When the pears are green

Chen Yuan did not go back to the government office, but went directly back to the small courtyard where he rented a house. He lay on the bed, took out the handkerchief and the small sachet from his arms one by one, and played with them carefully in his hands.

Feeling tired, Chen Yuan put the handkerchief and sachet aside and fell asleep with his clothes on. He dreamed of the happy scenes from his childhood again.

Song Li sent Ruyi back home first, and Jiang scolded Ruyi again.

"Aunt, have uncle and Ping'an returned?" Song Li asked, changing the subject.

Zhang Peng, who was weaving a backpack in the main room, heard the noise in the yard and hurried out.

Zhang Peng told Song Li: "Xiao Li, Ping An just caught a cold. The doctor said he will be fine after taking some medicine."

Zhang Peng did not let Song Li see Zhang Ping'an because he was afraid that Zhang Ping'an would pass on his illness to Song Li. Song Li said that she would come to see him after Zhang Ping'an recovered.

Song Li asked Zhang Peng about Ruyi again. Zhang Peng said that he heard Ruyi and Zhang Jixiang tell him about Zhao Xuan going in and out of Huamianlou. He said it was normal for men to enter such places, and it would not be a problem as long as they took care of their family after marriage.

Ruyi looked at Zhang Peng angrily. She didn't say anything. She found an excuse to go back to her room and continued to embroider her handkerchief. Regardless of whether Chen Yuan could help her find other problems with Zhao Xuan, she had to pay back the remaining copper coins.

When Song Li saw Ruyi enter the room, she found an excuse to leave.

Jiang Qingzhou was pouring out the grass in the basket with his head down when he heard footsteps coming from the door. He looked up and saw that it was Song Li who came back.

"What's wrong, Xiaoli? Didn't you see Constable Chen?" Jiang Qingzhou saw that Song Li was a little absent-minded.

Song Li walked to Jiang Qingzhou's side. While helping Jiang Qingzhou pour the grass, she answered: "I met Constable Chen. He agreed to help Ruyi investigate Zhao Xuan, but he accepted one or two taels of silver from Ruyi."

Jiang Qingzhou was obviously stunned. He really didn't expect that Chen Yuan would actually accept so much silver from Ruyi.

"Ruyi shouldn't have so much silver, right?" Jiang Qingzhou was a little confused about what Ruyi used to pay the silver.

Song Li thought of Ruyi's situation at that time, and she told Jiang Qingzhou that it was Chen Yuan who asked Ruyi to owe her the money first, and she could pay it back slowly in the future.

Song Li told Jiang Qingzhou what Zhang Peng said again. She looked up at Jiang Qingzhou and asked, "Qingzhou, do you think so too? As long as you take care of your family, it's okay to go to a brothel a few times."

Jiang Qingzhou did not answer Song Li directly, but stood up and closed the gate.

Song Li watched Jiang Qingzhou's actions. Just when she thought Jiang Qingzhou was going to answer her question, Jiang Qingzhou hugged Song Li, rested his head on Song Li's shoulder and said, "I don't think so. It's enough for me to have Xiao Li. It takes a lot of money to go to that kind of occasion. Not to mention that I don't have it now, even if I did, I wouldn't be willing to give it away. I want to leave it to Xiao Lihua. Xiao Li, can you believe me?"

After Jiang Qingzhou finished speaking, he looked up at Song Li.

Song Li couldn't help but laugh when she saw Jiang Qingzhou's innocent expression. He looked so much like the puppy at home, so silly and adorable.

Jiang Qingzhou looked at Song Li's smiling face, and he lowered his head again and lay on Song Li's shoulder. Song Li suddenly felt a pain in her neck, and she patted Jiang Qingzhou's head and said loudly: "I said you are like a puppy, and you really bite people, it hurts."

Song Li reached out and touched her neck. Seeing that Jiang Qingzhou was still staring at her neck, she hurriedly urged Jiang Qingzhou to continue working.

Here, after waking up, Chen Yuan first put a handkerchief into his sleeve, and then put the remaining things into a small wooden box.

Chen Yuan walked out of the courtyard, first went to the government office to report in, then bought a few sesame cakes at the sesame cake stall on the street and slowly walked towards a place where beggars gathered.

A little beggar saw Chen Yuan coming, and he hurriedly ran to the broken thatched hut and called seven or eight other beggars.

The oldest beggar smiled and asked, "What are you doing here, Detective Chen?"

Chen Yuan handed over the pancake in his hand and replied with a smile: "Little tiles, divide these. I want you to help me keep an eye out for a man named Zhao Xuan. He is from Zhanggou Village and now lives in the town."

Several beggars took the sesame cakes one after another. One of the little beggars who was chewing on a sesame cake told Chen Yuan, "I've seen Zhao Xuan that Constable Chen mentioned. He's a frequent visitor to Huamian Tower. But he got into trouble recently. I saw him get beaten up with my own eyes. The people who beat him were the servants of Mr. Liu's family. While they were beating him, they said that Zhao Xuan was tired of living and dared to hook up with anyone. I heard from others that Zhao Xuan hooked up with Mr. Liu's concubine."

"You only know that he has an affair with someone, but you don't know that he has been busy getting married recently. I heard that he wants to give the bride to Mr. Liu as an atonement. I don't know who gave him the idea." Another beggar continued.

"That's a really bad idea."

"I heard that Mr. Liu's concubine is very beautiful."

"Mr. Liu made a fortune this time. It's worth it to exchange a concubine for a little girl."

……

There was a lot of discussion among the beggars.

Chen Yuan coughed, and the discussion immediately died down. He then asked the two beggars who were talking, "Who did you hear this from? Is the information accurate?"

Two beggars came up to Chen Yuan, and one of them smiled and said, "Of course it's accurate. I dare not lie to Constable Chen. I heard it from Qin Niang in Huamian Tower. Zhao Xuan went to Qin Niang to vent his anger after getting drunk, and he said it unintentionally. He also said that he had found a young girl from the same village, and he planned to train her first, and then give her to Mr. Liu to make amends."

When the beggars heard this, they all laughed. They all laughed at the beggar for bragging, saying that the girl playing the zither in Hua Mian Tower would charge one or two taels of silver for each meeting.

"Constable Chen, don't listen to their nonsense. I have some friendship with Qin Niang. She suffered at the hands of Zhao Xuan and complained to me. That's how I found out." The beggar continued.

Chen Yuan suppressed his anger. He handed the beggar twenty copper coins and asked him to keep an eye on Zhao Xuan's recent whereabouts. He would be rewarded after the task was completed.

The beggar happily took the copper coin, and the other beggars looked at him enviously.

Chen Yuan turned and left, but the beggar followed him.

"Do you have anything else to say?" Chen Yuan stopped and asked.

The beggar returned the copper coin to Chen Yuan. He smiled and explained, "I dare not take the copper coin from Constable Chen. I have saved a lot of money in the past few years. I hope Constable Chen can help me get rid of my lowly status. I want to buy some land and become a good citizen."

Chen Yuan looked at the beggar and asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Wang Sanyuan." The beggar replied hurriedly.

Chen Yuan stopped talking and left.

After Jiang Qingye and Song Xing came back from school, they asked Song Li what happened to her neck and why there was a red mark.

Song Li looked at the two half-grown children in front of her, she smiled and said that they were tickled, then glared angrily at Jiang Qingzhou beside her.

Song Li knew that it would take time to find out the news, so she did not go looking for Ruyi again. Instead, she went to the market or weeded the reclaimed wasteland with Jiang Qingzhou.

A few days passed in a flash, and Song Li went to Zhanggou Village under the pretext of visiting Zhang Pingan. She secretly asked Ruyi whether she had received any news about Chen Yuan.

Ruyi told Song Li a little uneasily that Jiang Shi had not allowed her to go out in the past few days and she had no chance to find Chen Yuan.

The matchmaker came again two days ago, but was kicked out by Zhang Pingan and Zhang Jixiang before he even met Jiang.

"Tomorrow is the rally day, and Constable Chen will definitely go on patrol. I'll ask Qingzhou to find a chance to ask Constable Chen. Ruyi, do you want to discuss anything with Brother Jixiang? Your uncle and aunt have been blinded by the wealth of the Zhao family, so you have to be careful." Song Li instructed Ruyi.

After Song Li returned home, she told Jiang Qingzhou what Ruyi had said.

Jiang Qingzhou knew the Jiang family better. He told Song Li, "Xiao Li, aunt and uncle are all good to sister Ruyi, but they are anxious to marry Ruyi to a rich family, and they overlooked the abnormality in Zhao Xuan's marriage. The more Ruyi goes against them, the more they will feel that Ruyi does not understand their painstaking efforts. Only by stabilizing them first can we take it slowly."

Song Li nodded. She didn't expect that Ruyi, who had always been loved at home, would fall into such a predicament.

The next day, Jiang Qingzhou and Song Li went to Heihe Town early to set up a stall.

Jiang Qingzhou asked Song Li to guard the stall while he slowly searched for Chen Yuan along the street.

Jiang Qingzhou finally found Chen Yuan at the entrance of the market, who was collecting stall fees.

Chen Yuan handed the stall fee in his hand to the constable beside him, and motioned Jiang Qingzhou to go somewhere else with him first.