The Plow

"Du Yuning, is that Madam Yuan?"

Yue Dingtang raised his head, with just the right amount of surprise and curiosity on his face.

Boss Li sighed: "That's right, Madam Yuan will come to have afternoon tea when she is free. Every now and then!"

Yue Dingtang: "How much have you been with Mrs. Yuan?"

Boss Li: "Thanks to Mrs. Yuan for not giving up, we chatted a few times, but we don't have a deep friendship."

Yue Dingtang: "We are currently conducting a social survey, which includes information about public security in Shanghai. We happened to meet Mrs. Yuan's case. Would it be convenient for me to have a chat with you?"

Boss Li: "Convenience, my son and wife are all in Nanyang, and I have no relatives in China. I am planning to have a reunion dinner with the guys. You can just ask."

Yue Dingtang glanced at Ling Shu, and handed over the notebook in his hand.

"Xiao Yang, come and help with the transcript."

It was as if he was his assistant.

Ling Shu: ...

He wiped his mouth and took out a pen in a vague manner.

"Okay! But Lao Yue, you have to hurry up, your wife is still waiting at home, if you don't go back on New Year's Eve, your knees may be swollen when you get up tomorrow."

Yue Dingtang: ...

He barely suppressed the twisted corners of his mouth, and looked at Boss Li seriously.

"When was the last time you and Mrs. Yuan had a conversation?"

"The day before yesterday."

Isn't that the time when Du Yuning and Ling Shu met for the last time?

The two of Ling Yue looked at each other.

"What did Mrs. Yuan talk to you at that time, and how is her expression and attitude different from usual?"

Boss Li thought for a while, "It seems not."

Yue Dingtang: "I'm not unhappy, or sad, and I haven't complained to you?"

Boss Li shook his head: "I see that Mrs. Yuan was in a good mood that day. She once told me that every time she came here, her favorite order was strawberry cake, and she only wanted to eat it when she was in a good mood. That day she Just order one and pack one back.”

Ling Shu asked coldly: "What did she talk to you about?"

The lights were dim just now, and Boss Li was talking to Yue Dingtang, only now he noticed Ling Shu, and couldn't help but let out a surprise when he saw it.

"You, you have a good face, I seem to have seen it somewhere?"

Seeing the other party racking his brains, Ling Shu kindly reminded him.

"The day before yesterday, here, Madam Yuan and I had coffee."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Boss Li clapped his hands, "I remember, it's you!"

Ling Shu nodded: "It's me, but I don't remember Madam Yuan talking to you."

Boss Li: "When you were still coming, I saw Mrs. Yuan sitting there alone, so I went over to say hello to her. She seemed to be in a good mood. She also said that she was going to attend the banquet hosted by the wife of the British Consulate tomorrow. Buy some coffee beans from me and use them as gifts, and let me choose them and send them to the house.”

Ling Shu: "Is there nothing else?"

Boss Li: "No more, that's all."

Ling Shu: "On weekdays, when Mrs. Yuan comes over, have you ever interacted with anyone besides me?"

Boss Li hesitated: "It seems that there is another one."

Ling Shu: "What does it look like?"

Boss Li: "Sophisticated."

Ling Shu: "Wearing glasses?"

Boss Li thought for a while: "It should be worn."

Ling Shu: "Red dress?"

Boss Li said with a embarrassed smile: "I don't remember much about it. Sometimes I'm not in the store, and the guys take care of the business. It's not always possible to meet Mrs. Yuan. Why don't you ask them to come over? "

Ling Shu: "Okay, then please call out the guys who are often there during the day and waste their time. We can ask a few questions."

Boss Li agreed, but he was a little confused.

"Gentlemen, with all due respect, aren't you school teachers? Why do you seem to be asking about a case?"

Yue Ding and Tang Wenwen said: "The social investigation involves all aspects, and there is no shortage of individual case descriptions. It is inevitable that we should ask more carefully. It happens that we have met Mrs. Yuan a few times. It is a pity to hear the bad news, so we stopped by to ask. Maybe we will return later. Can help a little."

"So that's the case, please wait a moment." Boss Li didn't doubt that he was there, and turned around to call for someone.

The tall and thin guy was quickly called over.

He was not on duty, he was wearing a jacket, with an honest face, answering every question.

"When Mrs. Yuan came over, a man did often appear. The two of them sat there for a long time, and then left one after the other. There were three times when I was on duty during the day."

Ling Shu and Du Yuning have met here almost three times, and said after hearing the words: "You can't be talking about me, are you?"

The man looked at him carefully for a moment, shook his head, and said affirmatively, "It's not you! That gentleman always wears a red dress and glasses."

Yue Dingtang: "Do you know what they were talking about?"

The waiter shook his head first, and then said: "One time when I brought tea, I heard two sentences, as if they were discussing writing poetry. I'm a rough person, and I don't know any poetry, and I didn't understand it."

Yue Dingtang: "What is his last name, do you still have an impression?"

Guy: "He said his surname is Hong, and he didn't mention anything else, but he looks similar to the two of you. He is a cultural person."

What he said was almost the same as the information provided by the tea shop owner just now.

Excluding the possibility of the two temporarily lying, it is basically certain that they are the same person.

A new figure surfaced.

This is in line with their previous speculation.

Then, this man is probably also the one who helped Du Yuning draw up the property list.

Even, the two may have a closer relationship.

"Is he a regular at the café?"

Guy: "I've been in this cafe for three years, from the previous boss to the current boss Li, thanks to Boss Li for not giving up, I will continue to stay and work, but I rarely saw this Mr. Hong before. "

Yue Dingtang: "Then where does he live and where does he work, do you know?"

The guy naturally shook his head.

It's just a guest who met by chance, unless it's a celebrity like Du Yuning, how can others know him?

Yue Dingtang frowned, a little disappointed.

This is certainly a clue worth digging, but if the person surnamed Hong is really related to Du Yuning's death, as soon as the news comes out, he will definitely never show up in the vicinity again, what's more, he will just buy a ticket to go to another place and disappear from then on In the vast crowd, they will be completely lost.

"Ah, that's right!"

The guy suddenly had a flash of inspiration, "It was snowing outside last time, and this Mr. Hong was leaving. I called a rickshaw for him, and I heard him give the driver an address. It seems to be, it is——Hengtong No. 36!"

Hengtong.

Yue Dingtang subconsciously looked at Ling Shu.

The latter also happened to look over.

That is also where Xiao Kee Noodle House is located.

Just two days ago, before and after Du Yuning's accident, Lao Xiao, the owner of the noodle shop, was also implicated in the fire next door, and was burned alive in the noodle shop.

Is it a coincidence, or intentional?

How did the person surnamed Hong, Du Yuning, and Lao Xiao get involved?

Boss Li stood by the side with his hands tied the whole time without interrupting them. Seeing that they were asking similar questions, he made a sound.

"Gentlemen, it's getting late. If it's later, I'm afraid there won't be any rickshaws on the street."

The sapphire blue sky outside just now has completely darkened. One can imagine how warm it is here, and how cold it is outside.

Yue Dingtang glanced at his watch, it was time for them to leave.

"Thank you boss, I'm sorry for bothering you for a long time today, and I'll come back to apologize after next year."

Another table of foreign guests did not know when they were full, checked out and left, and they were the only table left in the huge cafe.

Boss Li smiled: "It's okay, anyway, my little old man is here to celebrate the New Year, so it's a serious matter not to delay your return home and reunion with your family. The small shop will be closed for a while during the New Year. If the two gentlemen like this place, you might as well wait a few years later. Come again."

Saying goodbye to the boss, the two came out of the cafe and walked towards the street.

The driver is still waiting there.

"Eldest sister must be anxiously waiting for you to go back for the reunion dinner. You can go back first and talk about it in two days." Yue Dingtang said.

Big Sister and Big Sister yelled so affectionately that Ling Shu swallowed all the complaints.

"If you don't strike while the iron is hot, you don't know what will happen in two days. You can't lose your life for the New Year. Let's go and go directly to Hengtong Road."

After he said that, he got into the car first.

……

In the Hengtong Road area, new and old houses are lined up. Under the night, the old and new colors are not so distinct, but the lights of thousands of houses are scattered in the scattered. The smell of steamed fish mixed with steamed rice cakes floats in the air together, ushering in the new year. new year's eve.

The taste of fish and pork is light, almost non-existent. After all, for ordinary people, a bowl of tenderloin boiled rice cakes or a piece of braised fish on the table this year can be regarded as a feast for the New Year, like It was unimaginable that they could eat lobster and steak like that just now.

This is mostly a residential area, and there are some shops here and there, all of which are time-honored and run by generations of owners, relying on word of mouth from repeat customers.

Now the mountains and rivers are incomplete, and some places are still fighting. Shanghai is tight outside and inside loose. The common people may see the smoke of gunpowder occasionally in the newspapers every day, but after all, it is generally calm. For the time being, people who go to work have a job, and those who go to school still have books. Reading, aside from passionate young people and intellectuals who are concerned about the country and the people, most ordinary people still live their small lives according to their usual rhythm day after day.

However, there are two exceptions in this bustle of every household closing their doors for the New Year.

That is the two families that were destroyed by the fire before.

One of them is the Xiaoji noodle restaurant that Ling Shu often visits.

"In the house that caught fire, the male owner used to work as a coolie on the wharf. Once he hurt his leg while moving goods. Later, he could only do some cotton picking work at home. The female owner did a good job in embroidery, and occasionally picked up the outsiders. The fabrics were embroidered, so they piled up a lot of cotton wool and fabrics at home, and these are very flammable things.”

"According to subsequent investigations, it is speculated that they were probably children playing with fire at home, and the adults were all asleep, so they didn't notice in time, which led to the rapid expansion of the fire, and eventually burned to death inside, and implicated Xiao Ji next door."

When the two walked towards No. 36 Hengtong Road, Yue Dingtang said so.

"something wrong."

Ling Shu stopped in his tracks.

"Not to mention that poor people generally do not light lamps at night in order to save money, and it is rare to buy matches, candles or even oil lamps. Even if their children find matches in the middle of the night and make a fire mischievously. Whether it is the couple or the old Xiao, it is not a failure of the five senses If they are in a fire, no matter how soundly they sleep, they should wake up, even if the couple can't escape, why didn't even Boss Xiao escape?"

The author has something to say:

A small theater that has nothing to do with the text——

Yue Dingtang: Where did my daughter-in-law come from?

Ling Shu: When did I become your assistant?

Yue Dingtang: You will have to call me boss sooner or later.

Ling Shu: You will have to call me husband sooner or later.

Yue Dingtang: ...

Ling Shu came to his senses, angry, turned his head and shouted: Director, the lines in the script are wrong!