Chapter 390: Qionglong Stone Shadow: The Fish Is With Me

"The fish is with me."

This was a line I found on a missing person website when I searched for the names of the archaeological team members on Yongxing Island.

Just now, when I was telling the old lady about my experiences, I didn't mention this line because it was a detail I skipped over entirely. Huo Xiuxiu recited it slowly, with a hint of teasing and a hint of pride. When I heard her say that, I was already a bit surprised, and it dawned on me that she might actually know something; otherwise, she wouldn't have uttered such a key phrase.

It seemed she had also searched those people's names online and had seen that website. This at least proved she had indeed investigated these matters.

Facing this young girl, I felt surprisingly calm. It was strange that I felt no curiosity or doubt. Probably because she was younger, I felt my experience in the world surpassed hers. Seeing her smug look, I almost laughed to myself—what was there to be so proud of?

"Alright, I admit you've also looked into this matter. But that website is too easy to find; that doesn't mean you know something I don't. I saw that photo years ago."

The girl's expression didn't change. She still looked at me with that same expression and said leisurely, "You're wrong. I didn't say I found the words on that photo from searching online."

I was taken aback. Then I felt there was some implication in her words. At first, her brow and eyes had me a bit dazzled, but I soon realized what she meant—I understood that her smile wasn't just a child's smugness.

I thought, why was she looking at me with such confidence? I hadn't come across as passive, and I felt I wasn't weak in presence. But her gaze never wavered, as if she was one hundred percent sure she could convince me. Yet the thing she used to convince me didn't seem that powerful.

I assessed the situation. I felt it unlikely she was bluffing because that would be too low-level. If it wasn't a bluff, then she believed what she presented was very strong, and maybe I hadn't grasped the strong part of it. As I thought, a sudden idea grew intense. I thought, no way.

"Big sister," I blurted out, "Did you post that missing person notice and that photo? Did you write that sentence?"

"Mm, good boy," Huo Xiuxiu said smugly. "When you said you searched those names just now, I knew you'd definitely find that photo."

"You—" I was momentarily at a loss for how to react. Damn, I had always thought the person who posted that thing should at least be an older person, like Third Uncle, some elder brother in the archaeological team. I never expected it to be this young girl.

The girl took a very cartoonish notebook from her pocket, pulled out a black-and-white photo, and handed it to me. It was that group photo. On it were written the words "The fish is with me," exactly the same as what I had seen online. It must have been scanned from this photo and posted online.

This was the first time I saw the original of their group photo. Holding it in my hand gave me a feeling like time had passed in an instant. "Look at this too." Xiuxiu took out another photo and handed it to me.

I instantly recognized it as a photo of Huo Ling when she was young. It was a full-body shot. She must have been just a little past her teenage years, wearing clothes typical of that era, with a ponytail. On the edge were printed words: "Youth Day Commemoration." I felt a stir in my heart—she was so enchanting she seemed like a demoness, very similar to the Xiuxiu before me.

"This is my aunt when she was eighteen, taken on May Fourth Youth Day at Wangfujing."

"What about it?" I asked, puzzled.

"Look at this one." Xiuxiu took out another photo. It was a newspaper picture showing a Liberation truck with flower balls. I didn't know what event in Beijing it was, but I could recognize the background of the Liberation truck—it was the same intersection where the previous photo of Huo Ling was taken. I saw the same street sign.

"I found this at the Beijing Museum. It seems to be from 1984, another photo of the same intersection. Based on the height of the Liberation truck and the shooting angle, I deduced the height of the street sign. Then, using the street sign, I estimated my aunt's height. At the same time, I found out what shoes she was wearing at the time and calculated her barefoot height, which was about 168 cm. Now look at this." She handed me another color photo. I immediately recognized it as the dock from the ten-person group photo in Xisha, but there was no one in the dock. It was an empty scene, with a sand dune in the background. A Phoenix bicycle was leaning against a bollard.

"I found that dock back then. Using the same angle to shoot, I used the bollard on the dock as a standard. I calculated the bollard's height using the bicycle, also found the shoes she wore at that time, and measured my aunt's barefoot height in this photo, which was about 160 cm."

"A difference of eight centimeters," Fatty frowned.

"I accounted for shoe factors. Since there were few types of shoes back then, this calculation method has been verified and is very accurate. If you include shoes, the heights of the people in the two photos are basically the same. But if you calculate without shoes, you'll find that a young girl, during her adolescent years, actually shrank by eight centimeters," Xiuxiu said. "They really are two different people. Your deduction is correct!"

I let out a long breath. Xiuxiu then said, "I haven't shown these to my grandmother yet, but it seems my aunt really did die."

"You're a sharp little girl," Fatty said, amazed as he looked at the photos. "This is high-tech stuff."

"I'm a cultured person, unlike you," Xiuxiu said smugly. "So, what do you think? Am I qualified to make a deal with you now?"