Chapter 72 Grandpa’s Past

The name that popped up hadn’t appeared on my phone for a long time now. It was only a moment ago that I thought I wouldn’t be surprised no matter whose name came up, but this one person made me extremely surprised.

In fact, it wasn’t a name but a title.

“Grandpa”!

The name displayed on my phone was the number used before my grandfather had died. No one had called since he was buried and I hadn’t really thought about it, but I was surprised to find that the phone hadn’t been disconnected.

I paced back and forth in the yard while thinking to myself, damn it, this seems really close to the core. I was moving in the right direction, but I still didn’t understand what these people were doing.

I thought about it for a moment, dialed the number again, and put the phone to my ear. I didn’t know what I would hear, but I was actually looking forward to it no matter what the sound was.

“Sorry, the number you have dialed cannot be reached.”

I put my phone down, assuming that Grandpa’s phone must’ve run out of battery. There was probably still some money on it since Old Dog Wu was very rich in his last days and my Uncle Three had given him a phone card. The card was probably enough to last for several years, so there was no reason the phone would be disconnected. But there probably wasn’t anyone to charge the phone itself.

My grandmother wasn’t the type of person worn out by love. She had lived a very smart life and wasn’t too sad about my grandfather’s death so I didn’t want to disturb her now.

Not only had this house been rented out by Grandpa, but it had been rented for nineteen years.

I didn’t want to think of the possibility anymore. I dialed the landlord’s phone again and told him that I had contacted the tenant and would send five hundred yuan to both of their accounts each month. The tenant had also told me to directly ask the landlord to type up proof of his previous payments to the intermediary.

The landlord was very enthusiastic and probably knew that he could collect another five hundred yuan a month, so he quickly told me his account information. I lit a cigarette, jumped back over the wall, and then asked my staff to find some people who could pry open the door. I also looked for a friend from the bank to inquire about the account holder that had been paying the rent.

At first, my friend was very hesitant on the phone, but when I said that I would give him a good fee and told him that I only needed the account number of the payer, he soon agreed. It wasn’t long after that that the account number was sent. I entered it in an ATM and waited as the name corresponding to the account popped up.

I stared at the ATM’s screen for what felt like half a day.

It was my grandfather’s name.

Maybe Grandpa used direct deposit.

I went back to the street, almost getting hit by a truck when I crossed the sidewalk. But I ignored all of this and went to a cafe to find a place to sit down. I found myself unable to think.

What’s going on here? Did Grandpa dig that basement?

Grandpa rented a house nearby, dug a basement, and then spied on his son?

But Grandpa wasn’t so abnormal, right? The impression I had of him since I had basically been born was that he lived in his own world and memories. In his later years, all he had in mind was a cup of tea, a few dogs, and an old woman to hold hands with while walking along West Lake.

Nineteen years ago, however…as I thought of this number, I kept wondering, what was Grandpa like nineteen years ago?

A lot of fragmentary bits of information flashed through my mind, and I thought of some ambiguous words that my Uncle Two had said to me, implying that they knew that Uncle Three was a fake.

Nineteen years ago seemed to be the exact time when the fake Uncle Three returned to Hangzhou from Xisha. After he came back, Uncle Two and my grandfather soon discovered that something was wrong, but they didn’t know what had happened.

At that time, everyone was still quite hush-hush about “it”, especially Grandpa, who would definitely think it had something to do with him. And in order to not startle the snake, Grandpa must have dug that kind of a room here to monitor this fake Uncle Three.

It was possible. In fact, it was very likely.

Then why did that guy live in that secret room all year round? Did Grandpa and his family find a man to watch Uncle Three, someone who would stay there all year and hadn’t finished his work yet?

This was the most miserable job in the world considering how the workplace was in the sewer and there was no vacation. If it was a secret chamber built nineteen years ago, then that would be nineteen years spent in darkness. It was more bitter than being in a small coal mine.

In addition, there was another problem that couldn’t be explained. During those nineteen years of surveillance, with Grandpa and Uncle Two’s drive, had nothing changed? Nineteen years could change a dynasty, so why would they still be monitoring even now? In other words, Grandpa and Uncle Two should have quickly discovered the problem, which was evident from the hint Uncle Two gave me before. If they knew that Uncle Three was Xie Lianhuan, then why didn’t they take any measures?

Was it possible that by monitoring like this, they thought to learn his intentions? Or did Uncle Two and Grandpa have their own plans? If so, what was the plan?

I couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard I thought, and I couldn’t bear it anymore. I realized that even if Uncle Two was difficult and shrewd, I had to have a showdown with him. I had to know what they were thinking.

Back at Uncle Three’s house, I lay on the sofa and pondered.

Based on my previous understanding of everything, scheming against Uncle Two was basically tantamount to death. He saw through a plot without needing the intermediate process. He simply looked at the other party’s expression and general remarks and immediately knew what they were doing secretly behind his back. Besides, what he liked best was to follow the plan you set up. One time, when we went to our hometown, Uncle Three came up with a plan to steal something left by our ancestors. Uncle Two pretended to be in the dark the entire time, but he had actually made various arrangements along the way to ruin it with his own plan. By taking advantage of Uncle Three’s plan, he was able to destroy another group’s big plot. When Uncle Three thought he had won at last, Uncle Two plucked away all the fruits of victory with just a few words.

I wondered if Uncle Two would tell me everything, and if so, under what conditions?

I really couldn’t think of any plausible scenarios. Uncle Two was unmoved by force or persuasion, and the only possibility for me to get him to talk was to threaten my own life.

But Uncle Two was a very shrewd person. He knew that I was the kind of person who could never fight with his own life. I figured he’d be more likely to simply sit there and drink tea while ignoring me. It wasn’t like I could really kill myself, after all.

I had to make it clear to him that I would really die if he didn’t tell me. In other words, these things were beyond my control and I was being forced to do it.

Should I pretend to be kidnapped? If I cut off my finger and sent it to Uncle Two, would he give in?

I thought it would work, but I didn’t think Uncle Two would give in immediately. One finger was definitely not enough; Uncle Two’s nerves would last at least up to three.

I walked into the kitchen, looked at my left hand, picked up a kitchen knife, and chose three fingers that didn’t seem very useful. I thought it over and suddenly felt that life was particularly good. Why should I?

Would Uncle Two personally take the initiative to come tell me? If he had dug this hole and the person below had escaped, Uncle Two would have known immediately. Would Uncle Two have any emergency measures to implement? Wait a minute, would a directional missile come and blow me sky-high?

A long time had passed, but nothing had happened when I came back. This is fucking weird. What’s the use of such surveillance without any emergency measures?

I felt like everything seemed to be pointing in one direction regarding this matter, but I lacked a key. The only key. In the past, I was too far from the truth and could only see a lot of clues in a straight line that contradicted each other. This time, however, I was too close to the truth, so I saw countless possibilities. In contrast, it was absolutely impossible to parse out the countless possibilities so I found that the former situation was more humane.

But back to outwitting Uncle Two.

I picked up the kitchen knife again and put my hand on the chopping board as if this was the only way for me. Although it was a bit stupid, I seemed to have no way out.

A feeling of determination and solemnity surged through my heart. At this time, I realized that I was going crazy and my demons had reached the point where they couldn’t be suppressed.

Help me!

I told myself to just chop down quick and hard, but at this time, the phone I had set aside suddenly began to ring.

I was so startled that all of the momentum was released in an instant and I almost collapsed.

I picked up my phone and paused when I found that it was a strange number. After I asked who it was, the person on the other end of the line said, “Put the knife down and look out the window.”

As soon as I heard the voice, I knew that it was the man I had heard in the secret room. I immediately looked out the window and saw a flashlight beam in a farmer’s house in the distance.

I was just wondering what was going on when I heard the person on the phone sigh, “I put the flashlight here and I also left the thing you want to know beside it. After you read it, you’ll know what to do.”

<Chapter 71> <Table of Contents><Chapter 73>

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Updated 7/25/2021