Spring Forest Evening

Zhou Heng was actually a little scared in his heart, but he thought that if he could find the murderer in this house, his mission here would be completed, and Shen Fu would not be able to push back and stop him from seeing the jade carving with a horse head. Really, Zhou Heng felt that the night was long and dreamy, so it was better to go back early, and he was also very worried about grandma.

Therefore, now he secretly summoned up courage for himself, while holding Chun Yu's hand tightly, in the eyes of outsiders, the two cousins ​​seemed to be on good terms.

The black door with some mottled and peeling paint looks very ordinary, and even the sound of Brother Wang knocking on the door knocker sounds a bit dull under the noon sun.

"Who is it?" After a while, an old female voice came from inside, and it sounded like an old lady.

Zhou Heng couldn't help secretly heaving a sigh of relief.

Brother Wang at the front has already answered loudly: "Wang Ji's dry goods store in the front, I heard that you are going to sublet, come and see the house."

This made Zhou Heng thank him in a low voice very gratefully, Little Brother Wang's face was a little red, and he smiled back in return.

"Wait a minute, it's coming!" the old lady muttered, and after a while, the door was finally opened, and a little old lady with gray hair and a brown sarong walked through the slightly opened door. I poked my head out, and when I saw Brother Wang standing at the front, there was a smile on my face: "So it's Brother Wang, please come in!"

Brother Wang seemed to know her too, and shouted, "Aunt Peng!"

Mrs. Peng responded, but looked at Zhou Heng and the two who were following behind: "These two girls are...?"

Hearing that his tone was still kind, Zhou Heng smiled politely and replied: "Our family wants to rent a house in Tangquan Town for business," and pointed to Brother Wang next to him to explain the reason: "Just now we both heard Brother Wang say Knowing that your house is going to be sublet, I thought of coming over to have a look."

"Oh yes, please come in!" The old lady pushed the door open a little, let the three of them in sideways, and then closed the door again, causing Chun Yu to look back.

Zhou Heng kept looking ahead, and after turning around the screen wall, he hurried to see what was going on inside, but was a little disappointed to find that it was actually a dilapidated yard with a mouthful in the middle. There is a large water tank with some water in it, and a relatively spacious house on the opposite side of the screen wall and on the left and right sides. The whole house can be said to be unobstructed, and there is nothing special about it, and no one can be seen walking around.

Fortunately, when Zhou Heng was disappointed, Xu Shi heard the movement of their group. The curtain of the room on the left was lifted, and a strong man in his twenties wearing a short jacket, with a beard and a dark face , holding a rice bowl in his hand, poked his head out to have a look, looked Zhou Heng and Chun Yu up and down, and then asked, "Do you want to rent a house?"

Then he asked Brother Wang: "Your relatives?"

Brother Wang hurriedly turned his head to look at Zhou Heng, Zhou Heng nodded and replied calmly: "Yes."

The brawny man held his rice bowl and let out a sneer. Although the meaning in it was not clear, but it sounded a bit malicious, Brother Wang's face turned red again, and even Chun Yu behind him felt a little uncomfortable.

But Zhou Heng didn't think there was anything wrong at all, he just smiled and asked the strong man, "Did you discuss the matter of subletting?" That Mrs. Peng had already walked away, since she and Brother Wang knew each other. In fact, it can be judged, and the hands look very rough. It is probably a poor woman who washes and cooks for the people in the house. She can't be the master.

While the three of them were talking, a few more heads poked out from behind the strong man. Zhou Heng looked at it. There were five people in total, but they were all unfamiliar. It was Chun Yu, who was following her, who suddenly pulled him gently. Get off her.

Knowing that the person who went to the dead boatman's house to instigate must be among them, Zhou Heng didn't see the person he was looking for, so he accepted it as soon as he saw it, and said, "Can you please show us how big the room is?" ? My cousin wants to rent a place to stay, and it’s best to have a place to store goods.”

The burly man didn't intend to show them around, he still stood still with a rice bowl in his hand, he just pointed to the opposite room with his chopsticks and signaled: "Both sides are about the same size, over there is the Datong shop for sleeping people."

Does that mean you don’t want to take yourself there to see it?But this kind of Datong shop where men sleep might be smelly, Zhou Heng happily agreed not to go: "So, then let's go in and have a look at your place to eat, okay?"

He smiled and said to a few people standing at the door who were eating with rice bowls and watching calmly: "I'm sorry, brothers, I interrupted your meal!" As he spoke, he probed into the room.

The room is indeed quite spacious, but there is only a rectangular dining table in it, with a clear view, it feels like a temporary residence. The food on the table is quite rich, and it seems that it happens to be in the dining room.

"Where are you from?" A gray-robed man in his twenties, with a more elegant appearance and more elegant clothes, came over and asked Zhou Heng. This person looks very ordinary, but he is different from other people. , without a rice bowl in his hand, he stood by the dining table with his hands behind his back, with a vague posture that he was the leader.

Compared with those few men who were dressed in bunts and were not very refined, this man was at least a think tank among them just by looking at his clothes.

Thinking of when Chun Yu pulled her just now, could this person be the one who instigated him?Did he have doubts about his identity when he asked this question?

Zhou Heng smiled and began to urgently use the few place names of this dynasty that he had heard these days, as well as some geographical knowledge he had learned from reading in Daxiangguo Temple. After thinking for a while, he said vaguely to the man :

"Our hometown is in Zhongnan Province, and my cousin's family is still there now, but my parents moved to Gyeonggi-do in the early years, and my cousin has been with us since she was a child."

"Central South Road?" Following the strong man just outside the door, a strong man in his early twenties who was even watching with a rice bowl in his bunt suddenly interrupted, smacking his lips: "I heard that the people over there are very I know how to eat spicy food, I don’t like spicy food, but really? How spicy is it?”

Does Zhongnan Road eat spicy food?Zhou Heng was stunned for a moment. Of course he had never been to Zhongnan Road himself, but since it is a place that is very good at eating spicy food, he thought of Hunan in the 21st century, so he replied vaguely:

"I grew up in Gyeonggi-do, so I don't know much about spicy food, but my parents usually add some chili peppers to their own dishes. My cousin and I choked when we smelled it outside the house, and we didn't dare to eat spicy food. Taste it, it must be very spicy, my father always said that the food here is too bland."

When the strong man heard it, he laughed loudly: "Oh? It sounds very exciting. Coincidentally, I also like spicy food." He pointed at the man in gray robe with his chopsticks and said with a smile: "I If you say He is a talented person, then you will be miserable!"

As soon as he said this, the rest of the people also burst out laughing, as if they were not very polite to this gentle man in gray robe.

But the gray-robed man surnamed He was not angry when he saw this, he just smiled slightly: "Don't worry, the Zhongnan Road is a thoroughfare, and there are many people traveling from south to north, definitely not all people who eat spicy food. You can’t find dishes that don’t contain chili, right?” The last sentence was addressed to Zhou Heng and the others.

Zhou Heng quickly nodded his head in agreement: "Well, it's very busy there, so my cousin doesn't really want to come over there!" Then we can use this as an excuse to push down the house. It's just for recognition. This kind of unnecessary money is not worth spending.

But since the other party mentioned Zhongnan Road, Zhou Heng felt that it would be appropriate to inquire: "Are you going to Zhongnan Road for business?" Could it be that the murderer had already fled to Zhongnan Road?

"Business?" Hearing Zhou Heng's words, except for the gray-robed man, the others all burst into laughter again, winking at each other while laughing.

It seems that this group of people is probably going to Zhongnan Road to continue to deal with some moths. Zhou Heng's heart was broken, and he put on a naive look and asked: "I don't know what business the big brothers are going to do?" ? My cousin is still in Zhongnan Road, if there is anything to help, I can rely on friends outside, maybe—"

"Girl, you're welcome!" The gray-robed man interrupted Zhou Heng's words at this moment, and glanced at the other strong men who were chatting and laughing and dropping rice grains, and said lightly: "My boss told me Have you all forgotten about it?"

As soon as I said this, I saw those strong men put away their hippie smiles, and they all came into the room with bowls and sat down to continue eating.

Only the bearded man who looked like the leader of the strong men just now, still holding an empty bowl that has already been eaten, said to Zhou Heng: "If you want to rent, you should hurry up. It will take two days." We are leaving now, the rent is negotiable." While talking, he turned and entered the house.

Zhou Heng looked at it, hehe, he sat at the table and continued to eat a bowl of rice.

It seems that there is nothing to ask today, and I don't know if this is the daily behavior of a strong man or was reminded by what the man in gray robe said just now, anyway, the bearded man should not care about himself.

Zhou Heng pretended to look around, and asked himself: "Huh? Where did Mrs. Peng go?" In front of the man in the gray robe, he pointed to the main room and asked him: "There... can Shall I go and have a look? I don’t know if the furniture is complete. My sister-in-law still has two children, so it’s best not to buy too much, and you can live in it when you come.”

When the man in the gray robe looked a little embarrassed and didn't know how to answer, Zhou Heng continued to ask: "Is Mrs. Peng going to go with you? If not, I want to ask her too. Are you willing to continue to do it, anyway, my sister-in-law still has to take care of the children, and I have to hire someone to help at home."

"I said what a talented man," the bearded man who was burying his head in cooking with his back turned to the door suddenly opened his mouth without looking back, because he had food in his mouth, and he was still listening in a low voice:

"They sincerely want to rent, so what's the point of showing them the main house?"