Uncle Nine, where are you running to?

Chapter 186 Lin 9's Letter

"Hey, are all your yamen runners' uniforms so new?"

Jingzhi was wearing the black and gray suit. She didn't see any signs of wear and tear, but she could smell the musty odor that had developed from clothes being stored for a long time.

Xiao Jiang handed over a sword, a token with the word "Ya" written on it, along with her travel permit and household registration certificate.

"My name is Xiao Jiang, and his name is Da He."

After introducing himself, Xiao Jiang sighed and continued, "That's Liuzi. He said he wanted to be a constable, but later he went into business. I'm talking about this guy..."

Jingzhi: "Just call me Jingzhi."

Xiao Jiang paused for a moment before trying to persuade her earnestly:

"Oh, Jingzhi, I know you're good at fighting, but being a constable isn't an easy job these days. Neither the superiors are virtuous, nor the subordinates are brave. We're stuck in the middle, and it's actually very difficult to do."

Jingzhi picked up the knife, opened it with a "swish", nodded, closed it, and said indifferently:

“Whether it’s difficult or not, you won’t know until you try it.”

Seeing that she seemed determined to become a constable, Xiao Jiang had nothing to say, so he led her to a room on the side of the yamen.

It looked like no one had lived there for a long time, with cobwebs and dust everywhere.

Jingzhi could even see a mouse running past the corner of the wall.

On the right side of the wall, there is an extra-long bunk bed.

On the left side of the wall, there are several cabinets placed side by side.

In the middle of the room, there are four long tables put together, and the matching chairs are placed in a crooked manner.

The room looked grand from the outside, but was shabby inside, just like the imperial court today.

Xiao Jiang walked over and picked up the chair that had been kicked to the ground. Just by doing this, his palms were covered with thick dust. He said a little embarrassedly:

"We all lived here before, but later everyone got married and started their own families, so they moved out. If you don't have a place to live, you can clean this place up. It's still habitable for the time being."

Jingzhi folded her arms around her chest and turned to look at him, "Aren't you single?"

"...Yes." Xiao Jiang suddenly blushed.

He secretly glanced at Jingzhi who was walking in slowly.

I saw her with fluttering clothes and beautiful face.

Just one glance and Xiao Jiang's fear of backing out was so strong that he started to beat loudly.

[She should be paired with a young man from a noble family] - this was his first thought.

Xiao Jiang touched the back of his head and thought again, those young masters from wealthy families are now addicted to opium and can hardly breathe after walking a few steps, so he decided to give up.

Just as he was trying to match Jingzhi up in his mind, Jingzhi had already looked around the entire room.

She walked to a place where broken tiles gathered and pointed upwards. "Are there any intact tiles? If you patch them up, we can live here."

Xiao Jiang came back to his senses and quickly replied:

"Yes, it's in the backyard. I'll get it for you."

……

After Da He took over his shift, he went home. Xiao Jiang had nothing to do, so he stayed to help Jingzhi repair the roof and probably helped her clean up the cobwebs. Then he said he had something to do and had to go back.

After all, it was late, and if a man and a woman who had no relationship with each other were in the same room at this time, they would only be criticized.

Brother Hui may have felt embarrassed, so after he came out of prison, he told Jingzhi about his schedule and then disappeared.

She didn't care. It was just right for her to be alone and she could still practice.

With a flick of her fingertips, the furniture and bed that were originally covered with thick dust were instantly clean as new.

The blackened quilts at the head of the bed, which looked as if they could be washed clean of grease, were picked up one by one by her with a knife and carried to the yard.

It is not an exaggeration to say that this house is now bare.

Jingzhi pulled a chair and sat down, took off the jewelry on her head one by one, and then took out the purse she was carrying.

The two jade hairpins were both made by Lin Jiu, and he had engraved formations on them to conceal her aura. She was reluctant to accept them, and she couldn't.

A pair of pearl earrings, which he made for her when she and Lin Jiu went to the beach to pick clams and open them themselves, and she was reluctant to pawn them.

Jingzhi set his sights on that purse.

She untied the knot and turned out everything inside.

Except for a few silver dollars, the rest were all Lin Jiu's things.

The plaid handkerchief used by Lin Jiu.

A small personal seal engraved with "Lin Fengjiao".

A round pocket watch.

With a click, she opened her pocket watch. On one side of the cover was a black and white photo of her and Lin Jiu leaning their heads against each other.

Jingzhi's index finger lightly touched the smiling Lin Jiu and his black ears.

She couldn't help but laugh.

This was his first photo with her. I remember that time, he was completely stiff and his ears were red the whole day.

If this photo was in color, she would be able to see his red ears.

Thinking of this, she gently opened the handkerchief folded into a square.

After unfolding it, placed in the middle of the handkerchief was a small bunch of white hair tied with a red string.

There's his and there's hers.

She did it, living together until old age.

What woman doesn't like to be coquettish? When he was seventy years old, Lin Jiu felt sorry for her and deliberately turned herself into an old woman with wrinkles all over her face for him.

And she also wanted to fulfill his long-cherished wish of growing old together with him.

Jingzhi held her face in her hands, picked up the bundle of silver threads and placed it next to the oil lamp to look at it carefully.

"Ajiu, it's only been a day since we last met, and I'm already missing you."

"Zhe Gu said that in the end, love will only be reduced to the daily necessities of life, but what about my pounding heart?"

……

She placed her hair in her palm and gently pressed it against her heart.

It was as if she was hugging him. She felt it quietly for a while, then wrapped it carefully in a handkerchief and put it back into her purse.

Suddenly, she felt that the inner side of the purse seemed a little too thick.

She opened the opening of her purse and looked carefully through the light. The inner lining of the purse was not very transparent, and it seemed that there was something inside.

By the way, this purse was made by Lin Jiu.

It doesn't have any patterns on it, it's light yellow, and the word "静" (quiet) is embroidered on the lower right corner.

Jingzhi was reluctant to tear it down.

What if it’s dismantled and she can’t restore it?

But there seemed to be a piece of paper inside. What if Ah Jiu had any last words for her?

Jingzhi held the purse and looked at it for a long time. When the second watch was struck loudly outside, she finally decided to open it!

She took the hairpin and used the pointed end to carefully pick up the finely sewn stitches, opening the interlayer bit by bit.

Then carefully take out the paper folded into small squares inside.

Before it was unfolded, I saw four small words written on one side of the small square:

【My wife’s kiss】

Jingzhi's eyes suddenly became moist.

"You're always doing these little things in secret. Can't you just tell me openly?"

She tilted her head back to prevent her tears from dripping onto the paper, took a few deep breaths, and then slowly opened the paper.

As soon as she opened it, a smaller square of paper fell into the air and was about to fall to the ground, so she quickly reached out to grab it.

"You usually talk so little, but when it comes to writing letters, you talk a lot, don't you? You even wrote two pages. Don't you know I don't like reading?"

Jingzhi complained to the small square in a hoarse voice, then turned her gaze back to the unfolded letter paper.

The contents of the letter are as follows:

【Qingqing:

Lin Jiu regrets in this life.

Before you understood my feelings, I made you cry again and again.

What I want to say is, before I came to my senses, thank you for forgiving my mistakes again and again and staying by my side.

I can probably guess that you are probably going to look for my afterlife again.

If he bullies you, Jiu hopes you can [forgive (crossed out)] and wake him up as soon as possible.

If he really did something to let you down, I hope you can [a big ink dot] leave (a bit scribbled) him.

I don't want to see you sad for me anymore, not even myself.

I know you are tired of boring books. Please don't throw away the other one. It is the proof of Jiu Yisheng's savings. I deposited it in the largest bank, Yuantong Bank.

No matter what era, as long as the bank does not go bankrupt, you can withdraw and use it with this certificate.

This is Nine, the last thing I can do for you.

Also.

I can roughly guess why you didn't let me say that.

You're going to disappear, right?

If one day you find this letter, then Nine (a big ink dot) will be complete.

Qingqing, I want to say this to you for the last time here, okay?

Qingqing. (A few wrinkled water stains)

I love you.

Husband: Lin Fengjiao

After reading the letter, Jingzhi burst into tears, her mouth became square, and she kept cursing:

"Lin Jiu, you're great! I thought we worked so hard for so long, but in the end we're all broke. It turns out you've saved all your money here! Woohoo!"

"Wow, wow, no wonder you refused to eat that century-old ginseng a while ago. Did you sell it and put it in the bank? You big fool!"

"Wow, wow, you stinky old man, what's the point of writing "I love you" in the letter? You're such a scheming man, the last three words didn't say "I love you", but "I'll wait for you". You just want me to find you, right?"

"I won't look for you, just wait and see!"

……

It turns out that each of this couple is more stubborn than the other.

Before dawn, Jingzhi changed into the constable's uniform and tied her white hair up high with the jade hairpin he gave her.

Then he went straight to the entrance of the Taoist temple.