Chapter 8 chapter eight

I knew I was at a crossroads: I could be on my way to a major breakthrough and success, or I could be down this or that dead end—literally a “dead” alley: pick the wrong direction and it could be the road to death.But the intersection itself, including the middle of the intersection, is the biggest temptation and the biggest challenge in my life. Yes, all signs point to this temptation. Sophie was so shocked when she discovered her life experience.She thought that Ananda was also looking for his own life experience, "Finding out will kill him." What does this mean?Could it be that Sophie knew some secrets about Ananda's current and even past lives? "Deadly" secret?Why didn't she tell me?Of course, even if I questioned her face to face, she would say that it was just her guess.I can only regard her conjecture as a real danger, just in case, it should be.

Colonel Singh appeared in the clues provided by various people at the same time: Sophie, Mao Lin, including the nurse lady Galgeda who met by chance, all pointed to Colonel Singer in Boronis.This is a big win for me, because I don't let anyone know what the other thinks, instead I let them provide information and corroborate each other.In a mysterious foreign country, I can't blindly follow the foreign gods. "May all the conquerors walk with me and get rid of all corruptions. I have conquered all the bad habits now. You should know that I am the conqueror." It seems that some elder's verse suddenly drilled into my mind.

"Too rational, too rational!" I remember a critic once "praising" my novel so much.He was right, very right, dangerously right.My career forces me not to think mysteriously, let alone act blindly.Although I love the beauty of feeling, the pleasure of the senses.My novels are full of sensual flow and sensation eruption.My readers love this, so I give them all the sensual indulgences they need to indulge their desires again and again.Only the critic can see the mystery, the skeleton after the sensuality, the reason in the muscle.Therefore, instead of encouraging his self-righteous cleverness, I have to make my "hatred" known to him, and he will never comment on my novels again.

But at this time, I really want to hear his opinion. With the map, I quickly walked along the alley to the Ganges.Passing by the Japanese-owned hotel I visited last night, I stepped across the threshold and asked, but there were still no vacancies. The owner said, "The accommodation situation will only become more tense." Until Colonel Singer told me all I needed to know, I had the audacity to live in his palatial home.But, I don't have to stay at home - I don't expect him to come back of his own accord. Singh, who has practiced Buddhism for many years, should collapse the Himalayas in front of him without showing any signs.But the moment he saw me, the excited eyes: I can be sure that his heart has not been able to completely get rid of the worldly things, at least some past events that he does not want to remember are still hidden in his heart.

Those photos of his home! ——If he wanted to forget it, he would have put it away; if he wanted to hide it from me, he could quickly take it down.But he doesn't.Well, at least he didn't refuse to show me possible leads.At this moment, he is trying to be good, he knows what I want, and he may be willing to tell, but he is hanging on to me first.He didn't tell me until the time he chose.Perhaps in order to prevent me from forcing him to explain immediately, he simply went to recluse to practice penance again.Such a man cannot be found unless he intends for me to find him. After thinking hard, I still don't know in which direction I should go and what to do next.

I remember what Mao Lin said: "When the critical moment comes, you can contact me again." Is it the critical moment now?Not so.Of course, I will not forget that my goal is to find Ananda, and I cannot directly achieve the goal. Detours are my specialty.Patience is necessary and will be rewarded.Sophie, acting like she's on the verge of breaking down, just urges me.But I don't have to work on her schedule.The book she asked me to write about my trip to India was too early for a climax, so I should take it easy. Just walk around, and I'm likely to bump into what I want.Because the whole world is here.A hundred thousand people flocked to this city, sailing in boats on the Ganges, and in Allahabad at least several million people gathered.Although most people go back happily after cleansing their sins, some people linger and wait for the climax, the holiest day, a big bath—it is said that it can wash away the sins of several reincarnations.

There are more than 100 river-step platforms in the ancient city, and you can count as much as you can walk this afternoon.I walked up along the river bank and stood on the stone steps to look down. It was the dry season, the water level of the Ganges was not high, and the river was still extremely wide, at least much wider than I felt in the twilight yesterday.No need to choose, every place is a good photo, just take a picture. It's a pity that I forgot my camera in the hotel in Delhi, and I was already on the train when I found it. I didn't have the impulse to take pictures at that time.At that time, I thought, if I really wanted to take pictures, I would just buy a disposable camera and get a few landscapes as souvenirs.But now I regret it a bit. If I want to turn back to the street, there may not be any ones for sale.

Then use both hands to form a square frame, put it on the left eye, and close the right eye.There are crowds of people by the river, just like the scene of football stadiums in other countries, but there is no such loud shouting and shouting.I don't need to look at every face, the pair of eye sparkles I'm looking for are special. The tweeter of the local police station sometimes makes a sound, as if it is announcing some precautions.But there was no harshness. In order to respect the Brahma gods, the police had no choice but to loosen the outside and tighten the inside.But I see no obvious guard.I know that the Indian government has deployed tens of thousands of additional police officers for fear of accidents with such a large crowd.Even if you don’t have to be afraid of committing crimes, you still have to prevent diseases, accidents, and troubles from ungodly people.In order to prevent people from entering the deep water area, buoys are used to delineate the maximum allowable distance in the main bathing areas.

There are more people meditating on the bank to prepare themselves, and more people enter the river to bathe. Groups of people are standing in the water, praying to the east and then dipping into the river to bathe. The men only wear shorts or cover a piece of cloth. Those ascetic "sages" Normally I hardly wear any clothes, so of course I went into the water naked at this time. Instead, the woman entered the water with her clothes on, and hid in the water to undo her clothes.Therefore, the audience can only imagine the half-naked body in the water, and it is impossible to peep.It is said that one of the tasks of the police is to arrest women who dare to enter the water in two-piece swimsuits.This task is actually not difficult. Only foreign female tourists dare to do this kind of thing, just keep an eye on them, and every hotel has notices, and they will be sentenced to imprisonment.

A tourist held up a long-lens camera to take pictures of the bathing process. Two middle-aged men who looked like locals came up one after the other and stopped the tourist, saying that he secretly took pictures of naked Hindus and wanted to sue him.The tourist said he didn't know, and planned to give some money to settle the matter.Little did they know that the two thought they had little money.In a fit of anger, the tourist decided to take the two of them to a nearby police station to seek justice.The two ran away as soon as they heard it, and the onlookers also dispersed. It is particularly troublesome to purify sins and cover up civilized people.I think the ancient Indians probably didn't have this problem.The house is built in the water, with bright colors, pink, dark green, light green, orange and yellow. The statues of gods are wonderfully shaped, most of them emphasize the beauty of the body, sexiness, huge breasts, twisted and twisted Hindi, presenting poetic patterns, eye-catching very.

Modern people have this trouble of hypocrisy—only Ananda and Sophie of Lamma Island can go to the blue sky and sea, and regain the freedom that God gave them when they were born. This sudden association made my heart tremble, and I felt that I should not have such ungodly thoughts.So my eyes gradually left the river bank and looked at the temples built along the river bank.I especially like those widows' chastity buildings-I really envy them that they have their own quiet residence.The dying house of the poor is good too: a foretaste of the grave. I have gone to the fringes of the city.On the stone steps in front of you, there are stalls holding umbrellas, many of which are placed in the river, surrounded by a circle of people, also standing in the river.The opposite bank is mostly mudflats, very barren, like a Chinese countryside, with a few figures moving.If it weren't for the Indian voice and face and skin, I really thought I would go back to my hometown mountain city without distraction.Destiny always has its mysteries and secrets, and I can always find similarities between it and my favorite city in a strange place. Everything is natural here, except for being poor, and the common people try their best to earn money from tourists. It seems that there are no other crimes, and there are no people fighting.Indians don’t drink alcohol, so beer is considered good. Someone quietly asked, “Do you want beer?” The expression and tone of voice are sinful, just like asking you if you want heroin in other places. I remember the night I stayed at the Taj Mahal, I was surfing the Internet, and someone knocked on the door of the hotel room.It was midnight and I was startled.When he got to the door, he didn't dare to open the door, and looked at the opening cautiously. It was a man, and the door opened with a big face.I stood sideways, leaned against the wall behind the door and asked, "Who is it?" The man outside said, "Would you like brandy?" I said, "Thanks, no." The man asked again, "Do you want wine?" I hesitated, I was thinking how nice it would be to have this thing.But I can't figure out the reason, what should I do if someone poisons or puts Gu?I don't even want to lean against the door, for fear that someone outside the door will shoot at the door, and then I will die. There are often such murder scenes in movies. If you are alone, you have to be careful.Thinking about it, I had no choice but to give up my love, and hurriedly said no. It was right not to drink alcohol that day, and I don’t want it this time either.Afraid of drinking and forgetting things.When I came to India, I probably gave up alcohol, just like quitting cigarettes a long time ago, unconsciously, without intention, but did it. The stalls at the top of the stone steps are yogurt, buckets are placed under umbrellas, orange-red clay buckets, and rough small ceramic bowls are placed on the small table. It is the kind of antique fragrant kitchen restaurant opened by a friend of a poet in Chengdu. It also uses wooden spoons. Scoop a spoonful of pure white yogurt and pour it into a pottery bowl. The pure white of the girl and the rough red of the boy are just the color of love.Turn over the swollen milk in the iron pot, the aroma overflows, and there is a layer of milk floating on it.I broke the self-restraint of not eating street food casually, took out the money to buy a cup, sat on the stone steps, watched the Ganges below the stone steps, and felt like I was sitting on the stone steps of my hometown pier. The sun is at its best. I walked down the stone steps, and among the crowd by the river, there was a woman with a red wreath on her head, which was very eye-catching.Regardless of the danger of cramping my feet in the cold water, I descended into the river.Her garland was like a hat, while others' garlands hung on her bosom in a long string, and she was taller than anyone in the river, with long dark hair that fell over her shoulders.A short vermilion cloth is tied around the navel, like a monk's robe in a temple, but the upper body is not worn, and the breasts are bare.She turned her face, and I was stunned for a moment, because she obviously gave me a look.Of course I can't be mistaken about this, I can read the eyes, just like someone else unlocks the code.The woman stepped up from the water and rewrapped the cloth around her body to cover her breasts.I walked towards her, and immediately understood that it was the female nurse in Delhi, the admirer of Ananda, the fan who could recite Ananda's songs by heart, and asked me to go to Boronis to find Ananda's guide. She stepped up three stone steps, as if avoiding me, followed by two short-dressed young men. She took off the sunglasses on her waist, put them on, and quickened her steps. I chased after him without even thinking: How could I be fooled like this!I should have understood a long time ago: in a foreign country, don't think about coincidences.Most coincidences fall into calculations. Thinking of this, I almost growl at myself.I was turning the alley and climbing up the hill when I saw someone following me closely.At this moment, I saw those three people running up the stone steps again.There was a person staring at me from behind, and I'm sensitive to this kind of thing, and I knew it right away.Even though he was exactly the same as everyone else, and cautious, he always stepped aside before I turned around. But I was nervous and almost lost my pursuer.We walked around the alleys of the Boronis Labyrinth, sometimes by the river and sometimes on the streets. They walked fast, familiar, and calm.Their clothes were loose, and I was in the way of my Indian clothes and slippers.Finally, I couldn't see those people anymore, and I didn't know where I was.The sound of music from temples near and far, mixed with the chanting of believers, seems to come from people bathing by the river everywhere. Men, women and children seem to like to sit on the roadside. People sitting on the ground look satisfied and happy. The eyes of Indian teenagers are particularly clear and charming.Sell ​​betel nuts and flowers, give massages, ask people to trim their beards, shave their faces, and donate money to beggars.Strangely, they disappeared from my sight just when I was in a flash. I took out the map and checked, I was on the river terrace in Manikarnica. In the crematorium here, the corpse is first wrapped in cloth, white cloth for men and red cloth for women.They were then placed on bamboo stretchers and carried from different alleys and alleys.There are countless logs piled up on the stone steps, and there is a huge weighing scale next to it.Every piece of wood is weighed so that the cost of cremation can be calculated accurately.Workers expertly piled timber on top of the corpse, and the funeral pyre was lit by those close to it.No one cried because the funeral ceremony was public and everyone could watch it, some on the shore, some on the boat, and death was an ordinary thing in everyday life.On one side is death, on the other side is bathing, with fire above and holy water below. I was drenched in sweat, so tired that I simply sat on the stone steps.The sound of the flames burning was booming, and a gust of wind blew by, making it so hot that ashes hit the cheeks.I was angry in my heart, and I followed those three people all the time, why did I slip out of sight suddenly, how could the person staring at me let me go?Obviously they are looking for me, not me for them! Then I should take this opportunity to slip away. At the small ferry, the boatman stood on the side of the boat, holding a long bamboo oar, and some people squatted on the shore, doing nothing.The boatman kept yelling, "The boat is about to sail!" No one jumped into the boat.This section of the river is turbid, but the river is right next to the door of the house, "Get on the boat, get on the boat", and the business came to me.Without saying a word, I followed down the river bank and got into the boat. At this moment, footsteps sounded behind me, and I followed them to the boat and came to me.The young woman who claimed to be a nurse disappeared, and I could see that the two people who had been with her and my pursuer had gathered around. "Chinese woman," said the follower. "Shall we talk?" He was polite, but the boatman immediately understood who they were and disappeared, in fact, everyone around us disappeared. I was interrogated continuously by a series of different people, asking inexplicable questions: name, pseudonym, real name, pseudonym, address, phone number, place of work, education, parents, purpose of coming to India, who I had contact with, where I had been, where I lived now where.I am certainly not alarmed by this, nor do I refuse to answer.My answer, whether they believe it or not, is none of my business.They repeatedly asked such things in order to catch my inconsistencies.This is too childish, I can handle it easily. The room is considered large, and the window is not small, but there is still a long fluorescent lamp on.The place is very much like the Kenton Gate area, and although their jeeps circle the road, I still have a sense of direction. It didn't take long to replace the man who was chasing me, with a thick waist but a straight and big nose.He was straightforward and asked me, "Who is Ananda?" I knew they would ask: Is that woman with these people.I asked in turn: "Who are you? Please clarify this question first." It seems he is in charge and has seen that I am not a character to be intimidated easily.So he said: "We are Interpol, and we have a cooperative relationship with your country." This is what I expected.I said, "I'm sorry, this has nothing to do with me. I'm just a Chinese writer who came to cover the Big Pot Festival and ask about a friend who sings. You have no right to detain me and interrogate me." "There is no question of detention and interrogation," he said. "We are a partnership." He gestured and brought two freshly squeezed pineapple drinks outside.I was tired from running, it was just right, I took a glass. "Of course, this is under the condition that you have not violated the laws of our country." "May I ask what law I have broken?" "That's exactly what we're talking about, and that's why we're urging you to cooperate." Seeing me gulp down the pineapple juice, he pushed the untouched glass of pineapple juice to me and said, "After a while, we'll go to the best restaurant here. It's a little tribute from our bureau." I was so drunk that I couldn't agree or disagree, and it was useless to say: I can only pretend to be deaf and dumb when it comes to both soft and hard tactics.He continued to ask: "Sophie, my wife in the media industry in Hong Kong, why is she so interested in Ananda and sent you to find him?" "Sorry, I don't know any Sophie? From what country? Australian?" The man looked at his watch and probably understood that grinding with me was useless.He clicked on the computer screen on the table, and Ananda's photo immediately popped up: the one sent by Sophie. Seeing my expressionless face, he typed a few times on the keyboard and immediately jumped to Sophie's letter to me. I jump to my feet: these bad guys have downloaded the entirety of my laptop.They must have intercepted my phone calls and e-mails along the way.No, they went into Singer's house and searched it all.My computer was left at Singer's house, and it was turned on, that is, I could see everything and download everything without a password.I was so stupid and so unguarded, thinking that people in this country are as innocent as kindergarten children! Seeing my flushed face, the man smiled smugly. "Now we can talk!" "What are you talking about? E-mails are private, so you are breaking the law. Sophie is my friend, and she also knows Ananda. She cares about my trip because I am the author of her newspaper." "It's not that simple! It's better to say it." "Your Chinese translator can understand all my letters, what else can I say?" "What's not written in the letter?" "I don't understand, why don't you tell me?" I was beginning to feel hungry, and very hungry: there was so much to do in the day after all.I almost protested: Let me eat dinner, you take turns to eat, it is inhumane to abuse me, a foreign guest. I was about to speak when someone said something outside that could only be heard from his seat and I couldn't understand Hindi.He stood up, opened the door, and respectfully asked me to leave the interrogation room.After two empty rooms, there is a room like an airport VIP room.There was an East Asian man sitting there, with a suit and tie, and a bag next to him, as if it was really an airport. I almost thought this scene was funny, and then I saw that the East Asian who was already shaking hands with the Indian was none other than Mao Lin. Mao Lin didn't turn his face to shake hands with me. He just said a few words to the Indian, then dragged his bag, and motioned me to follow him with his eyes. The Indian police officer said very politely: "Miss, I hope we have a chance soon Goodbye, let's go." I didn't even look at his outstretched hand, and walked out on my own.My heart was pounding, and I knew that these Indian policemen had made a big mistake for me.If he stops me, I will punch him in the face. We went outside and didn't speak.He hailed a taxi and we got into it, still not speaking.We entered a restaurant and still didn't speak.He doesn't speak, and neither do I.Apparently he came here for my business, maybe I informed you yesterday that he will catch a plane to Delhi or Kolkata this morning, and then transfer to the domestic flight in India. I don't know what the Indian police said, what charges are they giving me?Maybe there is no crime at all, but I just want to get any useful information from me before the Chinese representative arrives.I don't offer them anything useful, so I don't want to talk either.But my computer was looked at by them, and all the addresses were taken away. Maybe they found Mao Lin's address on it, so they contacted me directly.This is where I was wrong, so I waited to be scolded. The people in the restaurant warmly invited us to sit in, which just relieved our embarrassment of not saying anything. Shoes, sitting on the mattress, drinking hot tea served by the waiter.Mao Lin's English has improved a lot compared to before, and he must be working harder than me, which I admire. When the food comes up, whether it’s Kelet or Omlet, whether it’s masala bean paste folded in half, steamed rice cakes or grilled fish, the taste doesn’t change much.The boss specially brought two sets of knives and forks to take care of us as foreigners.I'd rather use my hands, hands that are carefully washed, than any utensils. "It's an Indian custom to wipe your butt with your left hand and eat with your right hand," I deliberately picked on Mao Lin.Mao Lin said coldly, "It doesn't matter which hand you use, you can only eat with chopsticks." Once he opened his mouth, he seemed to feel that there was no need to keep a straight face.Then he talked about Indian food.Because of the hot climate in the south, there are many immigrants from Africa who have a strong taste and a penchant for pungent food, and the more pungent the better.Compared with southern cuisine, people in northern India have a much lighter taste. I have nothing to say, let him talk about curry. He glanced at me and said: There are more than a dozen types of Indian curry, and there are many colors, such as yellow, orange, light yellow, orange red, and there are several flavors, spicy, not spicy, mixed flavors, and colorful.The main spices that form curry are coriander powder, chili powder, cumin powder, cinnamon flakes, cardamom, cloves and peppercorns, as well as coconut milk, tulip powder, etc. as basic seasonings, and then make other flavor extensions.It can be used for curry chicken, curry milk, curry cheese, curry vegetables.He said, believe it or not?Enjoying delicious Indian food is 35% through smell, 35% through taste and the remaining 30% through sight, hearing and touch. I said that it was the first time I heard cooking in this scientific way. The meal was dull and tasteless.I didn't finish eating, half of the dish was left.The waiter brought warm lemonade and told us to wash our hands to wash off the oil.A small dish of spices and rock sugar.I twist a pinch of spices into the mouth, chew carefully, the mouth is full of aroma, refreshing than chewing bubble gum.I asked Mao Lin to try it too, but he didn’t want to, saying he couldn’t stand it. It’s okay to eat less curry, but he can’t stand it if he eats too much. He should find a Chinese restaurant to eat. Anyway, he didn’t follow the Romans and wear traditional Indian clothes.His attitude was ambiguous and sour, with sarcasm and complaints. When both of us had finished our hunger, we faced a table of dinner plates and couldn't stop talking about the topic.I know that Mao Lin can only express his emotions in electronic letters, and what he says in person, even if it is not an occasion like today, will not contain any fancy rhetoric.He is a typical new technocrat—if you think of literature as a kind of technology—so efficient that he can catch any mess at once. "Okay, down to business. These Indians have no cause for trouble." I breathed a sigh of relief.I got caught through nothing wrong, I didn't cause trouble for the country, that's fine. "They spy on you because the Chinese are too revealing - you stand out even more." I shrugged, I still didn't do anything wrong.But I began to recall along the way, how many people were detectives besides the nurse: the brother on the train?The guy who knocks on the door of the hotel and sells alcohol?Was Colonel Singer himself a police agent?The thought of falling into someone else's snare and thinking I was free made me angry with myself. "You asked me to come. I just withdraw." Now Mao Lin's face was ashen.I really shouldn't have said this to my boss.Mao Lin tried his best to control himself, and spoke slowly: "But they have no direct interest in this matter. In the name of cooperation, they want to know what's going on and see if there is anything they can bargain for in the future. That's why they detain you before I arrive. It's to give me face and let us go. " These despicable fellows!I said angrily, "I didn't tell them anything." "You have nothing to tell them!" Mao Lin answered with sarcasm.Then, he said word by word what he must have been burning in his heart for a long time: "Has it been six years since the bureau let you handle this case? How many times have you been sent to Hong Kong to investigate Ananda's traces, but you Let him go." "How can I lock his legs without letting me arrest him? I haven't been able to meet this person yet." I also started to get angry.There are too many places where this case is tied up.Several times I decided to ask the bureau to hire another Gao Ming, preferably Mao Lin himself.But because I got along so well with Sophie, the group chaired by Mao Lin must keep me. "Well, you have done nothing obviously wrong." Mao Lin let go, this is his technique as a leader. "But he can't be allowed to run away again. It's time to draw conclusions on this case; the domestic account has basically been settled; the funds must have been transferred to the newspaper group where Sophie works, and a considerable part of it may have been transferred out from there." "Then what else can I do?" "Ananda should be arrested as soon as possible and deported back to China. The Indian side agreed to arrest him after we notify him. I will handle these procedures, and you don't have to ask." I'm glad to finally be able to wrap up my six-year assignment, which has made it almost impossible for me to continue my "hobby", writing.I asked, "We have to find him first." "This is your job".Seeing me frowning, he added: "It seems that he can be held down this time. Singh is his relative. It is not clear what kind of relative. But it was this Singh who sent him to our embassy in New Delhi in 1950. Said that he was a Chinese orphan and should be sent back to China. This was found out from the files." "That doesn't explain the problem."I protested.I can't take too little information as a basis. "But the Indian side seemed to know more, so they searched Singh's house. What did his mistress say?" I frowned: I don't like that word. "Sophie has been very anxious since yesterday. She said she found out that she is half-British, and she was very emotional." "What a stinky businessman! Knowing that she is half-British, does she not know?" "Of course I understand that she is giving me some more water. But she doubts that once Ananda finds out her own background, she will not be able to bear it. What kind of background will Ananda have? She might know something else, so she urged me all the time. Act quickly. I have to report to him today." "Okay! I'm in a hurry." Mao Lin patted the table and became excited. "She didn't dare to come by herself, for fear of being wiped out!" "What about Ananda's life experience? Do you want to inquire?" "We are not interested in this person's life experience." Mao Lin said.Maybe it was too harsh. "We are arresting him for his current economic problems." "If you don't inquire, how will you know his whereabouts?" He thought for a while, and said word by word: "Your main task is to arrest Ananda. The rest of the things serve this main purpose."