In order to ease the atmosphere, Ren Yi forced a smile: "Then, how about tonight, we originally agreed to celebrate the end of the New Year."
Gong Yingxian hesitated for a moment: "Okay, tonight, I will send someone to pick you up at night."
"No, I'll just drive there by myself. I remember how to get to your house."
"No, I told you, don't act alone." Gong Yingxian packed up the materials, "Wait for my notification." He took two steps, then paused again, "Take Miaomiao with you."
Ren Yi was stunned for a moment, and finally a little sweetness poured into his heart.
After Gong Yingxian left, Ren Yi also packed up his complicated emotions and prepared to leave, but just as he opened the door, he found Qiu Yan waiting outside, and it seemed that he was waiting for him specially.
"Captain Qiu?" Ren Yi looked at her puzzled.
Qiu Yan took a few steps forward and forced him back into the room: "Talk for a few words."
Ren Yi had no choice but to back away.
Qiu Yan closed the door casually, leaned on the table, and asked straight to the point: "What's wrong with you and Ying Xian?"
Ren Yi didn't want to reveal his feelings to a woman, it was too embarrassing, but Qiu Yan had already seen it, and it was useless to hide it, he said sullenly: "He discovered my sexuality, and then... got angry. "
"Angry" is already a word that he has weakened a lot.
Qiu Yan sighed softly: "I reminded you, he has experienced many bad things before."
"I know, so I..." Ren Yi scratched his hair, "I didn't intend to tell him."
"Then how could he..." Qiu Yan remembered something, "Who is that little actor last night?"
Ren Yi said lightly, "Friend."
"Boyfriend, or buddy with benefits." Qiu Yan's tone became a little stiff.
"... I haven't actively contacted him for a long time, ever since I felt..." Ren Yi felt more and more embarrassed to speak. He didn't think this kind of thing involved right or wrong before, but when he heard "disgusting" from Gong Yingxian's mouth and saw anger in Gong Yingxian's eyes, he felt as if he had committed a crime, full of shame.
If anyone, other than Gong Yingxian, said that he was disgusting, that he was abnormal, or said anything unpleasant, he would justly fuck it back. He's not proud or ashamed of his sexuality, it's just part of who he is, and he doesn't care what other people think of him—at least, he thought he didn't care what other people think of him. Only now did he understand that those "others" were not Gong Yingxian.
The person he likes, a word, a look, is enough to crush his self-esteem.
"You haven't been in touch for a long time, so was it a coincidence last night?"
"yes."
Qiu Yan raised his eyebrows: "Then it was such a coincidence that Ying Xian saw that you had done enough to make him judge your sexuality?"
"...Yes." Ren Yi felt that he couldn't explain it, and he said a little annoyed, "Captain Qiu, I respect you very much, but if you continue to talk to me in this way of interrogating prisoners, I will leave."
Qiu Yan stood up and looked at Ren Yi with sharp eyes: "You may think that I am too lenient, but I can't help it. After his sister left, I think I am his sister. He has suffered too much hurt , Ordinary people have collapsed long ago, you see he is tall and big, he seems to be able to solve everything, as if he is not afraid of anything except fire, but in fact he is a child in his heart, there is no child who walked out of the fire .”
Ren Yi's heart suddenly twitched.
"Captain Ren, it's not surprising that you like him. He has a very attractive appearance, but he is not someone you can flirt with casually. First of all, he is not gay. He regards you as his best friend. You are the only one who let him A person who is open-minded, all he needs is a trustworthy friend. Secondly, emotionally, he is not your opponent at all. Perhaps under your guidance, he will mistake his dependence on you for love. He may Treating you as a life-saving straw will put all the need for affection and the desire for home on you, can you bear it? Do you think he will be like those mature love or hook-up objects you used to, what a good get-together San, what do you want me to do? What if you get tired of it one day, what if you want to break up with your personality, have you ever thought about what kind of blow he will receive if you leave him? "
Ren Yi stared blankly at Qiu Yan. He wanted to refute, he wasn't teasing casually, he really liked Gong Yingxian, he had never liked someone so much, he liked it so much that he wanted to spend the rest of his life together, he liked it so much that he could exchange his life for another, but facing Qiu Yan's accusation, he For a moment, he couldn't say a word.
Even he was doubting himself. Is he really taking advantage of Gong Yingxian's dependence on him? Is he too selfish, wanting to take Gong Yingxian to a road that he didn't have to take or that was not easy to take out of selfish desire
Qiu Yan's expression was a little sad: "Captain Ren, if you really like him, don't hurt him."
"I never want to hurt him." Ren Yi said bitterly, "I just want to protect him, I only want him to be well, really."
"I know you are a good person, but good people will hurt others unintentionally, I hope you can grasp that degree." Qiu Yan took a deep look at Ren Yi, turned and left.
Ren Yi held his forehead wearily, feeling uncomfortable in his heart.
He will have no more illusions. As she said, he doesn't want to hurt Gong Yingxian, that's the person he wants to protect the most, so he can't give Gong Yingxian wrong guidance, just to satisfy his desire, he wants to give Gong Yingxian what he wants - a A true friend, a reliable comrade in arms.
Ren Yi adjusted his mood, left the conference room, and went to find Qu Yangbo.
Qu Yangbo was chatting with an acquaintance. When he saw him coming out, he walked over and stared at his face: "What's wrong with you? Did the confession go well?"
"Successful." Ren Yi turned his face slightly, trying in vain to prevent Qu Yangbo from looking at him. Qu Yangbo is very good at seeing people, and many things cannot be hidden from his eyes.
"Really, you don't have 'smooth' written on your face." The two walked out side by side, Qu Yangbo said, "Last night at the venue, I felt that the atmosphere between you and Dr. Gong was not quite right. What, did you quarrel?"
"No." Walking quickly to the parking lot, Ren Yi opened the car door, "Hurry up and go to the detachment."
"What's the matter, didn't you guys..."
Ren Yi slammed the car door hard with a bang: "Can you fucking stop asking!"
The air was suddenly quiet.
Ren Yi supported the car door with both hands, panting heavily to relieve the constant pain in his heart.
Qu Yangbo quietly looked at Ren Yi's back.
After a long time, Ren Yi turned around, leaning his back against the car door, with a dejected expression on his face: "I'm sorry."
Qu Yangbo shrugged: "Gong Yu, I am your instructor, and I must monitor your mental state at all times. After all, your decision-making affects the safety of yourself and other soldiers. Yu private, I am your brother, and I care about you very much. You It's okay to have emotions, but you have to deal with it."
Ren Yi looked at the sky in a daze, and quickly said resignedly: "Gong Yingxian knows my sexual orientation, he said he felt 'disgusting.'"
Qu Yangbo frowned, walked over and hugged Ren Yi's shoulder: "Brother, you have never been frustrated in a relationship before, I think you don't know how to chase people at all. Confession is the trump card when you have the chance to win, not the first move." One move, without enough foreshadowing, is to spread the gate of life to others, and the odds of winning are too low."
"I didn't confess."
"Ah?" Qu Yangbo said, "Then how did he know?"
"I don't want to talk about it, it's just an accident anyway." Ren Yi smiled wryly, "I can only tell him that I have a boyfriend, and I only treat him as a friend, otherwise I can't even be a friend."
"It's all up to this point, you might as well tell the truth, why hold it in your heart."
He Gu shook his head: "What can I do if I say it? Let yourself have a good time?"
"It will make you feel better."
"I don't care if I feel good or not." Ren Yi said frankly, "I only care about him, at least now we can have intersection, that's enough."
"enough?"
Ren Yi turned around and opened the car door again. He glanced at Qu Yangbo with calm and firm eyes: "It's not necessary to be together if you like someone, I just need to look at him well."
Qu Yangbo was stunned for a long time, but finally he could only shake his head helplessly.
When they arrived at the detachment, they held a meeting all afternoon. Generally speaking, they discussed the current threats facing Phoenix Squadron and Ren Yi, and fully cooperated with the police to catch Zi Yan and other X cult members as soon as possible.
After the meeting, Ren Yi asked Qu Yangbo to go back first, and he went to the fire investigation department of the detachment by himself. He wanted to know the history of fire investigation. Eighteen years ago, there was no special department for fire investigation, but the police were in charge, but all the consultants hired were fire experts, so here you should be able to understand what methods and tools were mainly used in fire investigation back then.
Several veterans in the fire investigation department were either his father's subordinates or knew his father. Most of them were transferred here because of various reasons such as health, family, and education.
Since this is a place with limited upside, staffing has been scarce, and new people are being recruited and trained above.
Ren Yi greeted several acquaintances, and met Zhang Wen who had assisted him in the investigation before.
After an old investigator knew Ren Yi's purpose, he asked him why he was interested in this, but he fudged him.
In the end, the old investigator asked Zhang Wen to take Ren Yi to the archives and warehouse, where there were many old materials and some retired equipment.
Zhang Wen was quite happy to see Ren Yi: "Captain Ren, now the team has spread the word that you have helped the police solve many cases."
"It's also due to you." Ren Yi said a few perfunctory words, he was not in the mood to mention it now, and instead asked: "How are you doing recently, have you changed your career?"
"There should be hope this year. However, some time ago, an insurance company wanted to hire me. They also needed fire investigators. The salary is much higher than here anyway. I was quite hesitant."
"You're still young, don't rush to make a decision."
The two came to the file room.
Zhang Wendao: "These materials contain the development history of fire investigation. The decommissioned equipment is not here. I can take you to see it."
"Okay, let me look at the information first, can these be borrowed?"
"You can say hello to Section Chief Meng, and just send it back after a while, as well as the equipment."
"Okay, go ahead."
Ren Yi rummaged through the archives for an afternoon to understand the investigation level of the year, which would help him discover the loopholes in the Gong family's case. After all, technology has developed too fast in the past eighteen years, and many things are now using advanced instruments. It can be easily found out, but there was no such condition before.
Finally, Ren Yi borrowed some materials and equipment and returned to the squadron.
From yesterday to now, he only slept for four hours. He was exhausted by now, so he went back to the dormitory and slept until after eleven o'clock in the evening when he was woken up by a phone call.
"Hello?" Ren Yi answered the phone while yawning.
Gong Yingxian's cool and pleasant voice sounded from the other end of the phone: "I'm in your squadron."
Ren Yi suddenly sat up from the bed: "Didn't you send the driver?"
"The driver is not equipped with a gun." Gong Yingxian said, "After packing up, go downstairs."
"well."
After hanging up the phone, Ren Yi was much more awake. Did Gong Yingxian come to pick him up because he was worried about his safety
On the one hand, he wanted to pull his heart away from Gong Yingxian's side, but on the other hand, he watched helplessly as it sank deeper and deeper.
He is not a brat who only judges people by their appearance. Part of the reason why he likes Gong Yingxian is because Gong Yingxian treats him well in a pure, sincere, and ulterior motive way. And he is a person who is kind to him when others treat him one point, and he can't help but return three points, so he got himself involved.
He grabbed Miaomiao who was sleeping next to him, rubbed his furry head with his face, and murmured, "You are the only thing that belongs to 'us'."