The young man with the surname Yan had dry, slightly cold palms, and he was not enthusiastic.
Bu Chonghua glanced in the direction in which he was standing. The bedside table in the senior ward was very spacious, with flowers and several photo frames inlaid with group graduation photos. Under each photo, there were bronzing of OUHK XX class XX class. I don't know if it was brought by the old man from home or sent by the students who came to visit in the past few days.
The photo frame that the young man was looking at just now was placed in the forefront by him, and Bu Chonghua's eyes fell on it, suddenly condensing slightly.
"The nurse said that the teacher may have to sleep for a while before waking up." The young man asked politely, "Does the police officer have to wait? Or how about calling him another day?"
"..." Bu Chonghua didn't answer.
—Following his gaze, in the middle of the front row of the photo is Professor Zhang Zhixing, whose black hair has not turned white more than ten years ago. The three students are exactly the young man in front of him. Their facial features are almost the same as they are now, and they can be recognized at a glance.
The second from the right of Professor Zhang, the student on the left of the young man, took a few seconds before Chonghua recognized his face in disbelief.
That is Wu Yu.
It turned out to be Wu Yu!
"Step police officer?"
"Ah." Bu Chonghua came back to his senses, and his thoughts suddenly changed, and he said, "I'm fine, just wait here for Professor Zhang to wake up."
The young man's expression was a little subtle, and Bu Chonghua could see the thoughts in his heart at a glance: Is this Bu's brain okay
What Zhang Zhixing got was an early benign tumor, which had been surgically removed, so that it would not end up in a critical condition. But even so, few people would squat in front of the hospital bed and wait for the patient to wake up to help him with errands. Bu Chonghua's answer was more than unexpected, it was simply a wonderful flower.
"...Then please sit down for a while." The young man was well-mannered and swallowed the expulsion order, "I'll go get you a glass of water."
There is a small pantry on this floor of the inpatient department, which is used for hot meals for doctors, nurses, and family members of patients. The young man pushed open the door, and Bu Chonghua heard the footsteps getting farther away. The next second, he suddenly got up from the sofa and picked up the photo frame. His eyes changed instantly—
If it is said that when Xie Qianshan was imprisoned, the quiet and thin image in the old detention center’s archives was very different from that of today, then the graduation photo of this flamboyant and dazzling college student, at first glance, is simply two different things. different people.
Bu Chonghua was reluctant to believe his eyes for a moment, but his reason told him that there was nothing wrong.
A person's face, body, temperament, and even facial features may change over time, especially for a person like Wu Yu who has lived through twelve years of life and death, it is normal for both of them to be different. However, characteristics such as the height of the human eye, interpupillary distance, and geometric proportions of the facial features will basically not change much except for cosmetic surgery.
The most important thing is that Wu Yu's appearance is too recognizable, not everyone can look like him!
"... I couldn't continue to study, so I dropped out of school after I met Zhang Boming... "
"The police academy expands its enrollment every year, but there are only so many positions. There is no money, no way, and no grades. If you don't fight, where will you find your way?"
For a while, Bu Chonghua didn't know whether to applaud Wu Yu's superb acting skills or sigh for his naivety and stupidity. He should have known long ago that a cross-border undercover operation with such a dramatic intensity, such a critical significance, and a latency period of 12 years would not be able to just take away a child who was unable to study and dropped out of the police academy; The person who is finally selected after strict screening must be one in ten thousand from birth to quality. He is the most loyal, sharp, and invincible blade on the battlefield.
—He lied to me again, Bu Chonghua thought.
As expected, within reason.
Bu Chonghua's back molars clenched tightly. He knew that many graduation photos were printed with the corresponding student's name on the back, and he wanted to break the photo frame with his backhand - but at this moment, footsteps came from outside the closed door of the ward. The young man named Yan just poured water and came back.
In an instant, Bu Chonghua only had time to turn the photo frame over to face him, only to see the young man walk into the house with a disposable paper cup, and was stunned for a moment: "You..."
"I'm sorry, I'll just take a look." Bu Chonghua shook the photo and asked calmly, "Mr. Yan hasn't changed at all compared with more than ten years ago. Is this your graduation photo?"
"Oh, this is not." The young man put the paper cup in front of the sofa, glanced at it and said, "This is the military training graduation photo of our sophomore summer vacation. In fact, the changes are still great, and things have long been wrong. "
— Sophomore year.
The Wu Yu in the photo may not even be in his twenties, or even only eighteen or nineteen years old.
Bu Chonghua's thoughts changed, but his expression was the same on the surface: "That's right, the same is true for the graduation photo of our prison term. A few were promoted, a few sacrificed, and I heard that one or two went in."
Young people are not good at expressing their views on the Court, and only spit out two words: "Really?"
Bu Chonghua nodded, then picked up the photo frame and observed it carefully. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed that the young man was hesitating to speak, and the index finger of his right hand hanging down by his side was raised, but he didn't move.
He wanted to get the photo back, but couldn't find a reason.
Bu Chonghua's heart was bright, but he deliberately pretended not to have seen it and continued to look at the photo. After a few seconds, he suddenly discovered another unusual feature.
—The third person on the right of Professor Zhang Zhixing is this young man surnamed Yan. His lips are slightly pursed, his expression is serious, and his face and eyes are slightly turned to the left, as if he was deliberately avoiding the camera. The second is Wu Yu. Just standing there reminds people of the four characters Yushu Linfeng. The vigorous vigor almost overflows the paper. He hooked the shoulder of the young man on the right with one hand. Obviously, the two have a good relationship.
On the left of Wu Yu, is a young man of about twenty-five or six years old. His facial features are obviously more mature and handsome, and he is quite tall. Standing among a group of 18- and 19-year-old young students behind him, he stands out from the crowd.
This man was smiling and turning his head to Wu Yu.
That's enough, but then Bu Chonghua noticed that although Wu Yu was hooking on the shoulder of Yan's surname on the right, the direction of his head and face was more to the left. If you look closely, his entire body has a slightly inclined posture towards the young man on the left. The most obvious detail is that his shoulders are not on the same horizontal line.
Bu Chonghua has been engaged in criminal investigation for more than ten years, and he knows these subtle body language well. He knows what it means: he is very close to the young man on his left.
who's that person
"... We took graduation photos at that time, and only with very good grades will we stand in the first row. You must be very good at that time, Mr. Yan."
The young man's attitude is modest and perfunctory: "I have passed the award, I just graduated with all my strength."
Bu Chonghua nodded, and suddenly, as if he had discovered something, he pointed at the young man on Wu Yu's left: "Is this the counselor of your class?"
"No," the young man said after a pause, "this is our senior graduate student."
"The OUHK postgraduate study is also military training?"
"… That's not it."
"Then why take a photo with you?"
The hesitant expression on the young man's face became even more obvious, but Bu Chonghua seemed to be really ignorant, staring at him with piercing eyes. After a while, the young man reluctantly replied: "He didn't come for military training, he It's... our teacher's son."
It turned out to be Zhang Zhixing's son.
At first, Bu Chonghua didn't react, but after two seconds, he suddenly felt like he was struck by lightning. He looked at the photo in a daze, and realized something—
In the early years, he had a very good relationship with Wu Yu. The same surname was Zhang, and he was born in the same public university. He appeared in the same old photo with his shoulders on his back. Could it be this person? !
Bu Chonghua's ears roared and he realized that he was approaching something very important. As long as he pushed his finger forward a little bit, he could pierce the last layer of window paper, and the old dust piled up. Exposing the truth that everyone has known for so many years, but everyone has tacitly pretended that it didn't exist.
But—there is a but—the young man surnamed Yan in front of him was more tight-lipped than he could imagine, and his avoidance just now was not because of perfunctory, but for some unknown reason, deliberately refusing to mention the words of his student days.
How did he get out of his words
"So that's the case," Bu Chonghua took a sip of water from the disposable paper cup in front of him, and said with a smile, "What a young talent."
That short two or three seconds of effort gave him a breather to think quickly.
There are many mediocre people in this world, few powerful people, and very powerful people are divided into two categories: one is like Wu Yu, who can't tell from his appearance that he has anything special, and he is very timid and silent. , as long as you don't touch his point, he may never want to show his powerful side in his life; another type is like this young man in front of him, who can see his powerful side from words, deeds, conversation, and aura just by looking at him. He is a person who doesn't mind letting others - at least not mind giving in to Bu Chonghua to see his edge.
Such a person will not be easily caught, and based on his relationship with Zhang Zhixing, as long as any of Bu Chonghua's words touches a sensitive point, he may not be stingy with direct expulsion orders.
The speed of thinking honed by more than ten years of criminal investigation work helped Bu Chonghua a lot at this time. He put down the paper cup, looked at the cold face of the young man, and made a very bold decision in his heart in an instant.
"No wonder I looked familiar just now. You said his surname was Zhang, and I suddenly remembered it." Bu Chonghua pointed at the young man in the photo, raised his eyes and smiled, "A few years ago, when I was on a business trip to the south I have seen your senior brother, and we have eaten together."
No matter how vigilant the young man was, he could never have imagined that Bu Chonghua would say such a thing, his expression froze obviously: "Oh? Have you met?"
"Yes, but it must have been several years - what a coincidence, everyone is acquaintances, but I delayed to visit Mr. Zhang until today, what a shame!"
The young man looked vaguely surprised.
Bu Chonghua just pretended he didn't see it, and asked with a smile, "How is it, is Zhang Boming still in Yundian? Has he been promoted?"
Zhang, Bo, Ming, just as the three words came out, the pupils of the young man suddenly opened, and then tightened—
As if a boulder fell from his throat into his stomach in an instant, Bu Chonghua knew that he had made the right bet.
In the military training graduation photo that year, he closely held the promising Wu Yu at the age of 18 or 19, and the "senior brother" who completely changed Wu Yu's second half of his life a few years ago was that Zhang Boming!
"..." The young man lowered his gaze, and Bu Chonghua could almost see through his black hair, clearly seeing his high-speed brain, but he only smiled and repeated: "Gao Sheng?"
The meaning of these two words is the same as Bu Chonghua lowered his head and drank water just now, both to win the moment of thinking. But Bu Chonghua didn't give him this chance, he frowned and said "ah", pointing to Wu Yu on the photo and asking, "Is this person your classmate, Mr. Yan?"
Young people have a meal.
"I've seen him, and it's a coincidence that he works with Zhang Boming." Bu Chonghua smiled and looked at the dark eyes of the young man, even the slightest expression with just the right amount of surprise: "I remember his surname is Xie. , but the name is Xie... What is Xie? I remember he had a very good relationship with Zhang Boming?"
The ward suddenly fell silent, and the young man sat there staring at Bu Chonghua without saying a word.
Bu Chonghua is not in a hurry, he knows that he has pushed the other party to the point where he cannot avoid it. If he avoids and does not answer, Zhang Zhixing wakes up and mentions Bu Chonghua again, it will inevitably cause embarrassment in front of the old man. even embarrassing situations.
Sure enough, after a long silence, the young man said slowly: "Officer Bu, I don't know what your job is... But these words come out of my mouth and in your ears, so don't mention them in front of the teacher in the future. It's just to add to the sadness."
After a pause, he added: "Yes, they have a very good relationship, but they both died in the secret mission in Yundian a year ago. It's a pity."
sacrifice.
There was a place in Bu Chonghua's heart that convulsed slightly in an instant, thinking to himself: That's how they explained the fate of Qianshan, both solemn and official - "sacrifice".
What about the living Wu Yu
Will there be times when he actually feels in his heart that he has "sacrificed"
"I'm sorry, I took the liberty." Bu Chonghua gently put the photo frame back on the coffee table, stared at it for a moment, then suddenly raised his head and asked, "Mr. Yan and this Mr. Xie must have a good relationship?"
The young man said plainly: "Yes, we are bunks."
Bu Chonghua nodded and said, "But I think you and your teacher's son have a very normal relationship."
"—Oh? Why do you say that?"
The young man rarely showed a surprised expression, Bu Chonghua stretched out his hand and pointed at the mirror: "Because in this photo, your roommate and Zhang Boming are inclined towards each other, while your right hand is wrapped around your roommate's back, press the button. Holding his right upper arm, as if trying to pull him to the left, this action psychologically means trying to draw the other party closer to his own camp. Forgive me, do college boys also have jealous behaviors that are biased towards friendship with each other? ?"
"… "
Bu Chonghua looked at his motionless eyes, and asked in a deep voice, "Or, since that year, you have subconsciously realized that Zhang Boming will be detrimental to your roommate?"
The air seemed to freeze, and the two of them sat opposite each other, and the smell of swords and swords was gradually brewing around them.
"I'm sorry." After a long while, the young man finally opened his mouth and asked slowly, "I just remembered, it seems that I haven't asked the police officer's name yet?"
"Bu Chonghua, the Chonghua of Yaoshun Yutang. How about you?"
"Strictly." The young man looked at him coldly, "The righteous and the evil."
Meanwhile, downstairs in the hospital.
"Is that Zhang Zhixing?" The nurse on duty at the front desk checked the computer. "Ward 836 on the eighth floor, go up the elevator and turn left and turn to the end. The last single suite is at the corner. Come, register the visitor's name here."
There were people coming and going in the lobby of the inpatient building. Wu Yu stood in front of the duty window, the tip of his pen was hanging on the paper for a moment, he wrote the words "Next Step Xiaohua", filled in a mobile phone number, and closed the registration form and returned it to the nurse. Turn around and walk towards the elevator.
— But at this moment, his eyes swept across something inadvertently, and suddenly paused.
The window glass reflected the blurred reflection of the crowd of people in the hall behind him. It seemed that a figure quickly disappeared into the crowd the moment he turned around, but when he turned around, it was completely gone.
"… "
Wu Yu stopped and glanced around covertly from the corner of his eyes, only to see the crowd waiting in line to pay for the medicine, and there was nothing unusual.
He frowned, put his hands in his trouser pockets close to the wall, and walked upstairs.