When everyone heard this, their ears perked up, and countless reveries flashed through their minds. These words really have a lot of meaning.
After finishing speaking, Aunt Ma also felt that her words were ambiguous, so she quickly explained: "It's not what you think, the shopkeeper of our house is the most polite, and men are not allowed to go in and out of the backyard at will without permission. I'm uncomfortable, she usually stays in the backyard. It's the old man who doesn't know what happened and doesn't want to lose face, so he sent me away."
Zhuang Zhong asked, "Do you know what is going on?"
"I vaguely heard that it had something to do with money, and I also heard the shopkeeper reprimanding Lao Zhangtou for spending most of his life in vain, and he did such a thing." Aunt Ma suddenly remembered something, and said loudly: "Yes Yes, the shopkeeper even taught Lao Zhangtou that his life will be ruined by women."
The words were vague, making people even more confused, and there were more conjectures.
Aunt Ma was a little anxious. She always told the truth, but what she said was so messy. She was an honest and quiet person, that's why Mrs. Qin liked to hire her. Mrs. Qin obviously has something to say to Lao Zhang, but it's not easy for others to hear, so she also hates that people who are interested will not listen to the corner. If Mrs. Qin didn't control her voice, and the backyard is so big, she wouldn't hear.
The third son on the side heard what Aunt Ma said, and suddenly thought of something, "That's right!" After he finished shouting, he hesitated, and murmured, "My lord, I don't know if there is something related to today's incident."
"But it doesn't matter."
"I just remembered that I heard Aunt Ma talking about money. The shopkeeper checked the accounts a while ago and found that there seemed to be some problems with the recent accounts. He said that the business has been better recently than before, but how come the money is not as much as before. Although Almost, but the shopkeeper always felt that there was something wrong. The shopkeeper also asked me about my recent business, which logically should have earned more. Later, I asked the old man, and he said that the price of fabrics and other things has increased recently, and it is now popular. The style is expensive, that's why it's like this, and the shopkeeper is still thinking about whether to raise the price." After the third son finished speaking, he seemed to think that this was a business matter and had nothing to do with the case, and it was nothing after all. It seemed completely useless, but he kept his head down and didn't dare to speak too much for fear of being reprimanded.
Zhuang Zhong didn't think so, "When did this happen?"
Only then did the third son raise his head again. Although he was only a waiter in the shop, he knew a lot, and said, "The account check is just a matter of the beginning of the month. I feel that something is wrong because I have made less money in the past few months. I am worried about how to do business in the future. I am afraid that the price increase will hurt the hearts of old customers, and it will damage the reputation and hurt the business. If it does not increase, it will lose a lot of money. Our shopkeepers have lost a few catties because of this, thinking about it all day long Still running around."
Upon hearing this, Aunt Ma also said: "That's right, our shopkeeper's appetite has not improved recently. The young master is growing up day by day, and the shopkeeper wants to send him to school, but the cost will be even greater."
Fang Yingying suddenly sighed, "No wonder Mrs. Qin seldom comes to see me these days. I was just busy cleaning up, so I didn't pay much attention. So there is a business problem."
The third son nodded again and again, "This business is obviously getting better and better, but in recent months, the money earned has been getting less and less, so our shopkeeper is very worried, and the old lady at home is sick again, so there is no It's time to drop by."
Zhuang Zhong ordered the third son to bring the account book from the store. Mrs. Qin's business is clean, and all the taxes that should be paid are paid off one by one. Everyone in the store knows it, so they are not afraid to check it, and took it out very happily. .
Mr. Tong said that the account book was brought over, although he only flipped through it twice, he saw the way in it, and whispered a few words in Zhuang Zhong's ear, there is something wrong with this account book, someone is fishing for money in it, and his appetite is not small.
Zhuang Zhong frowned slightly, "Who is usually in charge of this ledger?"
"It's old Zhangtou." The third son said.
Fang Yingying was surprised, "Isn't old Zhang a tailor?"
The third son replied: "Old Zhangtou doesn't know why, his eyes are not good these few years, and his hands still tremble, so now the meticulous work is done by the apprentices below, and he is on the sidelines to guide. But such a He didn't do much work when he came here, and it just so happened that the accountant's family had a series of funerals and couldn't work in the past few months, so the shopkeeper asked him to be in charge of the account books."
Zhuang Zhong was a little speechless. Although he didn't know how to do business, he also knew the importance of the bookkeeping, not just simple bookkeeping. Although the ready-made clothing store is not very big, there are many kinds of things in it. It also sells some small things, such as handkerchiefs, nets, etc., and some cloth.
Before he could speak, Fang Yingying couldn't help but roll her eyes, "You just grab one and put it on top? Your shopkeeper is not such an unreliable person."
The third son scratched his head in embarrassment, "Isn't this temporary? The cashier is also an old man in the store, but the shopkeeper is not willing to find a new one if there is something to do at home. It is not easy to find it after a while. If this is the case, let him take care of the shopkeeper. Lao Zhangtou is also an old man in the store, and he is familiar with the situation in the store. It’s just that he didn’t expect that there would be funerals one after another at the cashier’s house, and he never came back.”
"Since when did the old man start managing accounts?"
"At the beginning of this year."
Master Tong went to look through the account books again, "There was no problem in the past few months, it started half a year ago."
The third son hurriedly said: "That's right, our store has been running short since half a year ago."
Zhuang Zhong and Master Tong looked at each other, understanding each other's thoughts.
Zhuang Zhong ordered people to investigate the situation in Lao Zhangtou's house, and indeed he found something.
Old Zhangtou's family has always been decided by Aunt Sun, and she is in control of the family. Old Zhangtou himself is so poor that he can't even do anything about his own mother being treated poorly. Aunt Sun likes to show off, and you can tell how much she spends every day by looking at her clothes. Everyone used her as an example to swear in secret, cursing the other party or their son for marrying such a woman, who is ugly and fierce, even if it is not filial, it is useless and a troublemaker.
Old Zhangtou is a miserable man, and he was brought up by a widow, which is one of the reasons why Mrs. Qin trusts him. When I was an apprentice, my family was extremely poor, so my eldest son didn’t marry a wife. Later, I got a little bit of money with my skills, so I was able to marry Aunt Sun. Although Aunt Sun is not good-looking because she looks like a five-year-old, she is still a girl, and she is much younger than Lao Zhangtou. The old Zhangtou always felt indebted, so he loved Aunt Sun very much.
Aunt Sun is a pungent person. She was notorious when she was a girl, and no one dared to marry her. But Lao Zhangtou and his mother are very soft-tempered, which makes Aunt Sun domineering at home. He treats old Zhangtou so harshly, let alone his mother, but he doesn't say anything, and it's hard for outsiders to say anything. Not long after Mrs. Sun got married, her mother-in-law left.
Everyone said that Lao Zhangtou was a wimp, and was crushed like this by a woman, and he was in vain as a man. But Lao Zhangtou is good at craftsmanship, so the money he earns is not bad, and he is the envy of the neighbors in the neighborhood. Besides, although Mrs. Sun said she was a bit aggressive and mean, she treated Lao Zhangtou well, and Lao Zhangtou was not bad at all.
But ever since Lao Zhangtou was in charge of the accountant, Aunt Sun became cocky. She felt that the accountant was in charge of the money, and that Lao Zhangtou was still in charge of two things. Doesn't this mean that my man seems to be half the owner of the clothing store? So I often showed off in front of the neighbors in the neighborhood. During those days, there was a lot of scenery, and I wandered around wearing gold and silver all day long. Even Mrs. Qin was not so rich.
Such a high profile has attracted people who want to share the pie. Aunt Sun has brothers and sisters at home, and life is not going well. It's just that Aunt Sun is usually aggressive. Although she often subsidizes the family, she doesn't send everything home like those little daughters-in-law. She enjoys the pleasure of being flattered, and she is stingy, if every reason is not to open her wallet.
Aunt Sun is cautious, so it is not easy to get money from her. After repeated failures, these people are also wise. So those so-called brothers and sisters actually dragged her to play the horse hanging together. Playing cards is always interesting when there is a lot of luck, but the more you gamble, the bigger the bet. At first, Auntie Sun always won, but then she kept losing. Gambling is the easiest thing to go to people's heads, plus those few are united, which makes Aunt Sun lose all the time, but she doesn't always feel that she is losing. Every time she wins a small amount, and finally loses a big one Bundle.
Aunt Sun became more and more addicted to gambling and spent more and more money. Old Zhangtou is just a small wage earner. The reason why he was assigned two jobs was because the other job was not good enough. The shopkeeper was afraid that he would think too much and the others would be dissatisfied, so he asked him to take an extra job. That's all. As a result, the family's money was quickly wiped out, and they owed a lot of debt. Those so-called brothers and sisters are not so amiable, they keep collecting debts, and they can do anything disgusting when it comes to money.
There is no other way, the old Zhangtou can only find a way to raise money, but he is honest, soft-tempered, usually under strict control, and has no friends at all. After all, friends also have to run a business, but you can’t let them come in as guests, and you can’t go to other people’s houses either—going empty-handed is more expensive, and you don’t have money to go out to spend, the old man has a thin skin, and the most important thing is to go to work I have to wait on my wife when I get home, and I don't have that much time, so I don't have many friends. There are even more relatives, and some are not close but still poor.
Besides, the old Zhangtou felt ashamed about this matter, and he was too embarrassed to ask someone to borrow it, so he took the idea of the store. The first time I started it was relatively light, thinking about paying off the debts of the family and not reaching out, and just filling it up slowly. But if there is one, there are two. There is a gambler in the family. If you help her pay off her debt easily for the first time and make her feel that you are there anyway, then she will gamble more and more unscrupulously later.
As a result, Lao Zhangtou made mistakes every step of the way, and the accounts in the store became more and more chaotic.
By contacting everyone, one can deduce what Aunt Ma meant when she heard Mrs. Qin say that she was ruined by a woman. After all, Mrs. Qin's husband chose Lao Zhangtou, so she attached great importance to it. When Lao Zhangtou made such a big mistake, his first reaction was not to sue the officials, but to confront him, and let the others back down, which is enough. To save face, I just hated that iron could not be made into steel. Knowing the whole story, I couldn't help cursing loudly, and let Aunt Ma hear a few words.
Sure enough, when Zhuang Zhong brought up the fact that old Zhangtou had made false accounts because of his wife's gambling, Mrs. Qin's numb eyes fluctuated.
"This old man is so stupid! Is such a woman worth it? At the beginning, the person in charge of my family liked him for being honest. I didn't expect that he would be honest in the end, but he was caught by a wicked woman!" Mrs. Qin was heartbroken. In any case, she is an old man who has worked together for many years, and she did not leave even in the most difficult time, which made her feel grateful. Seeing the other party live like this, how can you not be angry.
As soon as this was brought up, and solemnly recruiting Mrs. Qin to Fang Yingying's home, it was not like a criminal interrogation but more like a normal guest. Mrs. Qin, who had pleaded guilty and no longer defended herself, relaxed and began to talk about the situation at that time. Mrs. Qin herself is also refreshing, although she was in a daze for several days due to being frightened and the self-blame in her heart, without saying a word, but now that she has calmed down a lot, and with this atmosphere, her best friend Fang Yingying is by her side again, her mouth It can't be closed anymore.
It turned out that Mrs. Qin discovered the problem after some investigation. She knew the old man's character, definitely not the greedy one. Just thinking that something must have happened in his family, when I asked privately, it turned out that something happened to the woman again. She was very angry in her heart, a man was turned into a ghost by a woman, how useless it is!
Mrs. Qin's husband was very close to Lao Zhangtou during his lifetime, so she also treated Lao Zhangtou as a big brother. At that time, she went directly to talk to old Zhangtou, and she was not good at meddling in the affairs of other people's couples, but now that woman made old Zhangtou do such nasty things, she couldn't help but talk.
Mrs. Qin gave him a hard lesson. Compared with the money being dirty, Mrs. Qin resented the old man's uselessness and disappointment more. She had been enduring it all these years, but this time she finally broke out and scolded Lao Zhangtou bloody. Unexpectedly, Lao Zhang would do such a thing without saying a word.
Lady Qin covered her face and cried: "I didn't know he would be so upset, otherwise I wouldn't scold him so hard."
Originally, he wanted to scold him once to wake him up completely, but he didn't expect to kill him.
Even the well-informed Master Tong was a little confused, "If you say that he committed suicide in shame, why did he eunuch himself?"
Mrs. Qin also looked blank, "After I scolded him, I asked him to reflect on himself, and I didn't say what to do with him. I just said that I would make up the money in the future and pretend it didn't happen. But if it happens again, I will report to the police. After I finish speaking, I will let him think about it alone. Is there anyone who lives like this? He just..."
Mrs. Qin didn't care about being shy, she just felt that the scene was unbearable to look back on.
After Mrs. Qin finished the lesson, she saw that Lao Zhang was silent, so she couldn't say anything more. I didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, when I heard the movement, I came over and saw that the old Zhangtou had cut off his own thing, and his whole body was bloody. Mrs. Qin was startled, but she didn't expect that this was not over. Old Zhang took a kitchen knife and wiped his neck.
Everyone can understand that Lao Zhangtou is ashamed to commit suicide, but they don't understand why he wants to castrate himself.
Zhuang Zhong had seen similar cases in his previous life, so although it was strange, it would not be surprising. In Dayou, as in the previous life, some people attach great importance to reproductive organs, especially men think that their own organs are the most important thing for them, if a man’s thing is not working well, it will hurt more than any disability , if the thing is capable, it will be particularly ostentatious, and everyone likes to wear it to show their ability. Not only is it considered to be a deadly place, but it is also considered to be related to self-esteem, so there will be cases of suicide by cutting off the genitals.
Firstly, Lao Zhangtou felt that he had lost face by stealing, and secondly, he did not want to live anymore because of the heavy pressure. He only thought of using this method to end his life in a moment of excitement. But I didn't expect that I didn't die for a while, and then slapped a knife on my neck. The determination to commit suicide was very strong.
And the reason why Mrs. Qin said, "I caused the disaster, I will go to court to pay for the crime." 'I felt that if I hadn't reprimanded the old man and stimulated him, it would not have led to his death, so I condemned myself.
When the case was clarified, everyone sighed. Although this matter is also related to Mrs. Qin, it is also an unwarranted disaster. Can't you scold people if your money is stolen? And this is already very face-saving. If others definitely turn it over to the government directly, it will not only lose face, but also go to jail!
And the biggest responsibility for this tragedy is none other than Aunt Sun. If she hadn't forced the old man, such a thing would not have happened. The most ridiculous thing is that Lao Zhang is dead, and she is still trying to take advantage of Mrs. Qin, and she has long planned to take over the tailor shop as compensation. Thinking of that old Zhangtou's body was not cold yet, the mother-in-law thought of a way to make a fortune, thinking of how much old Zhangtou manipulated Aunt Sun before, she felt ridiculous. But who can be blamed for this matter, it is not caused by oneself, although it is regrettable, it is not considered a wronged death.
The case was quickly settled. Although Aunt Sun had nothing to do with Lao Zhangtou's death, she was sentenced to one year in prison for inciting him to cover up Lao Zhangtou's theft of the owner's property; and those so-called brothers and sisters were also arrested for fraud Throwed into the cell; and Mrs. Qin was released without charge.
Although Mrs. Qin was acquitted, she still felt a heavy sense of guilt in her heart. She always felt that if she hadn't scolded her harshly, she wouldn't have become the last straw that crushed Lao Zhang's head. Although he has been comforted all the time, it is still difficult to cross this threshold. After all, this is a human life, and it is still a very familiar person.
These solemnities are powerless, he can solve the case but he is not a psychiatrist.
The term of office will soon expire, and Zhuang Zhong will leave on duty. Fang Yingying has prepared a lot of things for him. Although Mei County was very poor before, it has a lot of local products. Mountain products are very cheap here, but it is not common to get them in the capital. Moreover, because it is a border gate, foreigners have come to do business since the rectification was completed, so there are many foreign goods that are rare in the capital. Fang Yingying is from everyone, and she has been educated by Ruo housekeeper since she was a child, so she naturally knows how important human relationships are. Therefore, she took care of the presents all by herself, so she didn't have to worry about solemnity at all.
When Zhuang Zhong left, many ordinary people in Mei County came to see him off, and many of them were reluctant to part with tears in their eyes. This time, I don't know when to see you again.
Fang Yingying was even more reluctant, and did not see her off that day, fearing that she would be too sad and bad for the fetus.
"Work hard, don't disappoint the high expectations of the folks." Zhuang Zhong patted Zhang Sheng on the shoulder.
Zhang Sheng has now become the new magistrate of Meixian County, and he is filled with emotion when he sees Zhuang Zhong leave. Zhuang Zhong can be called his reborn parents. Without Zhuang Zhong, it would be impossible to marry the one he loves, and he would not be where he is today. The arrival of Zhuang Zhong has made the learning atmosphere in Meixian unprecedentedly high, because the resources and support he brought have benefited the students in Meixian a lot, and given more people the opportunity to go further. All the students from Meixian came to see him off, which is evident.
Zhang Sheng bowed deeply, "Students will definitely not disappoint adults' expectations."
Zhuang Zhong said a few more words to everyone and then left with the Wanmin Umbrella. The crying goodbye made Zhuang Zhong feel sad and proud, until the crowd was no longer visible, and the heavy feeling did not leave.
In the distance, Feng Huan came on horseback, walking against the light as if his body was shining with light.
"You are much more beautiful than I was before." Feng Huan gave Zhuang Zhong a thumbs up.
Zhuang Zhong understood that Feng Huan was referring to how he was supported when he left the capital, but the meaning was different. Those people are because of his power, and these people are purely because of the dignity of this person.
Zhuang Zong said with a smile: "If it weren't for the different roads, the people would also be grateful to you."
These words are not flattery, if Feng Huan hadn't wiped out the surrounding bandits and rebels, there would be no peace in Mei County. Zhuang Zhong is in charge of the county's economy, construction, people's livelihood and other affairs, while Feng Huan is protecting the entire Mei County, so that it has a peaceful environment so that they can live seriously.
Feng Huan just smiled, although he didn't care about these things, but he couldn't help being proud.
"Let's go."
"it is good."
The two rode their horses and galloped away, leaving this land of achievements and rushing to the capital city where the future was unknown.
Chronicles of Song Tixing's Life