The strange story of Huai'an Inn

Early the next morning, Chong Liu took the copper basin and knocked on the door of the envoy sent by the National Teacher, took the drawn contract and received a heavy bag of commission.After the envoy of the national teacher left, Chongliu gave the money to Master Liao for safekeeping, took a few silver dollars from the bag, and sent them to the county government jail together with the money they had prepared before.

He was registering the bond with the jailer at the door, when he suddenly heard the wooden door leading to the inside of the prison being pushed open, all the guards knelt down one after another, even the jailer who was writing hurriedly dropped his pen and knelt down.

As soon as Chong Liu turned his head, he saw Xu Hanke wearing a red official uniform, but not wearing a cape, standing at the door of the cell and looking at him quietly.

Chong Liu hurriedly knelt down like the other jailers, lowered his eyebrows and looked pleasing to the eye, looking like a timid little citizen.

In the lowered view, Xu Hanke's official boots suddenly invaded.Chong Liu felt a pair of hands supporting his elbow, and he followed the trend.

Xu Hanke smiled at him, his expression was rather smooth and gentle, "Come to see your shopkeeper?"

Chong Liu compensated with a smile, "Yes, yes. My lord, is our shopkeeper okay?"

"In prison, you will never be as comfortable as in your own home. But brother, seeing that you are so clever, and because you saved my life, I have to advise you. Your boss is involved in this kind of crime. Things... You have to plan for yourself earlier. If you accidentally get involved, who knows what will happen?"

On the surface, he was persuading Chong Liu to find other jobs, but secretly there might be other intentions, such as using a little bit of intimidation hidden in kindness to force him to act as a secret line or something.

Otherwise, what is he, an official, saying so much to himself, a small auditorium?

It seems that Xu Hanke has not given up...

Chong Liuqian replied gratefully, "The little one will remember the teachings of the elder."

"What old man, you make me look like an old man." Xu Hanke's eyes fell on the bail money brought by Chong Liu, and he clicked his tongue twice, "Although your inn is small, you have a lot of savings. No one has taken the opportunity to take advantage of the owner's arrest. Running away with money, it seems that your boss does have some skills."

Chong Liu smiled wryly, "This is going to ruin the family, so don't bury us anymore."

"It's his good fortune that your shopkeeper has such a loyal buddy like you." Xu Hanke said, the mask on his face became thin for a moment, revealing a trace of bewilderment.He sighed and left.

The guarantor's documents were all signed, and Chong Liu rubbed his hands nervously waiting for the jailer to pick up the shopkeeper.I don't know why, but the little heart beats a little faster.

The cell door opened, and Chong Liu saw the shopkeeper walking behind the jailer at a glance.

The shopkeeper was still wearing the concubine-colored crane cloak when he was taken away, and his black hair was pulled up into a random bun, but his complexion was still rosy, and when he saw him, his bright eyes stretched like a willow in the spring breeze. smile.

Chong Liu couldn't help but burst into a smile, feeling that he might be laughing a little silly, but he didn't care about that much.

"Master!"

The jailer seemed to have a lot of respect for the shopkeeper, probably Xu Zhixian's soldiers.He stepped aside and didn't say anything more.The shopkeeper walked up to Chong Liu, tilted his head slightly and gave him a big hug, "You didn't sleep well last night, did you? Your eye circles are dark."

Chong Liu thought that it was not your broken room that made the noise...

After last night, he had a strange dream all night, sweating profusely to the end of his clothes.In the end it was Zhu Yi who woke him up from the nightmare.

The problem is, he can't remember what he dreamed about.

"Boss, you've figured it out..." Chong Liu thought about how he had been thinking about it for the past few days. He also had to worry about contacting the secret line in Gyeonggi, and also caring about the business in the inn and the dental business... he couldn't even sleep. Being down-to-earth, I felt a little wronged by Bala.

Why does the shopkeeper seem to be well fed and drunk...

The shopkeeper chuckled a few times, then suddenly stretched out his hand, gently shook his arm, and said briskly, "Let's go, let's go back."

that's it?

Isn't there something like a master-servant staring at the dialogue?Don't you want a longing hug?

How is this different from what is written in the playbook...

Chong Liu was a little bit disappointed.

On the way back, the shopkeeper asked Chong Liu in detail what happened in the inn during his absence.Chongliu reported the facts one by one, including the accident when he took the fan, and what he saw when he took the copper basin last night.

When the shopkeeper heard that the sachet was rotten, he paused slightly.He looked a little surprised.

"So, when you saw the face of the fan, the purse was broken." The shopkeeper mused, frowning, and he seemed to be preoccupied.

Even the shopkeeper in the court has never shown such an expression...

On the way back, Chongliu went to Shuifangzhai again, planning to spend his own money to buy some snacks to celebrate tonight.Unexpectedly, the shopkeeper held down his hand and took out the money bag by himself.While paying, he suddenly looked at the small bowls of fruit paste on the counter, and then reached out and ordered two servings of lychee paste.

Chong Liu was looking at those creamy and colorful fruit pastes packed in small hollowed out egg shells, when he suddenly saw a small bowl of dark purple lychee paste being held up in front of him.

The shopkeeper stuffed the lychee cream into Chong Liu's hand, and stuffed a small piece of wood into his other hand, "It's hot, eat some lychee cream to reduce the fire."

Chong Liu was stunned for a while, then dug a little bit of the translucent fruit paste into his mouth with a wooden chip.The cool and smooth sweet fragrance spreads quickly on the tip of the tongue and spreads all the way to the chest cavity.

"good to eat!"

The shopkeeper still had a few snacks wrapped in paper, eating lychee cream like Chong Liu, and Zi Chong Liu smacked his mouth with a happy look, and his eyes were a little more gentle.

The Huai'an Inn that night was like celebrating the new year.A large group of people swarmed up and surrounded the shopkeeper, Xiao Shun even wiped his tears there, Fuzi jumped up and down like Jiulang monkey.The inn closed early, and Master Liao had already prepared a large table of dishes, such as steamed chicken in wine, mutton soup, stewed five-flavored mushrooms, fried crispy meat... It seemed that meat dishes were free of charge.The wine even went to the two big altars, all of which were old daughter reds privately kept by Master Liao, the kind that would fill the entire hall with the aroma of the wine once the mud seal was opened.

During the banquet, everyone asked the shopkeeper if he was bullied in the prison, and at one moment they scolded Xu Hanke for being ungrateful, and at another moment they worried whether the officers and soldiers would come back... The topic became more and more lively.

The guests in the two rooms in the middle asked for hot water, and Chong Liu volunteered to go to work.After tossing and tossing, the moment he stepped into the lobby, he suddenly stopped.

At this time, the two square wooden tables that were put together were already messed up, Zhu Yi and Fuzi were ordering wine loudly, Jiu Lang was booing beside him, Master Liao went somewhere, and Xiao Shun was lying on the table, probably drunk too much up.

But besides them, Chong Liu also saw a shadow standing quietly behind Xiao Shun.

A slender shadow that is too high, almost touching the beams of the house.There are some human features, the outline of shoulders, arms and legs can be seen.The problem is... everything is a little too stretched and twisted, as if it has been run over by the wheels countless times.And, only the outlines...

what is that?

Chong Liu blinked vigorously, only to find that the shadow was gone.

A title that Xiao Shun sometimes mentioned suddenly entered Chongliu's mind.

Tall sister.

Could it be..." Liu'er~~~" Chong Liu suddenly came back to his senses, only to see the shopkeeper standing up and walking towards him.

"Employee?"

The shopkeeper patted his back lightly, "Follow me."

Chong Liu then followed the shopkeeper through the atrium and backyard, and entered the shopkeeper's already deserted small courtyard.When the officers and soldiers left, the house was turned into a mess, but Chong Liu had already cleaned it up with the other four helpers.Today, the house that was originally full seems empty.

Chong Liu was almost unaccustomed to it.

The shopkeeper sat down on the bench, took off his shoes and put his knees on, and pointed to the opposite side of the small table.

Chong Liu sat down on the edge of the collapse a little bit awkwardly.

The shopkeeper opened his hand to him, "Give me your hand."

"Ah?" Chong Liu was taken aback for a moment, then asked again, "Which hand?"

"Give me both."

Chong Liu pursed his dry lips, and put his hand into the shopkeeper's.

The shopkeeper carefully looked at his hands, especially his nails, and gently pinched his fingertips.For some reason, Chong Liu felt a little hot on his face and a little distracted.

Being held by someone, looking at it so carefully, somehow makes people feel...intimate.

"You said, sometimes you feel itchy under your nails?" the shopkeeper asked.

Chong Liu nodded, "But there is nothing strange growing. Maybe...no big deal?"

The shopkeeper's expression was hard to read, and after a while, he let go of Chong Liu's hand, "I'm going to prepare a new pouch for you, but it takes a few days to make that pouch. During this period, try to avoid the foul smell as much as possible. Don't go to the room in the north building for now."

"Oh..." Chong Liu thought for a while, and hurriedly put the key that he had taken off his neck on the table, "Master, return this to you?"

"No, just keep it."

"what?"

"Take it as me, thank you for getting me out." The shopkeeper raised his eyelids, and his dark eyes met Chongliu's gaze, "I know that room to you is probably like a pirate discovering a treasure. Is it the same?"

"Nothing!"

"You don't have to be polite. After a while, the purse is ready, and you can go in with me. I'm afraid there are enough things in it for you to record several books."

Chong Liu was startled, with a moment of hesitation on his face, not sure whether he should pretend to be confused and dull at this moment, or really show that he was caught off guard.

The shopkeeper smiled, folded his hands, and sat up straight, "Don't worry, I didn't peek at the notes you hid. I just know that all the people in Baixiaomen have such booklets. You travel all over the world. Search and record the knowledge of the world everywhere, no matter trivial or important, you all record it equally. And for you, digging and controlling those unknown secrets is the greatest treasure and the most supreme power."

When the word Baixiaomen came out of the shopkeeper's mouth, Chongliu understood that denying it was probably just embarrassing himself.

It's not surprising, he didn't disguise himself very thoroughly, and it was only a matter of time before the shopkeeper guessed his origin.

"When... did you know?" Chong Liu asked.

"It was just speculation and suspicion. I even suspected that you were sent by the emperor." The shopkeeper raised the corners of his mouth, and his smile was a little sly in the candlelight, "But what really made me sure was this time, you rescued me .”