smile to heart

===========================

The next day, rumors spread in Liuxi Town, saying that the young master of the Jia family was beaten while drunk, but he didn't know who it was. Jia Hai searched the city like a mad dog.It's a pity that no one was found, so he went to the theater to make a fuss. Coincidentally, there were people from the capital who were listening to the opera that day, so he didn't dare to disturb the situation, so he left after saying something harsh.

People watched the drama quite a lot, but there were also those who admired this person. He was probably a chivalrous man with high martial arts skills who could take down a bully, and there were different opinions for a while.

"Heh, a scholar has become a hero in people's mouth. It shows how deeply the people in the town have been persecuted." Qi Zhong shook his head sarcastically.

"Isn't the scholar's move a resistance of being oppressed for too long?" Mu Yun asked.

He froze for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

After more than ten days, Jia Hai seemed to be more conscious. Remembering what happened that night, he hurried to the unopened theater early in the morning and yelled at him.

The old man who opened the door was the old man sweeping the floor. He was trying to ask a friendly question, but he was pushed to the ground.

"Quickly search, digging three feet into the ground will find that kid. I still don't believe it, my young master has grown up so much, how could he be beaten for nothing?"

As she spoke, she sat down at the table, Chu Yan hurried out after hearing the servant's report, her face was cold, her brows were frowning, and she suppressed her anger.

"Oh, beauty, you came in time, we haven't done what we did last time, you wait, wait until I catch that kid, beat him to death, and then take you home, how about it? Hahaha."

Chu Yan didn't speak, but glared at the man coldly.

"Why are you staring at me? I, I tell you, I'm going to find that kid out today. Don't think I don't know. You hid him. That kid is a waste. He only knows how to hide. Nothing."

Jia Hai spoke out of breath, threatening others aggressively.

After hearing this, Chu Yan slammed the porcelain bowl on the table to the ground.There was an ear-piercing crackling sound, and the shards of broken porcelain scratched Jia Hai's face, blood was seen immediately, and he screamed in pain.

"roll."

Inside the house, seeing this, Yang Zhan was about to impulsively go out to help, but was stopped by the joking woman that day.

"You still want to go out? You are looking for death if you go out. The class leader said, let me watch you, don't mess around."

"But that beast doesn't know what to do, and wants to hurt Yan'er."

Yang Zhan was angry, but now he was wearing a costume and heavy makeup, so he couldn't tell if he was a man or a woman, and the searchers came, but they didn't find it.

"It's not like you are doing this now, it's not because you provoked that Jia Hai and made the team leader suffer."

The woman's words made Yang Zhan completely discouraged, and he could only watch everything outside the house.

An exasperated Jia Hai was about to fight back, but the arrester came back and called out respectfully, "Master, the search is over."

"Where is the man, bring it up. I will kill him with my own hands."

Mistakenly thinking that he had succeeded, Jia Hai sat back and prepared to deal with the poor scholar in front of Chu Yan.

"Uh... I didn't find the person you mentioned."

After the little servant finished speaking in fear, Jia Hai stomped his feet angrily.

"Waste, waste."

"Master, it's true not."

The boy said aggrievedly, and Jia Hai became even more furious: "Then smash this place for me, I want to see if that kid will come out on his own initiative."

A group of people were about to smash the field, but someone shouted outside the door: "The people from the government are here."

Hearing this, the boys stopped and didn't dare to do it again, but Jia Hai was not afraid, and said, "What are you afraid of? My family is powerful and powerful, and the emperor and I can't control me, hurry up and smash it."

After hesitating for a long time, a man with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks stepped forward and said: "Young master, this county magistrate is new, and the master invited him to dinner a few days ago, so it's not easy to make trouble now."

When Jia Hai heard that his old man was being moved out, his face panicked, most of his momentum disappeared, and he had to leave in despair.

Farce curtain call.

Qi Zhong and the others watched Jia Hai running away in embarrassment outside, wishing they could spit.

"No wonder it's called Hai, it looks like a pig, and its brain is also a pig's brain. It's a piece of shit." Min Zhi pouted disdainfully.

Qi Zhong asked sadly: "Is the management system in Dijiang so chaotic? The county magistrate is not as good as the rich gentry in the area?"

"The sky is high and the emperor is far away. Once an evil force takes shape, it is difficult to eradicate it. It is easy for you to say, the territory is vast, and everyone is so obedient. How can there be so many things."

Min Zhi had a look on her face that she was used to.

After hearing this, Qi Zhong felt even worse: "Hey, Brother Yun, wouldn't it be reasonable for you to manage Shangjiang from now on?"

Mu Yun lowered his eyes to think, and remained silent.

……

Since the bully Jia Hai left that day, the theater has resumed a booming business. I don't know if it's out of sympathy or what, more people come to the theater, and they often get a lot of money.

But Chu Yan knows that unless the wicked die, they will never give up. In the afternoon, she was keeping accounts in the room, and there were a few sheep bleating outside the door. She went out and saw that the sweeper was leading a little lamb in. building.

"Where did this lamb come from?"

The old man straightened the rope, and replied: "The oddball scholar gave it to me. The lamb is obedient and easy to raise. Feed some grass and send it away."

"Yang Zhan?" She murmured in a daze, looking at the lamb lying on the ground with a red string tied around its neck, looking at her with dark eyes.

"Yeah, he said that it's not easy for him to enter the theater now, and he was afraid of causing trouble for us, so he entrusted me to send it."

Chu Yan's face darkened slightly, and she smiled again: "Then it's hard work for Uncle Yang to help take care of it."

After the third watch that night, when almost everyone in the town had fallen asleep, Qi Zhong and the others stayed outside the building to observe the truth about the fire in the theatre.

"I heard from people in the town that tonight should be the time when the theater building is on fire, but the third watch has passed, and the sky is almost dawn, and there is not even a spark." Qi finally leaned against the wall, his eyelids drooping .

"You still expect other people's houses to be burned?" Min Zhi said angrily.

Qi Zhong stared and said, "I, of course not."

The two stopped arguing, and when they tilted their heads, Qi Zhong gently wiped the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve. At this moment, someone suddenly handed him a plain handkerchief, and he knew who it was without even looking up. , habitually took the hand to wipe the sweat, and reminded in a low voice: "I can hold on for a while, don't expose me."

Mu Yun glanced at the other people beside him from the corner of his eye, knowing Qi Zhong's intentions, he silently agreed.

"Look, there seems to be someone there."

Fang Yanxiao didn't say a few words along the way, but when they were distracted, she always kindly reminded them, which earned them a lot of goodwill.

Everyone looked towards the theater building, and saw a group of men in black carrying oil drums, pouring oil around the theater building continuously, and all the exits were poured with excessive fuel. Once the fire broke out, there was almost no possibility of escape.

"Master Jia, the young ones have followed your instructions and poured water inside and out of the theater to ensure that they cannot escape."

That day, the boy with the sharp mouth and monkey cheeks reported to Jia Hai who was standing at the door laughing wildly.

Jia Hai's face was a little gray, and he said displeasedly, "Huh? Is this gone?"

"Oh, I made a mistake. Except for Leader Chu, everyone else will be burned to death."

"Young Master Jia is indeed extremely clever. He set fire to the theater building in the middle of the night without anyone noticing it. When the fire was almost burnt down in the early morning, he came to put out the fire and saved Troupe Master Chu. At that time, no one would suspect You, you will still beautify you, and the beauty you will embrace will kill three birds with one stone."

The boy was flattering again, boasting that Jia Hai laughed wildly.

"Your boy will come up with an idea. When you go back, you will get more tipping money."

"Hey, thank you, Young Master Jia, I will definitely do a good job for you."

After getting the benefit, the boy nodded hurriedly, with a sinister smile.

"People's hearts are poisonous, there is no grievance or enmity, just for some money, they have to make plans to harm others. They really should go to hell."

Min Zhi looked at the disgusting look of the master and servant, his eyes were full of jealousy.

After a while, the theater building was ablaze and black smoke was everywhere.

Chu Yan was choked awake by a puff of smoke, and when she opened her eyes, she saw that the house was full of smoke, and the fire was spreading downstairs.Everyone in the troupe woke up and wanted to escape, but there was no way out, so they could only be surrounded by the fire and endure the burning pain.A burst of cries for help reached Chu Yan's ears. She was so anxious that she was about to step down the stairs, but someone hit the back of the head severely and knocked her out. It was taken.

Outside the theater building, everyone couldn't bear to watch this scene.The people in the theater were burnt to death alive and screamed, but they were suppressed by the sound of fire.And standing on the other side is the arsonist Jia Hai, who is now full of flesh, laughing excitedly at all of this.

"Things that are not as good as animals can still laugh."

Min Zhi was resentful, cursing angrily, and suddenly noticed a new black shadow at the door.

"Hey, isn't the person standing at the door the scholar from before? Why is he here?"

Everyone looked back, but saw the scholar shouted a few times outside, then gritted his teeth and rushed into the fire without hesitation.

"The people inside have been burned to ashes, and it won't help if he runs in." Min Zhi frowned and sighed.

Qi Mo shook his head emotionally: "Hey, maybe it's because I want to be a pair of desperate mandarin ducks, and I don't want to be with you for the rest of my life, but to sleep together when I die."

"But the class leader has already been rescued, and he went in to add another life."

Min Zhi's words were dialectical, and what he called Qi Zhong in an instant did not feel poignant, but added to the stupidity of a scholar.

"He doesn't know that no one is inside. Under normal circumstances, when seeing a loved one in danger, another person will rush to protect her regardless of their own..."

Qi Zhong continued his aesthetic theory of love, his eyes slowly wandered aside, and under the indifferent eyes of everyone, he added: "Uh, at least that's what's written in the script."

Yang Zhan rushed into the fire scene, endured the pain of the thick smoke choking his throat, and called Chu Yan heart-piercingly. Except for the ruthless roar of the fire, no living person responded.

Seeing that Chu Yan got it, Jia Hai from outside ran over directly, and the young man who gave advice stepped forward again, saying, "Hey, master, the fire is almost over, we should 'put out the fire'."

Jia Hai didn't care about the life and death of other people in the theatre, he didn't care what the boy said, nodded and left.

Dongfang Jiangbai, the government officials also discovered the fire and sent people to put out the fire.

At daylight, the fire was extinguished, and the whole theater building was burned down to a pile of black frames. The once bustling stage was now ashes, surrounded by smoke, clusters of sporadic flames, and extremely deserted. .

Within a few days, people in the town were lamenting the burning of the theater troupe. At this time, a happy event came from the wealthy Jia family, saying that the youngest son Jia Hai was going to take a concubine, and the married woman was about to It was Chu Yan, the theater troupe leader who escaped from the fire.

If it was the past, the people in the town would have to complain: It was Jia Hai who was domineering and ruined a good girl.But now, no one knows that the theater was on fire, and it was the Jia family who first discovered it and came forward to put out the fire. Although they failed to save the fire, they also saved a life and left an empty body.Even the government issued notices, praising Jia Hai.

Who will take care of the reasons for the unprovoked flooding of the theater building?Who would care about those innocent foreigners who were burned to death?Who would think that all these seemingly logical stories would be arranged in advance?

No.People only care about the "good stories" that are passed on from time to time. They would rather believe that the wicked will be rewarded once they become good, and they will not pay attention to those who have always been kind.

As a result, Jia Hai became a winner in life, not only possessing beauties, but also making himself look good.But he didn't choose the right day for the wedding.

That day was the day when people in the town offered sacrifices to the mountain god, and a grand and mighty ceremony of supporting spirits was held outside the mountain.

Hearing the news, everyone rushed to observe and found that the ceremony had already begun. The ceremony was quite cruel and required a living person to act as a ghost. Every time he took a step, he would be stabbed with a knife and blood flowed to show respect for the gods.

"There is still this kind of witchcraft?"

Qi Zhong frowned, looking at the bloody knives, he couldn't bear to look away.

Everyone was about to follow the team of shackles up the mountain and investigate carefully, but the surrounding scenery suddenly became blurred, and after a moment of distortion, they returned to reality.

The empty building was deserted and silent.

"The old man sweeping the floor disappeared, the voice stopped, and the illusion disappeared naturally."

Qi Zhong looked around, only to see a bamboo broom in the corridor, and explained lightly.

"It turned out to be like this. I thought you were making trouble again." Min Zhi unnaturally turned her back.

Mu Yun approached the broom, looked carefully at the ground, and found that there was still dust, and the branches and leaves were scattered. It was obvious that he left before finishing sweeping, and walked in a panic, so the broom was casually thrown on the ground.

"Hey, Miss Biao, why don't you tell me what happened to the Fushi?"

After leaving the theater, Qi Zhong was still curious about what he saw just now, so he couldn't help asking one more question.

"Different places have different methods. The one we saw just now is more effective, but the price is a bit heavy." Min Zhi couldn't help hissing as he thought of the man covered in blood.

"Then why are there still people who are willing to send themselves to those knife-edges, not afraid of death?" Qi Zhong asked again.

"The people who can do phantoms are mostly the humblest, the lowest class people. They haven't felt any warmth and kindness in this world, and their hearts have been cold for a long time. Even if they don't do phantoms, they might starve to death or freeze to death that day. But if you do the ghost body and survive in the end, you can get a lot of money and become a person blessed by the gods, and your blessings will last forever." Min Zhi continued to explain.

"What if you don't survive?"

"If you don't survive, you will die. You will say that you are an unlucky person, and people will think that it is the gods who blame you. They will not collect this person's body. At the end of the body, they will be covered with knives. Step by step. On the mountain, until they die, no one will pay attention to them, because they are born humble, and this is the condition for being a ghost..."

"Hey, such a cruel ceremony, really..."

"absurd!"

Before Qi Zhong finished speaking, Mu Yun beside him had a serious expression and an aggressive tone.

"Even if people are like ants, they shouldn't be trampled on like this. People in the world are so ignorant, gathering people to kill people, and slandering the gods, what is the meaning of gods?"

Qi Zhong nodded in agreement: "That's right. But why is this technique of holding up spirits so effective? Looking at the expressions of those people, it doesn't seem like it's the first time they've done this kind of thing."

"Maybe there are no gods, only haunted monsters, who want to eat some of the fireworks in the world."

Mu Yun didn't see the final efficacious effect in the illusion, and he didn't know the reason, but based on experience, he felt that it should be a monster.

"Also a possibility."

Seeing everyone discussing on the side, Fang Yanxiao took the initiative to avoid suspicion, retreated to the edge, and refrained from stealing information for the time being.

The streets are still lively, and the flower sellers' stalls are particularly colorful.

Qi Zhong was walking, but suddenly his expression changed, he rushed through the crowd in a panic, ran to a woman's side, and shouted happily: "Sister Atang."

Hearing a familiar call at first, Fang Yanxiao, who was originally distracted, suddenly raised her eyes in surprise, and looked at the person in front of the flower stand.

The woman in the crabapple-colored dress turned around in confusion, holding a fresh pink and white crabapple in her hand, and asked strangely, "Who are you? I don't know you."

"And I don't have a younger brother, so don't come here and admit it."

The woman mistakenly thought that he had bad intentions, and deliberately used words to abduct him, and her tone was extremely displeased.

Mu Yun rushed over, saw the person looked disappointed, turned his head to the woman, and said politely: "Sorry for the trouble, we admitted the wrong person."

After negotiating, after the misunderstanding was resolved, Qi finally suppressed his disappointment and looked at the flowers on the street. In order to comfort him, Mu Yun diverted his attention, and Wen Sheng asked him which flowers he likes are beautiful and suitable for growing.

The two chatted for a while at the booth.

"What was he doing just now?" Fang Yanxiao asked suddenly.

Min Zhi was not surprised, and kindly explained: "What else can I do? Let's find his sister. He asked all the way here from Shangjiang, and it's like this every time. When he sees people wearing begonia flower clothes or begonia flower headdresses, As long as the woman related to her elder sister A Tang, regardless of the three or seventy-one, she will pull her to recognize her relatives, and she will end up with countless supercilious looks."

Fang Yanxiao seemed to be shocked by these words, her eyes were clouded with mist, and after a long time, she asked, "His sister's name is Atang."

On the surface, it seems to be asking, but it is in a declarative tone.

"Yes. After his sister got lost, she used this name every day to find someone. But I don't think there is much hope of finding her."

"why?"

"Think about it, just have a nickname, and it's been so many years, how can you know what she looks like? Besides, it's possible that she is no longer alive, or she might have missed it on a street... Oh, don't talk nonsense with him, he is so obsessed, if you let him know this, you will probably be angry for a few days."

As Min Zhi talked, she leaned closer to Fang Yanxiao's ear and whispered, the moment she raised her eyes, she saw tears running down her face and her eyes were empty.

"Hey, you, what's the matter with you?"

"I'm also looking for my younger brother. Knowing the pain of separation, I'm really sad."

Fang Yanxiao realized her abnormality, hurriedly wiped away her tears, calmly recovered her expression, and said something that seemed to be true and false.

Min Zhi's eyes were wide-eyed, she really thought she was sad, and said sympathetically: "Well, you really feel sorry for each other..."