"Fatty, get me a knife. I'm going to hack that bastard to death right now."
Da Huang was agitated. Fatty grunted and started to leave, but Chang Dachun grabbed him. "Tang Nan, say something. What's the plan? If you have no ideas, we brothers will just go in hard."
I looked at my three brothers, their faces flushed with anger, and said earnestly, "I killed Lin Han. I made her a tool for my scheme, otherwise, she wouldn't have died."
Hearing this, Da Huang and Fatty were taken aback. Chang Dachun gave a wry smile. "She was hit by a car, and you blame the road for being too narrow? That doesn't make sense. Tang Nan, this isn't your responsibility. He's just some cheap merchant. Do you really think we're the Monkey King on his pilgrimage, afraid of any little brat daring to cause trouble for us? Tang Nan, leave this to me. I'll turn this cheap merchant into scrap metal."
"Let me do it! Brother Chang! Tomorrow, you and I will go see this cheap merchant."
"Alright!"
Da Huang pulled Fatty aside, and the two started to leave. Chang Dachun asked, "Where are you two going?"
"To buy knives!"
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...
If I hadn't stopped them, with their temperaments, they would have truly barged in with knives. In the morning, while Yu Xiaoluo was out buying breakfast, I had Chang Dachun push me away. We went to the Copper Merchant's bar. Some tourists were eating instant noodles there in the morning, and the Copper Merchant had prepared hot water for them. He looked very honest, with the characteristic brow bone structure of a Shandong strongman.
"Boss Tang, what brings you here?"
"You know me?"
The Copper Merchant blinked in surprise. "What do you mean? We've been in contact for almost two months. Wan Boss and I each got 150,000 from you. How could we not know each other?"
"Where is Lin Han?"
"Didn't Miss Lin return to Xi'an? You told me so yourself."
So, it seemed I had contacted him after Lin Han was apprehended. At this point, the Copper Merchant glanced at Chang Dachun's cold face. "Is this elder brother in a bad mood?"
"I had an accident and lost my memory. My brother is in a bad mood."
"Lost your memory?"
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I saw that the Copper Merchant's astonishment wasn't faked. Amnesia is something that usually happens in TV dramas; it's not common in reality.
"Tell me, what did I do with you these past two months?"
Chang Dachun's composure was admirable. If Da Huang were here, he wouldn't have listened calmly to the Copper Merchant's story; he would have drawn his sword immediately. On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Lin Han, through a friend in the antique world, found the Copper Merchant. She wanted to buy a high-fidelity replica of a Wenliang Jade Gui. The Copper Merchant had heard of a very skilled and young antique dealer in Xi'an, a girl nicknamed the "Palace Queen." He was well-prepared. If the Palace Queen wanted a replica, it had to be made to national standards. The material used by the director who made replicas for the museum back then was Laizhou jade. To find suitable Laizhou jade, one had to find Boss Wan.
They met Lin Han at a hotel and agreed on a price of 100,000 yuan. They rushed to make it, meticulously carving. The sun, moon, and stars on the upper part of the jade gui were also carved using traditional methods. About half a month later, the replica was completed, and Boss Wan personally delivered it. Lin Han was not entirely satisfied with the inscription, thinking the four characters "Qianlong Nian Zhi" lacked spirit. However, Lin Han still accepted the goods and asked Boss Wan to take these characters to the South Heaven Gate of Mount Tai and deliver them to someone named Tang Nan.
"Deliver them to me?"
"No, another Tang Nan. A regular customer of Boss Wan, quite old."
"Do you know where that Tang Nan lives? What he looks like?"
"No. I only know that Tang Nan also buys replicas of the Wenliang Jade Guis, but his are quite special, always semi-finished. Boss Wan uses a carving machine to engrave the upper part of the Wenliang Jade Guis onto Laizhou jade, leaving the lower part hollow, meaning the four characters 'Qianlong Nian Zhi' are not carved. He bought about ten, paying in British pounds."
"Oh!"
The police in Tai'an had mentioned this to me. I looked around the surroundings. It was called a bar, but it had almost no modern style; it looked more like an ancient inn. Some tourists stopped here, ate simple food, took photos, and then walked up Mount Tai from here. Finally, my gaze fell on a large jar. It was plastic, the kind used for candy during the New Year, filled with all sorts of items: hair clips, pencils, keychains, etc. I saw several folders inside that looked similar to the one in my bag, but they weren't black.
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"Copper Merchant, what is this for?" I asked, pointing at the large jar.
"Oh, these are things left behind by travelers. I pick them up when I'm cleaning. If they come back down the same way, they can find their lost items."
I smiled. "We've strayed from the topic without realizing it. Please continue. We've been in contact for two months, haven't we?"
"In these two months, we made two high-fidelity replicas of the Wenliang Jade Guis. The first was for 100,000 yuan, the second for 200,000 yuan. Miss Lin was quite satisfied with the second one. After payment, we haven't seen her since. After that, you came here, and I asked you, and you said Miss Lin had returned to Xi'an. I'm sorry, Boss Tang, we just had a normal business transaction, and I really can't provide you with any meaningful memories."
"It's fine, it's good. By the way, Copper Merchant, I want to commission another replica of the Wenliang Jade Guis. This time, I'll give you 300,000 yuan."
The Copper Merchant's face contorted into a bitter smile. "Boss Tang, we've already perfected the last one. If you want something better, we don't have that skill."
"I want to make the replica half warm and half cold."
"Impossible, absolutely impossible! Laizhou jade only resembles the Wenliang Jade Guis in texture and feel; it's not the real Wenliang Jade Guis. If it could be half warm and half cold, it would be a priceless treasure."
"It's okay if you can't do it. We can discuss the craftsmanship slowly. My brother is also an expert in this regard. Please consider it. We'll find another place later; it's not convenient to talk here. That's all for today."
...
Chang Dachun pushed me out and said with dissatisfaction, "Why were you probing him? He didn't tell the truth about anything."
"He doesn't know if my amnesia is real or fake, so what he says is also half true and half false."
"Which is true and which is false?"
"Lin Han giving him 300,000 yuan to make a replica of the Wenliang Jade Guis is definitely true. Boss Wan dealing with an old man named Tang Nan is not a simple matter. Even if Boss Wan told the Copper Merchant, he wouldn't have explained it in such detail. Therefore, they are colluding and hiding the truth."
"Why?"
"The Tai'an police can't find an old man named Tang Nan. But the police won't believe it based on one person's word alone. If the Copper Merchant can also prove that this Tang Nan exists, the police will definitely investigate this person. Also, in China, using British pounds for transactions – does Boss Wan know British pounds? Why go to the South Heaven Gate to conduct transactions? Climbing Mount Tai is not an easy task. For four or five thousand yuan, climbing Mount Tai repeatedly without asking why. These are all questions!"
"What questions?"
"In a scheme, if one person does something unexpected, it will make the schemer flustered. If that person does ten unexpected things, they won't do anything non-unexpected. These words might sound convoluted, but in schemes, they are called habitual defects."
"Boss Wan is the schemer?"
"No, he's a tool, a tool to deal with that old Tang Nan."
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Chang Dachun sighed. "I don't understand."
"Brother Chang, do you believe me?"
"Why are you asking such a silly question again?"
"Find a place, completely sealed off. Lock the Copper Merchant inside, chain him up like a dog, and set up a device to gradually dehydrate him. He'll only be able to drink a bowl of porridge every three days, watching it happen."
"To interrogate him?"
"We won't ask anything. Just set up a recording device in the room. Let Da Huang and Fatty handle this. Brother Chang, you still need to help me find a place?"
"What place?"
"The National Warehouse of the Museum!"
Chang Dachun's face turned grim. "That place isn't on the internet. It's a very secret location. I've searched, but I can't find it."
"Are there mosquitoes in winter?"
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"Nonsense, where are there mosquitoes in winter?"
"Exactly. There are no mosquitoes in winter, but why did I buy a bottle of Liushen mosquito repellent? I thought about it for a long time, and suddenly I realized. It's not that there are no mosquitoes in winter, but the environment doesn't allow it. Imagine a place that is kept at a constant temperature above 10 degrees Celsius, and this place cannot use mosquito coils with open flames, nor can it use electric mosquito repellents. Therefore, the employees in this place can only buy mosquito repellent. This kind of mosquito repellent can be bought in any store or supermarket, based on the principle of proximity purchase..."
Chang Dachun's eyes widened. He understood. "To preserve cultural relics, a specific environment is required. So, in this winter, wherever mosquito repellent was sold, that's where the national treasury is located, near that supermarket."
"Yes!"
"Amazing, brother!"
"When you get home, take those two keys and the tape, and go to the place where the Liushen water was sold. Find the national treasury. These things might be useful."
"Okay, I'll go do it now."
Brother Chang turned to leave, but after a few steps, he came back, looking at me in the wheelchair, and said awkwardly, "Sorry, brother, I forgot about you."
...
I returned to the hospital. Yu Xiaoluo looked at me coldly. I didn't say anything and went into the room to get my bag.
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"Tang Nan, are you planning to continue like this forever?" Yu Xiaoluo asked me angrily.
"If I don't find the truth, I won't leave."
"You need to think about your future, about your family. What have you become? You're not the Tang Nan I knew anymore. You're just a cold machine of revenge."
"I think when I gave you all my assets, it was already a point of no return. I didn't die, and heaven gave me another chance to start over. I will absolutely not give up. If I am truly a cold machine of revenge as you say, then I will complete this revenge."
"We're going back to Beijing today."
"My affairs are not for you to decide. I'm an adult, and you can't control me."
"You gave me the money, so I am your sister. I am your family. I..."
"You can throw the money away."
"What did you say?"
"Yu Xiaoluo, I'm not discussing this with you. It has nothing to do with money anymore. You have only two choices: either stay and help me, or go back to Beijing by yourself."
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After saying that, I went into the room to get my bag. The things in my bag were getting fewer and fewer, and I was getting closer to the truth.