Merchant of the Underworld

Zhuang Ning replied without thinking: "It's Wang Nan. Wang Nan is from this city. He should be recuperating at home now."

"Do you know her home address?" I asked.

Zhuang Ning shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Have you forgotten? I am not welcome in the dormitory anymore, but you can ask the teacher."

No, I can fool the security guard with my student ID card, but I can never fool the teacher.

Probably seeing my embarrassment, Zhuang Ning said helplessly: "Okay, you wait here for me, I will help you get it done. You find a hidden corner to stay, don't stand so stupidly downstairs in the girls' dormitory , will be regarded as a pervert."

I have always thought that I have good looks, so why do I turn into a pervert in just one second here?

The taste of young people nowadays!

I shook my head with a wry smile and found a corner to squat.

About half an hour later, Zhuang Ning came back. I found that her face was very ugly, and her shoulders were shaking: "No need to look for Wang Nan, she...she also committed suicide."

What?

I quickly asked: "Is it the same as Tang Shuangshuang?"

"Yes." Zhuang Ning nodded absentmindedly: "Exactly the same. She was also hanged with stockings. Her mother found her hanging in the room."

Is that goldfish bracelet really that powerful?

Zhuang Ning was in a very bad condition, and I didn't dare to ask any more questions. I asked her to go upstairs to rest while I hurried back to the antique store.

When I saw Li Mazi in the store, I almost roared: "I want to see Lao Yao, right away!"

"He only goes to the flea market to set up stalls every Sunday..."

"I can't wait until then." I said: "You must take me to find the old medicine immediately."

Li Mazi saw something wrong with my face, and seemed to have guessed something big had happened, so he took me out immediately.

Generally speaking, people who make a living as local masters do not have easy access to a place to live. Li Mazi and I arrived at the suburban pier. The pier was full of bungalows crowded together. The floor was covered with domestic garbage, and there were a lot of flies and mosquitoes. It looked extremely disgusting.

Most of the residents here are cheap wage earners, mostly scrap collectors.

Seeing Li Mazi twisting and turning to lead me the way, I couldn't help but say: "Li Mazi, you have so many friends. Some of them live in villas and drive luxury cars, and some of them live in places like this. of……"

Li Mazi didn't quite agree with what I said: "Brother from the Zhang family, you don't understand this! Although this kind of place is poor, it is a mixed bag of good and bad, and there are many experts in this field lurking."

We finally stopped in front of a shabby house.

There is a pair of red Spring Festival couplets taped to the door of the house. After several months of wind and rain, they have long since faded and look very depressed.

Li Mazi didn't knock on the door, pushed the door open and walked in, shouting at the top of his voice: "Old Yao, Lao Yao, we have a guest at home, please bring us some good wine and food to entertain you."

Hearing the sound, an old man in his fifties or sixties slowly walked out of the house. This old man had a serious hunchback and was wearing a leather jacket from the 1990s.

His hair is gray, his face is covered with wrinkles, and there are several hideous scars. One eye is gray, obviously blind for a long time, and looks particularly scary.

Lao Yao seemed to know Li Mazi. After meeting Li Mazi, he didn't even raise his eyelids and sat silently in the yard.

The smell of boiling Chinese medicine is everywhere in the air.

The name Laoyao is indeed worthy of its name.

Li Mazi walked to Lao Yao's side with a smile and said, "Lao Yao, have you dug out any treasures recently? Take them out to open your brother's eyes."

Lao Yao turned his head, as if he didn't want to talk to Li Mazi.

Li Mazi continued shamelessly: "Old Yao, I hardly visit your door once a year. How come you have this attitude after finally coming?"

Lao Yao nodded and said, "Yes."

Li Mazi suddenly became angry: "You old boy, have you forgotten when you asked me to do something?"

Seeing that Li Mazi was about to hit someone, I quickly pulled him aside and said respectfully to Lao Yao: "Hello, senior. Junior Zhang Jiulin has opened an antique shop. It's our first time meeting him. Please give me some advice."

Lao Yao glanced at me with interest, then patted the bench beside him: "Young man, sit down."

I didn't intend to beat around the bush with him, and went straight to the point: "Senior, I have encountered a difficult matter recently, and I would like to ask you for advice."

"Okay." Lao Yao said.

I found Lao Yao to be quite interesting. He talked like he was pouring beans, jumping out word after word.

How can such a person still set up a stall and sell things?

"I heard that senior dug out a treasure some time ago, a black goldfish bracelet?" I asked.

There was a flash of caution in Lao Yao's eyes, but he still hummed softly.

"Then you must remember the person who bought this bracelet, right? It was a female college student named Li Xiaoling. She has committed suicide now, and people around her have also committed suicide one after another, or had their lips sewn shut. I want to ask you about it. The origin of this goldfish bracelet.”

Lao Yao frowned and pointed at his wrist: "dig."

What he meant was that the goldfish bracelet was not dug out of a tomb, but ripped from a dead man's wrist.

I couldn't help but feel ashamed when I thought about my search on the Internet last night.

Could this old guy dig up Ruan Lingyu's grave?

No, historical records indicate that the tomb of the movie star Ruan Lingyu of the Republic of China should be in Shanghai. It was destroyed in the late Republic of China and has long since ceased to exist. So whose tomb was dug by Lao Yao? How could there be this goldfish bracelet?

Lao Yao looked me over, then suddenly stretched out his hand and made a sign of 'four'.

What does this four mean?

Lao Yao saw that I didn't understand, so he stood up and walked into the room. After a while, he brought out a yellow and old tattered book.

The book looked like it was old at first glance. From so far away, I could smell the musty smell on the pages.

Lao Yao handed the book into my hand and pointed to a passage in the book for me to read.

I immediately cast my gaze over it and found that there was indeed an important record in the book.

"At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Empress Dowager Cixi celebrated her birthday. Because the Empress Dowager liked goldfish, she ordered Dayazhai to make 100 bathtubs. In order to please Lafayette, the officials below mined black jade, carved it carefully, and made four extra bathtubs. The bracelet with goldfish embedded in it will be sent to Beijing immediately."

"One fish lifts the apple coin, one fish wraps around the stem of the apple, one fish spits the beard of the flower, and one fish sings the shadow of the flower."

"Seeing these four exquisite bracelets, the Empress Dowager Cixi was overjoyed and rewarded the officials with one thousand taels of silver. She would play with them every day and couldn't put them down. After the Eight-Power Allied Forces burned the Forbidden City, the Empress Dowager Cixi fled in a hurry, and the four goldfish bracelets disappeared from the public."

"It is said that the four goldfish in the bracelet must be together at all times. If they are separated, they will change from an auspicious thing to a very evil thing!"

It turns out there are four goldfish bracelets.

That's it.

Lao Yao took the book from my hand, held it in his arms like a treasure, then made a throwing motion, shook his head with infinite regret and said: "Cracked."

What he meant was that the goldfish bracelet he dug had cracks and was worthless.

Depend on! It's fucking amazing that I understand him.