Fei Sankou was startled. I repeated Qin Shi Huang's words to him and then mentioned our plan. Fei Sankou said incredulously, "This is truly a pipe dream. A tomb thousands of years old, blown up with explosives?"
Actually, if it weren't for Qin Shi Huang's introduction, I would also think that the expert's method was the best, at least it seemed to have a higher safety factor—using explosives wasn't my idea either.
Fei Sankou was no longer sleepy and said to me, "Wait for me, I'm coming to your place right now."
I hurriedly said, "Wait, you'd better bring another map from the Qin Dynasty; I need it."
This time, Lao Fei didn't say anything more, just agreed and hung up the phone.
Less than 20 minutes later, Lao Fei arrived with a few men in an electronic command vehicle. By then, we had finished eating, so I could only demonstrate the tomb's internal structure to him again using a cigarette pack. He understood that these things couldn't have been fabricated, and looked at Qin Shi Huang in surprise, saying, "This is...?"
I said, "He's been researching these things all along, but he just hasn't had a chance to put them to use."
Fei Sankou whispered, "Did he also tell you about the Qin King's Tripod?" I nodded.
How did he do that?
I immediately realized I had let something slip; some things just can't be figured out simply by trying to study them carefully...
I whispered in Lao Fei's ear, "It's all hereditary."
Fei Sankou exclaimed in shock, "You mean... these secrets have been passed down from generation to generation?" I had no choice but to nod.
Fei Sankou grabbed Qin Shi Huang's hand and said, "On behalf of the country and the people, I thank you."
I asked, "Did you bring the map I asked you to bring?"
Fei Sankou took out a roll of paper from his pocket, unfolded it and said, "This is a photocopy of the Qin Dynasty map in the National Museum. There is absolutely no error. There is also a map showing the evolution of the terrain and place names over the past few thousand years."
When he laid the first map out on the table, Qin Shi Huang's eyes lit up; it seemed this really was the map he had used back then. He accurately pointed out four tomb sites on the map. Lao Fei knew I had my reasons, so he marked these four places on a 2007 map of China based on the evolution diagram. Then I told him, "Besides Mount Li and County A, the other two places are two other Qin king tombs."
Fei San's mouth dropped open. Although he might have been trained to remain calm even in the face of a collapsing mountain, he still exclaimed exaggeratedly, "This joke has gone too far!" As he said this, he couldn't help but point to two other places with his trembling hand. He circled one of the points with his pen and said, "Hmm, this is County B." When his hand landed on the last point, Old Fei was a little stunned and said, "Xianyang Airport?"
I peeked out and, sure enough, Qin Shi Huang's last deduction perfectly covered Xi'an Xianyang International Airport today. County B is fine; we can dig it up. But what if we tear down Xi'an Xianyang International Airport and find nothing there? Even if Qin Shi Huang's location wasn't wrong, with so many years of geological changes, is it worth making such a fuss over something that's barely even started?
I patted Lao Fei on the shoulder and said, "Don't think about the other two tomb sites for now. Let's dig out all the treasures underground in County A first."
Fei Sankou thought for a moment, nodded solemnly, took a lighter, and burned all the maps we had drawn. I said, "Um... I won't talk about Xianyang Airport. You'd better find someone to control the area around County B as well. I'm afraid I might not be able to resist grabbing a shovel and going to rob tombs."
Finally, Fei Sankou solemnly shook hands with Qin Shi Huang and said, "Comrade Ying, we are counting on you. If it's convenient, let's go now."
When Qin Shi Huang returned to his room, he tucked the game console under his arm without disturbing anyone. He just patted me and said, "I'm leaving." Then he added, "Tell Little Elephant that when I come back, the game console will still be his."
I said a little sadly, "It's okay, Little Elephant is already playing PSP."
I specifically instructed Fei Sankou: "Brother Ying's blood sugar is a bit high, so don't give him too many sweets. The most important thing you need to remember is that no matter what happens before the New Year, you must bring him back to reunite with us." After the New Year in February, there really won't be many days left for the five of us, and I don't want to say goodbye to Fatty like this.
Fei Sankou laughed and said, "If things go smoothly, Comrade Ying will be recorded in history, and then you'll have plenty of time to get together."
I said calmly, "Comrade Ying is no longer interested in being recorded in history."
Chapter Fifty-One: The Mafia
That day I received a strange phone call. The caller was someone whose accent and age I couldn't discern, and he got straight to the point, wanting to talk business with me.
I said, "So, which specific project would you like to collaborate on with me on?" I've been getting quite a few calls like this lately, mainly because I have a lot of projects on hand, including five-star gin and various flavored herbal teas. Someone even suggested turning our stomach medicine into a finished product and launching it on the market, but doctors like Bian Que and Hua Tuo were compassionate physicians; what parent would make medicine to sell to their child for profit?
The other party said, "I am very interested in some special resources that Mr. Xiao has. I wonder if we could come out and talk about it?"
My heart skipped a beat, and I deliberately changed the subject, saying, "Are you talking about my intelligence? If you can figure me out, I guarantee that human civilization will advance by 20 years."
The other person laughed and said, "Mr. Xiao, you're quite humorous. I heard you used to deal in antiques?"
"Antiques? No—" I really don't. The only related business I've ever done was selling someone a Song Dynasty vase; I've never sold any antiques. But this person was clearly unusual, so I immediately became more cautious.
"Mr. Xiao, please don't be nervous. We are here to talk to you with the utmost sincerity. Would you mind if we arranged a place? To show our sincerity, you can choose the location."
I quickly replied, "If we're going to keep talking about this, there's no point in discussing it. I've never dealt in antiques before."
The other party suddenly chuckled: "I know why Mr. Xiao is unwilling to cooperate with us. First, he probably doesn't trust us yet, which is understandable; second, you could say that your status and position are different now, and you're unwilling to take risks anymore, plus you do have profitable projects. But as far as we know, Mr. Xiao doesn't actually have much money—not even 1 billion, right?"
I paused for a moment, then burst out, "Where are your parents? Aren't they going to do anything about this?" I immediately realized this was clearly a kid playing a prank. He'd somehow gotten my number and was even acting like a mafia member. I'd done that when I was a kid—dialing a number and pretending to be from the police station—see? That's the generation gap. Back then, we pretended to be good guys; kids these days just pretend to be bad guys.
Just as I was about to hang up, a different person answered the phone and said, "Brother Xiao, it's me—"
This time the voice was deep, and I laughed, "Damn, you've really put in the effort, even using ventriloquism. With your intelligence, you could have studied hard and gone to university..."
The other party said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "Brother Xiao, it's me, Lei Laosi."
"You Lei..." I stopped mid-sentence. Because I recognized the voice; it really was the gangster boss I'd wrecked. "Boss Lei? I thought it was just some naughty kid. What can I do for you?"
Lei Laosi said, "This friend of mine is just afraid you'll overthink things, so he asked me to be a witness. He has absolutely no ill intentions. As for what he wants to talk to you about, I won't get involved. I just hope you'll give me face and come out to sit down."
I was suspicious: what face did Lei Laosi, with whom I had a grudge, have with me? And who was this person who could order Lei Laosi around, and judging from their tone, Lei Laosi seemed to respect them. It seemed the reason they asked him to come wasn't to play the emotional card, but rather to let me know: we're not to be trifled with—
Lei Laosi further said, "Brother Xiao, how about we meet up?"
I said, "Since Boss Lei has given the instructions, you can notify the location."
Lei Laosi said, "Brother Xiao, you should choose the location."
I quickly said, "No, I trust you. How about we meet at Qian Leduo's place, the place we met last time?" Qian Leduo is Lei Laosi's place, and I don't believe he would dare to play any tricks. I don't want to get entangled with them, so I don't want to meet them in my own territory.
Lei Laosi thought for a moment and said, "Okay, that's straightforward. We'll meet in an hour."
On the way, my mind was a bit of a mess. These days, the mere mention of "antiques" sends shivers down my spine. As long as He Tiandou doesn't show his face, I have no idea where he's put all these things. This matter involves Lei Laosi, so it's definitely not going to be simple. Although I've only met him once, I already know him quite well. Without a huge profit, he wouldn't personally intervene for the sake of so-called face or morality.
When I arrived, I was greeted by the same short guy as before. We had met briefly during the incident when we were causing trouble at the place. He told me that his boss was already waiting for me, so it seemed that the other party was even more anxious than I was.