Chapter 81 Peng Si
Old Jiang pointed at the young man and interrupted Sanjiangshui, saying, "Miss, let him talk. He should know everything clearly."

Zheng Wenjie stepped forward and gently patted Tang Xue on the back of her head and said, "You are still looking at me, your eyes are almost popping out of your head, put all the money away."

"I've never seen so much money!" Tang Xue came back to her senses, excitedly found the cash box and put stacks of Hong Kong dollars into it, with a smile on her face all the time.

After Tang Xue collected all the Hong Kong dollars into the backyard, Zheng Wenjie asked everyone to sit down. Zheng Wenjie looked at the young man and said with a smile, "Come back to your senses. Are you shocked by just over three million Hong Kong dollars? Believe in yourself. You will earn more than this in the future."

The young man smiled awkwardly and said, "Thank you for saving me. My name is Chen Wei and I am a prison guard at Shibi Prison."

Gong Ruomei asked directly: "How did Liu Cheng die?"

Being watched by four pairs of eyes, especially a rich man, Chen Wei was a little nervous. He pulled his collar awkwardly and said, "The judge sentenced him to death."

Just after he finished speaking, he waved his hands hurriedly: "I don't believe it. Liu Cheng is not that kind of person. He was wronged."

"Manager Liu is a good man. My mother was seriously ill and had no money to buy medicine. It was because of his kindness that he sent her medicine and my mother got better."

Sanjiangshui interrupted and said, "It has spread all over the island. They say that Liu Cheng burned down his own warehouse and his fellow workers in order to cover up the fact that he was selling fake medicine."

"In the end, he was reported by his cousin Peng Si! He was arrested on the spot. When Peng Si, the bastard, saw us coming to return the medicine, he still refused to admit that it was fake. He also tied up Uncle Jiang and me and locked us up with this guy."

Gong Ruomei glanced at Sanjiangshui and said, "Wait until the other person finishes speaking, then you can speak again."

Sanjiangshui quickly shut up, and Chen Wei continued, "I met Liu Cheng in prison, and he kept saying that he was wronged, so I found a lawyer. I should have appealed three days ago, but I couldn't find lawyer Lan Xiaoqian."

"Liu Cheng was sentenced to death by hanging by the judge. He was beheaded yesterday. I wanted to find lawyer Lan Xiaoqian to ask her why she didn't appeal, but I didn't find her. Then I met Peng Si and he tied him up."

Zheng Wenjie shook his head. The rules in many places in Hong Kong Island are not unified now. Most Chinese people still follow the laws of the Qing Dynasty but have to obey the court trials of the foreigners.

The verdict was the same. The foreigners sentenced him to hanging, but when he returned to prison, he was beheaded. Also, the foreign law requires monogamy, but when it comes to the Chinese, they also follow the Qing law that allows polygamy.

Gong Ruomei looked at Zheng Wenjie beside her and said, "I don't believe Liu Cheng would set fire and kill people. He set fire to cover up a warehouse of fake medicines, but now that the news has been leaked, his reputation has been ruined. Even if he burns the batch of medicines, his business will not be able to continue."

"Why would they set fire and kill people? To silence them? It's unnecessary. Do you believe it?"

Zheng Wenjie shrugged: "I am sure that this Peng Si deceived me."

Zheng Wenjie said to Sanjiangshui who kept his mouth shut, "Go to the dock and find Abao. Ask him to scrape Peng Si out. Then Abao will avenge you."

Sanjiangshui nodded quickly and ran out.

Abao and Tianci are no longer at home now. They stay at the dock all day and night. If they come across something good at the dock, they will buy it and send it to the martial arts school.

Zheng Wenjie took out a 100-dollar Hong Kong dollar note from his pocket and handed it to Chen Wei: "It's getting late now, so I won't keep you here. You've been searched, right? Take this for travel expenses and go home early."

Chen Wei wanted to refuse but all the money he had on him had been searched away by Peng Si's thugs. He had no choice but to accept the Hong Kong dollars with gratitude. After thanking him, Lao Jiang sent him to the gate.

Only Zheng Wenjie was left in the hall. Gong Ruomei sighed and said regretfully, "I have met Shopkeeper Liu. He came to the clinic to sell Chinese medicine. The herbs were well preserved. He lived up to his name and was very sincere in what he said and did. So we signed a contract, but I didn't expect that he died in just two months."

Zheng Wenjie was used to seeing dead people, but he still echoed, "Liu Cheng must have been wronged by Peng Si, and Peng Si succeeded. It's a pity that good people don't live long."

Gong Ruomei shook her head and said, "Once Ah Bao catches Peng Si, send him to the police station. It will be worthwhile for us to help Liu Cheng clear his name."

"I think so too." Zheng Wenjie agreed. Gong Ruomei looked at Zheng Wenjie and smiled softly: "This is also doing good deeds and accumulating virtue."

"But what about the rhino horns you want? Is there any other source?" Zheng Wenjie asked
"There are always other medicinal herbs to use instead. It's not necessary to use this one, but the rhino horns from Liu's Pharmacy are indeed well preserved and have good efficacy."

Zheng Wenjie went back to the backyard with Gong Ruomei, looking thoughtful, and then turned back to find Lao Jiang: "Uncle Jiang, you have dealt with Liu's medicine store before, do you know where they get their herbs from?"

Old Jiang was stunned by the question: "Son-in-law, how about I go and ask around?"

Zheng Wenjie waved his hands awkwardly. That’s right, why should he care where others get their herbs from?

"When Liu Cheng came to sell medicinal herbs, he seemed to have mentioned that all his herbs seemed to be shipped from his hometown to Hong Kong Island. Oh, right, Longmen Town." Lao Jiang suddenly said.

Zheng Wenjie snapped his fingers and said, "That's great. When Sanjiangshui comes back, let him take the train with me to Longmen Town tomorrow. Don't let him just run around all day and do nothing."

Old Jiang also laughed and understood that Zheng Wenjie was going to help Gong Ruomei find a source of goods: "Son-in-law, there are still a few pharmacies in Hong Kong Island. There is no need to make a special trip."

"It's also about finding something for Sanjiangshui to do. He's already in his twenties. If he were still in Fengtian, he could run around on the fields. But now he's still wandering around the streets. What's the matter?" Zheng Wenjie said.

Lao Jiang smiled and nodded with emotion: "I understand, sir. I will tell him when the boy comes back."

……

"Xiao Qian, thank you! If it weren't for you, I would never see my family again." Liu Cheng was grateful to Lan Xiaoqian for bribing the headbutter to save his life, and was willing to help him and go back to Longmen Town with him.

Lan Xiaoqian shook her head with a distressed look on her face: "This is not a solution either. We still need to find evidence to prove your innocence."

Liu Cheng sighed and said painfully: "What else can I do now? Even the judge has been bribed by Peng Si, and no one is willing to testify for me."

"Now that I've escaped, I want to see my family. I haven't been home in six years. I can never go back to Hong Kong Island again."

Lan Xiaoqian grabbed Liu Cheng's shoulder and said seriously, "I have already investigated everything. Peng Si owed a lot of money to the gambling den. He had a motive for arson. Since we can't find evidence that you are innocent, we have to find evidence that Peng Si committed arson and murder."

Liu Cheng covered his head in pain: "I never thought he would hurt me. After his parents died, he was taken to my home. I treat him like a real brother!"

Lan Xiaoqian sighed: "Go home and see your family first, don't let them worry too much."

Thinking of his wife and daughter, Liu Cheng calmed down and said firmly, "You are right. I can't give up. I must prove my innocence. Let's go home first and then we can figure it out."

Liu Cheng took Lan Xiaoqian and walked for an unknown amount of time before they finally entered the town. Liu Cheng couldn't wait to pull Lan Xiaoqian along and they trotted all the way until they finally arrived at the Liu family mansion.

But the scene in the Liu family mansion made Liu Cheng at a loss. The originally magnificent hall was now full of dust. There was a gray and white funeral cloth hanging in the hall. There were paper people and paper horses piled on both sides of the hall, and the ground was covered with paper money.

"What happened?" Liu Cheng muttered to himself, not caring about Lan Xiaoqian anymore. He rushed into the back house in a panic. The house was empty and covered with dust everywhere.

Liu Cheng knelt on the ground helplessly. He didn't know why the old house had become so dilapidated. Where was his wife? Where was his daughter? He couldn't stop crying.

Lan Xiaoqian had been following Liu Cheng, and seeing this, she could only pat Liu Cheng on the shoulder to comfort him. "There's someone there," Lan Xiaoqian said, pointing to a room. Liu Cheng looked over and saw a figure passing by.

Liu Cheng hurriedly got up and chased after him. At the stairs, Liu Cheng saw the dirty figure. He immediately stepped forward with excitement. He suppressed his excitement and asked carefully, "Lingzhi, are you Lingzhi?"

Liu Lingzhi's figure suddenly froze in place, and she turned her head to look in the direction where the voice came from. Liu Cheng also saw clearly that it was indeed his daughter, and immediately smiled happily. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Liu Lingzhi ignoring him and quickly climbing up the stairs.

"Be careful!" Liu Cheng said hurriedly as he chased to a lighted study room. Seeing Liu Lingzhi curled up in the corner, Liu Cheng felt very sad, thinking that his daughter didn't recognize him after not seeing her for six years.

Cautiously, he approached Liu Lingzhi and whispered, "Lingzhi, I'm your dad. Don't be afraid. I'm your dad."

Staring blankly at Liu Cheng who suddenly appeared, "Dad." Liu Lingzhi called out "Dad" in a tearful voice and couldn't help crying sadly.

"It's okay, it's okay, Dad is back." Liu Cheng hurriedly hugged Liu Lingzhi and comforted her.

When Liu Lingzhi's emotions gradually calmed down, Liu Cheng asked, "Lingzhi, where's your mother?"

Liu Lingzhi's face fell again, and the tears that had stopped flowing began to flow again. She cried so hard that she couldn't speak.

Liu Cheng hurriedly called Lan Xiaoqian to help take care of Liu Lingzhi, and he ran to his wife's room, staring blankly at his wife, who was sitting in a wheelchair with disheveled hair and a zombie-like appearance.

No matter how he called out to his wife, there was no response. Liu Cheng sat there in grief. Now that things had come to this, Liu Cheng had no choice but to accept reality. He wiped his eyes, stood up and prepared to clean the room first.

When tidying up his desk, he found a drawer full of letters. Liu Cheng was stunned and opened the letters one by one. They were all letters written by Peng Si in his own handwriting and tone.

The more Liu Cheng watched, the faster he opened the letter, until he laughed out loud in anger, and tore the letter into pieces like a madman, then slid down to sit on the ground, leaning against the supporting wood, lowering his head and making a sound that sounded like both crying and laughing.

No wonder Peng Si went back to Longmen Town to visit his brothers' families every time. It turned out to be for the Liu family's property. The reason why the Liu family's mansion has become so dilapidated is because Peng Si deceived his wife and said that his business was in trouble, so he asked his wife to sell the property to help with the cash flow. Now the Liu family only has this old house left.

Both husband and wife believed in Peng Si, with whom they grew up, and the wife sold all her property and gave it to Peng Si without a second thought.

...

"You bastard, there's a road to heaven but you didn't take it and bumped into me instead. Tell me! How do you want to die!" Sanjiangshui pressed Peng Si down on the seat and said viciously.

Zheng Wenjie had not expected to meet Peng Si on the train. He clasped his fists and said loudly to the passengers around him, "Fellow countrymen, we are not bad people. This man owes me a large sum of money. I did not expect to run into him on the train. I apologize for disturbing you all!"

After Zheng Wenjie finished speaking, he didn't care about the reactions of the passengers around him and asked Sanjiangshui to grab Peng Si and go into the compartment at the end of the carriage.

"Brother, I was going to raise money to buy good rhino horns back home. I didn't expect to meet you on the train." Peng Si also regained his composure and thought of what to say.

“Bah!” Sanjiangshui spat in Liu Cheng’s face and cursed loudly: “You bastard, why don’t you tell the truth? There were more of you yesterday morning. Now I’ll let you know why Lord Horse has two eyes!”

"Okay, you can do whatever you want to him after we get off the train, but don't get me covered in blood while we're still on the train." Zheng Wenjie said with a smile as he looked at Peng Si.

"Master! The train hasn't started yet. Why don't we just take him away?"

"He is not important. What we need to do now is to find a stable and high-quality channel for medicinal materials."

"You bastard, I'll let you live a few more days!" Sanjiangshui patted the back of Peng Si's head again and again.

"I have it! Big brother, I have channels for medicinal materials, and I can introduce them to you as a middleman." Peng Si said with a flattering look, enduring the pain, and in his heart he tore Sanjiangshui into eight pieces.

"Are you planning to go back to Longmen Town? What are you going to do?"

Seeing that Sanjiangshui didn't make any more moves, Peng Si moved his butt closer to the inner shop and said, "I promised you to compensate you with a batch of medicinal materials and the payment for the goods. I came back to Longmen Town mainly to raise money."

"You are the boss of Liu's Pharmacy now, and you can't even get out a batch of herbs? It seems like you paid a heavy price to kill Liu Cheng."

Peng Si was mentally prepared for Zheng Wenjie to know that Liu Cheng was dead, so he lowered his voice and said, "No matter what, I will definitely pay you the money I promised you. I also have an old house that can be sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Sanjiangshui stretched out his hand and slapped Peng Si in the face: "You son of a bitch actually hurt someone, and your cousin is such a ruthless person!"

Zheng Wenjie stopped Sanjiangshui from continuing his outburst, looked at Peng Si seriously and asked, "I don't want money, I want the source of medicinal materials. Tell me everything, and then take us to identify the person when we get to Longmen Town."

The train shook for two days. Zheng Wenjie listened to Peng Si's story and admired Liu Cheng for being able to go from being the owner of a pharmacy in a small town to expanding his business to Cantonese. He even opened a pharmacy in Hong Kong Island after the Japanese surrender. It was a pity that he had always trusted the wrong person.

Peng Si's return to Longmen Town to raise money to compensate for the medicinal materials was fake, and his real purpose was to raise money and run away. Zheng Wenjie did not expect Peng Si to be so cruel. He was ready to squeeze Liu Cheng dry and even sell the Liu family's old house.

"This is Longmen Town! I'll take you to try some of our special medicinal food first!" Peng Si said to Zheng Wenjie while bending over.

Longmen Town has never been invaded by war and still retains its ancient charm. The entire structure of many houses is made of wood.

He was brought to Peng Si's home, and soon an acquaintance of Peng Si brought three small earthenware jars and some chicken, fish, meat and vegetables to the table.

"Thank you, brother, for giving me the opportunity. I had already found a buyer before I came back. I will sell the Liu family mansion tomorrow and I will have the money to give to you then! Please!" After Peng Si filled the two people's glasses with wine, he drank the glass in his hand.

Zheng Wenjie suppressed his thirst and picked up the cup to drink the Sanjiang water. He took the wine pot in front of Peng Si and looked at it carefully. He looked up at Peng Si's lips that were trembling with fear and asked

"Is this the Yin-Yang wine pot? You pressed here when you poured wine for yourself just now, and you press here when you pour wine for us." Zheng Wenjie smiled and filled Peng Si's glass with wine.

"drink"

Peng Si wanted to overturn the table and escape. He pushed hard under the table, but the table didn't move at all. He yelled and turned around to run.

Sanjiangshui also understood, his face turned grim, he took two steps forward and kicked Peng Si on the back, pinning down the fallen Peng Si and slapping his cheeks from left and right: "How dare you poison my master, you bastard, you bastard, you heartless bastard, I'm going to slap you to death!"

Zheng Wenjie stood up with a wine jug in his hand, smiling, and looked down at Peng Si, whose cheeks were red from being beaten. "Open his mouth. He likes to drink. Let's feed him."

Sanjiangshui obediently pressed Peng Si's cheeks.

"No...no! Let me go, I have money...no, uh, puff."

The crystal clear wine column slid in a straight line and fell into Peng Si's mouth, and was splashed all over his face as he struggled.

(End of this chapter)