Tang Shan made an aluminum jar with raw rice, and he looked like he had no appetite, so he gave it all to the old man very righteously.

The old man ate half-cooked rice with the half-clay pot of pickles that were about to stink, and at first he was too hungry to swallow it, and the more he ate, the more dissatisfied he became. In the end, he threw the remaining half jar of rice on the ground, and did not keep his promise to tell the story immediately, but complained:

"I burned a whole chair, why did I cook the rice like this? Where are the fires? ”

Tang Shan was born in the countryside, and when he was in his hometown, he used to make rice and cook by himself, and even fried dishes that did not sell very well. However, he had never cooked in such rudimentary conditions, and he didn't even have a decent pot, only a broken aluminum can, so how could he operate it?

With bricks erected on the side of the wall and a fire burned below, what is the life of modern people? It's like a monkey that just came down from a tree 10,000 years ago. Tang Shan was indignant at first.

Due to the lack of experience in primitive life, the rice was put a little too much, the water was added a little little, and the capacity of the aluminum jar was too small, and after boiling, the water overflowed, and the fire that was finally built below was extinguished three times.

Tang Shan didn't care if the old man told the story or not, he was angry that he finally cooked the meal with patience, and the damn old man was still picky, he thought to himself, what do I owe you in my last life? Criminals from afar come to cook for you? You're not my fucking grandpa.

But looking at the old man's dying appearance, Tang Shan had no choice but to pour all his anger on the chair that was difficult to ignite, and incoherently blamed it for its incompleteness:

"Where is there a whole chair? It's good to have a leg missing. And I don't know what wood is made of, so I can't light it at all. ”

When the old man heard him say this, he was amused:

"The chair has been smashed apart, and it is completely out of shape, and you can still see that there is a leg missing, and the eye is good."

Tang Shan was still indignant in his heart, but he didn't know what to say. He opened his mouth and closed it reluctantly.

The old man nodded suddenly, and said to himself:

"This also shows that I didn't misunderstand anyone, you kid really has a talent for chess."

Tang Shan was stunned: "What do you mean?" In addition to seeing through the authenticity of a woman's breasts, you can also see the talent of others at a glance? Then why don't you see that I don't have the ability to cook? ”

The old man ignored Tang Shan's ridicule and continued to analyze:

"Being able to quickly restore the image of the chair from a pile of fragments, and immediately find that one leg is missing, shows that you have a strong sense of three-dimensionality and wholeness. When applied to the chessboard, it can be both meticulous and have a view of the overall situation; What's more, you are likely to have an ability to review beyond ordinary people. This is the most important innate quality of a player. ”

Tang Shan smiled noncommittally: "A broken chair, you have led to a set of abstract theories." You called me here just to say this useless? ”

The old man suddenly remembered something and asked, "I left a message in the bridge cave at noon yesterday, why didn't you come until now?" ”

Tang Shan was stunned again: "I didn't expect you to leave a message in the bridge cave yesterday." I went to the bridge again today, but I didn't see you, so I ran to the bridge to try my luck. To tell you the truth, I'm also very bored, I want to find you to work together, go to the bridge and cheat some money to spend, if there is anything else to do, I will definitely not run to the bridge hole, and I will not appear here. ”

The old man pondered for a while, and finally smiled gloomily: "Maybe it's really providence." ”

Tang Shan was dissatisfied: "Can you not pretend to be so profound?" People who are dozens of years old still have such bad habits. ”

The old man pointed to his chest: "If you had arrived in time yesterday, it is likely that you were the one who was stabbed." Moreover, you may not only be stabbed by this knife, it is difficult to say whether you will be able to get out of the shipyard gate alive. ”

Tang Shan was taken aback: "Won't it?" Who have I offended? ”

Old man: "Do you know that from dusk to evening yesterday, the largest group brawl in Maple Grove Town in the past ten years took place here. ”

Tang Shan didn't understand, and spread his hands: "What does that have to do with me?" When they beat them, it was a grudge against the rivers and lakes. I didn't do anything. ”

Old man: "It's none of your business. It has something to do with me. If they happened to see you with me when they arrived yesterday, it would have been a big problem. ”

Tang Shan was surprised, but also very dissatisfied: "It's here again, tell you not to talk like this." After all this detour, I don't even know what you want to say. What do I have to do with all this? Do you have to be stabbed if you're with me? Who have you offended on the rivers and lakes? ”

Old man: "To put it simply, it goes like this: Yesterday two gangs of people came out into this wilderness to find something on me or in my dwelling. Of course, I didn't find anything, and the arrival time of the two gangs happened to be staggered, so I played a clever trick to divert the target, and let the two gangs get together.

If you happen to be here too, and they don't find what they're looking for in me, they're going to target you, and it's not going to be so easy to shift anymore. Even if you escaped yesterday, you won't be able to live on the streets in the future, and I'm afraid you'll have to flee all over the world. ”

After hearing this, Tang Shan was still a little confused, and he couldn't figure it out if he wanted to break his head, so the more he thought about it, the more angry he became, and even raised his voice an octave:

"Why are you targeting me? At most, I followed you to sell fake drugs on the street twice, and I wasn't the protagonist yet, just a trust, and the second time I didn't make any money, I was beaten. You are the liar who sells fake medicines, you dig the roots of the tree, you carve them with your own hands, and in the end, you collect the money. ”

The old man smiled: "It has nothing to do with selling fake medicines. These people are not police, so what do I care about selling fake medicines? As I said, they're here looking for something. ”

Tang Shan was still confused: "Okay, what are they looking for?" ”

The old man replied succinctly: "A piece of paper." ”

Tang Shan was even more confused: "What kind of paper is so valuable?" Can you fill in a cheque with any number? ”

The old man couldn't help but laugh again: "Why are you so vulgar at such a young age?" Thinking about money at every turn? ”

Tang Shan felt a wave of anger in his heart: "Okay, good, I'm vulgar, you are elegant, elegant to the four walls of the house, and even cooking a bowl of rice can can only be used to burn the chair next to the wall with an aluminum can." However, when you talk to me, don't be too elegant, and say something that is easy to understand, okay? What kind of broken paper is that? ”

The old man still smiled: "In layman's terms, it is a fragment of a chess game." ”

Although Tang Shan still didn't understand much, he was already interested, and the initial curiosity and patience that he didn't have much in the first place had disappeared. He spread his hands and made an indifferent attitude:

"Understood, it's just a boring chess game drawn on a piece of broken paper. They want it, you just give it to them, why make it so serious? You don't rely on chess games to eat, but on selling fake medicines. Don't tell me, you're afraid that the chess game will spread and reveal any trade secrets. ”

The old man didn't speculate when he saw this, so he smiled helplessly: "You still don't understand." You have no idea what that game scrap means. ”

Tang Shan also smiled bitterly: "Of course I don't know what it means. It has nothing to do with me. Do you know what I want to know? ”

The words were fast, a bit like tongue twisters, especially the last sentence, which sounded like the word "know", but the old man actually understood, and asked curiously:

"What do you want to know? I know everything, though. ”

Tang Shan let out a long sigh, his face full of confusion: "What I want to know is, why do you live in such a shabby place. I also want to know, how did you make your life so hard? ”

This is a sad thing, but the old man is not sad at all: "I'm a bad old man with no home and no room, how upscale can I live?" ”

Tang Shan looked around, still confused: "I originally thought that even if you weren't very rich, at least you didn't lack food, clothing, housing and transportation." Pointing to the four walls, "How did you think your house was like this?" ”

Hearing this, the old man was also puzzled: "Why do you think so?" ”

Tang Shan: "Isn't it obvious? Although you don't have a proper job, your income is not bad, even much higher than that of ordinary office workers, and you made 2,000 yuan by selling those fake drugs in about two hours that night. Even if you make a discount when business is bad, and set up a stall every two or three days, you can make tens of thousands of dollars in a month, right? In this way, it is not difficult to rent a house and buy some daily necessities. But you make your life the way it is, tell me, where did you use all the money you cheated? ”

The old man laughed: "Boy, although you have strong observation and analysis skills, you are still a little simpler in looking at problems. ”

Tang Shan looked confused again: "What do you mean?" ”

Old man: "First of all, in the two hours that night, I didn't earn 2,000, and my income was only more than 800 yuan; The 2,000 I gave you included more than 1,000 of my own savings. Secondly, the more than 800 yuan that night was the most profitable in my career of selling counterfeit drugs, and the key reason was that I had your trust. Third, selling fake drugs on the street can no longer be stopped, there are few real fools on the street, and when I buy medicines here, I basically have the mentality of being a dead horse as a live horse doctor, and I cheated the first time, and there is usually no second time. So, in normal times, I can meet a few strangers every once in a while, and then deceive dozens or hundreds, which is already good. In the end, my main business is not to sell counterfeit drugs, but to set up the endgame. ”

Tang Shan opened his mouth wide when he heard this, and he was stunned, he originally thought that it would be easy to cheat on the street, but he didn't expect this line of work to be so difficult.

After being stunned for a long time, Tang Shan asked, "I don't understand the first point." It's already unreasonable for you to give me all your earnings for the night, and it makes me feel incredible to take all your own savings. Tell me, what is your purpose? ”

The old man said nonchalantly: "The first reason is that I don't have long to live, and money has no meaning to me. ”

Tang Shan was startled again: "Can't live long?" Didn't you say it wasn't bad? ”

The old man answered quickly: "Listen to me explain slowly." I mean I won't live long, not that I have a knife wound in my chest now, but I already have a terminal illness, you don't have to be surprised, it's normal to have a terminal illness at this age. I've been to the hospital and been diagnosed, don't ask about the specific cause, that's not the point. Anyway, I won't live more than half a year. But I gave you all the money, but there was another reason. ”

Tang Shan said confusedly: "What is the other reason? ”

Old man: "You've been chosen by me." In other words, I fancy that you have an indescribable temperament that can pass on a secret. Originally, I was just tempting, but the next day when I was pressed to the ground, you didn't hesitate to turn around and help me, which made me firm up my opinion. Now, you can come to me with the instructions of a note, and make me feel even more that it is a providence. ”

Before Tang Shan could reply, the old man continued: "Strong curiosity, trustworthiness, chivalry, and extraordinary talent for chess are all the reasons why I chose you. ”

The more Tang Shan listened, the more confused he became: "Don't be in a hurry to praise first, the more you praise me, the more afraid I am." Tell me what the hell you want me to do? ”

The old man smiled: "I just said that I want you to pass on a secret. And to keep it a secret. ”

Tang Shan was even more confused: "What secret?" ”

Old man: "The secret of the chess game." ”

Tang Shan couldn't help but say: "Chess game? The one that both gangs are looking for? ”

Old man: "That's right. The name of this chess game, called 'Jade Silk Jinding', came from the hand of Wen Tianxiang of the Southern Song Dynasty. ”