late at night.
Summer nights in Lan City are relatively cool. The wind from the Yangtze River blows from the north, moisturizing the entire city. Many people have fallen asleep, and many people's lives have just begun.
In the city center, in a community that has been around for a few years.
A man in his forties, shirtless, standing on his balcony, drinking beer. In the house, his wife was cleaning the dishes and cursing at the same time.
A mosquito flew by, and the man raised his hand and slapped it on his arm.
Then he froze for a moment.
Because he felt as if he had heard a voice just now.
from him.
He looked down suspiciously and was startled.
Because of the position of his left chest and heart, there were some red marks at some point. He immediately reached out and touched it - it smelled like red ink.
The man's face changed, and he stretched his neck and shouted loudly at the bottom of the building: "Who the hell shoots! Take care of your own children! If you beat them again, I'll catch you, be careful I beat them!"
There was only silence in response to him.
Ten minutes later, in another community not far from here.
A young man, sitting on the sofa at home, shaking his hands and feet, was smoking and listening to music. This is a very dirty home, the sofa has lost its original color, the table is full of fast food lunch boxes and mineral water bottles, and flies are flying around.
The music was loud, and the young man shook his head, as if he had completely entered his own world.
"Snapped".
He vaguely seemed to hear a very soft voice, but he didn't care at all.
Until he got up to go to the toilet, he suddenly found himself in the mirror, with a red mark on the shirt on his chest. He frowned, reached out and touched it, and found that it was some kind of red paint, so he didn't care too much, closed his eyes, and continued to shake in front of the mirror with the music.
An hour later, the door of the Diamond Dynasty nightclub is far away.
A group of young people came out hugging each other. They were all well-dressed and smelled of alcohol. One of the girls was wearing the most revealing dress, a suspender that couldn't be smaller, a skirt that couldn't be shorter, and a pair of high-heeled boots. A boy stretched out his hand and pinched her waist. She reached out and pushed him away: "Go away!" , the tongue kissed inextricably, and all the people around were whistling.
"Snapped."
No one heard the sound, and the group continued to walk forward. When they arrived at the brightly lit parking lot, someone said "Huh" and pointed at the girl's chest: "What? Are you bleeding?!"
Everyone looked over. The girl lowered her head, reached out and touched it, and found that it was red ink.
"Who did it?" She feigned anger, raised her ink-stained hand, and wiped the faces of several people next to her, "Who secretly threw something on my chest just now? Hate it!"
A group of people scoffed and laughed again. Finally jumped on two brightly colored sports cars and walked away.
…
Midnight slowly returned to silence.
This city on the riverside plain is as quiet as a mirage at the moment. The sky is dark blue and the moon is white. There are still a few lights on many high-rise buildings, illuminating people's dreams.
Among them, on the top floor of a certain building, there is only one light that stays on for a long time. far from the ground.
A man, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Holding a gun in the left hand.
The muzzle, the red liquid slowly dripped. And his hands were dyed red.
After standing like this for a long time, he raised his head and looked at the glass in front of him.
In the same red ink, a line of numbers is written:
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7."
He slowly raised his hand, and with his index finger covered in red ink, lightly drew a large cross-"X" on each number.
Then he lowered his head.
With one arm propped on the glass, the other hand on the bottom right of the number wrote a crooked capital letter—
"T".
The ink continued to flow, and the traces on the glass gradually mixed into a ball, and finally nothing could be seen.
And the man lowered his head and kept this posture, motionless.
—
Jiangcheng.
Bai Jin Xi is sitting in front of the computer, biting the pen, writing and drawing on paper from time to time.
As a Jiangcheng native who doesn't have much memory, she is earnestly doing the souvenir strategy—
Chen Ji's dried peaches... Netizens commented the most authentic, come with three pounds;
The tofu skin at the main road entrance in the east of the city... She doesn't like this very much, let's take a bag;
Duck with fine mouth sauce, she thinks this is the best, is five bags enough
…
When she was almost done, she folded the paper and stuffed it into her pocket. Zhou Xiaozhuan was about to get up to eat breakfast when he saw her and said "Huh", "Boss, aren't you on vacation today? Why haven't you left yet."
"Well, check something and leave." She answered vaguely, and got up too.
The two walked to the door, and at a glance, they saw a familiar figure walking up side by side with the director at the corner of the stairs not far away.
It wasn't Xu Sibai.
Zhou Xiaozhuan leaned against the door and said in a low voice, "Actually, I think it is forensic doctor Xu. Although it's a little awkward to deal with your problems, but when it comes to work, he is a neat and decisive man. While others Well, how do you say that sentence? Far water can't save near fire."
Bai Jin Xi glances at him.
Xiao Zhuan immediately changed his words: "Uh... It doesn't seem very reserved, it's inappropriate, it's inappropriate. Hmm... It's beyond the reach of the whip, yes, it is beyond the reach of the whip!"
Jin Xi is too lazy to pay attention to him, and glances at Xu Sibai from a distance, then turns around and walks towards the back door.
Xiao Zhuan looked at her back, feeling a little indescribable.
The boss didn't know what he was going to do, but he actually started to hide and didn't have lunch with Forensic Doctor Xu!
And tens of meters away from the stairs.
Xu Sibai was talking to the director. Mainly the director is talking, he doesn't talk much, but he listens very attentively.
Then at a certain moment, he suddenly seemed to be aware, turned his head, and looked in that direction.
Then I saw a figure that quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor.
He was startled.
"Xiao Xu, is that so?" said the director.
Xu Sibai retracted his gaze, looked at the director, and smiled: "Okay."
—
It is much hotter on the street than indoors.
Bai Jin Xi is standing at the door of a shop with a newspaper in one hand to cool off, and a few full plastic bags in the other.
"5 bags of duck wings and 5 bags of duck necks," she said proudly.
"Okay!" The boss smiled, "Do you want mild, medium or extra spicy, girl?"
Bai Jin Xi thought for a while, "Wait a minute."
She sat down at the door of the store, ordered a glass of iced mung bean paste, and took out her mobile phone.
Flip to the number that has been changed to "Han Chen". It has been four or five days since he left, and the two have not been in contact.
Type word by word: "Do you want to eat spicy food?"
Waited two minutes, no reply.
She suddenly thought of a possibility - this guy, won't she save her phone number
Probably.
So he typed again: "I'm Bai Jin Xi." After thinking for a while, he deliberately added: "The Bai Jin Xi from Guanhu Police Station."
—
The Provincial Bureau is located in the center of Lan City, a white high-rise building, solemn and quiet.
At noon, Han Chen was sitting behind his desk with two colleagues in front of him, asking him about a certain case.
Suddenly, the phone on the table vibrated.
He picked it up, glanced at it, put it down, and continued to listen to his colleagues.
As a result, only two minutes later, the phone vibrated again.
He picked it up and glanced at it again, and smiled.
The two colleagues naturally noticed that he was texting continuously, so they both stopped.
Han Chen typed very fast, his fingers jumped a few times, and the text message was sent out: "Eat a little."
Bai Jin Xi replied quickly, with only an "OK" gesture.
After a while, the case was almost over, and the two colleagues started chatting.
Han Chen leaned back in the chair, picked up the phone with one hand, circled twice in the palm of his hand, stopped, and replied, "Thanks."
She still replied quickly: "Thank you for what, my heart is leading."
Han Chen stared at the text message and smiled slowly.
This is revenge.
He "hearted" her Xiao Long Bao last time.
The two colleagues next to him looked at his expression and felt that something was wrong.
Han Chen is in the provincial bureau, and he also has a nickname, which is widely known. But everyone only dared to shout in private, especially the majority of female colleagues, no one dared to shout in person.
"Pretty Han Shen".
In the "Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties", the son of King Yan of the Tang Dynasty, the young hero "Qiao Luocheng", is brave and good at fighting, kills countless people, and has a handsome but unsmiling face, making it difficult to approach.
Can they not be surprised to see "Pretty Han Chen" texting with his mobile phone today, and with a smile on his face
After Han Chen finished texting, he looked up and saw the curious eyes of his colleagues.
He stood up with a sullen face, stuffed his cell phone and cigarette case into his trouser pocket, and left.
—
There was no one in the stairwell at this time. Han Chen found a sunny corner, leaned against the railing, lit a cigarette, and smoked quietly.
After a while, the phone in his pocket vibrated again.
"Express tracking number: 8794XXX1, it should arrive tomorrow."
With a cigarette in one hand, he replied, "How much?"
This time the phone didn't ring for a long time.
Han Chen put out the cigarette butt and dialed it directly.
—
Bai Jin Xi didn't reply, but it wasn't intentional. Because she was standing in a courier shop full of items, packing it by herself.
Just as I was wrapping tape around the cardboard box, I heard the phone ring. She freed up one hand and didn't have time to look at the number, so she put it on her shoulder: "Hello."
"it's me."
Bai Jin Xi makes a move.
Across the phone, his voice sounded a little different from the real one. It seems to be lower, but it is very clear and textured.
"Oh." Bai Jin Xi replied, "What's wrong?"
"How much?" he asked. "I'll call you."
Bai Jin Xi can almost imagine in his mind that he must be standing somewhere with a cigarette in his hand, talking on the phone indifferently.
"No need." Bai Jin Xi continued to pack, making a loud noise, "If I come to Lan City next time, please invite me to dinner."
In the surrounding noise, his voice came again: "Well, yes."
It was obviously a few ordinary words, but his voice was so clear and sweet that it made her heart tremble slightly.
"Okay." She replied.
There was silence on the phone for a while.
"Hang up," he said.
"Wait!" she said, "I included you in the report on the Chen Lijiang case. I'll send the report to you at night so you can see what needs to be changed."
"No," he replied, "I don't see that."
Bai Jin Xi says "Oh". Think about it too, he is a senior detective, and he will definitely not read these basic reports.
"Just don't write it." His voice was a little vague, as if he was smoking.
Bai Jin Xi suddenly smiled and said triumphantly, "That's great, I'm the best at scribbling. Try to make this report your black history."
—
It's less than two o'clock after the delivery. Bai Jin Xi walks home slowly.
Thinking about what Zhou Xiaozhuan said today, far water can't save near fire, it's really nonsense.
He didn't understand, what is a confidant's friend as light as water.
Approaching downstairs, when I looked up, I saw a familiar white Chevrolet.
Xu Sibai leaned against the car door and looked at her from a distance.
Jin Xi put her hands in her trouser pockets, smiled, and walked towards him.
"Why are you here?" she asked.
Xu Sibai smiled: "Someone said that the case was solved, and they wanted to treat me to a big dinner."
Bai Jin Xi was stunned, she said this, and she said it with sincerity.
but…
Her face turned a little red: "That old Xu... You see today is the 28th, the end of the month... "
The few hundred yuan she had left this month was all for Han Chen.
Xu Sibai smiled suddenly, a very gentle smile, and his eyes were full of light luster.
"Get in the car." He opened the car door for her, "I can borrow it from you first and pay it back to me."
Bai Jin Xi: "...Is this okay?" Sit in.
He put his hand on the door of the car and looked down at her: "you can't do anything about it."