I arrived at the hotel where Chang Dachun found Lin Han's ashes with Yu Xiaoluo. It cost eighty yuan a night and didn't have a private bathroom. Did I have no money? What had I experienced to be staying in such a place? Was I running from someone?
"Boss, do you recognize me?"
"Yes, you stayed here a few days ago. You also had a friend come to pick up your things. Your friend already settled the bill. What happened, a car accident?"
"Which room did I stay in, and for how long?"
"Room 302. You stayed for one day. You came and left the same day. I don't know when you left. It was your friend who came to settle the bill."
"Thank you. Can I see the room?"
"Sure, no one is staying there now."
It had a single bed, one of those old CRT TVs, and a kettle for boiling water. I couldn't see anything else. It was a small hotel, but relatively clean and tidy. Yu Xiaoluo pushed me around the room and asked curiously, "Tang Nan, what exactly are you looking for?"
"I don't know!"
I had no memory of this place. This wasn't the room Lin Han and I had stayed in. The place we were in had a table. Even if it wasn't a five-star hotel, it was at least a chain hotel. This was a small hotel, with no condoms or instant coffee.
As we were leaving, I asked the boss again, "Do you sell mosquito repellent, the Liushen brand?"
The boss looked at me, surprised. "Why would you need mosquito repellent this time of year?"
Right. There were no mosquitoes this season. So why did I have mosquito repellent in my bag?
I could feel that the items in my bag were related to what I had been through, but the items were too fragmented, and I had no direction. Yu Xiaoluo pushed me as we walked down the street. It wasn't cold, but the wind was cool. Yu Xiaoluo seemed to understand my state of mind, and for once, she didn't talk to me. When we returned to the hospital, no one noticed we had left except for Chang Dachun.
"I helped you retrieve your call records from China Unicom. In the past three months, you only made about a dozen calls, mostly to family, and one to Gao Qiang. The last call was to me. I've already spoken to Gao Qiang. You called him because you were going to miss the start of school and needed to ask for leave. He even scolded you and told you to get back before the make-up exam."
I remained silent, thinking about how it was impossible for me to have made so few calls in three months. Chang Dachun, trying to lighten the mood, chuckled and said, "Someone as smart as you, failing make-up exams every year, is that really appropriate? You..."
Chang Dachun noticed that I was lost in thought and not listening to him at all, so he stopped awkwardly. He then took out the Bluetooth headset I had given him and said with a wry smile, "Tai'an is a small city. There aren't many phone stores that sell Bluetooth headsets. They told me this type of Bluetooth headset can only be bought in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai. However, there are hidden talents in small places, and they managed to find a charger for me."
"Why a charger?"
"Bluetooth headsets need to be charged when connected to a device. I believe you can find that device, so we need to make sure the Bluetooth headset has power."
"Thank you, Brother Chang."
Chang Dachun sighed. "Tang Nan, there's another thing. Da Huang and Pang Zi will be arriving in Tai'an tonight."
"What are they coming for?"
"What are you doing now?" Chang Dachun asked me. I didn't answer.
"Sister loves you; she is your woman. But you must understand, Sister isn't just yours; she is also the sister of us brothers. She died in Tai'an. If we don't investigate this matter thoroughly, we'll be disrespecting her spirit."
"It's very dangerous here!"
Chang Dachun gave a wry smile. "I know. That's why you need to help us. We'll follow your lead, just like we did back in Beijing."
"Okay!"
I didn't refuse. I was still recovering from severe injuries and had limited mobility. Besides, it would be inconvenient for Yu Xiaoluo to be involved in some matters. With them here, it would be easier for me. Chang Dachun arranged for my dinner and then went to pick them up. Yu Xiaoluo knew I would be alone, so she stayed to accompany me. She looked at me with a sad expression. "Tang Nan, why don't we transfer to a hospital back in Beijing? If you want to be a hero and get revenge, you should at least wait until you've recovered."
"I'm not going back! What about Teacher Wang Ren?"
"Teacher Wang Ren and Luo Bo are having dinner at an old friend's house. His old friend is named Zhang Si, you know him. He said he's your martial uncle. When did you take a master?"
"He doesn't deserve to be my martial uncle."
"What did you say?"
"Yeah, what am I saying?"
My head started to hurt again. Yu Xiaoluo was about to call a doctor, but I stopped her. I closed my eyes, cleared my mind, and gradually regained my composure. Afterward, I went to get my bag. Yu Xiaoluo reached for the bag, but I stopped her. "Don't look anymore. You've looked at it more than twenty times and haven't found anything."
"One last time!"
Yu Xiaoluo stared at me, then finally relented. "Just one last time. After you're done, I'll take it."
This last time, I still couldn't find anything. So, I picked up the magazine "Story Club" and started flipping through it. This "Story Club" published by Shanghai Publishing Group didn't seem to have anything special. I read page by page; they were all stories about ordinary people, nothing new. Suddenly, I stopped. Page 81 of "Story Club" had been torn out.
"Sis, can you go buy me a copy of 'Story Club,' the same issue I have here?"
"What for? Are you trying some trick to lure the tiger away from its mountain? What scheme are you up to now?"
"What can I do like this?"
This copy of "Story Club" must have been recently bought. Why would someone tear out this page for no reason? Yu Xiaoluo, perhaps afraid I would play some disappearing act, bought it back very quickly.
The story on that page was called "Fatal Performance." It was about a tightrope walker named Hua Lianda. He was world-famous for never using any safety ropes during his performances.
Decades later, 73-year-old Hua Lianda was preparing for his final farewell performance. In this performance, Hua Lianda did not attempt the high-difficulty maneuvers he was known for. However, he fell from a simple move and died on the spot.
Afterward, his wife, heartbroken, said she had a premonition that something would happen this time because, in his past performances, Hua Lianda never worried about falling. But this time, Hua Lianda had focused all his energy on *not* falling.
The story's moral was that Hua Lianda's tragedy stemmed from his fear of failure. Later, psychologists named this state of anxiousness and indecisiveness the "Hua Lianda Mentality." It tells people that life is like walking a tightrope; one must fix their gaze on the target, forge ahead courageously, and avoid being hesitant and wavering.
...
Falling from a height, Hua Lianda Mentality.
I could sense that this content must be related to me. I survived a fall from a great height, but what was it trying to convey?
"Can I take these things now? You've been in a daze ever since they were put in front of you. How are you supposed to recover like this?"
"Take them. Sis, you don't need to stay with me tonight. Brother Chang is here."
"Mmm!"
...
We hadn't seen each other for days. We should have been drinking and chatting joyfully, but there was no sign of reunion happiness among us. Da Huang looked at the tearful Pang Zi and angrily punched him. He then stared at me, "Tell us, how are we going to get revenge?"
"Look for anyone in Tai'an who performs magic or acrobatics."
"What does that have to do with Lin Han's death?"
"I don't know."
This remark infuriated Da Huang. He reached out to grab my collar. However, seeing my pathetic state, his hand stopped in front of me, and he gently patted my shoulder. "Tang Nan, Sister died because of you. I can only blame myself for not stopping Sister from chasing after you that day. If you can't avenge Sister, then our friendship ends here."
Brother Chang wanted to ease the tension but didn't know what to say, scratching his head anxiously.
After Da Huang finished speaking, he looked at me. "Stop crying. Go look for acrobats and magicians."
...
There were no acrobatic troupes in Tai'an, and magicians were hard to find. Da Huang spent all night inquiring, spending thousands of yuan, before finally getting a lead. There was a bar in Tai'an called Shi Gandang, at the foot of Mount Tai. Many tourists from out of town drank and rested there.
Shi Gandang Bar had a unique characteristic: cheap drinks. Logically, a bar sells alcohol, and the lowest price for a bottle of beer would be at least ten yuan. But at Shi Gandang, the prices were like those in a convenience store. Moreover, the decor was very much in a "jianghu" style, which tourists loved. Even if there were no seats, people would sit on the stone benches outside and have a drink, chatting with tourists from all over about their mountain-climbing adventures.
Besides drinks, Shi Gandang Bar also sold imitation antiques, replicas of national treasures from the Dai Temple, such as jade plaques, sandalwood lions, and yellow glazed gourds. They had 1:1 replicas and souvenirs in various proportions.
When traveling, people always buy local items, whether for gifts or for personal keepsakes. Many tourists thought the owner of Shi Gandang Bar was honest, so they bought their souvenirs there.
Besides these, the owner of Shi Gandang Bar, Tong Zhanggui, also performed card tricks. They were just simple tricks, but in Tai'an, he was considered a magician.
...
"Tong Zhanggui?" I muttered.
"Do you know him?" Da Huang asked. I shook my head.
"He knew Lin Han."
"When?"
"On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Lin Han, under the identity of the 'Queen of the Underground Palace,' wanted to buy a piece of Wen Liang Yu Gui from Tong Zhanggui. A person named Boss Wan was with her. Tong Zhanggui said that because Lin Han offered a hundred thousand yuan, he specifically found Boss Wan, the stone supplier, because only Boss Wan could obtain top-quality frozen stone. Now, the Wen Liang Yu Gui in the Dai Temple Museum is a replica made from frozen stone, perfectly recreating the 'half-warm, half-cool' attributes of the original."
"Why would Lin Han want to buy a fake Wen Liang Yu Gui?"
Upon hearing this question, Da Huang became very displeased and pointed at my nose. "Are you asking me?"
"No, I'm asking myself. Where's Pang Zi?"
"He's with Boss Wan?"
Chang Dachun understood that Pang Zi was tailing him, meaning he was being followed. Da Huang was going to confront Tong Zhanggui, the maker of fake antiques, but instead, he sent Pang Zi to follow Boss Wan, which implied Boss Wan was suspicious.
"Why follow him?" Chang Dachun asked.
"Tong Zhanggui delivered the goods a week later. He didn't give the goods to Lin Han directly. Lin Han had Boss Wan deliver it to Nantianmen."
"And then?"
"I contacted Boss Wan and asked him. He said the Wen Liang Yu Gui was given to someone named Tang Nan, who paid in cash. He contacted Lin Han by phone to confirm, and after the delivery, he left."
"Then why did you have Pang Zi keep an eye on him?" Brother Chang asked.
"I asked him what Tang Nan looked like. He said Tang Nan was an old man."