The little heroine investigates a mysterious case

The old man showed the painting in his hand to the onlookers.

The painting shows a spring ploughing scene. An old man who looks like an old man is sitting on the edge of a field, smoking a pipe and looking at the rice fields with a smile.

In the rice field, a young man was bending over to plant rice seedlings with his back to an old man. A young woman next to him was wiping his sweat with a handkerchief.

A fat boy who looked about five or six years old was jumping around the old man, nibbling on a piece of fruit in his hand with his head down, juice dripping from the corner of his mouth.

On the other side of the old man, a woman about the same age as the old man was talking to him with a smile, and took out a plate of chopped braised meat from a bamboo basket on the ground.

The mountains in the distance are rolling and shrouded in clouds and mist, like a fairyland, which makes people think that there are fairies living in the mountains.

There is a peach blossom forest nearby, with pink and delicate peach blossoms blooming in succession. It seems that you can smell the fragrance of peach blossoms just by looking at the drawing paper.

Everyone stared at the painting intently, attracted by the beautiful scenery and the affectionate family in the painting.

The old man looked at Gu Zhanghua and asked curiously.

"Brother, what made you think of painting such a picture? It seems like you know us very well?"

Gu Zhanghua explained to the old man the inspiration for the painting.

"I see you have a pipe on your belt. I guess you smoke it when you have free time. There is also a purse hanging on your belt, embroidered with blooming peach blossoms.

I guess the purse was made by your wife or daughter. I just saw you coming from the mother-daughter stall selling embroidery over there, so I dare to guess that you are a family.

The painting shows the faces of your wife and daughter. The young man is your son-in-law. I don't know what he looks like, so I didn't dare to draw his face rashly.

The peach blossoms embroidered on your purse are so lifelike, they must be the embroiderer's favorite pattern. I guess there must be a peach blossom forest near your home.

The old man laughed and patted Gu Zhanghua on the shoulder.

"Young man, you guessed right! But you're wrong about one thing. The ones selling embroidery aren't the mother and daughter, but my wife and daughter-in-law! The one planting rice in the field is my son!

This purse was embroidered for me by my wife! How did you guess that my family has a rice field? And that I have a grandson this old?

Gu Zhanghua looked at the old man's clothes and said with a smile.

"You are wearing a short jacket with a front opening, and the hems of your trousers are tied with ropes to make it easier to work. Xijiangdi is a small town with many rivers and a rich rice production area, so it must be a rice field rather than a wheat field.

You have a rosy face, are cheerful and love to laugh, and your family must be very harmonious. But you are a little unkempt, and there is a yellow stain of juice on your lapel.

I guess it's because you were holding a child and the child was eating fruits and the drops of water fell on you, or the child was playful and rubbed the juice directly onto your clothes.

The child's age is easy to calculate. You just said you are fifty years old. It is normal for men in our Xia country to get married around twenty years old.

Your son should be around 25 years old, so it is normal for him to have a child of five or six years old.

As for whether your grandchild will be a boy or a girl? I have no idea, it's just a guess.

If it is a little girl, you often play with your granddaughter, and there should be a hint of tenderness on your face.

If it was a little boy, he's the most mischievous at this age, so I'm sure you've had a lot of trouble. The stain on your collar is evidence of that, isn't it?

Everyone cheered in unison, looking at Gu Zhanghua with eyes full of admiration.

The old man treated the drawing paper as a treasure and rolled it up gently.

"You're so smart, little brother! I'll get someone to frame this painting and hang it on the wall of our main house!"

A large group of onlookers rushed to Gu Zhanghua and scrambled to stand in front.

"Draw me first, and guess what I do? Who is in my family?"

"Get out of my way! I'm first in line! You're cutting in line! It's my turn after I finish painting! Can't you afford a penny?"

"I was clearly in first place, and you pushed me to the back! A penny is still money!"

Several people were about to fight because the first three people could draw for free, and Gu Zhanghua hurried to stop them.

"Everyone, please be quiet and don't push! Line up! I'll give you a free drawing today!"

Zhao Xuan, Guan Liushui and Hao Xiong were listening to Gu Zhanghua's analysis with great interest.

The word "free" that Gu Zhanghua said shocked all three of them.

Paint, paper, and brushes all cost money. The three of them looked at the long queue. So many people were painting for free?

The three of them danced with swords, sang songs and shouted, but was it all in vain?

Someone in the team questioned: "Is everything really free?"

Gu Zhanghua nodded to everyone: "A gentleman's word is as good as gold!"

Hao Xiong stumbled and nearly fell to the ground. How could it be easy for him to be a table? He was bent over and supported by his thighs, unable to move at all!

He was afraid that if he moved the drawing paper, it would shake and Gu Zhanghua's painting would be ruined, but he didn't want to be used as a table forever!

"Sister! Let my brother-in-law handle the troubles he has taken on himself. Let's slip away while the chaos is going on, shall we?"

"Don't talk nonsense! Not one of the five can be missing!"

"How many coppers do you two earn from singing and dancing? Not even enough to buy paint!"

The Little Medical Fairy walked silently up to the three people, took the medicine box off her back and placed it on the ground with the sign facing up.

The little medical fairy took the small stool next to her and placed it in front of the medicine box. She sat on the stool and shouted at the people in line.

"If anyone feels unwell, come see me first! Five cents per visit. You pay for the medicine yourself!"

There actually was a man who came over with his hands in his pockets and looked at the Little Medical Fairy.

"Doctor? Really? Is he reliable?"

The Little Medical Fairy glanced at the man and said, "You're not sick. Don't waste time. Next!"

"Who said I'm not sick? I've been having back pain lately, and I was planning to go to the doctor and get some medicine!"

"What medicine do you want to take? It would be better for you to stop fighting with your wife in bed at night than any medicine!"

The man blushed and turned away embarrassedly.

Hao Xiong asked Xiao Yixian with a smile: "Why isn't it free?"

"After being a signboard, we have to do some serious work. Xiaowu's doing it for free, but I can earn a little more here. What are we having for dinner?"

Zhao Xuan looked at Gu Zhanghua. She didn't know which spectator had brought a table to Gu Zhanghua. He was painting seriously with his head down, completely immersed in it.

Everyone who left with his paintings had a satisfied smile on their face. Gu Zhanghua greeted the next person with a smile on his face.

What could be happier than doing something you love? If it doesn't make money, then it doesn't make money. As long as Xiaowu is happy, that's all that matters!

Zhao Xuan drew the sword from her waist and gave Guan Liushui a look.

"Shall we continue?"

"Let's go!"

For dinner, the five of us went to the same restaurant we had lunch at. This time, we had five bowls of noodles and no main dishes.

This was the result of the little doctor's hard work in diagnosing illnesses, otherwise they would have to pawn things at the pawnshop to have food to eat.

The Little Medical Fairy sat next to Gu Zhanghua and applied ointment on his red and swollen right wrist.

Zhao Xuan sat opposite Gu Zhanghua and picked up a few noodles to feed him.

Hao Xiong hummed and groaned to express his dissatisfaction.

"Look at how you two have spoiled him! A grown man still needs his wife to feed him, isn't that shameful!"

Gu Zhanghua swallowed the noodles with a look of grievance on his face.

"I don't want to do that! I can't use chopsticks with my left hand!"

"Brother-in-law, there are some things I really want to say, can you please take it easy?

If you don't have drawing paper, then don't draw. Why do you insist on me buying you drawing paper? Now you can only eat noodles!"

"I saw everyone was so happy holding my paintings, and I felt so happy. I didn't think too much about it at the time."

Watch the running water and put down the bowl.

"I understand your feelings very well. My father forced me to practice martial arts, and I tried every possible way to escape.

If you let me dance, I can dance all day long. At first, I didn’t even notice that my ankle was swollen. I only felt the pain when I went to bed at night.

It's fine if you like painting, but you have to face reality. Our current situation is that without money, we have no food to eat and no place to live. When can we reach Guze Town?"

Gu Zhanghua felt extremely regretful. He had never worried about money since he was a child. He could do whatever he liked. As long as it did not violate his mother's bottom line and ensured his safety, his mother would almost always satisfy him.

This time of going out to investigate a case made him understand one thing: for an ordinary person, it is not easy to do what he likes and make money to support his family.

Someone like him who works purely for love cannot keep going for long unless he has enough money to support him.

Gu Zhanghua apologized to everyone honestly.

"It's all my fault. Everyone missed out on a good meal. Let's go to the next town and perform. I promise I won't paint for free."

Zhao Xuan picked up a few noodles and blocked Gu Zhanghua's mouth.

"Noodles are enough to keep you full! Eat well and have a good sleep, so we can set off early tomorrow morning!"

Hao Xiong and Guan Liushui said in unison: "Biased!"

Zhao Xuan looked at the two of them seriously.

"I'm not partial to my own husband, but I'm partial to you two brats? Am I sick?"