Relief

At a street food stall in Yi County, Xie Zhixu was munching on a chicken offal bun.

It is said that it is a specialty of this place. After passing this village, there is no such shop. It is said to be the only one in the sky and on earth. He ate a drawer, but the smell of chicken offal was not tasted.

It's nothing. These days, people in suburban counties especially have no quality of life.

Xie Zhixu was biting the bun-like steamed bun, while listening with relish to the puppet show by the charlatan next to the stall.

The audience were all children from the neighborhood, at an age with snot in their noses, so they just watched the fun.

The entertainer picked the most lively drama recently to talk about.

There are two hanging silk puppets on the stage, one with a yellow robe and a high hat, and the other with a red dress and a white face.The one in the yellow robe sat tall in the bright hall, and the one with the white face was controlled by the artist to walk up to the stage.

The artist said: "The Holy Majesty was about to announce the general's audience, and saw the Prime Minister Wang take three steps forward, and said: "I have heard about it for a long time. Li Tongzhi of the Hebei Marshal's Mansion is superb in martial arts and has few opponents. Today, General Li returns to Beijing to face the saint." , The opportunity is rare, why not ask the general and the guards to present a hand-to-hand fight show for the Holy Majesty, so as to show the demeanor of the generals of our dynasty.', The Holy Majesty said: 'It is good', and General Xuan Li and the five soldiers entered the palace."

The child sniffed his nose and asked, "What is goodness?"

The entertainer removed the yellow-robed and white-faced puppets, and replaced them with six puppets in military armor, saying: "Shanzai means that what the prime minister says is good, what the prime minister says is wonderful, and everything the prime minister says is everything."

Of the six armored puppets, the larger one with a black face was General Li, and the remaining five surrounded him, forming an offensive formation.

Performing ventriloquist, the entertainer manipulated five puppet soldiers to attack General Li.

"I only heard a clatter of swords and swords, and the clatter of armor--"

General Li swept away the siege with a horizontal fist, and raised his military fist.

"The little soldiers rushed forward, you pulled your hands and I pulled your feet, and you pulled General Li up, it was like five horses ripped apart—"

The puppets were all alive, lifted the black-faced general, and fell back like a tug-of-war.

The performance on the stage was lively, and the children clapped their hands: "Okay, okay, let's fight!"

The artist glanced at the audience full of children, sighed, and the hands that pulled the silk became more flexible and changeable.

Xie Zhixu finished eating the buns, wiped his hands, and was about to pay the bill when a man and a woman came by the side of the road making noise.

I don't know what the content of the quarrel is, and the movements become more and more intense, and the woman is about to bump into Xie Zhixu's dining table.Xie Zhixu stretched out his hand to help the woman.

The woman stood her ground, she didn't have time to thank her, and continued to argue with the man.

Now I can hear the content clearly, it's probably because the family is struggling, but the woman spends money lavishly.

The man pushed the woman, and then pushed the woman to thank him.

Fortunately, all the food on the table was finished.

"Excuse me," Xie Zhixu supported the woman's elbow, and persuaded the two people, "Please change the place to quarrel."

"I want you to mind your own business!" The man's face changed, his eyes widened, and he pulled the woman away quickly.

"Excuse me," Xie Zhixu turned his head and said to the guests at the next table, "please take your hands out of my purse."

The guest at the next table had been eating that drawer of steamed buns since before Xie Zhixu took his seat, and those who came after Xie Zhixu had to leave before finishing eating.As soon as the two quarreling people got to the table, he reached into Xie Zhixu's money bag.

Unexpectedly, although Xie Zhixu was facing the street, the back of his head seemed to have eyes, and one hand quickly wrapped around the wrist of the guest, like iron clamps, making him unable to move.

The guest was caught, his face was flushed, and he couldn't make out a word.Xie Zhixu let go of his hand and let him run away with his tail between his legs.

The steamed stuffed bun stall owner was steaming a new drawer of steamed buns. He took Xie Zhixu's meal money and said in admiration, "Young man, you are very vigilant. This group of people are habitual thieves in our county, and they only pick out travelers like you." , Try it out. You still have to be careful when walking outside."

Xie Zhixu smiled at the steamed stuffed bun stall owner, his eyes were crooked when he smiled, and he looked very innocent.He didn't intend to expose the fact that the stall owner winked at the men and women who had been watching for a long time across the street after he took his seat.

Passing by the puppet show, the lively five-soldier hand-to-hand combat show had already been performed, and it was the turn of the white-faced Prime Minister Wang to speak Wen Zou Zou, sour, and children could not understand many official Chinese that adults might not understand.

The audience is very dissatisfied.

"It depends on the fight!"

"Change another story!"

The entertainer humbly asked for advice: "What stories do the judges want to hear?"

"I want to hear the story of the cook who fired himself!"

"I want to hear the story of the newlyweds whose joy turns into sorrow!"

"There is also the story of the coachman who drove the horse and was trampled to death by the horse!"

Xie Zhixu stopped.

The puppeteer had a bitter face: "There has never been such a story in the play, where did the little judges hear it?"

The child said: "You haven't even heard of this, and you still claim to be the king of stories about walking the rivers and lakes! Shame! My mother talks about these things every day, and the third aunt and Aunt Mei next door also talk about them." , as long as adults get together, they will tell these stories!"

"But they won't let us listen!"

"Yes! So we want to listen to you!"

The puppeteer's eyebrows were tangled, and he was very embarrassed.

Xie Zhixu stepped forward, squatted down, and squeezed into the crowd of children, trying his best to look like a gentle and amiable big brother.

Xie Zhixu asked: "Little friend, you have heard so many stories, did you know that there is a new story about the living dead recently?"

The children looked at each other with no information on their faces.

Xie Zhixu reminded: "A dead person who clearly hasn't even passed the first seven, but the body seems to have been dead for decades."

As soon as he said this, Xie Zhixu regretted it, because he saw the fearful expressions of the children, and they all took a step back from him, as if he was the living dead.

Children are not completely ignorant and fearless.

The puppeteer said: "Brother, how can you tell ghost stories to children like this."

Xie Zhixu stood up and said sincerely: "It's not a ghost story, I came to Yi County to investigate this matter."

The puppet artist nodded: "I see, then you should go to the yamen to inquire about it. Although I have traveled all over the world, I don't know as much about this kind of street talk as a child. Moreover," he gestured towards the child who shrank away from Xie Zhixu Nuzui: "I don't think they are clear."

That's right, Xie Zhixu bowed his hands and said goodbye, and got directions to the Yamen.

Afternoon is the time when you are most likely to get tired, and the two gatekeepers dozed off with their backs against the pillars holding water and fire sticks.

Xie Zhixu hesitated for a while, then walked up the steps, and said in a voice that was loud enough to wake up the servants but not too abrupt: "Excuse me..."

The left yamen servant shook his head, woke up with a start, and beat the water and fire stick to the ground: "Who is it!"

The right yamen servant also gave a shock.

Xie Zhixu quickly said: "Good afternoon, two elder brothers. The younger brother came from a neighboring county to assist in the detection of the civil case in your county. I would like to ask the two elder brothers to inform you on your behalf."

"Neighboring county? I haven't heard of anyone coming recently." The left yamen servant said.

"Handling the case? That's the job of the supervisor, and it's not under our county government's management. You've gone to the wrong place." The right government official said.

"But," Xie Zhixu wondered, "the younger brother just came from the supervisor's office, and they also said they don't care about civil cases. Then, which department will manage this murder case?"

The left yamen servant told him to look him up and down: "Aren't you a public servant? You don't even know this?"

Xie Zhixu also had a headache, and said: "I know, I know, but the situation in each county is very different. Some counties set up Zhouyuan Prison in the Supervisor's Office, and some counties set up County Prison in the county government. The county doesn’t even have prisons at all, and all cases will be handed over to the Criminal Division. I really can’t guess what kind of style your county is..."

The left and right yamen servants were dizzy with him, and gradually became impatient. It seemed that although they questioned Xie Zhixu, they actually didn't know about the affairs of the government.

The left yamen servant simply said: "There is an official document to report, but if there is no official document, leave."

Not really.

Although Xie Zhixu came from a neighboring county to support Yi County in solving the case, he was not a public official. He only had a handwritten recommendation letter from the magistrate of the neighboring county without an official seal.

Naturally, the two gatekeepers could not recognize the handwriting of the magistrate of the next county.

Xie Zhixu went around the county government's back wall with a useless letter of recommendation.

I think he climbed over the courtyard wall of the neighboring county government in the same way at the beginning, and finally helped solve the murder case of the county magistrate who was helpless with his bald hair and almost alerted the criminal justice.

Although he received a letter of recommendation written by the county magistrate with great gratitude and affection, it seemed that his efforts were in vain. He still had to resume his old career of climbing walls.

The county government office in Yi County is probably a little richer than the one next door. Although the taxation is severe now and everyone is a Qingshui government office, Xie Zhixu found out after placing five stones under the base of the wall that the courtyard wall of the county government office in Yi County is much higher. cut.

What to do about this.He looked up at the edge of the wall and worried, there were no more stones of suitable shape, or where would he go to move a table?That goal is too obvious.

While I was worrying, I suddenly felt a dark cloud floating above my head, and a black shadow fell down.

Xie Zhixu looked up - the dark clouds were getting closer and closer, as if there was a thunderstorm overwhelming the city, and the wind was blowing on the ground.

Even though he had seen it many times, Xie Zhixu was still surprised, he took a step back, and let this huge "dark cloud" land on him surrounded by vortex air.

It turned out to be a giant man three or four times bigger than ordinary people.

Shirtless, with gnarled muscles and bearded face, Xie Zhixu had to fold his neck against the back of his neck to see the two bright eyes hidden in the beard of the giant man.

"Fourth senior brother," Xie Zhixu said to the two lights, "How are you?"

The giant man remained motionless.

Another young man who was sitting on the shoulders of the giant jumped down, wearing a white robe and holding a bamboo stick in his hand.

"Junior brother, long time no see." The young man patted Xie Zhixu's shoulders vigorously, smiling like a smile, "We followed the Jialing River all the way east, and finally caught up with you in Yi County!"

Xie Zhixu was also very happy to see the young man, his eyes lit up: "Third senior brother! Why are you here?"

The third brother Wu Li threw the five-foot-long bamboo stick in his hand to the ground, and the end was retracted into a two-finger-long bamboo tube. He tied a red rope around his waist.

"Sir asked me to come," Wu Li said, "I'm afraid you can't handle it alone."

Xie Zhixu smiled and said, "Sir, you underestimated me."

Wu Li asked: "Then what do you want to do when you hang around the back wall of the county government office for a long time, to see the scenery?"

Ah... Xie Zhixu scratched the back of his head: "I want to dig in to find the murder case file, but the courtyard wall in Yi County is too high."

To Xie Zhixu and Wu Li, it was a bit tall, but to that giant man about ten feet tall, it was nothing. His head could stretch into someone's backyard.

Wu Li laughed loudly: "It's not easy to climb over the wall! Fourth brother, reach out!"

The giant man moved when he heard the sound, and Xie Zhixu heard the sound of the bluestone slab almost cracking under his feet.The giant man bent down slightly, and a palm as wide as the small table stretched out in front of the two of them.

Because it is too huge, the palm prints are like the folds of an old tree, and it is as hard as a stone to the touch.

With a leap, Wu Li jumped onto the palm of his hand, greeted Xie Zhixu and said, "Come up quickly!"

The senior brothers live together on weekdays, and they often see the fourth senior brother carrying the third senior brother for a walk, but although I see many of them, I have never been treated like this, and I don't know if the fourth senior brother is willing to carry me.Xie Zhixu hesitated for a moment.