Two weeks later, the Muffled Oil Bottle was discharged from the hospital. I went to Beijing to meet them and discuss the matters ahead.

After returning, the most challenging issue I faced was how to deal with the mess left by my uncle. Although my past year had been tumultuous, everything had been happening in the shadows; my family was completely unaware of the significant changes occurring on my end. Now, my uncle was truly missing, possibly never to return, and explaining the situation here was one thing.

On the other hand, the Muffled Oil Bottle had now become a burden. As his consciousness began to recover, I had to confront the issue of how to get to know him again. He had no family, was clean in this world, and had no idea where his old nest was. I had asked many people, but there was no news at all. As he himself said, he had almost no connection with this world. All his belongings were left behind in the basin; he had no money and no identification. If I left him to his own devices, he would probably end up living on the streets as a homeless person.

The Fatty was doing quite well; he had opened a shop in Liulichang. We met at his new store. After not seeing each other for a few months, the Muffled Oil Bottle had already regained his previous demeanor. Aside from the unfamiliarity with the world reflected in his brows, everything else felt familiar to me, which eased my mind somewhat. When I saw him, he was leaning by the window, not looking at me, his gaze as distant as a mirror, even more so than before, as if his thoughts no longer existed in this world.

I started with some polite conversation, but he showed no reaction and simply asked the Fatty how he was doing and what the doctor had said.

The Fatty shook his head, “It’s about the same. They say he’s starting to remember some fragments. The doctor said it was due to strong stimulation; only with mental stimulation could he possibly improve. Otherwise, stewing pig brains every day won’t help.”

I sighed, unsure of what had happened inside that meteorite at the last moment to make him like this.

“Do you have any plans?” After some idle chatter, the Fatty asked me. “My place is only about forty square meters, and it’s really cramped. If you want him to stay here, I can’t even dare to find a girlfriend. If others see me hiding a pretty boy, they’d think I, Fatty, am some sort of rabbit spirit.”

“You really have no conscience. He’s saved our lives more than once, and you’re worried about this unreliable stuff?” I replied irritably.

“If he’s not living at your place, of course, you can stand there and talk without feeling pain. If you want me to pay for a place for the little brother, then that’s a different story. I’d even get him a courtyard if he wants to live there, but living with me is out of the question. That has nothing to do with saving lives,” the Fatty said. “How about this: I’ll pay for the rent, and you pay for a caretaker. We can settle him nearby, provide him with good food and drink, and visit him on weekends.”

“You’re making it sound like you’re hiding a golden phoenix,” I said. “He’s not an idiot; you should ask him what he thinks.”

So the Fatty looked at the Muffled Oil Bottle: “Little brother, you say what you want; what are your plans for the future?”

The Muffled Oil Bottle closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly pondering, and after a long while, he said, “I want to go out and walk around.”

I asked, “Walk around? Where do you want to go? Do you have a destination?”

He replied calmly, “I don’t know. To those places you mentioned, Changsha, Hangzhou, Shandong, to see if I can remember anything.”

I felt a sudden jolt in my heart; this was the last thing I wanted to hear—he wanted to remember something, but his mind was basically a blank slate. His past was a huge puzzle, and the bigger the puzzle, the less it tormented a person. However, if his memories began to resurface during his travels, the emotional fragments that emerged in his mind would be immensely tempting for someone who felt empty; even the slightest hint could turn into various threads, causing him great pain.

I understood that for someone who had lost their memory, the ultimate purpose in life should be to regain their past. This was unavoidable, but I truly didn’t want him to walk down that old path again.

Seeing my expression change, the chubby guy knew I had a knot in my heart. He patted me on the back and reminded me, “Just go with the flow. Didn’t we agree on this? It’s unrealistic to force him to stay here.”

I sighed. If that was the case, I would have to implement the second plan: to ponder these matters together with him. After all, we had been through similar experiences, and there were many things we could help him avoid going to extremes.

I had thought about his idea too; I once planned to take him to Changsha to let others see him. However, the situation in Changsha was chaotic right now, and I didn’t even know who to approach. Suddenly, I remembered something and asked the chubby guy, “Didn’t you say last time that you had a way to find out this guy’s background? Why haven’t you heard anything since?”

“Don’t mention it; it’s disgusting,” the chubby guy replied. “I, Fatty, originally planned to ask those people who know the intermediaries. They have a wide network. Since your uncle was able to contact this guy, he must have left some information with the intermediaries, and we could follow that lead.”

I thought to myself that this was a good idea; why was it disgusting? The chubby guy continued, “But to my surprise, all of them shook their heads and said they couldn’t talk. You tell me, these people usually engage in shady dealings, and now they want to act like saints.”

“Oh, I see,” I said. There are rules in their line of work, so I couldn’t blame them. These people probably relied on this information for a living; once it was leaked, they might not only lose their jobs but could also be eliminated.

“These people are really tough nuts to crack; this route is a dead end,” the chubby guy said. “How about your side?”

I sighed again and said that if my uncle were around, he might have been able to find out something. But now, the people I was in contact with didn’t have enough experience. Those old-timers had strange personalities and were all focused on my situation. I had even tried to get close to them, but they wouldn’t give me any information. That was not something someone like me could manage.

“Then don’t overthink it. I think we should follow the little guy’s suggestion. Let’s sign him up for a travel group, prepare some money, and let him go out and explore on his own,” the chubby guy said. “Or we could simply find him a rich woman to marry. With his looks, we might even make a profit. After that, they can take care of themselves. What do you think?”

Isn’t that nonsense? I thought to myself, shaking my head in silence. I pondered the chubby guy’s earlier suggestion and felt it was a good idea, but he hadn’t quite hit the nail on the head. As I thought about it, someone came to mind. “Wait, your earlier method of contacting the intermediaries might not be a dead end after all.”

“How so?”

“Those people are unwilling to speak, either out of fear of offending someone or because they don’t know, worried that revealing what they know might expose their shortcomings. However, there is one person who doesn’t have these concerns; perhaps we can start with him.”
“Who?” the fat man asked, and the silent oil bottle also turned his head.
“During the trip to Changbai Mountain, the one who helped my uncle with the lama was a guy named Chu Ge. Do you remember him?”
“Are you talking about that bald guy?”
I nodded. Chu Ge, also known as Chu the Bald, was the owner of an underground bank that my uncle collaborated with. After being bribed by Chen Pi A Si, he was caught by Lei Zi and is now imprisoned somewhere. He had contacted the silent oil bottle and the fat man, so he must know their information. And since he is currently in prison, he has no worries; the problem is how to find him and how to get him to speak. After all, he might not have concerns about not speaking, but he also has no concerns about speaking.
The fat man clapped his hands and said, “Ah, that’s true.” He nodded, understanding my thoughts, and said, “I hadn’t thought of that. But what if we go to find him and he reports us?”
“Such a person is very shrewd. He has a lot of information at his disposal. If he wants to spill it, it would be easy; he is holding back because he knows that not speaking is beneficial for him,” I said. “Now that he is in trouble, he has many people to ask for help. I think it won’t be difficult to get him to talk.” As I spoke, I already knew what to do. Other matters shouldn’t trouble Panzi, but this one isn’t sensitive and can be entrusted to him to inquire about the situation.
So, we decided to help the silent oil bottle investigate. It’s better for us to intervene than for him to run around aimlessly. However, I couldn’t do this alone; I had nothing to do anyway, and the situation was chaotic. It wouldn’t work to have the silent oil bottle follow me around; I couldn’t control someone like him. If he suddenly remembered something and slipped away, I wouldn’t know where to find him, so I had to drag the fat man into this.
After discussing with the fat man, he had no choice but to agree. He said, “Putting everything else aside, it would be best if we could find out where Xiao Ge lives. That would save us a lot of effort.”
So we agreed on that. I would ask Panzi to handle it, while the silent oil bottle would stay with the fat man. Once we had leads, we would discuss the next steps together. After all, with the three of us involved, there was no way to avoid this matter; it was better to treat it as our own business, as a way to repay the silent oil bottle’s favor.
As the saying goes, “Good words are hard to persuade a dead ghost.” Once this was decided, the trouble followed.
After I returned to Hangzhou, I called Panzi and explained the whole situation. Panzi is also a loyal person and agreed immediately. He is very efficient, and three days later, I received a call from him.
I thought we had made progress and asked him how things were going.
He sighed and said, “It’s a troublesome matter. I found him, and he does know what you want to know, but he is unwilling to say it freely. He has conditions.”
“What conditions?” I asked. In such a situation, I would also propose conditions.
“He wants 100,000 yuan and wants to meet you in person. He wants to talk to you directly.”
“Meet me?” I was taken aback and a bit surprised. I thought: money is negotiable, but why does he want to meet me? It felt a bit inappropriate.
“Could it be that he wants to lure me out to earn merit for himself?” I felt a chill down my spine, and I suddenly heard the sound of iron chains clanking nearby.

“I think it’s possible too,” Panzi said with a click of his tongue. “However, he asked me to bring you something. He said once you see this thing, you will definitely go meet him.”

“What is it?” I asked curiously.

“It’s an old photograph,” Panzi paused for a moment. “A very old photograph, the kind that was taken in black and white when my generation was young.”

I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine. My first thought was of the group photo of my third uncle before he set sail to Xisha, that damn photo that cost me so much time. I wondered if Brother Chu knew the hidden truth about this matter too. But it seemed a bit late for him to use this issue as leverage.

Thinking about it, I asked, “What does the photo depict?”

Panzi thought for a long while and said, “I can’t be sure, but it feels like it should be a ‘ghost’.”