Chapter 4 Chapter 3 How big is a building?

Huang Tang obviously thought about the difficulty of the search work, so his eyebrows were knotted, and his voice was bitter: "I'm afraid the superiors will not approve a large-scale operation! Each building must mobilize at least 80 to 100 people, and they must be experienced Personnel...maybe mobilize the dogs...um...I see..." Tao Qiquan snorted: "I think this matter is related to those two surnamed Chen, just look for them." When he said this, he looked straight at me. I knew what he was thinking, so I told him why the Chen brothers came to me. Tao Qiquan raised his eyebrows: "They didn't say that I have two important officials. disappeared from the mansion?"

I shook my head. "I guess they didn't even know it was happening." Tao Qiquan looked sad: "In a few days, there will be an important international conference to be held. Among the eight people, five must attend——If they can't attend, Dow will suffer heavy losses, and the other groups will suffer a lot. It may be beneficial." When he said this, he paused: "Billions of British pounds are involved in the interests, so it is necessary to estimate the possibility that any means will be used." I thought for a while: "What interests are involved in your negotiations with the Chen brothers?"

Tao Qiquan said: "It's about the upcoming meeting." I paced back and forth a few steps: "I have a proposal—the police conduct a search operation as much as possible, and I go to see the Chen brothers. If there is a business conspiracy, the problem will be easily resolved." Huang Tang repeatedly said: "Good! Good!" Tao Qiquan said: "I can't make a promise to Pu Meng He." His shrewd attitude is sometimes unpopular, so I just waved my hand and contacted Brother Chen in his office. When one of the Chen brothers heard my call—he was inexplicably surprised: "It's Mr. Wei? It's great that you want to come and see us! Welcome! Very welcome, really very welcome!"

He said "Welcome to me" three times in a row, and it was indeed a real welcome, because when I arrived at the main entrance of the "Twin Towers", the two of them had been waiting at the entrance for a long time. As the saying goes: "Thousands of clothes, ten thousand clothes, no flattering", I am naturally very happy to receive such courtesy from them, so my impression of them has also improved accordingly. In the elevator directly to their office, I have put this The purpose of coming, told them. The Chen brothers frowned and looked at each other. For a moment, they didn't know how to react. Obviously, my purpose of coming to see them surprised them. After about ten seconds, one of them lost his voice and said: "My God! This old monster thinks we kidnapped his men?"

I raised my eyebrows involuntarily: Tao Qiquan called them "two monsters", and they also called Tao Qiquan an "old monster", which shows how widely the term "monster" is used. I saw their reaction in this way, and I knew that the previous estimation was correct—they had nothing to do with the disappearance. If they disappeared in this building, it was the kidnapping of the owner of the building. Then, there was a missing person in Dow Missing in the building, wouldn't Tao Qiquan also be suspected of being kidnapped? So, I made a gesture of confidence in their innocence and asked, "Are you aware of any disappearances?"

The Chen brothers looked very strange, like children who have done something wrong.At this time, the elevator stopped, and one of them said, "We...we...didn't deal with daily affairs today, so we didn't...know that such a thing happened." What they said reminded me that when I contacted them just now, the first call was made, and the staff who answered the phone replied in a very firm tone: "The two Mr. Chen are dealing with urgent matters and will not answer any calls." Later, I remembered a direct line number they gave me before leaving my residence, and I got in touch with them.

In their position, it is nothing special if there is an urgent matter to attend to and the daily business is put aside. As soon as the elevator stopped and the door opened, there was a very large space outside, at least 300 square meters, almost without any decoration, except for a statue placed in the middle, so it looked extraordinarily spacious. As soon as I stepped out of the elevator under their leadership, I suddenly heard a charming smile. Two red shadows, one from the left and the other from the right, rushed towards me.It was so fast that it was indescribable, but as soon as he got in front of me, he immediately stood still, very close to me, almost standing next to me.

A person who can have such skills is naturally a beautiful day. As soon as the beautiful scenery of Liangchen stood still, they immediately raised their heads and looked at the Chen brothers.The Chen brothers said in unison: "We lost." In that instant, I realized two things.The first thing is that this couple - having a child, gave up their daily affairs and ignored them. The "urgent affairs" they dealt with turned out to be a beautiful time together. The second thing is that there must be a bet between them and them, and this bet is related to me. I immediately sank my face, showing a very unhappy look.When Liang Chen saw the beauty, he stuck out his tongue: "We said, no matter how we rush at you, you will have the calmness of a mountain collapse in front of you without changing your face, you will not panic, you will not retreat, and you will not block it. They don't believe it, so they try it when you show up, so that they can be convinced and know that there are people in the world who can't be surprised."

This pair of little girls are chattering and chattering, and what they say is all words of praise. I am afraid that no matter how angry a person is, they will not lose their temper. Moreover, it is inevitable to say a few polite words: "I know you There will be no malice, there is nothing to panic about." The Chen brothers were also relieved when they saw my face soften, and they immediately complained to Liangchen Meijing: "Mr. Wei came to us because of—" They explained the reason why I came to them . Liang Chenmei's reaction was that her almond-shaped eyes widened, and she said in unison with an expression of indignation: "This Tao is too good at bullying."

I couldn't help laughing in astonishment—because I never imagined that the friendship between the Chen brothers and Liangchen Meijing had reached such a level of mutual hatred. I said, "You can't say Tao is bullying others—since someone has gone missing from the building, we have to search for it. I'm afraid the police search team will be dispatched soon." The Chen brothers frowned, but Liang Chen Meijing was very interested, they said: "Wouldn't it be good if we find the missing person first?" I looked at them, saw their happy faces, and reminded them: "Hey, we have an appointment, we are going to Miaojiang!"

Liang Chenmei pouted: "I was delayed too, I found those two people, it's not too late!" At this time, they thought it would be very easy to find the two missing persons in the building, but later on, of course they knew it was not so Simple, but it really delayed their trip to Miaojiang. At that time, the Chen brothers didn't seem to respond enthusiastically to their elated proposal. They let me into a reception room, Liang Chenmei followed in, opened the wine cabinet, and poured me a glass of wine, as if It was like their own residence. Only then did the Chen brothers say, "Whether the police come to search or we search by ourselves, it will be very troublesome." On this point, I completely agree.But Liangchen Meijing called out: "What's the trouble?" The Chen brothers sighed and said, "You don't know how big a building is." Hearing the beautiful scenery on a good day, he was very unhappy. He rolled his eyes and said, "How big can a building be? Isn't it just a building?" When they said this, they were naturally out of anger, but I felt the same way, because I felt that when the Chen brothers mentioned the building, they were a bit exaggerated. From their tone, it seemed like a building, a big building. It's unbelievable. The Chen brothers didn't notice my reaction, they just pointed at the beauty of Liangchen, their expressions were very serious, and they didn't speak for a while, as if they were thinking about what to say to convince the beauty of Liangchen, after a while , Cai said: "A modern building is like a bunch of crumpled paper. When you clump together, you can't see anything, but when you unfold it, there are many unexpected spaces. Some spaces can be seen, and some spaces can be seen." No, some spaces never reappear after the building is built—unless the building is dismantled and the complexity is unimaginable.” When Liang Chenmei listened to it, she listened very attentively, but as soon as the Chen brothers stopped talking, they were not forgiving, and the two retorted in their own way: "Listen to what they said? It's so incomprehensible, it's so profound. It’s come to this point, isn’t it because each of them owns a building? Fortunately, their building is only 60 stories high, if it has 600 floors, it will become a book from heaven!” The Chen brothers tried to tell the truth, they were obviously not opponents, and they blushed: "There is no 600-story building in the world. What nonsense are you talking about?" Liang Chenmei said: "Not now, but there will be in the future. Isn't it just a bunch of crumpled paper? Add a few more balls, and the sixty layers will become six hundred." I originally agreed with what Liangchen Meijing said, but the more they talked, the more they became more impulsive and unreasonable, so I raised my voice: "Listen to their further explanation, don't rush to talk." Liang Chenmei gave me a drink, made a strange face, and finally stopped making a sound for the time being.The Chen brothers breathed a sigh of relief, and said one by one: "I have participated in the construction of the Twin Towers... Although I am not an architect, I also know that there are already thousands of finalized design drawings." Liang Chenmei made a "so what" gesture, which is very hateful, but very cute. When these two buildings were built, one of the Chen brothers was still an idiot who knew nothing. Now, the knowledge and memories of the two have been exchanged, and they are naturally like one person. They also said: "In the building, there are all kinds of passages, and there are also all kinds of dark passages - including the space for the elevator to go up and down, the pipes for the air, the water to reach each floor, and the The passage for electricity to reach each floor, especially after entrusting the operation of the entire building to the computer management, a building is like... like a person's body, everything operates according to the law..." The modern building is indeed an extremely complex complex, and the advanced building is also controlled and managed by computers. These are all facts.But not only is it a beautiful day, even me, I don't know why the Chen brothers are so emphatic about this point at this time. Therefore, the sight of the three of us turned to them together. They thought about it very seriously, and said something that we couldn't understand: "Therefore, it is impossible to search a building thoroughly." I can't find the basis for them to reach such a conclusion, but without making a sound for a while, Liang Chenmei has already shouted: "What are you talking about, who will stop it?" Unexpectedly, the answer to this question came very quickly: "Computer, the computer responsible for managing the operation of the building." As soon as I heard such an answer, I felt a strange and inexplicable feeling in an instant. At that time, what I thought was very simple, but it felt very weird. What I thought was that the computer was responsible for the normal operation of the entire building, and a thorough search would inevitably destroy the normal operation, so the relationship between the computer and the search behavior , there will inevitably be a contradiction. Just now, the Chen brothers compared a building to a person. I think that a building is closer to a big tree. It seems that a big tree stands upright and does not move, but from the tree From the moment the roots absorb nutrients and water, the trunk, branches, and leaves of the big tree, every part and every second, are extremely busy with activities. The same is true for the building, which appears to be stationary on the outside, but the frequency of internal activities is beyond the imagination of ordinary people. If these internal activities are controlled by computers, they will naturally form a resistance to the search. The Chen brothers just said "I don't know how big a building is", which aroused the reaction of Liangchen Meijing. It feels weird, but it's true. I guess Liangchen Meijing thought the same way as I did after hearing what the Chen brothers said, because there was also a weird look on their faces.They said: "You mean, the computer controls the building...the computer...does not listen to human commands...and fights against people?" It seemed to the Chen brothers that they didn't quite understand what they were saying, so their expressions were also very strange---this phenomenon is very noteworthy, and I can understand that it is because of their thinking, although there is a kind of Strong feelings, but do not know how to express this feeling properly.Generally speaking, this happens only when the feeling is really weird.Because if it is not so weird, human language can usually be expressed smoothly. The Chen brothers hesitated for a moment before saying: "It's kind of... that kind of meaning, but it's not entirely true. What we mean is that a modern building that is managed by computers is really too unpredictable. There are many hidden dangers. Its operation is unknown, and there are many hidden places that are unknown." They try hard to express their feelings, but so far, it seems not very successful.They looked at me, looking for help, I really can't help them, because I don't know what they want to say! I just gestured to them to encourage them to try to talk it out. The Chen brothers each licked their lips: "Take these two buildings as an example. We can say that we are very familiar with them. Before the construction, we have read the drawings of each floor in detail and know them very well. , but when they are made, they become... become..." When they said this, they paused for a while before continuing: "It has become extremely strange." Neither Liangchen Meijing nor I could understand what they meant right away, so our reactions were the same: "How could that be?" The Chen brothers held their heads again, and after a moment of silence, they said: "Just like parents with their children, when the children are young, they know a lot about their children. When the children grow up, they may become completely strange and completely unfamiliar. I don’t know what my children are thinking.” I frowned, thinking about the analogy of the Chen brothers, and it was very strange why the Chen brothers had such a comparison. And Liang Chen Meijing has already shouted: "What is this talk? It is not intended to be honest, as far as the extreme." The attitude of the Chen brothers was extremely serious: "Is there any better comparison?" Liang Chenmei said: "Children are alive, but buildings are dead." The Chen brothers sighed: "As we said just now, a modern building is alive, and many of its activities are even superficial and can be seen, such as the rise and fall of elevators." Liang Chenmei looked at each other, mouth curled up, one said: "These two people have lost their temper." The other said: "No, even if it is managed by a computer, the building is always dead." The other said: "They said They are alive, I am afraid that one day, the living building will swallow them up." The other said: "It seems that they will order to blow up the building to the ground, and then build two bamboo sheds on the open space." Speaking of this, the two were unscrupulous and laughed. They intended to laugh at the views of the Chen brothers, and what they said could be said to be harsh, but their appearance was very cute. Seeing how they laughed, as the object of their ridicule, although the Chen brothers looked dispirited, But it can't happen. They just raised their voices: "It's so strange to be swallowed by the building. Isn't it true that two people have been swallowed in this building?" When they said this, in order to strengthen their tone, they stamped their feet on the ground vigorously.Due to the thick carpet, of course there was no sound, but it was enough to prove their serious attitude! As soon as I heard them say that, I was suddenly taken aback—this statement is extremely strange.The "two people" they mentioned naturally refer to two important figures in the Dow Group.These two people disappeared mysteriously in the building, but the Chen brothers said that they were "swallowed" by the building. This is really extremely weird. If a building can swallow people, how many people can a 60-story building swallow? Looking at the appearance of the Chen brothers, they spoke very seriously, and the word "swallowing" they used was also serious, rather than a literary description or a symbolic one. My thoughts were very confused, and suddenly, what I thought of was a novel or a note I had read at some time, saying that it was in a place where, every night, two bright lights lit up in the sky, And in the place surrounded by clouds and mist, there is an inclined ladder without steps, extending down.Therefore, everyone who saw it thought that it was the way to reach the sky. Once it was passed on to ten, ten to a hundred, it spread, and many people gathered. middle. Every night, there are always hundreds of people climbing up and never coming back. People still believe that it is the way to reach the sky. It was not until a wise man appeared that he revealed the truth. It turned out that it was a huge python that swallowed it. The human method: the two bright lights are the eyes of the giant python, and the inclined ladder is the long tongue of the giant python——when a person climbs up the long tongue, he is automatically thrown into the python's mouth and is swallowed by the giant python. There was no turning back. The note of the novel was written quite vividly. At this time, I remembered that it is because a building has more than one entrance. Every day, I don’t know how many people automatically throw themselves into the building. Of course, the people who enter , can come out again, but now there are two people, no, eight people, after entering the building, they did not come out. According to the police, he is missing.In my sense, the mystery is gone.In the words of the Chen brothers, it was swallowed up by the building. Why did the Chen brothers make such special remarks? I knew there must be a reason, but at this time, I had no chance to ask back, because Liang Chenmei also called out: "This is even more outrageous, how can the building swallow people? Swallowed it, where did it go?" The Chen brothers said "swallowing", and Liangchen Jingmei further interpreted it as "swallowing", which is naturally even more weird, but the fact remains the same: people disappeared in the building. The Chen brothers answered very seriously the question about the beauty of Liangchen: "Who knows? No one can know what activities are going on in a building secretly. There are too many unknown spaces in the building. Who knows that it is used for What is the purpose? If there are more than a hundred people hiding in this building, it will not be easy to avoid being seen." When they said this, their expressions were horrified, and they couldn't help but took a breath: "In the same way, the building can hide many things that don't even know what it is." After a pause, they added: "As long as it wants to do that." The words of the Chen brothers caused those who heard them to enter a strange and inexplicable atmosphere, and Liangchen Meijing was obviously infected by this atmosphere. They tried their best to laugh at them, but the words they said were not so powerful anymore .They just said: "Look, how can anyone scare themselves like this?" The Chen brothers didn't answer right away. At this time, it was my turn to speak, and I said, "I think there must be some reason for the two of you to make such an assumption. Can you tell us?" The two were hesitant to speak, and at this moment, the expression became tense.They were still mocking just now, but now they are very serious, and their words are also very strange.They said: "If these two buildings really become spirits, then there is always a way to catch monsters." In Chinese myths and legends, it is true that anything can become a spirit. They say that there is no precedent for a mansion to become a spirit. It seems that even a hut has become a spirit. Originally, Liangchen Meijing's words just gave the Chen brothers a chance to retort, but both of them looked solemn, pouted and kept silent. This made me feel the seriousness of the matter, and I hurriedly asked: "Have you ever had any unusual experiences?" Although Liang Chenmei was a little shocked, but they did not forget to joke, they opened their mouths together and said: "But have you been swallowed by the building?" After the two said this, they suddenly laughed together again, covered their mouths with their hands, stared at the Chen brothers, and couldn't stop blinking. The Chen brothers were angry: "We have never been swallowed by a building, so we were neither vomited out of the mouth by the building, nor slipped out of the anus of the building." The strange appearance of the beautiful scenery on a good day obviously meant this, so when the Chen brothers said it, they stopped laughing. I was horrified when I heard that the building has a "mouth", which is like language.And if there is an "anus" in the building, then I don't know what it is, and of course it is absolutely impossible.