autopsy and it was found that they were not hanged to death, but were frightened to death!"
“I heard it was to escape the ‘10,000-yuan sticker’.”
"No, that man is incompetent, and he has even harmed his wife, children, and children. Alas!"
Bang~
After the other person finished speaking, he didn't know how many pairs of chopsticks fell down.
If they weren't all ghosts, these faces would probably be as white as pink soup.
Huang Wei's usually smart words were knotted, and his eyes wandered: "It is Qian Tang's rule to settle accounts at the beginning of the month, how could he break the rule? How could the rule be broken? Yes, he broke the rule! We have a written contract, we can find it Guild, we can report to the official!"
The Taoist priest frowned: "Brother Huang!"
Huang Wei nodded randomly: "Yes, that's right. It's useless to report to the official. The Yamen won't care about it, and there's not enough time. We can borrow money! We can't go to Hua Weng, his old man... we can't. I heard that he lends money during this period.
I paid a lot of money and bought an inn, but I had no money left."
"Huang Shanjun!"
Huang Wei was still talking nonsense, and Li Changan suddenly reached out and pinched a piece of flesh on his face.
Huangwei raised his head in surprise: "Taoist Master, what are you...hey!"
Li Changan patted the yellow hair that was pulled off his hand: "Are you calm?"
Huangwei covered his cheeks with tears in his eyes and nodded quickly.
"Then put away the tears, grown men are so ugly!"
The Taoist priest asked him to speak again.
Huangwei picked up the chopsticks and thought for a moment.
"Yes! We can hide in Feilai Mountain."
"Huh?!" Li Changan raised his eyebrows.
Huang Wei was startled and quickly changed his mind: "Feilai Mountain is the last resort, but now we still have time, there is always a way to get that guy out."
Li Changan nodded and ate the rice noodles slowly, saying in a calm tone: "Don't worry, there are still eight days. We can even find ghosts in the sea, let alone a living person?"
Panic can be contagious, and so can calmness.
After a month of getting along, in the eyes of the ghosts, Huang Wei has a lot of thoughts and can always come up with solutions, while Li Changan is very capable and can always solve problems.
After they said this, they felt a little more at ease.
Although I couldn't show my smile, at least I was too embarrassed to wipe away my tears.
"Taoist Master." Huang Wei suddenly spoke.
Li Changan looked at him with contempt.
He smiled awkwardly, but had to say: "Kengcheng will collect the 'ten thousand yuan sticker' in advance. On August 5th, envoys will come to Qiantang to hunt down those who do not accept the birthday gift."
Everyone's expressions froze.
"So instead of eight days, it's four days."
"Four days is four days!"
The Taoist priest slapped the table, quelling the panic that had spread.
He said solemnly:
"If you dare to take money from a poor man, you will have to dig him out even if you hide in the eighteenth level of hell!"