Daomu Biji

That evening, I took off from Bailian Airport, landed at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, and then took the airport bus from Shanghai back to Hangzhou.

In the toilet of Hongqiao Airport, I saw my face. The mask very cleverly avoids all the places where my beard would grow, which would otherwise be growing into my flesh against the mask. I used to think that growing a beard would make me look more masculine, but now it seems that not everyone is suitable for growing a beard, especially with such an old face full of stubble and ill-fitting clothes. He looks like a handsome man in the scavenging world.

I heard from Xiaohua that in ancient China, people who wore this kind of mask had to use potions to destroy all the pores on their facial skin, which was a very painful process. Although not being able to grow a beard is not a particularly tragic thing for people like me, I am still glad that they did not do this.

It was the last bus, and there was only me and a girl who looked like a student on the bus. The girl kept wearing headphones and looking out the window with blurry eyes. She has a braided hair, very clean, and has a very special temperament.

I couldn't help but think of the clouds again, and the feeling in my heart was indescribable. From the moment I set off from Guangxi, I had been keeping my emotions tight. Now, looking at the street lights flashing by the roadside, the various pains in my heart are slowly disappearing little by little. leaked out.

I closed my eyes and tried not to cry. The fat man's cry still echoed in my ears. I remembered the painting of clouds, the us in the painting, the first time we went to Banai. Although our hearts were full of mysteries, we seemed very happy because at that time, our destiny was still in our own hands.

What’s ridiculous is that everything we do next is sending the fate we hold in our hands to our current situation.

What is the fear I still have in my heart? Even in such emotions. I still feel like any of the struggles in my heart haven’t eased.

My inner demons have not gone away, or rather, returned this time. I don't even think of it as the end. I know deeply that I am just a passer-by. The matter is not over, but continues without pause.

The bus ended at Triumph Road, and I got off and took a taxi home. It was already midnight. Looking at the familiar streets, I compared my state of mind when I returned to Hangzhou several times before. Those few times when I returned to Hangzhou, the first feeling I felt was exhaustion: Never go to that kind of place again, this time must be the last time. This was a common thought at the time.

But not this time. I wasn't tired, I even had a feeling of nothing more than that.

"If you continue like this, you will become seriously ill."

Just be sick. I lit a cigarette, got out of the car, and looked at everything in front of me, suddenly stunned.

In front of me is my third uncle's shop.

Shouldn't I go home? I'm in a bit of a trance,

Suddenly, I remembered that the address I told the driver when I got in the car was my third uncle's home.

I can't go back to my home. Even if I go back to Hangzhou, I have to live here.

I turned around. The taxi has already driven away. Standing in the dark alley, I couldn't help but feel funny, and took out the key Pan Zi had given me before from my pocket. When he came to the iron door, he took a breath and opened it.

The entire small bungalow has no lights. I walked into the yard and saw my third uncle’s potted plants. Because there is a gardener taking care of it. Potted plants grow very well. Placed around messily. The tea table where Uncle San usually drinks tea is placed in the middle of the yard.

This is where the third uncle usually lives. I have stayed here for a few days, but I never thought that when I came back this time, I would come to this place.

I didn't go into the house immediately because I didn't know what to do inside. I don't want to wander in such a house at midnight like this. I don't know why. The next life makes me very resistant to starting late. Just start later

Sitting on the tea chair, I wrapped my clothes tightly. Staring at the night sky, motionless, until dawn.

It was the gardener who came here every day who woke me up: when I opened my eyes, a face was looking at me inexplicably.

"Master, are you back? Why are you sleeping here?"

"Uncle He?" I replied in a daze, and immediately realized something was wrong, so I immediately changed my words and said, "Old He, are you here so early?"

"Go back to your room quickly. It's cold. Boss." Lao He said

I nodded and looked inside the room. The hourly worker hasn't arrived yet. Uncle San has hourly workers cleaning here every day, but only on the third floor. The second and first floors are where goods are stored.

Most people who sell antiques don't like particularly clean and modern decoration designs. Generally, those who sell antiques like to keep everything messy. This is to satisfy the customer's mentality, because picking goods among messy antiques will give people a more secure feeling. Many regional antique shops. It’s the same reason they all like to throw antiques on the ground and sell them. If it is done like any jewelry store and has salespersons in small suits, it will look unprofessional.

In fact, it would be fine if everyone understood shareholders. The fact is that there are too few collectors who truly understand antiques. Do this business. Ninety-nine percent of the people we meet every year are fake experts who don't understand anything at all. These people who buy things. Especially care about feeling.

I bypassed these antiques and passed through several gates to reach the third floor. Everything on the first floor was worthless. There is a safe on the second floor, which is slightly better. The really good stuff is kept in the secret room on the third floor of Uncle San when it is not open. The entrance guard on the third floor looks shabby, but it is actually made of tungsten steel. The locks used were designed by an old locksmith that Uncle San found. The locks were all inside the wall. Most people couldn't open them unless they used explosives to blast them.

The third floor is a large suite. The third uncle is a person who enjoys a lot but is not overt. He is not interested in many modern entertainments. All the mahogany things in this large suite are very expensive, but compared to these, I actually prefer soft sofas, so I know , since I’m going to live here for a long time, I definitely have to add something.

In fact, when I lived here last time, I already discovered that my third uncle actually lived a very hard life. For a person like him who experienced too much and enjoyed too much when he was young, women, wealth, and status are all for him. Totally unattractive. There are a lot of furniture, calligraphy and paintings, the Four Treasures of the Study and other playthings in his whole room. In fact, if you open his drawers, you will find that almost all of them are empty and have some thin dust.

This shows that these drawers have never been filled with anything since the furniture was purchased.

There is no life.

A single old man, except for a few things he said: ledger, tea cup, tea leaves. Then there are many ancient books used for decoration. The books are all genuine ancient books, but it can be seen that the third uncle has basically never read them. The most common things that can be found in his room are various expired newspapers.

This place is too big for him. He doesn't have enough content to fill all these drawers.

After I came back from Xisha, I conducted a thorough search here, so I knew where the things I was interested in were. The documents of the third uncle's investigation of the archaeological team were basically useless, but I still plan to read them again, but not now.

I sat in front of his desk. On his desk were a lamp, an incense burner, a telephone and some pens and papers. Exactly the same as before I left.

A slightly more decent one is a computer, but a very old-fashioned computer. The monitor is only fifteen inches, and Uncle San usually uses it to play card games and read some electronic account books. He doesn't know how to use a computer and can only do some simple operations with a mouse. The system inside is also the original Windows 2000 installed. It has no network card and cannot access the Internet at all.

I closed my eyes, trying to feel if I could fall asleep. Although I felt a little tired, maybe it was because of the intensive activities on the ground during this period that I was used to such high-intensity fatigue, and I didn’t feel sleepy at all.

I took out my phone and sent everyone a text message that I had arrived. Then I took a deep breath and suddenly didn't know what to do.

Could it be that Uncle San is like this every day, thinking wildly behind this table?

No wonder he was so entangled. If he was so poor that he couldn't even pay the water bill, maybe he wouldn't have such an ending.

Humans are really strange creatures. Their most important purpose is survival, but survival is often not this person's biggest worry. When people satisfy all their needs, they often find themselves an unsolvable trouble.

People are born with troubles. Moreover, even if you think about this problem, it is useless. There are always some troubles that people have to deal with even if they understand the truth, just like me now.

I touched my face and knew that I had to find something to do during this period, otherwise I would be driven to death by all kinds of memories. Pan Zi is no longer here. Although I am not prepared to announce the news of his death, without him, many things will not be as smooth as before.

There is also the dumb sister and the second uncle. The former is the person I have to convince. As for the second uncle, it is best for me not to meet him, because he is too smart and there is absolutely no way I can hide it. Pass him. There are still seven days until I can take off my mask, and I should have something to do to prepare for emergencies.

I went to the bathroom of my third uncle's house, hung up my beard, took a shower, and then called one of my men in charge and told him that I would not see any guests today and that I would sleep all day. Then I climbed into bed, turned on the TV and watched cartoons until I fell asleep.

It was a difficult sleep, and I was awakened more than once by various dreams. Several times I felt like I saw Pan Zi covered in blood, standing next to me.

I didn't feel any fear. I just feel hopeless, and that kind of despair is swallowing me up all the time. To be continued