Hidden moth

Chapter 10 How to Examine
He Kao specifically said hello to Ms. E and told her he had something going on at home. It wasn't that the company had to work overtime this weekend, but rather that frequent overtime had become a habit at the company, and he was taking precautions.

He called an online taxi and it took him nearly an hour to get from Sesame Apartment to Pugang Town. The journey was relatively smooth.

In fact, the drive from Pugang Town to his current workplace was only 30 kilometers. In the super first-tier cities of the East, this was the average daily commute distance for some people.

Qiyuan City, the capital of Jianghai Province, could barely be considered a quasi-first-tier city in the East. JB District, where Pugang Town was located, was also a district of Qiyuan City, but the thirty-kilometer distance felt far away.

The journey begins in the bustling city center, passes through the city, crosses a major river, and finally arrives at the "urban-rural fringe." In the traditional understanding of the locals, crossing the river is the countryside.

If you live in an older house, riding an e-donkey to work on a good day would take you over an hour. If the weather is bad and you need to drive or take a taxi, the journey time is more uncertain, ranging from 40 minutes to two hours each way, depending on traffic.

In principle, He Kao could also commute to get off work this way, but as long as conditions permit, why bother asking for trouble? Whether or not one can endure hardship is one thing, but not asking for it is also a form of self-protection.

Thirty kilometers wasn't a long distance at all, so why had he only returned three times in the six months since he started working, the most recent visit being two months ago? He Kao himself couldn't explain it.

The roads in the town were well-maintained. When He Kao got off the car at the door of his house, two people were already waiting for him. They were his uncle-in-law He Changshan and He Changqing, the leader of the local police station.

The precinct's Public Security Division didn't send anyone, instead delegating the matter to the local police station. He Changqing, He Changshan's cousin, hadn't shown up during the last police operation, but this time, he showed up to clean up the mess.

What is the name of my uncle's cousin? There is no agreed-upon name, so He Kao usually calls him Uncle Changqing.

Uncle Chang Qing cleaned the yellow tape with black stripes on the gate of the courtyard, opened the temporary padlock set by the police, complained to his cousin for a few words, comforted He Kao, and asked He Kao if there was anything else he could help with.
He Kao replied that he didn't dare to bother, opened his backpack and took out the new lock he brought with him, and took out the invoice and handed it to his uncle, a total of 1,500 yuan.

Two locks were broken: the courtyard door lock and the main door lock. The most expensive one was the lock for the security door. Not counting the installation fee, He Kao had to buy a new lock for 1,300 yuan.

He Changqing didn't want to stay any longer, so he said goodbye and left in a hurry when he saw nothing else. His uncle also asked He Kao if he needed any help, but He Kao shook his head and said no, not mentioning He Shan's visit the day before.

The uncle hesitated for a long time, and told He Kao to come home for dinner after he finished his work. He sighed and left, and transferred another 500 yuan to He Kao because he only transferred 1,000 yuan last time.

He Kao sighed as he looked at his uncle's back. He really didn't want to curse, he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

His grandfather, father, and aunt all had the surname Zhou, so why did He Kao have the surname He? He actually shared the same surname as his uncle, which was quite complicated.

It is unknown when the Zhou family's ancestors moved to this place, but for the time being, they have been carpenters for generations, from my great-grandfather to my grandfather. By the time of my father, Zhou Du, he had already started school.

Zhou Du did not go to college, and did not even finish high school. It was not because of poor grades, but because he went to a technical secondary school after graduating from junior high school. At that time, it was called a junior technical secondary school.

Junior technical schools are a bit like today's technical schools, but they were much better than technical schools back then. The state would assign jobs to students after graduation, and only students with good grades could get in.

After graduation, Zhou Du was assigned to a state-owned construction company. After working there for two years, he went out to find a job on his own. Following the trend, he organized an engineering team and then set up a company.

The company's business is mainly divided into two parts. The first is to undertake engineering construction. Zhou Du is equivalent to what people often call a contractor. He later developed the decoration business.

Although Zhou Du's academic qualifications are not high, he is smart and studious. He can not only lead the construction team but also do his own design, from architectural design to decoration design.

In addition to professional skills, another important ability for doing this kind of work is the ability to collect project payments in a timely manner.

Zhou Du doesn't have much background, but he can always get the project payment on time, or at least he has never delayed paying workers' wages, so he has a good reputation and is very popular, and everyone is willing to work with him.

It was this man who met with an inexplicable accident twenty years ago. He Kao didn't know what happened to his father at the time, only that he died of illness.

After his father's death, a family dispute arose over He Kao's upbringing. It was said that it was his grandmother who suggested that He Kao be adopted by his eldest aunt's family, a proposal that was somewhat unusual from a traditional perspective.

He Kao's grandfather had three children: his eldest aunt Zhou Yan, his father Zhou Du, and his third uncle Zhou Feng. His third uncle went to college in another province, but after graduation he stayed to work in the local area and has since married and settled in the north.

Adoption usually takes place within the family, such as to an uncle or a cousin, and it is rare to hear of adoption to an aunt's family. Why did my grandmother think this way? First of all, it was because my eldest aunt's family had no sons, only a daughter like He Shan.

Secondly, there is another reason that is not easy to say publicly. I heard that Zhou Du left a large sum of money after his death. This was of course for his son. Whoever becomes He Kao's guardian will have the right to use it.

Because of his grandfather's resolute opposition, the matter was eventually dropped. He Kao remembered that his grandfather always gave in to his grandmother in many matters, but this time his attitude was unusually firm, and he even yelled at her, "I'm not dead yet!"

Yes, although his father passed away, his grandparents are still alive, and He Kao's mother should also be alive, but she has lost contact... In this case, it is really a bit unreasonable to adopt him to his aunt's family.

After the adoption plan fell through, the eldest aunt Zhou Yan claimed that she had been strongly opposed to it from the beginning, but this was what Grandma He Kao wanted, and her husband He Changshan also wanted to do so.

Then she scolded He Changshan for having feudal ideas and despised her for not giving birth to a son... In short, she scolded him for a long time, and everyone in the village and even the whole town knew about it.

He Kao didn't believe what his aunt said.

He Kao still remembers that his grandmother made this suggestion when his grandfather was out. His eldest aunt and uncle immediately took him to the police station to change his name, changing his original name Zhou Youzhi to He Kao. At that time, his eldest aunt didn't seem to be unhappy at all.

Why did He Kao just let them do this? He was only five years old, what could he do? It was all up to the adults to decide!

Why wasn't He Kao's name changed back? Perhaps it was an oversight on the part of my grandfather, or perhaps the conflicting parties backed off and let the matter slide, or perhaps they simply forgot about it?
I heard that the local police station seemed to have a rule at that time that minors could only change their names once.

The more reliable reason is that He Kao happened to be enrolled at that time, so he registered and obtained his student status under the name He Kao, and he never changed it later... The later it was, the more troublesome it would be to change it.

Changing one's name these days involves a plethora of formalities and certifications, including a multitude of documents and certificates. Changing one's phone number, let alone one's given name, is difficult. So He Kao has remained known as He Kao ever since; it's just a nickname he's gotten used to.

A closer look at He Kao's life reveals a crucial missing link: his mother. It's said that when he was three years old, his mother left the country, traveling to distant America. She called him for the first six months, but then lost contact.

He Kao's family rarely mentioned his mother, except for his grandmother, who would occasionally curse her, "that xxx." It was a word I couldn't write; it was a local dialect, and it was unpleasant to hear.

Normally, a three-year-old child should have vague memories, but He Kao has no impression of his mother at all. There is not even a photo of his mother in his home.

He Kao's father did leave a sum of money. Some said it was earned by Zhou Du from his business over the years, while others said it was sent back by Zhou Du's mother from abroad. In short, it was rumored in the countryside that it was a huge sum of money.

How much was this sum? He Kao later learned that it was over 800,000 yuan, which was indeed not a small amount twenty years ago.

This money had been in my grandfather's hands for a long time, but it had now been spent. My grandfather was not good at business, let alone financial management. With the development of society and inflation, the "huge sum" was actually getting smaller and smaller.

In addition to Zhou Du's living expenses since childhood, the most important use of this money was to build this three-story building.

The blueprints for the small building were left behind by Zhou Du, who loved design. He once designed a small building, including a front and backyard, and said that when his son got married in the future, he would build a new house based on this design.

Many years after his death, his father fulfilled his wish.

The building was completed just as the village was being transformed into a town, and the relevant houses were undergoing property rights registration. A formal property ownership certificate could be obtained for a fee. He Kao's courtyard, for example, would have required a fee of over 20,000 yuan.

Grandpa paid the money, and the courtyard was registered in He Kao's name, with formal ownership. At that time, many townspeople had not paid the money, so the houses and land were of course still theirs. Today, they are called small-property houses, a historical legacy.

After the new house was completed, Grandpa finally told He Kao that his father had left him more than 800,000 yuan, most of which had been spent. The remaining amount was for his tuition and living expenses during college.

His grandmother died when He Kao was in high school, and his grandfather died the year He Kao graduated from university, after he had already been admitted to graduate school. This old carpenter, who came from the old society, was convinced that his eldest grandson had become a great man.

There had been rumors of relocation in the area, and my uncle's family had been waiting for it, but after a long wait, nothing happened. Later, upon inquiring, they learned that the district had changed its planning. My eldest aunt was furious and, along with many other residents, went to the district government office to protest.

The plan was changed because the overall environment had changed. The urban expansion of Qiyuan City had almost reached its peak when He was admitted to university, followed by an overall decline in real estate development.

The small building that Grandpa built for He Kao was preserved. Unexpectedly, a few years later, a large number of illegal and contraband items were hidden here by his uncle's family, and He Kao was almost implicated.

Thinking about the past, He Kao walked into the main hall. When country people built a house, the main hall on the first floor was often the largest, comparable to a small warehouse, and usually there would be a central hall.

The central hall is a square table in the middle against the wall, with chairs or stools on both sides. People who are more particular will hang a painting and couplets on the wall and place some exquisite ornaments on the table.

The main room was in a mess at the moment. The furniture that had been neatly arranged was pushed to the corner, and there were many dragging marks on the floor tiles. It was obvious that someone had piled up a lot of things here not long ago.

After walking around the first floor and finding nothing new, He Kao turned around and went upstairs again.

Only the first floor of this building has been renovated. The second and third floors are still bare and unfinished, with only windows facing the outside installed. The walls have not even been whitewashed, and there are no doors in the rooms.

The reason for not renovating the house was simple. Grandpa didn't have much money at the time, and he had to handle the property rights procedures and leave He Kao with college tuition and living expenses, so he tried to save as much as possible.

According to his grandfather, the first floor was large enough for He Kao to live in by himself. When he made a lot of money, he could decorate it to his own taste. Many buildings in rural areas were like this: the facades and windows were repaired, but the interiors were not necessarily fully decorated.

During the two and a half years that He Kao has been studying for his master's degree, he has found ways to work and study. The coffee shop downstairs from his company happens to be where he used to work.

He first went to the third floor, where only a few building materials and miscellaneous items were scattered about, making it basically clear at a glance. He Kao went straight to the room in the northwest corner. This orientation wasn't ideal, as it was usually a bit chilly in the winter and exposed to the setting sun in the summer, but the room was quite large.

Judging by the interior area, it's about five meters wide from north to south and seven meters long from east to west, with two windows on the north wall and one on the west wall. With such a large area and this orientation, it's definitely not suitable for a bedroom, but it could be used as an activity room.

There's room for a pool table, a gym, or a dance studio, but it's empty. There are a few wooden planks scattered on the floor and two sheets of plywood standing in the east corner.

He remembered that the last time he came here, the two plywood sheets were lying flat on the ground. He Kao went forward and laid the plywood flat, revealing a door behind it, or more accurately, a doorway.

The house was bare-bones, with neither the door nor the door frame installed. He Kao turned on the flashlight on his phone and walked in, only to discover that it was a "secret room."

When we say it is a secret room, we mean that it is very secretive in design, but as long as the door is exposed, there is nothing to be surprised about. It can be used as an en suite bathroom, a cloakroom, a storage room for miscellaneous items... any of the above are possible.

But once the door is blocked, it is difficult to see that there is a secret space here.

If someone has nothing better to do and measures the east-west length of this small building, they will find that it is about fourteen meters. There are two rooms on the third floor facing north, and the east-west dimensions of the suites are seven meters and four meters respectively, which adds up to eleven meters.

Of the three meters, more than one meter was the combined thickness of the walls, and the less than two meters was the east-west dimension of the secret room. Its north-south dimension was the same as the room outside, about five meters.

This is a narrow, long room of less than ten square meters. It has no windows and only a door near the corner. If the ventilation is not designed well, closing the door will suffocate people.

To be honest, He Kao didn't know what this small room was used for. Anyway, the design was like this in the drawings left by his father, and his grandfather built the house according to the original design.

**
(End of this chapter)