Reborn in 1993, Dark Sea

As soon as An Xiaohai came out of the restroom, he immediately realized that something seemed wrong!

The corridor was quiet; the prison guards who had escorted him were nowhere to be seen. Only a man wearing brown glasses sat on a chair in the corridor.

The man with the brown glasses was staring at An Xiaohai, a faint smile playing on his lips.

An Xiaohai had noticed the man with brown glasses in the crowd long ago.

Although this person was unusually low-key, there was one thing that was very special about him: while everyone else was busy, he was the only one who just stood aside and watched, and the expression on his face did not change at all from beginning to end.

Previously, An Xiaohai's entire focus had been on that lighter. Thinking about it carefully, the person was quite suspicious. However, even so, An Xiaohai was too lazy to think too much about it; maybe the person was just an undercover officer investigating a case.

Things are different now; this person seems to be after him.

Just as An Xiaohai was frowning deeply, the man with brown glasses grinned and patted the chair next to him, clearly inviting An Xiaohai to sit down.

Looking at him like this, he really seems like an old friend.

Although An Xiaohai didn't understand what was going on, he immediately stepped forward. The fact that the prison guard could be sent away to talk to him alone meant that the guard was not of low rank. This might be the guard's style of investigation. He should just be careful.

However, when An Xiaohai sat down next to this person, he was already covered in a cold sweat.

As An Xiaohai approached, he saw that the man with brown glasses was holding a lighter, the second lighter Yang Yuanbing had given him. An Xiaohai had handed this lighter over to Warden Wang Tao early the previous morning.

Hey~

The lighter's lid was opened with a crisp click, and An Xiaohai's heart skipped a beat.

"Your name is An Xiaohai, right?" the person finally spoke. His voice was ordinary, but it had a special charm.

An Xiaohai didn't speak, but nodded calmly.

"Do you like listening to music?" The man closed the lighter, held it in his hand, tilted his head to look at An Xiaohai, and asked with a smile.

An Xiaohai hadn't expected the first question to be like this. After thinking for a moment, he nodded slightly.

Do you know anything about headphones or speakers?

An Xiaohai shook his head.

"That's such a pity!" the man with brown glasses said with a shake of his head. "I thought I'd found a kindred spirit!"

"I'd love to do research, but I can't afford it!" An Xiaohai said, taking a deep breath.

After overcoming the initial shock and disbelief, An Xiaohai quickly adjusted his mindset. The other person was coming towards him with this lighter, so they must have discovered something.

But so what if they found it? The real lighter has already been disposed of, so even if this person knows there's something wrong with the lighter, there's nothing they can do about it.

The other party must be a member of the police. If the other party is a member of the police, then whatever they do, they must provide evidence!

Instead of being at a loss, it's better to adjust your mindset and deal with it carefully. An Xiaohai glanced around. Although there was no one around, the area wasn't completely enclosed, so there shouldn't be any danger.

An Xiaohai finally spoke, his voice calm and unwavering. The man in brown glasses was clearly surprised: "What do you mean by 'can't figure it out'?"

"The meaning is clear: I can't afford it. Playing with audio equipment is very expensive. There's a saying, I don't know if you've heard it?"

"What proverb?"

"Fishing ruins your life, cameras bankrupt three generations, and audio equipment guarantees you won't be reborn!"

"Ha ha ha ha!……"

Upon hearing An Xiaohai's explanation, the man with the brown glasses couldn't help but burst into laughter. He laughed so loudly that he was doubled over, but the laughter was actually quite soft.

To be honest, he looked quite eerie, even creepy!

"Interesting, very interesting! This is the first time I've heard such a thing. I've only ever heard of fishing ruining your life and birdwatching impoverishing three generations, never of a sound system exempting you from reincarnation! Haha, you invented this yourself, didn't you!"

"hehe!"

An Xiaohai grinned, wondering why this guy was so happy. Was his sense of humor that strange?

"Oh, that's interesting!" The man with brown glasses shook his head and continued to laugh for quite a while.

"Looks like I need to change my speaking habits. I should get straight to the point. Always beating around the bush makes me an easy target for criticism, don't you think?"

An Xiaohai didn't answer, but he agreed in his heart.

An Xiaohai hated people who talked nonsense. They would ramble on and on for ages about things that could be explained in two sentences, as if they were some kind of genius.

"Since that's the case, I'll get straight to the point. An Xiaohai, do you think there's anything special about this lighter I have?"

An Xiaohai did not answer, but just watched the person perform. To this day, An Xiaohai still does not know what this person's purpose is in approaching him.

"How did you figure out that this lighter has been used for a while?"

First, most of the flint has been used up; second, more than a centimeter of the tinder has been cut off, and even the cotton filling has been slightly soiled.

Everything was so natural, so flawless, that it was hard to tell that it was actually a new lighter.

Although he had expected it, the man's words still sent a shockwave through An Xiaohai's heart!

When An Xiaohai received the new lighter from Yang Yuanbing, he immediately realized that it was too new and didn't seem to have been used for a while, so he took these steps to clean it.

The man with the brown glasses was absolutely right; he had anticipated every move An Xiaohai made.

"But as the saying goes, even the most meticulous plans can have flaws, and we always fail because of details that are hard for ordinary people to think of."

"For example?" An Xiaohai asked, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart.

"For example, listen to its sound!" The man with brown glasses flicked his thumb, and the lighter's lid popped open, making a crisp "ding" sound.

"Is there anything special about this voice?"

"Of course it's special!" The man with the brown glasses took a light breath and continued, "I just asked you if you play with audio equipment, and that's what you gave me, making me happy for so long."

Damn it... Is making you happy actually hurting you?

"Do you know what the first thing to do after getting a new stereo system is?"

"I don't know. Like I said, I can't afford a high-end sound system."

"Burning in" the device.

"What do you mean?"

"It means that we need to run the new speakers at high intensity for a period of time. This process is called burn-in."

Why do this?

"To make the sound of the audio system more perfect."

The speaker is made of metal and rubber. During the burn-in period, the metal will gradually release some fatigue and the rubber will gradually soften. After a period of break-in, they will reach an ideal state.

Therefore, after burn-in, the sound quality and timbre of the speakers will be even more perfect.

"Sweet highs, accurate mids, deep lows?"

"Hehehe, that's how it is! You still say you don't understand, but I think you understand quite well!"

"What does this have to do with whether the lighter is new or not?" Although he already had the answer in his mind, An Xiaohai still asked the question, mainly because such an answer was just too unbelievable.

How could this guy detect such a subtle difference?

The man with the brown glasses gave An Xiaohai a deep look, took a breath, and continued:

"Everyone has different talents. Some people are particularly sensitive to numbers, some are particularly sensitive to colors, and some are particularly sensitive to sounds."

"For example, you?"

"Yes, I am naturally very sensitive to sound."

When I was a child, my family thought I would become a musician, but unfortunately, although I am very sensitive to sound, I am tone-deaf.

They can recognize sounds, but they don't know the rules of music!

God is indeed fair! He opens a window for you, but he will surely close a door for you.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, some people have even more amazing talents; they can remember everything they see. Isn't that incredible?

At this point, An Xiaohai completely lost his composure!

Having hyperthymesia is An Xiaohai's biggest secret hidden deep in his heart. He has never told anyone about it, not even his mother and Lin Xuan'er!

Does this person know?!

"Huh? Why are you so nervous? Do you think you have a photographic memory? Don't scare me!"

The man with brown glasses smiled and waved his hand: "We've gone off on a tangent. Let's get back to lighters. In my opinion, the sound of a new lighter's flip-top spring is quite different from the sound of one that's been used for a while."

I could at least hear a significant difference, so when I got this lighter, I found it quite strange.

After noticing something was wrong with the sound, I examined the flip hinge more closely, and sure enough, the hinge was new.

I was thinking to myself, this aging process isn't done properly. If the guy who does this went into the antique business, he'd probably lose a fortune!

However, it seems that this problem no longer exists.

I have a rather restless hand, and I've been playing with this lighter for almost two days now, turning it on and off thousands of times. The hinge is worn out, and I've ruined the evidence I finally found.

Even if I said it was new now, no one would believe me, ha!

The man with the brown glasses smiled brightly, but An Xiaohai only felt an overwhelming chill!

"Alright, it seems like it's almost time for you to eat. I'm off. Thanks for chatting with me for so long, you're quite interesting."

As he spoke, the man with brown glasses stood up and quickly walked away. When he reached the end of the corridor, he turned back and waved to An Xiaohai.

At this moment, An Xiaohai's mind went completely blank!