Part 2 Chapter 30: You can only enter the house with an umbrella
The more I thought about it, the more I felt uneasy about it, because if the old man really wanted to help us and provide us with clues, he wouldn't have to go through so much trouble and just hand over the wardrobe. He tried every means to get us to go to his so-called old house, which was obviously a trap.
I discussed it with Qin Yiheng and told him that it would be better for us not to go to this place. He thought for a long time before saying, "We still have to go, but we have to be more careful. This old man doesn't look like he wants to hurt people. To use your words, even if he wants to hurt people, there is no need for him to go through so much trouble."
I thought about it, and although I was still unsure, since Qin Yiheng said to go, there was no reason for me to back down. I said goodbye to him immediately in the teahouse and went home to wait for news.
The old man did not break his promise. Someone contacted me very early the next day and told me the location of the house. He also asked us to leave as soon as possible and call him after landing, and someone would go to the airport to pick us up.
The house was in a prefecture-level city in the south. The other party didn't reveal the exact address over the phone, and I didn't even have the chance to check it on the online map in advance. I was left in the dark, bought a ticket for the nearest flight from Qin Yiheng, and set off with trepidation.
I kept my eyes closed during the whole journey, but I couldn't fall asleep. Qin Yiheng, on the other hand, looked calm. After we got off the plane, I called them. After waiting at the airport for half an hour, someone came to pick us up.
The man was in his thirties, with an ordinary face. He seldom spoke except for a greeting when we met. He didn't even introduce himself. I didn't even know his name. Qin Yiheng and I got into his car. I tried to strike up a conversation with him along the way, trying to get something out of him. I don't know if it was because he was tight-lipped or because of his personality, but he didn't respond to me at all, which made me feel very embarrassed and I had to shut up.
The car drove for a long time, from the airport into the city, and then out of the city, along the national highway. By the time the car stopped, it had been on the road for nearly four hours.
We were supposed to get off the plane in the afternoon, but after all this trouble, it was already dark. I was tired and hungry, and after getting off the car and looking around, I felt that I was really walking into a tiger's mouth.
We were probably in a very remote place, it looked like a small town. Although it wasn't surrounded by mountains, it felt sparsely populated. There weren't many buildings and few houses with lights on. In such a remote place, it was probably hard to find a decent place to stay.
At first I thought it was too late to travel, so we stopped here to rest for a night. Unexpectedly, the person who picked us up told us that the house was at the end of the street where we were standing, and asked us to eat something first, and then he would take us to see it.
Qin Yiheng didn't seem surprised when he got out of the car. He nodded at me nonchalantly, and I didn't know if he was trying to comfort me. I thought to myself, "Now that we're here, we can only make the best of it." I smoked a cigarette and followed the person who picked us up to a small noodle shop. The noodle shop was about to close, so I persuaded him to help cook a few taels of noodles. The taste was pretty good. We were already hungry, so we ate a lot. By the time we finished eating, it was already past nine in the evening. "
After leaving the noodle shop, it was even darker outside. Some houses that had lights on had turned off their lights. There were no street lights on the road, so I felt a little uneasy on the way to the house. When I stood in front of the house, this uneasy feeling became even more obvious.
This house is much bigger than I imagined. Although it is not majestic, compared with the house next to it, it must be the residence of the richest man in town. The style of the house is Chinese, and the gate is very high. It looks a bit like the gate in the Forbidden City, but it is scaled down. Anyway, this kind of self-built house can be built in any way you want, and no relevant department will be in charge.
I was already discouraged before I even entered the house. Although I didn't know how big the house was, it would definitely be difficult to buy it. Besides, the house was in such a remote town. Unless a highway was built here one day and needed land, buying the house would only result in a loss.
I thought about it and completely gave up the idea of buying this house. The only purpose of this trip is to see if there is a wardrobe inside. The person who picked us up opened the gate, but did not rush in. Instead, he took three big black umbrellas from the wall behind the gate, handed two to Qin Yiheng and me, opened one himself, and then walked in first.
His action made us look at each other in bewilderment. Was the house leaking or something? Should we go in with an umbrella? But the sky was full of stars and it wasn't raining. I asked Qin Yiheng in a low voice. He said he would follow the local customs, so he opened his umbrella and followed me in.
I walked in the back, entered the gate, and came to the yard. Suddenly, I felt enlightened. This old man had a high standard of aesthetics. Although the yard was not very big, the layout, decoration, flowers, and ponds were very beautiful. However, I had no time to appreciate it. After crossing the yard, the three of us entered the main hall of the house. The person who came to pick us up entered the house, but still did not put away the umbrella. Qin Yiheng and I had no choice but to continue holding it. The three of us walked around the house like crazy.
The person who picked us up showed us room by room without any explanation or description. I could only estimate the size of the house based on my experience. Excluding the yard, it was estimated to be 500 to 600 square meters. There were many rooms, just as the old man said, and the furniture was all antique wooden furniture. I don't know if it was a modern imitation or a legacy from the past.
I saw Qin Yiheng's eyes were scanning everywhere, probably searching for the wardrobe. I also tried to look for it, but even though the house was big, I couldn't find anything as big as the wardrobe.
The three of us walked around for a while and finally sat in the living room. Although I didn't plan to buy the house, I still had to talk about it symbolically since I was here. So I asked the person who picked us up if the old man had told me the price he wanted to sell the house for. The person who picked us up seemed a little absent-minded when he heard my question and kept staring at the umbrella in his hand.
At this time, Qin Yiheng and I didn't put down our umbrellas. This scene was quite funny. Seeing that he didn't answer, I raised my voice and asked again. This time he shook his head at me, indicating that he didn't know, and then looked up at the inside of the umbrella again.
I was completely annoyed by him and felt a little angry. What's so good about the umbrella? I also looked up. I was quite surprised to see a piece of something stuck on the inner top of my umbrella. I don't know if it was a sticker or a rubber band. It was not long, about the size of half a thumb. It looked like the umbrella was leaking and someone had temporarily patched it up.
I thought to myself: "Did this guy just repair this umbrella? Otherwise, why would he keep thinking about it?" I lowered my body as much as possible, wanting to see the inside of Qin Yiheng's umbrella. Unfortunately, he raised it too low, so I couldn't see it at all, so I had to wink at him, prompting him to look inside the umbrella.
Qin Yiheng understood what I meant and looked up, frowned at me, and pointed at the person who came to pick us up. I didn't know what he meant. I guessed, was he telling me that there were two things stuck inside the umbrella? Now I was even more puzzled. This umbrella was broken even when it was closed? This old man's family didn't seem to be unable to afford an umbrella, so why was he so frugal?
Thinking about it, I asked this person, "You have been holding an umbrella since you came in. What does that mean?"
The man was stunned by my question and didn't answer directly. He just told me in a panic that we could stay in the house tonight and visit the house. We could do whatever we wanted, except that we had to hold an umbrella when we walked around the house. After that, he stood up and said goodbye to us. Before leaving, he put the key to the gate on the table and told us that he had bought water and vegetarian food in advance and put them in the kitchen, then he walked out quickly.
I wanted to ask him a few more questions, but Qin Yiheng stopped me with his hand and whispered to me not to ask any more questions. He said, "There's something wrong with this guy. It looks like he's not familiar with this house. When he showed us around, he just walked in at every door." He then stretched out two fingers and pointed at his eyes. "His eyes were always wandering. It's obvious that he's also unfamiliar with this place."
I thought about it, and combined with the various behaviors of the man before, it seems that he really said it. Although it doesn't look like his first time here, he probably hasn't been here many times. What is the old man's intention in arranging such a person to receive him? It's obviously not like he wants to sell the house.
I asked Qin Yiheng, and he also shook his head and told me that it was useless to think about these things now. Then he pointed to the ceiling of the house.
I moved my umbrella a little and looked up, only to find that the ceiling of this house is very interesting. I don't know if the old man likes to look at the stars, there are many skylights on the ceiling, each of which is quite large, and there is no cover on it, so you can see the sky directly through the glass. I was holding an umbrella just now, so I didn't pay attention to it. Now that I see it, I am even more surprised. This kind of skylight is almost never used in residential houses, and even if it is used, it will not be used on such a large scale. Besides, this house is Chinese style, whether it is from the exterior wall or the interior and even the furniture, and the skylight seems very out of tune.
I lit a cigarette and asked Qin Yiheng if there was anything to say about the skylight. He said "hmm" and was silent for a while before saying, "That person kept asking us to hold an umbrella and specifically reminded us before leaving. It might be related to the skylight." After that, he walked around the room, looked at the skylights one by one, came back and lit a cigarette, as if he was deep in thought.
Seeing this, I also guessed that this umbrella has two functions: to block the sun or to block the rain. The glass on the skylight is intact, and it is not raining. Is this umbrella used to block the light? In this house, people cannot be illuminated by the light above their heads? Thinking of this, I looked up again. This time I didn't dare to move the umbrella away to look directly above, but tilted the umbrella a little, leaving an angle to look the skylight above.
The sky outside was full of stars, but there was no moon. Besides, the lights were on in the house, so even if there was moonlight outside, it couldn't shine in. I thought to myself, "We have to turn off the lights to see the clues." Just as I was about to tell Qin Yiheng my guess, I suddenly remembered something. "I heard that there are many folk sayings that you can't open an umbrella indoors, and it is said that it will attract ghosts. The person who picked us up before was so anxious to leave. Could it be a trap? He knew there was something in this house, so he used this method to harm us?"
