Wanderer

Chapter 122

People in the criminal investigation team generally felt the changes in Wen Hai after he "defected" from the Drug Enforcement Administration for more than a month and came back.

Most obviously, the man no longer smokes.

Their criminal investigation team is a hard-hit area of ​​nicotine. They use some to refresh themselves when they stay up all night, some to refresh their minds when investigating a case, some to celebrate when a case is closed, and some to solve problems when there are no clues. For a while, the exhaust fan in the big office of the criminal investigation team broke down. , and happened to encounter a group involving a wide range of crimes. The whole team spent the night and night, and all kinds of evidence and materials were piled up on half a conference table. The girl consciously hid in the conference room to work. The Feng Shui treasure land is reserved for old and new smokers, the logistics staff who came to deliver the documents pushed open the door and thought it was a fire, only to see Wen Hai and Chai Fanwen sitting side by side on the desk indifferently, facing the whiteboard full of photos of the victims daze.

At this moment, the case of the unnamed male corpse has been investigated for three days, but the identity of the corpse has not yet been confirmed. From the province to the city and then to the bureau, the pressure is exerted level by level. They all slept directly in the public conference room. When discussing the case, it was normal to be able to open the rhythm of the crematorium. Xiaofeng shook the lighter in his hand and still couldn't light it. He said to the person next to him: "Hey, borrow a lighter Son."

Wen Hai's voice came over clearly and audibly, neither soft nor heavy: "No fire, quit."

The raucous discussion centered on the two of them gradually subsided, and in the end only Chai Fanwen, who was standing at the outermost edge and checking the signatures of the witness transcripts with the two investigators, was still babbling, and after two or three sentences, he suddenly felt a dozen eyes Landing on this side, my heart felt trembling, and I looked back blankly, "What's wrong? Got a clue?"

Xiaofeng raised his hand tremblingly: "Chai, Deputy Chai, Team Wen said he quit smoking."

In an instant, Chai Fanwen blurted out obediently: "Are you dying soon?"

"..." The "second-hand smoke" in front of Wen Hai hadn't dissipated yet, he waved his hand to disperse the smoke, and replied with a half-smile: "Toefl, I think I can live long enough to receive my pension."

"Then what stimulated you to suddenly want to quit smoking?"

"Because I want to receive a few more years of pension." Wen Hai knocked on the table and brought the topic back. He held two photos in his hand and stuck them to the whiteboard with a magnet, and poked a blurred area on the photo with a gel pen. The human phase said: "This is the most likely place where the deceased will appear last. This photo is a selfie found in the deceased's mobile phone. After zooming in, a figure in a red sweater can be vaguely seen. This figure is in this picture, This one and this one..." Wen Haizhong clicked the corners of several photos one by one, "There were four selfies of the deceased in total, and now the people in the technical department are making portraits based on this, let's say first Say what you think."

An investigator answered, "The most likely thing is that he killed someone after stalking him."

"On the surface, that's true." Xiaofeng flipped through the case files in his hand, "But these four photos of the deceased spanned three days, but in fact, judging from the deceased's clothes and belongings left on his body, his economic level It’s much more than a human being can spend so much time and effort tracking for so long.”

"The deceased's mobile phone is very new. There is no calling card, call records and text messages in it. It has been recovered through technology, and the photos are only from the past three days. They are all landscape photos and selfies." Chai Fanwen added, "There is no confirmation yet. As for clues to the identity of the deceased, I speculate that this mobile phone should be newly bought in Tongcheng. If it is not possible, we can only adopt the tactics of crowds, and ask every mobile phone store. This method is too time-consuming and energy-intensive, and there are too many uncertain factors. It’s best not to use it unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

Wen Hai stared at the photos thoughtfully, and suddenly said in a low voice: "Isn't it a bit too coincidental?"

Tang Qing frowned: "What?"

"Looking at these four photos, the person in the red sweater is in a place that seems to be in a corner, but it is easy to be found, and the red itself is very conspicuous. If it was me, it should be in the second photo. I can see that this person is following me." Wen Hai walked over and raised his hand to cover the position of the man in red, "And you see, this photo obviously does not conform to the proportion of the composition, the deceased is standing too far to the left , it would be more appropriate to cover up this part and retake the scenery on the left.”

"Yes." Xiaofeng covered half of the other photo with a piece of white paper, "This one is also, as if he is..."

Wen Hai: "It seems that he deliberately wanted to take a picture of this person...or in other words, the two of them deliberately wanted to take a 'group photo' like this."

After a period of unbearable silence, Wen Hai casually projected the gel pen into the pen holder, "The most important thing now is to confirm the identity of the deceased and the man in red, and the second is to continue to search for possible existences when the body was dumped." The eyewitnesses of the meeting... Alright, the meeting is adjourned, let's go our separate ways."

With that said, he jumped off the desk, picked up his coat and walked towards the door.

Everyone was "dismissed" unexpectedly, and they were not quite used to such a talkative Wen team. Tang Qing yelled: "Hey, mosquito, why are you going?"

"At twelve o'clock at noon, go to lunch." Wen Hai raised his hand to confirm the time, looked around the colleagues with different faces, and asked tentatively: "Are you planning to go to dinner with me if you don't leave?" ?”

The huge conference room was suddenly scattered, some said to go back to the office to continue checking the monitoring, some said to catch up on sleep, some took out their mobile phones to order takeaway, Wen Hai shook his head amusedly, turned around and opened the door and walked out.

"Damn it." Xiaofeng sat on the table and still couldn't remember it, and counted with his fingers, "Wen Hai quit smoking, Wen Hai knows to eat on time, will I still be lucky enough to see that I don't work overtime at night and come back on time today? Wen Hai who goes to bed early and gets up early?”

Chai Fanwen nodded: "Yes, maybe you will see a lively, cheerful, positive, enthusiastic, talkative and laughing Wen Hai tomorrow, why not buy a double/color/ball while you are in the draw, and it will be ready when the lottery draws. Resign and take Xiaoyue to travel around the world."

Xiaoyue came over nervously holding the folder, and said in a low voice: "Brother Chai, did you go to the hospital with Brother Wen last time and you didn't find anything fatal? I think this person can change as he says ?”

Tang Qing explained for Chai Fanwen: "Comrade Xiaoyue, our Wen team is no better than us ordinary people. To say something unlucky, he doesn't need any fatal problems with his body, he is already half dead... Oh, fuck it, don't kick it!" My clothes... All right, I have a crow's mouth. I went to collect the medical report of our team in the first half of the year. Let alone the team, I think it's better to apply for a health knowledge lecture someday to come to the team and talk about it, otherwise Maybe one day we will have a collective rest."

Chai Fanwen, who was silent just now, turned over the phone screen, "Come on, let's see the explanation from the person involved."

On the screen, Wen Hai's avatar with only one Greek letter ξ was followed by a sentence: "The current plan is to strive to live up to the national average life expectancy. I checked, 76, which is relatively difficult."

"76." Wen Hai, who was sitting in the cafeteria, put down his phone and put a mouthful of shredded potato and pork into his mouth, "It turns out that the first half of my life has already passed."

Smoking can be quit and food can be eaten, but human beings have limited control over their own way of life sometimes. As Xiaofeng said, since Wen Hai knows that smoking is harmful to health and knows that three meals a day are normal, he naturally knows that going to bed early and getting up early He is in good health, and he can rely on self-control and biological clock to achieve complete self-control in the "early rise" module, but "early sleep" is really too involuntary. , The electronic clock on the desk "stinged", and the calendar inside automatically turned one page backwards.

It's twelve o'clock again.

Wen Hai probably squeezed the thickness of the pile of various report materials to be processed, it was not bad, he kept efficient and did not fall asleep lying on the table halfway, and he could climb back to bed and sleep for four or five hours before two o'clock, this He also checked that sleep quality is more important than sleep time.

Although he has always been in a deep sleep that can be awakened by the wind blowing through the window, stupid human beings can always find some non-existent reasons to convince themselves to do some stupid things that they know they should not do, which is roughly the same as what women think menstruation eats. It is the same reason that sweets do not make you fat.

When the "12" on the electronic clock changed to "1", Wen Hai held back his yawn, threw the file folder on the table, and the hand that was going to get the cigarette case in the drawer stopped in mid-air, and got up to go to the refrigerator. Find myself a can of soda.The manufacturer of the brand he liked to drink in the past seemed to be going out of business, and the can in his hand was an imported brand bought by Bai Yunqi. With his shallow English skills, he recognized the phrase "mint flavor", and he swallowed it down, feeling numb. The slightly spicy chill ran from his throat to the soles of his feet, making his brain hurt from the cold, and he couldn't help shaking.

The mobile phone placed by the table vibrated with him in response to the occasion, Wen Hai laughed, and knew who was the "late night troublemaker" without seeing the caller ID.

Bai Yunqi on the other end of the mobile phone signal also just lay on the bed for a few ten minutes. He and Wen Hai are both senior VIP members of the "Insomniac Alliance". Every scene is a documentary, the one who should be insensitive is still cruel, but the one who should be sincere has also begun to feel calm.

In the dream, he was standing on the stairs of the dilapidated building that he hadn’t seen for a long time, surrounded by sewage and garbage that could not be excreted, people buzzing with flies and mosquitoes, and rotting and smelling with leftovers. Back to the appearance of seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a half-new T-shirt and jeans bought from a street stall for ten yuan, the quality is surprisingly good, usually this kind of clothes are either picked up from a garbage station, or It was stolen from a love donation box placed in some community, and some people said that it was transported from the funeral parlor. After the corpse was put on the shroud, the old clothes that were replaced were sometimes lost for no reason.

It doesn't matter how he got here, he has no interest and no right to care about living in his position.

It seemed to be the first day of the college entrance examination. When he came back from the math test, there were a few more reminders for utility bills pasted outside the door. The thick stack had already covered the keyhole. He opened the door and reached for the switch. The light is not on, the switch should have been pulled.

In the kitchen, there was a cold pot and a cold stove, and nothing came out of the faucet. There was only half a basin of oily water in the potholed enamel basin, which was probably left over from washing the pot.Bai Yunqi poured water into the small pot, grabbed the rice that was about to become moldy and threw it in, so he could cook the rice first while the gas stove was still working.

There was no stock in the gas tank, and the water couldn’t boil for a long time. He squatted down along the wall and stared at the weak flames. He didn’t even bother to think about tomorrow’s exam. He still didn’t want to live, but he didn’t have the energy to think about it carefully It's a plan to put it into practice.

The Chinese teacher taught them "You don't know life, you don't know death". Living is so fucking fucked up. Is it harder to die than this?

There was a sound of opening the door outside the kitchen, and then the hysterical yelling of the woman was getting closer, Bai Yunqi responded desperately, did not hide, was slapped several times in a row, and still squatted there motionless, he was too I'm hungry, it's better to have some energy left.The woman started kicking him again, because it was more convenient for him to squat, so she just kicked him on the head. She didn't bother to scold you bastard, and he was already tired of hearing it.

It wasn't until the chopping board for chopping vegetables fell on him that Bai Yunqi supported the wall and stood up. The woman pushed him to get out, and the scream became sharper. Impatiently said: "Grandma, just keep your voice down, okay? It's disturbing my business."

Bai Yunqi smiled, and answered through the door: "You just need to bark louder."

"Hey, Xiaoqi is also a man." The woman who stumbled clapped her hands and laughed, "I earned money after being admitted to college to take care of my sister's business."

His grandma grabbed Bai Yunqi's hair and threw it against the wall, opened the door and was about to fight with the woman who had gone back to the house. Bai Yunqi, who fell to the ground, grabbed her, still smiling: " What are you going to do? I didn't hear that Sister Zhang said she was doing business."

"Sister Zhang?! What Sister Zhang?! She's a chicken like your mother!" The woman struggled to break free, her fingernails grabbed Bai Yunqi's arm, leaving three fleshy scratches, Bai Yunqi felt the pain, and subconsciously let go of his hand. When he stood up, he couldn't see clearly. He intuitively felt a chill behind him, so he dodged to the side suddenly, and something flew past his thigh.

The rusty kitchen knife fell to the ground, right in the middle of the confronting two people.

Watching his grandma pick up the kitchen knife again as if her eyes were red, Bai Yunqi's first reaction was to close his eyes and not move, but the next second's survival instinct made him pounce on him again, in a state of confusion. During those few seconds, he smelled blood and heard the woman's screams. When he regained consciousness, the blade of the kitchen knife in his hand was pointed at the woman's neck, but it was his forearm that was bleeding.

The woman stared at him blankly, and began to cry again.

Bai Yunqi backed away a few steps, turned around and walked into the kitchen, chopped the kitchen knife on the chopping board, turned off the stove, and said flatly: "I'm going out, you can eat."

Before leaving the door, he heard the woman say to himself: "Don't come back after you leave."

He kept opening the door and let out an "oh".

"No, Xiao Qi, I'm serious." For the first time in 18 years, the woman used such a gentle and kind tone to him, "Leave today, and don't look back in the future."

He left anyway, unexpectedly, he would never come back.

The end of the dream is that he is standing outside the morgue, there is no one around, or there are, but no one cares about him, the only person in the world who is willing to look at him is now separated from him by a layer of white cloth, life and death, he only has her, she Probably there is nothing left except myself, and the two who depended on each other for life can have such an ending.

Bai Yunqi woke up, opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling, and took the phone after a few minutes. The "good night" was not followed by Wen Hai's reply, so he knew that the person was still asleep.

Wen Hai answered the phone, didn't ask Bai Yunqi why he was nervous in the middle of the night, and said "um" to indicate that he was listening, and then continued to do his own thing.

The hand speed he developed by playing games, the typing speed is fast, and the crackling rhythm is very rhythmic. Hearing the voice, Bai Yunqi calmed down, and asked suddenly: "Can you make coffee?"

He was chatting casually, but Wen Hai gave a surprising answer: "I know a little bit, I worked in a coffee shop for a few days during the university summer vacation."

"Ah?" Bai Yunqi was startled, "Why do you work in a coffee shop?"

"Because Baitong Anna Wang Bazizi finished his part-time job and went to travel with the girls from his club."

Bai Yunqi laughed, "Then why don't you come and be my assistant? I'll pay you double the salary, and the full attendance bonus and year-end bonus will be calculated separately. Food and lodging will be included."

"Oh—" Wen Hai dragged his voice to become more meaningful, "Understood."

"Understand what?"

"My Mr. Bai is about to start a corrupt life of 'working as a secretary if you have something to do, and a secretary if you have nothing to do'."

"..."

"Little flag."

"Ok?"

"It's okay, I'm here." Wen Hai said, "Go to sleep, I'll be busy for a while, there's no need to hang up the phone."

Bai Yunqi closed his eyes, "Well, good."

There are scattered lights outside the window, the half crescent moon is desperately competing with the smog for the scene, a few stray dogs are fighting in the garden downstairs, listening carefully, it seems that there are still a few cats helping the fight, Wen Hai takes another sip of soda water, reached out to turn on the floor stereo, and the sound of the acoustic guitar floated out.

"Oh, lover, hold on. Till Icome back again."

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Thank you all.