long moon smiles in the sky

Under the old man's entrustment, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao sat for a while, asked about Xiao Mao's characteristics and some other clues, and then left.

After going out the door, the two of them walked out side by side with the horse, and saw in the alley not far ahead, the little girl Qiao'er and several children who were about her size were kicking shuttlecocks, muttering and singing. Son, the little face is jumping red.

"Brother Hero, have you carved your seal?" Qiaoer asked the two of them with a smile.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang nodded, Bai Yutang thought about it, and then winked at Zhan Zhao—Mao'er, ask these kids if they know about Xiao Mao and the ghost ship.

Zhan Zhao looked at him - why didn't you ask.

Bai Yutang looked elsewhere - I don't communicate well with children, unlike you, everyone loves you.

Zhan Zhao narrowed his eyes and glanced at him—is that right?She's a girl, don't you have a flair for the world?In other words, when she grows into a teenager, you two will communicate well.

Bai Yutang rolled his eyes towards the sky - Thieving Cat, why are you flirting in broad daylight.

"what?"

The two were making eye contact, and the little girl said with a smile, "Brother, can you talk with your eyes? It's amazing."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang continued awkwardly.

"Qiaoer." Zhan Zhao squatted down and asked her, "Are these your friends?"

"Yes." Qiaoer called a few children over, and said hello to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. It was rare for these children to see such a handsome figure, and they all opened their eyes and looked at them curiously.

Zhan Zhao always liked children very much, and greeted them with a smiling face, Bai Yutang looked a little cautious, reached out and took out something from his bosom, and handed it to Zhan Zhao sideways.

Zhan Zhao took it over and took a look, and saw that it was a pack of very cute jelly beans, and looked back at him in surprise.

"Cough..." Bai Yutang coughed, looked into the distance and muttered, "I bought it for Zhen'er."

The corner of Zhan Zhao's mouth twitched twice, "Zhen'er hasn't teethed yet, what's the use of buying it now?"

"Cough." Bai Yutang still looked into the distance, "Be prepared."

Zhan Zhao was powerless, gave the candy to the children, and said, "Do you want to eat candy?"

"eat!"

Sure enough, candy beans, fried fruit, these snacks are useful weapons for every child, Qiaoer and the three children laughed and ran over to share the candy, and said to Zhan Zhao together, "Thank you brother."

Zhan Zhao pointed to the children behind Bai Yutang. Among the group of children, there were two girls and two boys. Qiaoer and the other girl looked up at Bai Yutang and said, "Thank you." elder brother."

The corners of Bai Yutang's mouth twitched, and he didn't say anything. He heard the two little boys tugging on the sleeves of Qiao'er and the little girl, and whispered, "Isn't it brother? Is it sister?"

Zhan Zhao gasped, turned his face back, and sure enough, Bai Yutang's face turned dark.

"It's my brother." Qiao'er said, "Where is someone as tall as my sister?"

"But!" shouted a little boy in a short jacket with flowers, "he's prettier than my sister!"

"Then he's pretty too!" Another little girl pointed at Zhan Zhao and said.

"It's different." Another kid said, "This is a good-looking brother!"

"That's my brother too!" Qiao'er pointed at Bai Yutang and said, "It's a beautiful brother!"

"Yeah." The four children finally reached a consensus, "One is a good-looking brother, and the other is a beautiful brother!"

Zhan Zhao heard Bai Yutang's teeth creaking, and hurried forward to stop him, saying, "Hey, there is no limit to children's words, it's immoral to beat a child, and it's disgraceful to spread the word."

Bai Yutang gritted his teeth and looked at Zhan Zhao, thinking that this cat also had a pretty face...why!Bai Yutang, who had been beaten many times, was completely beaten by four innocent children this time. Zhan Zhao saw him retreating to the wall with a dark face to sulk, so he didn't do anything. He just pulled Qiaoer and asked them, " Qiaoer, may I ask you something?"

"Ask." Qiaoer and the others replied happily while eating the candy, "This candy is really delicious."

After Zhan Zhao heard it, he turned around and reached out his hand to Bai Yutang, "Yes!"

Bai Yutang looked at him with raised eyebrows.

Zhan Zhao also raised his eyebrows, "Huh?"

Bai Yutang was discouraged, and took out the other two bags that he kept in his arms and handed them to Zhan Zhao, who gave them to the children.

The children distributed the candies equally, and waited for Zhan Zhao to ask questions with a serious face, as if they knew everything.

Bai Yutang suddenly had the urge to hit the wall.

"Brother Mao from Grandpa Xu's family, do you know?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"Yes." The four children replied at the same time.

"I heard he lost it?" Zhan Zhao continued to ask.

"Yeah." Qiao'er nodded, and said, "I saw him a few days ago. He bought roasted seeds and nuts outside with a few copper coins, and he gave me two duck hearts to eat, but I heard that he disappeared later. .”

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other. According to Xu Zixu's statement, Xiao Mao bought roasted seeds and nuts for him that day, and never came back when he went there. In this way, Qiaoer might be the last person to see him.

Zhan Zhao asked, "Qiaoer, did you see him go back to this alley?"

Qiaoer thought for a while, shook her head, and said, "No, he walked forward."

"Front?" Zhan Zhao was puzzled.

"Well, it's the main road at the back, the road in front of the magistrate's yamen. It's more lively and big there. I guess there is a lot of money left, so I want to buy Grandpa Xu two cents to go back."

"Yeah." The other two children also nodded, "It must be, Xiao Mao is the most filial."

Bai Yutang thought for a while and asked, "Where does he often go to buy wine?"

The two little boys looked at each other, and one said, "Ah! I've spoken!"

"It's a man!" The other said, "What a pity! He's so good-looking, and I want to match my brother..."

The other little girl immediately pinched his cheeks and said, "You're going to die, your mouth won't be clean until you get too old, mother will slap you carefully!"

"Oh... Sis, it hurts like hell." The little man seemed to be a brother and sister with the little girl, rubbing his face and begging for mercy.

Zhan Zhao hurriedly stopped Bai Yutang, who was already on the verge of going berserk, and said, "Yutang, I'm sorry, it's not... just be safe and don't be impatient..."

Bai Yutang glared at Zhan Zhao fiercely, Zhan Zhao held back a smile until the corners of his mouth twitched, Bai Yutang was so angry, he really wanted to find someone to give him a good beating!Otherwise, it would be nice to go out and find a place to fight with the cat later.

"On the avenue at the west end of the city, there is a restaurant called Shunfeng Restaurant. The restaurant is very big, with several floors upstairs and downstairs." Qiaoer stretched out her hand and gestured, and said, "There are the best flower carvings in Jiujiang Mansion there. It's only a dime for hanging money."

"Oh..." Zhan Zhao nodded, and asked again, "How is Xiao Mao usually? Does he lie to others?"

"No way." The two little boys hurriedly said, "Xiao Mao is the most honest person in the world. Besides, he can't speak. It would be great if he could make gestures and understand clearly. He won't lie."

Zhan Zhao nodded, and finally asked, "Here, one last question."

"En." The four children nodded, looked at Zhan Zhao and waited for him to ask.

"Have you ever heard of ghost ships?"

As soon as Zhan Zhao’s words came out, the four children’s faces turned pale with a bang, they looked at each other nervously, and whispered, “Mother said, you can’t talk about ghost ships, or they will be caught and eaten by little ghosts.” dropped."

Zhan Zhao laughed when he heard it, and said, "Speak softly, and the brat won't be able to hear you."

After thinking about it for a while, the children hesitated.

Zhan Zhao said, "We suspect that Xiao Mao's disappearance may have something to do with the ghost ship, Xiao Mao may be in danger now, if you tell me about the ghost ship, maybe you can find Xiao Mao, then Grandpa Xu won't have to be so sad. "

The children looked at each other, Qiaoer leaned over and whispered in Zhan Zhao's ear, "About a month ago, on my birthday, my mother bought me a small kite, and I put it in the yard. It was dark, and later, the rope got caught on an old tree, and the kite couldn't get up or down, so I called Xiaolong and they picked the kite for me." He said, pointing to the little boy beside him.

"We all climbed up the tree." Xiaolong said, "When we were about to take the kite, we saw a big and strange boat coming from the boat, and then it collided with another boat in the river. .”

"Another ship?" Bai Yutang was a little surprised.

"Yeah." Qiao'er nodded, "It was an official ship, we all recognized it, and then people got on and off the ship, and got on the big ship... The big ship stopped for a long time, and we didn't care. But then there were rumors that there was a ghost ship, We all told our parents about this matter, and the adults didn’t believe us, and they also said that we should not talk nonsense, or we would be arrested by ghosts.”

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other—an official ship again?

Finally, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang got up to leave, and the four children stood at the entrance of the alley, waving goodbye to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang like four little sparrows.

After leaving the alley, Zhan Zhao stroked his chin and said, "It seems that this ghost ship has something to do with the government."

Bai Yutang shrugged his shoulders and said, "But it sounds like the magistrate of this county has a good reputation. Besides, didn't the guy on the boat just say that there is no one missing in Jiujiang Mansion, but it is clear that Uncle Xu's apprentice is missing. , I also went to the government to report the case, how come no one knows?"

"Hmm... let's go to Shunfeng Restaurant to inquire first, and then go to the county government office." Zhan Zhao suggested.

Bai Yutang thought it was feasible, so he nodded.

Turning around a large area of ​​residential houses, you can see a wide avenue in front of you. There are shops and businesses on both sides of the avenue. Pedestrians come and go, very lively.Bai Yutang rubbed Zhan Zhao with his arm, and raised his chin to signal him to look north.Zhan Zhao turned his face and looked over, sure enough, he saw a majestic mansion at the northernmost end of this street, with the words "Jiujiang Fuya" written on the plaque, the two of them glanced at each other, it was the county government.

Bai Yutang walked to the middle of the road, looked around, pointed to a particularly eye-catching big restaurant in the distance, and said to Zhan Zhao, "Cat, there."

Zhan Zhao looked in the direction of his finger, and saw a huge sign hanging on the door of the restaurant, which read - Shunfeng Restaurant.

The two exchanged glances and walked towards the restaurant.

Bai Yutang put the knife on his shoulder casually, looked back, and saw Xiaoyue and Huifeng who came out with them, still rubbing back and forth, not caring about him and Zhan Zhao, shook his head helplessly.

"This Jiujiang mansion has so many martial arts professionals recently, and the restaurant business is so good, I don't know if this restaurant is also full." Zhan Zhao said.

"Would you like to taste the flower carvings there when you're full?" Bai Yutang said with a smile, "Isn't it the best?"

Zhan Zhao laughed, the two of them walked to the door of the restaurant, and a waiter came out to welcome them, and said, "Oh, two distinguished guests, should you stay at the restaurant as a top student?"

Bai Yutang was quite surprised, and asked, "Man, isn't this a restaurant? Can you still stay here?"

"Of course I can. Behind the Shunfeng Restaurant is the Shunfeng Inn." The waiter smiled and told the horseman to take Xiaoyue and Huifeng to the stables to feed them with good fodder.

Bai Yutang said, "Isn't Jiujiang mansion full of inns and restaurants? Why, you still have vacant rooms here?"

"Yes." The waiter nodded quickly, and said, "Our Shunfeng restaurant and inn are the most high-end and most expensive in Jiujiang Prefecture. The cheapest of all dishes is a plate of one tael of silver, and the cheapest wine also needs to be served." A hanging copper coin and a dime, and the last room is ten taels of silver per night. This is more than ten times more expensive than ordinary restaurants and inns, so it is not enough to live in."

Bai Yutang nodded, and said, "That's a good thing, give me a room, and then come to a private room with a table of wine and food."

"Okay." Xiao Er smiled. He saw so many guests coming and going, Bai Yutang, he could tell at a glance that he was elegant and rich, as long as he was well served, he didn't care how much money he had.

Zhan Zhao looked at the sky, looked elsewhere, and muttered in a low voice, "Prodigal."

"What?" Bai Yutang didn't hear clearly, turned around and asked Zhan Zhao.

"No." Zhan Zhao shook his head, followed the waiter upstairs.

Another guy smiled and followed behind, asking Bai Yutang, "Master, do you pay attention to the food?"

Bai Yutang thought it was quite interesting, so he asked, "Do you still pay attention to the food here?"

"Yes, we have three grades of banquet here, chicken wing banquet, duck wing banquet and swallow wing banquet, which are 30 taels, 60 taels and 100 taels respectively." The waiter said with a smile, "the swallow wing banquet is the most high-end, a special dish of Jiujiang Prefecture It’s all there, and it’s still a long time.”

"Then the swallow-wing mat is ready." Bai Yutang nodded, and the clerk ran away happily.

When he got to the second floor and sat down, Bai Yutang saw Zhan Zhao looking at him with disgust, and muttered in a low voice, "It's only 100 taels for a meal, you're a prodigal."

Bai Yutang was overjoyed, and said, "Cat, you just said that I invited you to stay on the boat, and you invited me to dinner. Anyway, you invited me to this meal. Why should I be polite to you?"

……

After being silent for a while, Zhan Zhao clutched his purse distressedly—you damn mouse, you actually ripped me off!