Zhu Nao

Grange.

A family closest to Tianzhuangkou happened to be renovating their yard today.Now is the slack season, and many people in the village who have nothing to do come to help the villagers, so a group of farmers gather together, chatting and building fences at a leisurely pace.

As soon as Wei Yue and the others entered the farm, they saw the lively scene in the yard and couldn't help but slow down.

People were all doing their own work, and they didn't notice Wei Yue and the others coming.It was Wang Zhongqi who had the sharpest eyes. He looked up after nailing the nails, and happened to see a few people in official uniforms. He hurriedly stopped his hands and patted the people around him: "Hey, those officials are here again!"

Seeing the "official messengers" one after another, the villagers hurriedly put down their work and greeted them.

The villagers asked in a hurry: "Brother Guancha, why are you here again today? What happened again?" "Brother Guancha, have you caught the gang of thieves you mentioned last time?"

Wei Yue looked annoyed, and sighed: "I didn't catch it! We came today because of that! The government received news the day before yesterday that some people said that they saw that group of people in the nearby mountains. We suspect that group of people Maybe I have been to your village before, and I will come to ask you again soon. How is it, has any of you seen that group of people?"

The villagers looked at each other in blank dismay.

"I haven't seen... how about you?"

"I do not have either."

"I haven't seen a stranger since autumn..."

Everyone asked each other, but still no one could tell the information.

Shi San is also here to help repair the yard at the moment.He had suffered a lot from bandits before, and although two years have passed since his peaceful life, the fear of bandits in his heart has not been eliminated.So he panicked when he heard Wei Yue's words, and asked again and again in horror: "Brother Guancha, did those thieves really appear nearby? Did the person who reported the case say where he saw them? They won't come to our village." Are you robbing here?"

Wei Yue observed everyone's reaction, shook his head and said: "We don't know what the gang of thieves are planning. Isn't this being investigated, hoping to catch them quickly? So you have to cooperate with the investigation. If we ask, you But you have to answer us truthfully."

The villagers hurriedly said: "We all cooperate. Brother Guancha, you have to catch them quickly!"

Zhuang Min's reactions were all true and sincere, and they did not doubt the identities of Wei Yue and the others as official servants.This is because although Jing Zhe came here to wait and see, he did not reveal to the villagers the real purpose of his coming.

When Jingzhe came a few days ago, he only said that this farm had beautiful mountains and rivers, and the air was fresh, which was very suitable for physical and mental cultivation, so Zhu Nao asked him to bring the youngsters to practice kung fu.This farm originally belonged to Zhu Nao, and Zhu Nao could use it however he wanted, and the villagers naturally believed this statement.

The reason why Jing Zhe didn't tell the truth was because she was worried that the villagers' mouths were not strict.Any secret in the village is like growing legs or even wings. As long as one family knows it, all the people in ten villages and nine counties will know it soon;In case the thieves come to the door again, the ordinary people's expressions are different, it is easy for the thieves to spot it, and it is easy to scare the snake, and let the thieves run away before they are ready to catch them.

Facts have proved that Cheng Jingzhe's thinking is right.When Wei Yue came this time, he was cautious and probing, but seeing the reactions of the common people, he felt relieved.

After chatting with everyone for a while, Wei Yue and the others went to the village in the name of investigating the case, and were about to start "investigating" from house to house.

……

Jing Zhe and a few teenagers hid behind the barn, and saw Wei Yue and the others from afar.

The teenagers were a little nervous, some kept swallowing their saliva, and some touched their hidden weapons from time to time.This was the first time they were so close to the enemy, and it was impossible not to get nervous.

Jing Zhe said to a petite girl: "Xiao Ba, you go over and ask each of them their names, and try to get some news."

The girl known as Xiaoba nodded, took deep breaths, and repeatedly wiped the sweat from her palms on the seam of her trousers.She hesitated for a while, and finally mustered up the courage to come out from behind the barn, and quickly chased Wei Yue and the others.

When Jing Zhe came out this time, most of them were agile and older teenagers, but she brought a young girl as an exception, Xiao Ba.Xiaoba is only 12 years old. Because he ate less in the past, he is smaller than his peers. He looks less than ten years old.She was also the child Zhu Nao took back from the bandits and refugees back then, she read and read with the boys, and listened to Jing Zhe's words very much.

Xiao Ba chased after Wei Yue and the others. When Wei Yue and the others heard footsteps behind them, they turned their heads vigilantly, only to realize that it was a little girl.

Xiao Ba took out a bag of sesame cakes from his arms, and said softly, "Brother Guancha, this is just made by my mother. Mother asked me to give it to you. You have worked hard on the case."

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and Boss Zhao was overjoyed immediately, and took the lead to reach out to take the cake: "Oh, thank you very much, it smells really delicious..."

Facing such a young boy, Boss Zhao didn't have the slightest suspicion.You must know that the villagers in this village have a very good impression of the officials. This is something they discovered when they came back last time.It is not uncommon for ordinary people to send some food, and it is really not worthy of doubt.

However, before Boss Zhao's hand touched the cake, Wei Yue grabbed his arm: "I can't take it!"

Boss Zhao was taken aback for a moment, and Xiao Ba was also taken aback, and immediately held his breath.

Wei Yue glared at Boss Zhao, then turned to Xiao Ba, bent down and said with a pleasant face: "Girl, Zhuzhou Mu has given instructions that we as tolerance people must never take the grass and trees of ordinary people. Thank you and your mother for your kindness, we appreciate it." but we cannot receive your bread."

Boss Zhao laughed a few times when he heard the words, retracted his hand, and touched his nose: "Yes, yes, we can't take it."

Xiao Bayi failed as soon as he came up, and he was at a loss for a while.

The boy hiding behind the barn couldn't hear their conversation, only saw a few people moving, and seeing that those people didn't pick up Xiao Ba's food, they also became restless.Some people were worried that Xiao Ba had been suspected, and couldn't help but wanted to rush over, but Jing Zhe pressed him down, signaling them to be safe and calm.

In fact, it's not that Wei Yue's piercing eyes have already seen that this girl has another purpose.Long before he came out, he had told Tao Bai and the Zhao family brothers the rules, when they came out to inquire about news, they should not take anything from others, especially not to take food.The purpose is to avoid causing trouble, or being a trap.Boss Zhao just saw that Xiao Ba is a cute and smart girl, so he forgot about the rules, so Wei Yue gave him a hard look.

The cake was not sent out, so Xiaoba withdrew his hand embarrassingly.She was also clever, seeing that the other people seemed to be willing to listen to what Wei Yue had to say, she knew that Wei Yue was the leader of the group.So she stared at Wei Yue, put on an innocent expression and asked, "Big brother, you look so handsome. What's your name?"

Boss Zhao was amused when he heard the words, he elbowed Wei Yue, and teased, "Brother, the little girl praised you for being handsome."

Wei Yue smiled lightly and said, "Me? My surname is Wang, and my single name is an earthen character."

Xiao Ba was a little disappointed when he heard the name.She turned to Boss Zhao and asked, "Brother, what about you?"

Boss Zhao hurriedly said: "My name is Liu Yi." Then he pointed to Zhao Lao Er, "This is my younger brother, and his name is Liu Er."

Undoubtedly, these people used all pseudonyms.This was not something they came up with to fool Xiao Ba on the spur of the moment, it was also Wei Yue's orders before they came out.When they are active outside, they have to change their identities, names, and attire every time, so as not to reveal low-level flaws.Boss Zhao is not going to forget about this point.

Still not giving up, Xiao Ba turned to Tao Bai and asked, "Then what about this big brother? What's his name?"

Tao Bai also replied, "My name is June." He was born in June, so he gave himself this pseudonym.

After asking all four people's names, and none named Wei Yue, Xiao Ba couldn't help but frowned slightly.In fact, if she was older and the city was more advanced, then she should change the subject, chatting casually while pretending to be nonchalant.Jing Zhe asked her to start with delivering cakes, hoping that her routine would be more natural.But after all, she was young, and she didn't ask what she wanted, so she was a little anxious, and continued to ask a little abruptly.

"Brother Wang," she looked at Wei Yue anxiously, "Are you their boss?"

"Boss?" Wei Yue raised an eyebrow, "Do you think I'm the oldest and biggest among them?"

"No, no," Xiao Ba hurriedly said, "Boss, they all listen to you."

Wei Yue squinted her eyes and stared at Xiao Ba.Xiao Ba felt guilty when he saw him, so he heard him say: "You are a girl at a young age, what does the boss care about?"

Xiaobadao: "I... I play with the children in the village, and we are the smartest people to be the boss. I like smart people the most, and I think you are the smartest..."

Boss Zhao and Second Zhao both thought the little girl was so funny, so they couldn't help laughing.Wei Yue, on the other hand, had a half-smile, stared at Xiao Ba for a while, and said, "Where is the smartest person in this world? I may be smarter than them, but there are many people who are smarter than me. You You think I'm their boss, how do you know that I don't have another boss in the government?"

Xiao Ba was stunned by his words, still not sure if he was Wei Yue, and was racking his brains to make some more words, but Wei Yue didn't let her ask any more, and started to fight back.

Wei Yue said: "Little girl, what's your name?"

"...Xiao Ba."

"Which family in the village are you a child?"

Xiao Ba was slightly taken aback.He replied calmly, "I am a child of the Zhang family in the west."

Wei Yue asked again: "My father's surname is Gao? This year is Gui Geng? How many people are in the family? Who are the relatives?"

Now Xiao Ba was completely stunned.Neither she nor Jing Zhe expected that Wei Yue would turn against the general, so she hadn't prepared for these things in advance.

If it were an ordinary girl, she would have shown her timidity at this moment. Fortunately, Xiaoba is quite clever. After only being stunned for a moment, she answered in a hurry: "My father's name is Zhang... Zhang Yuanchou, and my mother is Liu's. They are both 35 this year." ..." She casually mentioned a family in the village, and if she only had to talk to that family in a while, she could be fooled.It's just that it happened suddenly, and she inevitably stuttered when she said it.

After that, she naturally couldn't answer the relatives in the family, so she could only open a pair of innocent eyes and say: "Brother, why do you ask me about family affairs? My mother said that I should not tell the family affairs to others." Outsiders listen."

Wei Yue said with a smile: "I'm working in the government, how can I be considered an outsider? You don't tell me about your family's situation, I'll ask your mother, and your mother has to tell me. Don't you think so?"

Xiaoba: "..."

The atmosphere suddenly froze.

In the end, Boss Zhao couldn't bear to see the little girl's pitiful appearance, so he stood up for her and said, "Brother, forget it. You see, you are so confused about the little girl!"

Only then did Wei Yue look back, and said lightly: "I think she is cute, just tease her."

Xiao Ba broke into a cold sweat.After talking for a long time, she didn't bring out any important news, but was almost exposed by Wei Yue.She no longer dared to ask any more questions.Seeing that it was late, Wei Yue didn't intend to get entangled with a little girl anymore, so she greeted the Zhao family brothers and Tao Bai, "Let's go."

As soon as Wei Yue and the others left, Xiao Ba quickly turned around and ran back to the barn to find Jing Zhe.

……

After Xiao Ba returned to the barn, the teenagers hurriedly stepped forward and surrounded her, chattering all over the place: "How about it, did you find out who Wei Yue is?" "What did you say for so long?" "Little Eight, why is your face so ugly, did they make things difficult for you?"

Xiao Ba wanted to cry, but shook his head and said: "They are too cunning, I didn't ask anything, but they chased me to ask about the situation at home, and I almost failed to answer."

She repeated the names of the people she asked just now and the entire conversation to the boys.The teenagers all looked at each other after hearing this.

They got the news of the thief, and they successfully met the thief today. They were all proud of themselves, thinking that the arrest of Wei Yue was a sure thing.Unexpectedly, things were not as easy as they thought, and the gang of thieves were not as stupid as they thought.

Pei Ziqi said anxiously: "He asked you so many questions back. Did he see through you? Could he already know our plan? No, we have to arrest people quickly, or if they run away, we will not be able to come back later." It would be difficult to have such an opportunity!" While speaking, he wanted to chase in the direction Wei Yue and the others left.

However, before he could take two steps, he was grabbed by Cheng Jingzhe.

"Ziqi, don't act rashly!" Jingzhe said, "If Wei Yue isn't among the four of them, if we arrest him now, it will be like scaring the snake!"

They didn't know much about Wei Yue, they only knew that those fake officials should all belong to Wei Yue's group.But whether Wei Yue was among the four, or which one of the four, they couldn't be sure at all.The order Cheng Jingzhe received was to catch Wei Yue. Of course, it would be best if he could catch all the thieves, but no matter which one he let go, he couldn't let Wei Yue go.So he dared not take risks.

A young man said: "Didn't Xiaoba say that there is a person named June among them? This person's name is very similar to Wei Yue. Could he be Wei Yue?"

Someone immediately retorted: "No way? I think that Wang Tu is more likely to be Wei Yue. It seems that he is the one who takes the lead."

Another person said: "Those people are so cunning, maybe Wei Yue deliberately hid behind them? I think that Liu Yi is more like Wei Yue. That person is so glib, I think Wei Yue should be that kind of person."

"How come? If they can pretend, I think the one who talks the least is like Wei Yue!"

The teenagers had different opinions, they were at a loss for what to say, they had everything they wanted to say, and they immediately quarreled.

Jing Zhe was overwhelmed by their quarrel, and hurriedly raised his hand to stop everyone: "It's alright, alright, stop arguing!"

Just as the teenagers became quieter, Pei Ziqi said again: "I still think that no matter what, we should arrest them first! Even if Wei Yue didn't come today, these people must know Wei Yue's whereabouts. Let's take them back and interrogate them , can't you force them to explain Wei Yue's whereabouts?"

Jing Zhe still insisted: "No. What if they refuse to tell the truth? What if Wei Yue knew that his accomplice had been arrested and ran away early? We have been busy for so many days just to catch Wei Yue, this matter must not be risky For it!"

Pei Ziqi said anxiously: "But they have already started to be vigilant, if they don't arrest people, it will be too late to let them escape!"

Jing Zhe said: "They may not have discovered the clue. Anyway, let's observe for a while. If we can confirm who Wei Yue is, we will act immediately."

Pei Ziqi said: "What if you can't?"

Jing Zhe thought for a while, and said: "Then follow them back later and find out where they are staying. If not, find out their plan, and when they commit crimes next time, we will catch them all! In short, we have to Hold your breath first."

If there are a group of adults present at this time, they may agree that the method of Jingzhe is the safest method.But young people are inevitably a little impetuous and eager for success.Now that they have finally seen the shadow of the culprit, but they can't catch them, they can't move, they are somewhat reluctant and anxious.

But after all, Jing Zhe is their leader, and they should listen to Jing Zhe.So the teenagers swallowed what they wanted to say, and only did what Jing Zhe said.

……

On the other side, after separating from Xiaoba, Wei Yue and others also talked about the talented girl.

In fact, Wei Yue didn't have such piercing eyes, she could see through the ulterior motives of a weak-looking girl with just a few questions.He just felt that the girl was a bit weird, and because he was cautious by nature, he didn't intend to reveal too much information to outsiders. No matter whether it was a little girl or an old man who was questioning just now, he would not let his guard down because of this.

He was just on guard, but Tao Bai was terrified, and said anxiously: "Brother Wei, are we already under suspicion? Does that girl know something? Or let's go back and don't go to this farm. Let's start..."

Boss Zhao said contemptuously: "What's the matter with you? A little girl scared you out of your wits? She just asked our names, are you afraid that she will eat us?"

Tao Bai said anxiously: "What if that girl is sent by someone else to trick us? Maybe the villagers here already know our identities!"

Boss Zhao disdainfully said: "If they know, why don't they expose us on the spot? Do you still want to catch a turtle? Are the people here so smart? Come on Tao Bai, I think you are guilty of a thief. Others are not doing well, you are afraid It's over."

Tao Bai: "..."

He said speechlessly: "You are also a thief, why don't you feel guilty?"

Boss Zhao proudly said: "Isn't Brother Wei here? Why should I feel guilty?"

Zhao Lao Er followed suit and nodded: "That's right, that's right."

Wei Yue was dumbfounded by the endless flattery of these two brothers.He shook his head and said, "I see that the farmer's reaction just now doesn't seem like he has seen through our identities. But this farm is indeed a bit strange today... You can notice that during this journey, we have already found several of us. The child you haven't seen since you came back?"

When he said this, the three of them thought about it and found that it was indeed the case.They walked all the way, from Zhuangkou to Zhuangli. Counting the little girl who came to ask questions just now, there were indeed several face-to-face children.The last time they walked from house to house, it would be a bit weird if they said that there was one face-to-face that they couldn't remember clearly, but there were several face-to-face faces.It's just that the Zhao brothers didn't put children in their eyes, so they didn't care.

Tao Bai became frightened again: "This, this, these children, could those children be sent by the Langzhou government to arrest us?"

Before Wei Yue could speak, Boss Zhao dismissed him with disdain: "Are you sick? Have you ever seen the government send a group of children out to do something? How could this kind of thing be done by the government? Only us are shameless. People who can do it, okay?"

Tao Bai: "..." Is there anyone who puts a pot of shit on his head like this...

Wei Yue got a headache from their quarrel, and waved his hands: "Okay, shut up. In short, it is necessary to be vigilant, and there is no need to worry too much. We will still act according to the original plan. If something goes wrong, we will retreat immediately."

Only then did the three of them shut up resentfully, and followed Wei Yue towards his house.