Chapter 197: The Morgue During the New Year
The twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month is Little New Year.
The heavy snow that arrived as expected failed to stop people's yearning and enthusiasm for the New Year. The long street in front of the government office was still crowded with people, and the more than half a foot of silver soon turned into mud.
"Damn it!"
As soon as Qiu Yunfei jumped off the carriage, a few spots of mud fell on his deerskin boots. He cursed in a foul language. The driver rolled up his sleeves to wipe them off, but was pushed by Qiu Yunfei and staggered. He then scolded, "Don't try to please me. Move the carriage to the back!"
Naturally, the man didn't dare to provoke him, and he led the carriage away obediently.
Only then did Qiu Yunfei walk into the government office and report to the office.
"Hey~ Xiao Yanei came early today!"
The clerk in charge of the roll call hurriedly handed over the book with both hands, pointed to the blank space at the top, and said with a smile: "Please sign here. I have recorded the time. I guarantee that this will be the first copy in our mansion!"
From childhood to adulthood, what kind of flattery has Qiu Yunfei not received?
Without even a flicker of expression, he just grabbed the brush, signed his name, and left without a word.
"Little Yanei, walk slowly!"
The clerk who was on duty chased after him enthusiastically, and only when he saw Qiu Yunfei's back disappear behind the Moon Gate did his face fall. He turned his back and spat viciously, "Pah! What a wretch!"
However, Qiu Yunfei did not care about how others greeted him along the way. He just walked on the crunchy snow and headed straight to the backyard of the government office.
When he got to the morgue, his face was flushed. Before he even went in, he called out, "Old Xu, look what good stuff I brought you!"
Old Xu is the coroner of Shuntian Prefecture.
At this moment, he was sweeping snow in the yard. He was wearing a patched cotton jacket, bald boots, and his hair was combed meticulously.
Hearing Qiu Yunfei's call, some doubt flashed across his dull face. He looked up and saw Qiu Yunfei rushing in from outside. He couldn't help but frown and said, "Didn't you say you were going to take a day off today?"
"What the hell, a bunch of shitty relatives came to my house before dawn, using me as an excuse to talk nonsense. It's so annoying. I might as well come to your place and hide away in peace and quiet!"
Qiu Yunfei shrank back, and went over to grab the broom from Old Xu's hand, threw it outside the gate, and said unhappily: "Besides you and me, there are only a few living people in this yard all day long. What the hell is there to sweep?"
Old Xu calmly picked up the broom and smiled innocently: "I'm just sitting around doing nothing anyway."
As he said that, he prepared to start sweeping the snow again.
Qiu Yunfei grabbed the broom again and threw it into the corner, saying depressedly: "Please stop sweeping for now, okay? Just talk to me, I'm so upset!"
It can be said that there is always someone who can conquer you. Qiu Yunfei usually has a high opinion of the world, and even the young masters of the same rank are rarely worthy of his attention. However, during the past half month or so, he had been living with Old Xu day and night in the morgue, and incredibly, he had developed a similar temperament to him.
I can only say that the fate between people is incredibly close.
When Old Xu heard him say that, he stepped forward and put the broom in place, then took off the sheepskin cover on his hand, and then smiled innocently: "You have been saying that you feel depressed these days. I wonder when you will feel better."
"What day?"
Qiu Yunfei gritted his teeth and said, "When I come up with an idea someday, I'll make that Sun guy kneel down and call me grandpa. That'll make me feel really good!"
As he said that, he waved his hand again and said with great pride: "When the time comes, I won't be doing this kind of inspection, and you don't have to be a coroner anymore. Come back with me and have a good time. I guarantee you won't be treated badly!"
Old Xu smiled without commenting, rubbed the mud off the soles of his shoes on the steps, and walked into the house first.
The yard was quite spacious. The three leaky rooms in the middle were the morgues. As for the side rooms, they were at the discretion of the coroner.
The room chosen by Old Xu was farthest from the morgue and was also his usual place of rest.
Knowing that Old Xu was always very clean, Qiu Yunfei hurriedly wiped off the soles of his shoes before following him in.
As soon as he entered the door, he saw Old Xu twisting out three sticks of sandalwood from the incense box and preparing to insert them into the incense burner in front of the shrine. He waved his hand and said, "That's enough. I'm used to the smell of this damn place. Save your treasure for someone else!"
Having said that, if it were really summer, with a corpse left in the main room for seven days, the kid would probably have been so smoked that he wouldn't even dare to enter the courtyard.
Old Xu remained silent again, stuffed the sandalwood back, then sat opposite Qiu Yunfei with his hands behind his back, waiting to hear what he said.
Every time he faced this kind of dull expression, Qiu Yunfei would first get annoyed, then start to lose heart, and finally said with a lack of confidence: "Don't disbelieve me, one day I will definitely make that Sun guy kneel down and beg for mercy!"
Then he said indignantly, "I don't know what has gone wrong with my old man. He forced me to come here to do some stupid inspection, saying that I could hone my skills with that guy surnamed Sun - this motherfucker has to guard a few roads all day long, what skills can he gain?!"
He leaned back in his chair, and suddenly there were two crisp clinking sounds from something in his arms.
"Oh, right! I brought some good stuff today."
Qiu Yunfei sat up straight again, took out two celadon gourds from under his cloak, handed one to Old Xu, and said proudly: "Here, sixty-year-old Zhuangyuanhong, it can stand tall in the wine glass when poured out!"
Old Xu was not polite. He reached out to take the emerald green porcelain bottle, carefully pulled out the stopper, leaned forward to sniff it hard, and his face showed an intoxicated look.
Qiu Yunfei laughed and was about to tease him, but he saw Old Xu push the cork back without saying a word.
Qiu Yunfei couldn't help but frown and asked, "Why, it doesn't suit your taste?"
Old Xu shook his head: "It snowed yesterday. I'm afraid we don't have time to drink right now. Let's wait until the evening..."
"Old Xu, Old Xu! Come out and collect the goods!"
Before he finished speaking, he heard someone shouting outside.
Old Xu carefully placed the pot of wine in a corner. Just as he was about to go out to greet him, Qiu Yunfei had already rushed out, glaring at him and yelling, "Damn it, did I ask you to come here to call for the soul?! Hurry up and send it inside!"
Several people from the Ministry of Health in the courtyard obviously did not expect that the young master was still on duty in the morgue at this time. They hurriedly stopped their work and carried the two frozen bodies into the morgue with an apologetic smile.
Qiu Yunfei followed in carelessly, as if nothing had happened. He came up to the two bodies, glanced at them, and then cursed again: "Another pair of drunkards. The smell is so strong, could it be that they were soaked in a jar of wine?"
He was about to take out pen, ink, paper and inkstone to record the origins of the two bodies, but he saw Old Xu with a frown on his face, leaning over the bodies and examining them, as if he had discovered some huge secret.
"What's wrong, Old Xu?"
It was the first time Qiu Yunfei saw him with such an expression in front of the corpses. He hurried over and asked curiously, "Could it be that you recognize these two dead ghosts?"
Old Xu shook his head and said seriously, "Haven't you always wanted to see how good Lord Sun is at solving cases? Today is probably your chance!"
