The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
Although he was clearly in the water, Jing Li felt his back go cold and he broke out in a cold sweat.
Qin Zhao... has he discovered it
But why didn't he ask when he was at home just now, but had to wait until now
The owner of the pastry shop noticed that someone had been standing in front of the shop for a long time, and called out, "Young man, would you like some pastries? Freshly baked white sugar cakes, still warm, five cents a piece!"
Qin Zhao pretended not to hear anything, his eyes still fixed on the fish in his hand, but his eyebrows slightly raised.
Jing Li understood what he meant instantly.
—If you don’t tell the truth, you won’t have anything to eat.
This is... a threat.
This person actually threatened a fish, is there any justice in the world!!!
Jing Li tried hard not to reveal any flaws, staring blankly at the man in front of him, as if he didn't understand what he was saying.
Playing dumb again.
Qin Zhao's eyes flashed with a helpless smile, and he said slowly: "I locked the door from the outside before leaving home yesterday. No one can get in, let alone steal a piece of clothing from me."
"I know you can understand. This is your last chance," Qin Zhao said. "Do you know where the dress is?"
The little koi fish stared at him motionlessly.
The fish doesn't know.
I know but I can't tell.
Qin Zhao looked at him for a moment, then turned away, picking up the fish basket and preparing to leave.
Jing Li was shocked.
He he he... He actually just left like that, wasn't it just to scare him
How could he do this to a fish!
Qin Zhao started to leave, but before he had taken a few steps, his sleeve was grabbed again.
He lowered his head, the little koi fish hanging on his sleeve, his clear eyes clearly showing his grievance.
Qin Zhao asked: "Are you willing to tell me?"
The little koi fell back into the water and nodded.
Qin Zhao kept his word and bought a twenty-five-cent white sugar cake, along with two small bags of candied fruit, spending another forty-five cents.
Then he took the little koi to the clinic.
The medicine Qin Zhao used was expensive, and he could only buy it in installments because of financial constraints in the past. Today, he had some money, so he simply bought enough medicine for a month to save the trouble of going to town all the time.
Jing Li was originally curious about what disease Qin Zhao had, and wanted to write down the prescription and ask about it when he had the chance.
Unexpectedly, Qin Zhao went to several clinics in a row, only buying a few herbs from each one. Jing Li was dizzy from reading the names of the loose medicines, and in the end, he didn't remember any of them.
The town's clinic has a much more complete range of medicines than the one in the small mountain village. Why did Qin Zhao go to so much trouble? Is it because it is cheaper to buy it this way
However, the price of medicinal materials was indeed very high. After buying the medicine, Jing Li calculated in his mind that Qin Zhao now had about 22 strings of coins and 700 coins left.
This has already cost more than a thousand yuan.
They bought so many things that the basket was too heavy to carry. Qin Zhao simply hired someone from the town to transport the things back to Linxi Village, and walked back to the village with the koi.
It rained yesterday, so the weather is very good today, so it’s fine to take a walk on the mountain road.
Before setting off, Qin Zhao first found a tea shop on the side of the road to rest.
He walked slowly, and it took him more than an hour to walk back to the village from the town, so he had to eat something first. Qin Zhao asked for a bowl of hot tea and took out some hot white sugar cake to feed the little koi.
A piece of pastry at five cents was considered very expensive in the town.
But there is a reason for the high price. This sugar cake is made of rice. One piece is as big as half of Jingli's body. It is steamed until it is soft, sticky and delicious, sweet but not greasy.
Jing Li ate two in one go, still feeling a little unsatisfied.
Qin Zhao did not touch the sugar cake. Instead, he took out the millet cake he brought from home from his backpack and ate it with tea.
Jing Li swallowed the last bite of the cake and stopped moving.
He almost forgot that although Qin Zhao made money today, the money still had to be used to pay for the high medical expenses and the needs of building a house.
It's actually not much money.
He even pestered the other party to buy him this and that.
Qin Zhao couldn't bear to eat such an expensive cake...
Jing Li suddenly felt a little guilty.
Half of the things in the backpack were bought because Jing Li wanted them. If Qin Zhao was the only one there, he didn't know how much money he could have saved.
He shouldn't be so willful. No one would raise fish and let him be like this, causing the owner to have to live frugally.
As if noticing Jing Li's gaze, Qin Zhao lowered his head and asked him, "Are you still not full? You've already eaten two pieces. If you eat any more, you'll feel full and uncomfortable."
I don’t want to eat anymore. I don’t want to eat anymore.
Jing Li wagged his tail and stepped back.
I can't eat so much anymore.
We have to help Qin Zhao save some money.
Qin Zhao of course didn't know what he was thinking, he just assumed he was full and wrapped up the remaining cakes. He didn't like sweets, so he didn't buy too much.
These sweet cakes and candied fruits are enough for the little koi to eat for several meals.
After eating and drinking, Qin Zhao set off with the little koi.
Qin Zhao went into battle lightly equipped and in much better spirits than usual.
This was actually a bit strange. In the past, after he had an attack, he would always feel unwell for several days in a row, but today he felt normal at all.
Last night... what on earth happened
Qin Zhao lowered his eyes to look at the sleepy little koi in the fish basket and quickened his pace.
It’s better to go back early and “interrogate” this little guy.
Qin Zhao actually didn’t understand what happened yesterday.
But his things at home were always in good order, and he clearly remembered that the clothes were still in the closet before he left home yesterday. This meant that something must have happened at home from the time he left until this morning.
And it must be related to the fact that he returned home inexplicably yesterday.
This proves... those vague memories from last night might not be hallucinations.
As for the connection between them and why the clothes were lost, everything will be clear once he finds the whereabouts of the clothes.
The only one who knew everything that happened last night was this little fish who liked to play dumb.
Qin Zhao was rarely impatient, and he walked back to the village in just one hour. Just as he was about to enter the village, he saw a familiar figure sitting on a rock beside the stream, muttering something.
“One may teach in order to control the subordinates, or display etiquette in order to… in order to… in order to handle affairs, or spread harmony in order to…” Chen Yan’an was holding an old book that he had flipped through for who knows how long, and he was reciting it haltingly.
When he got stuck, he scratched his hair in distress.
"Some teach to control the people below, some show courtesy to serve the superiors, some show power to shock the sun, some spread harmony to disperse the wind and rain." Qin Zhao walked behind him and said calmly, "You recited it wrong."
Chen Yanan turned around and was surprised when he saw him: "You can do this too?"
Qin Zhao nodded.
Chen Yanan looked at him as if he were a monster: "You can read, know medical skills, and can even recite this stuff. What did you do before? You weren't a teacher in a college, were you?"
Qin Zhao shook his head: "I don't remember."
He paused, then asked, "Shouldn't you go to town to study today?"
"I was sent back." Chen Yan'an said with a bitter face, "I just couldn't memorize this article. The teacher said that if I can't memorize it again, I won't be allowed to go again."
“I don’t even dare to go home…”
Qin Zhao asked, "Do you understand the meaning of the passage I just recited?"
Chen Yanan shook his head and said, "I can't even recite it, let alone explain its meaning, so please don't mess with me."
"Wrong." Qin Zhao said, "First read through an article, then interpret its meaning, and finally recite it. You put the cart before the horse, so naturally you find it difficult."
Chen Yanan raised his eyebrows and asked, "So, do you understand?"
"nature."
Chen Yanan: "Then can you explain it to me?"
Qin Zhao thought about it, started from the beginning of that paragraph, and explained it in the most easy-to-understand way.
"So that's what it means." Chen Yan'an suddenly realized it, turned another page, and pointed to a paragraph, "What about this paragraph? Do you know this paragraph?"
He asked several questions in a row, and Qin Zhao answered them all fluently.
In the end, Chen Yanan's eyes when he looked at him changed completely.
"I only knew that you could read and help others copy books, but I didn't expect you to know so much." Chen Yan'an couldn't believe it. "Did you really lose your memory or fake it? How can you remember it so clearly?"
"I really lost my memory." Qin Zhao said, "But I just copied this book "Shangshu Zhengyi" for the academy in town not long ago."
Chen Yanan: "You remember it after copying it once?"
Qin Zhao wanted to say, "What else can I do?", but after thinking about it, he comforted her, "Maybe I knew it before, but I just remembered it now after reading it once."
Chen Yanan felt a little comforted and asked again: "Since you know so much, why don't you take the imperial examination? If you pass, won't you have a good life?"
Qin Zhao replied calmly: "No money."
Chen Yanan: “…”
It seems that this person can't afford the cost of filing a report
That’s right, he couldn’t even pay the rent before.
However, Chen Yanan is in a difficult situation now, so he has no time to care about other people's affairs.
He sighed with a sad face: "Tomorrow is a holiday, and the teacher will test this article in three days. What should I do..."
Qin Zhao thought for a moment and said, "How about this, you give me the book first, I'll help you mark the difficult parts tonight, and you can come to my house to pick it up tomorrow morning."
Chen Yanan's eyes lit up: "Really?"
Qin Zhao: "Really."
"Thank you, Brother Qin!" Chen Yanan quickly changed his words and jumped up from the reef. He suddenly thought of something and felt a little embarrassed. "That... I didn't mean to say those things to you before. I apologize to you, you... don't take it to heart."
"No." Qin Zhao didn't care. He took the book and said, "Then I'll take my leave first."
Chen Yanan nodded repeatedly: "I'll treat you to a meal when we go to town some other day!"
The items hired for transportation were placed at the entrance of the village. Qin Zhao went to retrieve his backpack and soon returned home.
He took out the things one by one, and when he was done, he returned to the table. The little koi sank to the bottom of the water, and when it saw him coming, it blew a bubble at him obediently.
Qin Zhao didn't buy it and said calmly, "It's time for you to fulfill your promise and take me to find that dress."
Humph, just look for it.
The little koi fish shook its tail and jumped out of the barrel.
The dress was not in the house.
He jumped into the ditch with a splash and swam upstream along the direction of the water flow. There was a ditch behind the house covered with stone slabs, and the situation inside could not be seen from the outside.
After a while, the little koi swam out pushing a small bamboo basket.
Qin Zhao's clothes were placed in the bamboo basket.
Qin Zhao picked up the bamboo basket and asked, "Why did you hide my clothes here?"
The little koi jumped into the bamboo basket, flapped its body back and forth in it a few times, then jumped back into the house, used its tail to hook a gap in the closet, and the whole fish crawled in.
Qin Zhao frowned slightly, struggling to understand what he meant: "You mean... you went into the closet to play yesterday and got your clothes dirty, and you're afraid I'll find out?"
Jing Li jumped out of the closet and nodded seriously.
Qin Zhao's face was full of suspicion.
He picked up the wet clothes and checked it from top to bottom, but found no clues.
Of course he couldn't see it.
The water in the ditch came directly from the stream, and the flow was slow, but it was always flowing. The clothes had been hidden in the ditch for a whole morning, and the dirt had long been washed away.
At this point, all evidence has been destroyed.
Jing Li wagged his tail proudly.
Fish are so smart.