Those who laid down the millennium stakes…

Could it be the Genius Club?

Lin Xian's first thought was this mysterious organization.

But wasn't that a bit unrealistic?

The Genius Club was indeed powerful, but could it really be powerful to the point of manipulating time and space?

Previously, Lin Xian's prediction of their strength was roughly limited to the level of influencing history, a huge historical black hand hidden in the river of history.

But now.

They couldn't possibly have the ability to control time and space, could they?

What were others supposed to do then!

Lin Xian wasn't sure if his idea was right... because he was becoming more and more confused, not knowing what kind of existence, strength, or methods the Genius Club actually possessed.

Mysterious.

Too mysterious.

After so much exploration and in-depth investigation, Lin Xian felt that he understood the Genius Club less and less.

However, whether the specific millennium stakes and historical lockdowns were related to the Genius Club was still inconclusive.

Because all of this was just his speculation.

He had just been staring at the pile driver on the construction site when he had a sudden inspiration and came up with this idea.

What was the specific truth?

What was the answer?

Perhaps further verification was needed.

…

Besides.

Lin Xian also thought of a coincidence.

[00:42]

This extremely bizarre time.

The end time of his dream was 00:42.

The time when Chu Anqing turned into blue stardust and disappeared into thin air was 00:42.

The Seven Deadly Sins, the murders committed by Ji Xinshui and Ji Lin, were also fixed at 00:42.

The official capture time of the space-time particle was also displayed as 00:42 on the rice cooker.

In the first dream, the time of the death of Big Face Cat's father was also 00:42.

In the second dream, the answer to the cosmological constant calculated by Big Face Cat's father was also a surprisingly coincidental 42.

Lin Xian never expected it.

It had been more than a year since he first came into contact with the concept of the cosmological constant.

But after such a big circle, he had finally come back to where he started!

Back and forth, left and right, around and around, everything was revolving around the mysterious number 42!

What magic did this number have?

What was its relationship with the Genius Club, space-time particles, millennium stakes, history, and the universe?

"Ah…"

Lin Xian felt like he was making himself dizzy.

Sure enough.

In the end, the core and end point of everything was still the [cosmological constant].

As long as the secret of the cosmological constant was understood, then the truth of 42 would be known. And once the truth of 42 was known, perhaps the millennium stakes and the Genius Club, which were born based on 42, would be solved easily.

"Fortunately, although the energy of the space-time particle has been exhausted, it is fortunate that it can still calibrate Liu Feng's [Space-Time Clock]. It can be regarded as the official start of the research on the cosmological constant... at least, the first step has been taken."

Lin Xian twirled his pen.

After figuring out what happened to Chu Anqing, he would go to the Donghai University laboratory to find Liu Feng to see if there was any progress in the research on the cosmological constant.

Just as Lin Xian was thinking.

Gao Yang also finished his preparations, pulled up his pants and walked towards Lin Xian:

"How is it? How's your consideration going? Don't you think my guess makes sense? It always feels like so many coincidences are related to the time 00:42, then it would be reasonable for Chu Anqing and Zhang Yuqian's birth times to also be 00:42."

Lin Xian nodded:

"I don't deny your point of view. It is true that, as you said, it would be more reasonable for the specific birth time and the specific death time to be 00:42. But... there's no way to verify this kind of thing."

"How could there be no way?"

Gao Yang rubbed his nose:

"Oh... that's right. I originally wanted to say that you could call Chu Shanhe or Chu Anqing's mother and ask them. As parents, they must know the time of their child's birth, that's what *shengchen bazhi* (八字, eight characters relating to the year, month, day, and hour of a person's birth, used in fortune-telling) are for, right?"

"But... you shouldn't call Chu Shanhe now. That daughter-slave probably doesn't know that something happened to Chu Anqing. There's not much time left for you, so let's hurry up and get down to business."

"You can also ask Zhang Yuqian's parents, that elderly couple, about the time of birth; or, you can go back and wait for Chu Shanhe to stabilize his emotions before asking. Anyway, I feel that this matter is very important."

Lin Xian saw that Gao Yang had finally finished tidying up, stood up:

"Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Gao Yang asked.

Lin Xian opened his WeChat on his mobile phone, added the location of the residential area sent by Director Liu An to the map navigation, and a green route appeared:

"Shouchuang Xiruidu, go to this residential area."

…

The taxi door opened, and Lin Xian and Gao Yang got out of the rear left and right doors respectively.

*Bang.*

The car door closed tightly, and the driver stepped on the gas pedal and drove away. Lin Xian and Gao Yang stood on the road, looking at the luxurious residential area with tall buildings in front of them.

"This should be the Third Ring Road, right? Third Ring Road in Chaoyang District, this couple is quite rich. How much does the housing price in this place cost per square meter? It's really rich people, super rich people!"

Suddenly, Gao Yang shut up and turned his head to look at Lin Xian up and down:

"That's not right, maybe they're not as rich as you. You can easily afford the house here."

"Being able to afford it and actually buying it are two different concepts."

Lin Xian opened the chat history with Director Liu An again to see which building and number the elderly couple lived in:

"You also have to think about it, Gao Yang. In 2000, in Qufu, Shandong Province, families that owned cars must have been either rich or noble. I've met that couple, Zhang Shi and Yan Qin, and they have a very good temperament. The man looks like he came from a scholarly family, and the woman... actually, she should be good normally, but she's been mentally collapsed and crazy for so many years, alas…"

Pity the hearts of parents everywhere.

Lin Xian couldn't help but worry about Chu Shanhe and Su Xiuying, so he quickened his pace and walked into the residential area with Gao Yang.

It was easy to get in.

People and vehicles were separated in the residential area. Vehicles entered the underground parking lot from the gate, so there were no parking spaces set up above. The green area was very large, and the greening effect was very good. Walking through it was like walking through a park.

Children were playing, chasing each other, basking in the lazy sunshine, joyful and beautiful.

"Building 22 should be over there."

Gao Yang pointed to the tall building in the northeast corner, leading Lin Xian to walk over there together.

"Huh?"

Passing a pavilion square in the middle of the residential area, Lin Xian stopped Gao Yang and stopped.

He quietly pointed to an old lady sitting in the wooden pavilion and whispered to Gao Yang:

"Look at that woman... that's Yan Qin, Zhang Yuqian's mother."

"Ah?"

Gao Yang was taken aback:

"So old?"

He quickly calculated in his mind how old Zhang Yuqian should be if she were still alive, and then how old her old mother should be.

Logically speaking, she should be at most sixty or seventy years old, but the woman in the pavilion not far away looked really like an old grandmother... her hair was gray, and she looked at least eighty years old.

However, the woman was dressed very cleanly and simply, and her hair was combed very neatly. At this time, her temperament and demeanor were also very dignified, but her expression was a little lonely.

At this time, she was sitting quietly on a long wooden chair, not leaning on the pavilion railing, but sitting upright, slowly peeling some fruit in her hand.

Gao Yang narrowed his eyes and looked carefully...

"Pomegranate?"

Lin Xian nodded. His eyesight was better than Gao Yang's, so he had seen it earlier:

"It's a pomegranate. She's peeling a pomegranate. If you look closely at her left hand, there's a supermarket plastic bag with several pomegranates in it, and they're all very big and of a very good variety."

"And on the right hand side, there is a glass basin, which is full of peeled pomegranate seeds."

Gao Yang clicked his tongue:

"This old grandmother is too patient, right? This is the first time I've seen someone peeling pomegranates one by one, one seed at a time... Isn't this thing all about breaking it apart, tearing it open, then stuffing it into your mouth, taking a big bite directly, then sucking hard and finally spitting out a bunch of seeds?"

Lin Xian frowned, disgusted by Gao Yang's words:

"Do you think everyone is a hippopotamus with that kind of eating method?"

"But no one eats pomegranates one seed at a time, right? Is this old grandmother so delicate?... Moreover, she has already peeled most of the basin, who is she going to feed? She certainly can't eat so much herself, let alone that there are several more in the supermarket bag next to her."

"Then I don't know." Lin Xian shook his head:

"According to what I saw when I met her at the Xidan Shopping Plaza that day... this old grandmother should have been stimulated by her daughter's death, her spirit is a little abnormal, a little... how should I put it, she feels like she's talking nonsense, and her emotions are not very stable."

"Let's go, I guess we can't get anything out of her mouth, and it's likely to re-trigger her emotional collapse if we bring up the old things again. Let's go directly to her husband's house, that is, Zhang Yuqian's father, Zhang Shi. He looks knowledgeable and reasonable, at least his emotions are stable and he can communicate normally. If we talk to him well, he might tell us the location of Zhang Yuqian's tomb."

Hiss…

Gao Yang sucked in a cold breath:

"Why does it feel like... like we're doing something very immoral?"

"We can't say that."

Lin Xian directly bypassed the small square, urging Gao Yang to follow quickly:

"If we can really figure out what happened to Chu Anqing and Zhang Yuqian... maybe it will be a kind of redemption for this old grandmother. Who knows, we always have to figure out the truth before we can understand what is right and what is wrong."

…

Not long after.

Lin Xian and Gao Yang came to Building 22, then hitched a ride on the elevator to the floor where Zhang Yuqian's parents' house was located, in front of the entrance door.

*Dong dong dong.*

Lin Xian knocked on the door gently.

After a while, a kind-looking middle-aged man opened the door.

He looked at Gao Yang on the left and Lin Xian on the right:

"Young man, you are... oh, I remember."

He pointed to Lin Xian and said with a smile:

"Young man, we met before in Xidan Square, with you... and your female companion."

Speaking of this.

The middle-aged man's expression visibly dropped.

"Uncle Zhang."

Lin Xian called out:

"I'm sorry to bother you, Uncle Zhang, there are some things we want to talk to you about... about your daughter."

The middle-aged man, Zhang Shi, sighed softly:

"Young man, I'm very sorry that my wife scared you on the side of the road that day. But... I've told you everything I can say, it was just a misunderstanding. It was just that my wife was temporarily mentally disordered and mistook the person, but it was also because she was eager to think of her daughter, and I hope you understand the hearts of us parents."

"I didn't expect that you would find us at home. If you want to apologize, I can apologize in any way, and I can also give your female companion compensation and so on…"

"No, no, no."

Lin Xian waved his hand:

"Uncle Zhang, you misunderstood, we are not here for this matter."

He paused and went straight to the point:

"Uncle Zhang, we understand your feelings very well. Please mourn with restraint, and you and Auntie should let go, after all, things have passed for so long. Only when you live a healthy and happy life can Qianqian's spirit in heaven be gratified and happy."

"Actually, we are here today... to be honest, we are going to travel to Shandong soon, passing by Qufu. Isn't it the Qingming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Day) the day after tomorrow, April 4th? You said that your daughter and my female companion look exactly the same, even the beauty mark is exactly the same."

"So we thought that meeting each other is also fate. How many people in the world look exactly the same? We thought about taking this opportunity to pay our respects to Zhang Yuqian... to sweep her tomb. I wonder if you can tell us the location of the cemetery?"

Along the way, Lin Xian couldn't think of any suitable reason to ask where the other party's daughter's tomb was.

So I can only use this lame reason to deal with it, taking advantage of the fact that the Qingming Festival is coming soon.

However…

To Lin Xian and Gao Yang's surprise.

The expression of this Zhang Shi was very wrong, he was very flustered in an instant, and then immediately became vigilant:

"What exactly do you want to do?"

His words were stern.

"No, no."

Lin Xian quickly explained:

"Uncle Zhang, we just want to pay our respects and send a bouquet of flowers."

"No need."

Zhang Shi's attitude was firm, shaking his head:

"I appreciate your kindness, and I thank you for your kindness with my wife. But... my daughter liked quietness during her lifetime, and we don't plan to go back to sweep the tomb during the Qingming Festival. Our local customs are not to worship during the Qingming Festival."

"So... just travel with peace of mind. There are many fun places in Shandong, Taian, Jinan, Zibo, Liaocheng, there are many places to visit. You don't need to worry about my daughter's affairs. That's it, please go back."

After saying that.

The middle-aged man closed the door with a *bang* without waiting for the two to respond.

Lin Xian turned to look at Gao Yang:

"Did I say something wrong?"

Gao Yang shook his head:

"What you said wasn't wrong... but you can't handle anything properly. You open your mouth and ask for the location of someone else's daughter's tomb, I don't think any parents would answer you."

"Then what should I do?"

Lin Xian spread his hands:

"I don't know how to open my mouth. I can't tell the truth about Chu Anqing, right? I think such a fantasy thing would probably arouse the old man's suspicion even more. Alas, who would ask about the location of the tomb in a normal Chinese chat? It's not appropriate to open your mouth in any way."

"But…"

Lin Xian stepped back, pulled Gao Yang into the corridor, and said softly:

"Don't you think... the attitude of this Zhang Shi just now was very abnormal?"

"It's really abnormal."

Gao Yang nodded:

"He's too nervous, and it's the kind of vigilance, an ungrounded vigilance! It's as if he's guilty of something. Yes, yes, that's it! It's not that we're guilty, but he seems guilty instead!"

Lin Xian also agreed with Gao Yang's view.

For others to propose to sweep the tomb for the deceased, normal people can accept it, or they can refuse it. Whether they accept it or refuse it, it is an understandable thing... Lin Xian only planned to try his luck today, and he didn't think about getting it right in one step.

If he couldn't find out in the capital, or if the couple was unwilling to tell him, he could think of a way in Qufu.

So, it didn't matter even if Zhang Shi refused his request directly.

But why was he suddenly so vigilant?

If it was just ordinary vigilance, it would be understandable...

But Zhang Shi's reaction.

It was really guilt and panic, as if... as if some conspiracy had been discovered and exposed.

Lin Xian couldn't describe what it felt like.

But discerning people, including Gao Yang, could see it.

[There's something fishy.]

[Zhang Shi must be deliberately hiding something, which is why he is so unreasonably vigilant and panicked!]

*Pa.*

Gao Yang snapped his fingers:

"Forget it, let me do it."

"You?"

Lin Xian looked at him suspiciously:

"Are you going to knock on the door again?"

"No, no, no…"

Gao Yang shook his index finger:

"Actually, I think we should make a breakthrough from that old grandmother, that is, the woman you said was mentally unstable."

"Think about it, Lin Xian, now we can see from Zhang Shi's reaction that there is obviously some hidden secret about Zhang Yuqian's car accident that year, it's not that simple. It can also be said that the middle-aged man just now is deliberately hiding something, not only is he unwilling to tell us, but he is also very afraid of us knowing."

"Remember what I once told you about that psychologist, Doctor Liu, in my circle of friends? She said in an article in her circle of friends... if a person really wants to hide some secret, it's hard to ask it out directly unless you use violent means to force a confession."

"So, the best way is to gently tap around in a relaxed environment and relaxed mood, and induce them to talk. And never take the initiative to ask questions, let the other party bring up relevant topics first, so that the other party will not have any vigilance, and they will be willing to open their hearts to you, willing to communicate with you... That's what the article forwarded in Doctor Liu's WeChat circle of friends wrote."

"This uncle is obviously a smart person, can you deceive a smart person? That's too difficult. Since you said that the old grandmother is mentally unstable, then we should have a good chat with her! At least she won't have such a strong sense of vigilance, and your way of asking is too sincere... Now that you have decided to be a bad person and do bad things, don't be so burdened with being a good person, use your tricks when you should."

Gao Yang patted his chest:

"Leave it to me! I'll single-handedly break through the old grandmother!"

…

Lin Xian looked at Gao Yang, who was talking eloquently. He never expected that he could hear the name of that psychologist in this occasion and this situation.

"Gao Yang." Lin Xian said sincerely.

"What's wrong?" Gao Yang blinked.

"Sorry."

Lin Xian closed his eyes:

"At the beginning, you took me to see a psychologist, and it cost 3,000 yuan for more than half an hour. I also said that you were cheated, and that the money was spent too wrongly. But now, I need to apologize to you."

"How do you say?"

Lin Xian opened his eyes:

"It's really worth the 3,000 yuan you spent... Just peeping and studying people's circle of friends and learning psychology knowledge every day has earned back the ticket price."

"Hey, don't tease me, I'm not just applying what I've learned! Isn't it all for you!" Gao Yang punched Lin Xian with a meat bomb impact and intentional punch.

"Okay, I understand."

Lin Xian reached out and pushed Gao Yang away:

"Since you're so confident, then go try it. I definitely can't do it, I've met the old grandmother before, even if she's not wary of me, but she's met me and met Chu Anqing, it might really have a counterproductive effect."

"You can do it, let me see what level the 3,000 yuan tuition fee can raise the two-and-a-half-knife level of the psychologist to."

"Hmph~"

Gao Yang sneered:

"A two-and-a-half-knife psychologist is secondary, have you forgotten my true identity?"

"Waste of food?"

"It's [Gold Medal Salesman]!"

Gao Yang pointed his thumb at himself:

"You don't understand at all what weird customers and difficult customers I usually meet when I sell cars, you don't care and don't care. But don't forget, I'm a congenital sales saint, I'm born to be in sales!"

"Awesome, awesome." Lin Xian applauded:

"I always thought this sentence was scolding people, I didn't expect you to enjoy it. Then let's hurry down and take advantage of the fact that this Uncle Zhang hasn't connected with the old grandmother yet, let's quickly make an information difference."

Soon.

The two returned to the central square of the residential area again.

Looking from afar, the old grandmother was still peeling pomegranates patiently and quietly, one seed at a time.

She handled it very cleanly.

She cleaned up all the pomegranate peels and the yellow wrinkles in the middle of the pomegranates and put them in the trash bag, without dropping any on the ground. The entire small pavilion was clean.

Lin Xian suddenly felt that he might really have misunderstood this old grandmother... some preconceived prejudices.

At least for now, the old grandmother gives people a very approachable feeling when she is not stimulated.

Gao Yang patted his chest, pointed to the pavilion in front, indicating that he was going up:

"Let you see what is the strength of the gold medal salesman."

Saying that.

He walked with his hands in his pockets, humming a song, walking like a street gangster.

"Yo! Granny!"

As soon as he entered the small pavilion, Gao Yang stopped directly and looked at the old grandmother:

"Peeling pomegranates here!"

The old grandmother looked up, smiled at Gao Yang, and nodded lightly.

"Why are you peeling so many, you can't finish them by yourself, can you?"

Saying that, Gao Yang naturally sat directly on the wooden bench, and also took the initiative to push the glass basin full of pomegranate seeds inward, afraid that it would fall.

The old grandmother was still smiling, and shook her head gently again:

"I never eat pomegranates... and they are not peeled for me to eat. My daughter loved to eat pomegranates the most. When she was a child, she was willful and insisted that I peel them like this, one seed at a time, and then she would grab them and eat them."

"But at that time, I was busy with work, how could I have this leisure time? I never peeled them like this for her, I didn't care about her. But now I think about it... alas, how can work be more important than children…"

"Oh, Granny!"

Gao Yang looked surprised and blinked:

"What's going on here!"

…

…

Half an hour later.

*Pa!*

Gao Yang snapped his fingers, humming a song and running back:

"Done."

"How is it?" Lin Xian stood up from the lawn where he had been squatting for a long time.

"I guessed right."

Gao Yang looked at Lin Xian:

"Zhang Yuqian's birth time... it was really before 1 o'clock in the morning! This old grandmother went to the hospital at 1 o'clock in the afternoon after her water broke, and she was in pain until 1 o'clock in the morning before she gave birth. She remembers the time very clearly. She may really be mentally stimulated, but she is definitely not crazy, she is very clear when chatting."

"Did you ask clearly about the location of the tomb and the coffin?" Lin Xian asked about the most important thing.

Gao Yang snorted:

"[Wucun Town, Jiuxian Mountain, the westernmost small forest, pomegranate tree!] "

"Lin Xian, now we can set off, you book the air tickets."

Afterwards, Gao Yang waved his big hand.

Pointing to the southern sky:

"Shandong, start! Ah, no, not..."

"Let's go!"