home in the end

Chapter 244 Investigation

A half-grown boy listened to the people in the tea shop whispering about what happened to the Li family, drank the tea in the bowl in one gulp, threw down two pennies, picked up the sack on the ground, and walked towards the South Alley. No one paid special attention to him. The young man was wearing patched clothes and his palms were rough. It looked like he was used to rough work. In Nanxiang, such people abound!
Nanxiang is the poorest place in Fuzhou!

The young man walked through the rows of wooden sheds, as if he didn't smell the stench from the street, walked for a while, and stopped at the innermost end of the alley. This place is not as good as those wooden sheds. The little house that got up, the young man had to bend down to get in.

The young man threw the sack outside and bent in. He saw the old man lying on the haystack with his eyes closed.

The young man shouted in surprise, "Grandpa".

The old man nodded, and asked kindly: "Brother Xiang is back, how many days did your foreman give you this time?"

While packing up his things, Brother Xiang said, "Grandpa, I won't go out this time when I come back."

The old man frowned slightly, and Brother Xiang explained: "The foreman said that it has not been peaceful recently, and there are not many people on the pier now, and the foreman is also worried about his family, so he is rushing back."

"Your foreman's family is good, and there are three or four boys to help, so there is no need for him to worry about it. Did you get fired for causing trouble? Coax me with this?"

"No, there is a lot of noise outside now, saying that the Li family is going to take people from the fishing village for the head. The foreman's home is by the sea, and it is far away from the city. I heard that when the foreman was young, his village was used for the head. , this time I ran back as soon as I heard about it, thinking that the whole family would move to the village.”

The old man's eyes lit up, and he tried his best to prop up his upper body, "Grandpa hasn't been out for a long time, and he doesn't know anything about the outside world, come here and tell Grandpa."

The young man sat next to his grandfather and told everything he heard. Although there were very few, the old man still noticed something. Looking at the ignorant grandson in front of him, he felt sore. This is the only blood of their old Zhang family. !

"This is someone who can't see it..."

"What did grandpa say?" The old man's voice was so low that Brother Xiang couldn't hear it clearly for a moment.

"It's nothing, good boy. You not only need to support you and grandpa, but also earn money to buy medicine for grandpa. Now that you're back, grandpa's medicine may run out!"

Brother Xiang was silent for a while, then said: "Grandpa, don't worry, grandson will go out to find a job tomorrow, and when he makes money, he will be able to cure grandpa's illness!"

"Okay, okay!" With tears in his eyes, the old man looked at his grandson with relief, and said after a long time, "You don't have to go out to find a job. Grandpa also knows a few old friends who happen to have some jobs in their hands. You just go with them." .”

Brother Xiang hesitated, "If I go with them, what will Grandpa do?"

"Grandpa is very popular here. The neighbors will take care of me. You just go and repay them after earning money!"

Brother Xiang couldn't hold back his grandfather, so he had to agree. Brother Xiang returned home in the morning and only stayed with his grandfather for one night, and was taken away the next day. This time, the old man seemed very reluctant to part with him. The things were given to him, and he was sent to the entrance of the alley.

What the young man didn't know was that after he turned and left, his new boss knelt down and kowtowed three times to the old man. Don't come back!"

Most of the accompanying team are half-grown young men, and there are even children of a few years old. Brother Xiang looks at these people with some doubts, what can such a team do?Grandpa shouldn't be cheated, these are human traffickers, right?Brother Xiang was immediately wary of this group of people.

But along the way, these people are very good to these children, and they are also very good to him!Brother Xiang became more and more confused.

The old man turned around, but instead of going back to his own residence, he went to another part of the alley where several shirtless fishermen gathered. Seeing the old man walking slowly, he quickly got up and helped him, and the old man took advantage of the opportunity to sit down He sat on the stool, smoked a cigarette, and said in a hoarse voice after a long time: "Check out all the movements of the Li family from March to April, especially the eldest son of the Li family, who he met and what he did. Find out, there are a few nearby islands, and see if there is anything wrong."

One of them nodded to a few people, and those people left with their burdens.

The old man took another puff of tobacco, and said: "Find a way to get online with the Jiang family. They have high-ranking officials and nobles. We have news, as long as we cooperate..."

The eyes of the few people lit up, and they looked at the old man eagerly. The old man's eyes were reddish, and he choked up and said, "The condition is that we have to go home, to our own home!"

A few men who had always been hard-hearted and hard-hearted suddenly burst into tears!
The headed man next to the old man also had red eyes, but he tilted his head slightly to keep his tears from shedding!
The old man knocked out the cigarette in the pipe, "After a few days, they will leave Fujian, and you will send the rest of the children away. The girls will be shed. If there is too much noise, it will arouse suspicion!" Mouth said: "Leave some, cover..."

The faces of the men were somewhat sad, but they still nodded in response.

After seeing off everyone, the old man looked at the glowing red sunset in the sky, and sighed: "The sunset at home is still beautiful! At that time, the whole sea was red..."

"Old man, where do you think the Li family will put their things? Can the Jiang family agree to our terms?" Even if they agree, does the Jiang family have the ability?The middle-aged people did not dare to say this sentence, this is their wish for decades...

The old man withdrew his gaze, "If you want to avoid other people's eyeliner, those few deserted islands outside, people in the Jiang family and the capital can't find it, but we can't find people who have lived in the sea for several lifetimes? The Jiang family is just a bridge, and it depends on the people behind them, if it is the Marquis of Changping, the chances will be greater!" If not, the people left behind may never see their hometown again!

……

Liang Yimei brewed a cup of ginseng tea for Hou Yunping, and asked, "Is there still no news about those ships?"

Hou Yunping shook his head, "Now that this matter has come out, there are many cases of impeachment against Li Wu in the court, but he would rather be accused of dereliction of duty than bring back those hundreds of officers and soldiers. One of his servants went to Fujian..." Hou Yunping's mouth twitched slightly, "But Shen Shishi is in charge."

Liang Yimei was a little surprised, "Isn't Mr. Shen an official from Guangdong?" Why did the management go to Fujian?

Hou Yunping laughed a little and said: "Shen Shishi traveled to Fujian and heard that Lin Ge'er's goods were also robbed, so he immediately ran to the Fujian Yamen, and now he is staying at the Fujian Inspectorate."

Liang Yimei opened her mouth wide, "Then there are now two inspectors in Fujian?"

"Shen Shishi knows how to keep a sense of proportion, he won't care about these things in Fujian."

"But he's a high official in Guangdong province..." Liang Yimei knew that Shen Shishi was a little unreliable, but she didn't expect him to leave Guangdong behind. Liang Yimei was a little worried about Liang Yimu. Father-in-law, I don't know if others will think that he is as unreliable as his father-in-law.

Hou Yunping changed the subject and said: "Mrs. Li and Grandma Li have come to Beijing. If they come to you, don't promise anything." After a pause, he added: "Speak to your second sister-in-law too."

Cao Keyuan?Liang Yimei raised her eyebrows, she is not a begging person, but thinking of the temperament of the second sister-in-law, Liang Yimei nodded, Mu Yingrong always regarded Cao Keyuan as a good sister, so it would be nice to say hello to her.

……

Mrs. Li wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, and said: "My father-in-law has always been cautious, for fear of taking a wrong step in his errands. I didn't expect to be splashed with sewage like this when he was old. Father-in-law's body already has old diseases. It relapsed again, but there was no news of the officers and soldiers sent out to rescue people. Now my father-in-law can't even eat. Hou Ye has always been fair and honest, and my father-in-law really has no choice. I want to ask Lord Hou to speak a few words of justice for my father-in-law in court."

Liang Yimei looked at her sympathetically, nodded and said: "Mrs. Li, don't worry too much. Your Majesty has already sent Mr. Shen to investigate the case. I think the truth will be found out soon, and His Majesty will definitely do justice by then." Judgment, my Lord Marquis has already resigned from office and is at home, and now he doesn’t even go to court..."

Mrs. Li's face froze, she looked at Cao Keyuan, and saw that she was only looking down at her palm, but refused to help her, she was furious. Did this daughter-in-law take her son seriously? It's fine for the husband and wife to fight, after all, it's their own family, but now in front of outsiders, Mrs. Li's eyes flashed sternly, she coughed, and gave Cao Keyuan a warning look.

Cao Keyuan sneered in her heart, but turned her head to Liang Yimei and said, "I have something to tell you, let's go to your room!"

Mrs. Li and Liang Yimei were taken aback, they never expected that Cao Keyuan would make such a request.

Liang Yimei smiled wryly in her heart, Cao Keyuan was still the same Cao Keyuan.

Liang Yimei nodded, and smiled apologetically at Mrs. Li: "Madam, sit down first, we will come as soon as we go."

Mrs. Li was overjoyed, it seemed that this daughter-in-law had friendship with Mrs. Changping Hou, and then she was angry, since there was friendship, why didn't she say it at first, and she had to wait for her to meet her head before showing it, could it be to see Is she a joke?
Liang Yimei didn't bring Cao Keyuan into the inner room, but just sat down in the side room, which was packed up to entertain guests during the Chinese New Year. The inner room was where she and Hou Yunping lived. Liang Yimei didn't want anyone else to go in, let alone someone unfamiliar like Cao Keyuan. .

Cao Keyuan climbed up the cave unceremoniously, and said to the waiter: "You all go down, I have something to say with Mrs. Changpinghou."

A Tao and Ying'er looked at Liang Yimei, Liang Yimei nodded slightly, and after serving tea to them, they retreated with the maid.

On Cao Keyuan's side, one of the nanny-like people frowned and said with a smile: "Then the old slave will stay here to serve Madam and Grandma!"

Cao Keyuan looked at her with a half-smile and said, "Everyone around Mrs. Changping Hou has retreated. Don't you think you are more noble than the sisters around Mrs. Madam?"

Liang Yimei drank her tea with her head down, pretending not to hear.

(End of this chapter)