Chapter 37 Chapter 21 Cheongsam Research

"Amu, you bastard, come in with me!" The boss grabbed my collar viciously, walked through the messy office, and walked into his office. ("Pujie 冚jiashovel" is a classic combination of curses in Cantonese. "Pujie" is usually translated as "bastard", which means lying on the street, with the meaning of dying, and the real meaning is "a bastard who will not die well" ; "冚" in "冚jiashovel" has the same pronunciation as "口". "冚家" means "whole family". It is a grave. And "shovel" means digging, and "shoveling" means that the whole family needs to dig the grave and bury it. In simple terms, "shoveling at the street" means "the whole family will not die well.")

"What the hell are you doing in the office, throwing a wild party?" As soon as the door was closed, the boss poked hard at my temple with his chubby index finger. "Calm down, calm down..." I managed to save my head from being pierced by his fat fingers.After tidying up my clothes, I explained to him with a mournful face: "I told you on the phone last night that we were attacked by the ghost of the mirror and almost died." "If you died a hero, maybe I wouldn't be so angry. And you didn't say on the phone that the office was turned into a battlefield." He stared at me with a pair of small eyes.

"You can't blame me!" I continued to pretend to be my grandson, and reported to him the progress of the recent investigation and the attack last night. After he listened to my report, his anger gradually subsided, and his tense face gradually relaxed.Although his appearance was not as scary as before, I didn't feel relaxed at all, because his sly eyes let me know that the lecture had just begun. He made a pot of tea leisurely, sat down and drank a few sips, and then cast a contemptuous look at me: "If this case is handled by Xiaoxiang, I don't need to waste my time talking with you here."

Unwillingly, I retorted: "Boss, I can't be blamed for what happened last night. No one would have imagined that the Ghost of the Cangjing would be so bold as to break ground on Tai Sui." "Even if she has the guts to put her in jail, can she still cause trouble last night!" The boss glared at me. I made a sad face and replied: "I really want to catch her back immediately, but we haven't figured out her true identity until now. We only know that she should be a person who is proficient in shadow puppetry. Other than that, there is no one." other clues."

The boss stood up suddenly, poked my head with his fat finger again, and cursed: "It's not that there are no clues, it's just that you are too stupid to notice." While dodging his attack, I retorted: "Yeah, I have investigated any suspicious details in detail. But the hidden mirror ghost is so cunning that it is almost leak-proof. Up to now we have no suspects." .” "There is no crime that leaves no trace in this world." He sat down and took a sip of tea, and said calmly: "After committing a crime, any criminal will lie to cover up his crime. As long as someone lies, there must be a loophole. In this In this case, you have overlooked at least two glaring loopholes."

I asked myself that I had carefully investigated every suspicious detail, but I still didn't find the loophole he said, so I had no choice but to continue with my grandson to ask him to clarify. He stretched out his chubby index finger and shook it in front of me: "First, in terms of the legend of the hidden mirror ghost, you only care about the scary rumors, but you ignore the essence of the legend." Although I know, he is criticizing me for being full of superstitious thoughts.But which aspect this "legendary essence" refers to, I couldn't figure it out, so I had to humbly ask him for advice.

He gave me a blank look and explained: "Legends are stories passed down orally. As the scariest legend in Wangcun, almost every villager knows the story of the ghost with the mirror. Especially when a student ran into the air-raid shelter last year, someone Speaking of the legend of the ghost of the hidden mirror. For a small place like Wangcun, things with a mysterious color will definitely become a topic of conversation among the villagers, so most of the villagers will know this legend." "So what if everyone knows the legend of the hidden mirror ghost?" He said so much, but I still don't understand what the problem is.

"I think you are hopelessly stupid." He shook his head and sighed. "Think about it carefully. During your investigation of this case, who told you that you didn't know this legend?" When I told him this, I immediately thought of Liang Caixia.When learning how she was attacked by the ghost of the mirror, Wu Wei once mentioned that she did not know the legend of the ghost of the mirror.But she is from Liang Village, so it is reasonable to not know the legends spread in Wang Village. I said what I thought in my heart, but the boss rolled his eyes again: "If this is a legend that no one has mentioned in recent years, if this person surnamed Liang is a big girl who can't walk out of the boudoir, then it can be called "reasonable" Middle'! You don't want to think about what business surnamed Liang does. She sells frozen meat in the vegetable market. Talking about the mountains with three aunts and six wives is part of her job. When the students ran into the air-raid shelter last year, someone mentioned the hidden mirror ghost. Do you think she has Maybe you haven't heard of it?"

"You mean, Liang Caixia deliberately concealed that she knew the legend." I began to understand what he meant. "You, you should eat brain fragments on time every day." The boss hit me again mercilessly, "The one surnamed Liang didn't hide it deliberately, but her husband made a mistake, so she had to make a mistake. In fact, this is just a small loophole, which has no effect on the overall situation." If she corrected her husband's mistakes in time, no one would care about this little episode. However, because of her guilty conscience, she not only failed to correct her husband's mistakes, but continued her husband's lies, which inevitably made people doubt her fate. Is the attack experience true?"

It puzzles me that the boss makes such a fuss over such a trivial detail, since his speculation is based on only one uncertain factor.We cannot conclude that Leung Choi Ha lied based on this uncertain factor alone. I said what the center thought, and the boss replied disdainfully: "Don't put me in the same category as you, I don't handle cases by guessing." After that, he slowly stretched out his second fat finger, "Second The first loophole appeared in the hidden mirror ghost she described." I carefully recalled every detail of Liang Caixia's description, and I didn't notice anything unusual.The hidden mirror ghost she mentioned is consistent with what we met. Maybe some subjective feelings are slightly different, but the key features are exactly the same.

After listening to my answer, the boss asked a strange question: "Do you know what a cheongsam is?" I returned a puzzled look, and he raised his hand to me and said, "Tell me what you know first. " I replied angrily: "Boss, it's not like I just came from the countryside. You don't think I've even seen a cheongsam before, do you? Just go into any decent teahouse and you'll find a few intellectuals wearing cheongsams. Is it possible that I haven't seen a cheongsam?" ("Zhike" is a waiter who greets guests at the entrance and guides them to sit in a Cantonese-style teahouse. They usually wear cheongsam as their uniform.) The boss nodded: "Then tell me what the cheongsam looks like." I don't know what he sells in the gourd, so I can only tell the truth about the appearance of the cheongsam in my impression: "To put it simply, a cheongsam is a tight-fitting dress. Because the skirt is narrow, the sides are slit to facilitate movement. " "Where do the forks on both sides usually open?" It was another strange question. I couldn't understand his thinking more and more, so I had to continue to answer truthfully: "It depends on the venue. The uniforms of tea house zhike are usually only on the knees. And those mothers in nightclubs The cheongsam she wears exposes her thighs." "Where's the cheongsam of the hidden mirror ghost?" The question from the boss made me speechless for a moment. Although I have made friends with the hidden mirror ghost several times, I have never seen her lower body.Every time she appeared in the window or in the mirror, I could only see her face or upper body. I never saw her below the waist, and of course I didn’t know where the fork of the cheongsam was.I even wondered if she had feet, because according to folklore ghosts don't have feet. After I told the boss this detail, he smiled slyly like a fox: "You've never seen her feet, but the one named Liang said that she kicked him to the ground." Although this detail is suspicious, it is too arbitrary for the boss to conclude that Liang Caixia is lying.The boss seemed to have expected my question, and explained: "The reason why you doubt my judgment is because your knowledge of cheongsam is only limited to modern times." "Is the cheongsam divided into modern and ancient?" I asked puzzled. "Read more when you have time!" The boss gave me a white look and then continued to explain: "Qipao is the dress of the Manchus. Because the Manchus are also called bannermen, they are called cheongsams. The gorgeous robes worn by the queens and princesses in the braided drama , is the original appearance of the cheongsam. Although this kind of cheongsam looks very gorgeous, it is very cumbersome to wear. It can be worn by nobles who are full and have nothing to do. If ordinary people wear this kind of clothes, they will die of exhaustion without falling The cheongsam that became popular in the Republic of China later was a greatly simplified style.” "The change of cheongsam style doesn't seem to have anything to do with this case." I scratched my head in confusion. "You are really hopeless." The boss didn't bother to scold me, so he just said the main point: "The modern cheongsam is similar to the style of the Republic of China. The opening above the knee is mainly for the convenience of walking. However, in the period of the Republic of China when the social atmosphere was relatively conservative, this style of cheongsam was only worn by courtesans, and the daughters of wealthy families would not wear such indecent clothes .” "You mean, the hidden mirror ghost can't kick Liang Caixia?" I suddenly realized. "Your head has not degenerated to the stage of a monkey." The boss nodded with satisfaction, "During the Republic of China, the daughters of decent families would not show their legs casually. At that time, the fork of the cheongsam usually only opened to the ankle and calf At best, you can only see the wearer's socks. A little bit of flesh will be seen as indecent." He took a sip of tea and added: "Wearing such a cheongsam, you have to be careful even when stepping over the threshold. It is impossible to kick someone unless you lift up the skirt." According to the legend, Tibetan Mirror Ghost is the daughter of a wealthy family, so she should dress conservatively and not do anything indecent.As the boss said, the indecent behavior of pulling up the skirt first and then raising the foot to kick people cannot be done by a rude girl like Zhen Zhen, and it is even more impossible for her. Based on this inference, two possibilities can be drawn: first, the hidden mirror ghost who attacked Liang Caixia was not the legendary Miss Cai; second, Liang Caixia lied to us.The latter is obviously more credible. If Liang Caixia lied, then her suspicion would be high.However, if the facts are as we think, then there is another problem that I can't figure out, and that is the scars on her body.Is it necessary to bruise yourself all over just to lie? "It is necessary!" The boss gave me an affirmative answer and explained: "First of all, we can't be sure whether there are lies before the scars, or whether there are scars before the lies. If there are lies first, the scars exist purely for the sake of completeness. Lies. But if the scars come first, then the lies are meant to cover up the truth." "Liang Caixia is not a special soldier, so she will get hurt all over for no reason?" I don't agree with his point of view. He shook his chubby index finger and replied: "Although she is not a special soldier, she may be a living target for the hidden mirror ghost." I was surprised: "She was punished for offending the ghost of the hidden mirror?" "This is one of the possibilities." The boss put away his fat fingers, "It is also possible that he actively cooperated with the hidden mirror ghost to test the effect of alcohol bullets." "Impossible!" I looked at the boss suspiciously, "Liang Caixia also lied for the ghost of the mirror, and must have something to do with the ghost of the mirror. Even if she is not the ghost of the mirror, at least she is a subordinate of the ghost of the mirror. To test the effect of alcohol bullets, just find some unlucky ghosts, do you need to find your own people? Being hit by this kind of bullets, although no one can die, the severe pain can make people die of pain." "If it's just to test the effect, there's no need to look for unlucky ghosts. There are stray dogs in rural areas, or you can find a stupid pig like you." The boss poked my head again, "Think about it carefully, hidden mirror ghost When did the legend start to make the villagers of Wangcun panic?" As soon as he said it, I suddenly became enlightened. Although the legend of the Tibetan Mirror Ghost has long been circulated among the villagers of Wangcun, no one has witnessed her hideous face before, so it is only regarded as a legend to scare children.However, since Liang Caixia was attacked, because of her personal description, the villagers have no doubts about it.At least, I used to believe that the hidden mirror ghost really existed. Liang Caixia's "attack" was on the one hand to test alcohol and dry ice bullets, and on the other hand to make everyone believe in the legend of the ghost in the mirror, so that all the crimes could be pushed to the illusory ghost. This bitter trick is really ingenious, and it once confused us.However, every lie must have a loophole, as long as you follow this loophole to get to the bottom of it, you won't have to worry about finding out the truth!