Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 202: Girl?
Zhao Si and Luo Xiaoxiao were completely confused by the inexplicable shouting of the dirty child. Guan Qiu, who had just been put down, also hadn't figured out what was going on. He only knew that he had just entered the blacksmith shop and looked around, and then something suddenly grabbed his feet, and then he was like falling into an abyss. When he saw the light of day again, he saw Ah Liu holding a child.
The child was clinging to his feet...
Zhang Shou, who had heard Lu Sanlang explain that this place had changed owners several times due to being haunted, had already made a guess. He looked at the dirty child whose face was so dirty that he couldn't see clearly, and asked with interest: "Is the big brother Zhu you mentioned the owner of the house next door?"
The dirty boy cried so much that his face was black and white, like a big cat, and he didn't even bother to answer. But when Ah Liu forcibly turned his head and forced him to look up at Zhang Shou, he was stunned with tears in his eyes.
The sun shone on that very, very beautiful face with a warm smile. He couldn't help but think of Brother Zhu who had been gone for a long time. He wiped his eyes hard and said with sobs, "Yes, Brother Zhu is a good man. He didn't chase me away..."
Although the dirty kid's words were incoherent, Zhang Shou had a firm opinion in mind, so he smiled and continued to ask, "You mean, you originally lived in the house next door, and then that house was bought by your brother Zhu. He was kind enough not to drive you away, but took you in. And there used to be a girl named Zhou living in this house, and she also took good care of you?"
As soon as these words came out, Lu Sanlang's eyes lit up. Having read many different kinds of legends about talented scholars and beautiful women, he had already imagined all kinds of plots in his mind. He immediately asked, "Did the man surnamed Zhu have an affair with Miss Zhou, the daughter of Mr. Zhou who used to live here, so he bought the house next door? But later he followed the Northern Expedition Army to fight, and Miss Zhou's mother died, so she had to carry the coffin back home, so you became a lonely drifter?"
Zhang Shou was gentle and his words were simple and easy to understand, while Lu Sanlang's words were like fireworks, talking about love affairs, carrying a coffin back home, and being a lonely drifter. How could an eight or nine-year-old child understand? Besides, his head was still being held by Ah Liu, so he couldn't move around, so he could only see Zhang Shou and couldn't care about others.
He grinned, as if he wanted to cry again, but he forced himself to hold back. "My parents are dead, and my uncle and aunt not only don't want me, they also sold my house! Brother Zhu bought my house and took me to settle accounts with my uncle and aunt, and taught them a lesson. Later, he lived in my house and taught me martial arts...Sister Zhou is not the daughter of Mr. Liu next door, she is the maid of Mrs. Liu!"
This completely unexpected plot, of course, stunned Lu Sanlang, speechless. After all, even in the play, the role of Hongniang can only be a supporting role to Yingying, and how could I bear to fold the quilt and make the bed was just a casual remark by Zhang Sheng, he had never imagined the possibility of a maid becoming the protagonist. So, seeing Zhang Shou actually laughed, he couldn't help but be very confused.
"Ah Liu, take him to wash his face first, find a clothing store, change his clothes for him, and then try to clean up the house next door. After the class at the Jiuzhang Hall of the Imperial College is over this afternoon, bring the child here and I will slowly ask him. Oh, by the way, ask someone to send a message to mother, and bring Yang Hao and Qiao Dang here, and let them watch the blacksmith shop and do odd jobs."
Ah Liu nodded without hesitation, then picked up the dirty child, and jumped over the wall and left without caring about the child's sudden resistance. Zhang Shou smiled at Zhao Si, Luo Xiaoxiao and Guan Qiu as if nothing had happened, saying, "This blacksmith shop used to be the private residence of a Beijing official, and was later sold to several owners. As a result, it was messed up by the ghost of this child."
Guan Qiu finally realized: "No wonder my feet were caught by the wall before!"
Zhao Si was immediately horrified, and immediately couldn't help but complain, "You were caught in broad daylight and you didn't even scream?"
Guan Qiu said seriously, "Isn't it all right? Besides, Dr. Zhang and you guys are all here. If you find out I'm not here, you will definitely save me. So I wanted to see what was going on. But when I opened my eyes, I saw the little guy being held in the hand of Dr. Zhang's powerful guard."
Luo Xiaoxiao couldn't help but laugh when he saw Zhao Si's angry expression after hearing this. But now that Zhang Shou explained it, the truth about why such a good layout of a shop in front and a house in the back was easily changed was revealed, and he naturally breathed a sigh of relief. At that moment, he came out to mediate between Zhao Si and Guan Qiu, and then took the two of them to quickly start counting things.
With only such trivial matters left, Zhang Shou was impatient to stay and watch. Of course, he did not keep the drawings, but took them back first, using the excuse that he still needed to think about the modifications.
As soon as he led the sullen Lu Sanlang out of the door, he heard the extremely unhappy voice of the little fat man from the side: "It's just a little brat, but he scared away so many people. This is ridiculous! And the sword that the blacksmith made for some nobleman broke inexplicably. Could a little brat do that? There must be a big conspiracy behind this. If not..."
"If not, you cut off your head and kick it like a ball?"
Zhang Shou made a timely retort. Seeing that Lu Sanlang was silent, as if he was wondering whether it was necessary to swear like that, he stroked his smooth chin and said with a half-smile, "How do you know that the big brother Zhu mentioned by the little guy didn't leave him a sword that can cut gold and jade, and his sister Zhou didn't leave him a bunch of spices or drugs that can help people sleep?"
Lu Sanlang took a deep breath and said, "Young Master, I thought I was bold enough to think, but you are even more bold than me! Could it be that the retired poor official surnamed Liu who can only buy a house in the cheapest North City in the entire inner city, and the Mr. Zhu who bought a house next door, are actually some famous people? How is this possible? I have never heard of any celebrities living here!"
"Make bold assumptions and verify them carefully." Zhang Shou casually said a truth that science students often use, and then he said leisurely, "Besides, have you forgotten that Teacher Ge also lives in North City?"
Lu San grumbled unconvincedly: "Teacher Ge lives in the east of Shuntian Mansion, which is northeast of the inner city. It's a good location."
Zhang Shou was too lazy to continue discussing with Lu Sanlang which area of the capital city had more dignitaries, so he changed the subject and said, "Okay, okay, the source of the haunted incident should have been found out anyway, so there's no need to rush the rest, we can just take our time. What I'm really curious about is, did that kid Ah Liu find this place by chance, or did he realize there was something else going on here a long time ago?"
Lu Sanlang was really shocked this time: "Is this possible? Although Ah Liu is quite capable and his ideas are really unexpected, he shouldn't be such a cunning person, right?"
"I don't know if he is playing tricks, but I know that he is an extremely serious person." Zhang Shou paused, as if he was organizing his words, and then said meaningfully, "I am teaching you in the Imperial College. Do you think that with his temper, he would quietly wait for me outside the Imperial College and only do chores like delivering meals and cleaning the house?"
After a pause, he didn't even look at Lu Sanlang, whose face was twitching as if he had a toothache, and laughed, "If Ah Liu has already explored all the houses and shops near the Imperial College in the past one or two months, I wouldn't be surprised!"
"I..." Lu Sanlang wanted to curse out a series of dirty words, but when the words came to his lips, the fear of being hit by black bricks and the pressure from the teacher next to him finally prevailed. So, he could only mutter in a low voice, "Young sir, you are right. With this kid's vigorous temper, he can really do it..." He is worthy of being the apprentice of Master Hua Qi!
Following Zhang Shou, he walked back to the Imperial College. When the afternoon class started, Lu Sanlang, who had always been attentive in class, was distracted for the first time. Fortunately, he had a strong learning ability and a good habit of preparing for class, so he didn't miss anything in the two classes. But when Zhang Shou announced the end of get out of class, he immediately rushed in.
Zhang Shou saw the fat guy sticking to him like a piece of taffy, and he knew without thinking that Lu Sanlang had guessed the point wrong at the beginning, so he was curious or gossipy, and combined with his previous guess about Ah Liu, he tried to follow and watch the fun. He now treated Lu Sanlang as his own, so he didn't chase him away.
When he saw the university archway from afar, Ah Liu's always straight figure came into view. However, what attracted more attention than the cold boy was... a girl wearing an emerald green dress, which looked very abrupt at first glance! He was calm about such a result, but Lu Sanlang beside him directly spit out a dirty word and then took a breath.
"Surely, this kid, Ah Liu, didn't he know that I'm a girl?"
"Very likely." Zhang Shou blurted out three words. When he got closer, he realized that the girl in green clothes who seemed to be standing obediently in front of Ah Liu from a distance was actually trying desperately to break free from the boy's clutches. It was not until he saw her that the little girl became quieter and then avoided his gaze unnaturally.
However, Lu Sanlang could not help but be curious, but considering that he might get beaten if he teased Ah Liu, he first dodged behind Zhang Shou and asked seriously, "Ah Liu, who is this little beauty next to you?"
"I'm a man, not a little beauty!" The girl in green clothes couldn't help but shout in protest, but the next moment, when she looked up and glared at Ah Liu, she received a cold look from the other party, and then heard a casual remark.
"You want others to know that you are dressed as a woman?"
"I..." Seeing the previously troublesome kid choking and blushing, Lu Sanlang sighed that there is always a way out, but then he suddenly realized a more important problem. Ah Liu, this guy, actually forced a boy to wear women's clothes?
Zhang Shou was also at a loss for words. But knowing Ah Liu very well, he felt that the boy must have thought that wearing women's clothes would keep the little brat quiet, so he could save effort and trouble!
Because this was a place where people came and went, Zhang Shou asked directly: "Has his house been cleaned and tidied?"
"We hired eight people." Ah Liu was as concise as ever. "It's like a doghouse."
"My home is not a doghouse!" The little kid in the green dress couldn't help but protest again, but the result was that the hand on his shoulder was so heavy that it made him change color suddenly. Although he gritted his teeth and tried to hold it back, cold sweat soon trickled down his forehead, and at the same time, there was another sentence that made him particularly unwilling to accept it.
"Can your brother Zhu come back and stay?"
Zhang Shou could not help but smile when he saw that Ah Liu had already beaten people into submission. Because the distance was very short and Ah Liu obviously could not drive because he had to watch the people, he planned to walk with Lu Sanlang and the two of them. The other students who had just left the Imperial College and saw this scene were curious and they heard a loud sound.
"A Shou!"
Zhang Shou, who had walked not far away, turned around when he heard the sound and found that it was Zhu Ying, Zhu Hong and others riding their horses and trotting towards him, so he simply stopped and waited for him.
When Zhu Ying jumped off his horse and rushed to Zhang Shou, before he could say anything, he suddenly looked at the child suspiciously. Many students couldn't help but watch the excitement. But in a moment, many people took a deep breath. If Zhang Shou was ten years older, the cute little girl who looked like a delicate girl might still be his daughter. But now...
No matter how impulsive Miss Zhu is, she wouldn't make a mistake!
Zhang Shou naturally would not misunderstand Zhu Ying's meaning, but when he saw Zhu Ying looking up, down, left and right, staring at the little kid beside him, he was about to explain the man's origins, but Zhu Ying suddenly reached out her hand at lightning speed, pinched the little guy's cheek, and then cried out in annoyance.
"Why is your face so rough... and so thin!"
Lu Sanlang only remembered that Zhu Ying used to visit those wealthy families and was usually rude to those children who acted like little adults. He never expected that she would be interested in teasing children. Hearing this complaint, he couldn't help but mutter in a low voice: "This little ghost is so poorly clothed and fed that he has to provoke ghosts and scare people. How could he be fat? He is lucky to have a good-looking face!"
"Lack of food and clothing? Haunted and scary?" Zhu Ying's eyebrows immediately raised, "What's going on?"
Zhang Shou didn't want to explain on the street, so he smiled and said, "This is not the place to talk. Let's go to the little guy's house first, and then I'll tell you in detail. Since Ah Liu said that he hired eight people to clean the house, his house should be able to at least host guests. Little guy, how about taking us to visit your house?"
The little guy in green dress was so shocked that he was numb after being pinched on the face by the beautiful Zhu Ying. After Zhang Shou asked him twice, he came to his senses and nodded awkwardly. However, Zhu Ying took his embarrassment as being well behaved. The young lady couldn't help but touch the top of his head, and he was so panicked that he quickly hid behind Ah Liu, who he had previously regarded as a big devil.
Zhu Ying smiled and took her hand back. Seeing Lu Sanlang standing by, she said unhappily, "Lu Sanpang, you are the head of Jiuzhang Hall, why are you joining in the fun? Go and tell Zhang Chen and the others that the emperor wants to choose a husband for Princess Deyang and Princess Yongping. Those who are interested should report to the Ministry of Rites and the emperor will choose personally. The news has been announced, so those who are interested should get ready!"
After saying this, she chased away the stunned Lu Sanlang without saying anything else, and then said to Zhang Shou with a smile: "Okay, the fat guy who is in the way has left. Ah Shou, let's go!"
