never forget [criminal investigation]

Three days later, Kong Jie surrendered.This time I went and never came back.

Then, Xing Yue called Xu Feng and reported the whole process of the case in detail.

On the phone, Xu Feng sounded very excited and praised him severely.But at the same time, he also said that the case has just entered the trial stage, which is a critical period. Just in case, let him continue to stay in Mingzhou for a period of time.After the relevant investigation and evidence collection and interrogation process is over, he will be transferred back, and at the same time, he will apply for a commutation of his sentence.

Xing Yue expressed no opinion on this.

Now he is no longer anxious to go back, because Xiang Hai has already been released from prison.So here or back there, it doesn't make any difference to him.

Another month or so later, Luo Meihua came to Mingzhou again with 20 yuan.

She and Kong Jie's daughter-in-law re-signed the IOU, went to the relevant department to do justice, and returned the money when Kong Jie's family's house was sold.

After handling all this properly, she came to Xing Yue again.

Xing Yue handed over the IOU signed by Kong Jie earlier, "Mom, give this to his wife later."

Luo Meihua took it and folded it, "So, this case is over?"

"almost."

"Then when can you go back to Dongjiang?" She asked this question again.

"We have to wait a little longer," Xing Yue's voice was weak, "It's almost here."

"After this matter is over, they must commute your sentence, right?" This is what Luo Meihua is most concerned about right now.

"It should be possible."

"How much can you reduce?"

"I don't know." Xing Yue lowered his head, fiddling with his fingers, "I guess... about three months."

"It's only been three months?" Luo Meihua frowned, "I don't think everyone else is half a year?"

"..." Xing Yue had no choice but to raise his head again, "Mom, everyone's situation is different, and the range of commutation is also different for different sentences."

"Besides, even if six months are subtracted, when I go back, there will probably be three months left."

Luo Meihua rubbed her forehead vigorously, "Three months are fine, one month less is one month."

"So it looks like, at the end of the year at most, you will be able to go home, right?"

"Theoretically yes." Xing Yue didn't dare to say it to death, and he didn't want to keep Luo Meihua's hopes in vain.

After finishing speaking, the two of them fell silent at the same time.

After a while, "Xiang Hai has received the admission notice." Luo Meihua said, "Finally he applied to Dongjiang Normal University."

Xing Yue raised his eyes in a daze, "Dongjiang? He didn't apply for the school in Beijing? Did he fail the exam?"

Dongjiang Normal University's psychology major is also good, but it is still not as good as those top universities in Beijing.

Luo Meihua shook her head, "He did well in the exam." Then he said softly, "He said, it was you who said it, don't let him stick to you all the time."

"..." Xing Yue almost looked up.

Luo Meihua smiled faintly, "He was joking."

"...Fuck, what did he think?" Xing Yue couldn't help scolding.

"He didn't say so." Luo Meihua looked at him, "but I guess he wants to stay in Dongjiang so that he can take care of the old director, Aunt Liu, and me."

"Probably because he felt worried if the two of you were out of town for the past few years. He also said that in the future you will go to Beijing to go to school for more than two years, and you will come back to participate in the preparation of the inspection center in the middle. You are in Dongjiang. There may be more opportunities to meet."

Xing Yue became even more listless.

Xiang Hai always thinks more than him.

If I can always be by his side during this time, if I can communicate with him more about volunteering, if I keep writing to him, if I can call him, if I don’t always run on him and cling to others, if He can do as he pleases...

However, he should understand that I never really complained about his being clingy.

You should have discovered that I always want to cling to him, right?

"Also..." Luo Meihua's cautious probing interrupted his thoughts, "He keeps saying that he wants to see you."

"No!" Xing Yue woke up instantly, like a conditioned reflex from being stabbed by acupuncture, "Don't let him come over, I won't see him even if I tell him."

He wanted to see Xiang Hai, and wished he could see him in the next second.

But not here, not like now.

Only at this time did he realize that he was actually very vain, and his unwavering self-confidence suddenly collapsed.

He didn't want Xiang Hai to see himself in such a mess, even though both of them had been in a mess before.But when one of them returns to the human world, the remaining one looks even more like a ghost.

He was afraid of seeing himself in Xiang Hai's eyes.

"I know." Luo Meihua lowered her eyes, "Xiang Hai just asked me to ask what you mean."

She understood what Xing Yue was thinking, how could Xiang Hai not understand.

"Mom," Xing Yue's Adam's apple rolled back and forth for a long time, "Go back and tell Xiao Hai for me, tell him not to come to Mingzhou."

"I'll be back in Dongjiang after a while, and I'll call him then."

"You let him go to school steadily, don't always think about those messy things, and wait for me to go back."

Luo Meihua nodded, "I will tell him."

Then he sighed again, "But that kid Xiao Hai has a lot on his mind. I can see that he has been blaming himself all the time, especially now that you are left here alone, he feels uncomfortable."

"I'm also afraid that you will regret it."

"He... just loves to speculate." Xing Yue pursed his lips.

"Mom, tell him for me that no matter in the past or now, I have never regretted my choice, not even a single minute."

The first snow in Dongjiang this year came later than in previous years, like rushing to a late date. When Xing Yue got out of the car, the snowflakes all over the sky were falling at an accelerated rate.After a few steps into the gate of the cell, snowflakes hung on the eyelashes and melted quickly.

He lowered his head and brushed off the snow flakes stuck to his body, and the cold water droplets on his eyelashes also rolled down.

Here we are again, this familiar place.

When the door of the cell was opened, everyone in the room, led by Mice, was stunned.

"Old, brother??" People surrounded him with a whimper, chattering, "Why are you back again?"

"Where did you go? Leave as soon as you say, and come back when you say it!"

"I thought you had already left!"

"Aren't you caught again?"

"Little brother said that you went to get medical treatment, is it true or not?"

"You look tough, what's wrong?"

"..."

Xing Yue responded humbly, and returned to his original bedside with his things in his arms.

The mouse followed, "The little brother has gone out, don't you know?"

Xing Yue paused and looked up at the empty upper bunk.

The bed sheet above was straight, and the quilt was neatly folded, as if the person who left had never appeared.

He said "hmm" and threw his things on the bed.

"He didn't tell you?" Mouse's small eyes looked at him warily, "Didn't you two have a good relationship before?"

Xing Yue was a little tired, so he said a few perfunctory words to dismiss him and his excess curiosity, and after a brief tidying up, he held a book and leaned against the bedside to read.

But until all ten people in the room were asleep, the book didn't even turn a page.

The snow outside the window stopped, and the sky quickly cleared up. Although the moon was only half, the night was twice as clear.It makes people unable to tell whether the silver glow penetrating into the pane comes from the moon in the sky or the snow on the ground.

The world became very quiet, as quiet as if there was only one person left.

Xing Yue stood by the window for a while, then turned around to pour a glass of water, and then came back.

He kept adjusting the position and angle until the half moon completely fell into the cup.

The moonlight floats up and down on the surface of the water, broken and complete, together and separated.

He held his breath, held his hands steady, and let the moon return to its original form.

"Cheers." Then he raised his glass carefully and drank the cool thoughts in one gulp.

Finally looking forward to the weekend, Xing Yue went to make a phone call.But along the way, his heart was up and down, seven points nervous, three points excited.

Excitement is natural, but nervous... He didn't understand what he was nervous about.

Isn't that the person he is most familiar with?

How long has it been since you saw Xiang Hai?How long has it been since I heard his voice?How do I start later?So many words, what should I say?What is he doing?are you OK?

My mind is a mess, like a crumpled and spread letter paper, full of zigzag lines.But before he could figure out how to speak, the beeping in the receiver ended.

"Hey?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Xing Yue froze by the phone without any surprise.

"Hello?" The voice over there raised a little, accompanied by the sound of slightly rapid breathing, probably walking on the road.

Xing Yue tightly covered the microphone and cleared his throat vigorously.

"it's me."

Before the words fell, there was silence over there, and even the sound of breathing disappeared.

Xing Yue waited for a while, "Xiao Hai?"

"Little sea??"

"elder brother?"

The sound of intense breathing rushed into the receiver in an instant, "Brother!!!"

Then Xiang Hai cried, just standing on the side of the road, holding his mobile phone, crying like a child.

Xing Yue was disturbed by his crying, and his nose was so sore, but there were many people around him, and he was embarrassed to have an attack, so he could only endure it desperately.

After holding back for a long time, I couldn't take it anymore, "Fuck, don't fucking cry, I don't have time later."

Only then did Xiang Hai calm down, his nose still twitching, "Brother, when did you come back?"

"I just came back two days ago."

Xiang Hai sniffed hard, "Then I understand, I will see you tomorrow!"

"No!" Xing Yue's rationality was still there, and he flatly refused.

"why not!"

"No, no, no."

"But I miss you!"

"That's okay, no." Xing Yue bit his lip tightly.

Xiang Hai fell silent.

"Bureau Xu is already applying for a commutation of sentence for me," Xing Yue coaxed him, "There will be news soon, I guess I will go out in a month at most, so don't come, huh?"

"No."

"Tsk, go to your school well, just wait another month, can't you?"

"No."

"Hold."

"I'll go tomorrow, not even one more day."

Seeing this man's sleazy energy come up again, Xing Yue decided to fight him to the death.

"Okay, come as you like, I will never see you anyway. Try it if you don't believe me."

Xing Yue clutched the phone tightly, only the sound of Xiang Hai's stubborn breathing could be heard.

Neither of the two of them spoke any more, they just insisted on it, and they didn't know what they were insisting on.

For a long time, I heard someone shouting from a distance, "Let's go, Xiang Hai, why are you still standing there?"

Xing Yue breathed out lightly, "Go, your classmate called you."

But Xiang Hai still didn't make a sound, just breathed up and down.

A sycophant.

The two of them remained silent as if in a competition, until Xing Yue became cruel and hung up the phone.

The next day, Xing Yue was notified that someone came to visit.

He refused.

On the third day, someone came to visit again.

He declined again.

On the fourth day, that person came again.

He concentrated on reading and blocked all distracting thoughts.

Later, as he wished, that person did not come.

But Xing Yue didn't feel happy at all.

He belatedly reflected on whether he was going too far and being too selfish?Just take a look at what’s going on, what’s the matter, are you a 6A-level scenic spot or an unearthed cultural relic, why is the burden of being an idol so heavy?Why is your vanity so precious?You keep saying that you never regret it, so what kind of old bitter melon are you playing here?

I hope that Xiang Hai will stop blaming himself, but pouring cold water like this, do you think he is too comfortable?

Thinking of this, Xing Yue beat his chest and stamped his feet in regret, wishing he could turn out a hundred guns and spray himself to death.

Finally, when he made it to the weekend, he was the first to rush out to make a phone call.

He has already thought about how to say it: first apologize sincerely, and then invite Xiang Hai to visit him more sincerely, the sooner the better, preferably tomorrow, if he doesn't come, he won't do.

But there were only a few beeps in the receiver, and then the phone was hung up.

"..."

Xing Yue hurriedly continued to call, but was hung up again.

Call again, turn off the phone.

So Xing Yue was dumbfounded.

Fortunately, he was not allowed to be stupid for a long time. On the day of the winter solstice, the news from Xu Feng finally arrived.

Because of his major meritorious service while serving his sentence, Xing Yue's sentence was commuted by three months, and he will be released from prison the day after tomorrow, that is, on December 12.

The good news came too suddenly, but there were not many surprises, so Xing Yue didn't have time to get excited, so he rushed out to make a phone call immediately.

However, my naughty boyfriend still refused to answer the phone.

Xing Yue was very disappointed, and at the same time felt that he was purely self-inflicted.In the end, I had no choice but to call Luo Meihua again and ask her to spread the news of the great joy.

Unexpectedly, the strength of the news spread is quite large.The next day, the day before he was released from prison, someone came to find him.

"Old Xing? Xing Dog? How about it? Are you surprised? Surprised? Impressed? Huh?"

"..."

Xing Yue sat down slowly and looked at Fang Qiao who was crossing his legs, every strand of hair was laughing at him, "What are you doing here?"

"Tsk, what I said, of course I came to see you." Fang Qiao said happily, "Didn't I hear that you will go out soon? I thought that if I don't watch this kind of scene, I won't have a chance. Take some time to come and visit for a while.”

"I thank you."

"Hey, you're being polite to me, aren't we Tie Zi?" Fang Qiao waved his hand generously.

"But seriously, Lao Xing, do you have a mirror here?"

"...What do you mean?" Xing Yue had no expression on his face, but from Fang Qiao's expression, he knew that the text was coming.

"I mean..." Fang Qiao leaned over, squinted his microscope-like eyes, and fine-tuned the focus, "Do you know how stupid you look now?"

"I know, it's less than one-tenth of yours."

"Old Xing, don't be like this, let's be real, is it difficult to admit that we are stupid?"

"Yeah, is it difficult? Why don't you admit it all the time?"

"Sorry because I'm not."

"Hehe, idiots never think of themselves as idiots."

"That's right, so as Tie Zi, I need to tell you this fact."

"..."

Xing Yue's lack of concentration caused this wave of talk to lose.He kicked the opposite side under the table, "You fucking came here to humiliate me?"

"Otherwise?" Fang Qiao left the venue satisfied, and leaned back in the chair comfortably, "I haven't humiliated you for more than a year, and the tree of friendship between us is almost withered."

Xing Yue pressed his forehead, intending to change the topic of a normal human being, "How do you know I'm going out tomorrow? My mother told you?"

"What are you thinking? How can she tell me?" Fang Qiao grinned, "Besides, how dare I provoke her."

"Then how did you know?"

"Nonsense, of course your partner told me."

"It was Xiang Hai... who told you?" Xing Yue's eyes lit up, and his sluggish body froze.

"How many partners do you have?" Fang Qiao looked at him with a foolish expression.

"I mean, he, he knows I'm going out tomorrow, right!" Xing Yue was 100% stunned.

"What do you think?" Fang Qiao folded her arms in front of her chest and frowned, "Fuck, Lao Xing, I found that your symptoms are a bit serious. I'm so embarrassed to humiliate you."

Xing Yue became happy recklessly, "Come on, you can humiliate, you can humiliate in any way you want."

"Let the tree of our friendship flourish and last forever."

On December 24, the weather was fine.

This day Xing Yue got up on time as usual, and after washing up, he put some clothes and a stack of books into his backpack.

It's time to leave.

He took off his gray-blue prison uniform, changed back to his own clothes, put on his coat, and put his backpack on his shoulder.

Under the envious eyes of the mice, he bid farewell to a year and nine months behind bars.

After completing the formalities, Xing Yue walked out of the prison office building together with a dozen other people who were freed on the same day as him.

The snow on the ground reflected the sun's rays, which was a bit dazzling.He raised his hand to cover his eyebrows, and after a brief moment of adaptation, he raised his head and looked at the piece of blue.

Sunshine, clouds, chasing birds, white lines left by planes...

The gate of the prison was slowly opened, and those who walked in front could already see the expectant faces of their relatives through the widening crack of the door.Some people were waving desperately, some were crying, and more people quickened their pace.

Xing Yue was at the end of the line, unable to tell what mood he was in at the moment.

Excited, apprehensive, nervous, anticipating.

People stepped out of the door one after another, and gradually, he was the only one left on this side of the door.

Xing Yue rubbed his hands, pulled the zipper of the down jacket to the top, and stepped out.

There is the same sky above the head, but there are two worlds under the feet.

Returning to the cold but free air, he couldn't help but take a deep breath.

Some people around were crying, and some left alone with their luggage on their backs.

Xing Yue stood where he was, looking around nervously.

After all, this is not a pleasant place. After a while, the people in front of the door dispersed, leaving only mottled footprints on the ground.

Xing Yue stood there alone, surrounded by empty footprints.He became more and more apprehensive, clutching the strap of his backpack, desperately looking further afield.

The air is quiet and pure, without impurities, and the sight can easily reach far away.

But there was no one waiting for him.

Xing Yue was very sad, with his heart hanging, the backpack on his shoulders slipped down little by little, and he fell heavily into the snow.

The gate of the nearby prison was slowly closing with a heavy rumbling sound.

No one seemed to expect him back.He even wanted to sneak back before the gate closed.

With a bang, the door closed tightly.He lost his chance.

The air was frozen like crystal, and he was trapped in it, transparent but with nowhere to go.

At this time, the sound of "creaking" footsteps came from behind.

Xing Yue turned around abruptly.

Someone was walking towards him, getting closer and clearer.

Xing Yue's heart beat wildly again, stronger than the moment he stepped out of the prison gate.

The man stopped a dozen meters away from him, stood there quietly, and looked at him quietly.

Finally, the man opened his arms, "Brother."

Xing Yue's vision instantly became blurred, and his cheeks were hot and cold again.

"Brother!" Xiang Hai raised his arms a little higher.

Xing Yue wiped his eyes indiscriminately, and ran towards that side.

The distance of more than ten meters is just a few steps.

He crossed the finish line and threw himself into Xiang Hai's arms.

After a year of separation, the two finally hugged each other deeply.

"Brother!" Xiang Hai's tight string finally reached the limit, "Brother!!!!"

His face was buried deep in Xing Yue's neck, and his two hands tightly grasped the clothes behind Xing Yue.

"Why don't you let me come to see you! I want to come and see you! I miss you! Woohoo, why don't you let me come!"

"Why are you so cruel, you don't see me once, do you know how much I miss you?"

The cry that had been suppressed for too long gradually amplified, Xiang Hai's shoulders shook violently, and he could hardly utter a complete sentence.

"I'm sorry, Xiao Hai, I'm sorry." Xing Yue held him tightly in his arms, kissing the top of his head one after another.

But Xiang Hai still repeated the question back and forth, "Why don't you let me see you!"

Yeah, why.Why make him so sad.

"I was wrong, Xiao Hai, please forgive me." He could only keep apologizing.

Parting is painful, and the pain is extreme, but often a smile can explain sadness better than tears.The reunion is happy, but the pure happiness is too ethereal, and the missing part of reality can only be compensated by tears.

So they said goodbye with a smile, and hugged again with tears.

Complaining and apologizing in his mouth, but he has accumulated too many thoughts and has nowhere to vent.For two full years, who really cares if we can meet each other in the last month?

It took a long time for this wave of strong emotions to gradually wear off.Xiang Hai stopped crying, but still hugged Xing Yue's neck tightly and did not let go.

"Brother, you didn't see me just now, are you sad?" He whispered in Xing Yue's ear.

"Of course." Xing Yue tilted his head, rubbing Xiang Hai's soft hair.

Within a few months, that silky texture returned.

"I'm sorry, I also apologize to you." Xiang Hai sniffed, "Actually, I did it on purpose, just to make you worry too."

"Don't apologize." Xing Yue pulled him up, wiped away the wet tears on his face with his fingers, "It's my fault, you should punish me. Please punish me a little more."

Xiang Hai opened his red eyes, and only then did he have the opportunity to look at him carefully.After looking at it for a long time, I wiped my face with my sleeve, and took his hand again, "I will punish him when I go back."

"Okay!" Xing Yue finally smiled, clasped Xiang Hai's fingers in his palm, "Then let's go home, I really want to go home!"

As he said that, he was going to pick up his backpack.

"Wait a minute." Xiang Hai grabbed him, let go, unzipped the down jacket, and pulled out a shiny necklace from the collar, with an emerald concentric lock attached to it.

Xing Yue's eyes lit up, "Did you fix the broken one?"

"No, this is another one." Xiang Hai took off the necklace and put it on Xing Yue's neck again with his body temperature.

"Brother, if you wear this, you will be safe in the future."

"how about you?"

"You are safe and I am safe."

"Okay." Xing Yue stroked the warm jade and suddenly remembered, "By the way, I broke that one last time on Christmas Eve, and today is Christmas Eve again."

"Yeah, it's been two years." Xiang Hai was also very emotional, recalling the scene at that time, "We planned a lot of things at that time."

"And your big gift bag, which was said to be used up within two years."

Speaking of the big gift bag, Xing Yue tucked the necklace into his collar properly and patted it again, "I promise, I will never break this again in the future."

"I thought you were going to say that you would never do that again." Xiang Hai looked at him.

"That can't be done." Xing Yue chuckled, lowered his head, kissed Xiang Hai's lips lightly, and parted again.

But Xiang Hai followed closely like a fish biting the bait, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him back deeply.

Familiar temperature, familiar touch, familiar breath, familiar people.

Yes, it's him.

If the two years of ups and downs were a test of love and vows, then at this moment, they handed in a perfect score.

The two parted reluctantly, surrounded by clouds of white air created by each other.

Xing Yue raised the corners of his lips and pinched Xiang Hai's chin, "Can you hold on till home?"

Xiang Hai turned his face away, sniffed, "Try it."

Xing Yue laughed and put his arms around his shoulders, "Let's go home."

Facing the sun, the car passed through familiar streets, and the snow particles rolled up by the wheels flew away one after another, and fell like fine diamonds.

The two of them each saved a lot of words, but they were tacitly silent along the way, as if they were tacitly waiting for some kind of ceremony before they could confirm that they were both real.

Finally, the car stopped in front of the familiar building.Xing Yue jumped out of the car, picked up his backpack, Xiang Hai also jumped out, and closed the car door.

The two of them raced toward the corridor.

Xing Yue ran ahead, a few steps ahead, Xiang Hai followed closely, "Why are you running so fast, you don't have a key."

"Stop talking nonsense, hurry up." Xing Yue was already standing at the door.

So Xiang Hai hurriedly took out the key to open the door, but with a shake of his hand, the key fell to the ground.

"Fuck." Xing Yue was more anxious than him, bent down and grabbed the key to open the door.

Xiang Hai stared at the side, "Brother, you're aiming right."

"Don't rush!"

Xing Yue concentrated, the door finally opened.

The moment he opened the door, he was surrounded by the familiar, orange-flavored warmth that he had recalled countless times when he was alone.

He missed this feeling so much.

The door was locked behind him, and Xing Yue was still intoxicated, and he was pressed hard against the wall.

Xiang Hai's kisses came overwhelmingly, like a breathing net.

On the lip, between the teeth, the mole on the earlobe, the rolling Adam's apple, the perfect collarbone, the up and down concentric locks... He regained his own territory inch by inch.

He didn't give Xing Yue a chance to breathe, nor did he give himself a chance to breathe.

Under the palm is the real body, with a scalding temperature, finally no longer the virtual image that can't be grasped in the memory.

So he persisted in declaring sovereignty in his own territory, and the key areas had to be marked repeatedly.

Xing Yue felt that he was like a piece of dry wood, and he was about to be rubbed out. If he continued like this, he would definitely lose face in advance, so he had to push away his wolf-like boyfriend, "Then what, Xiao Hai, you, you wait for me Now, I want to take a shower first."

"Okay!" Xiang Hai agreed happily, and began to undress without saying a word, "I'll go too."

"..."

So Xing Yue went to get a change of clothes, and Xiang Hai went to get a big gift bag.

Xing Yue turned his head and saw the condom in his hand, "You still have this?"

Xiang Hai nodded.

"both?"

"Ah."

"Is one for me?"

"No."

"..."

Xing Yue licked his lips.Somehow, he recalled the fear of being dominated by the pillow back then.

"Xiao Hai, what, why don't you wait until after washing..."

Xiang Hai refused, "Brother, I may not be able to wait any longer."

Fine.

So the faucet was turned on, and steam wrapped in hot water spewed out, washing away the dust along the way and infiltrating the tense nerves.

After a lapse of two years, some pain that had been blurred became clear again.

"Can you fucking be gentle!" Xing Yue's warning was diluted by the sound of splashing water, and there was no deterrence.

"Brother, please cooperate and don't move around."

"Is this not cooperative enough??" Xing Yue turned around, "You..."

"Ah!" He yelled again, "Little bastard, you want my life!"

Xiang Hai wiped the drops of water that fell on his face, tried his best to eliminate Xing Yue's interference, and kept the rhythm, "Brother, don't scold, save yourself some energy." He bit him hard on the shoulder again, "It's still It will take half a day."

The mirror above the sink had already fogged up, and everything inside became blurred. It was hard to see whether there were one or two figures, but the temperature continued to rise.

The water column was splashing, drowning out many, such and other voices behind, but there were still some high-decibel escapes, which were primitive monosyllables, as straightforward as the heartbeat that could not be suppressed at the moment of love at first sight.

That kind of heartbeat is only once, only for one person, it is a unique code, even a dream cannot be reproduced.

So now Xiang Hai is finally sure that he is real, and so is Xing Yue, they are back.

They really do go home.