When, who, these words seemed to appear in memory along with the overflow of information.
It will surprise you, but it will also make you disappointed.
It will make you desperate, but also give you surprises.
wonderful.
The movement of the corpse collectors alarmed the guards at the checkpoint outside the city, and they came over with guns pointed.
"Come and have a drink tonight," Zhao Lu waved at them, "our brother Shi is back."
"On duty, you cannot leave your post without permission." said a guard.
"Then I'll send it to you later." Zhao Lu said.
Several guards looked around, and one of them lowered his voice and said, "Thank you."
Then he raised his voice again: "Hurry back to the bunker! Pay attention to hiding in an emergency!"
After watching the guards leave, Qiu Shicai finally broke free from the crowd and covered his chest: "Fuck your ancestors, I just treated my wound!"
"How is it?" Zhao Lu asked immediately, "Xiaoling said he almost died."
"If you keep pushing me, I'll die in a moment," said Qiu Shi.
"Xiaoling said thanks to..." Zhao Lu looked towards the driver's cab of the car.
"Brother Bi!" Hu Xiaoling ran to the driver's seat and patted the door. "Come down. We'll park the car behind the mountain and hide."
"Yeah." Xing Bi got out of the car.
All of these people had seen Xing Bi before, and they were quite familiar with each other. But now, perhaps they suddenly realized that this man was not a security guard from the Security Bureau, but a legendary undercover guard in Yuncheng who existed and yet did not exist. Suddenly, they didn't know what to do with him, and looked at Xing Bi stiffly and politely.
"Or else arrange for someone to send me flowers." Xing Bi said.
"Damn!" Zhao Lu shouted, "It tastes right!"
"Let's go, let's go, let's go," Qiu Shi pushed the group aside, "Move the things in the car, and prepare some food and drinks. Let's relax today."
"There's something else?" He Jiang was shocked. "Is Yuncheng Mining going to go bankrupt? Is the Security Bureau dividing up the property here?"
"Move quickly," said Zhao Li, "or else they will accuse us of exposing our position."
"Let's go," Qiu Shichong tilted his head towards Xing Bi, and as he walked towards the bunker, he asked Zhao Lu, "Are you familiar with those people from the City Defense Bureau now?"
"We have to get to know each other well," Zhao Lu frowned. "If we don't get to know each other well, they will come to cause trouble every day. It's annoying enough. We have fought twice. If this goes on for a long time, we will still suffer."
"You are still of some use." Qiu Shi patted his shoulder.
"It's still almost there without you," Zhao Lu looked at Xing Bi, "Which room will you arrange for Brother Bi later?"
"He's in my room." said Qiu Shi.
"I don't sleep much," Xing Bi said, "I don't need a room."
"Oh," Zhao Lu thought for a moment and lowered his voice, "Do I have to be Shi Ge's bodyguard? What if he gets stabbed again?"
"If I can still be stabbed here," Qiu Shi said, "you'll all be dead."
"That's true." Zhao Lu laughed happily twice.
Everyone started moving supplies and getting ready for some drinking and partying. Xiao Lei, who had been rolling down the slope, finally had the chance to stand in front of Qiu Shi.
"I thought you weren't going to talk to me anymore." Qiu Shi glanced at him.
"They have different feelings from you," Xiao Lei said, "You still have to let them get excited first."
"Weren't you very anxious when you rolled down?" said Qiu Shi.
"Not bad," Xiao Lei patted his pants, looked at him, and then looked at Xing Bi, "You guys have worked hard."
Xing Bi paused, said nothing, then turned and went into Qiu Shi's room.
"You're awesome," Qiu Shi gave Xiao Lei a thumbs up, "You left Xing Bi speechless."
"I don't have anything special to say," Xiao Lei said, "as long as you come back safely, that's all. Every time Brigade Zhao asked me and Director Li to ask about you, I was always scared, afraid of hearing something bad."
"I've integrated well," Qiu Shi nodded, turned around and went back into the house. "I started to feel like I was dead every day, just like them."
As he was about to close the door, he turned back and added, "Don't go too far these two days. If I need anything from Director Li, you'll need me to be here."
"Okay!" Xiao Lei was immediately excited.
After Qiu Shi closed the door, he sighed: "If you say the inner city is good, those officials are all bad people. If you say the inner city is not good, there are people like Xiao Lei. You can't find such a naive person in the outer city."
"Well," Xing Bi stood at the table fiddling with the MP3, "but here there are people like you, and people like Zhao Lu and his friends, another kind of naivety."
"Am I naive?" Qiu Shi lay down on the bed.
"Naive," Xing Bi said, "and very simple."
"After all, we are not subject to quality inspection requirements like you are when we are born," Qiu Shi said, "and it takes us many years to grow into a complete thing. What the final product is depends on the environment."
Xing Bi smiled.
"Is it charged?" Qiu Shi asked, "I'll listen to it later to see how it's sung."
"Well," Xing Bi looked at him, "Do you want to go to bed?"
"If I'm not going to sleep, I'll just lie down for a while," Qiu Shi said. "I'm tired."
"You usually do this," Xing Bi said, "sleeping in dirty clothes."
Qiu Shi sighed and sat up: "I just changed these clothes in the lab and took a shower... You are the one who doesn't sleep, and you are telling others how to sleep."
"Then you go to sleep." Xing Bi said.
"Now that you've said that," Qiu Shi took off his coat, "how can I still sleep?"
When he threw the coat aside, he looked down and suddenly found a bloodstain on his chest. He was stunned: "Fuck... I'm afraid this injury of mine will never heal. Qiu Yu will probably wake up laughing in his grave."
"Take it off and let me see," Xing Bi said, "I'll help you deal with it."
Qiu Shi took off all his inner clothes and put on his coat: "I have to bring something warm later. It's really cold."
Xing Bi gently lifted the gauze covering his wound. When his fingertips touched his skin, Qiu Shi held his hand in surprise: "Are you keeping the temperature constant?"
Xing Bi looked at him and asked, "What exactly do you teach in that refugee school?"
"What's wrong?" Qiu Shi also looked at him.
"You yourself are a constant temperature." Xing Bi said.
"But my hands are cold," Qiu Shi said. "At least my hands are not at a constant temperature."
"Okay." Xing Bi said, and pulled the medical cabinet next to him over.
"What's good?" Qiu Shi said.
"Brother Shi is right." Xing Bi said.
"Your ancestors." Qiu Shi laughed.
Xing Bi was very skilled in treating the wound. He disinfected it, applied wound adhesive, and then covered it with gauze. "There should be nothing wrong inside. The cut on the epidermis has been torn again."
"Is this also a skill of the undercover guard?" Qiu Shi took out a set of clean clothes and put them on again.
"Not really," Xing Bi said, "It just knows a little bit about everything, but it can't compare to a biochemical body with single-item enhancement."
"Your single item enhancement is combat effectiveness, right?" Qiu Shi said.
"Combat related." Xing Bi said.
"Oh," Qiu Shi thought for a moment, "then the other things that are not related to the secret guards are related to cooking, washing clothes, cleaning the house..."
"These are collectively called housekeeping," said Xing Bi.
"I need it," Qiu Shi said, "Can those people in the ancient times have such biochemical bodies?"
"You need money," Xing Bi said, "to buy services. Generally, a level 2 biochemical body can do a good job."
"Is it expensive?" Qiu Shi asked.
"It's not cheap." Xing Bi said, "I suggest you keep improving yourself."
Qiu Shi picked up his coat and shook it. "I don't wash these winter coats. I just need two to alternate between. When it gets warmer, they will be worn out. I can wait for Li Gouguan to get me new ones."
"Will it break in one winter?" Xing Bi asked.
"They are all clothes for refugees, the quality is just so-so," Qiu Shi sighed, "The uniforms in the inner city are much better quality, and antique clothes are also of good quality. When I was out on my own, I found a few clothes in an abandoned town in the south, and I wore them for many years."
Xing Bi smiled and pointed to the phone on the corner of the table: "Did you find this antique there?"
"I asked Li Feng to find this for me," Qiu Shi went over and picked it up. "You should have used it before. I originally wanted to use it to play games, but I never played it."
"Don't you have a little pet? Can't you play games?" Xing Bi asked.
"It's different," Qiu Shi said, "This is fun. I saw an old man play it before..."
He suddenly stopped in the middle of his speech.
"Hmm?" Xing Bi looked at him.
Speaking of the old man, he would recall the days on the second floor of Dayan. Countless familiar scenes flashed through his mind, and he suddenly felt a little sad. He could even recall the smell in the old man's room. Sometimes it had a fragrant smell, and sometimes it had a strange smell.
Yes, taste.
"Where are your supplements?" Qiu Shi turned his head and looked at Xing Bi. "Give me one."
Xing Bi took out a bag of supplements from his bag and handed it to him. Qiu Shi took it and opened it quickly, then put it under his nose and sniffed it: "His ancestors, this is the smell."
"Have you smelled it from the old man?" Xing Bi asked.
"Yes," Qiu Shi said, taking another careful sniff with some surprise, "I was saying that I've smelled this smell before! It's a little strange, so I have an impression of it."
Xing Bi said nothing.
"The old man put it in a bowl, it was black and sticky," Qiu Shi tried to recall, "just like shit..."
"The black one should be gastrointestinal bleeding." Xing Bi said.
"Ah?" Qiu Shi didn't understand.
"Normally there is no such color." Xing Bi said.
“… I just described it as ugly.” Qiu Shi said.
"I might starve to death." Xing Bi looked at the supplement in his hand.
“No, no, no,” Qiu Shi quickly took the supplement bag, squeezed out a little and ate it, “Actually… it doesn’t taste like anything.”
"Yeah." Xing Bi smiled, "You mean the old man takes supplements?"
"Yes, I'm sure it tastes like this," Qiu Shi stared at the supplement in his hand. "At that time, Yuncheng didn't have biochemical bodies, so there shouldn't be such things circulating in the black market outside the city, right? Where did he get it?"
"I don't know." Xing Bi said.
"Is he a biochemical?" Qiu Shi frowned, "Are there any old men among biochemical bodies?"
"No." Xing Bi said.
"It's impossible that he is that way. He's old, and I've known him since he was a child. He's getting older and older, and he's paralyzed." Qiu Shi couldn't understand it.
"It has been strengthened." Xing Bi said.
"Strengthen?" Qiu Shi was stunned for a moment, then he reacted and touched the back of his neck. "Does it mean adding that small square here? What's the function?"
"Based on the old man's condition," Xing Bi said, "it might be because of illness."
"Want to prolong your life?" Qiu Shi was shocked.
"Well, it can also improve body functions." Xing Bi said.
"If I make one," Qiu Shi looked at him, "how many more years can I live?"
Xing Bi looked at him without saying anything.
"What's wrong?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Why?" Xing Bi also asked.
"Just ask," Qiu Shi said, "If I die early, they may give you a new partner who may not be as good as me."
Xing Bi looked at him silently, and after a while he suddenly stretched out his arms and hugged him.
"Hey," Qiu Shi was stunned for a moment, then quickly hugged Xing Bi and patted him on the back, "What's wrong? Are you touched? Actually..."
"Come and drink!" Zhao Lu kicked the door open and shouted happily.
Xing Bi loosened his arm. Qiu Shi was startled by his movement. Adding to the fact that he and Xing Bi were performing a touching drama that moved Yun Cheng, he felt a little awkward.
"Still drinking?" Zhao Lu looked at them.
"Drink." Qiu Shi said.
"Do you want to hold me for a while longer or drink now?" Zhao Lu asked.
"You're not talking in vain." Qiu Shi put on his coat and tilted his head towards Xing Bi, "Let's go and have a drink."
"Brother Bi can drink, right?" Zhao Lu said, "Can you eat something?"
"Okay." Xing Bi said, "Thank you."
"What are you thanking me for?" Zhao Lu asked.
"Thank you for not asking him whether he drank gasoline or ate screws," said Qiu Shi.
"Only a fool would ask that," Zhao Lu said, "You're not a robot."
Xing Bi laughed.
"I asked." said Qiu Shi.
"I'll get a plate of screws in a moment." Zhao Lu said immediately.
A group of people had gathered in the largest shelter. The low tables were filled with food and wine. Everyone sat on the ground, huddled together, and looked very warm.
As soon as Xing Bi walked to the door, Hu Xiaoling pulled him in: "Brother Bi!"
Just as Qiu Shi was about to go in, Zhao Lu called him from behind.
"Huh?" Qiu Shi turned around.
"Do you still remember the bartender in Dayan? The one who died?" Zhao Lu asked.
"Remember, what's wrong?" Qiu Shi asked.
"His boyfriend later spent time in bars," Zhao Lu said. "He started crying when he was drunk, which was very painful to watch."
Qiu Shi looked at him for a long time before he said, "Why, do you want to be a substitute?"
"You have to be mentally prepared when you talk about love these days," Zhao Lu lowered his voice, "These are turbulent times. He was a secret guard. How could he be dead?"
"Lv Zhao?" Qiu Shi was shocked. For a moment he didn't know whether he should explain that he and Xing Bi were partners, or if one of them had to die, it would never be the turn of the powerful undercover guard.
For the first time, he realized that he could be so tongue-tied.
"Just a reminder." Zhao Lu said.
"Thank you." said Qiu Shi.
"Don't be polite," Zhao Lu said, "We are brothers."
"Get out." Qiu Shi entered the house.
The atmosphere of drinking this time was more heated than the last time. Last time everyone only knew that Qiu Shi was going to rescue Hu Xiaoling, which was very dangerous. But this time, after experiencing a series of explosions and chaos in the inner city, everyone knew what happened even if no one said it explicitly.
In addition, the army is now expanding its defenses, checkpoints are set up one after another, and big black trucks are coming in and out of the tunnel several times a day, causing panic among the people.
This time of drinking, everyone was in a kind of cathartic joy, as if every day of this peaceful day could be the last day.
Hu Xiaoling poured wine into everyone's glasses and raised his glass: "What do you want to toast?"
"Cheers to life."
"To freedom."
"I can't die of respect."
"Respect the corpse."
Everyone banged their cups on the table and toasted in a chaotic manner.
"For the future." said Qiu Shi.
"Cheers to later—" everyone immediately followed suit.
Qiu Shi raised his head and drank the wine in the glass, then looked at Xing Bi's glass and drank it too.
The only one who still had wine in his glass was Zhao Lu. If he wanted to have a full meal, he couldn't just drink it all at once, but could only drink it slowly, sip by sip.
Qiu Shi originally thought that this group of people would stare at Xing Bi and ask him all kinds of questions about the biochemical body, but they didn't. Maybe Hu Xiaoling had already introduced him to them, or maybe they didn't care whether the person in front of them was human or not. It would be enough for them to just eat, drink and chat together.
He suddenly felt a little sad. He originally thought that they would not even stay in the outer city and could just live in this shelter in the desolate mountains, but now no one can escape.
Xing Bi didn't say much. He just leaned against the wall and watched the corpse collectors quietly, eating something and taking a sip of wine from time to time.
"Brother Shi," Zhao Lu held out his cup, "Let's clink glasses."
Qiu Shi picked up the cup and clinked it with his.
"You two went out for a trip," Zhao Lu whispered, "and saw so much. Do you think... are we going to go to war?"
Qiu Shi pinched the cup and turned it around, right.
But he didn't dare say it, because saying it out loud would be like confirming his own thoughts and he would no longer be able to avoid it.
"Who are you fighting against?" Zhao Lu asked again.
“…I don’t know.” Qiu Shi replied.
"With this bunch of people, no matter who they fight," Zhao Lu raised his hand and pointed at the people who were making a fuss around the table one by one, "if they fight, they will die. There is no way to survive."
"Hurry up and drink this glass of wine." Qiu Shi said.
"I dare not," Zhao Lu said with a smile, "I will only drink half a cup. From now on, I have to stay awake."
"If we really have to... fight," Qiu Shiye lowered his voice, "Take them away."
"Where are we going?" Zhao Lu asked.
Qiu Shi didn't say anything.
Although the topic that Zhao Lu suddenly brought up was a bit desperate, it did not particularly affect his mood. After all, despair was the norm. Whenever they talked about things further away than next week, they would feel desperate.
However, Zhao Lu did not drink much, and the glass was always half full.
When the people in the room drank too much and started singing the song of Yuncheng together, Xiao Lei came over and said, "The checkpoint asked them to collect the bodies."
"Fuck." Zhao Lu cursed.
"Now you ask us to collect the bodies again?" Qiu Shi asked.
"They said they didn't have enough manpower," Zhao said, "and who would be willing to do this?"
"Then let's do it tomorrow." Qiu Shi said.
"It has to be tonight," Zhao Lu frowned, "Now we have to die and get it now, I'll go."
"I'll go." said Qiu Shi.
"I can go with Zhao Lu," Xiao Lei said, "Qiu Shi, you are injured, so you should rest."
Qiu Shi stared at Zhao Lu and asked, "Did you take him to collect the body?"
"No!" Zhao Lu said quickly, "I don't have any!"
"I can go." Xiao Lei said.
"You stay here," Qiu Shi said, "just make contacts, don't get involved in the physical work."
Without waiting for Xiao Lei to say anything else, Qiu Shi stood up and looked at Xing Bi: "Want to go and see the work of the corpse collector?"
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
It started snowing outside, and it was snowing quite heavily. Looking into the distance, the uneven ground on the highlands was covered with patches of white. It didn't look very beautiful, but rather a bit desolate.
The door behind me was closed, but I could still hear the group laughing and talking. It felt warm and safe.
Qiu Shi looked back, put on his gloves, and wrapped the scarf around his neck: "They probably haven't been so relaxed during this period of time."
"You are not the oldest among them," Xing Bi asked.
"No," Qiu Shi took him to the back of the mountain and drove around, "but I was the first one to occupy the mountain, so everyone calls me brother."
"Which car are you driving?" Xing Bi followed him.
"Of course it's the old car," Qiu said. "Dead people have a smell that stays on the car forever. You can't wash it off. Old cars smell like dead people."
"Is that so?" Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi tore off the camouflage cloth of the car and got in: "I'll drive. I know the road well."
Xing Bi sat in the passenger seat and turned to sniff the back of the truck.
"Do you smell it?" Qiu Shi started the car and drove towards the checkpoint through a narrow waterway behind the mountain.
"Yeah." Xing Bi glanced at him.
"Why are you looking at me?" Qiu Shi said.
"When did you start collecting bodies?" Xing Bi asked.
"When I was a teenager," Qiu Shi said, "even earlier, we would look for things on dead bodies. Of course, we still look for things now. If we find something good, we can exchange it for food and drink."
"Are you scared?" Xing Bi looked out the window.
"I'm not scared of corpses in general. I just feel lucky it wasn't me who died," Qiu said. "But I was also scared once. A man ate a large piece of his wife's corpse and then jumped off the mountain."
Xing Bi said nothing.
Their car came out from behind the checkpoint and the guards were shocked when they saw it.
"How many routes do you body collectors have?" A guard who had been to the bunker today came over and looked into the car.
"Too many." said Qiu Shi.
"Go one hundred meters ahead and you will reach the bottom of the cliff on the right." The guard pointed the way to Qiu Shi.
"How did he die?" Qiu Shi asked.
"He fell to death," said the guard.
"Your ancestors." Qiu Shi frowned and cursed.
The bottom of the cliff was a patch of broken rocks, and if you fell down you would be stabbed to death by the rock spikes.
After parking the car in a slightly flatter position, Qiu Shi got out and took a look. Not only was it stabbed to death, it could also be cut by the rock blade.
Qiu Shi tightened his gloves, frowned, and walked over to check each body.
"Eight people." He sighed and dragged the first relatively intact body towards the car.
Xing Bi helped him put the body into the back of the car.
"Do you remember how many corpses you have seen?" Xing Bi asked.
"How can we count this?" said Qiu Shi.
"What do you think when you collect the bodies?" Xing Bi looked at him.
"Interview?" Qiu Shi smiled. "I just think that people are actually quite resilient. They die so easily, but not all of them die."
The author has something to say:
Continue tomorrow\\^O^/.