Huo Shaoheng looked at the scenery of the Andes Mountains outside the car window and thought to himself, It seems that they have to add an environmental adaptation test to the selection process for field personnel.
He had to get to the high mountains to know about altitude sickness.
A healthy, strong man was sometimes more likely to have altitude sickness than a thin and weak woman.
However, he didn't say anything. He was silent the entire way as he followed Little Cui into the town of Uyuni.
This place was very rich in natural resources. In addition to the salt mines contained in the world's largest natural salt marsh, 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, they pay great attention to protecting their natural resources. You know about lithium mines, right? They are the main component of cell phone batteries. In recent years, lithium mines have suddenly become a hot commodity, but the president here doesn't want to be preemptively developed. But how can they resist the demands of the princes in the Middle East and the big countries in Europe and the United States? It was the He family who appeared out of nowhere and supported the local government from behind. That's why they were able to carry out small-scale lithium mines according to their own schedule. "
"Therefore, the main industries here are still tourism and the salt industry."
Huo Shaoheng was slightly moved. He thought to himself that the He family had some foresight …
The group of people sat in the off-road vehicle and stopped in front of a pure white hotel.
This was the most famous White Sand Hotel in Uyuni Town. It was built entirely with white salt from the Uyuni Salt Marsh outside the town.
Before they came, Little Cui had booked a room for them here.
They went in and chatted with the tanned highland girl at the front desk of the hotel. Little Cui got the key card and led them upstairs to their rooms.
After settling down, the four of them pretended to be tourists. They carried their backpacks, wore black sunglasses, and khaki fisherman's hats, and walked out of the White Sand Hotel's main entrance.
They had just arrived, so of course they had to pretend to be tourists and visit everywhere.
Huo Shaoheng and the others had been paying attention to this small town for a long time, but they only found out two years ago that this was He Zhichu's hometown.
The residents of the small town were simple, warm, and very talkative. They still remembered the He family's situation and praised them.
They spoke a local dialect, but they also spoke Spanish.
Little Cui had been stationed in South America all year round and spoke fluent Spanish, so he translated for them.
Huo Shaoheng actually spoke Spanish as well, but at this time, he only pretended not to understand, just like a standard tourist from Asia.
…
An Indian girl with a long braid was peddling her homemade salted fish in front of her house. Her big eyes sparkled as she said with a smile, "You're asking about the He family? They're very lucky! "
"Good luck?"
"Yeah! The He family used to live on the east side of the town. There were only a few families there. They weren't in good health and often got sick. I heard from my grandmother that they moved here from another place. "
The old grandmother, who was wearing a flowery headscarf, sold them the small animals she had made and said, "The He family? I know them, but they've all passed away. "As he said that, he pouted his lips in a certain direction.
"They're all dead?" Xiao Cui asked in surprise. "No way …"
"Oh, they're not all dead." The old grandmother said nonchalantly, "There's a family. I think there's a family with the surname He. They moved away 13 years ago. Later, when the son of that family heard that he had made a fortune outside, he sent people back to renovate their family's cemetery. "
Huo Shaoheng and the others looked at each other and asked for the exact time. The old grandmother couldn't remember clearly anymore.
He could only continue to wander around the town and ask around.
In order not to arouse the vigilance and attention of others, they didn't ask about the He family every day.
Instead, he would follow other tourists around and accidentally meet a local and ask him a question.
Over the next few days, they quietly visited the entire town. They chatted with the sheriff and the mayor, had dinner, and collected a lot of information about the He family.
It was similar to the information they had collected before.
At night, the four of them gathered in Huo Shaoheng and Yin Shixiong's room to summarize their findings over the past few days.
"From the information from the police station here, the He family came here from abroad decades ago and settled down. There weren't many of them, only three families." Zhao Liangze first told them about the information he had found on the police station's computer. "But they all use Spanish names here. Other than the surname, it's difficult to match the first name."
Yin Shixiong also said, "What's certain is that the He family who moved here were in a very ordinary financial situation. They weren't rich. The men in the He family all had genetic diseases, and most of them died before they were 30 years old. The last family with the surname He left here 13 years ago. It's said that they went to Colombia. "
Little Cui added, "I think the family that moved away was He Zhichu and his father. According to the neighbors here, it was Mr. He who said he wanted to treat his son's illness. Unexpectedly, he died at a young age like the other He family members. "
"Then, the family left and never came back. It wasn't until seven years ago that a convoy suddenly came and built a luxurious cemetery for the He family here. They also built an ancestral hall and hired locals to offer sacrifices on time every year. Only then did the people here know that the He family who moved away 13 years ago had made a fortune. "
Little Cui looked at Huo Shaoheng. "Major General Huo, Professor He and the others left here 13 years ago. Seven years ago, they made a fortune and returned home in glory. So it took them six years to become the underground godfathers of South America."
Huo Shaoheng frowned slightly 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 who raised him since he was young."
He looked up at the window. "Where is He Zhichu's father? And where is his nanny? "
Yin Shixiong was puzzled. "Are you so sure that the He family who moved away from here is Professor He's family?"
"Other than them, who else is there?" Zhao Liangze asked in return. "The other He family members all died of illness. Only the family that moved out survived, and they even came back to build the cemetery. That's true. The people in the town say that the underground godfather of all of South America is from Uyuni town. "
Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze argued with each other, but neither of them could convince the other.
Huo Shaoheng knocked them on the head and said, "Stop arguing. The investigation is almost done. We'll go to the cemetery tomorrow to take a look."
..
Early the next morning, Little Cui took them to the cemetery in Uyuni town.
In the middle of the cemetery, there was a white salt path that divided the entire cemetery in two.
The left side of the path was the best place there. It was backed by a mountain and faced a lake. Seven or eight snow-white tombstones stood quietly under the blue sky at the top of the mountains.
The highland wind blew from afar, carrying with it the sound of the wind, like the whimpers of the dead.
There were more and more tombstones on the right side, but they were uneven in size and 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 highland dress and a headscarf stood in front of a tombstone, covering her face and crying.
Little Cui pointed at the cemetery on the left 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 worship their ancestors and rebuilt the cemetery here."
"No wonder the cemetery here is so new," Yin Shixiong whispered. He put his palms together and bowed in front of the grave.
The tombstone in front of the old woman was newer, as if it had just been erected there.
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 woman who was crying in front of the tombstone heard them. She paused and turned to look at them.
Huo Shaoheng's heart skipped a beat.
They had walked almost the entire town over the past few days, but they had not seen this old woman.
This old woman was obviously Chinese.
Huo Shaoheng deliberately greeted her in Chinese, "Hello, are you also a tourist?"
The old woman wiped her hands on her skirt and shook her head. She 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.
Huo Shaoheng, Yin Shixiong, and Zhao Liangze wandered around the cemetery for a while. They took photos of every tombstone and planned to take them back to study.
Little Cui followed them and returned not long after.
He panted and said excitedly to Huo Shaoheng, "Major General Huo! This old woman just returned to town yesterday. Guess who she is? "
Huo Shaoheng's mind raced and he blurted out, "He Zhichu's nanny?"
Little Cui: "!!!"
"Major General Huo, you're so 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 he said, "I just asked the old woman's neighbors. They said that a luxury car sent her back yesterday, and a truck brought two coffins. They had just been buried. 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. "
"Was it arranged by Professor He?" Yin Shixiong asked quietly.
"No." Little Cui shook his head. "I asked. The person who sent her back was the big local family in Colombia, the big family that the He family transferred all their property and power to."
Huo Shaoheng stopped in his tracks and suddenly had a bad feeling.
He had originally thought that he could wait here for the rabbit.
In the end, He Zhichu had never thought of returning to his hometown.
He had even arranged for his nanny. It was obvious that he was really going to live in seclusion.
The world was so big. Where were they going to find him?
Huo Shaoheng had a headache.
"Major General Huo?"
"Let's go." Huo Shaoheng took a deep breath and went to find the old woman first.
They arrived in front of the He family's mansion.
It was also built seven years ago. It was a typical Spanish-style building.
The old woman in colorful clothes sat beside the fountain in the middle of the courtyard and stared blankly at the sculpture in the fountain.
It was a naked little boy with wings on his back.
Huo Shaoheng gently knocked on the iron door that was half the height of a person.
The old woman turned her head and saw them. Perhaps it was because they were all Chinese, she asked very gently, "What can I do for you?"
Huo Shaoheng took out a photo of He Zhichu that he had taken in the past 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 she suddenly froze.
Tears suddenly welled up in her cloudy eyes as she took the photo from Huo Shaoheng's hands. Trembling, she cried and laughed at the same time. "This is my young master, my little Ah-Chu … Why do you have his photo?"
"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 by 'disappeared'?"
"He suddenly said that he was going to leave and wouldn't come back. 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? Why have we never heard of him having a great-aunt? "
Didn't the people in town say that she was a nanny?
How did she 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 medicine box and leaving.
After she left, the old woman stood up and said, "You're right. I'm not He Zhichu's great-aunt. I'm actually his nanny."
"Then why …"
"Then why did those people say that I was his great-aunt?" The old woman smiled bitterly. "Actually, I don't know how to say it."
She caressed the photo of He Zhichu that Huo Shaoheng had given her and said, "Follow me."
She seemed to have a lot on her mind that she wanted to tell someone.
She brought Huo Shaoheng and the others to the cemetery where they had just left. The old woman pointed to a relatively small tombstone and said, "I don't know who this He Zhichu you're looking for is. I only know that my young master, my Ah-Chu, died 13 years ago. He died in my arms. "
"What?!" Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze cried out in unison.
A gust of wind blew from the top of the mountain, and the cemetery was cold.
Everyone couldn't help but shiver.
He Zhichu, who had just argued in Huo Shaoheng's office a few days ago, was now hearing from this old woman that he had died 13 years ago?!
Then who was the He Zhichu who had appeared by Gu Nianzhi's side two years ago?
"Are you sure you're not mistaken? We just saw him a few days ago. " Huo Shaoheng saw that the old woman was old and 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 even throwing a tantrum!" As Zhao Liangze spoke, he showed the old woman the surveillance footage of He Zhichu that he had downloaded to his phone.
The old woman only glanced at it before wrapping the shawl embroidered with a flamingo tightly around her body. She said dryly, "I know this person exists. I even went to look for him."
Huo Shaoheng remained calm. "Really? May I ask where you've been living all these years? Haven't you been with him? "
"No." The old woman shook her head and said tiredly, "We left here to seek medical attention, but before we could find anyone, Mr. He passed away. Later, the young master also passed away. I had no money, so I couldn't send them back for burial. I kept working outside, trying to save enough money to send their coffins back to the Huaxia Empire. Until last year, I saw a person on TV who looked exactly like my young master. His name was also He Zhichu! "
If her young master hadn't passed away at the age of 16, he would have definitely grown up to look like He Zhichu!
※ ※ ※
There was only one chapter today. It was 4,000 words long. Chapter 1449: The Secret Buried by Time (7)
PS: This great-aunt came out before. Do you still remember?
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