History cannot be altered with "ifs", because it is all an established fact, accumulated day by day, year by year, like the rings of a tree, and every detail represents a difficult memory.

"Okay, put those 'ifs' behind and let's get down to business. I think that the person in the photo must be related to your Xia clan, even if it is not you, it is also your blood relative. So, please tell me, has there ever been such an anti-Japanese hero in your family's history?" asked Bing'er Zhengse.

I shook my head: "There's no need to think about it, no." ”

In my memory, our Xia clan has always been very weak, and since the incident at the Iron Gong Temple, my grandfather's illness has become worse and worse day by day, and he has not told me any useful family information at all. Until the end, I still didn't know anything about my ancestors.

"Only by finding him can we find the so-called Divine Mirror Water Mirror. Bing'er said again.

I corrected her, "It wasn't necessarily a divine mirror, maybe it was just an illusion." Princess Iron Fan's banana fan is just a mythical treasure, how can it exist in reality?"

"Journey to the West" describes a complex world of half-human, half-god, half-immortal and half-ghost to the Chinese, and Dongtu and Xitian have become the iconic place names of the human world and the fairy world.

Bing'er is full of imagination, which is why there are such magical associations, but I have to pull her imagination back to reality in order to work together to solve the problem.

"You're boring. Bing'er laughed.

I shook my head again and sighed: "Life is not, let alone a myth, we must live in a down-to-earth manner in order to live more safely." ”

"Ahem, ahem......" The cough of an elderly man rang out behind the pillar in the southwest corner of the hall.

Bing'er and I realized that there were guests in the café who had arrived earlier than us, and they had just talked loudly, probably affecting them.

"Let's have coffee, we talked so much that I got a little carried away. Bing'er stuck out her tongue again.

I picked up my cup and sipped my coffee.

Before the coffee castle was moved from Tianditan Street, I was shy and passed through it many times, but I never went inside, just looking through the window at the world that belonged to others.

At present, the world has changed, and I am no longer a low-class poor person who broke my hat and covered my face in the downtown yesterday, but I have become a rookie in the thaumaturgical world in Jinan City, attracting attention from all sides.

The only thing I want to thank is the firm belief of "avenging my big brother". It keeps me on the lookout for not going with the flow and being overwhelmed by the worldly floods. It is precisely because I clearly know the responsibility on my shoulders that I can't find a reason to collapse, grit my teeth step by step, and not be overwhelmed by the hardships of life.

"In the future, the revolution has not yet succeeded, and I will continue to work hard. "I cheered myself up from the bottom of my heart.

"Mr. Xia, I hope you can read the 'Plum Blossom Mansion Notes' ten times in a row, remember all the details, and then make clear clues against the history of Jinan. At that time, if we discuss again, we will be able to collide with the spark of ideas and find the crux of the problem. Bing'er said confidently.

The booklet and photos were in a plastic bag, which was placed a foot away from Bing'er's left-hand side. It stands to reason that this is a very safe distance, and it is impossible for anyone to snatch it or steal it.

Bing'er and I are not careless people, and we understand the importance of the "Plum Blossom Mansion Notes", so we have to put it under the noses of the two people.

"I just saw dim sum in the window, it looks so tempting, it must be very delicious. You wait, I'll be the master and order a few snacks for you—" Bing'er said as she got up and raised her hand in the direction of the counter.

In that case, naturally, I turned around and looked at the counter like her.

The waitress was wiping her cup with a towel behind the counter, glanced over to this side, immediately put down the towel in her hand, and walked quickly to this side.

"Miss, please bring me one of the best signature snacks in your shop. Bing'er commanded.

The waitress smiled and nodded: "Okay, the traditional dim sum in our coffee castle is a freshly baked cookie platter, which is made up of eight different flavors of cookies, namely plain, salt and pepper, pineapple, taro, black qiao, sesame, butter and pumpkin. Please wait five minutes while I'm going to inform the kitchen. ”

I looked at the table cards on the side of the table, and in addition to the table number, the store's signature products were also listed.

"Please give my friend a cappuccino, and I'll have another cup of black coffee. I said.

Cappuccino is creamy and slightly sweet, and it is a coffee that many girls like.

Bing'er nodded happily: "Well, thank you, that's what I mean." There are so many types of coffee, but the last thing I want to miss in any city or café is a cappuccino. ”

The waitress was very knowledgeable, pointing to the table cards and introducing: "Cappuccino and freshly baked cookie platter are the most popular signature products in the 12 years since the opening of our coffee castle. Please wait, and the cookies will be delivered out of the oven. ”

After listening to her introduction, Bing'er was eager to try: "Okay, then I really want to taste the cookies in your store." ”

The waitress stepped back, Bing'er picked up the table cards, and carefully read the recommended products on them.

Her expression at the moment is very different from the video provided by Lian Chengbi, she is no longer the leader of the beggar gang Tianzong who guards one side, but a greedy little girl.

It goes without saying that the waitress must have mistaken Bing'er for my girlfriend.

On the surface, we are just a couple who have nothing to do and wander along the streets, but no one can imagine that what we are discussing at the moment is a major event related to the thaumaturgical world and the world of rivers and lakes.

Previously, I knew that the Divine Water Mirror was a treasure, but I didn't understand what kind of strange abilities it had. If Bing'er's words are true, then the mirror that ate the Japanese invaders is the Divine Water Mirror, then its lethality is really shocking, even if the Japanese invaders sent hundreds of thousands of Kwantung troops to Shandong, in front of it, it is just Zhang Fei eating bean sprouts - a piece of cake.

Even today, the research and development of weapons of war is changing with each passing day, and the performance is increasing exponentially, and if you encounter a treasure like the Divine Water Mirror, you will also be wiped out, and all weapons will be shot into the void, and nothing will be done.

Therefore, I must read the "Plum Blossom Mansion Notes" carefully to peek into the secrets hidden under the words from another angle.

When I turned my head to look at the plastic bag, I suddenly realized that the contents had taken on a color.

As I said before, the front and back covers of "Notes on the Plum Blossom Mansion" are made of wooden boards, and with the age, the boards have become gray-black. Now, the contents of the plastic bag have become colorful, and they are printed with colorful text.

"Oh broke!" I whispered, grabbing the plastic bag.

The "Plum Blossom Mansion Notes" are not in it, but they are replaced by two "Jinan Travel Guides".

"Hit!" I didn't hesitate, turned over and jumped up, and rushed towards the place where the old man's cough had just been heard.

The pillar was two feet in diameter and could easily hide an adult.

I walked around the pillar, there was no one at the table over there, but the cup of tea on the table was still steaming.

Bing'er arrived, only three seconds behind me.

"I'll go out to chase, you call the waiter over and ask for clarification, and see what distinguishes the old man sitting here. When you ask her, call me and I have to hear every word the waiter says. I commanded urgently, then patted Bing'er on the shoulder, and then rushed out the door.

The sun had risen over the shop across the street, and it was almost half past ten in the morning.

There was a noticeable increase in the number of cars and people on the streets, coming and going, hurrying along.

I jumped into a tricycle next to me and stood in the back compartment, holding a pergola and looking north and south of the mountain road.

In Jinan, the peak period for the elderly to come out is from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., generally focusing on exercise and grocery shopping. There is also a time period from 3 to 5 o'clock in the afternoon, which is mainly for walking, walking, and playing chess.

The target I am looking for is a man over 60 years old, who should have a slightly hunched back and a very ordinary appearance that is not unobtrusive.

The reason for this judgment was all from the sound of his inadvertent coughing.

If I were the old man, after the theft was successful, I would have walked close to the side of the street, with the help of cardboard boxes, vehicles, and billboards in front of various shops as cover, and as soon as possible from the fork in the mountain road and into another horizontal side street, so as to avoid the pursuers.

In the distance, I saw a white-haired head flashing at the door of a Shaxian snack in the south. The sixth sense told me that it was the thief who came out of the coffee castle.

Without hesitation, I jumped out of the car and sped south to catch up.

The booklet is very old, but it is not up to the level of antiques, and it is very unlikely that it will cause habitual thieves to get it. Therefore, this person must have come prepared, and the target was not the money and goods on me and Bing'er, but the plastic bag.

His bag dropping technique is also really amazing, he can take the booklet and photos in a very short time, and replace them with other waste books. This kind of continuous action would take at least five to ten seconds if it were given to a normal person, and he can do it in a second or two, and it doesn't attract our attention in the slightest—of course, we don't even see when he approaches or how he succeeds.

Although there are many thieves in Jinan, they can't find anyone who has this kind of miraculous stealing skills.

I recalled his cough again and tried to analyze his origins and use this to dissect his purpose.

By the time I chased Shaxian snacks, the target was gone.

I ran forward thirty meters and quickly observed the alleys on both sides of the mountain road, and there was no shadow of the old man at all.

"Shop!" I made a judgment without thinking, and strode back.

Sure enough, when I returned to the door of Shaxian Snack, an old man was sitting with his back to the door, his back slightly hunched, his clothes were ordinary, and he covered his mouth and coughed lightly from time to time.

I walked in, sat down behind the old man, and listened silently to his cough.

A European philosopher once said that only love and cough cannot endure everything in the world.

I don't care about the former, only the second half of the sentence.

In medical theory, cough is an inevitable manifestation of the decline in the ability of the respiratory organs and the inability to work normally, and it is also a normal need of the human body, so in the cough, people cannot hide themselves, as if they have to tell the truth.

From the old man's continuous coughing, I judged that he had serious internal injuries, and I don't know who caused them.

"Hehe, hehe......" After coughing violently for a while, the old man didn't look back, and asked directly, "It's not easy to catch up with me, young man!" In the process of retreating, I made at least four layers of disguise, didn't it bother you?" The old man took the initiative to speak, and my heart slowly relaxed.

"Tracking is by heart, not by eyes. It's likely that you're in a very shoddy disguise, and I didn't even realize that you were acting on purpose. I replied softly.

There were still four or five customers in the hall, some had just sat down, and some were eating. If I had to do it this time, I'm not sure if it would have caused even more chaos and ended up not ending.

"Maybe we can talk about cooperation?" asked the old man.

"How to cooperate?" I asked rhetorically.

"How about you please eat a bowl of Shaxian Qianli Xiang wontons first?" he asked again.

Wonton is a representative of Shaxian snacks and one of the favorite street foods of Jinan people in recent years.

"If you come, you will be safe, then I will be respectful and obey my fate. I replied.

The old man beckoned to the proprietress on the other side of the counter: "Two bowls of wontons, I want a big bowl." ”

I was tired from running, so I stretched out my legs and slowly adjusted my breathing.

can cultivate "stealing" to the point of divine skill, this old man must not be an ordinary person. I'm looking forward to what he's going to say next, and I hope it will inspire me.

The philosopher once said that the world is incomparably vast, and that what we alone know is like a drop of water in the ocean, not even a drop of water, but just an insignificant molecule of water. Only by studying day and night can we gradually grow stronger and become the trendsetters of the times who fight the wind and waves and stand proudly at the forefront of the tide.

In today's rivers and lakes, no one will kindly teach others anything, and the ancient sages who were "good teachers and tireless" have long been extinct today. Therefore, if you want to learn, you have to find opportunities, methods, and clues by yourself.

"My surname is Hua. The old man spoke again.

"It's good to spend seniors, why don't you take out the information and put it on the table first, and then we can talk about cooperation?" I said.

"No problem, no problem, when you finish drinking the ravioli, the information will appear automatically. He replied.

I looked at him from behind, and if the information was on him, it must be hidden in his arms.

"That information is worthless, and it's useless for you to take it. I said.

Only those who covet the Divine Mirror will be interested in the "Plum Blossom Mansion Notes", if the other party is just a habitual thief, this booklet will be useless to him.

"Young man, let me tell you a story. You young people don't like to listen to dry truths, but you like to listen to stories. So, we old people will put the truth in the story and tell it to you slowly. Oh yes, I took your little phone just now, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, take it back, you guys, you can't live without this thing all day......"

Instead of turning around, he raised his right hand and held two mobile phones in his palm.

Only then did I understand why Bing'er hadn't called me all the time, it turned out that we had fallen in each other's way twice in a row.

"Thank you Hana-senpai. "I got my phone back and noticed that both phones were turned off.

I immediately turned on my two phones, and in less than half a minute, Bing'er's call came in.

"It's me, don't panic, our mobile phones have been taken away by this senior surnamed Hua. However, he has already returned me, and I will send it to you later. "I'll be the first to explain.

Bing'er's voice was a little angry: "No wonder, no wonder...... Mr. Xia, we have been calculated, the waitress is nowhere to be found, and the two male waiters and a cook in the coffee castle have all been drugged and are still unconscious. I'm thinking about calling the police?"

This change was very unexpected to me, I didn't care about answering Bing'er, but slid lightly, sat down opposite the old man, stared at his face, and then said into the microphone: "The affairs of the rivers and lakes can only be solved by the people of the rivers and lakes themselves." You hurry out and go south, and this senior and I are in the snack bar in Shaxian County. ”

Bing'er agreed, and hung up the phone with a snap.

The old man's face was very pale, and the beard on and under his lips was cleanly shaved, except for a little stubble.

He wore a gray jacket with a zipper, which was pulled up to the Adam's apple, covering all the parts below his head.

The weather outside is normal, and all pedestrians will open their collars to welcome the sun and breeze. He deliberately did this, which seemed very abrupt and weird.

"Do you still have a companion??waitress in the café??, and the materials have been handed over to her to take away?" I asked.

In the thief industry, many times it is a gang that commits the crime, and it is the vanguard who steals, and it is the support team that receives the goods and covers. As soon as the pioneer succeeds, the backup immediately follows in a few seconds, and the stolen goods change hands immediately when the two sides meet, so even if the owner finds out that the lost thing is traced, the pioneer will not be caught.

"Whatever you think, you say yes, that's it?" the old man neither denied nor admitted.

I handed over the phone and stared at him aggressively: "Call, let the woman send the things back, I pay for the hard work, how about it?"

If one thing can be solved with money, then it is absolutely not a problem. And, if you can solve it with money, never try to use your fists, it will only outweigh the losses.

"How much can I give?" asked the old man.

"One hundred thousand. I replied.

This price is not high, and there have been several "redemption of stolen items" in Jinan before, and each time the owner has offered more than one million yuan. The most sensational thing was that a southern boss offered a reward of 5 million to find the stolen "topaz dragon head" case, and the highest-level colleagues in the economic south made a match, and the boss finally got what he wanted and redeemed what belonged to him.

"No, no, no...... No, it's too little, I want five million. The old man said slowly.

Brochures and photographs are of no value to the average person. If he dares to make an offer of five million, it is tantamount to driving me to a dead end, and I must pay a high price for that information.

Thinking about it further, at present, only Bing'er and I understand the content of the booklet, once it is widely disseminated, it will attract countless strong opponents, and it is unknown who will die in the end.

"Senior, why deceive people too much?" I asked lightly.

"It doesn't matter, if you don't pay, then it's better if we haven't met. It's worth 100,000 in your eyes, and 5 million in my eyes, and the price difference is too big to be sold. I don't force you to buy it, but you and I should both believe that someone will definitely pay this price, right?" The old man was also very calm, and seemed to have calculated what I thought in my heart.

I looked around the shop out of the corner of my eye, and once the customers were gone, I could give it a go without hesitation. What's more, I still have an advantageous condition, Bing'er is here in a blink of an eye, and with two against one, our chances of winning will be doubled.

"Young people, don't be slimy in doing things, learn to cut through the mess quickly and make decisions immediately. Alright, here comes your ravioli—" The old man gestured behind me.

I didn't look back, but stared into the old man's eyes, lest he cheat again.

The only time Bing'er and I showed a flaw in the coffee burger was when she waved to the help desk. At that moment, the eyes of the two of us left the table at the same time for about twenty seconds, and only then did the old man on the other side have a chance to make a move.

A young guy came over with a wonton and placed it in front of me.

The wontons of Shaxian snacks are very delicious, coriander, sesame oil, chili oil, sesame juice, crushed peanuts, and white sesame seeds are not lacking.

"Let's eat, let's talk about business after eating. The old man said.

I nodded and smiled lightly: "Senior, I don't dare to eat." Until my friend arrives, I must keep my eyes on you without blinking, lest I be teased again. Five million, why don't you just say fifty million, then I will completely give up the idea of redeeming the stolen goods and directly rob it. ”

The old man shook his head: "Alas, the numbers don't matter, I'm just using this 'five million' to test you to see if those materials are worth anything." As a result, my experiment was very successful, and the information is 100% important to you, so the secret hidden in it will be worth a lot more, like you said, 50 million or more. Money is drawn out of the money printing machine, as long as there is electricity, paper, ink, how much you want, but this treasure is different, there is only one thing in the world, there is no copy. ”

I felt a pain in my heart, deliberately guarding against the other party's "hand", but ignoring the other party's "brain", and unconsciously, I lost another ride in the brain competition.

"Senior, my friend has a bad temper, doesn't have enough self-cultivation, and has no money. She came, and she couldn't have offended much. I slowly sank my face.

The old man turned his back upwards and snorted silently, with a very contemptuous attitude.

At the moment, I sit in front of him, and I can easily observe his chest, waist, and abdomen. Those were the three easiest places to hide the plastic bag, but his clothes didn't bulge, so it was clear that the plastic bag wasn't there.

"Could it be that the waitress is the key? I'm going in the wrong direction?" I asked myself with trepidation.

As the old saying goes, it takes two to catch a traitor, and a thief to catch a thief.

At present, I have only caught the old man opposite, if I can't find the stolen goods from him, then Bing'er and I will be in a very embarrassing situation, because the other party can call the police at any time to accuse me and Bing'er of defamation and infringement of citizens' personal freedom.