Shopkeeper Zhou holds a yellowed black-and-white photo in his hand. The date cannot be seen, but it must be decades old.
The photo was taken in a camp at the foot of a mountain, with a lush green mountain peak in the background and several military tents with three words embroidered on them - 736.
In addition, there are a total of eleven people in the photo, eight men and three women.
Most of these people were wearing old-fashioned Japanese military uniforms from World War II, with the exception of two people.
One of them is the girl standing on the far left.
This is an extremely beautiful girl. She looks like she is in her early twenties at most. Her black hair is tied up in a big braid around her neck. Apart from her clothes, the rest of her clothes are the same as at this time. The girl sitting across from me looked exactly the same.
And the tall, handsome man standing next to him, wearing Hanfu, was none other than my grandfather.
It took a while before Shopkeeper Zhou took his eyes out of the old photo.
Shopkeeper Zhou looked at me and asked word for word: "Where did you get this photo?"
I smiled and said, "It was given to me by someone I don't know!"
Shopkeeper Zhou asked doubtfully: "An unknown person?"
I nodded and said, "That's right! Someone I don't know."
Shopkeeper Zhou then asked: "Why did that person give you this?"
I touched my nose. This is a problem I learned from Xiong Ming. When I think about a problem, I can't help but touch it twice.
After touching my nose twice, I said, "I... have to ask you about this!"
Shopkeeper Zhou obviously didn't expect me to answer like this. He was slightly startled, and then said in surprise: "Ask me?"
I smiled and took out the cigarettes from my pocket, pulled out three cigarettes, threw one to Professor Li who had been silent, handed one to Shopkeeper Zhou, and threw the other into my mouth.
I lit the cigarette, took two puffs, and said, "Of course. At first, I wondered why that person would give me such an old photo. But when I saw her in the Juyi Hall..."
As I spoke, I pointed to the girl with her head hanging down, and then continued: "It suddenly dawned on me that maybe she can give me...the answer I want."
Shopkeeper Zhou looked at me, and then looked down at the photo in his hand for a while. For a long time, he didn't speak, but handed the photo in his hand to the girl next to him.
The girl took a look at the photo and frowned slightly.
After looking at the photo for a while, the girl was lost in thought. Then she handed the photo back to Shopkeeper Zhou and made a very strange gesture at him, which was like sign language. I couldn't understand what it meant.
Shopkeeper Zhou obviously understood what the girl meant. After nodding, he turned to me and said, "She agreed to answer your question. However, she has conditions!"
I nodded, smiled, and said, "I like conditional answers. After all, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Tell me! What conditions?"
Shopkeeper Zhou also nodded and said: "Okay! We at Juxing Tower also like to do business with people who understand the rules. So listen carefully! She will only answer you three questions. And each question..."
When Shopkeeper Zhou said this, he deliberately prolonged his voice. As the end of the sound gradually fell, Shopkeeper Zhou slowly stretched out three fingers and said: "And her asking price for each question is 10 million! Three questions means three Ten million! How about it? Are the Hu brothers still planning to do this deal?"
"What? Ten million for one question?" Hua Muling, who had been silent until now, suddenly said, "Are you planning to rob Juxing Tower?"
Shopkeeper Zhou smiled and said: "This is indeed better than robbing! Since ancient times, buying and selling has been about buying and selling, and you and I are willing to do it. If you two think the price is high, just turn around and leave! After all, Juxing Lou never makes things difficult for guests, especially two distinguished guests who can afford 170 million."
Shopkeeper Zhou's words obviously had something to say, but I pretended not to hear them at all. I smiled and patted Hua Muling on the shoulder and said, "Ten million for a question is very reasonable... very reasonable..."
Hua Muling was a little surprised when she heard what I said. She turned her head and looked at me with wide eyes.
I smiled at Hua Muling and pressed my hand on her shoulder slightly.
Hua Muling frowned, but she seemed to understand that I had my own plans, so she said nothing and sat back in the chair without saying a word.
Seeing that Hua Muling wasn't saying anything, shopkeeper Zhou cleared his throat, looked at me and said, "Shall we start now?"
I nodded and said, "Let's get started!"
Shopkeeper Zhou slowly stretched out his right hand and asked: "Brother Hu, what is your first question?"
I looked at the girl and asked, "Do you remember this photo? When was it taken?"
After I asked, shopkeeper Zhou tilted his head and looked at the girl. He was about to reach out to translate my words, but saw the girl suddenly wave her hand.
Shopkeeper Zhou was obviously stunned, and then asked in a slightly surprised tone: "You...are you..."
The next second, the young and beautiful girl suddenly spoke.
It turned out that the girl who had been silent all this time was not mute, she could speak.
But what I never expected was that when this seemingly young and beautiful girl opened her mouth, she actually made an old and hoarse voice like an old woman.
The girl seemed to have not spoken for a long time. The sudden opening made her a little uncomfortable. She said every word very slowly, "What? I am surprised that my voice is like this? If you can find this photo, you should know a lot of things. In fact, It’s not as simple as it seems!”
The "little girl" paused, then took the yellowed black and white photo from Shopkeeper Zhou's hand, looked at the person on it and said slowly: "You want to know if I remember this photo? Or would you like to know when it was taken?”
I looked at the little girl and said, "Of course I want to know when it was taken!"
The "little girl" thought for a while, and then said slowly: "If I remember correctly, it should be more than sixty years ago! 1945 or 1946... I can't remember clearly, but I remember It was the season when peach blossoms were in full bloom..."
After I finished listening, I lowered my head and thought for a while, then looked up at the "little girl" and asked, "Do you remember where this was taken?"
This time, the "little girl" didn't hesitate and decisively answered me with three words: "Song Taoshan!"
"Song Taoshan..." I repeated the little girl's words, and then murmured to myself: "It's exactly what I guessed! Maybe..."
"You still have..." At this moment, the "little girl" suddenly interrupted my thinking, and she said slowly: "One last question!"
I took a look at the cigarette in my hand. It was almost burning to the end. Instead of throwing it away, I took another big puff, blew out the cigarette in my mouth, and took two quick steps forward.
My speed was very fast, and before Shopkeeper Zhou who came up had time to react, my face and the "little girl's" face were still almost touching.
I looked into her eyes, which were like spring water, and asked word for word: "Why can only the descendants of the Hu family find the Fountain of Youth?"
The "little girl" was not shy at all about my close gaze. Her watery eyes stared at me for a long time before she said a few words, "It's best to ask." Your grandpa!"
I couldn't help but be stunned when she said that, and then asked: "Ask my grandpa?"
"Little girl" smiled slightly and said, "This is already the fourth question."
After saying that, the "little girl" slowly stood up and said to Shopkeeper Zhou next to her: "Let's go! I'm tired!"
After hearing this, shopkeeper Zhou stood up respectfully and said, "Yes! Please come this way!"
After saying that, Shopkeeper Zhou bowed deeply and helped the little girl walk step by step towards the back hall like an old eunuch in a TV series.
After walking a few steps, shopkeeper Zhou suddenly stopped and said loudly: "Guys, please come back! I still have something to do, so I'll see you off far away!"
Shopkeeper Zhou said "not far away", but his body showed no intention of sending it away.
Looking at the backs of these two people walking away, I stretched for a long time, then turned to Hua Muling and said, "I have already issued an eviction order, so let's not waste our time here!"
Hua Muling stood up, looked at me and asked, "Where are we going?"
I laughed and said: "I just spent 200 million, how can I still have money to go out and spend money! Of course I should go home and sleep!"
Hua Muling looked at me, then at Professor Li, who was sitting motionless on the stool with a pale face, and asked, "Where is he?"
I said, "Of course we go back to our own homes and find our own mothers! What? Do we still have to take care of other people's food?"
Hua Muling said with a surprised look: "But...but he just..."
I smiled and patted Hua Muling on the shoulder and said, "But what...if it weren't for Professor Li's help, we might not know so much! Let's go!"
Unexpectedly, Hua Muling suddenly shook off my hand and said, "What I want to say is...the gold inlaid jade and the bronzes found before are still at Professor Li's house!"
I smiled and said: "A fake! I gave it to him!"
Hua Muling was stunned and said, "Fake?"
I nodded and said, "Of course! How could I be so stupid as to wander around the world with a genuine product?"
Hua Muling said: "But in such a short time, where are you going to get this fake product?"
I glanced at Hua Muling and said, "The person who talks about the eight-door flower handkerchief, doesn't he even know who in this huge capital can make something that looks fake and real in such a short period of time?" "
Hua Muling frowned slightly, and then said, "Are you talking about... ingenuity?"
I smiled and said, "That's right! It's so ingenious! Although the things he made are expensive, but since he spent 200 million, that little money should be treated as a favor!"
After saying that, I took Hua Muling and strode out the door, leaving only Professor Li with a confused look on his face.
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