Daily life of slaying demons in the government

Chapter 4 Common People and Common Things
After listening to Wang Xiang's recollection, Yang Qian thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to your house and take a look."

"Ah? Oh! I'll take you there right away!"

Since he had received such a huge benefit, Yang Qian couldn't just do it half-heartedly. Even if he couldn't find Wang Xiang's father in the end, he would at least try his best to find him.

Since we didn't go far from the village, it was only a few steps to turn back.

Wang Xiang's home is in the northwest of Wangzhuang. It has a large courtyard with archery targets, stone locks, bamboo spears and other tools.

In addition to Wang Xiang, there are two other people in the family: a child of eight or nine years old and a woman in her early forties.

When the woman in the family saw Yang Qian in a black robe with red patterns, she was a little timid. But when she heard that he was here to investigate the disappearance of Wang Xiang's father, she was not afraid of anything anymore and followed him. She answered whatever Yang Qian asked.

"Xiangzi's father served in the frontier army in his early years. He killed a monster and was rewarded. Later, he returned home and became a hunter."

"The fire fox was actually hunted at the end of last year. It has been hidden at home. Recently, Xiangzi's father is planning to find a wife for him, so Xiangzi's father is going to Sandao City to sell this skin."

"Xiangzi's father said that this leather is very valuable and must not be known to others, so after he got it, he has been taking care of it by himself behind closed doors. He went to the city alone that day, and no one else went with him."

"Which road did you take? This should be the road to the east, right? Because I remember it was drizzling that day, and only the road to the east was paved with gravels, making it easier to walk on, and it was also the closest road."

Yang Qian listened carefully and took a quick look around Wang Xiang's house. He didn't find anything wrong with what he saw or heard.

Wang Xiang's father, Wang Youye, probably had been a soldier before, so he not only understood the principle of not showing off one's wealth, but was also very careful in everything he did, hiding the piece of fire fox fur that he had obtained by chance very well.

From this point of view, the problem does not seem to lie with the Wang family itself.

"How do you sell mountain products on a daily basis?"

Wang Xiang was more familiar with this aspect than his mother. He stood aside and answered, "Generally, people in the city come to collect the ordinary ones. The better ones will carry them into the city on their backs and sell them out. Generally, medicinal materials are sent to Anqing Hall or Jingci Hall, smoked meat is sent to Kangxin Building or Honglinfang, and furs are sent to Chengkun Leather Shop."

“Why do you only deliver fur goods to one company?”

"Master Yang, the only fur shop in Sandao City that can sell furs far is Chengkun Leather Shop, so they have the widest channels, the biggest profits, and the highest purchase prices. Other shops are very picky and bargain hard for furs."

"Chengkun leather shop. The one owned by Liu Chengkun in Liujiazhuang?"

"Yes, Master Yang, that's the one."

Yang Qian suddenly thought what a coincidence. The richest man in Liujiazhuang was on the list he wanted to secretly check.

"Okay, that's all for today. I'll come back to you if I have any questions."

"Master Yang, please take more care of me. My wife can't just disappear without any explanation. Even if she is gone, there must be a letter of reappearance."

Yang Qian nodded without answering. He agreed to help find someone, but he couldn't give any guarantees.

After leaving Wangzhuang, Yang Qian returned to the yamen before lunch and had a quick lunch.

As soon as he put the rice bowl on his shoulders, two constables wearing the same badge as Yang Qian came over and made faces at him, looking very obscene.

"What?" Yang Qian glanced around with a smile.

"Hey, I heard that there's a group of pretty new girls coming to Honglinfang. They're amazing. Are you free tonight, Mr. Yang? Let's go play together?" "Don't worry, you won't pay this time. We'll pay!"

The one on the left is Wang Shigui, and the one on the right is Chen Dong. They were both transferred from yamen runners to constables at the same time as Yang Qian. They are both in their twenties and single. They drank with Yang Qian many times and have some friendship.

However, compared to Yang Qian's restraint, even the money spent on alcohol and sex was mainly for the purpose of mixing with the crowd and building relationships. These two people were very extravagant and often asked Yang Qian for help in an emergency. But there were still some things that were fair and honest.

He thought that the two people who came over with a lewd expression on their faces must be out of money again and wanted to borrow money from him, but when he heard this, Yang Qian became even more suspicious.

How could these two people, who were always tight on money at the end of the month, have the money to invite him to a place like Honglinfang where he could spend money for fun?
Yang Qian knew there must be another reason. He didn't say anything, just ate his meal by himself, leaving Wang Shigui and Chen Dong aside.

"Hehe, I heard that there is a new girl named Jin Yaner in Honglinfang. Her waist and hips are absolutely amazing, like a bee waist and peach, sometimes thin, sometimes round, and she shakes them with great skill. Even the strongest man can't resist for even a moment!"

"Tsk tsk, it's a good opportunity for us brothers to go and broaden our horizons. Isn't Master Yang known as the best dog kidney in Sandao City? Do you dare to fight?"

The words sound better than the songs, but what comes out of these two people's mouths is always full of dishonesty.

Yang Qian continued without saying a word.

Seeing that Yang Qian had already finished half of the food in the bowl, Chen Dong and Wang Shigui became a little anxious.

"Yang Qian, why don't you say something?"

"What? You don't feel like brothers anymore after not seeing each other for a few days? You won't even go out to play with me when I invite you?"

Having said this, Yang Qian smacked his lips, picked up the bowl of rice soup beside him and took a big gulp.

"I'm too lazy to listen to your roundabout talk. Just get to the point. Why are you beating around the bush?" After saying that, Yang Qian lowered his head and continued eating.

Wang Shigui and Chen Dong's faces changed for a while, and finally Wang Shigui sighed and said, "Okay, you have to help me and Chen Dong this time. Otherwise, we may both be stripped of our black skins."

Yang Qian paused while digging for rice, turned his head and looked at the two of them, surprised, "What do you mean?!"

Afterwards, the three of them came to the alley behind the yamen, which was quiet and deserted.

"Alright? There's no one here. Tell me, what did you two do?"

Yang Qian was very curious. In his opinion, although Chen Dong and Wang Shigui were a little out of tune, they were not stupid. On the contrary, they were both smart people. They knew what to do and what not to do. Logically speaking, they shouldn't make any big mistakes.

Chen Dong and Wang Shigui looked at each other, and then Wang Shigui spoke
"Alas. Half a month ago, a new girl came to Honglinfang, and we went to join in the fun, but we bumped into the head performer of Honglinfang lighting a lantern to welcome guests. Because we drank too much, we got into an argument with him about lighting the lantern. As a result, we didn't have enough money, so we lost our minds and pawned our badges to Honglinfang as the lantern fee."

Hearing this, Yang Qian's face was already a little tense. He was usually very sensible, but that was not always the case when he drank too much.

"and then?"

"Then, when we took the money to redeem our badges, we were told that they had never seen our badges. We didn't even know there was a rule of pawning badges in exchange for money.

We two dare not make this public. But we can't do anything about it in Honglinfang. You are the only one in the government office that we can trust. We need your help to find a solution."

(End of this chapter)