Chapter 1449: Secrets Buried by Time (7)
Huo Shaoheng looked out of the car window at the highland scenery of the Andes mountains. He thought to himself, it seemed that they had to add an environmental adaptation test to the selection process for field personnel.
The highland reaction was something that could only be known at the Highland.
A healthy and strong man was sometimes more p.r.o.ne to highland reaction than a skinny woman.
However, he didn’t say anything and followed little Cui into Uyuni town in silence.
This place was very rich in natural resources. In addition to the largest natural salt marsh in the world, there were also rich lithium mines under the salt mines.
It was said that the lithium mines here accounted for more than half of the world’s lithium mines.
Little Cui introduced them with familiarity, “Although this is a small country, it pays great attention to protecting its natural resources. You know about lithium mines, right? Lithium mines were the main component of cell phone batteries. In recent years, lithium mines had suddenly become a hot commodity, but the president here did not want to be exploited prematurely. But how could they beat the demands of the royal kingdoms in the Middle East and the big countries in Europe and the United States? It was the he family that came out of nowhere and supported the local government behind the scenes. That was why they were able to carry out small-scale lithium mining development according to their own timetable.”
“Therefore, the main industries here are still tourism and salt.”
Huo Shaoheng was slightly moved. The He family had some foresight after all..
The group of people sat in an SUV and stopped in front of a pure white hotel.
This was the most famous white sand hotel in Uyuni town. It was built entirely from the white salt in the Uyuni salt marshes outside the town.
Little Cui had booked a room for them here before they came.
They went in to chat with the tanned highland girl at the front desk. Little Cui took the key card and led them upstairs to their rooms.
After settling in, the four of them disguised themselves as tourists. They carried backpacks, wore dark sungla.s.ses, and khaki fisherman hats as they walked out of the white sand hotel.
It was their first time here, so of course, they had to pretend to be tourists and visit everywhere.
Huo Shaoheng and the others had been paying attention to the town for a long time, but only found out two years ago that this was also he zhichu’s hometown.
The residents of the town were simple, warm, and very talkative. They still remembered the he family’s situation and had good reviews.
They spoke a local language, but they also spoke Spanish.
Little Cui had been stationed in South America for many years and spoke fluent Spanish, so he acted as their interpreter.
Huo Shaoheng could actually speak Spanish too, but at this time, he only pretended not to understand, like a standard tourist from Asia.
..
An Indian girl with long braids was selling salted fish made by her own family in front of her house. Her big eyes sparkled, and she said with a smile, “You can ask the he family? They’re very lucky!”
“Lucky?”
“Yes! The He family used to live in the east end of the town. There were only a few families. They were not in good health and often got sick. According to my grandmother, they moved here from other places.”
The old grandmother wearing a flowery headscarf sold the animals she made to them while saying, “The he family? I know them, but they have pa.s.sed away.”As she said that, she pouted in a certain direction.
“They’ve all pa.s.sed away?”Little Cui asked in surprise. “No Way…”
“Oh, not all of them have pa.s.sed away.”The old grandmother replied nonchalantly, “There was one family. I think there was one with the surname He. They moved away 13 years ago. Later, the son of that family heard that he had made a fortune outside and sent people back to renovate their family’s cemetery.”
Huo Shaoheng and the others looked at each other and asked about the exact time. The old grandmother could not remember clearly.
They could only continue to wander around the town and ask questions.
In order not to attract the attention of others, they didn’t ask about the he family every day.
Instead, they followed other tourists around. When they ran into a local, they asked again.
After a few days, they quietly visited the entire town. They chatted with the superintendent/chief (when addressing him) and the mayor. After eating, they gathered a lot of information about the he family.
It was similar to the information they had gathered in the past.
At night, the four of them gathered in Huo Shaoheng and Yin s.h.i.+xiong’s room, to sum up the gains they had made over the past few days.
“According to the information from the police station here, the He family came to live here from abroad several decades ago. There aren’t many of them, only three.”Zhao liangze started with the information he had found from the police station’s computer, “But they all use Spanish names here. Other than the surname, you can tell it’s the He family name. It’s very difficult to match all the names.”
Yin s.h.i.+xiong also said, “What we can be sure of is that the he family who moved here has a very average financial situation. They aren’t rich. The He family’s men all have inherited diseases. Most of them died before they reached the age of thirty. “The last he family left here thirteen years ago. It was said that they went to Colombia.”
Xiao cui added, “I think the family that moved away is he zhichu and his father. According to the memories of the neighbors here, Mr. he said that he wanted to treat his son’s illness, but he didn’t expect that he would die at such a young age like the other he family members.”
“After the family left, they never came back. “It wasn’t until seven years ago that a motorcade suddenly arrived and built a luxurious cemetery for the He family here. They also built an ancestral hall and hired local people to offer sacrifices on time every year. “Only then did the people here know that the he family that moved away 13 years ago became rich.”
Little Cui looked at Huo Shaoheng after he finished speaking. “Huo Shao, professor he and the others left here 13 years ago. They returned home with great wealth seven years ago, so it took them six years to become South America’s Underground G.o.dfathers.”
Huo Shaoheng furrowed his brows and rested his chin on his hand. He said lightly, “The family that left here 13 years ago was said to be three people. Mr. He, Mr. He’s son, and a nanny brought him up when he was young.”
He looked out the window. “Where is He Zhichu’s father? And where is this nanny of his?”
Yin s.h.i.+xiong was puzzled. “Are you so sure that the he family that moved away from here is professor he’s Family?”
“Other than their family, who else’s family is there?”Zhao Liangze asked, “All the other he family members died of illness. Only the family that moved away survived, and they even came back to build the cemetery. This is true. Everyone in town says that the underground G.o.dfather of all South America is from Uyuni town.”
Yin s.h.i.+xiong and Zhao liangze argued with each other, but neither could convince the other.
Huo Shaoheng knocked on their heads and said, “Stop arguing. The investigation is almost done. Let’s go to the cemetery tomorrow.”
…
Early the next morning, Little Cui brought them to the cemetery in Uyuni.
In the middle of the cemetery, there was a white salt path that divided the entire cemetery into two.
On the left side of the path was the best spot. Behind the mountains, there was a lake. Seven or eight snow-white tombstones stood quietly under the blue sky, at the top of the mountains.
The wind from the plateau blew from afar, carrying the sound of the wind, like the whimpering of the dead.
The tombstones on the right side were more and denser, but their sizes were uneven and they were crooked. They could not be compared to the seven or eight tombstones on the left side of the cemetery.
An old woman wearing a gorgeous plateau dress and a headscarf stood in front of a tombstone, covering her face and crying.
Little Cui pointed at the cemetery on the left side and said in a low voice,”… This is the cemetery of the He family. Seven years ago, professor he’s family sent people back to their hometown to pay respects to their ancestors, and they renovated the cemetery here.”
“No wonder the cemetery here is so new,”Yin s.h.i.+xiong said in a low voice, putting his palms together and bowing in front of the cemetery.
The tombstone in front of the old woman was updated as if it had just been erected here.
Because the people here did not understand Chinese, when Huo Shaoheng and the others spoke in Chinese, they did not lower their voices.
The old man who was covering his face and crying in front of the tombstone heard them. He paused and turned to look at them.
Huo Shaoheng’s heart skipped a beat.
In the past few days, they had almost visited the entire town but had not seen this old woman.
This old woman clearly looked Chinese.
Huo Shaoheng intentionally greeted her in Chinese, “h.e.l.lo, are you also a tourist?”
The old woman wiped her hands on her dress, shook her head, and said stiffly, “No.”With that, she left the cemetery and headed for the town.
Huo Shaoheng looked at her back and gave little Cui a look.
Little Cui understood and pretended to enjoy the scenery as he followed her.
Huo Shaoheng, Yin s.h.i.+xiong, and Zhao liangze wandered around the cemetery for a while. They took photos of every tombstone and planned to take them back for research.
Little Cui followed them and returned not long after.
He panted and said excitedly to huo shaoheng, “Huo Shaoheng! This old woman just returned to the town yesterday. Can You Guess Who she is?”
Huo Shaoheng’s mind raced as he blurted out, “He Zhichu’s nanny?”
Little Cui:”! ! !”
“Huo Shao, you’re amazing!”He gave Huo Shaoheng a thumbs up.
Huo Shaoheng’s heart jumped with excitement. “How did she come back? Where did she come from?”
Little Cui led them as they walked. “I just asked this old woman’s neighbors. They said that a luxury car brought her back yesterday, and a truck brought two coffins. They just buried her. The other party was very respectful to her and let her stay in the He family’s best house. There were also doctors and nurses who came to check on her body.”
“Was it arranged by professor he?”Yin s.h.i.+xiong asked quietly.
“No.”Little Cui shook his head. “I asked. The person who brought her back was the big local family in Colombia, the one the he family transferred all their a.s.sets to.”
Huo Shaoheng stopped in his tracks. He suddenly had a bad feeling.
He had thought that he would be able to wait for the right person here.
In the end, he zhichu had no intention of going back to his hometown.
He had even arranged for his own nanny. It was clear that he was going to live in seclusion.
The world was so big. Where was he going to find him?
Huo Shaoheng’s head started to hurt.
“Huo Shao?”
“Let’s go.”Huo Shaoheng took a deep breath and went to find the old woman to get some information.
They arrived at the He family’s mansion.
This was a typical spanish-style building that had been built seven years ago.
The old woman was sitting by the fountain in the middle of the courtyard, staring blankly at the statue in the fountain.
It was a naked boy with wings on his back.
Huo Shaoheng knocked lightly on the metal door that was half the height of a man.
The old woman turned to see them. Perhaps it was because they were all Chinese, she asked gently, “May I ask what is the matter?”
Huo Shaoheng took out a photo of he zhichu that he had taken before and said, “We’re looking for this person. Do You Know Him?”
“Who are you looking for?”The old woman looked at him curiously. Her gaze moved to the photo in Huo Shaoheng’s hand and suddenly stopped.
Tears suddenly welled up in her turbid eyes. She took the photo from Huo Shaoheng and cried and laughed in fear. “This is my young master, my little Ah Chu… how do you have a photo of him?”
“We’re his friends,”Huo Shaoheng said patiently. “But he suddenly disappeared, so we’re looking for him.”
“Disappeared?”The old woman frowned. “What do you mean he disappeared?”
“He suddenly said he was going to leave and wouldn’t come back, so we couldn’t contact him anymore. We were worried that something had happened to him, so we came to his hometown to take a look.”
As they spoke, a woman dressed as a nurse walked out of the mansion and said to the old woman, “Great-aunt, are you tired? Do you want to go in and rest?”
“Great-aunt?”Huo Shaoheng raised an eyebrow. “May I ask if you’re He Zhichu’s great-aunt? How come we’ve never heard of him having a great-aunt?”
Didn’t everyone in town say that he was a nanny?
How did he become a great-aunt?
The old woman wiped her tears with her hand and waved at the nurse. “I’m not tired. You can go back first.”
The nurse nodded and politely greeted Huo Shaoheng and the others before packing up the medical kit and leaving.
After she left, the old woman stood up and said, “You’re right. I’m not he zhichu’s great-aunt. In fact, I’m his nanny.”
“Then why…”
“Then why did those people say I’m his great-aunt?”The old woman smiled bitterly. “Actually, I don’t know how to say it either.”
She caressed the photo of he zhichu that Huo Shaoheng had given her and said, “Come with me.”
She seemed to have a lot on her mind and wanted to tell someone.
She brought Huo Shaoheng and the others to the cemetery where they had just left. The old woman pointed at a relatively small tombstone, “I don’t know who this he zhichu is. I only know that my young master, My Ah Chu, died 13 years ago. He died in my arms.”
“What? !”Yin s.h.i.+xiong and Zhao liangze shouted in unison.
A gust of wind blew from the top of the mountain, and the cemetery was filled with gusts of cold wind.
Everyone couldn’t help but s.h.i.+ver.
He zhichu, who had argued in Huo Shaoheng’s office a few days ago, was now hearing from this old woman that he zhichu had died 13 years ago?!
So who was he zhichu, who had appeared beside Gu Nianzhi two years ago?
“Are you mistaken? We saw him a few days ago.”Huo Shaoheng saw that the old woman was old, but he didn’t really trust her memory. What if she had Alzheimer’s?
“Yes, yes. I showed you the video of him. It was taken a few days ago, and he was throwing a tantrum!”Zhao Liangze said as he showed the old woman he zhichu’s surveillance footage that he had downloaded to his phone.
The old woman only took one look before she wrapped herself tightly around her cape embroidered with fiery bird and said lightly, “I know this person. I even went to look for him.”
Huo Shaoheng remained expressionless. “Really? May I ask where you’ve been living all these years? Have you not been with him?”
“No.”The old woman shook her head, she said tiredly, “We left here to seek medical treatment, but before we could find him, Mr. He pa.s.sed away. Later, the young master also died. I didn’t have the money to send them back for burial. “I’ve been working outside, trying to save enough money to send their coffins back to Huaxia. “Until last year, I saw a person on TV who looked exactly like my young master, also called he zhichu!”
If her young master hadn’t pa.s.sed away at the age of 16, he zhichu would definitely have looked like this!