Uncle Zhang saw that Wang Zi'an was as dedicated as ever to his request, and he thanked him repeatedly, but was stopped by Wang Zi'an.

"Old Uncle Zhang, we are all old neighbors. When I first arrived in the east of the city, if it weren't for your help, my life would have been difficult. What I said today is a bit out of context - "

I know that old Uncle Zhang is very worried.

Wang Zi'an did not hesitate and immediately asked Xue Rengui to hitch the carriage again and go straight to the briquette factory in the east of the city.

If only Lao Zhang's wife or the cheap son of Lao Zhang's family disappeared, there may be other possibilities, but now the mother and son disappeared at the same time, and they took advantage of the opportunity that Uncle Zhang was not at home——

Wang Zi'an glanced at the old Uncle Zhang, who was still worried, and couldn't help but sigh silently in his heart.

No matter what, let's help find the person first.

According to what Uncle Zhang just described, Lao Zhang's wife rarely goes out on weekdays. Even if she occasionally visits the neighbors, she won't stay for too long. But after all, Uncle Zhang is the manager of the briquettes factory.

, for convenience, my family usually lives in the house next to the briquettes factory. As the daughter-in-law of old Uncle Zhang, naturally many people know her.

Now that there is no one around, if you want to investigate, you have to start near the briquette factory.

Two such big people can't just disappear into thin air.

What's more, this is still in Datang where transportation is inconvenient. Is it possible that they can still fly?

When they arrived at the briquettes factory, Wang Zi'an called all the people who worked at the briquettes factory yesterday and asked them carefully whether they had seen Zhang's mother and son that day.

The wife and children of Manager Zhang’s family were all missing, and old Uncle Zhang was going crazy. Therefore, this matter had already caused a stir near the briquette factory.

Seeing that Prince Andu came to inquire in person, everyone immediately started talking.

Although they all work in the briquettes factory, the business of the briquettes factory is very good. Everyone is so busy that who has time to keep an eye on Butler Zhang's wife and son?

But even so, through the memories of these workers and the impressions of surrounding villagers, Wang Zi'an was able to roughly delineate a general time period when Zhang's mother and son disappeared.

Yesterday, on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, at 3:30 in the morning, which is around 9:40 in the future, someone saw Mrs. Zhang coming out. However, during this time in the briquette factory, business was too busy and people were coming and going.

Then no one noticed.

Based on old Uncle Zhang's statement that the stove was cold when he went back at night, Wang Zi'an deduced that the time when Aunt Zhang disappeared was probably between ten and twelve o'clock in later generations.

Can a pregnant woman fly into the sky?

There was a hint of coldness in Wang Zi'an's eyes.

After thinking about it, he hesitated slightly, then pulled Old Uncle Zhang aside and asked in a low voice.

"Uncle Zhang, have you checked the money at home?"

When Old Uncle Zhang was asked this question, everyone was a little confused, but he quickly came to his senses. He showed an expression of disbelief on his face at first, and then as if he thought of something, he turned aside and rushed to his bedroom in three or two steps.

go.

Kneeling on the bed, I rummaged through the boxes and cabinets for a long time before standing up in despair.

When Wang Zi'an saw his expression, his heart sank.

Perhaps the situation that I least want to see has occurred.

"The money at home is missing?"

He was already ready to comfort him, but he saw old Uncle Zhang shaking his head with a complicated expression.

"No, and, and it seems there are a few more -"

Wang Zi'an couldn't help but be stunned.

Just when I was about to find out what happened, I saw old Uncle Zhang slumped on the edge of the bed with a dejected expression.

"Forget it, no need to look for it——"

Wang Zi’an:……

"I'm so stupid, really, I'm so stupid, I should have known..."

Old Uncle Zhang's eyes were distracted and he muttered to himself.

Wang Zi'an was worried and amused at the same time.

At such an old age, he still behaves like an innocent little boy who has lost his love.

However, he couldn't help but feel moved in his heart and asked along the lines of the words.

"What should you have known?"

Uncle Zhang stood up, opened the closet, and took out an armful of clothes.

They are all new, from spring and autumn to cold winter and twelfth lunar month. Good guy, there are two sets per season. They are all neatly folded and the stitching is fine. You can see that they are made with great care.

"In the past few days, she has been working overtime to make new clothes for me. I couldn't stop her. She just said that she would leave them if she couldn't wear them now. It seemed that she decided to leave at that time...

"

Old Uncle Zhang can manage such a large briquette factory in an orderly manner, so he is certainly not a stupid person.

I quickly figured out the cause and effect, but because of this, I couldn't feel any resentment anymore.

Looking at Old Uncle Zhang who was trapped in his own emotions and couldn't help himself, Wang Zi'an was silent for a while.

"Uncle Zhang, please think about it. When she left, she was still pregnant with your flesh and blood - you really can't bear the child not being able to see his father since he was a child..."

Old Uncle Zhang couldn't help but have a look of pain on his face, and he lowered his head for a while before raising his head.

"Zi'an, I understand, let's go find it, I will listen to you -"

When he said these words, it was as if something had taken away his spine, and he felt much older in an instant.

As an old man in Zhuangzi, who has helped Wang Zi'an manage the briquettes factory from the beginning, he naturally knows what this means.

It may not matter whether he finds his wife or not, but the cheap son must be found, and I'm afraid it won't be good if he gets her back.

Because, he is not only his son, but also a leader of the workshop in Zi'an Dongshan.

At that time, because my son was literate and willing to work hard, he made rapid progress in learning and soon became the leader of Da Zhuang and his group. I was quite proud for a few days.

But I never thought it would happen today.

Seeing that Old Uncle Zhang had figured everything out, Wang Zi'an nodded.

Even if Uncle Zhang gives up on this matter, he actually won't give up, because Zhang Chengzhi is too closely related. As the leader of the glass workshop, he has mastered most of the core technologies of glass and glass.

Even if it lacks the last process on its own, it can actually independently produce some glaze and glass products that are not of high quality.

To take a step back, even if he was willing to let them go, Li Shimin would never let him go.

Even though the price of colored glaze has plummeted, it is still a hugely profitable industry. If I hadn't intentionally controlled it, Dongshan's colored glaze would have been flowing into the market continuously, setting off a money-drawing frenzy.

What does this mean? Li Shimin has a clear mind.

Originally, if Old Uncle Zhang didn't want to pursue the case, he still wanted to investigate secretly. Now that Old Uncle Zhang understands the truth and nodded, there is nothing to worry about.

Immediately ask someone to call the accounting office responsible for the accounts of the briquette factory.

The person responsible for keeping accounts here is an old gentleman in the village. He has attended private schools for several years and can barely read and keep accounts.

Hearing that Wang Zi'an had come in person, he asked him to go there with his account books. He thought he was here to check the accounts, and thought he had made some mistake, so he came over with the account books under his arm with an uneasy expression.

"Master Hou——"

As soon as you enter the door, you bow and salute politely.

Wang Zi'an reluctantly reached out and pulled him up.

"We are all neighbors. Just like before, just call me Zian——"

"You can't do it, Lord Marquis, and the etiquette can't be discarded——"

Looking at this old guy who claimed to be a scholar, Wang Zi'an was speechless for a while.

You only know a few Chinese characters, and you just follow others around in a polite way. But this problem has not been going on for a day or two, and he is too lazy to correct it.

"Have you brought the account book?"

"Brought it--"

As the old gentleman spoke, he took out the account book from his sleeve and handed it over respectfully.

Wang Zi'an briefly looked through the ledger.

From ten to twelve o'clock in the morning, the briquette factory completed a total of twenty-three transactions, and I remember the amount of each transaction clearly.

After thinking about it, Wang Zi'an asked someone to call the steward in charge of loading.

"Uncle Tian, ​​do you still have any impression that the people who came to pull the briquettes at that time came by car - I mean, the kind of car with a shed..."

The steward thought for a while, nodded, and said with certainty.

"Yes, and there are several of them——"

Having said this, I patted my chest quite proudly.

"The briquettes from our factory are easy to burn and cheap. Everyone in Chang'an knows that many store owners are willing to buy from us..."

Wang Zi'an asked people to give a general list of several places based on their memory.

However, he only remembered a few regular customers. For such a large factory, customers he didn't know often came to buy goods, and he couldn't recognize them all.
To be continued...