At that moment, I was stunned by the information I had found. I was quite familiar with the computer because I played with my dorm mates' computers in college. Being from a remote mountain village, I was the only one without a computer, but that didn't hinder my familiarity with them. However, I couldn't believe that my second uncle, of all people, would use a computer, even going as far as using Baidu Zhidao. I was just grateful that I had searched on Baidu out of sheer boredom at that time, else how could I have found this information from the person with the username Lin Baqian?
I couldn't help but wonder if my second uncle could calculate things so accurately, predicting that I would come to Baidu Zhidao at that particular time and search for the keywords "Song" and "how to get there."
I really couldn't say whether all of this was just a coincidence or something else.
But at this moment, the map given by the person with the username Lin Baqian and the question asked by LINBAQIAN on Baidu Zhidao about how to get to Song's study, were definitely not a coincidence. That was undoubtedly my second uncle. He directed me in this way.
I quietly shut down the computer. It suddenly occurred to me that there were cameras in my room. Could it be that everything I had just found was under someone else's control? Although I didn't know why my second uncle wanted to be so secretive, since he had gone to such great lengths, there must be a reason he wanted to hide. I couldn't disrupt his plans.
Shutting down the computer, I even hesitated to search for Song's study using the computer; I was afraid that my online activity was already being closely monitored. I lay on the bed, without making a sound all night, desperately hiding my excitement. At this moment, I knew a lot more than Fatty and Hei San, and the feeling was like my second uncle and I, two clever people, were making fun of the others, which was extremely stimulating and gave me an unusual sense of achievement.
The next morning, I left the room. Before leaving, I searched Baidu again for the answer I had gotten the night before - how to get to Song's study. I found that map and pretended to quickly write down the detailed route from the Baidu answer as if I were chatting with someone. After doing all this, I put on my clothes, said goodbye to them, and left the hotel.
Outside the hotel, I bought a tourist guide to Liaocheng at a newsstand on the street. It included a map of Liaocheng. Although the route given by the person with the username Lin Baqian on Baidu was already quite detailed, I was quite knowledgeable about Liaocheng.
But after comparing, I found that this answer was complete nonsense. The place names, streets, and shops in this answer didn't even exist on this map! In other words, this exceptionally detailed map of Liaocheng had no place called Song's study, nor did it have the street where it was located or anything like that. I tried to calm myself down; this was definitely not a joke. Perhaps it was because of the city's redevelopment or something that caused the disappearance of this street? Thinking of this, I was extremely excited, because I felt that if there was a problem, it definitely lay here. After the reform and opening up, the city's appearance had changed dramatically, with many streets and shops being expanded and renovated. The absence of it was normal. The detailed address given by the person with the username Lin Baqian on Baidu wasn't on the new map, so what I urgently needed now was to find an old city map. I asked the taxi driver, "Master, where can I buy the oldest map around here?"
"Little brother, that's very hard to find," he said. After that, the driver stepped on the gas and drove straight out. After turning and twisting for a while, he found an old goods store. The driver seemed quite familiar with the store's owner, and in no time the owner took a very old map from a broken wooden board and gave it to me. I asked how much, and he said this was just a piece of scrap paper, so he didn't feel right asking for any money. If I really felt bothered, I could just buy a pack of cigarettes for him, a pack of Red Eagle would do.
I exchanged a pack of cigarettes for this map, but to my great disappointment, I couldn't find the place on this old map either! There was no way around it, so I asked the taxi driver, "Master, do you know a place called Song's study around here?"
"No, young man, are you sure you have the right place?" the driver asked.
"I'm sure, the person who told me the place name would never lie to me," I said.
This time the driver seemed to have noticed my expression and said impatiently, "Young man, I'm a bona fide local from Liaocheng. I used to drive a bus and have been driving a taxi for some years. I've never heard of this Song's study."
I then asked him about several other place names from the detailed map, and the driver looked at me like I was an idiot. He asked me, "Are you sure you're not looking in the wrong city?"
"There is no mistake. The person who told me these place names would never lie to me," I said.
This time, the driver seemed annoyed and turned on the taxi's radio, calling out the place names. He said, "Today, a passenger told me the names of places I've never heard of, and there's nothing on the map. Does anyone have any ideas?"
Inside the radio came a chorus of bored and joking voices from the taxi drivers, saying things like, "It's a place that even Wu Lao ge doesn’t know, what's the use of asking us? Some even directly and impolitely asked, "Wu Lao ge, did you pick up a lunatic?"
I couldn't help but get frustrated. What game was my second uncle playing? So, after circling around in vain today, when I got back to the hotel and before I even reached the entrance, I was suddenly grabbed by someone, who covered my mouth and nose, and dragged me away swiftly. I immediately knew I was in trouble, but I couldn't give up struggling. I bit the shoulder of the person covering my nose and mouth.
"Don’t bite me, Xiaofan! I'm your second uncle!" This person ran while calling out, and I bit him. In pain, he slapped my butt.
"Put me down!" I said, a little annoyed. "What are you doing? You almost scared me to death, you know?"
"Don't mess around, Fatty said he wanted to meet you this way. He said we are being monitored by others, and this was the only way to meet," Lin Er Dan said.
When he said this, I really gave up struggling. It was too easy for Lin Er Dan to overpower one person. In no time, we walked down an alley, and Fatty came out from the corner of the alley, holding a stick. He put on a pretense of being fierce and said, "Young man, confess and you'll get a lighter sentence, resist and you'll suffer. Tell me, what on earth have you been doing secretly these past few days, hiding it from me?"
"I've been set up! This is a setup!" I was really angry and just vented, because I had been hesitating about whether to keep it from Fatty, and now after searching around in vain, I was a bit angry, so I blurted it all out to Fatty. After listening, Fatty frowned and said, "There really isn't a place called Song's study?"
"Not only is there none! It's completely non-existent!" I said.
"There's something wrong. Your second uncle doesn't seem like an unreliable person. This matter, he seems very serious about it. Judging by my intuition, it shouldn't be a joke," Fatso said.
"Who says it's not? I also think the same, but this Songzhai seems like a completely imaginary place, or maybe your second uncle has other intentions that we haven't realized," I said.
"Let Black Three take a look at this thing. Although I really dislike this person, I have to admit that his connections and influence are much stronger than ours. Right now, we need to save your second uncle. I can deal with my personal grudges with him later," Fatso said.
I looked at Fatso, feeling incredulous. Wasn't he having a fierce disagreement with Black Three? Why was he suddenly speaking up for him?
"Don't look at me like that. I understand the situation. Don't be too guarded against Black Three. To put it bluntly, we're like crickets tied together with a rope," Fatso said.
I nodded silently. Fatso's words made sense. Although Black Three was not to be trusted, he was our ally now. We had to trust him even if we didn't want to. The problem was, without him, we couldn't accomplish anything.
When we returned to the hotel, Black Three was waiting for us at the door. As soon as he saw me, he said, "I heard that Xiaofan has been kidnapped. It really scared me, Xiaofan, are you okay?"
While he said this, using a lower voice, he added, "Seven-thirty, second cubicle in the women's restroom on the third floor. Don't think I don't know that the big guy from your village was the one who took you away."
It felt like a scene straight out of a thriller movie, but instead of being exciting, it was nauseating. No one likes the feeling of being under constant surveillance for twenty-four hours.
That evening, at seven-thirty, I pretended to stroll and, when I reached the third floor, I saw a "cleaning in progress" sign in front of the women's restroom. I quickly slipped inside.
It was my first time going into a women's restroom.
"To cut to the chase, they have detected something unusual about the two of us and will soon come looking for us. You have one minute to confess to me, what did Lin Baqian leave for you," Black Three said.
"Finding Songzhai is the key to unlocking everything," I replied.
Black Three glanced at me, and at that moment, he was particularly resolute. He directly opened the door of the restroom and walked out.
Before leaving, he said, "If you don't trust me, who else can you trust? Give me time."