Chapter 19 first quarter

Early in the morning there was a cold wind blowing enough to blow away the bun. Hui Xiangyuan Maoqi sat in front of the long brazier, smoking a cigarette in a daze while listening to the wind outside the house.Even sitting in the house, it seems that in the cold air outside, Fengshen sweeps the bare branches with a big broom, making a rustling sound, or passing over the heads of pedestrians, making people shrink their necks , and then fly straight to the sky. At the end of the year, the weather has been warmer for nearly ten days, and even the sun is a warm orange color that reminds people of early spring, but this ridiculous weather must not be taken lightly, and it will definitely be repaid in the future.The cold current that made the weather turn cold again made it difficult for Maoqi, who was not afraid of the cold, to bear it.Although Mao Qi has a few trivial things that are not urgent but must be dealt with, let alone going out today, he doesn't even want to leave the brazier.

In contrast, Mrs. Touzi was full of energy. She went out to deliver the sewn clothes at noon, and it was almost eight quarters (two o'clock in the afternoon) but she still hadn't come back.Although she said that she was out anyway and bought kombu and squid to make Matsumaezuke when she came back, but it was too long.It seems that most of the customers came to her to discuss the clothes to wear on New Year's Day, and they became fascinated by the conversation, like a heavy pickle stone, which would not move once it was seated. In the morning, Xiji and Quansan came together, but they didn't stay for half an hour (an hour).They told the head wife that they would definitely come over to help with the cleaning at the end of the year, and they left in a hurry.Xiji was busy with work at the Bliss Bathhouse, while Quansan was helping the manager of the courtyard where he lived.During this time at the end of the year, they still have to move around.

It's also a good thing that both men have other jobs to earn extra money, so they don't have to rely entirely on Maoqi.Thanks to this, Mao Qi has never said such useless words as "I also have subordinates that must be taken care of...".So no matter what case he handles, Mao Qi can make a fair judgment based on the scale in his heart.In addition, for the world, Maoqi is a fair catcher, which makes them feel at ease. However, because each of his subordinates has their own affairs, once there are no difficult problems or cases, Mao Qi becomes the only one who has nothing to do.If Maoqi is free, and Heiji and Quansan are also free, the three of them can lie on the tatami together, listen to the sound of the cold wind sweeping across the roof, or watch the head lady frown since daytime. Chatting all over the world is actually quite interesting.

Mochi yawned heavily as he knocked the soot off the pipe by the brazier. However, Mao Qi has not been idle all the time.Until the day before yesterday, he was so busy that he even thought it was a pity to eat and sleep. Mochi put the pipe into the tobacco bowl, lay on the tatami mat and stared at the ceiling, and yawned again, closing his eyes involuntarily.Over the age of fifty, once I stay up late, I will feel sleepy for three consecutive days... Just when he was drowsy, some voices came from the gate.Mao Qi thought to herself that the head lady had probably returned, but her eyes were still closed, and she just said casually, "Oh, I'm back."

But no response.Mochi lay and stretched her neck to look at the door. Although it was silent, it felt like someone was moving. "Who is it?" Mao Qi asked. "Excuse me, is the Seventh Head of Hui Xiangyuan Mao here?" Mao Qi was no stranger to that overly respectful tone, and had only heard it recently. "Yes." Mao Qi stood up, stretched out her hand to straighten her hair, patted her hem, and walked towards the porch. There was a young man standing in the room next to the entrance, looking very cold.He was wearing striped clothes and a matching coat, with a folded scarf hanging on his hand, which might have been changed before going out, and his tabby socks were as white as new.The door behind him was half open, probably because he thought it was impolite to close it.This should be regarded as polite, but when he visited last time, he tried to persuade him to sit up, but he refused anyway, which made Mao Qi feel uncomfortably cold.

"It's really rude, Boss Hanoi House." Mao Qi nodded slightly. "Keep you standing in the cold... Please come up and sit." But Mao Qi was muttering in his heart. The young man who came to visit was Matsutaro, the owner of Kawachiya, a wholesaler in Imagawa who specialized in fine wine shipped from Kyoto.When Maoqi was half asleep and half awake just now, she was thinking about a few things that she had to deal with but was not in a hurry. One of them was exactly what Matsutaro asked the day before yesterday. Unexpectedly, when I was sitting next to the brazier, I would take the initiative to come to the door to urge work.Although it's not good to be lazy, but Moshichi thinks that among the few things at hand, the one asked by Matsutaro is the least urgent, and Moshichi can't help feeling—ah, it's really troublesome.

"Boss, I can't stay too long." Matsutaro spoke loudly and eagerly.When he came last time, he said the same thing, probably because of his nature. "A strange thing happened in our shop again." Mao Qi looked quite indifferent.When Matsutaro came last time, he also said "strange things", but the "strange things" were not strange at all. "Really? What happened this time?" "A servant has escaped." Mao Qi couldn't help blinking at his serious statement.To say he escaped is an exaggeration. "You mean to run away from the shop?"

"Yes. No one was seen early this morning. It was a twenty-year-old girl named Ali. She came to work in the shop through a helper agency. This year happened to be three years old, and she has been working hard..." Matsutaro frowned, drooping his shoulders exaggeratedly. "Totally unexpected. She told me this morning that she stole something that dropped a while ago, she was very sorry, and then disappeared from the shop. I asked all the helpers in the shop to look for someone, but they couldn't find it." Mao Qi stood there in a daze.