The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

Chapter 406: Blessings and Misfortunes are Interdependent

The rising sun rose in the east, and there was no cloud for a thousand miles.

Hong Jiu hobbled down the street with a dog beater in his hand, but his heart was as gloomy as the night before the rainstorm.

Originally, he had not recovered from his injury and shouldn’t have gone begging on the streets. However, the beggars had never had overnight wealth. During these seven or eight days of recuperation, he relied on a few small beggars to beg for leftovers and come back hungry all day. Hong Jiu couldn't bear it anymore.

Therefore, he was ready to find a feng shui land, use his ability of sweet talking, and beg for some tinkling treasures to satisfy his stomach.

Who knew that when he reached the street with a dog beater and didn't even have time to think of a suitable place, he found someone following him, peeking at him, and it was the Deaf Boss's subordinates!

Was this damn Boss really going to drive everyone away?!

Hong Jiu was filled with frustration and anger, and he wished to just turn around and fight against the evil beggar. However, as he just turned around and measured the other person's size, he wisely gave up the idea of seeking death.

What should he do?

It was impossible to fight; he was limping and there was no way he could get rid of the opponent.

This was really

“Ouch~”

His mind was in a mess, and he didn't pay attention. Suddenly, a person rushed out of the alley in front of him, and with one elbow, he pushed Hong Jiu all over the place!

After catching up with five or six strong men, Hong Jiu was about to run away in his thinned, fast boots that were the size of a clay pot without thinking. His soul flew out of fear, and he quickly rolled to the bottom of the south wall. Only then did he stop in shock.

When Hong Jiu got up from the ground, he saw the tall and thin man who had knocked him over, surrounded by the strong men chasing after him. He greeted him with his fists slapped in the face and cursed in his mouth, “Bastard! Don't you go and inquire about where our Silver Hook Gambling House is! How dare you steal something from us?! You are indeed looking for death.”

“Don't talk nonsense to him! Where's the thing? Where's the thing? Hurry up and hand it over!”

“Brother Dong, it seems that the thing is not on him! Say, where the hell did you hide it?”

Nearby was a morning market selling vegetables, and now it was a time of high crowds. The crowd heard that a thief had been caught, so everyone gathered around and shouted, joining in the excitement.

“Who stole your things?”

The tall and thin man saw this and jumped three feet high and shouted at the top of his voice, "Heaven and earth have a conscience; I am speaking the truth... Ouch.”

As soon as he spoke, he received another slap in the face. The tall and thin man covered his face and quickly changed his mind. "How can something I bought in real gold and silver be considered stolen?”

Upon hearing this, Hong Jiu pretended that this person had bought stolen goods but was caught by the original owner.

To his surprise, the thug from the Silver Hook Gambling House sneered, "It's not stealing. I exchange my ”chip” for five coins of silver, but I can sell it for seven coins outside. You guys exchanged dozens of chips in one go and wanted to secretly bring them out for high prices; how dare you?”

Many people who heard this were puzzled. Chips have always been priced, and they didn’t even recognize them when they were sold elsewhere. However, how could anyone want to exchange chips and sell them at high prices outside?

Seeing everyone puzzled, the leading thug hurriedly explained, "You may not know that the chips in our gambling house are all recharged with that pottery, pearls, gold, and shells. It was fine a few days ago. That pottery, pearls, gold, and shells were only sold for four coins per chip, and no one would come for these chips.”

“Unexpectedly, after entering June, this f*cking pottery, pearls, gold, and shells rose in popularity, and now it has been sold for seven coins of silver. Therefore, my chips have been missed by this thief.”

Several suddenly awakened voices were heard in the crowd, “No wonder; it's the pottery, pearls, gold, and shells.”

“I heard that this chip has increased. It was fine for the lower-grade golden shell. I heard that the middle grade has increased from the initial two taels of silver to eight taels of silver per piece.”

“What is this?! My Second Grandfather's Neighbor's Nephew's Brother-in-Law, who was cheated, bought a high-quality golden shell with only three taels of silver and then changed it to a courtyard with three entrances. Now, he’s with five people and six servants, not to mention how carefree he was.”

“That's still selling early! Look at the soaring trend now; maybe we can switch to a four-in-big house in two months.”

“Unfortunately, I don't have a way; otherwise, I could have exchanged a few golden shells and left them at home, which would have multiplied several times in two to three months.”

“The public speaks one sentence at a time, and the audience is both amazed and envious, and they have long forgotten about the thief.”

Finally, someone questioned and said, "Since the price of the pottery, pearls, gold, and shells has already increased, why don't you also raise the silver for exchanging chips, which can be considered one silver coin per chip?”

Everyone thought it was reasonable, so they focused their attention on the gamblers again, with a sense of intellectual superiority in their eyes.

“We also want to.”

The leading thug quickly exclaimed, "But the boss has led the shopkeeper to Jinmen Mansion to discuss business, and now there is no one at home who can make the decision. Who dares to raise the price recklessly?”

As he spoke, he pushed, taking the tall and thin one back to search for the whereabouts of those golden shells.

In the blink of an eye, the thugs scattered cleanly, but the crowd of onlookers didn’t disperse. They gathered in groups of three or five, each sentence inseparable from the pottery, pearls, gold, and shells.

Hong Jiu propped up his ears and listened to everyone's discussion. His heart jumped with excitement because he suddenly remembered that at the beginning of the year, he seemed to have picked up a pottery, pearls, gold, and shells. He didn't know that it was a valuable object at that time, so he casually gave it to Niu Zi.

Looking back now, the shell was transparent and white, with clear lines, and at least it was medium-quality. Perhaps…

Thinking that he might have picked up a big courtyard with three entrances for nothing, the haze under Hong Jiu's heart suddenly disappeared, and instead, it was as eager as charcoal!

He wished he could fly and ran back to the ruined temple to carefully confirm. However, he saw the Deaf Boss's subordinates standing not far away, and they were also listening in a daze.

No way!

If the Deaf Boss's subordinates see a flaw when they rush back like this, they might immediately seize their chance!

Just carrying the idea of entering the mansion three times bigger in his heart, did Hong Jiu still have the interest to beg for food? So he decided to stroll around the street and wait until noon to go back and see what happened.

He was leaning on a bamboo stick, wandering around. At first, he felt hot in his heart, and he didn't feel tired. However, as he walked, the scorching sun made him sweat like rain.

Seeing that it was inevitable to suffer from heatstroke again, Hong Jiu hesitated whether to find a cool place to rest for a while, but suddenly, he heard the commotion of chickens flying and dogs jumping in the nearby alley.

First, a man was shouting and cursing in the yard, "What a poisonous woman; you are indeed trying to murder your husband.”

Spit!

Immediately after, another woman screamed, "You thief, you are not my husband. Now that you are living in my house shamelessly, you must be trying to deceive my property.”

The man exclaimed again, "Okay, fine! You poisonous woman still dares to talk like that. I... I must take you off today.”

After listening to these words, Hong Jiu felt a bit fresh. He always traveled through the streets, and he has heard many other people's marital arguments. However, the woman insisted that her husband was fake, but allowed him to live at home, which was the first time he had ever encountered.

He was also tired on both sides, so he simply sat down at the entrance of the alley and first took off the cloth shoes with exposed toes. He knocked off the sand inside the wall and then rolled up the pants, revealing two gray and white furry legs.

When all this was sorted out, Hong Jiu was about to prick up his ears and listen to the corner of the wall, but suddenly he heard a mournful and high-pitched scream coming from the courtyard, "Ah~”

Hong Jiu was so scared that he had goosebumps all over his body. He didn't know what was going on inside, but he heard a loud crash. The door of the house opened, and a cute little woman stumbled out. Her green sleeves were covered in bloodstains!

This…

Hong Jiu instinctively climbed up from the ground, trembling and holding onto the dog beater, step by step retreating.

Unexpectedly, the little woman was even more panicked than him. When she walked out the door, she saw a beggar carrying a bamboo stick and staring at herself with wide eyes. Her feet softened and she collapsed on the ground, crying and wiping tears, saying, "I... I just wanted to scare him, not intentionally kill him.”

“Kill... Kill…”

Upon hearing this, Hong Jiu took two more steps back and turned around at the entrance of the alley. He screamed, "Murder! Murder! Someone has murdered her husband!”

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