Three minutes later...
Su Ran said, "I know where this is."
My aunt was surprised: "You know?"
Zhou Bolin was suspicious: "Is that so?"
Uncle Zhou rushed out, holding a kitchen knife: "Really?"
Su Ran nodded: "Yeah, I can see it's there."
Uncle Zhou: "I've been looking at it for half my life and I still can't figure it out, but you figured it out in just a few minutes? Tell me how you figured it out."
Su Ran scratched his head awkwardly: "Uh...actually there is a trick. I'll analyze it for you."
A group of onlookers looked at Su Ran doubtfully.
Su Ran took the pen and began a transcendent moment.
"The information this photo gives us is trees, forests, wooden houses, blue sky and white clouds. At first glance, there is nothing useful to see, so we need to find useful information from this seemingly useless information."
Everyone: ???
"The first thing we can confirm is that the photo was taken in a forest."
Uncle Zhou: "Yeah, there are so many forests in the country, how would you know which one it is?"
"So we have to move to the second step, the process of elimination."
Everyone: ???
"Look at the shrub in front of the lens in the photo. It's a palm tree, which mainly grows in the south. There's also a large ginkgo tree next to it, which is also mainly distributed in the south. From this, we can infer that the photo was taken in southern my country."
Zhou Bolin: "The South is so big, there are ginkgo trees everywhere."
"Look, there's a white streak in the sky. It must have been left by a passing plane. Also, the light coming through the gaps between the trees in the photo is almost 90 degrees, so it's probably noon."
Everyone nodded: "Go on."
"Let's look closely at the leaves. The textbook teaches us how to tell directions by the density of leaves. The denser the leaves, the south. The denser the leaves, the north. You see, the leaves on the left side of the cabin are denser, indicating it's facing south."
Zhou Bolin: "That's not necessarily true. What if these are shade-loving plants?"
Su Ran: ...
My aunt said angrily: "Zhou Bolin, are you a nitpicker? Su Ran, ignore him, just continue."
"Based on the light and density of the leaves, we can determine that the photographer took this photo between 11:00 AM and 1:00 AM, standing west in a forest in the south. Coincidentally, a plane was flying overhead. From this analysis, we can clearly see that the plane was flying from the southeast to the northwest."
Uncle Zhou: "And then?"
"The white line drawn by the plane would be thin and even if it was in flight. The white line in the photo is thick and dense, indicating that it was descending. This suggests there was an airport nearby. In the 1990s, there were relatively few domestic airports, and most of them were located in provincial capitals."
"And then there's the time in the lower right corner: November 22, 1990."
Uncle Zhou: "What does this mean?"
"Flight, south, 11am to 1am, airport nearby, that's all the useful information."
"I searched online for the weather forecast for southern China at noon on November 22, 1990, focusing on provincial capitals with airports. I excluded cities with rainy or cloudy weather, leaving Guiyang, Kunming, and Changsha."
Zhou Bolin: "You're not sure. There are only a few cities in the south, and the weather forecast is not accurate. What if it's Guangdong, Shenzhen, or Shanghai? You can't be sure, right, Grandpa?"
Uncle Zhou: "That makes sense."
Aunt: "Oh, Su Ran hasn't finished speaking yet, Su Ran, go ahead."
Su Ran: "Okay, I've ruled this out based on historical weather forecasts, the southeast to northwest flight routes of that day, and the time period around noon. I've concluded that there are flights landing in Guicheng, Kuncheng, and Changsha, and the weather there is clear."
Zhou Bolin: ...
Uncle Zhou: "So the scope has been narrowed down now?"
Su Ran: "Yes, these three places."
Uncle Zhou gave a thumbs-up and said, "That's awesome."
"Continue to analyze Guicheng, Kuncheng, and Changsha. The forest in the photo is located southeast of the airport."
As he spoke, Su Ran found a map of China in the 1990s on his phone and circled the coordinates: Guicheng, Kuncheng, and Changsha.
"Since it's landing, it means the forest is within a certain distance from the airport. I checked the landing standards for aircraft, and they usually start descending within 50 kilometers of the airport."
As he spoke, he circled an area fifty kilometers southeast of the three airports.
"Now it's clear that there are no mountains around Changsha and Kunming, but back then, there were many mountains within 50 kilometers of Guicheng Airport. Guizhou is known as the Kingdom of Plants. Look at the photos, there are many wild plants, all of which we have never seen, and there are many towering trees. This shows that this place was a protected area back then, and that it was not modified."
"We compared the current map with the map from that year. The places that Shan Mao did not change should be the locations shown in the photo."
Su Ran enlarged the map on his phone and compared it with the tablet.
"Here, in the Dayue Mountains of your city."
Although this operation made everyone's mouths open wider than goose eggs.
"What a talent!" Uncle Zhou patted Su Ran on the shoulder. "Guohua, your nephew has made you proud. He solved a problem that has troubled me for thirty years in just a few minutes. That's amazing."
Su Ran said modestly, "Uncle Zhou, you're too kind. I was just lucky."
"Excessive humility equals pride, you know?"
"Uh...Okay, Uncle Zhou, is there any significance in you finding this place?"
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