"Looking for me?" I was surprised to see the woman in big sunglasses through the man in front of me, and although the sunglasses covered her eyes, I could feel that she was also looking at me.

"Okay." I nodded and walked over, and when I got closer, the woman took off her sunglasses to reveal a face that made me feel very unfamiliar, and I could see from a close distance that this woman was old, even if she wore makeup, the wrinkles on her forehead and some vicissitudes of life could not be covered. I was in my forties, and I asked, "Hello, we don't seem to know each other." ”

She smiled and said, "My surname is Zhang, you really don't know me, but I know you." Or to be more precise, I know your mother. ”

I was stunned, and even frowned involuntarily. She continued: "Your mother and I met when we were in Guangdong, and we have always been good friends, and we have also had business contacts in the past few years. A few years ago, she came back to Hong Kong from Shanghai, and she showed me your picture when we had dinner together, so I recognized you. ”

"Oh, what a coincidence." I replied with a blank face.

"I heard that there is some conflict between you and your mother, and I haven't been in contact with your mother for a long time."

"There were problems between me and her, but it's all in the past, and now we just know each other." In fact, if it weren't for the series of things that happened after she returned to Shanghai five years ago, I wouldn't have such a bad impression of her, of course, I don't hate her, but I don't like it much, it's almost like acquaintances.

"Child, there are some things that are inseparable between you, after all, you are your mother's flesh and blood, and blood ties cannot be separated. Even if there are any problems between you, it should be resolved after all these years. ”

"You want to be her lobbyist? That's still not necessary, there is no hatred or grudge between me and her, and there is no love or hatred, and I guess we won't see each other in the future. If nothing else, I'm still on my mind. I was about to leave after dropping this sentence, but I heard Mr. Zhang shake his head and say: "Your mother's health has not been good in the past two years, and she has been suffering from minor illnesses, after all, you are her son, if you have time, you should go to Hong Kong to see her." ”

My heart trembled slightly for no reason, but I still smiled and said, "Yes, I'll wait when I have time." By the way, I also remind you that this ancestral hall is strange, and it is best to find a master to take a look before you start construction. ”

After saying that, I didn't look back and left straight away.

After walking back for a long time, I basically couldn't see the people behind me, and I took the key out again, and I didn't find out what the key was unlocked after looking for a long time in the ancestral hall. But when I walked all the way, a thought came to me, and said, "Fatty, will the keyhole that this key can open be out of the ancestral hall?" ”

The fat man paused, as if he didn't understand what I meant, and looked at me with strange eyes. I waved my hand and said, "You see, geographically speaking, those old western-style buildings are actually not far from the ancestral hall, and at the same time, there is a village behind the ancestral hall. This key must have a background, so if the keyhole it can open is not in the ancestral hall, it may be in the village and the small western-style building. ”

"You mean, the lock and key are separated?" The fat man came to his senses and continued.

"That's right! That's what it means, if the keyhole is somewhere else, then the most likely ones are the small villages and old western-style buildings. I don't think it's worth it for us to go back like this, so the soldiers are divided into two ways, two people go to the village to inquire, and the other two go to the old western-style building to hang out. I said, "In this way, I'll go to the western-style building, Luo Qiong and I will be in a group, and you and Yuan Feng will go to the village to inquire and help us buy some food by the way." Three hours later, we will meet at the car. ”

The fat man looked displeased, and looked at Yuan Feng inadvertently, his face a little ugly. I arranged it this way, we will have to do things together in the future, if we keep a straight face all day long, then what's the matter, let them be alone Maybe they can resolve each other's embarrassment as soon as possible. The fat man glared at me, probably because he saw that I was careful, but I pretended not to see it, and beckoned Luo Qiong to walk in the direction of the old western-style building, and soon, the distance between the two teams was widened.

These old western-style buildings built in the middle of the grove were like a scary world to me when I was a child. It is a forbidden area that our group of children will never dare to approach and dare not step into. The gray walls are overgrown with creepers, the damp environment and the yard covered with fallen leaves, and the opaque windows seem to be very gloomy, as if a terrible face will peek out of the windows at any moment to startle you.

So much so that when we were studying, there was more than one version of the terrible legend among the children, including that a classmate once walked into the old western-style building and never came out, and there were similar things like ghosts living in it, specializing in eating people. These rumors have been passed down from generation to generation, and even when I asked Hui Zhi, he told me that similar legends still circulate among children today.

I walked to the closed iron gate, this iron gate is not an airtight iron plate, the lines on it are pure European style, through the iron gate can see that there is a small fountain built in front of the courtyard, of course, now only the shape remains.

During the Cultural Revolution, this place was not spared, many brave people rushed in in groups, smashed up and left, and some scavengers once groped into the old western-style building to make some porcelain antiques.

Standing here again, I just felt that the whole building was gloomy, and there was no fear of childhood. After climbing over the wall and entering, I walked towards the gate of the western-style building, the door was not closed, because the lock on it had long been broken, I gently pushed the door and opened it immediately, and there was a musty smell mixed with some uncomfortable smell of rot.

"Let's split up, and call me if we find anything suspicious." I took the key to the second floor first, and the whole old western-style building was only three floors, but the space in it was larger than the current one. I went up the stone stairs, and on the second floor was a living room and two bedrooms, the living room was in shambles, with tables and chairs that had deteriorated considerably, and some broken bottles and jars that had been smashed to the ground. The door to the bedroom on the left was open, and when you looked inside, you could see that the bed was empty, and there was nothing like a safe or a secret door. I walked around the room and found a surprise in the corner. I saw something in the sunlight and shook my eyes, and when I walked over and took a closer look, I realized that it was a picture frame. It is estimated that when it was vandalized, the picture frame fell and happened to be stuck in the gap behind the desk, so it was not found. I took out the frame and took a picture in the sun. There is only one person in the photo, a black-and-white photograph of a woman in a cheongsam sitting upright on a chair. The hairstyle and appearance reveal an old Shanghai style. It's just that this woman's face doesn't seem to be very happy, very indifferent, her face is already very thin, and the cheongsam in the black and white photo can't see the color, only black, so it looks very thin.

She sat upright, and the jewelry on her hands and ears showed that she must be a lady from a large family, and it looked like this was her room.

I casually placed the frame on the table, and I found nothing in the room, so I walked over to the bedroom on the other side. The door of this bedroom was closed, and I pushed it as if it was locked, but the lock was in disrepair and I pushed the door open with a little effort. The curtains were drawn in the room, and the air was filled with an unpleasant smell. It's dim and I can't see the furnishings inside. I walked in with my mouth and nose covered, and with a wave of my hand, the dust kicking up in the air made me cough a few times. I walked to the window, reached out and pulled the curtain down.

Sunlight was streaming in through the glass window, and I opened the window to ventilate. Then he turned back and prepared to search the room, but this time he was instantly stunned. This is a bedroom, and naturally there is a bed in the bedroom. But the old western-style building should be uninhabited by people who have long been empty, but at this moment, I saw that the bed behind me was covered with a quilt, and it puffed up to look like a human shape. I didn't see clearly when the room was too dark just now, but now that I see it, my heart is stunned.