Mr Killer Next Door

Jiang Yu pretended to be calm and walked over with a soup pot.

The enoki mushrooms in the pot are spread in a circle, and a thin slice of shiitake mushrooms is poked with a spoon.

Onions, luncheon meat, and purple potato rice cakes are all floating in the bright red soup, as if soaked in mottled and sticky blood.

This happened within two weeks of Qiu Shihuan's mysterious disappearance.Although until there is conclusive evidence, everything is just suspicion.

But it was hard for Jiang Yu not to connect the two together.

"Okay, prince, it's finished." He put down the bowl and chopsticks, and said to the boy on the carpet, "I don't often cook this kind of cuisine. So I don't have enough experience, so please forgive me."

Qiu Shihuan kicked off the slippers on his feet, hurried over and leaned over to sniff.He crossed his elbows on the table and leaned forward.

Then he raised his head and smiled innocently.

"Wow, Uncle! This one smells good, although it doesn't look like the one at home—"

The timing of Qiu Shihuan's visit was very coincidental, and he happened to have breakfast and lunch together.

Each of them had a bowl of rice, and they ate the freshly cooked kimchi soup.

During the meal, uninvited guests stare intently at the TV, followed by the midday TV series after the morning news.

The hero is just struggling with the poverty of the family, but what lies before him is a deal of selling his soul.

Qiu Shihuan picked up the rice in the bowl, puffed up his cheeks, and took a long time to pick up a chopstick of Flammulina velutipes.

The knees under the shorts parted, collided, and repeated.

When Jiang Yu noticed the small movements under the table, Qiu Shihuan was already shaking his legs, biting the tip of his chopsticks, and his mind drifted to the gaudy advertisements.

At the beginning, the person who said he wanted to eat kimchi soup ended up eating less than a mouse when he really moved his chopsticks.

The scroll bar at the bottom of the TV was still showing the recent list of missing persons. When Qiao Yingsheng's name appeared, Jiang Yu put down his chopsticks.

"My lord, please turn off the TV."

Qiu Shihuan grabbed the remote control panel with a look of reluctance.

"Huh? Why?"

"Hearing the news that the murderer can't be caught and no one can be found every day, I won't be able to sleep at night."

"Ahh——I thought uncle would really like to know."

His tone sounded a little reconciled.

"what do you know?"

Jiang Yu raised his eyes to look at him.

"That person, that's called... Let me think about it, it's called—a committee member of what kind of students."

"Qiao Yingsheng."

"That's right, that's Qiao Yingsheng." Qiu Shihuan bit his chopsticks and smiled, "Didn't uncle meet that person?"

"It was the person who bumped into you before." Jiang Yu pretended to be calm and picked up a piece of kimchi. At some point, a thin layer of cold sweat began to ooze from his neck. "The corpse was wearing the same clothes as that day. .”

"So? Uncle suspects it's me?"

Qiu Shihuan scooped up a few spoonfuls of soup and blew away the heat from it.

"Prince, you have been missing for two whole weeks. According to the police investigation, Qiao Yingsheng disappeared last weekend." Jiang Yu sighed and tapped the side of the bowl with his chopsticks.He shook his head and continued, "I made a statement in advance. I didn't say I doubted you. I didn't say a word. So - if you want to put such a hat on me, you have to have evidence, right?"

"You are the evidence." Qiu Shihuan laughed lowly. "When we looked at each other on this topic, your breathing quickened, your pupils dilated, and your heartbeat started to speed up. Your eyes avoided direct questions, but you preferred to repeat my questions."

"I'm nervous with you, I've always been like this." Jiang Yu smiled at him, not minding being seen through, "It doesn't seem like there are any secrets."

"Don't you like this, uncle?"

"Prince, don't beat around the bush. You might as well just say, what question should I ask you?" Jiang Yu crossed his fingers and rested his chin, and said, "I'm also afraid of saying the wrong thing. Look at TP Jessie, Qiao Yingsheng , which one is not the car in front of me?"

Qiu Shihuan raised his eyebrows.

He seemed unable to pick out Jiang Yu's fault.

"Uncle, even if you tacitly agree that I killed Qiao Yingsheng, shouldn't he deserve to die?"

The chopsticks picked up a cabbage leaf, and the soup dripped down the chopsticks.

When Qiu Shihuan said this, there was an obvious movement of the corner of his mouth.This is a standard gesture of disdain and superiority, like seeing a dead cockroach.

"Prince, I have something to say."

"Please."

"You lived in District 23 when you were young. I know where it is. They are all high-level intellectuals. They are either universities or scientific research institutes. The population is small, and there is no major competitive pressure. The level of education, quality of life, and people who are connected We are too different here. Therefore, you don't have to find a reason to kill a person, and whether you deserve to die or not is not for me to judge."

"Uncle doesn't like to decide the fate of others."

"Of course, I just simply feel that I am not qualified to be a chess player, and I am not qualified to decide whether to take pawns or touch bishops. The people who appear in the 19th district are more or less secretive. If someone is sentenced to death at will, I am afraid this place will be turned upside down."

Qiu Shihuan picked up a piece of rice cake and pulled it into a sticky thread between his teeth.

"Interesting, uncle, you also have secrets, don't you? You don't seem to be afraid of being in the same room with me, and you're even much calmer than when we met before."

"It's not something I can choose. Even if I want to run away, the answer is obvious. Prince, if you want to kill me, I can't run away." Jiang Yu filled a few spoonfuls of soup and held up the bowl without changing his face , "Actually, in the past few years, I have also gotten used to this rhythm of life. The person who passed you by in the last second may be lying in a pool of blood in the next second."

"Uncle, don't forget. Roses can also grow worms, and beauty and ugliness always coexist. Whether it is District 19 or District 23, there is no difference in terms of rot." Qiu Shihuan picked out a piece of ginger and threw it into the trash can Li, "Besides..." He raised his hand and pinched his chopsticks a few times in the air, "I wasn't born in District 23."

***

Jiang Yu brought his troubles to the D-2171 factory and to "Sleeping Lion". Looking at the woman in the painting, he only felt a splitting headache.

After being targeted by a murderous little bastard, he became a neighbor across the wall again.Dining with such a dangerous object is like dancing with death.

Regarding the last sentence Qiu Shihuan left for him, he couldn't understand it.

Wasn't the prince born in District 23?

Weird.

Many years ago, Jiang Yu read Qiu Shihuan's relevant information.All the stories about this child happened in District 23, whether it was media photos or reports, even his household registration information showed that his birthplace was in District 23.

Why deny it?

A young man with short brown curly hair wearing sunglasses put Jiang Yu on the shoulder.

Seeing that he didn't move, he shook his head.

This person's name is Braun. I don't know his surname, so it should be a pseudonym.He is one of the core figures of the D-2171 factory, responsible for transportation and solving various customs difficulties.

He has a cheerful personality, friendly and warm-hearted, he is one of Jiang Yu's most talkative people in the factory.

"Mr. Jiang, what happened? Why are you absent-minded?"

"Something personal." Jiang Yu sighed, pinching his nose in distress, "I'm sorry, I'm not in the mood today."

Braun let out an "oh" pretending to be surprised, and looked at his watch.

"Then you have to hurry up. In three hours, the emu will have to check your work. You forgot what she deducted from your salary last time?"

"It's useless to rush me. I have to satisfy my customers, not a visible imitation. We want repeat customers and business, not a worsening reputation and fewer connections - Emu Just because I don’t know that doesn’t mean I don’t know.”

"It's not good to focus too much on one thing. It's easy to make mistakes with a mental state like yours."

"I have no choice."

The picture in Jiang Yu's mind is not "Sleeping Lion", not a woman who died in a deep sleep, no mice, no wine, and no blood.

Countless Qiu Shihuan flashed in his mind, like slides, like countless soap bubbles, and like illusory lights of different colors, which made him lost and confused.

He felt that there was a figure standing at the end of the lost way, and that was Qiu Shihuan, who looked flawless like an angel, but was ruthless in his heart.

There are too many secrets in this child, he is cruel but also pure.Two contradictory factors are reflected in him at the same time, they do not conflict, but instead aggravate the mystery of the other party.

Braun glanced at the gauze on his head, then at the cartoon sticker on his cheek.He might have thought of something, so he pulled a stool and sat in front of Jiang Yu.

"Mr. Jiang, don't you want to talk about it?"

"I have nothing to say."

"You're covered in injuries, so that's not a problem? Let me think about it, who did you fight for? It's impossible, you don't have that kind of popularity. Or did you go to date a woman on your day off?"

For the blatant sarcasm, the exhausted Jiang Yu only had time to roll his eyes.

"—Don't you know me yet? Employees of my level have no chance to be interested in this kind of thing. It's too late to take care of the children on the day off. Where did the time come from?"

"You have a kid?"

"No, a little boy who has just grown up."

Braun nodded thoughtfully.

"is it beautiful."

"Pretty...why are you paying attention to this?"

"Just asking. Mr. Jiang, you are always easily disturbed by beautiful things."

"No." Jiang Yu said with certainty, "I am eight years older than him, and I wish I could send all the little ghosts of this age to the orphanage. Besides, it might kill me."

Braun couldn't help laughing when he saw him frowning and remembering.

"So what's going on, why did they pester you? Look at your wounds, it seems that the little guy is quite hot."

"It would be great if it was what you think. The truth is a hundred times more miserable than this. Let me think about where to start..." Jiang Yu put down his brush and looked at the unfinished painting of wine, "By the way, Braun , didn’t you have a small loan shark who came to your door to collect debts before? I think that guy is very difficult, how did you get rid of him in the end?”

Braun smiled a little embarrassedly.

"Why did this topic come to me? He came to ask for money, and I have no money. You know that. Then I made a joke and asked him if he could use someone to pay off the debt, but he didn't refuse... …gave me a key card to the hotel."

"Stop. I won't listen. No reference value."

Braun hurriedly asked.

"Mr. Jiang, what's going on? Don't play tricks on me, I'm very curious."

Jiang Yu frowned and tried his best to organize his words.

"I saw him murder."

Braun nodded unsurprisingly: "It seems that the little guy has a cheerful personality. Killing someone in the 19th district is not a big deal. You won't hesitate because of this, right?"

"He can kill others, of course he can kill me." Jiang Yu said, "But it's more than that. After witnessing the murder and being caught, he asked me to accompany him to the game room."

Braun looked at him suspiciously.

"Huh? Such a childlike innocence."

"On the contrary, I think he has an ulterior motive - Braun, he threatened me in private, and even wanted to insert a screwdriver into my head. But he didn't threaten me not to speak out. I didn't understand his intention. Until he left the game In the computer room, I found out that this kid actually lives in the empty room next to me."

"You suspect he's following you?"

"I don't know what he wants. He followed me in the door that day, threw my phone in the fish tank to stop me from calling the police, said a lot of strange things to me, and then disappeared for two weeks. Of course, yesterday At night, that kid came back." Jiang Yu pointed to the gauze on his head, "Then he beat me like this."

"It doesn't look normal." Braun shrugged. "Does he have some mental problems?"

"I don't know." Jiang Yu recalled all kinds of things about Qiu Shihuan, and didn't dare to make a judgment, "But, you must know, a guy who can kill people on the fly—it's impossible to go anywhere normally."

Braun stroked his chin, not knowing what he was thinking about.

"...Why don't you, Mr. Jiang, find a chance to test him? If his goal is really you, we can't be too passive. We have to know what he wants to do."

"You asked me to test the person who beat me like this?"

"What are you afraid of? Don't you have me as your staff? In fact, after hearing your description, I almost understand the situation." Braun folded his arms and said confidently, "You said that he has just grown up and is a little devil again. Use a small As far as loan sharks are concerned, there is only another way to deal with such people without violence."

"What means."

"Alcohol. This is your strong point." Braun raised his index finger in front of Jiang Yu's nose, "The loan shark has a bar on Rose Street, so you can find an excuse to invite the little guy to the bar. I just asked him to open the bar." In a private room, you try your best to get him drunk, and take the opportunity to ask him what he wants to do."

Jiang Yu stroked his chin.I think it's a bad idea, but it's not unreasonable.

The key is how to make an appointment.

"What are you still thinking about? Hurry up and call out, I have to go to your funeral in a blink of an eye."

"I don't have a mobile phone." Jiang Yu frowned, "The mobile phone was soaked in water a few days ago, so lend me yours."

"It's really troublesome." Braun complained, and took out his mobile phone to him, "Do you know his number?"

"I'll ask the landlord."

Jiang Yu bit the bullet and called the landlord, made up an unseemly excuse, and successfully got Qiu Shihuan's number.

The area code in front of this series of numbers is area code 23. If you want to get through, you have to dial a series of numbers.

Jiang Yu hesitated for a long time, then dialed the number tremblingly.

Not long after, the call was connected.

【Hello?who is it. 】

It sounded in a bad mood over the receiver.

Jiang Yu suddenly lost his mind.

"That, the crown prince...it's me."

【ah! 】The other end of the phone came alive immediately, 【Uncle——have you changed your phone yet? 】

"No, this is my colleague's mobile phone."

【Oh, I just happened to be watching TV.The big brother in the zombie movie was finally infected, so sad.By the way, uncle, what's the matter?Let me pause for a moment. 】

"Tonight..." Jiang Yu took a deep breath, "Prince, do you have any plans for tonight?"

The other party did not hesitate.

[At night, shouldn't it be?Uncle, what's the matter? 】

"It's like this." Jiang Yu looked at Braun's mouth and repeated it word by word, "Want to come out to play? I know a friend whose bar has just opened, and he wants to invite me over to join him."

【sure. ] He agreed quickly, [What time?Where are you going? 】

"It's about eight or nine o'clock when the painting is finished. Guijie, if you go, let's go together."

【It’s a place I’ve never heard of—but since it’s uncle’s request, then it’s settled.I'm going to continue watching TV dramas, bye——]

"Ah good……"

"Okay." Braun snatched the phone from Jiang Yu's hand, and was surprised to find that he was drenched in sweat, "Hey, Mr. Jiang? Are you okay? Why do you sweat so much when you make a phone call?"

Jiang Yu bewilderedly wiped the sweat off his neck.

He really didn't expect that he would meet the murderer who lived next door in a bar.