But just because I don’t like conflict doesn’t mean I’m not good at it. I have my own methods. For example, I always negotiate with a dozen clients at once, coordinating the movement of multiple shipments. While I’m still negotiating here, sales are already happening there.
So, others cannot compete with me at all because the details and volume of information they face are overwhelming; they have no idea what I’m doing. Even if they manage to snatch one deal from me, they will certainly miss out on others.
All the orders and shipment details I’m negotiating are as clear to me as a web I’ve woven myself. If you want to expose any weaknesses in your opponent, the best way is to throw numerous tactics at them at once. Suppose I believe someone has set a trap for me, luring me to this lama temple; then that person must have an important purpose and will inevitably monitor me.
Some of my suspicious actions will certainly catch their interest, such as spending a night alone at a guesthouse after descending the mountain. For instance, I might stick hair into the cracks of all the windows in my room, hide items in various places within the lama temple, suddenly make a slingshot, or unexpectedly strike up a conversation with a woman in their group.
All these actions are quite bizarre, and if they monitor all of them, they will think I must be plotting something. This kind of thinking is very tormenting. I used to often fall into this cycle of thought, and they would surely check the places I’ve been. So, I left a cigarette at the guesthouse and left my belongings in the dustiest corners of the temple. In such places, as long as someone checks, there will definitely be traces left behind.
At the same time, sticking hair in the window cracks can temporarily hinder their actions; at least they wouldn’t dare to easily enter my room. This also serves as a reminder to them that I seem to know something, forcing them to act more cautiously.
My strategy is like continuously scattering nails around me; if there’s an invisible monster nearby, it will definitely step on them. The saddest part is that this monster cannot turn against me; for now, they can only watch me from the sidelines.
Now they find themselves in a situation where it seems I already know something, so they must be extremely careful in their actions. However, I’ve also done many bizarre things, so they must check each one. I returned to my room, stopped reading, turned off the light, moved my bed around in the darkness, curled up, and prepared to sleep early.
I’ve also monitored others before and know that the most annoying thing for someone who is watching is when nothing happens all night, and then things start moving around five or six in the morning. At that time, people are the most tired and prone to making mistakes. So, I need to get a good night’s sleep tonight.
3. Amazing Details
I quickly fell asleep, perhaps because I was too tired from climbing the mountain, or perhaps because pondering these bad things had drained too much of my energy.
The alarm on my watch woke me up at five o’clock. I struggled to get out of bed; it was still pitch black outside. I did a few push-ups to wake myself up, then stretched and walked outside. The yard was completely silent, the whole temple was as quiet as a dead zone. I put a cigarette in my mouth, donned my gloves, and headed into the darkness of the temple.
In the first place I went to, I had hidden four lighters. These four lighters were identical and were placed in order within a crevice of a stone wall, with some very subtle marks that only I knew about. As I took each lighter down, I noticed that the order had changed; the other party hadn’t discovered my little trick.
Sure enough, someone was watching me, and there must be someone following me now. Unfortunately, I couldn’t feel anything; the other party was skilled. I lit a cigarette with one of the lighters, then put all the lighters into a small bag and tucked it into my pocket. The second place was where I hid the slingshot, which was on a beam above a pile of clutter, completely dark at a glance. I had thrown it up there before, and now even if I jumped, I couldn’t reach it. To get the slingshot, I would have to climb or use something to stand on.
There were various items around that I could use as a step. When I looked over, I saw that they were no longer in the order I had noted before. I squatted down and noticed that one of the water jugs had fingerprints on its edge. When I turned the jug over, I found that it had been flipped and stepped on, with a very faint shoe print on the bottom. However, that person clearly didn’t want to leave any traces, as they had wiped away all the marks with their hands.
I looked at the other items and was surprised to find that there were no other signs of being stepped on. This water jug wasn’t tall; I’m 1.81 meters tall, and even if I stood on it and jumped, I wouldn’t be able to reach the slingshot. Moreover, only this jug had been used. The clutter here was too cramped for someone with strong jumping ability to step on the jug and jump up; otherwise, there would definitely be more traces left.
The person who got the slingshot must be taller than me, but among that group of Hong Kong people, I didn’t see anyone taller than me. In the entire lama temple, the only people who might be taller than me were those Germans.
Are they involved too? Could it be that in the entire lama temple, I am the only innocent one, and everyone else has issues? At that moment, I felt a twinge of fear for the first time. If that’s the case, then this is a grand play, and I am the only audience member. I hope things don’t develop to that extent.
I stacked two water jugs on top of each other, stepped on them, and finally retrieved the slingshot. I checked it carefully; it was undamaged, so I directly tucked it into the back of my waistband.
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