Riding the wind of rebirth

"According to the information currently known, Charles Chenoy lives in a Latin immigrant community in New York City and his name is also a Latin name, so I guess he is most likely a Latin singer."

"Based on this clue, I joined several Latin music exchange communities and discovered some things."

"After Charles Chernow committed suicide, the most heated discussion in several communities was about his identity on the forum. Many freelance Latin music creators in New York are connected to each other, and soon everyone tended to believe that Charles Chernow's online identity was 'The Last Yashkokamut.'"

"But soon, several strange things happened," Mai Xiaomiao pointed to some statistics on the laptop, "First, this 'Last Yashkokamut', his works are quite popular on the forum. Since the forum was opened, he has published a total of 16 songs, and the monthly download volume is about 2,000 times."

"Xiao Miao, did we find the wrong person?" Tony Huang asked, "This doesn't make sense. With 2,000 downloads a month, his monthly income should be around $10,000, enough for him to live a good life. How could he be unable to make ends meet as described in his suicide note?"

Mai Xiaomiao frowned and said, "From the discussion information in the forum chat room, it seems that things are indeed possible, because Charles Chenow is not a US citizen and does not have a green card. He only has a three-month travel visa, which has expired for more than half a year."

"Then we understand why we can't find him!" Margaret and Richard Riel looked at each other: "This 'Last Yashkokamut', his account number is not bound to Charles Chenoy's bank card!"

"It is more likely that he does not have a credit card at all." Mai Xiaomiao said: "Many people in the group are in this situation. The forum provides them with a job to earn income, but because of their special status, they do not use credit card transactions. Their income is reflected in the digital currency accounts of alliance users."

"Then there should be an exchange channel, right?" Zhou Zhi knew that there is nothing new under the sun. Where there is profit, there must be an exchange channel. It is definitely not difficult to exchange the digital currency of forum users with real currency.

"Yes, many digital music stores support recharge and exchange. Digital coins can be used for both online and offline transactions in these stores." Huron nodded: "The alliance itself is happy to see this happen."

Nonsense, if any virtual currency begins to have the functions of real currency, its issuer will certainly be happy to see it happen, because there are huge benefits involved.

"That brings us back to the question we asked earlier." Zhou Zhi said, "If Charles Chernow and 'The Last Yashkokamut' are the same person, then his income has surpassed more than 85% of the musicians on the forum, with a monthly income of over 10,000 US dollars, which is enough for him to live a very comfortable life."

"That's what I thought at first." Mai Xiaomiao nodded. "Although there are such rumors in the chat room, they may not be true. But soon I felt that something was fishy."

"Just yesterday, after public opinion started to rise, the most powerful accounts in the chat room who had previously claimed that Charles Chernow was the 'last Yashkokamut' were threatened by two new accounts in the chat room."

"From the chat records, it seems that they know each other. Since these two accounts came in, the issue that was previously discussed quite heatedly has suddenly become quiet."

"Really?" Huron and Tony Huang immediately became interested.

"So I thought we should investigate the situation of 'The Last Yashkokamut'," said Mai Xiaomiao. "I found a clue in one of his songs." "'The Last Yashkokamut' has a song called 'Living in El Barrio', which contains a line of lyrics: leaky Spanish Harlem, mold and bug-ridden E110 Street, the colorful Grundhauser across the street, stars blooming on the walls, wires cutting through the sky, as if the great flag was hung upside down..."

The cultural differences were reflected here. Zhou Zhi could understand most of the song, but he had no idea what the underlying meaning was: "What is this about?"

Richard Riel explains: "El Barrio, in Upper Manhattan, New York City, East Harlem, is almost half Latino."

"It is known for its large amount of public housing, drugs and shootings. The poor living conditions breed poverty and crime; however, it also develops the richest street culture, with graffiti, music and dance as its most distinctive features."

"In the 1800s, it was home to mostly African-American farmers, Germans and Irish immigrants. Later, an influx of Italians led to Harlem being called 'Little Italy.' After World War II, a large influx of Puerto Ricans to East Harlem brought a flourishing of Spanish culture to the area, which eventually led to the name 'Spanish Harlem' in the song."

"Water leaks, mold and bugs, that's what the low-cost public housing on E110 Street is all about. Grundhauser is Spanish, the Latino name for graffiti art walls."

"The lyrics behind it should be about the stars on the wall and the wires dividing the sky, forming a picture like an upside-down American flag,"

"It's a metaphor. Hanging the national flag upside down symbolizes a country entering a state of disaster, which is not allowed under normal circumstances."

"This is a news report about a suicide that happened at Apartment 110, E65 Street." Mai Xiaomiao pulled up a news picture: "Here!"

"Oh my god!" Zhou Zhi was stunned. There was a photo in the news. A policeman was standing at the door of a dilapidated apartment with his hands on his hips to maintain order. The body of the young man was being put into an ambulance. Across the street was a graffiti wall covered with stars, as well as electric poles and wires.

"The news said that he lived in the basement of the cheapest apartment, with only a small window ten centimeters wide that could see the sky from the street..."

"That explains the upside-down flag in the lyrics! 'The Last Yashkokamut' is Charles Chernow!"

"This is an important clue!" Huron and Tony Huang were immediately excited: "Let's start the investigation immediately!"

"Let Lily come with us to the headquarters," Margaret said, "The technical department needs the help of a consultant like Lily."

"Let's go together and check all the related users, their financial transactions, their identities, their backgrounds, and their upstream and downstream relationships." Zhou Zhi said, "Maybe we can dig out a lot of things." (End of this chapter)