Chapter Seventy: Eavesdropping at the Hair Salon

  I even learned the tone and facial paralysis expression perfectly, playing two roles in one person, telling all the content to Marx Zhe.

  "Is it gone?"

  I nodded 'it's gone'

  Ma Si Zhe threw down his chopsticks: "This kid didn't say anything!"

  I picked up the bowl in front of me and took another sip 'He just said what his name was'

  "It's not actually, think about it carefully. He said that the previous matter of Maoshan was within his plan, and later your trip to Zhangjiajie was also within his plan, and when you returned to Hangzhou, it was even more a planned return. What does this imply?"

  I thought 'he's been fooling me for a long time?'

  "This means that there are reasons why you must go to these three places and then leave again."

  "What does it mean?" I still don't understand what Marx is saying.

  "I'm telling you, why did he specifically want you to go under the Hat Mountain? Firstly, he must be more familiar with Hat Mountain than you and me. Secondly, if it's for taking out the Silver Turtle, he could have found an experienced guide. Instead of letting you take that risk. You said he knew Uncle Cheng, knew about the Silver Turtle, so the mysterious person in the photo is likely to be him. If it was really him, wouldn't his skills be good enough to follow us without being discovered?"

  I nodded.

  "So, someone who is more skilled than you and knows more about Maoer Mountain, why would they let you take this risk?"

  It's only natural that one would look for a scapegoat because of an adventure. If I were in their shoes, I'd also find someone to take the fall.

  "That's not right. He went to such great lengths, which means this matter is very important to him. He won't casually find someone to go with. The 'utilization value' he mentioned, it's very likely the literal meaning."

  "You mean that only I can do what happened at Maoer Mountain?"

  Ma Si Zhe held up his chopsticks and shook them at me: "It's not that only you can do it, but rather only you can do it."

  This means that replacing me with anyone stronger might still allow them to reach the end, but there are some things that only I can do. Perhaps it's that silver tortoise that only I can pick up, or perhaps it's that copper mirror door that only I can open? There must be a certain link that only I can do.

  But why? Why must it be me?

  I'll go find someone tomorrow to ask around about that boss's background, maybe we can figure out what connection he has with the side of Maoer Mountain.

  Then Ma Si Zhe and I both lowered our heads and continued eating, neither of us speaking. After a while, the silence made me feel uneasy again.

  "Then who was that group of people he said were staring at me?"

  Ma Si Zhe tilted his head and gnawed on a chicken paw, mumbling unclearly, "I don't know, just listen to him, honestly stay in Hangzhou. Since he thinks you're useful, he definitely won't let anything happen to you."

  I took a sip of wine, the pungent flavor surged down my throat, making me want to cry. The doubts in my mind seemed to be burning even more fiercely. I had always thought that all this was my own business, so I struggled and explored, trying hard to play the role of a savior.

  Just as I was moved to tears by my own selfless devotion, someone suddenly appeared and told me that everything was just a scripted play, and I was merely an understudy playing out a role that had been handed to me.

  I think I acted quite well, but the leading actor didn't even show a bit of gratitude. Instead, he told me that the SARFT is going to ban me now, and the reason is that I don't know what's good for me...

  I suddenly don't know what I'm still holding on to. Oh, I remember now. I've gotten myself into a mess and someone wants me dead.

  I stayed at Mr. Ma's house for more than a week. He goes to the cemetery every day and walks around, but he hasn't found anything in several days.

  I went with him once and there was something that made me quite puzzled.

  His grandfather's grave was robbed of a hole, but only the hole was seen, and no soil was seen. There was not a bit of extra soil around the grave that I didn't see, and at first I thought it had been taken away by someone. Later, after asking around, I found out that from the time of the incident to now, no one dared to touch the scene, let alone clean up the soil.

  I ruled out the previous speculation of mistaken theft. If it was really a misstep, mistakenly digging up the Ma family's ancestral tomb, they wouldn't have been meticulous enough to clear away the soil again. It must be someone who did it on purpose.

  But if it's revenge, it will definitely cause massive destruction, and won't just stop at digging a hole.

  It's really strange, it happens every year, but this year is especially frequent.

  It's been a long time since he came, but he has never seen Ma Si Zhe's uncle. According to Ma Si Zhe, he felt that his uncle seemed to be hiding something from him. But Ma Si Zhe couldn't find an opportunity to ask him carefully and was always watching his uncle sneaking around without knowing what he was doing.

  "Let's go follow my uncle," Marx said to me one day with a mysterious look on his face.

  I was reading a book studying bridge, looked up from the seam of the book and gave him a resolute shake of the head.

  "Aren't you curious what he's doing all day with such a mysterious attitude?"

  I thought for a moment and closed the book 'Is your uncle temperamental?'

  Ma Si Zhe shook his head like a rattle drum 'not big at all, especially kind'

  "This..." I stroked my chin.

  Ma Si Zhe tossed the car key in front of me and said 'As long as you stay in Hangzhou for a day, I'll lend you my car for a day'

  Deal

  It's time for me to consider settling down in Hangzhou.

  The next day, early in the morning, Ma Si Zhe and I sneaked out of the house. According to Ma Si Zhe's frontline news, his uncle had left at 3 o'clock this morning.

  "Master, Beikou", Ma Zhe said to the driver as he got into the taxi.

  "Why don't you drive?" Ma Si Zhe insisted on taking a taxi, I suspected he didn't want me to drive.

  "My car is so eye-catching, we can't even get to the place without being discovered, how are we going to tail them? And later when we arrive at our destination, it's crowded, keep an eye on your phone and wallet." Ma Si Zhe reminded me.

  I put my wallet into the inside pocket and asked "What place is this, why so?"

  "You'll understand when you get there"

  Originally Beikou was a bustling street, with various shops standing in the narrow alleys. The environment is indeed very messy.

  I pulled my clothes tight and squeezed in with Ma Si Zhe. Turning left and right, we walked to the entrance of a hair salon. Looking at the colorful stickers on the door, I glanced at Ma Si Zhe.

  Ma Si Zhe lifted his foot and was about to walk in, but I pulled him back. 'Wait a minute, wait a minute.'

  Are you sure you want to go in?

  What's wrong?

  "What I mean is..."

  Suddenly, a loud noise came from inside, with the sound of tables and chairs falling. Then there was a curse.

  Ma Si Zhe and I hastily hid to one side, listening to the sounds coming from inside the house.

  There was no other sound after that. The two of us stretched our heads to look inside, but were blocked by the curtain and couldn't see anything.

  Two people carefully opened the door and slipped in, finding a corner to sit down.

  "Does he need a haircut?" A woman with a head full of curly hair and bright red lips walked over.

  Ma Si Zhe casually pointed at me and said "He shaved his face".

  Before I could react, the woman pushed me down and covered me with something on top that was full of oil stains.

  When I had a bit of foam on my chin, I was still arguing that it wasn't necessary. The moment her razor approached my face, I fell silent, and for the first time, I saw someone shaving with such a long knife.

  This isn't shaving, it's slaughtering a pig!

  That woman tried to talk to me several times, and I was almost suffocated by the smell of smoke in her mouth.

  Ma Si Zhe was thinking of a way to ask on one side: "Sister, what's going on inside? I just heard a big noise?"

  The woman licked her teeth with her tongue and said, "That's all the boss's business, we don't ask."

  Ma Si Zhe pulled out a note from his pocket and stuffed it into the woman's hand. The woman glanced at Ma Si Zhe, then continued to shave my face. Ma Si Zhe took out two more notes and handed them over.

  "Have you heard of Ma Siye?" The woman asked languidly.

  It seems money still talks, a few tickets and all the truth comes out.

  "Ma Siye? I've heard of him. What's going on? Is he here?" Ma Sicheng's acting skills are great, this performance of pretending to know is very convincing.

  The woman raised her chin and pointed 'in there'.

  Do you know what's going on?

  I don't know.

  I reckon Ma Si Zhe had the mood of robbing money at that time.

  Before long, she finished wiping my face and pulled the towel off me. She shook it a couple of times and hung it on a horizontal bar at one side.

  "Two hundred, I'm going to the restroom," she said to Marx De, lifting her second leg.

  Ma Si Zhe smiled and took out another 200 yuan. The woman pinched the money and swayed her hips as she walked away.

  Ma Si Zhe and I hastily gathered at the door of the inner room, listening to the voices inside.