As the night fades and the morning light becomes brighter, the city, which has become stiff due to the cold winter, becomes more active as the number of pedestrians on the street gradually increases.
Restaurants and tea shops are open, early morning people are coming in and out of the city gate, children who are eager for warmth are also getting up, calling friends and walking through the alleys, women are half-opening their houses, chatting with neighbors, and waiting to walk around the streets.
Vendors in the alley bring fresh goods.
"Yellow plums, red plums, fresh plum branches."
A hoarse shout came from the street.
Although the weather is cold and the flowers and leaves are withered, there are also winter seasonal flowers, plum blossoms.
Hearing the shouts, many women came out and saw a sturdy man in his thirties carrying a load. The two baskets were full of plum branches, bent and dotted with buds.
Seeing the women coming out, the flower seller stopped and greeted warmly: "Sisters and ladies, take a look at the plum blossoms. They are picked from the mountains of Hangu Temple outside the city."
The plum blossoms at Hangu Temple are also blessed with the blessings of the Buddha. It would be better to display them at home. Women came around and asked, "Are they fresh?" "Aren't they just dead branches?"
The flower seller promised in a loud voice: "It's fresh. I cut it at night and brought it here before dawn." "They are all fresh flower branches, old plum branches."
After hearing this, everyone started to pick and choose.
"But, I've never seen you before." A woman holding a three-branch plum blossom looked at the man and asked again when she wanted to give him money.
Although selling flowers is a small business, not everyone can do it. It needs to be fresh and blooming. The florists who have stayed for so many years have become more or less familiar faces.
You can rest assured if you buy from a familiar face. Otherwise, if you buy fake flowers that have dead branches and flowers that are forced to bloom, who will you settle the account with?
When she said this, the women all looked at the flower seller. The man had an unshaven beard and a rough face. It was almost hard to see what he looked like, but he was indeed a stranger.
The flower seller smiled naively: "My name is Huang Si, and my uncle Lao Huang sets up a stall outside Hangu Temple. All the eldest sisters should have seen it."
Hangu Temple is very popular, and women in the city have visited it more or less. The villagers near Hangu Temple will sell their own melons, fruits, vegetables, chickens, ducks, and fish, and there are naturally a lot of flowers. After buying them for Buddha, they
At this mention, everyone suddenly remembered that there was such a person.
"It's winter and the business is not good. My uncle is getting old. I can help him out. I'm strong, so I just picked flowers and went to the city to sell them." The flower seller continued, pointing at himself, "Don't worry, the flowers won't be good anymore.
If you come to our village to find me, I will compensate you."
He was still a filial person, so the women picked some of them, and soon the basket was half empty.
The flower seller thanked me repeatedly: "Thank you neighbor for taking care of the business."
"Put your money in a safe place," a woman reminded. "The city is no better than the country. There are a lot of petty thefts."
The flower seller hurriedly stuffed his money bag into his clothes, happily picked up his burden and continued walking down the street shouting "Huangmei, red plums and wintersweets for sale".
There were more than one hawkers walking along the streets, and he was inconspicuous among them. No one noticed that when the flower seller was selling flowers, he stopped by the roadside to rest, and his eyes either glanced at the women passing by, or wore clothes.
Look inside through the half-open door of the house on the street.
It was just after noon when the flower branches were sold out, but Shi Feng, who should be called Huang Si now, did not show any nostalgia and immediately picked up the load and left the city to go home without wandering around again.
This is the behavior a flower seller should have.
He is a very cautious person, even if he is a bad guy, he does it seriously.
When it was dark, Shi Feng returned to a village near Hangu Temple. It was said to be a village, but in fact it was the place where Hangu Temple used to do good deeds and take in poor people. At this time, there were several families scattered around, most of them were old, weak and disabled.
sick.
There are almost no lights in the village shrouded in darkness, and the people here are reluctant to part with lamp oil. The stove fire is their only source of firewood, but firewood is also limited, and they are put out immediately after cooking.
"Uncle, I'm back." Shi Feng shouted, walking into the darkened shabby house, "Everything is sold out today, so there's a lot of money." "Uncle, have you had dinner?" "Uncle, I'll give it to you.
I bought some meatloaf and a glass of wine."
Homely chatter resounded in the room, but there was no response, and there would never be a response.
Shi Feng lit an oil lamp, and the huge light made the room seem brighter and darker, but he could see an old man lying on the bed.
There was a rope tied around the old man's neck, and it was strangled so hard that it almost broke his neck. His head hung limply by the bedside, his eyes widened, his mouth opened wide, and pain and fear were frozen on his face.
This scene is so terrifying that if anyone saw it, they would faint on the spot.
Shi Feng was not afraid at all. He liked to watch this kind of scene. Every time he killed someone, he would deliberately put it in front of him to watch it.
He squatted beside the bed, took out the meat pie he bought and ate it while admiring the dead body. After finishing the meat pie and drinking the wine, he stood up with satisfaction.
"Go chop some more plum branches." He stretched and rubbed his shoulders, "Go and sell them again."
It's so hard.
But there is nothing we can do.
He reached out and patted his shoulder.
Work harder, find a suitable person to rob and kill as soon as possible, and leave here as soon as possible.
He won't stay in one place for too long lest he feel unsafe.
"Uncle, I'm going to cut some more plum branches and sell more before the flowering period." He said, "When the flowers bloom, everyone will come here to see them, and we won't be able to make any money."
After saying that, he extinguished the oil lamp and plunged the room into darkness.
Beggars seem too lazy to move in winter, especially when the sun rises.
A beggar wearing a shabby coat and a pair of tattered straw sandals huddled in the corner enjoying the warmth.
"Okay, okay, okay." He lazily shook the bowl with his hands.
No matter how kind-hearted passers-by are, they will not come across the street to give them alms, so until after noon, the beggar’s broken bowl is empty.
Fortunately, a few little beggars ran over, holding a few pieces of cake in their hands.
"The Yuan Family Restaurant was very generous today, and the chef gave a lot of charity." A little beggar handed the pancake to the beggar, "I'll give you a piece."
The beggar took it and chewed the pancake with his eyes closed. The little beggar also took advantage of the situation and sat down next to him, leaning together to bask in the sun.
"That boy is probably going to take action today." The little beggar whispered. "He has sold out all the flowers and has no intention of leaving. He is picking baskets in the Qijia shop, but what he is looking at is the Mantang gold and silver shop opposite.
He is going to rob the gold and silver shop."
This is a bandit, and there is a lot of money in the gold and silver shop.
The beggar shook his head: "No, he was staring at the woman who entered the gold and silver shop."
The women who go in and out of gold and silver shops are also rich, the little beggar thought to himself.
"In addition to robbing," the beggar opened his eyes, "he also likes to kill people, especially raping and killing women."
It can even be said that robbery was just a matter of convenience, but killing was his purpose, and it was sadistic killing.
This is a beast, a beast.
The beggar took a big bite of the pancake and chewed it hard, his eyes covered by his messy hair were sharp.
This time Shi Feng must be eliminated.
He could have succeeded five years ago, but something suddenly happened in the door. He was delayed for a while, and this beast escaped. However, he did not give up the pursuit in these years. He just wanted to hide his identity to avoid being caught by the government, and his hands and feet were restricted. But it was the evil man.
More wanton and arrogant.
This time the thief came here, and the Tangkou here happened to come alive. It was the right time and the right place. We must deal with this thief.
We cannot let more women be victimized!
"Leave it to me next." The beggar swallowed the last bite of the pancake. "You don't have to follow him."
He stood up to leave, but the little beggar held him back.
"A weapon for you." He said, handing him the dog-beating stick in his hand.
It was very inconvenient to bring weapons into the city, and the guards would strictly inspect them, so he didn't bring any weapons with him when he entered the city. He originally wanted to borrow a farm tool, a sickle, an axe, etc. from a certain house.
It’s great to have colleagues to help you. You are fully prepared and have no worries.
A smile flashed in the beggar's eyes, he took the wooden stick, which didn't look special, and held it in his hands.
"There is a sharp sword inside." The little beggar whispered.
The beggar nodded, holding the broken bowl in one hand and saying, "Okay, okay, okay, okay." He dragged the stick forward with the other hand.