When the book-traveling little detective meets the two-faced prince

Chapter 262: Proud, Little 99

After this words.

Everyone's attention was once again focused on the dry leaves in Lin Lezhi's hand and the broken white porcelain pieces.

"Although I cannot prove through the account books that this matter has nothing to do with Guan Ziheng, the black sticky substance on this leaf alone is enough to conclude that the person sleeping next to me that night and the person who paddled the boat out of the fog must not be Guan Ziheng."

Just now Lin Lezhi mentioned the place where the black sticky substance appeared.

The deck, the bottom of the coffin, the leaves, and then the pillow on the bed in the guest room where Lin Lezhi lived. However, Lin Lezhi did not explain what these black sticky substances were, but instead talked about the trivial matters between him and Guan Ziheng.

"That night, after the treasure in the coffin was stolen, Xiao Xu and I returned to the inn first. When we got back, Guan Ziheng had already fallen asleep with his back to me. He had left some medicine on the table for me. I knew that Ziheng cared about my injuries, so I drank the medicine in the bowl in one gulp."

Lin Lezhi recalled that night.

that night.

He slept very soundly and was awakened by the night watchman's ringing of the watch at dawn.

When he woke up, Guan Ziheng, who had been lying next to him, was gone. After lighting a coal lamp and washing up, he discovered by candlelight that there was a dark shadow on the pillow where Guan Ziheng had been lying, like a sweat stain.

He remembered.

When two people slept together before, they would often wake up from the heat at night.

"I have a bad sleep and am easily woken up by noises. I am also afraid of heat, so when I saw the shadow, I subconsciously thought that Guan Ziheng was afraid of heat like me and the shadow on the pillow was sweat. Soon, Guan Ziheng came into the room with medicine. He seemed surprised to see me wake up and insisted that I drink the medicine he had just prepared."

"Afterwards, the two of us rushed to the lakeside before the morning hour to watch the ceremony together. Unexpectedly, blood spread under the lantern boats and a raging fire burned the boats. Fearing that the fire would spread to other boats, I forcibly grabbed Guan Ziheng who was about to escape and dragged him to help put out the fire."

"I should have noticed it at the time." Lin Lezhi's voice was filled with regret, his eyes swaying slightly, but he said firmly: "Although Ziheng is timid, he is not cowardly. He will never back down from such a thing."

After saying that, Lin Lezhi breathed a sigh of relief, calming down his complicated emotions a little, and then looked at the black sticky substance on the dry leaves, his eyes darkened as he said, "To change his face and keep the skin from falling off for a long time, you naturally need something with very strong stickiness to keep it. The most commonly used thing among the people is hide glue, which is made from pig skin, cow skin or fish maw, and has very strong stickiness."

"Qujiang County has a well-developed water system, so the first choice of the people in Pinghai Town must be fish maw."

"Yes, it's fish maw." Feng Yuan, who was sitting next to him, immediately agreed. "You need to spend money to buy beef and pig glue, but you don't need to spend money to buy fish maw. No one eats it. People will help take it out when killing fish. There are a lot of fish maws thrown away at the market every day. If you need it, just go and pick it up."

Because Lin Lezhi had asked about the ship repair before, Feng Yuan seemed less afraid. Lin Lezhi also gave him the impression that he was easy to get along with, and the majestic Cheng Su was also polite to him, so when he heard Lin Lezhi mention this, he took the initiative to tell him.

When Lin Lezhi asked this question, his eyes clearly showed that he knew the key, but he pretended not to understand and acted as if he was humbly seeking advice.

"Thank you, Brother Feng, but using fish maw to make glue should have a fishy smell, right?"

"We use yellow croaker caught in the lake to make fish maw. Fish maw made from its maw usually has a slight fishy smell, but as the fish maw is stored for a longer time, its fishy smell will gradually decrease, or even disappear. We just boil it when we need it."

"So that's how it is. Thank you, Brother Feng."

Hearing Lin Lezhi's praise, Feng Yuan seemed a little embarrassed and said with a shy smile: "Detective Jiang Gui, you are too polite."

in fact.

Lin Lezhi knew that isinglass would lose its fishy smell as time went by.

When I was young.

He often went fishing with his grandfather at the riverside, and his grandfather would also make fish maw from fish bladders.

……

The internal organs of fish are usually thrown away, but my grandfather would always keep the fish bladder after killing the fish, clean it and then air-dry it.

Over time, a lot of them were stored at home.

One evening, the young Lin Lezhi came back from playing in the river, holding a pair of barely clean shoes in his hands. He was wet all over, with a lot of mud on his feet. He ran into the yard with a fish in his arms, looking happy.

"Grandpa, I'm back!"

Da da da.

Lin Lezhi took wet steps. With every step, the water on his body fell off like scattered beans, and muddy footprints appeared on the dry floor tiles.

The further you go, the less mud there is.

Seeing the dirty Lin Lezhi, Grandpa didn't despise him. He touched Lin Lezhi's wet hair, took the fish from Lin Lezhi's hand with eyes full of love and doting, and said with a smile: "Such a big yellow croaker, you are worthy of being Grandpa's little Lezhi. While it's fresh, Grandpa will kill it and make fish soup for you."

As he spoke, my grandfather swiftly took a stool and a knife, sat aside to kill the fish, and cut open the fish belly with a few strokes of the knife.

Then he put the knife aside, took out the fish's internal organs, put them aside, and then used the knife to carefully scrape off the fish scales.

Lin Lezhi walked with clattering steps to the pile of sticky, fishy-smelling internal organs and squatted down.

The smell of fresh fish was not that strong, but he still pinched his nose, holding his nose with one hand and poking the bloated fish bladder on the ground with the other hand.

The fish bladder swayed left and right when poked by Lin Lezhi's fingers.

"Grandpa, what's the point of keeping this thing? It stinks."

Because he pinched his nose, Lin Lezhi's voice changed, sounding weird yet playful.

How could the grandfather who doted on Lin Lezhi not know that he did it on purpose? Without stopping his work, he smiled and teased: "You still complain about the smell of other people's fish, but they don't even complain about you being a stinky boy."

Grandpa's words "brat" were a double entendre. Lin Lezhi, who had been very smart since he was a child, of course heard that his grandfather was making fun of him.

But Lin Lezhi still took his hand away first, sniffed his own body, pinched his nose until it turned red, and moved it up and down with his inhalation.

There was indeed a fishy smell of earth from being soaked in river water.

"grandfather!"

Lin Lezhi raised his voice and shouted with a slightly resentful look on his face, but he was not angry.

Seeing Lin Lezhi's resentful look, grandpa became even happier. After laughing a few times, he gave in with a smile on his face: "Okay, okay, grandpa was just teasing you. Don't be angry. Grandpa tells you that this fish bladder is very useful."

"What great effect?"

Curiosity flashed in Lin Lezhi's eyes, and all the teasing his grandfather had just done about him was swept away.

"The fish maw can be saved and made into fish glue."

"isinglass?"

"Yes, eating fish glue can supplement nutrition and is very good for the body. During the Chinese New Year, it can be boiled into glue and used to paste couplets." Grandpa looked at Lin Lezhi and asked with a smile: "What do you think, is it very useful?"

Lin Lezhi thought about it and said with a hint of disgust: "It is effective, but it will be fishy."

"You don't understand this, right? The longer the fish maw is stored, the higher its nutritional value will be, and the fishy smell will become less and less, until it disappears completely. It will smell much better than you."

"grandfather!!"

When he brought it up again, Lin Lezhi felt a little embarrassed, and his voice became louder, with a hint of haste and grievance.

I caught the fish with good intentions, but my grandfather actually made fun of me.

Naturally, he looked extremely aggrieved.

"Okay, okay, it's Grandpa's fault. Go wash it in the basin and I'll stew some fish for you."

Seeing his grandfather enter the fire room, Lin Lezhi put away his aggrieved expression and glanced into the room.

Others may not know, but Lin Lezhi himself is not aware of what is going on in his mind. He is worried that he will go into the river for fun, play for an entire afternoon, and end up getting so dirty.

He was afraid that his grandfather would scold him when he got back, so he caught a fish in an attempt to cover it up.

I already had evil thoughts in mind, so I felt even more ashamed, and was too embarrassed to refute. I could only shout loudly at my grandfather and ask him not to mention this matter again.

Only after making sure that his grandfather would not come out again did Lin Lezhi smile. He strode to the basin next to the water tank and poured the water over himself to wash himself.

On a hot summer day, the water is warm after being exposed to the sun all day.

It washed away all the stickiness and felt very comfortable.

He was also very proud of himself for having deceived his grandfather.

but.

It was not until he grew up, one night after his grandfather passed away, that Lin Lezhi recalled the little things that happened with his grandfather in the yard.

At that moment, he suddenly reacted.

I have never hidden my little tricks from my grandfather.

Because every time he came home covered in mud, there would always be a basin of hot water next to the water tank.

The water in rural homes is generally stored in water tanks, which are covered with thick lids. This not only prevents insects from flying in, but also prevents the water in the tank from being heated by the sun, allowing it to be used for a longer time and is also convenient to take out.

Only when they need to take a bath will they fill the iron basin with water and place it in the sun.

Sunbathe all afternoon.

It will become a basin of warm water, which is perfect for bathing.

however.

As I grew older, I was no longer obsessed with playing in the river and getting dirty, and except on the days when I needed to take a bath, the iron basin next to the water tank never stored water again.

Lin Lezhi suddenly realized this and felt a pang of sadness and dull pain in his heart.

He missed his grandfather every day, but that night he missed him especially and wanted to go back to the small courtyard where there was only him and his grandfather.

Not long after being brought to the city by his parents, he couldn't stand city life anymore and didn't want to face unfamiliar people and things, so he sneaked back.

It's not about escaping, but about wanting a place to take a break.

That's it.

Can……

Looking at the newly closed gate, the brand new couplets, and the laughter in the courtyard outside the gate.

he knows.

The small courtyard that belonged to him and his grandfather no longer exists.

original.

After my parents took me away, they sold this place.

this matter.

Lin Lezhi didn't go to his parents to cry because it was useless.

Grandpa won't be coming back.

He did not return to the city immediately, but went to his grandfather's grave and sat quietly all night.