Bewitched

Cao Gang's boat docked.There are people coming and going at the pier, which is very lively.Zhang Leiluo's two bright and upright brothers were also in the Cao Gang. At this time, Zhang Leiluo was supervising the work on the pier. What about you! Don't be lazy!" Just after shouting, he turned his head and saw Yan Feng and the two, striding over, and said carelessly: "Why did Mr. Yan come to the pier today? But you want to take a boat? Want to go Why tell me directly, brother! If you are on the way, wouldn’t it be convenient to just take the boat of our Cao Gang?” After he finished speaking, he saw Nanyu standing beside him, his eyes lit up, and he said, “What a handsome little brother I don’t know what the Jianghu name is? How about it? Are you interested in joining my Cao Gang? Even though we are on the boat for ten months of the year, we eat white flour, steamed buns and fat pork. Joining the gang is a brother. If I eat a mouthful of rice, I won’t miss your soup!”

Before Yan Feng answered a word, Zhang Leiluo had already said a lot of things. Fortunately, Yan Feng had already known his quick-talking temperament, so he finally caught a gap at this time, and hurriedly expressed his intention, saying : "This time Yan came here to discuss important matters with Chief Pan, and asked Brother Lei Luo to help guide the way. The person next to me is my new friend."

Nanyu rubbed his nose, clasped his fists and said: "Under Nanyu, her character is like Ying, and she doesn't have a name in Jianghu yet, so let's forget about joining the gang, I'm seasick."

Zhang Leiluo sighed, stretched out his hand and patted Nanyu's shoulder a few times, and said, "It's okay, since Mr. Yan brought you here, if you need anything, come to Caobang to find me Zhang San!" Very bold.

With Zhang Leiluo leading them, Yan Feng and his two boarded the largest ship without any hindrance. Gang Leader Pan stood on the deck and directed the transportation of food.Caobang's fleet only stopped in Jinling for half a day this time, and they were about to weigh anchor and head north to deliver food to Changjing before the New Year's Eve.Zhang Leiluo stepped forward and said a few words to Chief Pan, Pan Haiqing turned his head, Yan Feng cupped his hands at him far away, and saluted as a junior.Pan Haiqing took a few glances at this junior, and when he saw Yan Feng wearing a knife at his waist, he recognized this Spring Mountain Smile, squinted his eyes, and thought to himself, he is a hero.Then he came over, paused in front of Yan Feng and the two, and said: "Come with me." He led the two of them to the cabin, and all the gang members who met along the way would be conscious of it. Make way, let the gang leader pass by sideways, and greet the gang leader with a smile, Pan Haiqing also responded with a smile one by one.Yan Feng was not surprised by the atmosphere of the Cao Gang, but Nanyu was quite curious, and after a few more glances, he was always sensitive to people's emotions, so it was natural to see that these gang members sincerely respected and loved Chief Pan, so he couldn't help thinking about this A gang leader must say what he says in the gang and has a very high reputation.

Pan Haiqing led Yan Feng and the others into the room, closed the door, sat down at the table, picked up two peanuts on the table and threw them into his mouth, and said, "Don't stand still, both of you, sit down." , my Cao Gang doesn’t have those grinding rules, just tell me if you have anything to do with me!”

He spoke freely, and Yan Feng felt calm, and sat down on the other side of the table with Nanyu, explaining his intentions: "This time Yan was entrusted by Zuo Lizhong, a doctor of the Changjing Ministry of Industry, to look for Chief Pan. Ask if there are clues to the other half of the ship map." After he finished speaking, he explained to Pan Haiqing the ins and outs of why Zuo Lizhong entrusted this matter to him.

Pan Haiqing sat up straight, and said: "It really is this matter. I was the one who connected the Yan family and Lao Zuo at the beginning. I thought it would be your second brother who came, but it's okay for you to come. The clue is naturally Yes, I suspect there is an inner ghost in the Cao Gang." As soon as the word "inner ghost" was pronounced, the room fell silent for an instant.According to the rules of the Cao Gang, joining the gang is like joining a family. Brothers from all corners of the country are brothers. It is the only gang in the world today that can be evenly matched with the Beggars' Gang in terms of size. Eyes, no mercy.

Yan Feng said: "Since the leader of the Cao Gang said so, he must have planned to find out the inner ghost."

"That's right. Boy from the Yan family, let me ask you, do you still have the other half of the boat map?"

Yan Feng knocked on the table with his index finger, and then replied: "To tell you the truth, Master Pan, I don't have that boat map now, but I can guarantee that half of the boat map is very safe now." He said So far, the exact whereabouts of the ship map has not been stated.

Pan Haiqing said indifferently: "That's fine too. Since Lao Zuo has entrusted this matter to you, I won't ask you about the whereabouts of that half of the boat map. The fewer people who know about this kind of thing, the better." Good. You just need to cooperate with me to find out the ghost."

"If there is anything the junior can help with, Gang Leader Pan will just tell you."

Pan Haiqing then told his plan, Yan Feng made some comments after listening, the two discussed the details again, and after finalizing, Yan Feng left with Nanyu.Leaving Pan Haiqing alone in the room, he silently ate the plate of fried peanuts that had gone cold long ago. He felt that the salt was a bit too much, and because it was already cold, he couldn't taste the fragrance, but felt that there was still a hint of bitterness. After eating, he could no longer remember the taste of this plate of fried peanuts when it was still warm.

Zhang Leiluo was busy for a long time before finally watching the group of boys finish moving the goods.He also moved a lot himself, and he was very tired. At this time, he finally finished his work, but he made a bitter face.He picked up the sweat towel on his shoulders and wiped his face and neck, walked into the cabin, knocked on the door of Pan Haiqing's room, and when he heard someone coming in, he pushed the door open a little, leaned sideways and put his head in, Laughed twice at Pan Haiqing, and asked, "Master, we've finished our work! Shall we lift the anchor now?" The Zuo family and the Zhang family have been right and left hands of the Cao Gang for generations, but the Zhang family's generation and Zuo Lizhong, who was born in the same year as Pan Haiqing, It's different, the two boys of the Zhang family are a full round younger than Pan Haiqing, and Pan Haiqing is half their father since childhood.The second child, Zhang Guangming, is okay, he is honest, the third child, Zhang Leiluo, is not good. He was beaten half to death since he was a child because of his skin. I was so scared that every time I trembled like a mouse seeing a cat, I would not come in this room unless I could come in.

"Look at you, what do you look like! Come in, straighten your back and talk!" Pan Haiqing put down his pen, and reprimanded him with a straight face.He was writing a letter to Zuo Lizhong, but he didn't mention any major matters, they were all trivial and daily. He only mentioned at the end that he would arrive in Changjing in the middle of next month, and I'll talk about it at that time.

Zhang Leiluo walked in with a sad face, stood up straight, and said again in a loud voice: "Report to the gang leader! The brothers have finished all the work! May I ask you to lift the anchor now?" He said seriously After finishing this sentence, I couldn't help showing my true colors, and lowered my eyes to sneak a glance at the piece of paper on the table, trying to see what was written on it.

Pan Haiqing didn't avoid him either, folded the letter paper that had dried the ink, rolled it into a small roll, handed it to him, asked him to take it to the pier, and sent it there with a carrier pigeon, and set sail when he came back.Zhang Leiluo agreed, bent down and took the letter paper, held it in his hand, and ran out of the house, remembering to close the door after going out, leaving Pan Haiqing alone in the room staring at the closed door, his expression dazzled by the light It is clearly illuminated, but it is too complicated to distinguish clearly.

In Xingqu, sixty miles away from Jinling, there was a knock on the door of the Zhang family in the middle of the night.The concierge who was already sleeping on the bed turned over and threw the quilt over his head, pretending that he didn't hear it, and was about to continue sleeping, but the knock on the door was persistent and disturbing.He sat up cursingly, put on his clothes, opened the door with a yawn, and asked angrily, "Who is it? Is it polite to knock on the door at night?" But when he opened the door, he became dumb. Voice, hesitated for a long time before saying, "...Master Jiang?"

It was Jiang She who stood outside the door. He bent down and cupped his hands with a smile on his face, and said in a literati salute, "Xiaosheng apologized to Mr. Qian here. I came to visit late at night because I have something urgent to do with Mr. Zhang." , I’m really bothering you, sorry, sorry.”

The concierge Qian Qi hurriedly stepped aside, and said repeatedly: "I can't afford it! Young Master Jiang is trying to ruin this old man! It's just that it's late at night, so I ask Young Master Jiang to come in and wait a little while, please close the door and go give me a hand." Master, make an announcement." Qian Qi led Jiang She in and told him to wait in the tea room, holding a lantern, he hurriedly wanted to report, but was stopped by Jiang She.

"Mr. Qian, wait a moment." Jiang She took out a letter from his bosom and said, "This is a letter from Changjing Zuo Zhang entrusted to me to bring back, please pass this letter to Mr. Zhang when Mr. Qian notifies you .”

"Okay, Young Master Jiang, wait a moment, I'll come as soon as I go."

Qian Qi went straight to the study room, and sure enough, he saw that the light was still on. He didn't knock on the door, and went straight in. Sure enough, he saw Mr. Zhang still drawing pictures. He stood by the desk for a while, and waited for Mr. Zhang to find him before he appeared. I read the letter and said: "Master, the young master of the Jiang family is visiting tonight and said that he has something important to discuss with you. This letter is a letter from the young lady in Beijing who asked Master Jiang to bring back home."

Mr. Zhang unfolded the family letter, it was indeed his daughter's handwriting, he quickly read it, and said: "Go and lead Young Master Jiang to my study."

"Yes."

After Qian Qi led Jiang She in, he withdrew and closed the door, leaving Jiang She and Mr. Zhang in the study.

Jiang She performed the junior ceremony first, and then looked at the study after getting up. There were blueprints everywhere, filled with calculations and pictures that Jiang She could not understand, and the bookshelves were full, mostly books related to water conservancy and ships.Mr. Zhang was the apprentice of the old man Yiye back then, and he can be said to be the most skilled shipbuilder in the country of Yan.He looks thin, with a messy gray beard, his eyes are bloodshot from staying up late, but his eyes are very bright when he looks at Jiang She, his blue long sleeves are not new, and the cuffs are still full of ink spots.

Still smiling, Jiang She took out the patchwork blueprint from his chest, carefully placed it on Mr. Zhang's desk, and said, "The half of the last boat chart left by Old Man Yiye, I think if anyone in the world can complete it, it must be you."