A gentleman is not a group

It's early spring, when it's warm and slightly cold, the flowers are especially blooming.

Outside the courtyard wall, a branch of snow-white pear blossom stretched out, soaking in the white light in the night.

Inside the courtyard wall, a dark figure floated down the wall, entered a room without a sound, and came out without a sound after a while...

The night is dark, the wind is high, and the clouds cover the moon. It is the time to sneak around.

The next day, Jinzhou government office.

The magistrate Zhang Zeyuan has been suffering from a lot of headaches recently. He has only been in office for less than a month, not long, and there are many odd and small things.

First, half a month ago, Jinxiu Workshop accidentally ran into water, and more than a dozen embroidery workers were buried in the sea of ​​fire. Then, recently, merchants have been reporting to the police, saying that their family's money has been lost.

Zhang Zeyuan sighed. Today is the third case of theft. The police officers of the government government have been investigating for several days, but they haven't found even a hair of the thief. All deserved to be so bitter.

While he was sighing, the policeman Qi Fei hurried across the front yard.

Zhang Zeyuan quickly stopped him: "Oh, Qi Fei!"

Qi Fei turned around, saw that it was Zhang Zeyuan, saluted respectfully, raised his head and said, "What are your orders?"

"Is Zhou Chi on duty today?"

Qi Fei recalled the scene when he saw his head swaggering into the government office in the morning, and nodded.

"Why don't you come to see me..." Zhang Zeyuan frowned and muttered, then said to Qi Fei, "Forget it, let him come over."

When Zhou Chi entered the inner courtyard, he saw the newly appointed magistrate fiddling with his newly acquired tea set, as if what he had in front of him was not the best new tea, but some bitter medicinal juice that he had to drink.

"grown ups?"

Zhang Zeyuan looked up and saw that it was Zhou Chi, and gave him a wry, dejected smile.

"You must have heard about the three thefts, right?"

Zhou Chi was not in the government office a few days ago, but since the families who reported the case were all big and famous families in Jinzhou Prefecture, he had heard a lot about the specific situation.

Seeing his clear expression, Zhang Zeyuan went on to say, "Go and investigate this case, and bring the thief into custody as soon as possible, so that the old men can give an explanation."

In the past few days, several families who lost their belongings took turns to cry at the gate of the government office, and Zhang Zeyuan was shouted three times by them.

But the case did not make any progress, and because of the face of these big households paying taxes, it was hard for him to say anything.

After procrastinating and procrastinating until the end of Zhou Zhi's vacation, Zhang Zeyuan felt that he was saved.

It’s no wonder that he relies on Zhou Chi. The magistrate is a new official, and he is not familiar with the place where he lives. Zhou Chi has been the government’s headhunter since he was 20 years old. It has been five years now. Much more familiar than him.

Zhang Zeyuan consciously fell in love with Zhou Chi, trusted him very much, and never put on airs in front of him as a magistrate. In addition, although Zhou Chi was a few years younger than him, he was very reliable. It can't be broken, let alone a small theft.

Thinking of this, Zhang Zeyuan suddenly felt that the willows and flowers were bright in front of him, and the gloom was swept away, and he wished to call Zhou Chi "big brother".

After comforting the glass-hearted Lord Zhifu a few words, Zhou Chi left the inner courtyard. He has a handsome figure, a handsome face, and green hills between his brows. , there is a sense of unruliness in the actions, and when they are mixed together, they become a contradictory temperament of being upright and unrestrained.

Zhou Chi stepped out of the courtyard and waved to Qi Fei who was waiting at the side. When Qi Fei saw Zhou Chi, he grinned like a big morning glory.

"Boss!"

He ran over "tat-tat-tat", bringing up a trail of smoke and dust, the tall and strong man coupled with such disharmonious movements, Zhou Chi suddenly felt a toothache, couldn't bear it, said: "Old Qi, walk well!"

Qi Fei touched his head in embarrassment, and just put his hands down, he forgot the embarrassing moment, and leaned close to Zhou Chi to wink: "Boss, did your lord ask you to investigate those theft cases?"

"Hmm." Zhou Chi pushed the big guy around him a little further away, and said with a frown, "I heard about it before, but it wasn't very detailed. Do you have any details?"

"Yes, yes. I went to investigate this case. I went to see the Jia, Zhao, and Nian families who reported the case. However, they stole from three big families in just five days. This thief is really dedicated."

The Jia family, the Zhao family, the Nian family... what a coincidence.

"How can we be sure that the crime is committed by the same person?"

"Didn't I just say that I visited those three houses? Let alone, I really found a commonality."

Qi Fei looked at Zhou Chi quite proudly, and the words "seeking praise" were written nakedly on that slightly square face.

Seeing that Zhou Chi didn't answer, Qi Fei went on to say: "A plum blossom in full bloom is carved on the door frame of every stolen house. .”

"Plum blossom?" Zhou Chi sneered, "Does this little thief consider himself a grand thief?"

But if that's the case, the case becomes more interesting.

"Old Qi, let the brothers have a good rest today, and tomorrow night we will go to Sun's house to catch thieves."

The Sun family... Logically speaking, it should indeed be the Sun family, not only Zhou Chi, but anyone who has heard about the Jinxiu Fang flood case half a month ago and the recent theft case can think of the connection between the two cases.

Now is the prosperous dynasty, when the dynasty encourages merchants to trade, in order to seek greater benefits, most merchants choose reliable partners to jointly fund and open shops.

Jinxiufang is one of the representatives. As the four famous families in Jinzhou - Jia's, Zhao's, Nian's, and Sun's, once they joined forces, they caused a sensation in the city.

Since its establishment three years ago, Jinxiufang has been the most famous brocade shop in Jinzhou.The huge embroidery room, skillful embroiderers, and exquisite brocades make Jinxiufang unique in limelight.

But half a month ago, the embroidery room of Jinxiufang suddenly flooded. At that time, a large number of brocades were rushing to work. Many embroiderers also stayed in the embroidery room at night, tired and squatting for a while, and woke up to continue spinning.

The fire happened at night, and suddenly, the flames entangled with the cloth. The cloth was already flammable and piled up in large quantities, so it burned more and more intensely, filling the entire embroidery room in an instant.

Many embroiderers are resting and cannot escape.The fire burned all night, and when the fire was extinguished, the embroidery house was burned, and more than a dozen embroidery workers were reduced to ashes, and they never returned home.

The cause of the fire was simple, but an embroidery worker fell asleep in the middle of the night and accidentally knocked over the candle.

It was just a moment of drooping eyes, changing the eternal night sleep of dozens of people. The raging fire that shocked the whole Jinzhou was actually a man-made disaster.

The embroiderers who thought that the source of the disaster did not do it intentionally, and they also disappeared into the sea of ​​fire together. The four families of Jia, Zhao, Nian, and grandson discussed and decided not to ask for compensation from their relatives who were also grieving, but to raise money for charity by way of donations. To the family of the deceased, as a consolation.

As for the burnt embroidery house and hundreds of brocades, the four families were responsible for the losses themselves, and did not embezzle any donations.

As soon as this decision was made, the people of Jinzhou donated generously, Jinxiufang once again became famous, and did not lose customers because of the fire.The people all say that the masters of the four families are good people in the world, and they are happy to buy cloth from Jinxiufang.

With the end of the fundraising, the matter seemed to come to an end. Unexpectedly, there was a theft suddenly, and three of the four families were stolen. Anyone who thought about it would think that the remaining Sun family would be the next victim.

only……

"Boss, why tomorrow night?" Qi Fei was still puzzled and asked Zhou Chi.

Zhou Zhi raised the corner of his mouth, and patted Qi Fei's shoulder: "This, I will tell you after tomorrow night."

The next day the sun had just set to the west, and the sky was still shimmering, so Zhou Chi took all the policemen from the government office and hid quietly in Sun's house. Then he walked to the distance alone.

Qi Fei looked at Zhou Chi's back, thought for a moment, and finally couldn't help calling him: "Boss, where are you going?"

Zhou Zhitou didn't respond and said, "Go to another place and wait for the thief."

Qi Fei looked around him, and then at the other brothers surrounded by three or two. Although he knew that his boss was very powerful, he couldn't help but feel a little worried: "You alone? What if you encounter that thief and you can't handle it..."

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Zhou Chi indifferently: "It's nothing, I guess I won't be able to catch it."

Qi Fei: "..."

He couldn't understand his boss's thinking more and more.

The sun had already set, and it was completely dark.The moon is in the middle of the sky, the night is as quiet as a pool of stagnant water, the weather is still cold, and it is not the time for the singing insects to flutter their wings non-stop, only a scent of unknown flowers drifts over with the wind.

Zhou Chi, who was squatting in the corner, sniffed, spit out the blades of grass between his teeth, and rubbed his numb legs in boredom. Just when he was about to stand up and move around, he suddenly heard the faint sound of cloth rubbing against each other. Subtle, mixed in the night wind, it is easy for people to think it is an auditory hallucination.

Zhou Chi squinted his eyes, staring at the edge of the hospital wall.

A black figure jumped down from the courtyard wall. When it landed, it was so light that it hardly made any movement. The moment he landed, Zhou Chi rushed over at an unrealistically fast speed.

The strange thing is that the black figure didn't show panic, and turned around very calmly, trying to jump up the courtyard wall.

Only then did Zhou Chi see clearly that the figure was not only dressed in black, but also wore a black mask covering his entire face, which was indeed the style that a thief should have.

Zhou Chi waved his hand at the man in black, and the man stretched out his palm to separate him.In the blink of an eye, the two had gone through a few moves. Although there was no winner, Zhou Chi had roughly figured out the strength of the man in black.The little thief has excellent lightness kung fu, but his skills are ordinary.

That being the case, there is no need for entanglement.

Zhou Chi raised his elbow and hit the man in black's abdomen, but turned around halfway and pressed against his shoulder, using a fake move to push the man in black against the wall.

The man in black refused to be obedient, so he caught him and struggled a few times, but it didn't work.

"you!"

"What me?" Zhou Chi frowned, raised his other hand and took off the mask on the man in black's face. The moment he saw that face, Zhou Chi froze suddenly.

Different from the blackness of the mask, the face under the mask is extremely white, especially white in the night, vaguely resembling the luster of fine white jade, the brows and eyes are gorgeous on the white face, and the slightly raised corners of the eyes reveal a hint of seductiveness ...For no reason, it reminds me of the monsters in the legends I read when I was a child.

No one told him that this little thief looks so evil!