winter past

After leaving Qingshui Garden, Xiaoman just walked towards the place where there was a road without looking back, and when he looked up, he had already arrived at Xingfu Street.The surrounding lights are bright, people are noisy, there are people coming and going in front of the flower shop, clothing stores, nail salons are also full of customers, young and fashionable men and women gather at the entrance of bars everywhere, there are friends everywhere, and there are kisses everywhere Hot atmosphere, laughter everywhere.

He continued to walk forward, and the duck soup shop on the street invited duck dolls to attract customers, and a group of yellow ducks as tall as people danced with their duck buttocks sticking out.Some young people were attracted by this scene, and they took out their mobile phones to take pictures and videos, and some people beat the ducks.When we arrived in front of the luxury bar, there were many people around here, all of whom were taking photos with an orange McLaren parked at the door. The sports car got a ticket.After a while, a young man fell out of the bar. He was disheveled and reeked of alcohol. The traffic policeman pointed at him at the no-stop sign erected next to the car. The disheveled young man grabbed the traffic policeman, We called him brothers and got up: "Brother, I just stopped for 5 minutes just to give something to a friend. Look...or else forget it?"

The traffic policeman raised his eyebrows and asked him, "Are you planning to drive away by yourself?"

Those who were filming the car just now all took pictures of the traffic policeman and the young man, some even started a live broadcast, and said with a smile: "The rich second generation will be punished."

Some hearts floated on the screen of this person's mobile phone, and some flowers fell, which was also very lively.

One store after another rolls across the sidewalk paved with gray stone tiles.Xiaoman lit a cigarette and wandered on Xingfu Street.

After walking for some time, a girl with a bamboo flower basket stood in front of Xiaoman and asked him timidly, "Uncle, do you want to buy flowers?"

Xiao Man asked the girl, "Where are your parents?"

The girl blinked her big eyes, wiped her yellow face, withdrew her hand, and ran into the crowd.Xiaoman ran after her, the girl ran very fast, she was small, and there were so many people on the street, she flew past his eyes like a little black bug, but disappeared in a blink of an eye.When Xiao Man passed by a lottery shop, he heard a man in the shop shout "Xiao Fei".Xiaoman wanted to look for that girl again, but she couldn't be found. She was surrounded by young girls who were older than her, with long hair, pale face, red lips, short trousers, and a tight top. short.Some of them put glitter on the corners of their eyes.Their fingernails are painted with various colors of nail polish.

Xiaoman sat on the side of the road, clutching his stomach.

"Your name is Xiao Fei now?" Two long legs in suit trousers were stuck in front of Xiao Man, and the man's voice called "Xiao Fei" came from above his head.

Xiaoman took a long puff of cigarette, lowered his head and said, "You have mistaken the person."

"Impossible." The man said, and patted him, "You don't remember me? Simon," he asked Xiao Man, "Do you still have contact with Duan Wu?"

Xiao Man just smoked.

Simon said it himself: "You know, after the chat room disbanded, they all spread the word that Duan Wu was the Aegean killer..."

Xiaoman looked up at Simon: "Who said that?"

He saw the face of a young man with a blue chin and a dark complexion.Simon smiled with a gentle tone, and continued: "Xiao Zhi, I knew it was you, and now you come out to play with a different name? I saw you at the bar the other day, and thought I had made a mistake. Later, I found the friend who came with you Inquire, they show me your photo, and I know I'm not mistaken."

Xiaoman stared at Simon closely, and clenched his hand covering his stomach into a fist: "Who told you about the killer in the Aegean Sea?"

"A Yuan, do you remember?"

"The administrator of the chat room? Isn't he abroad? Why is he so well-informed about domestic affairs?"

"A reporter from the Qingshi Evening News found him back then, disclosed it to him, and asked him for the IP addresses of all the members at that time, and asked him if he could provide chat records."

Xiaoman stuffed the cigarette into his mouth, resting his fingers on his face, unable to say anything.

Simon said: "Don't worry, Ah Yuan didn't give it back, so he quickly changed his phone number and moved, and the reporter never found him again." The man Chong Xiaoman raised his eyebrows: "You know Duan Wu so well, do you think he ..."

Xiaoman spat out with a "wow".He heard someone yelling "Xiao Fei" and "Xiao Fei" again, and another pair of legs in trousers came over, this time this person was wearing jeans and sneakers.The man bent down, handed him a handkerchief, and said, "I've been looking for you everywhere, don't run around if you drink too much, let's go, I'll take you back."

It was Zhao You who spoke, with a trace of complaint in his concern.He was carrying a backpack, pulled up Xiaoman and greeted Simon: "I'm sorry, he drank too much, didn't he spit on you?"

Xiaoman wiped his mouth, Zhao You helped him away, Simon chased after him, and asked Xiaoman, "Leave a phone number?"

Zhao You smiled and said to Simon: "I have your friend's phone number, next time we have dinner, he really drank too much today."

Xiaoman quickly closed her eyes, threw away the cigarette in her hand, leaned on Zhao You, and heard Zhao You say, "Look, I fell asleep now."

He felt that Zhao You was supporting him, so he followed slowly. After a while, the noise around him became less noisy, and he heard Zhao You's voice again, more clearly and with a more obvious smile: "Zongzi Can't digest it?"

"Pork is too oily." Xiaoman opened his eyes and saw that Zhao You and him were standing in front of a drugstore.

"Oil is delicious." Zhao You pointed to the pharmacy and said, "Wait a minute."

He went into the pharmacy, and soon came out with a box of stomach medicine and a bottle of essential oil, and then went to the nearby supermarket to buy a bottle of water. The shopkeeper gave him ice water, but he didn't want it. A bottle of normal temperature mineral water was handed to him.When Zhao You was paying, he turned his head and gestured to Xiaoman. Xiaoman couldn't understand the meaning of the gesture, as if asking him to sit down and rest, or asking him if he wanted cigarettes.Xiaoman was very tired and didn't want to think about it. He leaned to the side and leaned against a battery car parked on the side of the road. The battery car suddenly whined and called the police. Xiaoman moved away reluctantly.The owner of the supermarket came out and gave him an annoyed look: "What are you doing?"

Xiaoman shook his head, covered his ears and looked at the battery car, his mouth could not be opened, his throat was astringent.Zhao You tapped his arm with a water bottle, Xiaoman looked at him, Zhao You smiled.Xiaoman waved his hands and sighed with difficulty.The two walked forward.

Xiao Man took two stomach medicines with water, pointed to Zhao You's backpack, and asked him, "What are you doing?"

Zhao You pointed forward: "Did you see the alley near Shuimen Street in front? Come out of Qingshui Garden, pass that alley, and return to the factory. It should be the way Zhang Li found to avoid road surveillance. The best route to Clear Water Garden."

Xiaoman drew a circle in the air: "Parking is prohibited on the whole street, otherwise some cars' dash cams might be able to capture his face."

Zhao You said: "He should have considered this."

At the entrance of the alley, Zhao You pointed to a KFC nearby: "Go in and sit back."

"It's not time yet," he said.

"What time?"

"If Zhang Li's original plan had been followed, he would leave the factory around midnight, and he would have to go back within one to two hours, that is to say, he would have to come back here at 01:30, and pass by here to go back to the factory. It's too early for 01:30."

Xiao Man looked around, found a flower bed, and sat by it: "I'll just sit outside, I can't stand the smell of fried chicken..."

Zhao You sat down next to him with his bag on his back, and Xiao Man asked him, "Aren't you going in to turn on the air conditioner?"

Zhao You said, "Aren't you going home?"

Xiaoman laughed out loud, took out the cigarette and lighter, and lit the cigarette.Zhao You looked at his hands and asked him, "What happened to your hands?"

"What's wrong?" Xiao Man also looked at his hand, and Zhao You pointed to the palm of his right hand: "Are you pinched?"

There were several bloodstains on the palm of Xiaoman's right hand.He wrapped his palms with a handkerchief, and smiled at Zhao You again: "I'll return it to you after washing." He asked him, "What's in your bag?"

"The things stolen from Tian's family, laptop, some jewelry, cash, Tian Keren's wallet, Zhang Li's only bank card, driver's license."

"He usually keeps these two things at home? And he doesn't have the key to the house..." Xiaoman was smoking a cigarette, lost in thought.Zhao You didn't talk to him again, but took out his mobile phone and swiped it.Xiaoman glanced over, and saw Zhao You opened a post on Bida.From his point of view, he happened to be able to see "Analysis of Suspected Aegean Killer Cases One by One" written on the title, as well as some pictures in the post.

Xiao Man asked, "Are you very interested in the case from ten years ago?" He smiled and said, "Let me just say, no one is not interested in perverted serial killers."

Zhao You handed the phone to him and motioned him to look at it: "This netizen named Qingshi Storyteller has collected a lot of cases suspected to have been committed by Lin Midong, and is analyzing them one by one. I saw him update to Bai Xiang District Yaoting 604 case.” He scrolled up the page, and a picture of the building shot upside down appeared in front of Xiaoman’s eyes. , in the picture are two rose-colored six-story buildings, one with the sign "Building 8" hanging on the outer wall, and the background is a rust-colored dusk.He said, "Is this picture taken recently?"

"That's right, he said it was taken by him when he returned to the scene of the crime, how did you find out?"

"The outer wall has been repainted, and the color has faded a little before." Xiaoman said.

"Do you often do things like this?"

"What?" Xiaoman raised his eyes to look at Zhao You, the two were very close, and Zhao You was also looking at him—there was no impurity in his gaze, it was purely "watching", his emotion was very Peaceful, breathing is also very steady, perhaps any case, anything will not cause him any emotional fluctuations.He is a peaceful pond.

"Go back to the crime scene." Zhao You said.

Xiaoman smiled, sat up straight and said, "I think I have a predestined relationship with the room number 604 and the room number 04, what do you think?"

"Yao Ting 604, the scene where you arrived at the first time?"

"Yes, I went with Dai Rou."

"Have you been together for a long time?"

"That was the first time we met, so I transferred to criminal investigation." Xiaoman's voice became softer, he crossed his legs, and patted Zhao You's arm: "You don't want to investigate me now, just interrogate me directly." is it?"

Zhao You said with a smile: "No, don't get me wrong," and his next sentence was: "Dai Rou smoked so much ten years ago?"

Xiao Man burst into laughter, patted Zhao You on the shoulder, and said with a cigarette in his mouth, "Xiao Zhao, you are quite good at chatting."

Zhao You looked down at his phone again, and he received a new message on WeChat.

Xiao Man asked him, "Which case has the storyteller analyzed now?"

"Four members of a family were killed, three belonged to the same family, and the other deceased was a water delivery worker who delivered goods to the door." Zhao You was typing, and asked him, "Do you have any memory of this case?"

"Yes, in Danxiangyuan, this case let us know how cruel the murderer's methods are, and he regards human life as nothing."

Xiao Man raised his head, there were only layers of clouds in the sky, and the colorful city lights were reflected on the clouds, making it look gloomy.He shook off some soot and said, "We should pay less attention to the perverted serial murderer and pay more attention to the clouds..." He suddenly thought of it: "I was just wondering why you have to wait here until Zhang Liyuan The time when the plan will come back here...but in Qingshui Garden before, you didn't wait for the time when he might commit the crime that night and started the experiment...Is it because of the moon?"

Xiaoman glanced at Zhao You, Zhao You nodded, propped his chin, and said: "The moonlight today is not as bright as it was on the night of the 4th and the early morning of the 5th, and the clouds are still thick. At eight or nine o'clock and at ten o'clock in the evening At two o'clock, it's about one o'clock. There may be more lights in the opposite residential building, and they are brighter, but if the lights are on in the house, it will not have a big visual impact on the people in the house. As for this alley , You see, there are tall buildings on both sides, this orientation, until midnight, no matter what day, the moon will always set behind the buildings."

He stretched out his hand and rubbed his fingers in the air: "It feels like the rain hasn't cleared yet."

Xiao Man sniffed: "It's not clean, and the fishy smell is still very strong."

"Is the rain fishy?"

"The summer rain in Qingshi is fishy, ​​and the smell of blood is very strong, don't you think?"

Zhao You said, "Will the heavy metals in the waterworks exceed the standard?"

Xiaoman laughed.Zhao You said, "I'm going to visit the nearby Third People's Hospital later."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Ah? You don't intend to follow me all the time?" Zhao You said, "Aren't you afraid that I will go to the Aegean Sea to inquire again? Are you not afraid that I will continue to investigate you?"

Xiaoman arched his hands towards him, and was a little annoyed, frowned and drank water, but still wanted to laugh.He asked Zhao You: "Are you going to visit a doctor? Is it past the visiting hours?"

"Investigate the case."

"After going to the hospital, where are you going?"

"I really won't go to the Aegean Sea anymore, don't worry, I probably won't be going anytime soon." Zhao You said, "I plan to sleep in the car for a while, and then go to Yanzigou."

"It's also an investigation?"

Zhao You nodded.Xiaoman said, "I see that you don't like going home anymore."

"Do you want to be together?"

Xiao Man waved a cigarette and refused: "I love going home very much."

The answer seemed to be beyond Zhao You's expectation: "Is the Yaochi Ballroom your home? Isn't that someone else's dance hall, someone else's home?"

Xiao Man glared at him, got up and said: "I take back the words that you can chat, I'm leaving, you wait slowly!" Then she walked away.

He walked to the bus stop in a hurry, and looked back, Zhao You was still sitting on the flower bed at the entrance of the alley, with his back slightly arched, like a wolf sticking to his territory, his body was motionless, but he could tell , he is not vigilant whether someone crosses the border and invades, he is just observing the passing people-these people are probably his prey for him.But he is indifferent to these prey, and the prey bores him.These prey are uninteresting.Perhaps all he cares about is the moon.

Suddenly, Zhao You turned around and looked towards the bus stop. Xiao Man hurriedly turned his head, a bus stopped in front of him, and the people standing behind him squeezed him away to get on the bus. The bus was full of people. Sitting, people standing, people laughing, people not speaking, silent, the car is full of the choking smell of old raincoats.Xiao Man walked out from the platform and walked towards Fubei District.

He walked and smoked all the way, and when he finished smoking, he just walked on the road, stepping aside a little bit when he met oncoming people, and responding a little bit when he met oncoming people's eyes.He walked carefully with the people, and slowly walked back to the Yaochi Grand Ballroom.

The ballroom was already closed, and he opened the door with the key. The ballroom was very dark, the curtains were all drawn, and a bright yellow light shone from the tent in the middle of the dance floor, like the only star in the dark night.

Yin Miaozai opened the tent, leaned out, rubbed her eyes and asked Xiaoman: "Are you back?" She pointed to the bar counter: "The notice of closure of business you mentioned when you were eating, I printed it out for you, you can paste it yourself. "

Xiaoman went to the tent and sat down, and asked her, "Why haven't you slept yet?" He said, "I thought you were sleeping at home today."

Yin Miaozai pointed to the mobile phone, and Xiaoman saw that she was also reading the analysis post on the must answer.

"Qingshi storyteller?"

"Are you paying attention too?" Yin Miaozai yawned again and again, and sat down bent over, while gusts of hot wind blew from the tent.

Xiao Man said, "I'll turn on the air conditioner."

"It's okay, I'm not too hot, I'm cold, and I don't sweat much." Yin Miaozai put his hand on the back of Xiaoman's hand.Xiao Man lay down, her upper body was in the tent, her feet were exposed, Yin Miaozai made room for her: "Come in."

"No need, that's it." Xiao Man said.Yin Miaozai turned on a lamp in the corner of the tent, and instantly, the top of the tent was covered with stars.There are stars above their heads.

"Have you ever gone camping outside?" Yin Miaozai asked while leaning against the tent.

"No, what about you?" Xiaoman looked at the stars, his eyes were sour and his eyelids were heavy.

"I do not have either."

"Then you just bought these equipment?"

"No, it's been a long time since I bought it. I've always wanted to go, but I haven't made up my mind yet... Then buy the equipment first. When you make up your mind, you can just leave. Do you know the constellations?"

"will not."

"Zhao Youhui."

"He seems to know everything. You said he knows how to tell fortunes in the Book of Changes. I don't think it's strange to watch astrology and divination."

"Haha, he is more interested in these," Yin Miaozai said, pointing to a star, "Is that the Big Dipper? I remember the primary school teacher said that it is like a spoon." She touched his shoulder and said slowly, "He's not interested in people, women, or men..."

Xiaoman looked at her, but didn't speak.Yin Miaozai slid down, lay on the sleeping bag, and said, "Go to sleep, I won't disturb you anymore."

"I can't sleep at night, you can say something, just say anything."

Yin Miaozai gave Xiaoman a pair of wireless earphones, and gave him the mobile phone: "I'm going to sleep, I'm so sleepy, you can watch Youku Tencent iQiyi whatever you want, you can listen to songs, I have members, you Let's see."

Xiaoman had a sudden thought: "Have you ever heard of a director named Alain Resnais? It seems to be from France."