The little heroine investigates a mysterious case

Although small, Guze Town has all the necessary facilities. There are all kinds of shops in the town.

Watching the flowing water slowly moving forward in the town, you can see quaint wooden buildings on both sides, with carved window lattices revealing a touch of elegance. Lanterns are hung in front of the shops, swaying gently in the wind.

The air is filled with a faint fragrance of tea. Following the scent and looking at the flowing water, you will see a teahouse called "Qingxinju".

He walked in. There were several carved wooden tables and bamboo chairs in the teahouse, and several ink-and-wash landscape paintings hung on the walls, adding a touch of literary elegance to this small space.

In the corner, a copper incense burner was emitting wisps of green smoke. I didn't know what kind of incense was burning, but it actually had a faint fragrance of tea.

There were no customers in the teahouse at this time. An elderly man was sitting at a table, serving tea with a tea knife.

The old man had a blue headscarf on his head and was wearing a white double-breasted shirt and wide-legged trousers. When he saw Guan Liushui coming in, he put down the tea knife and tea cake in his hands, stood up, and looked at Guan Liushui.

"Young man, you are wearing a Confucian robe. Are you a foreigner?"

"I have come here on my study tour and smell the fragrance of tea. Come in and have a seat to enjoy some tea."

The old man smiled and asked Guan Liushui to sit down: "What kind of tea do you like, young man?"

Guan Liushui pointed to the tea that the old man had just distributed.

"Is this local tea? Could you please make me a pot to try?"

"Young man, I want to try our special local tea. If you have time, why not try the three-course tea?"

"What is the three-course tea?"

"One bitter, two sweet, and three aftertastes, these are the three paths!"

Guan Liushui bowed to the old man.

"There's this kind of tea? I've never had it before. Could you please make me a pot?"

The old man smiled somewhat mysteriously, sat opposite Guan Liushui, lit a small stove on the ground, and placed a small sand pot on the stove to bake.

Guan Liushui looked at the old man in surprise.

"Just dry-burn it like this? No need to add water?"

"There's boiling water over there. Once this sand pot is heated, put the tea leaves in and roast them."

After a while, the old man stretched out his hand to test the temperature of the jar, put a proper amount of tea leaves into the jar, and kept turning the sand pot. After a while, the tea leaves in the jar turned yellow.

The old man brought a pot of boiling water and poured it into the sand pot, then poured the boiling tea into the teacup and handed it to Guan Liushui with both hands.

"This first one is bitter tea, you can only drink half a cup."

Guan Liushui saw that the tea in the teacup was amber in color and smelled burnt. He blew on the tea, took a sip, and his whole face wrinkled.

"It's so bitter! Yesterday I stayed at a family's house and the food they cooked was so spicy that it almost killed me, and today's tea almost made me die of bitterness!"

The old man laughed out loud.

"Don't you think that the taste of life is sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty?"

Guan Liushui saw the old man using the small sand pot to put tea, roast tea and boil tea again, and he started chatting with the old man.

"You're right, old man. I've been traveling around to learn about folk customs for the same reason. Are you aware of the song and dance competition that takes place every three years?"

The old man put a little brown sugar into the teacup.

"I heard that this competition is being held in Yue State. Are you going to participate?"

"I've been learning from my mother since I was little, and I'm very interested in composing music. I'd like to find some folk singers who can sing folk songs and ask them for advice on composing a new song. I wonder if there are such talented people in town?"

The old man brought the second cup of tea to Guan Liushui.

"Everyone in our tribe can sing folk songs, and we even hold a folk song duet on the first day of every month. If you want to find the best singer, you can go to Granny Chen in the second courtyard of our sect."

Guan Liushui took the teacup and took a sip. This time the tea was sweet and delicious. He squinted his eyes with pleasure, his face full of satisfaction.

"How sweet! I've remembered what you said. I'll go after I finish my three cups of tea."

"The third dish is called Aftertaste Tea."

As the old man spoke, he also brewed the tea. This time, the ingredients put into the teacup had been replaced with an appropriate amount of honey, a little popcorn, a few peppercorns, and a handful of walnut kernels.

The old man handed the third cup of tea to Guan Liushui again.

Guan Liushui took a sip out of curiosity, tried hard to resist the urge to spit it out, and slowly swallowed the tea.

"I understand. It has all kinds of flavors, sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty. It's really unforgettable."

"One bitter, two sweet, and three aftertastes. Think about it, isn't this how life goes?"

The old man’s words touched Guan Liushui. He recalled how he had to work hard to learn martial arts from his mother when he was young. After his mother passed away, his father tried every means to stop him from pursuing his dream and forced him to learn martial arts.

He ran away from home and became famous in Liyang, and deeply experienced the incomparable happiness and sweetness of doing what he likes.

When he is old and looks back on his life, he won’t have any regrets!

This time he followed everyone to Guze Town to investigate the case and collect folk songs. Even as a small teahouse owner he benefited a lot!

Zhao Xuan and Gu Zhanghua returned to the inn and waited until after lunch before they saw Hao Xiong and Xiao Yixian coming back.

Hao Xiong was carrying a bamboo basket filled with medicinal herbs. The little medical fairy was in high spirits and her face was beaming as she said to Zhao Xuan with a smile.

"It really opened my eyes. We went to the pharmacy in town and talked with the owner for the whole morning. Now I should be able to refine more effective detoxification pills!"

Hao Xiong put the backpack on the ground.

"Sister, I don't have time to look for the garrison camp. The owner of the medicine shop gave Xiao Yixian a herbal atlas, and I spent the whole morning helping her go up the mountain to collect herbs."

Zhao Xuan was speechless. She glanced at the Little Medical Fairy and said to Hao Xiong.

"Fortunately, we know her temper and have already found the garrison camp."

Gu Zhanghua handed Hao Xiong a towel.

"Wipe your sweat off. Wait for Guan Liushui to come back and see if he can find any clues. Then we can discuss the next step."

Guan Liushui had been staying at Grandma Chen's house for two hours at this time. Grandma Chen was very hospitable and sang her best folk songs to Guan Liushui. Guan Liushui carefully recorded the music scores.

The children in Grandma Chen's family went to the fields to farm, brought their lunch with them, and did not come back to eat at noon.

Guan Liushui went to a nearby restaurant to pack up some dishes and bought some local rice wine to express his gratitude to Grandma Chen.

The two men ate and drank rice wine. Seeing that the atmosphere was harmonious, Guan Liushui began to turn the topic towards the garrison.

"Grandma Chen, I just went to buy some food and wine, and I saw that the town was very lively. There were stalls selling fresh fruits and vegetables, and some selling handicrafts that I had never seen before.

Every passerby has a smile on his face. It’s so pleasant to live here!

"For decades, they have lived a peaceful and smooth life. I really envy them! It seems that the officials and the garrison here have made great contributions!"

Granny Chen took a sip of wine.

"Our town is small, and we all call him Mayor Huang. Speaking of the garrison, I remember a strange incident that happened more than ten years ago."

Guan Liushui's heart was beating like a drum. He didn't expect that they would get to the point so soon. He filled Grandma Chen's glass with wine and suppressed his excitement.

"There are strange things happening in such a peaceful town?"

Granny Chen picked up the wine cup and took a sip.

"More than ten years ago, when my old man was still alive, he would often go hunting in the mountains. The captain of the garrison at that time was named Wang, and he had a very good relationship with my old man.

Captain Wang made an appointment with my old man the night before to pick up the game he had hunted the next day to celebrate a brother's birthday. He gave him the money but didn't come to pick it up the next day.

Later I heard that Shen Xiaobao also ordered a silver bracelet from a jewelry store in town, but he didn't go to pick it up.

We all suspected that their garrison team must have received a sudden order from their superiors to go on some important mission, and they hurriedly withdrew that night."

Shen Xiaobao? !

This name was on the list of the garrison squad back then!

Guan Liushui picked up a piece of food for Grandma Chen.

"What you said is quite possible. Being a soldier is not an easy job as you have to obey orders and follow instructions when you receive military pay. Shen Xiaobao bought the silver bracelet as a gift for his beloved girl, right?"

Granny Chen sighed regretfully.

"Who says it's not true? That girl Ayiduo is so pitiful!"

Guan Liushui was worried that if he continued asking questions on this topic, Grandma Chen would become suspicious.

He now knew that a soldier named Shen Xiaobao in the garrison squad was a couple with Ayiduo. He had gained a lot today!

Guan Liushui chatted with Grandma Chen about the music scores of folk songs. After lunch, he said goodbye to Grandma Chen and hurried back to the inn.