Book 1: Chapter 77


    Pingtan was a magical ce full of old, mottled houses with ck tiles and white walls. When we left the hospital, Fatty led the way. We took a ck motorcycle and went through one old vige after another. The motorcycle owner charged us a lot of money and Fatty felt that we were being defrauded. After arguing with the other party for a long time, the motorcycle owner said that he was already showing us consideration. We could take a taxi and see for ourselves. The taxis in this ce made the headlines once they started running the meter.


    I was wearing slippers as Izily wandered into the vige. I could hear the sound of the waves in the distance. The old houses here were densely packed together and many of the old walls were made of stone. There was a stark contrast between the white walls and ck tiles that made both appear especially vivid. After staring at them for a long time, I almost felt as if I was in an ink wash painting.


    Half of the vige was on t ground with the sea on the outskirts, while the other half was on the slope of the reef mountain. We walked up the steps to the vige. As Fatty looked at the house numbers one by one, I began to look over the house eaves at the distant sea. There were some terraces interspersed between the vige and the beach that were covered in dense vegetation. That, coupled with the blue sky and white clouds, made me feel particrly content.


    Fatty asked me why I was so rxed all of a sudden. I told him that I couldnt help rxing when I thought that this next thing had nothing to do with what I had done during the previous half of my life. The past decade was considered an amazing feat, so I had nothing to be dissatisfied with.


    Fatty said that I finally found a reason to forgive myself and that being terrified for my life was the greatest medicine. I cursed at him and asked what he wanted from me.


    Fatty turned his head to light his cigarette and catch his breath before saying to me, "It may have something to do with what happened to you before. Did you know that this ind wasnt called Pingtan Ind before? Do you know what it was called a long time ago?"


    "Haitan Ind. It was also called Zun Ind." I looked at him smugly, wanting to know what other garbage woulde out of his mouth.


    "Pingtan Ind used to be called Qilin Ind," he said faintly.


    I paused as Fatty took out his phone and brought up a picture. It was an aerial view of Pingtan Ind. "What does the ind look like? Do you see it?"


    I took the phone and almost dropped it when I saw the picture.


    The whole t surface of Pingtan Ind was shaped like a Qilin, and its shape was very simr to Poker-Faces tattoo.


    I rubbed my eyes and thought Fatty was lying to me for a moment. I nced at the watermark on the picture and saw that it definitely belonged to a specialized hydrological website. This was a satellite image from the national website.


    "Its a lie." My mind had gonepletely nk.


    Fatty handed me a cigarette and said, "Now you know why your Uncle Two wanted him to stay."


    "Why?"


    "You always suspected that his tattoo was a map. What do you think? Is it possible his tattoo is a map of the South Sea country? Was the South Sea countrys vast underground river territory something that could be managed by memory alone? Fatty asked sternly.


    I lit the cigarette, inhaled the smoke to calm myself down, and remembered that the map of Poker-Faces tattoo had nothing to do with the South Sea country. It was a pattern of another ce.


    Fatty continued, "Don''t forget that Little Brother went to Xisha with your Uncle Three and Qi Yu back then. So, Qi Yu wasn''t the only one who could take your Uncle Three into Falling Cloud Countrys underground territory. Its very likely Little Brother could, too."


    I narrowed my eyes and Fatty hooked his arm around my shoulder. "Little Brother goes roaming around the Fujian mountains and often stays out all night. Hes either sleeping his way through all the viges around us or hes looking for something."


    "What do you mean? Are you saying Little Brother is still hiding something from us? I asked.


    Fatty shook his head, "No, I think the biggest possibility is that he might have found some clues and remembered something when he was traveling in the mountains. Let me give you an example. Say youre walking along and you see a hair salon. You suddenly remember that you slept with a girl a few days ago and didn''t pay her, but you can''t remember who it is. It''s not a big deal, but you''ll think hard about it since it''s haunting you."


    I looked at Fatty''s cell phone and told myself that there was no way this could happen. I had found a ce to live in seclusion and ended up finding Little Brothers memory at the same time.


    But after living so long, he may have memories everywhere.


    There was no denying the fact that Pingtan Inds topography was really amazing. Although they werentpletely identical, the shapes of both Qilin were almost the same. Poker-Faces tattoo was very exaggerated and I had seen it countless times. The outline in my memory was suffocatingly simr to this satellite image.


    "Dont be so tense. Theres one thing you shouldnt forget. Many of your preferences were designed ording to Qi Yu. Think about it. When you chose Fujian, did it just so happen to coincide with Qi Yus habits? Think about it carefully. How did youe up with the idea to stay in Fujian?"


    I thought about it and said with certainty, "It''s because I love to eat ding bian hu (1)."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Ding Bian Hu is a characteristic dish of Fuzhou cuisine, a branch of Fujian cuisine, consisting of a rice flour batter poured around the side of a cooking wok to form a thin noodle. Its then scraped into a stock to simmer and served in broth.