Rebirth 78, the beginning of the marriage was broken off by the female educated youth

The police officers carefully unfolded the time-worn blueprints one by one on the table.

The thick, yellowed, brittle, and even chipped-off-edge blueprints, exuding the musty smell characteristic of old paper, immediately filled the room.

Li Xiangnan drew back the curtains, letting the slanting sunlight stream into the room and onto the desk. His eyes shone brightly as he used a magnifying glass to search through the papers with a purpose.

His purpose was simple: the old coal workshop alley was located in the west of the city and was just an ordinary alley. It was only briefly described in the old Luzhou County Annals and could not provide much information.

What we need to find now is geographical information related to the old coal mine.

Soon, after searching through more than a dozen hand-drawn maps from different years, he finally found a similar marking on one of the maps.

"Look here, Gangshan Coal Mine! This was drawn up in the late 1950s, again in 1960, 1961, 1962... Look, the 1963 map caption already marked it as an abandoned coal mine!"

His finger quickly pointed to the old town. Moving slightly from the coal mine towards the town, he found the abandoned street on the east side of the mine—Old Coal Workshop Alley—which had been recorded in the county annals.

The reason I noticed this is because there's a sign in the middle of the way east from the foot of the mountain: Old Coal Mine!

"Look here!" Wang Defa pulled out the detailed street map from back then and compared it with the original map. "There used to be a memorial archway here, almost like a mountain gate!"

“That’s right, the place we’re looking for is probably here!” Li Xiangnan focused on flipping through the previous maps again, pointing to the old coalfield area. “You see, the map captions from different years have subtle changes. As the coal mine was developed, schools, streets, hospitals, and staff dormitories appeared here… This area around the old coalfield alley was clearly the staff living area back then!”

Director Qi and Director Fan were both somewhat surprised, craning their necks to look at the spot he was pointing to, their faces full of doubt.

"I remember there was a nationalization reform many years ago, and the coal mining area should have been nationalized. A mining area of ​​this scale should have developed better and better! But why haven't we heard anything about the Gangshan mining area? And many locals don't even know anything about this mining area?"

Qi Zhiyuan didn't mince words and directly voiced his doubts.

Li Xiangnan shook his head; he also had doubts in his heart.

"Perhaps something happened that the locals are unwilling to talk about! When something is not wanted to be spread, over time, naturally no one will pay attention to it! They may even forget such history!"

Li Xiangnan pointed to the old coal mine area, his tone somewhat grave, "Moreover, have you noticed that this area has undergone tremendous changes in just a few years? This perfectly confirms what I just said; something must have happened here!"

Fan Deting asked urgently, "What do you mean? Consultant Li, what have you discovered?"

“Look! On the map from 60 years ago, the buildings on both sides of this alley are marked in great detail. Even places like oil mills and cotton shops are marked, which shows that it was very prosperous at that time!”

"But in the supplementary survey maps of 61 and 62, the building signs at the end of the alley were blurred, and some were even marked with diagonal lines. Such lines meant that the area had been demolished... or no longer existed!"

Everyone looked at the map in confusion and found that it was indeed the case!

"Look again, in 63, the entire alley was crossed out with diagonal lines. From 64 to 68, the alley completely disappeared!"

Upon hearing Li Xiangnan's words, Wang Defa immediately pondered, "So, in just over a year, this alley has undergone changes? Was it demolished?"

"No way?" A police officer quickly searched the Luzhou County Annals for records from that time, but after looking around, he shook his head. "Back then, the Luzhou area was still very poor. Where would they get the resources for demolition? There are no records of that!"

Director Qi leaned closer to examine Li Xiangnan's findings, then gasped, "Advisor Li has a sharp eye! He can spot such subtle changes... These... don't seem like normal urban development! What kind of bustling alley is completely abandoned and relocated in just one or two years? How urgent would it have to be to do this?"

Fan Deting then pointed out astutely, "Moreover, Director Qi, Advisor Li, have you noticed that the decline of the old coalfield alley seems to have been linked to the decline of the coal mine? Look, in 63 and 64, the coal mine was also marked as abandoned..."

When he said that, everyone looked down and discussed it, and it was indeed true.

Li Xiangnan took out a cigarette and handed one to everyone. After lighting it himself, he paced around the room.

"In other words, something happened in this old coalfield alley twenty years ago, around 60 years ago. At the same time, something else also happened in the coal mine. We don't know yet who affected whom..."

Wang Defa frankly admitted, "Is it because the coal mine went bankrupt and everyone stopped working in the mining area? So..."

Professor Lu Hang shook his head: "That doesn't mean you have to move. Just find another job!"

Indeed it is!

So something must have happened to cause these two areas to decline and fall into ruin!

"Alright, Director Qi, Director Fan, I'd like to trouble you to find some more information. For example, ask the Heavy Industry Bureau if they have any records from back then, or find the cadres who managed the coal mine back then and ask them what happened here!" Li Xiangnan said firmly.

"Advisor Li, do you still suspect that the emergence of Chen Hanguo's second personality is related to the coal mine incident back then?" Fan Deting asked.

“We’ll investigate step by step, and we’ll eventually find the truth!” Li Xiangnan nodded. “Let’s split up and investigate, and meet up every night. It’s late now, everyone should get some rest!”

Looking at his watch, it was already past ten o'clock. Having come all day from Yanjing without any rest, Li Xiangnan was also quite tired. He decided to continue the investigation the next day, and with the help of others, he and Wang Defa led the professors to stay at the guesthouse across the street.

Late at night, Li Xiangnan stared at the old coalfield alley maps he had copied in his notebook, pondering whether he had missed something. He thought to himself that he should find some time to go and investigate in person to verify his suspicions.

dong dong dong.

Just then, a slight, almost imperceptible knocking sounded on the door.

"Who?"

Li Xiangnan was startled and instantly jumped out of bed.

But no one answered the door.

He nudged the fat man to wake him up, then shushed him, strode to the door, and pulled it open sharply.

The corridor was empty except for a folded piece of paper lying on the floor under the door.

"Xiao Li, what's going on?" Wang Defa rubbed his sleepy eyes and put down the bedside lamp he had been using as a weapon.

"I don't know!" Li Xiangnan shook his head and quickly unfolded the note, revealing a line of distorted handwriting written in pencil.

"If you want to know the truth, go and investigate the old coal mine on the spot. Don't believe what the officials say!"

"???"