When the pears are green

Chapter 216 Fish Silk Book

As the saying goes: Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles. In just half a day, the news that Zhou Zirong found the silk book in the fish's belly spread like wildfire.

For a while, people on the streets were talking about this matter.

At this time, Liu Shulin, who was unaware of the situation, was wandering the street, eating the sesame cakes he got for free from the sesame cake vendor, preparing to try his luck in the gambling house opened by Liu Zhen after the sun sets.

Liu Shulin followed the aroma to a wonton stall, picked an empty seat and sat down, shouting at the stall owner to bring a large bowl of wontons.

The stall owners were a middle-aged couple. When the man saw that the visitor was Liu Shulin, he first forced a smile and responded, then cursed in a low voice: "You bastard, you come to eat for free again."

After hearing this, the woman hurriedly pulled the man's sleeve and asked him to speak more quietly so that Liu Shulin would not hear her and cause trouble.

Liu Shulin stretched his neck to stare at the stall owner who was cooking wontons, thinking that he would get a bowl first after the pot was ready.

The diners around him always disliked Liu Shulin, and some of them deliberately discussed the silk book in the fish belly in front of Liu Shulin.

The tall middle-aged man deliberately asked the man in the black cotton jacket sitting on his left loudly: "Second Brother Li, how could such a coincidence happen in the world? Who would eat the silk book and find it bad? It has to be Zhou Zirong. I heard that the daughter-in-law surnamed Liu was Zhou Zirong's fiancée at the beginning."

After hearing this, Brother Li felt sorry for Zhou Zirong. He had already paid the betrothal gifts, but his fiancée was taken away by someone else.

A young man at another table interrupted after hearing this, "Don't feel sorry for Zhou Zirong, big brother. I was there when Zhou Zirong found the strip of cloth in his mouth. The restaurant owner was not there at the time, and it was the original owner who spent thirty taels to buy the strip of cloth from Zhou Zirong. The original owner said that someone must be playing tricks and that they couldn't let the Liu family get into trouble over a piece of cloth that they didn't know where it came from, so he burned the strip of cloth with a fire stick in front of everyone. If I had known this would happen, I should have gritted my teeth and ordered a steamed fish, then maybe the thirty taels would have been mine."

After the young man finished speaking, he kept sighing, feeling that he had wasted thirty taels of silver in vain.

Liu Shulin, who was sitting alone at a table, listened with great interest. It was not until the three people fell silent that he realized belatedly that the man named Liu in their conversation was himself.

Liu Shulin walked up to the young man angrily, grabbed his collar and asked him to repeat what he said.

The young man knew Liu Shulin's bad reputation, so he quickly told Liu Shulin everything he had seen and heard from others.

"Master Liu, I have told you everything I know. Please forgive me." The young man wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked Liu Shulin to beg for mercy.

Liu Shulin suddenly let go of his hand, and the young man fell to the ground. The middle-aged man at the next table and Brother Li Er quickly helped him up.

"I really underestimated that guy named Hu. He dared to play dirty tricks on me. I really think I'm a vegetarian just because of his grandfather." Liu Shulin's eyes were blazing with fire. He raised his hand and overturned the table, and the dishes and chopsticks on the table fell to the ground.

The middle-aged man wanted to step forward and argue with Liu Shulin, but was hurriedly stopped by Li Erge and the young man. The young man whispered to him, "Don't be impulsive. Think about your family. The stall owner didn't move, so why should you step out?"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man looked at the stall owner couple who were still standing by the pot. Although they both looked angry, they did not step forward to stop Liu Shulin. They sighed and loosened their clenched fists.

After Liu Shulin left, the three middle-aged men apologized to the stall owner and his wife, saying that Liu Shulin would not have overturned the table if they had not been discussing the silk book.

"Don't feel bad. A big bowl of wontons is more valuable than a single bowl." The woman cheerfully gave each person one cent less for the wontons. The three of them smiled and said that they would visit the wonton stall often in the future.

Liu Shulin went to Liu's house first and was politely stopped by the doorman.

"Liu Cheng, I am your master's nephew. If you don't let me in, be careful or I will ask my uncle to replace you." Liu Shulin shouted at the doorman. The scar at the corner of his eye made him look even more ferocious.

The doorman just smiled and told Liu Shulin: "Of course I dare not stop you, but if you are not allowed to come in, it was the young master and the old master who said so. Please don't embarrass me. You still have a chance to talk to the young master and the old master."

Liu Shulin had no choice but to leave, wondering where he could go to meet Liu Yi. He then went to the gambling house, pawnshop and Huamianlou under the name of the Liu family, but was stopped at all of them for various reasons.

"They are all a bunch of dogs who look down on others." Liu Shulin cursed as he walked home, kicking the gate of the courtyard violently.

When the neighbors heard the noise, they went out to check. When they saw that it was Liu Shulin who was going crazy, they all went home quietly.

The woman behind the gate was pale and pulled out the bolt with trembling hands. Liu Shulin kicked the woman on the leg and she fell to the ground screaming in pain.

"You opened the door for me so late, do you want me to freeze to death outside?" Liu Shulin said as he kicked the woman. The woman numbly maintained the same movement, just hoping that this beating would end as soon as possible.

After venting his anger, Liu Shulin squatted down, pinched the woman's chin, and forced the woman to look at him.

Drops of tears flowed from the woman's peach blossom eyes, slid across her delicate skin and fell on her moon-white short jacket.

Liu Shulin reached out and touched the scars of varying sizes on the woman's forehead. The woman instinctively turned her head to the side, holding her head and waiting for the storm.

Liu Shulin released his hand that was pinching the woman's chin and said to her in a rare gentle tone, "Wang Xiaofang, I was not nice to you in the past, please don't hold it against me. I'm in trouble today, and I want you to help me."

"How can a woman like me help you?" Wang Xiaofang quickly got up and calmly took a few steps towards the open gate.

Liu Shulin looked at Wang Xiaofang's graceful figure and replied with a half-smile: "It is because you are a woman that you can help me. Tomorrow, wash and dress up and go meet Liu Yi."

"The boss is really good at joking. Young Master Liu has many wives and concubines. How could he be interested in a country woman like me?" Wang Xiaofang smiled self-deprecatingly and bit her red lips with her pearly teeth, which made Liu Shulin eager to make a move.

Liu Shulin reached out to hug Wang Xiaofang, but Wang Xiaofang smiled and waved him away. Wang Xiaofang boldly pointed at the courtyard door and explained to Liu Shulin, who was about to get angry: "Boss, the door is still open. I'll go close it."

"I'll go back to my room and wait for you. When you're done, come in quickly." Liu Shulin was in a good mood and turned back to his room.

Liu Shulin waited in the room, but Wang Xiaofang never came in. He walked into the yard angrily, wanting to teach Wang Xiaofang a lesson, but the yard door was still open, but Wang Xiaofang was nowhere to be seen.

"Damn woman, if I find you, I will break your legs." Liu Shulin cursed as he walked towards the entrance of the alley with a lantern in his hand. He was furious and wanted to break into Zhou Zirong's house to look for someone, but was beaten out by the Zhou brothers.

When Song Li delivered bean sprouts to the restaurant the next day, she took the opportunity to ask Kai Xin and Zhang Er about some things about the silk book.

Happy told Song Li everything he knew. After listening, Zhang Er added mysteriously, "Liu Shulin was beaten by Zhou Zirong's brothers last night because Liu Shulin's wife ran away. Liu Shulin suspected that it was related to Zhou Zirong."

"Did you find it at Zhou's house?" Kai Xin asked hurriedly.

Zhang Er shook his head and went on to say that Liu Shulin was beaten up before he could even enter the Zhou family’s gate.

Happy was a little puzzled, and scratched his head and asked Zhang Er: "Brother Zhang, why did the Zhou brothers dare not stand up when Liu Shulin forced his marriage to Zhou Zirong's fiancée, but now they dare to beat Liu Shulin."

"It should be that the Zhou brothers think that Liu Zhen and Liu Yi will abandon Liu Shulin. After all, the fact that Liu Shulin failed to enter the Liu family yesterday has also been leaked." Zhang Er explained to Kai Xin while weighing bean sprouts for Song Li.

When Zhang Er finished weighing the bean sprouts, Hu Zhimin walked into the backyard with an unhappy face.

Song Li noticed that Hu Zhimin's eyes were red and his eyes were blue, so she asked Hu Zhimin if he had insomnia recently.

Hu Zhimin shook his head and asked Song Li if he wanted to supply tofu to the restaurant in the next one or two days.

"Mr. Hu, the matter of the fish-transmitted silk book is now widely spread. If I supply tofu to the restaurant now, people will inevitably notice me, so I want to wait four or five days." Song Li didn't want to act hastily. It is said that those with the greatest interests are suspicious. She was afraid that someone would put this account on her.

Hu Zhimin nodded in agreement. After Song Li left, he yawned and told Kai Xin to persuade Liu Ruyu and Hu Zhijian to return to the county town today no matter what. He didn't want to be tortured and unable to sleep in the middle of the night.

Kai Xin lowered her head and retorted: "Boss, no matter how I persuade her, the Second Young Master's wife doesn't leave the room, and the Second Young Master basically doesn't come out either, so I can't see them."

"Oh..." Hu Zhimin sighed and resigned himself to leaving the restaurant, leaving the restaurant to Hu Zhijian to choose in advance.

Two days later, Song Yue, who had gone to learn how to tie knots from Ruyi, hurried back to the Jiang family and told Song Li with a pale face that someone had dug up a skeleton in a field in Zhanggou Village.