There are a total of eight dishes and one soup, and finally there is a hot and sour appetizer soup, which is made of shredded winter bamboo shoots, shredded mushrooms, shredded mycelium, shredded lean meat and eggs. It is sour and appetizing. How comfortable and warm.

Zhuzi was almost crying when he reported the name of the dish, but after reporting the name of the dish, he didn't need to continue to disturb the master and the adults to drink with the dishes. When the master waved his hand, he immediately retreated.

Xia Yuanzhi was eating with Xu Kongmu. Before, the two of them were eating and talking at Donglaiju. This time, Xu Kongmu didn't talk to him about the case for the time being. He just concentrated on eating. Speaking of, it is enough to be full. He used to eat at Donglaiju, and he thought the taste was not bad, and it was better than that made by the cook at home, but when he ate this table today, he knew what food was and what it was. The appetite is the same, and now just want to eat well and talk about the case.

Today, didn't drink too much wine. One person only drank one, and they all only cared about eating.

Xia Yuanzhi was the same. He really never thought that Mrs. Xu not only made fish and fat sausages delicious, but other dishes were also delicious.

In fact, many dishes in Donglaiju have similar methods, such as stir-fried lotus root slices, braised pork feet with soybeans, steamed pork ribs with noodles, braised chicken with winter bamboo shoots, hot and sour soup, but the taste of Donglaiju’s chefs is similar to that of Mrs. Xu It doesn't compare at all.

For the remaining few dishes, Donglaiju did not have them at all.

Especially the fried shredded pork with fatty sausage fish and mountain mushrooms, one is spicy and fragrant, and the other is delicious.

The two of them almost ate seven, seven, eighty-eight of the dishes on the table, and they all had enough to eat, and then they removed the food case. Zhuzi brought a pot of tea, and the two drank tea and chatted about the case.

Xia Yuanzhi carefully recalled that night, the sky was too dark, he just saw a blurred back, he really couldn't recall anything, he could only say that the back was tall, short, fat and thin, and said that it was a little familiar, but such a back is He looked like an ordinary tall, fat and thin man. He caught a lot of people on the street. In addition, the shopkeeper was injured and panicked, so he quickly went out to chase the thief and report to the official, and there was nothing else.

The two talked about the case for a long time, watching the night fall before Xu Kongmu left. When leaving, he asked Xia Yuanzhi, "Where does this little lady who does food live? Brother Xia said that her family sells food and fish, and I can call him in the future. Our little boy went to buy some."

It tasted really good, and he wanted to give it to his family.

There are quite a few people in his family. Besides his wife, he also has a son and a daughter. The son is married and has children, and the daughter is fifteen, and he has not yet announced his marriage.

The family was busy, and he didn't want his wife to be too tired, so he bought a servant and a little girl a few years ago.

The little girl was the cook and helped the house with the housework, and the servant also helped the house, washing their men's clothes.

Xia Yuanzhi immediately told Xu Kongmu the address of Mrs. Xu, "That little lady is also surnamed Xu, but it's just the words Xu."

Xu Kongmu nodded and then went home.

When Xu Kongmu left, Mrs. Wu and Xiaocui came over to clean up the main room. Seeing their master smiling, Mrs. Wu immediately asked, "Master, how is it?"

Xia Yuanzhi said with a smile: "Xu Xiaoniangzi's food is really outstanding, even Xu Kongmu praised it, and she also inquired about Xu Xiaoniangzi's home, and she should also plan to buy food at Xu Xiaoniangzi's house." This fate must have been forged. Xu Kongmu is an upright person. If there is going to be trouble in the family of Mrs. Xu in the future, Xu Kongmu can indeed help a little.

Mrs Wu's heart was calm, and she handed Shao Ge'er to Xia Yuanzhi to carry, "Master, you coax Brother Shao, I'll go talk to Miss Xu."

"It's already dark, do you want to go again tomorrow?" Xia Yuanzhi saw that it was dark and snowing.

"No." Mrs. Wu said, "Miss Xu must also be thinking about it. I'll go to the door and talk about it. I'll be back soon. Sir, wipe your face, wash your feet, and go to bed before you go to bed."

After finishing speaking, Mrs Wu took Xiao Cui and rushed over to report to Xu Qinyu.

When she arrived at Pei's house, before she even knocked on the courtyard door, the courtyard door opened, and it turned out to be Mrs. Xu. She didn't ask much, thinking it was Mrs. Xu who was also thinking about this and kept guarding her.

In fact, when Xu Qinyu was still in the kitchen, Pei Weixuan, who was helping her lift water, said, "Someone from the Xia family is here."

She just got up and came out, and she saw Wu Shi and Xiao Cui as soon as the courtyard door was opened.

Seeing the smile on Mrs Wu's face, she knew it was done.

In fact, Mrs. Wu had told her that Xu Kongmu had a good character before, and if there was a local ruffian who made trouble and went to the yamen to sue, Xu Kongmu would ask questions.

Now that Xu Kongmu has eaten the food she made, and the two families gradually became friends, it must be better if they have a deeper relationship.

Xu Qinyu led people to the kitchen, and brought two little tadpoles to let them sit down.

Sitting down, Mrs. Wu said with a smile: "Ms. Xu's food is really amazing. My master has known Xu Kongmu for several years, and they all said that Xu Kongmu is not a person who cares about appetite. Even he praised Mrs. Xu's delicious dishes. , The two of them didn't even drink much, and asked my master about the address of your home, Mrs. Xu, and wanted to come to you to buy food."

Xu Qinyu also settled down, and said with a smile: "Thank you sister-in-law Xia, I pickled some winter bamboo shoots, and sister-in-law will bring some back to eat later."

She also bought the winter bamboo shoots from Uncle He, who sells fish. Uncle He lives in a nearby village and is close to the mountains. People here don’t eat mushrooms, but they eat winter bamboo shoots. If she wanted to eat winter bamboo shoots, she asked He The old man’s son went up the mountain to dig a lot, and there were a lot of winter bamboo shoots at home, so she pickled some. Get up, put it for ten days and you can eat it.

With such a simple pickling method, the sour bamboo shoots she marinated are also very crisp and refreshing.

She went to get a lot of winter bamboo shoots out of clay pots, and put them in a basin. "When you eat, you can slice it and eat it. If you want to taste better, you can add a few drops of sesame oil and mix it with cold."

There are already sesame seeds here, called flax, which can be squeezed into sesame oil, but the price is quite expensive. She bought two taels, and usually eats sparingly.

Mrs. Wu took it and handed it to Xiaocui. She was not in a hurry to go back, so she sat in the kitchen and chatted with Miss Xu.

Xu Qinyu was still in the thick of it, and was not in a hurry to do other things. The two chatted for a while, and before they knew it, they talked about the case that Xu Kongmu was investigating, "I heard from my master that the lost jewelry is still the last The valuable ones cost two or three hundred taels of silver, the owner feels sorry for what happened, but it’s not good to blame the shopkeeper, the shopkeeper was also injured, I just hope Xu Kongmu can catch the thief soon.”

Xu Qinyu also became curious, "Since the thief broke into the shop suddenly, hasn't the shopkeeper clearly seen what the thief looks like?"

Wu said, "It seems that when the shopkeeper turned off the lights, the thief ran out suddenly, hit the back of his head with a stick, the shopkeeper fell to the ground, hit him with two more sticks on the forehead, and then ran away after touching a few pieces of jewelry in the cabinet. No matter how I thought about it, I took away the most expensive jewelry, and the shopkeeper was in a hurry, and when my master passed by, he kept telling my master to chase after the thief."

Xu Qinyu still thought it was too coincidental.

Wu continued: "My master also said that the thief looks familiar from the back, but he is tall, short, fat and thin, and he is just an ordinary person. I caught a lot of them on the street, and I really can't remember who it is."

Pei Weixuan, who was helping to select the fungus, paused slightly.

This is the last bit of wild mushroom at home. Knowing that Yuniang likes to eat it, paid special attention to it when went up the mountain. went up the mountain twice and found so many in total.

There are many wild fungi in the southwest, but there are also many poisonous ones. He knows medicine and can distinguish them by himself.

However, there are almost no wild mushrooms in winter. This is because people in the southwest do not eat mushrooms, so the wild mushrooms in late autumn are preserved. They are covered by heavy snow and there are still some left, but it will be deep winter soon, so go If you want to find these wild mushrooms on the mountain, you will definitely not have them.

But when spring comes, the wild fungi on the mountain will gradually emerge again.

Hearing about this case, Pei Weixuan said calmly: "You can let Xu Kongmu check the people around the shopkeeper. The thief is related to the shopkeeper. You can interrogate shopkeeper Ma carefully."

Mrs. Wu was stunned, "Is it related to the shopkeeper? Shopkeeper Ma's family is simple, only wife and daughter. The thief is a man, but shopkeeper Ma has a nephew..."

She hesitated, and chatted with Mrs. Xu for a few more words before returning home with Xiaocui.

When the people left, Xu Qinyu said in surprise: "Fourth brother, how do you know that the thief is related to the treasurer of Jinyinzhai?"

Pei Weixuan said slowly, "The shopkeeper's reaction was wrong. The incident was too coincidental, and the possibility of an insider is relatively high, but I heard Mrs. Xia said that the shopkeeper is a good person, so I may have to have other secrets." He had never seen the shopkeeper of the jewelry store. Otherwise, some details of the case can be determined only from the expression.

Xu Qinyu didn't realize that it had something to do with the shopkeeper, but felt that the moment the shopkeeper turned off the lights, the thieves rushed in and snatched some of the most valuable jewelry, which was indeed a bit strange.

...

After Mrs. Wu and Xiaocui went back, they saw that Xia Yuanzhi was still playing with Brother Shao, and he was still up.

Mrs. Wu said with a smile: "I'm back, Miss Xu also gave some winter bamboo shoots that she pickled herself. She said that it would be delicious with a few drops of sesame oil. I'll eat it with porridge tomorrow."

Xia Yuanzhi nodded, still playing with Brother Shao, who made Brother Shao giggle.

Mrs. Wu hesitated, and said to him: "I sat at Mrs. Xu's house for a while, and I happened to tell her about the case of Jinyinzhai. Mrs. Xu's husband heard about it, and said that the thief was related to the shopkeeper Ma, sir. , do you think it really has something to do with shopkeeper Ma?"

Xia Yuanzhi thought about it carefully. He was actually quite familiar with the shopkeeper of the Jinyinzhai next door, but the shopkeeper Ma was a loyal man, and he had been the shopkeeper in the Jinyinzhai for more than ten years. He was indeed robbed before, but the thief was quickly caught. It has nothing to do with Shopkeeper Ma, and the accident happened a few years later, so don't think it has anything to do with Shopkeeper Ma.

Moreover, shopkeeper Ma has no son, only a daughter, and he has a nephew, but it is impossible to do such illegal things with his nephew, not to mention that shopkeeper Ma has a lot of money every month, why bother for two or three hundred taels The silver lost the solid workmanship.

Miss Xu's husband also said that it was related to the people around Shopkeeper Ma, but he didn't specifically say that it was Shopkeeper Ma's nephew, but they knew that Shopkeeper Ma had a nephew. The shopkeeper's nephew is somewhat similar.

He was not sure about paying attention, but he still decided to talk to Xu Kongmu tomorrow.

Early the next morning, Xia Yuanzhi went to the yamen, found Xu Kongmu, told him, and said that Miss Xu's husband had noticed it.

Xu Kongmu nodded, secretly asked someone to check the people around the shopkeeper.

Actually, found out something, the shopkeeper of the horse has a nephew who likes to gamble. He played a lot in the casino on the East Street a few days ago, and owed a large amount of gambling debts, which made the people in the casino He was beaten up, and he was restricted to pay back the gambling money in half a month. The gambling debt was almost two hundred taels of silver.

When Xu Kongmu found this, his eyes sank.

Immediately, officials were sent to arrest the shopkeeper Ma and his nephew for interrogation. When they went to arrest Ma Jinbao, the Ma family made a fuss, especially the old lady of the Ma family. Son, of course Xu Kongmu didn't pay attention to it, so he arrested the man and brought him to the Yamen, but Xu Kongmu didn't leave, and took the man to search Ma Jinbao's house and the house of shopkeeper Ma.

Shopkeeper Ma is Ma Jinbao's uncle, but the family has already been separated. Shopkeeper Ma did not live with the Ma family. When the family separated, Mrs. Ma was eccentric and did not leave the elder son's house for anything.

Later, shopkeeper Ma survived the hardest days and bought a house by himself. He also gave Mrs. Ma a tael of alimony every month, which was also subsidized by Mrs. Ma for her grandson.

Xu Kongmu stole the jewelry because he was thinking about it, and it is impossible for the thief to blatantly pawn it in the pawnshop in Yuanbao Town. It has been snowing heavily recently, and it is very difficult to go to other towns and Raozhou City. The jewelry must still be hidden.

They sent someone to search Ma Jinbao's house, and actually found those jewelry under his bed.

The stolen goods were also there, and when he returned to the yamen, Ma Jinbao recruited them all.

What he said was that after he owed a gambling debt, he was afraid and begged his uncle to help him, but the uncle couldn't give him two or three hundred taels of silver, so he resorted to such a trick of self-stealing, and said that the uncle persuaded him to steal more But when he pays off his gambling debts, the remaining two will be divided equally.

The shopkeeper Ma's rhetoric is another story.

With red eyes, he told Xu Kongmu that his nephew owed a lot of gambling debts, and he came to ask him for help, but he couldn't afford the money. His old mother made a fuss and asked him to sell the house to his nephew to pay back the money. He also has a wife and Girl, of course she didn't want to, and said that the family only saved about ten taels of silver, and she could only help with this, and gave the ten taels of silver to her nephew.

As a result, my nephew took the ten taels of silver and went to the casino again and lost everything.

Seeing that the day of repaying the gambling debts is getting closer, his nephew actually asked him to guard and steal from him, and said that he would snatch more jewelry from the shop, and after selling the gambling debts, he would share the rest equally. Of course he didn't want to. There was a fierce quarrel, but he didn't expect that two days later, just as he turned off the light, he was beaten with a sap in the back. By the moonlight outside, he vaguely felt that the man was his nephew Ma Jinbao, and then he was hit with a stick On the forehead, the thief snatched a few pieces of jewelry and ran away.

After the incident, he guessed that the culprit might be his nephew Ma Jinbao, but he was so scared that he dared not tell his boss and the people in the yamen.

He was afraid of being bitten back, afraid that others would think that he was in collusion with his nephew, and afraid that the boss would not want him.

After the shopkeeper Ma finished speaking, he burst into tears. He helped his nephew pay off his gambling debts many times. Unfilial, if the word filial is suppressed, what else can he do?

The old mother scolded him, just a girl, who wants to keep this money for.

He also said that his nephew is the root of the Ma family, and that someone will throw an auspicious basin for him after he dies.

All these years for this nephew, except for a place to live, he has not saved any other money. After all, he works as the shopkeeper of Jinyinzhai, and he has three taels of silver a month. he.

After Xu Kongmu listened to the two sides' words, he went to investigate near Ma's house. During the evening meal that day, Ma Jinbao did come to find Ma, and the two had a fierce quarrel, as the neighbors can testify.

Xu Kongmu went to interrogate Ma Jinbao again why he had a quarrel with his uncle when he came to the door that day, and whether he wanted to steal the jewelry from Jinyinzhai, but the treasurer Ma was unwilling.

Ma Jinbao faltered and couldn't answer, and the subsequent answer was even more inconsistent. Later, he was whipped twice, crying in pain, and confessed. It was the same as Ma Jinbao said, it was indeed Ma Jinbao He couldn't persuade his uncle to guard and steal from himself, so he took advantage of the night to attack his uncle and steal the jewelry from Jinyinzhai.

The truth of the case came to light and the jewelry was recovered.

Ma Jinbao, according to the laws of the Dasheng Dynasty, stealing more than ten taels of silver is a felony, and he will be punished with fifty boards. After that, he will be imprisoned for five years and can be redeemed, that is, he can use silver money to atone for his crime.

Like the fifty taels of silver, you can get rid of the ban with fifty taels of silver, but there are still five years in prison, and the prison is one hundred taels a year, so you have to redeem people with five hundred taels of silver, otherwise you will be honest. Put it in jail. The prison is very miserable, there are all kinds of snakes, insects, rats and ants, and many meals are rotten.

In the final analysis, shopkeeper Ma is considered not to report his knowledge, and he will suffer ten boards, and he can also be redeemed.

But for the sake of his nephew, shopkeeper Ma has not been able to save any money these years, and because of the fact that he always subsidizes money, his relationship with his wife and daughter is very stiff. After selling the house, where will the wife and daughter live?

Shopkeeper Ma thought that the top ten orders were settled, but unexpectedly, his wife and daughter came to the Yamen suddenly and gave him ten taels of silver to avoid this order.

I realized that although wife usually doesn't like him to help nephew, seeing him like this, there is nothing can do, so ask him for money and say it's for family use, but in fact, the extra money is secretly saved, which can be regarded as saved from his fingers .

Shopkeeper Ma was very guilty, hugged his wife and cried loudly, planning to give the old mother five hundred Wen every month in the future, and never give the rest.

Even if the old mother came to the Yamen to sue him, the alimony of 500 Wen per month would be the best.

Moreover, he didn't know that he didn't tell the boss and the yamen about the matter. The boss didn't know if he would continue to use him, and he was afraid he couldn't. He made such a big mistake, how could he have the face to continue working for the boss.

Afterwards, Ma Jinbao was punished with a cane. The old lady Ma, Ma Jinbao's parents, brothers and sisters all came, and the whole family surrounded the shopkeeper Ma asking him to pay the fifty taels of silver for his nephew to collect the ransom money. The shopkeeper Ma was so angry Very, naturally impossible, and he didn't have fifty taels of silver.

Mrs. Ma asked her eldest son to sell the house for money.

The horse shopkeeper became anxious, turned around and left.

The old lady Ma began to lie on the ground and howl. This trick worked best for her eldest son in the past.

Unexpectedly, the eldest son ignored her this time, turned around and left without a trace.

The old lady Ma who was lying on the ground was stunned, she got up and chased after her eldest son and continued to scold her, wanting him to pay for the money. The people who watched the case already knew what had happened, and when they saw this, they wanted to scold the old lady to death. But the old lady didn't take it seriously at all, and turned around to scold these people.

Before the old lady could catch up to shopkeeper Ma, the people in the yamen over there had already started to execute the sentence.

As soon as he went down the board, Ma Jinbao cried out, his face turned pale from his beating, the old lady panicked, ran over and shouted, "Don't, don't hit, don't hit my grandson, we have money to redeem him. "

After finishing speaking, he took out a bag of silver from his bosom, which contained fifty taels of silver. It was obvious that the family had this silver, and he insisted on asking his eldest son for it.

The surrounding people feel that this family is outrageous, and if they have money, they have to go to the eldest son, not to mention that they are separated, so they are only counted as relatives. Even if the shopkeeper Ma only has a daughter, he can't cheat others like this.

Ma Jinbao is only responsible for collecting ransom money, and five hundred taels of silver is required for five years in prison. This is really impossible to collect so much after killing everyone in the Ma family. The old lady cried and mourned, Knowing that even if the eldest son sold the house, he would not be able to make up the five hundred taels, so he cried even more sadly.

The yamen didn't care, and they couldn't get any money, so they dragged Ma Jinbao back to prison.

...

It was a few days after Xu Qinyu found out about this, it was Xia's sister-in-law who came to chat with her on purpose.

Although the town is quite big, there are usually some cases of theft and robbery, but the details of this case are quite novel, and it has spread throughout the town. Everyone thinks that shopkeeper Ma is pitiful and innocent. Of course, he is also at fault and should not hide it.

After hearing this, Xu Qinyu couldn't help asking, "Did the owner of Jinyinzhai finally fire Shopkeeper Ma?"

Mrs. Wu said with a smile: "No, the owner of Jinyinzhai is very nice. They say that shopkeeper Ma has worked in his family for more than ten years. He has never had a messy account, and he is also loyal. Although this theft is related to him, but He is also considered innocent, so I gave him another chance, and the treasurer Ma cried immediately, and said that he would do a good job in the future, and this kind of thing would never happen again."

After Mrs. Wu finished speaking, she told Xu Qinyu that the jewelry in the Jinyinzhai was quite beautiful, and the silk flowers were also very unique. When the weather gets warmer, they will go shopping together.

Xu Qinyu immediately said hello, and couldn't help touching her hair. She didn't have any jewelry, just a wooden hairpin. After earning money, she can go shopping. Who in the world doesn't like to be pretty? .

It is true that she has no extra money now, and all the money she earns has been invested. The big iron pot was brought back yesterday, and the firewood under the wooden shed was also moved to the other side by the fourth brother, and the big stove was also set up. can make more fish tomorrow, and can also make fish balls and fish head tofu stew.

Now that have half-know Xu Kongmu, Xu Qinyu has no plans to go to the East Street and West Street to sell evening food for the time being. It is much more convenient to set up a restaurant shop.

Pei Weixuan who heard the conversation between the two paused for a moment, lowering his eyes slightly.

Xu Qinyu thought about making more fish tomorrow, so she said to Wu, "Sister-in-law, I can make more fish tomorrow, and there are also fish balls and fish head tofu for sale. Fish balls are also cooked food, so go back and heat them up." You can eat it right away, or it tastes better when you cook it with some oil and stew it, and my sister-in-law can also tell the neighbors in the alley who want to buy fish to eat, that they can come and buy it."

Wu immediately said, "Miss Xu, don't worry, take care of me."