Zhaocheng is not a famous place, and its tourist attractions are sparsely populated.
The dozing gatekeeper glanced at Yang Huanyi and Shang Yechu's electronic tickets, raised his eyelids, and let the two in.
Shang Yechu and Yang Huanyi split up into two groups, following the strategy given by Luo Yao. One group went to find Zhao Lele's residence, while the other went to find Lin Fengyu's residence.
The mansion itself is quite grand. However, decades of wind and rain, along with repairs, have made it appear rather old and worn, with a gloomy atmosphere that makes one feel very uncomfortable.
The first impression of this mansion is suffocating. It features high Western-style walls and deep courtyards, with multiple gates. The garden is overgrown with weeds, presenting a scene of decay.
Visiting a place like this is hardly pleasant. No wonder this tourist attraction looks like it's about to go out of business.
Everything inside the mansion was covered by glass display cases, each reflecting a vague image of Shang Yechu. Shang Yechu had no time to examine them closely; following Luo Yao's directions, she first found Zhao Lele's room.
Zhao Lele's room wasn't anything special, just large and spacious. Times had changed, and the original decor was no longer discernible. Shang Yechu wandered around the room for a long time but found nothing particularly remarkable.
One step, two steps. Just ten steps from Zhao Lele's room was Zhao Cheng's room. It seemed Zhao Cheng truly cared deeply for his only daughter.
After searching for a while without finding anything, Shang Yechu couldn't help but feel a little discouraged. She sent a voice message to Yang Huanyi: "Sister Yi, have you found Lin Fengyu's room yet?"
"Found it, it's at the very back of corridor number 6 on the second floor."
Shang Yechu estimated the distance between Lin Fengyu's room and Zhao Cheng's and Zhao Lele's room, and couldn't help but gasp: So far? It must have been quite difficult for Lin Fengyu to come and find Zhao Lele.
"Besides Lin Fengyu's room, there have been some new discoveries," Yang Huanyi's voice came through the phone. "This Zhao Cheng—"
A hint of undisguised disgust surfaced in Yang Huanyi's voice: "He has quite a few concubines. Besides Lin Fengyu, there are others."
This is a new situation. The old lady in the nursing home is preoccupied with her and Lin Fengyu's bittersweet love story, knows nothing about anything else in the family, and has never mentioned her father's other women.
What did you discover?
A few seconds later, a photo was sent over. Shang Yechu clicked on it and saw that it was a group photo.
The photo shows about a dozen women, some fat and some thin, but of similar height. Due to its age, the image quality is unclear, and their faces appear to be from the same mold.
These are "cultural relics" on display inside the scenic spot. Through the glass case, Shang Yechu's eyes were dazzled. He could vaguely make out the small print at the bottom of the group photo: "1951, Zhao Family Choir".
Upon seeing this line of text, Shang Yechu immediately understood why Yang Huanyi had questioned the women's identities. She and Yang Huanyi had checked all of Zhao Cheng's records; he was from a feudal landlord family, had never been abroad, and had never studied overseas. Earlier, upon entering the mansion, Shang Yechu and Yang Huanyi had seen statues of Guan Yu, Guanyin, various Buddhas, and even Lü Dongbin, but hadn't seen a statue of Christ.
It's ridiculous that such a person would support a choir of more than a dozen people, all of whom are young women.
No, no.
Shang Yechu felt a strange unease. If that's the case, why doesn't Zhao Cheng just put Lin Fengyu in the choir as well, making her a choir member? Why go through all that trouble, insisting on making Lin Fengyu his goddaughter? It's like taking off your pants to fart!
Unexpectedly, Yang Huanyi discovered more than she had. Shang Yechu's mind raced: "Sister, wait for me over there. I'll go take a look."
The photo is too blurry; some parts are hard to see.
"Okay." Yang Huanyi sent a voice message, "I'm feeling really creepy here too. Come quick."
Shang Yechu immediately sprinted towards Yang Huanyi's location. She had just recovered from a serious illness, and her bones were still a little sore from moving, but she couldn't care less.
Footsteps approached, and Yang Huanyi walked to the door and peeked out. She saw Shang Yechu walking slowly towards her, with what appeared to be sweat on his forehead. She quickly pulled out a tissue from her bag.
"Why are you walking so fast?" Yang Huanyi grumbled softly as she wiped Shang Yechu's sweat. "This is a tourist attraction, after all. What if you break something while you're running around like a chicken?"
At this moment, Yang Huanyi was no longer as young and carefree as when she was riding her motorcycle; signs of aging seemed to have returned to her. She even resembled a nagging old woman.
This change gave Shang Yechu a slight jolt, but something more important quickly overwhelmed her. Shang Yechu opened her mouth: "Ten minutes."
"What ten minutes?" Yang Huanyi withdrew her hand.
“When I came here, I looked around.” Shang Yechu stared at Yang Huanyi, her palms already sweating. “The front building where Zhao Lele lives and the back building where Lin Fengyu lives each have a complete system – independent kitchens, washrooms, laundry rooms, canteens, bedrooms… and so on.”
Yang Huanyi tilted her head slightly. Before she could ask, Shang Yechu continued, "Zhao Cheng and Zhao Lele live in the front building. In other words, in the Zhao family, Zhao Cheng and Zhao Lele are undoubtedly superior people. As long as they don't want to, they don't need to have any interaction with the 'inferior people' in the back building."
Shang Yechu took a deep breath and exhaled, "Ten minutes is the time it would take me to walk from the front building where Zhao Lele lives to Lin Fengyu's room at a normal pace."
For a mansion, this is already a long walk.
Yang Huanyi was taken aback, then laughed and said, "Is your clothing too thick? You're sweating so much even at a normal pace."
Shang Yechu didn't mention that the sweat was from the pain, skipping over the topic, and continued, "Theoretically speaking, Zhao Lele and Lin Fengyu could live independently in their respective 'buildings' and never see each other again. Zhao Cheng probably wouldn't actively let his daughter visit the woman he's keeping, would he?"
"so……"
Shang Yechu hesitated for a moment, then said, "The script says that Zhao Lele first met Lin Fengyu in the 'downstairs hall.' Is this hall the front building or the back building?"
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