There are not many dishes to choose from in the coffee shop, all of which are pasta, steak and the like. The quality is also average. The medium-rare steak is almost well-done. I can only say that the price is worthy of the busy street where it is located. Chen Xiaoling took several photos and posted them on WeChat Moments, with the caption "This restaurant is average, but fortunately there is a handsome boy who comes to chat with me~ (love) (love)
After a while, she added another comment: Don’t misunderstand, we are just friends (love)
Lu Yingjiu was cutting steak, and for some reason he felt that the atmosphere at the table was a bit weird. He glanced at Chen Xiaoling, then at Jing Xian, and they both seemed to be concentrating on eating, nothing special.
Is it an illusion
Lu Yingjiu took a sip of water and before he put down the glass in his hand, he saw that the two men were staring at the glass.
Road to welcome wine:
He suddenly felt that the thing in his hand was like a time bomb. It was not right to continue drinking it, nor was it right to put it down.
He hesitated for half a second, and just as he put it down, he saw the two men's hands stretched out at the same time!
Jing Xian was obviously faster than Chen Xiaoling and took the glass away: "I'll fill it with water for you."
Road welcomes wine:
He was full of doubts as he watched Jing Xian stand up, fill up the bottle of lemonade like a victorious lion patrolling his territory, and then put it in front of him with a mysterious smile.
Lu Yingjiu: "Thank you?"
Jing Xian: “You’re welcome.”
Lu Yingjiu continued to cut steak, thinking, this atmosphere is indeed not right. Is it because these two people don't know each other, so they are awkward? But it doesn't seem like it...
He was not good at handling such occasions, and he knew the basic rule of "if you don't know how to speak, don't speak at all", so he remained silent, and Jing Xian added water to his silence twice. Chen Xiaoling smiled insincerely, and his eyelashes, which stood upright after applying mascara, trembled badly.
The meal ended in a weird atmosphere.
Chen Xiaoling had something to do in the afternoon and was in a hurry to leave.
She stood at the door of the coffee shop, took a deep breath, and said, "Xiaolu, next time you have time, come out to have dinner with your sister, and we can chat alone." After she finished speaking, she blinked her eyes, blew a kiss at him, and walked away in her high heels.
After Chen Xiaoling left, the atmosphere immediately returned to normal.
According to the phone number given by Chen Xiaoling, Lu Yingjiu tried to call Jin Xiaoyang's cell phone.
The phone is turned off.
He said: "Let's go to Jin Xiaoyang's home first, at least to ensure his safety."
"Yeah." Jing Xian responded.
The two got in the car and drove to the National Treasure Garden. Jingxian was still driving very aggressively, the second-hand Honda shuttled between the traffic, overtaking all the way, without any delay. Lu Yingjiu got used to it this time, lowered the seat and began to catch up on sleep.
After he had slept for more than ten minutes, half asleep and half awake, the car stopped.
Outside is the National Treasure Garden, also an old residential area, with dilapidated exterior walls of the buildings.
Taking the old elevator, they found the 12th floor of Building 5.
Jin Xiaoyang lives in 12b, and the opposite room he mentioned is 12a, which is the old lady's residence.
Jing Xian stood in front of Jin Xiaoyang's house and rang the doorbell several times, but no one came to open the door. The waiters in the bar were working day and night, and Jin Xiaoyang didn't know if he was catching up on sleep or not at home.
Lu Yingjiu stood in front of the door of 12a. There was a slight sound behind the door, someone was walking, he stretched out his hand and gently pushed it -
The door actually opened slowly; it turned out to be ajar.
Behind the door, in the middle of the living room stood a man, about 40 or 50 years old, with a round figure and face, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. Everything in the house was turned upside down, drawers were all opened, sofa cushions were thrown on the floor, plates were broken on the table, carpets were curled up in a corner, and the wardrobe was open, full of thin floral shirts... It was like a burglary scene, with a vicious criminal attached.
The "gangster" was stunned when he saw Lu Yingjiu, and asked in a surprised tone: "It's you?"
Lu Yingjiu also felt that the face looked familiar. After thinking for a while, she remembered that the man in front of her was called Chen Qi, the younger brother of Chen Zheng, the president of the Qingdeng Society. She had met him two or three times before.
Chen Qi was not a member of the association, but had been managing the Chen family. In Lu Yingjiu's impression, he was not as smart and capable as Chen Zheng, but was more honest, smiling and welcoming everyone, and speaking with a unique middle-aged official accent.
I didn't expect to meet you here.
Lu Yingjiu asked, "Are you exorcising a ghost?"
"Yeah," Chen Qi wiped the sweat off his face with the back of his hand, "It took us a long time to catch it."
He was holding a handful of talisman paper in his hand and his back was covered in sweat, probably left behind from the pursuit of the old lady.
Chen Qi added: "You came here for the ghosts too? It's a pity that you came a step too late, and I chased you away first, hahaha." He laughed dryly a few times and poked his head into the corridor again: "You came here with your friends?"
"Yeah." Seeing that Jing Xian couldn't open the door no matter how hard he knocked, Lu Yingjiu called out, "Jing Xian, come over here first."
Jing Xian entered the room and the two of them briefly introduced themselves to each other.
Another exorcist popped his head out from the inner room and looked a little confused when he saw them.
Chen Qi said, "It's ok. I just happened to run into a friend." He pointed at Lu Yingjiu and praised him, "Do you know this person? The famous exorcist Lu Yingjiu. He is the only one who can be the chief of the Green Lantern Society at the age of 19. If each of you is half as good as him, you won't be afraid of others gossiping outside and saying that our Chen family is declining."
The exorcist nodded at Lu Yingjiu, not knowing what to say, his eyes wandering. Chen Qi waved his hand again: "Okay, go and get busy. Finish putting up those two sets of talismans. I'll chat with my friends."
The exorcist went back to the inner room, rustling around and pasting talismans, preparing to purify the negative energy.
Chen Qi wiped his sweat and sat on the bay window. "I'm telling you, I've never seen an old lady run so fast. She's as fast as a rabbit. Even dogs can hardly catch her. I brought three people with me. One was on guard downstairs and two followed me. But the two guys followed the old lady in the stairwell on the 29th floor. They ran up and down three or four times. Now they are all lying in the car. How can this young man have such poor physical strength?"
Lu Yingjiu smiled and said, “Then you have good stamina.”
"No, no," Chen Qi waved his hands repeatedly and smiled awkwardly. The flesh on his cheeks squeezed his eyes into slits. "I ran for two floors and stopped, and let them chase him. I haven't done any commissions in several years. I just wanted to go out for a walk today. Who knew I would encounter such trouble. Oh, by the way - do you know what's going on with the person across the street? I heard that he even posted on the forum."
"We can't get in touch with him." Lu Yingjiu answered simply.
"This is troublesome, for us too." Chen Qi frowned. "If he just got frightened, it's easy for him to attract ghosts again when he goes out. He seems to be working in that bar. I'll have someone look for him later and give him some magic bags to ward off evil spirits."
It looks like this commission ended before it even began.
After all, it is one of the aristocratic families. With someone from the Chen family coming, especially an old hand like Chen Qi, there will definitely be no problem in exorcising ghosts.
In the next 5 minutes, Chen Qi carefully pasted the talisman paper in his hand on the four corners of all the windows, and wrapped the door handles, table corners and sofa legs. He was obviously clumsy when he squatted down, and his legs were numb. He couldn't stand up for a long time, and Jing Xian had to go over and pull him up.
Jing Xian was very strong, and he easily lifted up Chen Qi, who weighed nearly 90 kilograms.
Chen Qi also praised: "Young man, you must have practiced a lot. Which ghost exorcist are you from?"
Jing Xian smiled and said, "I'm from Lu Ying Restaurant."
Chen Qi was stunned for half a second. "Oh, it's Xiaolu's office, right? That's great. As expected, outstanding young people are attracted to each other. I, a senior, am ashamed of myself. Hahahaha." He wiped the sweat off his face with the back of his hand and looked around the room. The talisman paper was almost done. "It's rare for us to meet. How about... finding a place nearby to have tea?"
Lu Yingjiu originally wanted to refuse.
Unless necessary, he doesn't like dealing with people he doesn't know well, not to mention that the other person is almost two years older than him. They will probably have no common topics to talk about while drinking tea, and it will end up turning into awkward conversations and awkward laughter.
But Chen Qi was an experienced man after all, and he seemed to sense his intention to refuse, so he moved closer and whispered to him, "Since we just happened to meet, I have something to tell you."
Lu Yingjiu raised his eyebrows.
Chen Qi continued in a low voice: "My brother... President Chen said before that he was investigating you, didn't he?"
"investigation".
Of course Lu Yingjiu remembered this word.
When Chen Zheng wanted him to resign as the chief and transfer to another branch, he used the excuse of "investigating violations of discipline." As the person under investigation, he never knew the specific situation, nor did he know what stage the investigation had reached.
Lu Yingjiu joined the Qingdeng Society at the age of 16, became the chief at the age of 19, and stepped down at the age of 26. He has been exorcising ghosts for 10 years. After so much time, even a saint cannot say that he has never made any mistakes. Chen Zheng promoted him to the top, so it is too easy to find a mistake from the past files.
Chen Qi asked: "What did my brother tell you? Do you know which commission you were investigated for?"
“I don’t know.” Lu Yingjiu shook his head. “I don’t have the right to know.”
Chen Qi glanced into the inner room, making sure that the exorcist couldn't hear him, and whispered, "I also heard some rumors. Xiaolu, it seems that you are really in big trouble this time. I have always admired you, so I want to help you a little. How about we go for some tea?"
If this happened to someone else, they would be extremely grateful and would want to make a pot of good tea for Chen Qi and chat with him for half a day.
Lu Yingjiu said, "No need."
Chen Qi was stunned.
Lu Yingjiu smiled and said, "I have a clear conscience. This has been the case for the past ten years and will continue to be the case in the future."
“…” Chen Qi was speechless for a moment.
Lu Yingjiu's eyes, as sharp as a knife, made all his words stuck in his throat.
In just that second, he realized that this was an openness that could not be shaken even if the world turned upside down.
Lu Yingjiu said, "We won't bother you any more." He said, "Jingxian, let's go first."
Jing Xian responded and followed him as he left.
I took the old elevator downstairs. When I got downstairs, the sun was shining brightly.
The light was a bit dazzling, and Lu Yingjiu squinted subconsciously.
The elevator behind him made another "ding" sound, and it turned out to be Chen Qi who hurried up.
He panted and said, "Well, I thought about it. Even if it's not convenient to drink tea, I still have something to give you." He pressed the car key, and not far away, the trunk of an unmanned black Bentley opened.
Chen Qi went over and took out a thick book. It was brand new, with the packaging film still on, and it was completely black with no title.
Chen Qi said, "This is the ghost and monster illustrations that the Chen family just revised. It hasn't been officially printed yet. I only have one or two copies on hand. You can take a look. There are 79 more classification items and more illustrations. They were all selected by me."
“… Thank you.” Lu Yingjiu did not refuse this time and took the brick-like book.
Jing Xian, who was beside him, suddenly put his arm around his shoulders and pulled him into his arms.
This action was a little abrupt and too intimate. Lu Yingjiu was about to speak—
Bang!!!
The three turned their heads.
30 meters away, the roof of a grey Jetta was smashed, and countless pieces of glass flew out, reflecting sharp light in the sun, splashing half of Jing Xian and Chen Qi's body, and leaving several bloody marks on their hands. Lu Yingjiu was protected by Jing Xian, so he was fine, but he had no time to pay attention to this detail.
There was a dead body on the roof of the Jetta.
Blood flowed out in large amounts, gathered in the depression on the roof, and then flowed from his fingertips to the ground like water, bright red.
… I should know this guy.
The road welcomes the wine thinking.
It took two seconds for the memory to become clear: this was Jin Xiaoyang.
Today Chen Xiaoling showed them his photos.
They all looked up instinctively and saw that the windows on the 12th floor were wide open, and the beige plaid curtains were blown by the wind and fluttering outside the building.
…
The sirens at the scene pierced the sky and the police lights kept flashing.
Lu Yingjiu stood by the road, his eyes lowered, no emotion visible on his face. The wind picked up after nightfall, blowing up his black hair and puffing up his thin white shirt.
He subconsciously stroked the longevity lock.
He, Jing Xian, Chen Qi and the exorcist in the room all went to give their statements.
Afterwards, several exorcists from the Chen family also went to search Jin Xiaoyang's room, but found nothing unusual, so it should have been a simple suicide.
There were no signs of ghosts, so the Chen family members did not plan to continue the investigation.
It was rush hour, and the traffic on the road was like a sea of lights, horns were honking one after another, and the whole road on the navigation map was red. Many people were trying to look in their direction to see what was going on. Jing Xian stood beside him and said, "It's getting late, let's go eat."
Lu Yingjiu asked, "When you knocked on the door, was there no movement in the room?"
"Yeah," Jingxian replied, "I'm sure."
"At that time, Jin Xiaoyang was at home." Lu Yingjiu murmured, "But why? Was it because he encountered a ghost and was too frightened..."
Perhaps only Jin Xiaoyang himself could answer this question. Lu Yingjiu was silent for two or three seconds, and suddenly asked again: "Why did you hold me in your arms at that time?"
The strength that Jing Xian had shown before was completely mismatched with this reaction.
Jing Xian said: "I have a very accurate intuition about danger. I guess it's innate."
It's a very standard explanation, nothing wrong with it.
Lu Yingjiu tilted his head.
Jing Xian was half a head taller than him, he raised his eyes slightly and looked at Jing Xian. Jing Xian's eyebrows were deep and handsome, at this moment, the street lights and car lights staggered on his face, carving out sharp lines, and it could be used as a poster for some art film if it was photographed casually.
The light was dim and gentle, concealing the aggression in his appearance... Or rather, his expression in front of Lu Yingjiu was always exceptionally relaxed, even soft, as if he had carefully hidden his claws.
The staring lasted only half a second, with both parties' expressions revealing nothing, and then Lu Yingjiu smiled lightly and quickly and said, "Oh, so that's how it is. That's good. Thank you."
Jing Xian asked: "Do you want to go to Xiangdong Bar again?"
"That's exactly what I meant." Lu Yingjiu said, "Come on, let me drive. Is your hand okay now?"
The glass fragments scratched Jing Xian and Chen Qi, but the wounds were not deep. Jing Xian's forearm was simply wrapped with some gauze.
"It's okay," Jing Xian said, "I like driving."
Lu Yingjiu: “…I can see that.”
So their Honda SUV was on the road again, but the traffic was so congested that even Jingxian couldn't overtake this time and could only wait for the traffic light obediently.
As they walked along the road and encountered traffic jams, the journey that was supposed to take 15 minutes took 40 minutes before they finally arrived at the entrance of Xiangdong Bar.
When they went there in the morning, they saw the piano and guitar in the middle of the bar and thought it was an art bar. But they didn't expect that the whole scene would change at night, with deafening music coming from inside. And it looked like it wasn't that easy to get in.
Two burly men in black clothes stood at the door of the bar, crossing their arms and stopping them: "What are you doing here? Are you a member here?!"
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
This is a gay bar, he and Jingxian just happened to come here, how could he not know the best excuse? He is not the kind of person who can't lie at all. To be honest, he has deceived many people, including but not limited to poor Xiao Li.
It was just that at this moment, the former head of the Qingdeng Society, who had seen many storms and waves, was experienced and high-ranking, and was very rarely... embarrassed for a moment.
He had never encountered a situation where he needed to pretend to be gay.
Especially near the door, there were two men entangled with each other, touching each other, with their clothes open, and they couldn't wait to have sex on the spot.
Despite this, two seconds later, under the increasingly suspicious gaze of the big man, Lu Yingjiu had calmed down. He knew that he looked too obedient and out of place here, so he curved his peach blossom eyes and said, "Come here..."
Come here to have some drinks and have fun.
Before he could finish his words, Jing Xian pulled him into his arms.
Jing Xian had an infuriatingly handsome face and said arrogantly, "Nonsense, those of you who come here to fuck men, get out of here." After that, he rubbed Lu Yingjiu's head, looking like a cynical second-generation rich kid, and raised his eyebrows and said, "This is my wife, isn't she pretty? Are you envious?"
Two big men: “…”
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
The big men all took two steps back, fearing that Jing Xian was going to fuck them the next second. As the "target", Lu Yingjiu was hugged by Jing Xian and walked in with a blank look on his face.