Chapter 49: One More Person

  After a long time, I finally returned home. Putting my luggage at home, I took a taxi back to the institute without stopping. The institute was very quiet, it was noon break time, and there were basically no people around. After searching for two rounds, I didn't see Xiaohai, so I anxiously made a phone call.

  Our institute was established in 1961, about seven months after its preparation. It has also been over fifty years since then. Except for the ancient Dian Kingdom site excavated in Yunnan, there have been no major archaeological discoveries in these fifty years. The director of the institute has changed once, but it didn't make much difference, so people in the institute have always lacked enthusiasm for work. Fortunately, a few people are quite nice and easy-going, so the work is still going smoothly.

  We also attend meetings and smile along with others' grand talks. Every day, we go to work normally and do some routine tasks in the office. Occasionally, we can get a few excavation tasks, but most of them are participating in writing some materials. The days pass by without any conflicts, and it's quite carefree.

  I participated in that rescue excavation before returning to my hometown, which was one of the few times. The ambition at the beginning of graduation has been ground down and lost interest over the years.

  I pinched the phone and searched for Xiaohai on the upper and lower floors, but couldn't find anyone, so I had to make a call.

  "Hello, where is it?"

  "You're back, I'm eating outside now, wait a minute, I'll be back in five minutes"

  "Okay, I'll wait for you on the first floor."

  He hadn't put down the phone for long when Xiao Hai hurriedly ran back. 'You're back so soon.'

  I smiled and said 'You were in such a hurry on the phone, how dare I delay'

  Xiao Hai wiped his mouth and said 'Let's go upstairs'

  "Is there anything going on in these few days while I'm away?"

  "What's going on? The dorm has been quiet and deserted all along."

  "How is Hunan doing?"

  "After rushing to finish up, it seems like something else happened, and someone got lost."

  "What? Lost someone?"

  It wasn't until you left that the archaeological team almost withdrew and discovered someone was missing. After just a few days, the whole team came back, leaving only Lao Da, Lu Huan, and Cao Ke Rui behind. It seemed like there were still some other things that hadn't been resolved yet.

  Before I knew it, we had already walked upstairs. Xiaohai got me a glass of water and turned around to open the drawer with the key, taking out an eyeglass case. Just as I was wondering what this meant, Xiaohai took out that memory card from the eyeglass case.

  "Is this the memory card I mailed to you?"

  "Uh-huh"

  "Is it okay?"

  I checked, no big problem. Then Xiaohai found a card reader and inserted the memory card into the computer. He flipped through the mouse.

  Looking at the unbelievable photos, I suddenly felt like I was in a different world. Xiao Hai quietly flipped through them, not asking me anything.

  "Xiao Hai, I..." I stuttered.

  I haven't mentioned it to anyone else, don't worry

  "You might not believe it when I say it, even I don't understand it myself. Now I'm also confused, and the day I completely figure it out, I'll tell you. So can you..."

  "I'll keep it a secret." A bright and radiant smile spread across Xiao Hai's face.

  Thank you

  "Ah, that's it!" Xiaohai's mouse stopped on a photo and slowly enlarged it for me to see. I took a look, it was the mural taken in the White Bone Cave.

  "What's wrong with this?" I looked at it for half a day and still couldn't figure out what was going on.

  "Look here," Xiaohai pulled the photo down a bit, and when I was taking pictures of the mural, I inadvertently took a picture of the pond under the wall of the mural. In the pond, there is actually a shadow of a person reflected in it!

  The picture is enlarged so many times, and it was originally a negative image, so it's not clear, but I can be sure that he is not any of us.

  Is he with you?

  I stared at the photo in incredulity, shaking my head. Then I snatched the mouse from Xiaohai's hand and flipped through the photos up and down. It turned out that only this one had it, while all the other photos didn't.

  From this angle, it's better to hang from the top of the grave, I feel a bit uneasy. Sun Yige, you were being followed and you didn't even notice.

  I didn't say a word, just staring at the computer screen. Who is this person? How did he appear here? And all the way without being discovered by anyone, hiding well enough.

  "What about Fish Skin Book and Stone Tablet?"

  "Oh, I've sent it for testing, and the results should be out within a week"

  "Who is looking for? Is it reliable?"

  A faint smile from Xiao Hai 'reliable'

  I was secretly aware of it and clearly knew who it was, but still intentionally asked 'Is it Leting?'

  "Ah, yes."

  Letti used to be in the Testing and Appraisal Research Institute, but was transferred here. Since Letti arrived, she has been constantly flirting with Xiao Hai, and everyone always jokes that if they get married in the future, they will save one share of the betrothal gift money.

  I pulled out my memory card and said 'I'll leave first, notify me when the appraisal is done'

  "You're not going to work anymore?"

  I'm taking a long leave of absence, said as he took his memory card and left.

  This time I've taken all the leave I never took before at once, who knows when I get back I'll be directly notified that I don't need to go to work anymore.

  After going home, I opened the computer and looked through all the photos in the memory card from start to finish several times. If it were a pair of scissors hands, it would be just like a travel souvenir photo. When I flipped to the photo that Xiaohai pointed out to me this afternoon, I stopped for a long time, no matter how I thought about it, I couldn't figure out who would want to follow me.

  Rubbed temples, got up from the chair, walked out of the study room. It was already dark outside. Feeling a bit hungry, rummaged through the fridge but found nothing to eat, too lazy to go out and eat, so ended up boiling instant noodles instead.

  I had just torn open the seasoning packet when my phone rang. I held it between my shoulder and ear, tilting my head to answer while also pouring hot water. A very low voice came from the other end of the line, "Hello, is this Sun Yi?"

  "Who am I? May I ask who you are?"

  "You don't know me"

  I feel a bit puzzled 'Alright, what's this about?'

  Protect that silver tortoise

  The instant noodle box in my hand suddenly fell to the ground, and I quickly freed up one hand to hold the phone steady. 'Who is this?'

  The person opposite fell silent for a long time, and after a while, a low voice came again: "It doesn't matter, just protect those two silver turtles well."

  "How did you know...Hey! Hey! A busy tone came from the other end of the phone, and he hung up. I called back, and after a few attempts, it finally connected, this time answered by an old man."

  "Hey, tell me how you knew about that silver tortoise thing"

  The old man slowly said 'The person who just made the phone call has left, this is a public phone, please help me and don't make any more calls'

  Listening to the old man's Shanghai dialect, I asked 'Is your place Shanghai?'

  "Right, right," he said and then hung up the phone with a "click".

  This person knows about the Silver Turtle. The voice doesn't sound like Uncle Cheng, and it's even less likely to be Ma Si Zhe. Is it someone else that Uncle Cheng found to make this call for me? There's no need for that.

  Could it be? Was he the one who followed me in the tomb? I walked back to the computer, squinting my eyes at the screen for a while.

  What kind of person are you?

  The next day

  I was sleeping soundly and was woken up by a ringing phone call. I answered it drowsily with a "hello".

  "Still sleeping? I heard you were back yesterday, why didn't you tell me, you little brat? Want to stay a few more days? No way! It's been chaotic here, and you're still sleeping? Hurry up and pack your bags, get over here!" The rapid-fire speech made my drowsiness disappear, no need to look at the caller ID, I knew exactly who it was.

  "Big brother, I just got back, can't I rest for another day? Moreover, I came back home for a funeral, shouldn't I be allowed to ease my sorrowful mood?"

  There was another burst of noise on the phone, I took my mobile phone away, and I could still hear the voice on the phone 'Don't talk nonsense with me, you haven't seen your grandfather for 20 years, it's been more than half a month since you were sad for two days. Don't talk nonsense with me, I'll give you two days to rush to Hunan, and tomorrow morning I want to see you standing in the cemetery with a smile on your face.'

  She hung up the phone with a "pa" sound after finishing speaking, and I was so angry that I didn't dare speak.

  This is the big brother in our team, his name seems to be called Luoshanben. He is a righteous person, but he has a sharp tongue, so we all call him Big Brother. His name is a taboo, no one can call him by his full name, let alone the last two words. I remember last time there was a new graduate who just joined our team and called him "Shanben Gege", she was immediately sent to work in the delivery room.

  I had no choice but to force myself out of bed, pack up my luggage and buy a ticket to Hunan.