Twelve Bends, a small town, has the advantage of the estuary, and every spring day, groups of saury come here to lay their eggs. Needless to say, the locals, tourists and merchants passing by here, also have to taste the delicious saury when they sit down for a meal.
On the second floor of the Xitong Restaurant, the second shopkeeper graciously served a stew of saury and said with a smile, "The two waiters, this stewed saury is one of the restaurant's specialties. If you try it, you will slap me in the face if it doesn't taste good."
The purple-robed merchant was accustomed to the diligence of these shop assistants, and was impatiently waiting to wave his hand to let him go down. After thinking for a moment, he instructed: "Tell the groom, I will be traveling all night tonight, and let him feed the horse."
The shop boy said happily: "Good! I'll pack you some more road food. If you're hungry on the road, you'll have a bite to eat, right?"
The lady sitting opposite the purple-robed merchant frowned slightly and looked at him half-complainingly and half-coquettishly: "Why do you still have to travel at night? This place is already far from the capital, I think..."
The purple-robed merchant raised his hand to stop her from continuing, and tapped the saury with chopsticks: "It's better to be safe. Don't you like fish, eat it quickly."
Madam didn't seem to dare to disobey her husband, and she didn't say any more. She lowered her head and raised her chopsticks to eat.
After a while, the shop assistant came upstairs with two more bowls of rice, just put it on the table, only to feel a gust of wind blowing by himself, and in the blink of an eye, a person appeared out of thin air and sat next to the purple-robed merchant and his wife.
"I'm starving to death, my lord!"
The man sitting next to the lady with a small cap with melon skin, an ordinary blue cloth and straight body, dressed in a market dress, but with a dusty face, took a pair of bamboo chopsticks from the chopsticks holder and wiped it randomly on his sleeves as soon as he sat down. , grabbed the rice bowl and pulled it into his mouth, occasionally using chopsticks like the wind, he took several mouthfuls of dishes together, and devoured it.
Not to mention the second shopkeeper was stunned, even the purple-robed merchant and his wife were also stunned, unable to understand the situation for a while.
This little melon skin was eaten by the hat, and he didn't forget to give a thumbs up and vaguely praised: "This fish is delicious!"
The second shopkeeper came back to his senses first, only to know that this person and the Zipao merchant were in a group, and hurriedly said with a smile: "The saury in this shop is a must in the nearby Shili Baxiang, it is simmered in ham soup, chicken soup, and bamboo shoot soup. , so delicious."
The melon rind hat chewed on it carefully, and wondered, "Why didn't it thorn?" As he spoke, he took several chopsticks to simmer the saury and stuffed it into his mouth.
The shop assistant smiled and said, "The saury has many spines, so use a quick knife to scrape the fillets, and then use forceps to extract all the spines."
"You really don't mind the trouble."
The rich merchant in purple robe finally came back to his senses and said angrily to the shop assistant, "What's going on?! Where did this person come from, is he a freelancer?!"
"You don't know him..."
The shop assistant was also taken aback, and hurriedly rushed out.
Still chewing in his mouth, the little melon-pig hat freed up one hand, took out something from his arms, and blocked it in front of the second shopkeeper without looking at it: "... Idlers don't bother."
Seeing this, the shop assistant immediately stepped back.
"Wait!" Guapi Xiaomao stopped him, and used his eyes to measure the size of the bowl with the rice in it, "More... six bowls of rice!"
"Coming soon, coming soon."
Since he didn't dare to offend them, the shop assistant went downstairs in a hurry.
Although the purple-robed merchant couldn't see what was in the hands of Guapi Xiaocap, he felt a little uneasy in his heart. He grabbed the edge of the table with one hand, and stared at them with both eyes: "You... Who are you?"
The chopsticks tugged at the bottom of the bowl a few times, and pulled all the remaining rice grains into his mouth. Then the melon skin cap put down the bowl, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, frowned and looked at the purple-robed merchant and scolded directly: "You said you That's right, what are you running this way! Because of your fatness! I've been rushing for a few days, I didn't even have a hot meal..."
The purple-robed merchant's tone trembled slightly: "Who are you?!"
Guapi Xiaocap patted what was in his hand on the table, the heavy copper token with the uneven "capture" on it was very clear.
"The six gates of the capital, someone asked me to bring something for you." Guapi Xiaocap reached into his arms and took it out, and with his oily hands, he found a roll of paper and handed it to the purple-robed merchant.
As soon as the purple-robed merchant opened, the expression on his face froze—this is a wanted reward, with his head on it, Cao Ge, male, 42 years old...
Guapi Xiaocap leaned over and hooked his head, compared with his appearance, nodded and said: "It looks quite similar, from the appearance, you may have a bad nose and too little meat, what do you think?"
During the conversation, the lady next to her knew that something was wrong, and she moved her footsteps with trembling, and slowly moved to the side. Suddenly there was a flash of chopsticks, and there was a burst of pain in the little finger of her right hand. She looked down and saw that the little finger was firmly held by the bamboo chopsticks and could not move.
Guapi Xiaomao looked at her with a half-smile, "Qiqiu clan, or should I call you Caoqiu clan now?"
Mr. Qiqiu struggled a few times, but the bamboo chopsticks were held tightly, like iron tongs.
"Sit down!" Guapi Xiaomao said, and at the same time, the hand holding the chopsticks turned slightly and pulled her little finger back.
Qiqiu's pain was unbearable, so he could only sit down, with a sad expression on his face.
"The two of you are cruel enough. You eloped and ran away. You also killed your maid, cut off the maid's head, put the headless corpse in Qiqiu's clothes and put it in Qi Xiucheng's house, trying to frame Qi Xiucheng for killing his wife. Guapi Xiaohat shook his head twice, "It's a husband and wife fight, even if you fall in love with someone else, why is it so sinister."
Qiqiu's expression was indignant: "Qi Xiucheng is not dead?"
Guapi Xiaomao snorted coldly and sighed: "Although that maid is the same as you, she is a virgin, and the subtle differences are very big, can't I see it, young master."
Cao Ge tremblingly took out a small stack of silver bills from his arms, there were twenty-two pieces and fifty-two pieces, and slowly put them on the table.
"These taels of silver are more than ten times more than the reward, so I ask the official to raise your hand and let my husband and wife go." He looked begging.
Seeing a stack of silver bills, the eyes of the melon skin cap glowed, and he ate the rice without any thought of eating it. He reached out and counted the silver bills.
"Yes, yes, no respect, please keep it."
"How do you know that I am in short supply every month," Guapi Xiaomao calculated to himself, "My brother's private school tuition should be paid again, and I bought a basket of charcoal for Mr. last month, which made me a little surplus. nothing."
Cao Ge just had a glimmer of hope in his heart, but he saw the melon skin hat changed to a look of infinite melancholy.
"What I'm worried about is that if this matter gets out, I won't even be able to keep the job. I can't kill you both for this money."
Cao Ge and his wife were shocked at the same time, their faces were as pale as paper.
Guapi Xiao Mao still tilted his head, thinking seriously about the possibility of this matter, hesitantly said: "... Shouldn't it be possible?"
Seeing that there was no room for change in this matter, Cao Ge no longer hesitated. He was sitting by the window, and while the melon skin hat was still in a trance, he stood up, turned over the railing, stepped on the roof tiles, and took a few steps forward. ready to jump down...
"Cao Lang!" Qiqiu called anxiously when he saw that Cao Ge was running for his own life.
Before he finished speaking, Cao Ge jumped down without looking back.
Guapi Xiaomao was not in a hurry at all. Wen Ruotai continued to eat food. He raised his eyes and saw Qiqiu's dejected appearance. He shook his head and sighed, "You murdered your husband and eloped with Cao Ge. Now, it seems that he also treats you. But so."
Qiqiu shi sat blankly without saying a word.
Footsteps sounded from the stairs. It wasn't the second shopkeeper, but a tall man with a limping Cao Ge on his hand.
"I said, Master Xia, will you say hello when you throw people down next time!" The tall man slipped Cao Ge up, and said angrily at the little hat.
"I didn't lose it this time, really, he jumped down himself." Guapi Xiao Mao ordered the dishes on the table with chopsticks, "Are you hungry, come and eat."
Coincidentally, the second shopkeeper brought up six bowls of rice tremblingly, and the little melon skin hat handed two bowls to Da Gao, and kept two bowls for himself, and then put a bowl of rice in front of Cao Ge and his wife. He moved his chopsticks and urged, "Hurry up and eat! It takes two days to get back to the capital from here. If you don't eat right now, you won't be able to do anything about being hungry on the road later."
Cao Ge's leg hurt so badly that he screamed. Qiqiu's heart was hurt by him.
"This saury... First use a sharp knife to scrape the fish fillets, then pliers out the thorns." The tall tall man took the fish fillet and chewed it a few times, "It must be simmered in ham soup, chicken soup, and bamboo shoot soup, although it is delicious, But it seems to be overpowering the host. In fact, the saury itself is very delicious, as long as it is brewed with honey wine, added with clear sauce, and steamed."
While he was talking, Xiaoguai had already eaten seven or eight more bites than him, and said with a bulging mouth, "You said that you are a fast catcher and a cook."
"I think so too, but unfortunately my father..." The tall man sighed, took a mouthful of tofu, and then sighed, "The tofu should be soaked three times in well water to get rid of the smell of beans. This tofu can only be soaked twice at most. How can it be served on the table. And this fried bamboo shoots…”
After he slid down the dishes on the table, Guapi Xiaomao had already finished his meal, so he asked the second shopkeeper for tea to rinse his mouth, and then asked the second shopkeeper to wash his face with a basin of water.
"They have a big carriage. We can go back and take the carriage. If we can't get there, we will ride on a horse to eat dirt." Guapi Xiaocap carried a damp cloth towel, "I haven't been off the horse for the past three days, and it's almost torn me apart. "
The wet cloth wiped his cheeks, revealing his already fair and tender skin. He took off his hat, took out a wooden comb from his bosom and dipped it in water, combed his hair again, and braided it.
"You... are you a girl?" Qiqiu was stunned, thinking she was just an exceptionally handsome boy.
Guapi Xiaohat raised his eyebrows: "Why, can't you?"
"No, no, that's not what I meant, I just didn't expect that there is also a daughter's house in the six doors."
"Fuss."
Guapi Xiaomao snorted, her real name was Yuan Jinxia, she was eighteen this year, and entered the public gate two years ago by chance; her companion was called Yang Yue, who was two years older than her. Both of them served as errands in the six gates of the capital.
After simply grooming, putting away the wooden comb, and sitting idle this summer, he looked at the pile of silver notes in a melancholy look, sighed, and then sighed again, causing Yang Yue's skin to get goosebumps.
She said faintly: "Dayang..."
Yang Yue swiftly put the silver note into his arms: "Put it here first, and then register it when you return to the yamen."
This summer, Hyun Ran looked at him with tears in her eyes: "I have eighty old mothers above me, and I have..."
"Your mother is not even forty. When you say this, be careful that she will break your legs." Yang Yue didn't even look at her.
This summer, Da Yi said awe-inspiringly: "Your Majesty understands the righteousness and knows that I have endured humiliation and burdens for five buckets of rice, let alone eighty, even if she is eight thousand years old, it's fine."
Yang Yue nodded: "Your leg is fine, but my father will break my leg. For my leg, I can only ask your 8,000-year-old adult to mourn."
The father in Yang Yue's mouth is Yang Chengwan, who is not only the catcher of Six Doors, but also the immediate boss of this summer and Yang Yue. This summer's kung fu and tracking skills were also taught by Yang Chengwan. For this summer, Yang Chengwan is like a master and a father, and it is absolutely unacceptable to disobey.