Mrs. Qi knew that she had good looks, so she never put on makeup, and only wore clothes of obscure colors. Sometimes she would put a thin layer of cigarette ash on her face when going out. She and Pan Xigui were both honest, and Liu Mingyi was lovable, and the neighbors liked her.
Helping them, her life has been smooth in the past two years. Unexpectedly, two scoundrels came to the house for no reason on this day and caused trouble, scaring her so much that she closed the door and dared not go out.
She was an adult, but how old was Liu Mingyi? She was lively and could not be kept at home. As soon as Mrs. Qi wasn't paying attention, she slipped away and ran outside to play with some boys from the neighborhood. There was a tree at the entrance of the alley.
There was a big old locust tree, and the children agreed to climb the tree. Whoever climbed higher would be Sun Wukong. The two younger ones were cheering with their heads raised and their necks raised. The older one climbed up the tree with a whoosh. There was a man he didn't recognize.
I walked over and stood up to look up. The little girl in red clothes on the tree was so fast and agile that she climbed to the top in the blink of an eye like a little monkey.
An older child shouted: "Be careful! Fall carefully!"
The child at the top said abruptly: "I won't fall! I am Sun Wukong!" Nai giggled, and somehow managed to stand up on the top of the tree with his little legs, waving his little arms steadily.
"I am Sun-Wu-Kong-"
Several children shouted: "Come down quickly~~" A young one under the tree turned to look at the man. The man stood with his hands behind his back, showing no intention of protecting the little red monkey on the top of the tree.
A child on the tree stepped on the branches and shouted: "From now on we will compete under the tree! Whoever is the slowest is Zhu Bajie!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the children all climbed down. The one at the top was still the fastest. Like a small red cloud, it floated to about six feet above the ground in the blink of an eye. Seeing someone below her with very fast hands and feet, she simply went straight
She jumped down! Not only was she not injured at all, she actually stood firmly. She clapped her hands and smiled and said, "I am the fastest again!" The children came down one after another, and they all admired her and called her "king". The little girl was proud of her.
Yangyang, with his chest held out and his hands behind his back, is very impressive.
Suddenly, I accidentally saw the man. I stopped laughing immediately, opened my big dark eyes and looked up at him for a long time: "Uncle, I have seen you."
The man asked: "Where have you seen it?"
The little girl shook her head: "I can't remember."
The man smiled and touched her head: "It's okay, I remember seeing you before." Then he asked her, "Are you happy?"
The little girl immediately laughed: "So happy!"
"Your...father...is he nice to you?"
The little girl nodded vigorously: "My father loves me the most!"
The man was silent for a moment and asked again: "Is there anyone who treats your family badly on weekdays?"
The little girl immediately pouted: "There are two bad guys who often come to ask for money! Mom doesn't allow me to go out to play..."
The man asked: "Why did the bad guy ask for money from your family? When did it start?"
The little girl said: "It just started in the past few days. The night before last, I eavesdropped on the conversation between my mother and my father, because a wealthy customer Xunniang ordered a belt that could make a lot of money. The bad guys knew about it and came to ask for it.
Money. The belt hasn’t been embroidered yet, so naturally I didn’t give any money either..."
The man thought for a moment and asked, "They never came to ask for money before?"
The little girl sighed like an adult: "In the past, our family didn't have any money~~"
The man nodded: "That's right. When do those two bad guys usually come to ask for money?"
The little girl pouted again: "While eating! It's so annoying."
"Lunch or dinner?"
The little girl stamped her feet: "Come all of them!"
The man looked up at the sun and touched her little head: "They won't come at noon today."
The little girl raised her face and looked at the man carefully for a while, then said loudly: "Okay!" The man walked away with his hands behind his hands. The little girl walked back to his friends with his hands behind his hands.
At noon that day, no ruffians came to Qi's house to cause trouble.
Two days later, when the little girl was playing, she saw a man coming from a distance, and ran over with a "Zhisi" sound: "Uncle--" The man stood still and waited for her. The little girl ran to him and frowned, saying,
"The bad guys from last time are not here anymore, and there are new bad guys coming since yesterday!"
The man said: "I'm not afraid. Should I come during meal time?"
The little girl shook her head: "Come when I don't want to eat this time."
"Well. They won't come tomorrow either."
The little girl showed a sweet smile with eight small teeth: "Okay~~"
This bad guy is really not coming again.
Two days later, the little girl was holding a stick in one hand to swing flowers. The man came again and nodded to her. The little girl immediately put away the stick in her hand and ran to the man in a few steps: "Uncle~~
Two more came yesterday! Now they are sitting in front of our house! When I go out to play, I always climb through the window."
The man knelt down and touched the back of her neck: "They will leave immediately."
The little girl smiled sweetly: "Uncle is the best!" and went back to play.
The man turned around and walked down the alley. He saw two men sitting in front of Qi's house from a distance. Just as he was about to raise his hand, a figure suddenly flashed and a hand grabbed his wrist. "Fourth Master Liu, stay here.
." This man was naturally Liu Si, and the one who stopped him was Chen Ruijin. She sighed softly, "I know it's you. It's also my fault that Jia Cong didn't think carefully. You are a big internal guard, and you know that there are few things going on outside.
.”
Liu Si asked: "What does Miss Chen mean?"
Chen Ruijin said: "Even if you are a gangster, your death will alert the government. You have already killed three people, and they were all 'sudden death'. If you kill these two more, Master Zhao Cheng, even a fool, should know that he has nothing to do with this family."
There is a connection. It would not be a good thing for their family to get into trouble with the government."
Liu Si was silent for a while and then said: "Do you have any ideas?"
Chen Ruijin said: "It's okay to scare these two away. It's just treating the symptoms but not the root cause. If you want to cure the root cause, either the Rongguo Mansion will find an excuse to take them to live elsewhere and give them a small yard to live in. You can just pay. I'm afraid Sister-in-law Pan won't.
I am willing to accept this favor." Liu Si was silent. Chen Ruijin waited for half a day and then said, "Maybe we can support a capable person to come out and take care of this mess in the west of the city. Originally, there are rules in the market, and if one tyrant leaves, there will be another.
The third shopkeeper of Qin Dynasty left the business but still kept it, and the business belonged to the King of Yan. Li Sheng was obviously incompetent. If others tried to cross him, the government would step in to interfere. The market place is not as good as the officialdom, and it is incompetent.
If anyone is on top, there will be chaos."
Liu Sidao: "Does King Yan not care?"
Chen Ruijin said: "If you say it sounds good, you are a market person, but if you say it sounds bad, you are a traitor. How much free time does King Yan have? Does he care about this?"
Liu Sidao: "Qin Sangu is his."
Chen Ruijin said: "Qin Sangu was originally a spy for the imperial court, and it was convenient for her to become the tyrant in the west of the city; her business was an unexpected surprise to King Yan, and it was not an errand." Liu Si was silent again. Chen Ruijin looked at him again and said,
"Liu Mingyi, that little girl is really nice. Nowadays, these idle men can only ask for a few dollars. There are everyone in the market." Liu Si's heart skipped a beat when he heard this, and he suddenly raised his eyes to stare at her; Chen Ruijin had already turned around.
Float away.
Liu Sili stayed there for half a cup of tea before he walked towards the two idle men. He couldn't help but pick up one in each hand, walked out to the other end of the alley where Liu Mingyi was playing, and beat the two of them at the entrance of the alley - of course he didn't
They used real kung fu. The two of them didn't know why. They yelled at each other at first. After a few more punches and the pain became more and more painful, they cried and begged for mercy. Liu Si sneered and said: "You are young and have hands and feet. It's not easy to make trouble all day long."
I only want to do these despicable things." The two idle men held their heads and swore to be good people from now on. Liu Sidao, "If the Sa family sees you doing such reckless things again, I will break your dog legs!"
The sleeves were gone. Two idle men lay at the entrance of the alley and said "Hey!" for a long time, and then they helped him go.
Liu Si scared the two of them away but it was of no use to the Qi family. The ruffians in the west area of the city got the news.
He paid a lot of money for her job. No one knew how much the "heavy money" was. After all, her man was just an ordinary carriage driver, easy to bully. Although there were three people who died suddenly and two who were beaten, those people didn't think about it.
They wondered if someone in their family was protecting them, but they all thought, "What a piece of fat, they haven't even eaten it. Maybe it was meant for me to eat." It happened that two days later, Liu Mingyi became twisted.
I never saw that uncle again.
That night, Liu Xiaoqi jumped over the wall of Lixiangyuan. As soon as he landed, he heard a "swish" sound, and a teacup flew straight towards his stomach. He gently stretched out his hand to hold it, and lifted it.
At first glance, Jia Cong and Chen Ruijin were not in the courtyard. Next to the large carved crabapple table where tea and snacks were placed, a young man in green clothes and a small hat was sitting. He threw another tea cup over with a sullen face. This time, the accuracy was a little off.
It flew about four inches away from Liu Xiaoqi's shoulder. Liu Xiaoqi stretched out his arm and grabbed it in the palm of his hand. The boy saw it and threw the third one. Liu Xiaoqi held the first two tea cups in his right hand.
, took it with his left hand.
Turning around and looking over, the boy suddenly took out a small Western pistol from his arms and pointed the gun at himself! He sneered, "Look, do you still have the bullets in your hand?"
Liu Xiaoqi said honestly: "Even if I have my free hand, I can't catch the bullet."
The boy stood up with a sullen face, looked at him for a few times, and hummed: "I have no skills, but instead of doing serious business, I ended up being a thief!"
Liu Xiaoqi said: "I am not a thief."
"Oh?" the boy tilted his head and asked, "What's your last name? What's your name? Where are you from? Where are you going? Please tell me quickly."
Liu Xiaoqi said: "Of course your Mr. Cong knows that I have something to come to see him for."
The boy looked at him a few more times and shouted: "Liar~~Come on~~There is a thief who says he knows you~~"
Hearing the sound of footsteps, someone shouted: "No matter how big or small! You are rebelling!" Jia Cong came out of the house on his gold shoes and was stunned when he saw the two people in the courtyard, "What are you two doing?"
?”
The boy pointed the gun at Liu Xiaoqi: "He said he knew you!"
Jia Cong frowned and said, "Put down the gun! What will it look like?"
Liu Xiaoqi said leisurely: "Brother Cong, the way your family treats guests is not very polite."
The boy looked at him and Jia Cong, and he understood something in his heart. He lowered his hand with the gun and argued: "You didn't knock on the door, you just flew in from outside the wall. Is it a courtesy to visitors?"
?”
Liu Xiaoqi said: "I'm not used to knocking on the door." Then he walked towards the carved lacquer table.
The boy said: "Who knows if you are used to knocking on the door? Wouldn't ordinary people think you are a thief when they see you like this?"
Liu Xiaoqi neatly put back the three tea cups and said: "Brother Cong, this Lixiangyuan is not an ordinary place. It is used to having unusual people."
The boy wanted to talk back, but Jia Cong said first: "That's all! A small misunderstanding has been a long-lasting joke." The boy pouted and said nothing. "Is there something wrong with Xiao Qi?"
Liu Xiaoqi said: "What message did you ask me to send to Fourth Brother that day? He had his grandfather locked up."
Jia Cong frowned: "Locked up? What's the whole story?"
"I don't know." Liu Xiaoqi said, "It's not like you don't know about our family. There is never any gossip to pry into. I think it has something to do with what you said last time."
Jia Congnai called a boy: "Go to Erye Bao's yard to call Miss Chen back. I just said that we have something important to discuss." The boy agreed and ran away.
In the past few days, Chen Ruijin had tried to get girls from the Liu family from various health clinics under various names during the day. At night, he was busy discussing with Shi Xiangyun about establishing a girls' school, so he was not here for a while. Suddenly she came back and met the two of them.
, asked: "What is Xiaoqi doing here?"
Neither Jia Cong nor Liu Xiaoqi had time to speak. The boy said quietly: "Aunt Chen~~ Do you know what month it is now?"
Chen Ruijin took a look and said, "Cheng'er? What are you doing here so late? Wearing such clothes... maybe something happened on the way. Would your grandfather be scared to death if he knew about it?"
The boy lazily said: "Don't worry! It's fine if he doesn't find out. If he finds out about my maid, he will tell the truth." This boy is Su Cheng, who took advantage of the dark moon and wind tonight to bribe the west corner gate.
The mother-in-law sneaked out. She put her chin in her hands and said resentfully, "Has Aunt Chen forgotten me? It's already August, and after the Mid-Autumn Festival, Cheng'er will leave the house..."
Chen Ruijin smiled and said: "Don't worry, your affairs have been taken care of long ago."
Jia Cong said: "I have forgotten about this. Is that okay?"
"Okay." Chen Ruijin said, "This little girl is impatient. In three or four days, the Song family will be forced to break off the engagement."
"Huh? Why? That child must have made another girl's belly bigger, right?"
Chen Ruijin gave him a sideways look: "Am I so deceptive in what I do?"
Jia Cong said solemnly: "No! Of course not!"
Su Cheng jumped off the chair and ran to Chen Ruijin and tugged on her clothes: "Really? Is it done?"
Chen Ruijin nodded and said: "I tried to see whether the second master of the Song family would move out of their house and live on his own. It was obviously not possible." She first bribed a gentleman from Yuntai Academy and pretended to meet the second master of the Song family by chance in a teahouse. She was very impressed.
His talents and learning were said to be enough to convince the dean, Mr. Xu, to appoint him as a gentleman of the academy regardless of his age. The second master of Song Dynasty refused to go because he thought everything in the family was cheap. Later, he sent someone to pretend to be an aide to the Tianjin magistrate.
It was a pretense that he met him by chance, praised his talents, and wanted to recommend him to his family. He was still reluctant to leave the capital. Chen Ruijin knew that this son loved his family and was unwilling to stand on his own for the time being. "In this case, this marriage has to be abandoned. Anyway, that's it.
I won’t lose him.”
Jia Cong didn't ask any questions. He touched his nose and said, "Well, you can't do things more appropriately. Cheng'er is not young anymore, so we have to find another one quickly."
Su Cheng was so happy that she ran around the yard twice, picked up a bowl of lotus flowers beside the steps, and rubbed her little face against the lotus buds: "After all, you are here!"