Part 2 Chapter 29: The wardrobe is in his hands?
Qin Yiheng pointed at the crude animal totems and asked me to look at them. He said, "These are all the same animal, but they are in different postures. I don't know what they mean."
His observation was very careful. These totems were indeed animals, but he could not tell what kind of animals they were. In short, they definitely had four legs and a tail.
I don't know if I was too sleepy, but my mind was completely confused. What was going on? Fang Wanjin and the mysterious old man in the hat asked us to buy this thing so that we could see the menstrual period of the mistress of the old man Fang's ancestors? Isn't this a psychopath? Besides, this thing must be quite old. Even if they were afraid of getting pregnant, they wouldn't bury it under the house. Can't they just remember it?
Besides, no matter how little the child looks like a human, it is just a congenital deformity. From a biological point of view, it is impossible for a human to conceive an animal.
Thinking about it this way, I seemed to have some enlightenment, and asked Qin Yiheng: "Is it because this family has a family history of genetic diseases, and many children are born with congenital deformities? Because science and technology were not well developed at that time, there was no way to find out whether there were defects, so this family could only try to avoid it through superstitious means, so they took this matter so seriously. After all, having offspring was a big deal for a family at that time."
He thought about it for a while and said, "Your analysis is quite logical, but it is just pure guessing. We have to wait for Fang Wanjin to come back to see the result."
By this time, it was almost evening, Qin Yiheng looked at his watch and said that he had almost finished exchanging opinions, so he would go back first, leaving me alone at home to catch up on some sleep, and we would discuss everything after I woke up. After that, he put away the house, picked up the bird cage and left.
After Qin Yiheng left, I took a shower and lay in bed for a long time. Maybe I drank too much Red Bull, but I couldn't fall asleep. When I finally felt sleepy, the phone rang again. I didn't want to answer it at first, but I took a dazed look at the phone number, and then I had to answer it because this number was the one that the old man in the hat left for me.
The old man called me directly, and his tone was still as bad as before. He told me on the phone that he had wasted my time last time, so he had found me a business this time. When he mentioned the word "business", he emphasized that it was a business for the house, and asked me if I was interested.
I had a bad impression of this old man to begin with. Even when he talked about business, his tone was still commanding. I was very unhappy. I hesitated for a while but still didn't dare to refuse. First, I thought I could take the opportunity to ask about the hat; second, I saw him riding in a car last time, and he was not a poor man. Maybe his business was very profitable. I am also a businessman, and I definitely care about money.
So I told the old man that I couldn't make the decision on my own and I needed to talk to one of my partners before I could give him an answer. But the old man just smiled and said, "Don't ask, I've already called Qin Yiheng and he's agreed. I'm just waiting for you to speak up."
I felt a little uneasy when the old man said that. I couldn't call Qin Yiheng until the call was disconnected, so I had to send him a text message with just three words: "Any business?" I didn't expect Qin Yiheng to reply very quickly. I guess he was holding his phone. The content of the text message was even more concise, just one word: "Yes."
Since Qin Yiheng had agreed, I naturally had no way to refuse, so I arranged the time and place for the interview with the old man on the phone. The old man told me that it was still in the teahouse and the private room last time, and he would be waiting there tonight, and then he hung up the phone.
As soon as I hung up the phone, I called Qin Yiheng immediately. Before I could open my mouth to ask, he answered first. He told me that this old man also called him, and he didn't know where he got the number from. Whether to do business or not is a later matter. The purpose is to meet this old man.
After we met, we went into the teahouse together, and I led him into the private room.
When I opened the door, I was surprised to see that the old man was the only one sitting inside drinking tea, still wearing his hat.
When the old man saw us come in, he didn't say hello. He just pushed two teacups towards where we were sitting, but didn't pour us tea.
After sitting down, I kept observing Qin Yiheng's expression. He was very calm, and poured himself a cup of tea. After drinking it, he didn't say anything, but just stared at the old man, as if waiting for the old man to speak first.
The old man didn't even raise his eyes. He drank three cups of tea in a row before looking at the two of us and asking, "Who of you is responsible for signing the contract?"
I raised my hand to the old man to show that it was me.
The old man looked at me, hummed, and continued, "I have an old house in my hometown. I haven't been back for many years. It's just sitting there anyway, so why not give it to you guys?"
The old man stared at me again, as if waiting for me to express my opinion. I felt helpless because he didn't even tell me the general situation of the house, and didn't know the location, position, or area of the house. How could I express my opinion?
I could only say "ah" symbolically, hoping that he would continue. But he stopped talking, drank a few sips of tea, and then said, "There are some old furniture in the house, including tables, chairs, cabinets, etc. I can sell them to you at a low price. They are all old furniture and are very valuable. What do you think?"
The old man looked at us with a meaningful look while he was talking. I was very conflicted. Under such circumstances, I couldn't even wink at Qin Yiheng.
I was just getting anxious when I felt Qin Yiheng quietly reach out and touch my thigh, and quickly wrote an OK on my leg with his finger.
Now I finally felt reassured, so I nodded to the old man, said yes, and asked when I could go see the house.
When the old man saw that I agreed, he stood up and walked out, saying as he walked, "Someone will contact you, and that's all for today." He opened the door and walked out.
I wanted to get up and chase him. After all, I hadn't had time to ask about the hat yet. It was obvious that Qin Yiheng had no intention of moving, so I simply sat down and asked him what he thought. He took a sip of tea, thought for a while, and said, "This old man is really cunning. That hat is indeed the same as the one left by Liu Guizi. But if the old man doesn't want to say it, even if he is tortured, he won't be able to find out anything."
"And the most important thing is..." As he said this, he stood up and pinched out a needle from the teacup that the old man had just used.
This surprised me. The needle is very thin. If I drink it accidentally, wouldn’t it be fatal?
I asked Qin Yiheng what this was, and he told me that the needle was on a doll, which is commonly known as a "piggy doll". This doll, as the name suggests, is a doll made of straw or cloth, with a red string tied around the waist, with the person's name and birth date nailed inside or outside, and then at the time of extreme yin - this time is not necessarily midnight, it depends on the local feng shui yin and yang - the doll is rushed to the position of the person written on the birth date, and the needle is inserted on it. After 49 days, the person who was pierced will suffer unexpected misfortune.
This is different from what is said in many movies, TV dramas or folk tales. It is not that the corresponding part of the person will feel pain when the villain is pierced. On the contrary, after the person is pierced, he will have good luck for a short period of time, because piercing the villain is actually a situation where all the fortunes of forty-nine days are concentrated into one day of decline.
This puppet is not only in China, but also in all parts of the world. There are similar witchcraft, secret methods and derived techniques, and the general operation is similar. One of the derived techniques requires a whole nail of the person who pierces the person to be hidden in the belly of the puppet. It is said that every time a needle is inserted, the person's illness will be transferred to the person. After piercing for 49 days, the needle is removed and soaked in water to drink. The person who pierced the person will slowly recover, and the person who was pierced will become sick.
This kind of magic is somewhat similar to what is shown in many movies and TV dramas, but few people know about it. At this point, he asked me if I had noticed that there was something stuck on the old man's index finger. I guess the nail on that finger is gone, so the old man might be suffering from some serious illness.
I really didn't pay attention just now, but I don't think the old man will die soon, so this method really works? I asked Qin Yiheng, he shook his head and told me that he had only heard about the effects of many methods from the older generation, but had never seen anyone practice them personally, so he couldn't tell whether they were useful or not, or whether they were just hearsay.
I nodded, thinking: "It's better not to use this kind of magic that harms people. But I'm still very puzzled. Even if I can see that this old man is using magic to treat himself, it has nothing to do with the house. Why did he agree so easily? "
When asked, he talked about how the old man mentioned furniture intentionally or unintentionally when he was speaking just now, and his eyes clearly hinted at it, so he guessed that the old man would not just mention it casually, and he might find what we are looking for in the furniture he mentioned.
After he reminded me, I understood. So this old man also had a wardrobe at home? The wardrobes I had seen in the ancestral hall were now in his hands?
