Chapter 053: Walking on the Grass (IV)
"I said, I said..."
The young man nodded rapidly.
"Does Manyu have other types of abacus beads?"
Xu Hexue picked up an abacus on the long table, and the beads fell neatly, making a slight noise, which attracted the young man's attention.
"Yes, but I only changed it once. It seems that I changed it to the current beads five years ago." The young man said truthfully.
"Why change?"
Xu Hexue asked calmly.
The young man was an apprentice in this bank. He had been here for exactly five years, but he had never properly touched the limited number of precious abacuses on the table. He could only touch the worthless jujube wood abacus. He leaned his back against the wooden railing and answered in a trembling voice, "I heard from my master that the beads in the past were a bit heavy and inconvenient to manipulate. Our boss in Daizhou took the initiative to replace the abacus with a new one."
"What else do you know? Something about the abacus, I mean."
Ni Su walked up to Xu Hexue and asked.
The young man raised his head to look at her cautiously. There was a vague face under the white gauze veil, making it difficult to see clearly. But from the voice, he could tell it was a very young woman.
"What are you looking at?"
This calm yet sharp voice made the young man's body tremble immediately. He immediately lowered his head and dared only to stare at the frosty white sleeves. "Abacus, I, let me think..."
"The more experienced the master is, the more sensitive he is to the weight of the beads. They, they care a lot about these things. If the weight of the beads is not appropriate, it will affect the speed of turning the abacus, so the boss replaced it with a new one. I also heard that the boss thinks that the abacus is our livelihood. The boss spent gold and jade to make these abacuses, firstly to ask for good luck, and secondly to give some rewards to the masters who do the accounting. If they do their job well, without mistakes, and take the apprentice seriously, they can step down and get an abacus."
This is why he worked as an apprentice in Manyu Bank for five years. Although he had no chance to do accounts, he was unwilling to leave. Although only a few people could get this abacus, what if? The beads were useless, but the jade rings and gold foil on them were all valuable.
Ni Su thought for a moment and asked again, "So, you don't have a precedent of giving people only one abacus bead?"
"No."
The young man shook his head. "Even if the abacus is broken, it has to be kept properly. In the past, there have been thieves who wanted to steal it and exchange it for money, but few succeeded because although we put the abacus on the table, there are people guarding it every night."
"Isn't this a seal-off by the Night Police? There aren't many of us left here, so I'm the only one in the building tonight... The rest of us are patrolling outside."
Ni Su frowned. The old servant had been in the Wu Mansion for many years. Naturally, he could not have the abacus skills of the master in the money shop, nor did he have the chance to get such an abacus. What's more, that was the only one found in his house.
I heard from the neighbors that the old servant had a little grandson, but he had not shown up in recent days. Could it be that someone threatened him with his little grandson? So he dared to take the risk and murder his master Wu Dai?
Could it be that the abacus bead that Man Yu had received was given to him by that person? But since he already had Jiaozi, why did he keep another abacus bead?
"Do you know where the old abacus is stored?"
Xu Hexue leaned over. The light from the courtyard outside the building was dim. The young man felt that the closer he got, the colder he felt. This coldness was like the hairs on his spine standing up.
Being close to this person is like being close to a severe winter.
"I, I know..." The young man's lips trembled.
People guarding the courtyard under the patio walked back and forth, and many of them yawned lazily as the night was too long.
"I don't know if our bank can still be saved..."
I don't know who started it.
"It's said outside that our boss is the murderer of Wu Dai, who used to be the Grand Tutor. He sealed our place with a pair of abacus beads that came from nowhere."
Someone started talking, "If you ask me, how many people have stolen abacus beads from our bank over the years? It's easy to deal with those who have been caught, but who knows, there may be some who have slipped through the net. How can we convict the boss?"
"Hasn't he been convicted yet? We can still guard here tonight. Doesn't that prove that the Night Guard doesn't have more evidence? Besides, our boss hasn't been without support over the years."
The leader interrupted them impatiently, "Just do your own thing. Don't you understand the principle of doing your job well? Stop talking about the boss's right and wrong!"
While the night patrol guards were talking, Ni Su and Xu Hexue followed the young man up to the third floor. The furnishings on the third floor were simple, and at the end of the corridor was a locked warehouse. The young man looked embarrassed, "I don't have the key. The key is with our second manager. He is in the night watchman now, and I'm afraid he can't come out for a while."
Since it is a copper lock for the warehouse, it is naturally different from ordinary locks.
But the next moment, the young man only felt a flash of cold light in front of his eyes. He did not even see the dust falling with the sword shadow, but saw the copper lock made by the skilled craftsman falling down.
The sword blade was pointed at the young man's neck again, and Ni Su caught the bronze lock in time.
"Go in."
Xu Hexue raised her chin slightly.
The young man had a dazed look on his face. He pushed open the door of the warehouse, moved forward with weak legs, and walked in.
It was pitch black inside, and there was no light on, but the young man suddenly felt a light shining behind him. He didn't dare to look back, but just stood stiffly and pointed to the cabinet door in front of him, "In there."
Since it was the place where the abacus was stored, the locks used were naturally more sophisticated. Ni Su saw the flying dust, but the young man's face remained unchanged, as if he didn't notice it at all.
Ni Su lowered her eyes, looked at the pale white shadow on the ground, and listened quietly to the sound of the lock being opened, which was an ease beyond human power.
But she knew that his ease was not easy at all.
The young man thought that the sword across his neck was a powerful sword that could cut through iron like mud, so he became even more frightened. His legs kept shaking, and he leaned over the cabinet to take out the abacus even more carefully.
"This, this is the old style."
The young man took out an abacus, which was indeed old. The frame and beams of the abacus were loose, and the beads strung on it were smooth and shiny, showing that they had been touched for a long time.
Xu Hexue glanced at him lightly but didn't answer. He lowered his eyes and examined the man through the veil. "If you are smart, you should understand that you'd better pretend that you know nothing about what happened tonight. After all, without you, we wouldn't be able to find this place."
"I've got it all down!"
How could the young man dare to tell this to others? These words were undoubtedly a warning to him. Even if he told these things to the steward, he was the guide for these two people after all. Not to mention the golden abacus, he was afraid that the steward would drag him to see the official.
Feeling the sword against his neck move slightly, beads of sweat dripped down the young man's forehead. He was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but Xu Hexue turned his wrist and hit the back of his neck with the hilt of the sword.
The young man’s eyes went dark and he passed out.
Xu Hexue caught the abacus that was about to fall to the ground in time, then grasped the loose wooden frame, disassembled it, and took out a bead from it.
Ni Su's gaze moved from the unconscious young man to Xu Hexue's hand. She walked closer and carefully looked at the abacus in his hand under the lamp.
It is smooth and shiny, and you can tell at a glance that it has been used for a long time. The marks of the characters on it are faint, but you can still vaguely make out the words "Man Yu".
"It's the same one."
Ni Su said.
Xu Hexue pinched the abacus bead with her thin but powerful fingers and said after a while: "No."
"What's wrong?"
Ni Su was confused. "The wood, the jade ring, and the writing are all exactly the same."
Xu Hexue looked at the young man lying unconscious over there, "Do you remember what he said? Manyu only changed the style of abacus beads once, because the previous beads were too heavy, so he changed them."
Ni Su nodded.
"This one looks the same as the one we had at the old servant's house, but the weight is different."
Xu Hexue said.
"Different in severity?"
Ni Su was surprised, then she took the beads from his hand and weighed them, but she didn't notice anything different because when she was at the old servant's house, she didn't pay attention to the detail of weight.
Xu Hexue took the abacus beads from her hand, bent his knuckles, and applied force. The lines of the blue veins on the back of his hand and the sharpness of the bones became clearer.
The beads shattered, revealing the iron sheet under the jade ring.
The business of the Jiaozi shop was to exchange iron coins. How could the wealthy boss, who inlaid gold and jade on the abacus, be short of something like cast iron coins?
"So that's why it's heavier."
Ni Su picked up the thin piece of iron from his palm and suddenly realized, "So, the old servant's abacus is fake."
"That is to say, the people behind the old servant may have left this thing behind on purpose. They harmed Wu Dai in order to draw the attention of the Night Bureau to Manyu Bank?"
Starting from Du Cong's account books, all these events were closely related to a Manyu Money House.
"There is another possibility."
Xu Hexue mentioned the lamp on the corner of the table and said, "Maybe Wu Dai was not murdered by anyone at all."
"It was his own plan. It was Wu Dai who wanted the people from the Night Bureau to investigate the Manyu Bank."
The epilepsy is real, and the abacus is fake. If Wu Dai is really so cruel to himself, it must be that he has reached a dead end, but still hopes to turn things around by taking advantage of the situation, or to drag others into the water.
"How is this possible?"
Ni Su was stunned. She was about to ask again, but she saw Xu Hexue suddenly turned his head. He seemed to have heard something and immediately said to her, "Someone entered the building."
As soon as the words fell, Ni Su looked up and saw a faint light shining on the railing outside the warehouse door, followed by an angry voice, "Where is Ah Ping? Why isn't he here? Is this how he cleaned when I was in the night watchman these few days? Last time he broke my things and asked him to do more work, but he was so indifferent?"
"Don't be angry, manager. He must have gone out for some convenience. You can talk to him when he comes back." Another flattering voice sounded.
There was a lot of noise coming up the stairs. Xu Hexue only heard the word "steward" and knew that it was the steward who was taken to the Night Palace for interrogation and had returned.
"Ni Su, hide first."
Xu Hexue instructed softly.
Ni Su nodded, looked around, and spotted another spacious cabinet in the corner. She simply lifted her skirt and hid herself inside. "What about him?"
Xu Hexue looked at the young man named Ah Ping, walked up to her first, and when he leaned over, the veil of his hat fluttered, revealing his pale chin, "Will you be afraid if you're in there?"
Ni Su hugged her knees, shook her head, and urged him, "Close it quickly."
Xu Hexue closed the cabinet door, lowered his eyes, and with a move of his two fingers, the damaged copper lock wrapped in Yingchen fell into his hands. The sound of people coming up the stairs outside became clearer and clearer, but he slowly fastened the copper lock that was temporarily restored by Yingchen to the cabinet door with the abacus, and then his body turned into light mist, and he went out quietly with the unconscious young man.
The door of the warehouse suddenly closed, and the copper lock that Ni Su had placed on the ground was hanging intact on the copper buckle.
"Did they search the warehouse as well?"
The steward carried his coat and went up to the third floor. He was frightened and nervous after spending the past few days in the midnight office, and he could hardly hide his fatigue.
"Yes, they took your keys and searched the house inside and out."
The middle-aged man who followed him upstairs replied, "We showed them the abacus as well."
"It's all because of the abacus. This is such an unexpected disaster! I have to go and take a look!" The manager didn't dare to say a bad word about Ye Si. He could only yell angrily and handed him the key, asking him to go and open the warehouse door.
The man hurriedly said yes, took the key and went to open the door.
Xu Hexue left the man in a secluded place in the backyard, then quickly came back, hid his figure, and followed the two men.
"Except for the people from the Night Watch who came to check the warehouse, no one has entered it since you were not here. You just came out of the Night Watch, why are you here to count it now?"
The man asked as he pushed the door open.
"Who made our boss get harmed by others? Didn't he treat you and me well when he was alive?" The manager walked into the storeroom, held the lamp forward, and lit the candlestick on the table.
"The shopkeeper treats us well, of course."
The middle-aged man nodded, "But he just disappeared without a trace."
"Yes..." The manager sighed as he counted the iron coins in the warehouse. "Normally, the key to this warehouse can only be controlled by the shopkeeper, but on the night of the Lantern Festival, he handed the key to me. I asked him if he was going back to Daizhou to see his boss, and he said no. I was also puzzled. He didn't look like he was going to travel far away again, and he didn't have any luggage. I just saw that he seemed to have a book in his arms..."
"The shopkeeper never gave you the key when he returned to Daizhou. Maybe he plans to retire and wants you to try to manage the warehouse first."
The middle-aged man's words made the manager feel comfortable, and the fear that had been lingering in the night watch for the past few days was also reduced. He waved his hand, "Don't talk nonsense."
It was pitch black in the closet, and Ni Su could only hear the two people talking outside. She heard footsteps approaching, and her heart began to beat fast. She hugged her knees and held the hem of her clothes tightly with her hands.
"Manager, I'll open the cabinet doors and boxes here for you as well, so you can check them." The man smiled ingratiatingly and touched the copper buckle of the cabinet.
Ni Su held her breath.
A thin ray of light leaked in, and she saw the rough, black fingers of the person outside.
Her heart tightened, and she didn't know what to do, but she felt a breeze blowing on her face, ruffling the light hair by her ears. The extremely dim cabinet seemed a little cramped. Ni Su turned around and met a pair of eyes.
At such a close distance, Ni Su discovered that the creases on his double eyelids were beautiful.
Xu Hexue had taken off her veil and placed the lamp on her knees, with warm yellow light filling her eyes.
The person outside suddenly cried out in pain and hurriedly pulled out his finger that was caught in the heavy cabinet door.
This scene was so funny that Ni Su almost couldn't help laughing. Suddenly, a cold hand covered her mouth. She blinked her eyes, but smelled a faint smell of blood.
Unconsciously, the edge of his sleeve was soaked with blood, and his delicate wrist bones were scratched with hideous wounds. Blood beads were dripping at the bottom of his wrist, and they were about to fall.
"Okay, let's see what you can do. That cabinet is for storing sundries, how can you put iron coins in it? The abacus is also locked!"
There was the manager's unpleasant voice outside.
What followed was the middle-aged man outside the cabinet's sweet smile and sweet words.
Xu Hexue listened silently to the two people talking outside. Just as he was about to let go, she held his fingers unexpectedly. The warm temperature pressed against him and made him tremble.
The tips of his fingers could almost still feel the touch of her cheek. Because of her sudden action, he couldn't help but curl his palms and turn his head to look at her.
She did not take off her veil, but lifted one side of the veil. The candlelight illuminated half of her fair face, her dark and bright eyes, and her rosy lips.
A strand of hair fell on her cheek.
Xu Hexue realized that she was examining his scratches and immediately tried to pull his hand back, not wanting her to take a closer look, but her fingers were tightly hooked around his.
Heartbeat is something that only flesh and blood can have .
And he didn't.
For the first time, Ni Su examined the punishment imposed on him so seriously, like evidence stained by the snow.
If it was a human injury, she would have plenty of ways to heal it, but unfortunately, it wasn't hers.
The air she blew gently was like the wind brushing across his wrist, and Xu Hexue let out a very slight and short sound, almost trembling with fear.
