soldiers in front

"A total of 53 yuan."

The staff of the pharmacy packed a few boxes of medicines and handed them to the customer. She turned her head and looked at the street outside the store door, while her colleague was standing idle at the door, leaned out half of her body, looked diagonally across, and said excitedly. : "It seems to be about to start, I heard the host's voice."

The staff at the cash register were busy collecting money and making change: "It's not yet nine o'clock, it's still early, I guess we can catch up with the end when we get off work."

Xia Bingyang took the change from her, picked up the bag containing several boxes of medicine and left the pharmacy.

The pharmacy is located at a crossroads, diagonally opposite is the noisy and well-lit Noah Century Square, and crowds from the streets in all directions are still pouring into the square.Because a grand music festival is going to be held tonight, there are armed police vehicles stationed at several entrances and exits of Noah Square, and the auxiliary police at the nearby police booths are also patrolling non-stop.

Xia Bingyang crossed the road, lowered the hat on his head, and walked towards the parking lot. A group of three patrolling auxiliary policemen walked past him in unison. An unassuming white paper clip.

The white paper clip is the identification badge of all police officers involved in this operation.

For this operation, more than half of the police force from the First Branch and the Second Branch were mobilized, and the armed police force and the police station were combined. The armed police and the civilian police were responsible for blocking the periphery and providing police support.The final command power fell in the hands of Dang Hao, the captain of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the First Sub-bureau.

Xia Bingyang and Dang Hao have worked together for many years. They have no feelings but have a tacit understanding. Before dark, they are still discussing action plans at the same table. This cooperation is the first cooperation between the two since Dang Hao was promoted to a branch office.

The patrolling auxiliary policeman walked slowly, and was quickly caught up by Xia Bingyang, who was striding forward. Xia Bingyang kept the same pace with them, and the auxiliary policeman walking in the front with an explosion-proof shield quickly noticed him, and then looked at When it came to the paper clips he pinned on the collar of his coat, unlike them, Xia Bingyang pinned two.

The auxiliary police officer holding the explosion-proof shield raised his right hand in a gesture of salute. In order to avoid people's eyes and ears, he only raised his palm to his shoulder.

In this case, the salute is just a code to identify the other party.

Xia Bingyang did not respond, but turned to stare at the crowd and traffic in front of him: "How many groups do you have?"

"Four groups, one group guards one exit."

"Patrol frequency."

"Every five minutes, one trip takes 5 minutes."

"It's too scattered, take your people back and tighten the personnel density."

"That's missing a group of people."

"It's not your concern."

"Yes."

When the parking lot arrived, Xia Bingyang turned into the parking lot, and the patrol team continued to walk along the sidewalk outside the square.

A command car with its windows covered in privacy film was parked among several rows of social vehicles, unobtrusive at all.

As soon as Xia Bingyang walked to the door, the door was pulled open from the inside, and a police officer from the No. [-] Sub-bureau squatted beside the door and called out, "Captain Xia."

Xia Bingyang got into the car, and saw Dang Hao sitting in the only seat at the back of the carriage that could accommodate two people. Dang Hao was talking with the police from the police station in charge of the outer commanding heights. Seeing Xia Bingyang got into the car, he only glanced at him.Xia Bingyang bent down and waded through the complicated wiring on the carriage floor, touched Lang Xixi's table and squatted down, put the bag of medicine in his hand on Lang Xixi's table, took out a medicine bottle, twisted the cap and asked: " Bunofen, how many slices should you take?"

Lang Xixi and two other technical team members occupied most of the space in the car, controlling the computer screens in front of each other and monitoring all the surveillance images inside the square.Lang Xixi's face was pale, and her lower lip still had bite marks. She turned her head and glanced at Dang Hao fearfully, then approached Xia Bingyang in a low voice and said, "Two slices are enough."

She is a well-qualified policeman, and she followed the command car three or four times at least, but it was the first time that the action hit her menstrual period. Ever since the command car parked in this parking lot, she had dysmenorrhea, which was so painful. When it was over, he secretly contacted Xia Bingyang, who was in charge of patrolling the checkpoints and had a little freedom of movement, and asked him to buy some medicine.

Xia Bingyang went to the pharmacy after receiving her text message, and in less than 10 minutes, he came to the pharmacy with a painkiller tablet, and asked the pharmacy staff carefully, and bought two warm palace stickers.

Xia Bingyang poured two pills into her palm, unscrewed the lid of the thermos cup and handed it to her, looked at her pale face, and said, "I'm really uncomfortable, so I'll find someone to replace you."

Lang Xixi took two pills, wiped off the water stains around her mouth, and smiled at Xia Bingyang: "It's okay, I can persevere."

Xia Bingyang put the thermos cup by her hand, and said: "Then drink more hot water."

Dang Hao finished talking with the police officer in the outer area, turned off the walkie-talkie, and noticed that Lang Xixi's face was not very good-looking, so he asked, "What's wrong with Xiao Lang?" Then he asked Xia Bingyang, "Why are you here?"

There was only one girl, Lang Xixi, in this car. She was thin-skinned and unwilling to disclose her menstrual period to the world. When Dang Hao asked her, she looked at Xia Bingyang for help.

Xia Bingyang packed up the medicine box and said, "I have low blood sugar, I will give her two candies."

He turned around and sat next to Dang Hao, and saw the internal map of Noah Square displayed on the screen next to Lang Xixi's computer. Moving red dots on the map were plainclothes criminal police lurking in the crowd.

Xia Bingyang looked at the map, frowned slightly, and said with a smile, "Party team, isn't our population density too high? If we run, it's like making dumplings. There's not even a buffer."

Dang Hao pointed to the open space outside the red dot: "Isn't this a buffer zone?"

"It's okay, but it's a waste to send so many people to stare at the stage. If the kidnappers really show up and our people take compulsory measures, the crowd will definitely be chaotic. If these brothers are rushed by the crowd, wouldn't that add to the chaos? No. In a marathon, one person is followed by a group of people, leaving a few pairs of legs is enough to catch a cripple, and the others can only stare blankly. Unless we can stare the cripple to death.”

Dang Hao is not a headstrong person, on the contrary, he is very good at listening to other people's opinions, as long as it is feasible, he will adopt them all.Although Xia Bingyang's suggestion is useful, but this suggestion is really annoying.

Dang Hao still held his breath, and first evacuated the densely packed plainclothes in the square, then stared at Xia Bingyang and said, "The weather is not going well for you all day, what do you want?"

Dang Hao is straightforward, has no scheming, and has no official airs. Compared with Xia Bingyang's meanness hidden in his smile, he can be called cute.Xia Bingyang also thought he was cute. He glanced at Dang Hao's face that showed all his emotions, and suddenly reflected on himself, and felt that he was indeed a bit eccentric this day.

Xia Bingyang thought about it seriously, and said: "Maybe it's because the case in my hand couldn't be closed in time, and the party team and so many brothers were involved to block a cripple. I'm a bit ashamed."

After finishing speaking, he got out of the car, and when he was about to close the car door, he rushed to Dang Hao in the car and said, "The control cloth is tight on the inside and loose on the outside, unless the cripple shows up and can strangle him to death, our dumplings will definitely be boiled." .”

Dang Hao: "...You just said that there is a shortage of people on the periphery."

"Yes, there is a lack of people on the periphery." Xia Bingyang stretched out his hand towards him: "Give me your desk, and mine is for Director Qin."

Dang Hao handed him his walkie-talkie with a sullen face, and said to him before letting go: "Contact me on the channel if there is something to do, I don't want to see you until the operation is over."

Xia Bingyang: "Thank you party team."

Xia Bingyang closed the car door, put the walkie-talkie into his belt, walked to a black car parked by the side of the road, opened the door and sat in the co-pilot.

Ren Erdong drove around Noah Square for another half circle, then parked the car in the temporary parking lane on the side of the road, got off the car with Xia Bingyang and walked into the square.

Xia Bingyang walked with his head down, fiddling with the earphones that were sore in his ears and eyes. He lifted the back of his jacket with one hand and stretched it to the armed belt.Even though he knew that he might not be able to use it, he would feel at ease when he touched these things.

He took off the microphone stuffed in his ears, rubbed his ears and put them on again, just in time to hear Dang Hao's last confirmation before the operation began: "All teams report your location."

The voices of the policemen rang out one by one.

"No. [-] commanding height, Wu Ling, Jiang Zhibin. Everything is normal."

"The patrol team, Wang Xin and Liu Qiang, are patrolling south."

"Channel No. [-], Xue Ren and Wang Jia, haven't found it yet."

"Lou Yue and Chen Junxiang, the sentry point in the B area of ​​the stand, did not find the target."

"North exit, Tao Liang and Zhang Lixian—"

Xia Bingyang stopped in front of an ice cream shop and bumped Ren Erdong's arm.

Ren Erdong understood, turned his back to avoid the crowd, and said in a low voice: "Mobile sentry, Xia Bingyang Ren Erdong, we are going between checkpoints [-] and [-]."

The public channel fell silent, and after a while, one person said: "Party team, Yao Zichen received a call from the cripple!"

Hearing this, Xia Bingyang took a few steps back, pressed the headset, and listened attentively.

Dang Hao: "Come in, Xiao Lang, prepare to position."

Lang Xixi: "Yes...the signal is encrypted and cannot be located, now connect to the public frequency!"

After a few chirps, the voice of the kidnapper who they unilaterally codenamed 'Cripple' fell into the ears of every criminal policeman involved in the operation on the public channel.

Cripple: "Have you brought anything?"

Compared to last night, Yao Zichen was calmer: "I brought it, it's in my bag."

"Do you know what will happen to your son if you give me a fake?"

"I dare not, please don't hurt—"

"Shut up, where are you?"

"I, I'm at the fountain, here at the fountain."

"Go to the music square."

Sure enough, the kidnappers chose the crowded and huge music square.

At least a thousand people gathered in the music plaza, and the crowd surrounded the performance stage. On the stage, a tall and fat male host was mobilizing the atmosphere of the audience, and the sound from several speakers was deafening enough to be called deafening.Xia Bingyang and Ren Erdong stood at the edge of the square, and there were many people around them who couldn't squeeze in the front and could only stand behind.Small merchants who took the opportunity to do some small business wandered around the crowd, selling food and toys to children, hair ties to girls, and fluorescent sticks to the audience.

Yao Zichen passed by an old man who was covered with various fluorescent sticks. Her pale and stagnant face was incompatible with the happy atmosphere around her. She walked slowly, keeping an eye on everyone, and tightly holding the handbag in her arms. .

Inadvertently, she caught a glimpse of Xia Bingyang standing in front of the cold drink shop, and there was a brief exchange of eyes with Xia Bingyang, then she hurriedly retracted and walked past Xia Bingyang with her head bowed.

Xia Bingyang stared at her: "Yao Zichen has passed by, and the three groups are ready to respond."

"Yes."

"receive."

Yao Zichen walked into the area under the responsibility of the third group, and two distant silhouettes appeared behind him without anyone noticing.

Yao Zichen stopped in the crowd coming and going, and kept the mobile phone next to his ear: "I'm here."

Cripple: "Get things out of your bag."

Dang Hao: "Pay attention to the three groups, the cripple needs to inspect the banknotes, and see if there is anyone on the phone around!"

Xia Bingyang suddenly left the cold drink shop and walked into the crowd, his eyes hidden under the brim of his hat quickly glanced around; many people were talking on the phone, excluding women. This feature.

Perhaps it was Yao Zichen who procrastinated to buy time for the police and angered the kidnappers. The man yelled, "Stinky bitch! Take the things out."

Xia Bingyang stopped and looked at Yao Zichen in the crowd. She took out a palm-sized black velvet box from her bag and opened the lid.

He was too far away, and he didn't see how luxurious the diamond worth tens of millions was. He only saw Yao Zichen's body trembling like a dead leaf when he showed the diamond.

After a while, the cripple said, "Okay, now you go on."

Yao Zichen crossed the music square and walked forward.

Ren Erdong followed the third group and wanted to follow. After taking two steps, he found Xia Bingyang standing still.

He turned back and asked Xia Bingyang in a low voice: "What's wrong?"

Xia Bingyang took off the headset again, looking through the crowd: "The cripple saw the diamond just now...why can he see it?"

Regardless of the danger of exposing himself, he went to the place where Yao Zichen had just displayed the diamond, and looked around again; this time, what he saw was the host on the stage shouting loudly, the audience in high spirits, and walking in front of him holding hands Couples, old people holding a handful of hydrogen balloons and selling...

And the cotton candy in his hand fell to the ground, and the crying child stood upright.

Xia Bingyang's gaze was fixed on the child, and he heard the child's crying, which was not loud enough, but enough to catch people's attention.

The cripple must have seen the diamond just now, but how could he?They didn't even find anyone talking on the phone alone, besides, the cripple just yelled at Yao Zichen because of Yao Zichen's delay, and said to her, "Stinky bitch, listen to me", which is a foul language, and the cripple yelled at her viciously come out.

Xia Bingyang looked at the crying child, and everyone who passed by the child would look at him, obviously affected by the cry of a child.Why did the cripple's scolding just now not attract the slightest attention?The lively crowd sank like a dead sea.Where did this person hide in the crowd so that he could not be noticed and still see the diamond in Yao Zichen's hand.Diamonds are so small you can only see them if you get close enough.When Yao Zichen showed the diamond, did the cripple hide beside Yao Zichen?

Xia Bingyang suddenly found himself in a strange circle of thinking, because the cripple asked Yao Zichen to come here to trade with diamonds, so he and everyone else were waiting here for the cripple to appear, and they all knew that the cripple had obvious characteristics, a lame man How could it escape so many pairs of eyes from them?Would the cripple really show up and wait to be found by the police?If he doesn't show up, unless he has helpers, how can he take away the diamond from Yao Zichen's hand.

Xia Bingyang took a few steps forward, walked to the edge of the square, and faced the same direction as Yao Zichen just now, which was south.

Separated from a highway to the northwest is the commercial area, and a planetarium stands just south of the Music Square, more than 100 meters away.Yao Zichen stood here just now, in fact, he was showing his diamonds to the planetarium.

Take out a planetarium, a high-power telescope, a night vision telescope, or even an astronomical telescope, and you can see the diamond in Yao Zichen's hand clearly from a distance of several hundred meters.And the planetarium is a condescending place, bypassing crowds and buildings, no matter how long you hold a telescope to peek, it will not be eye-catching.

It seemed they were all wrong, the cripple wouldn't show up at all, he had eyes that could see the square, and maybe a pair of hands that could reach the square—

"look!"

Ren Erdong suddenly held his arm and pointed to a drone that was integrated into the night tens of meters away. The drone was still rising, as if it was about to rise into the clouds.

Xia Bingyang asked: "What's going on?"

Ren Erdong said anxiously: "The cripple asked Yao Zichen to hang the diamond on the drone! Fuck it!"

The drone rose to the sky a hundred meters above, almost blending with the night, and abandoned the crowd on the ground like a black bird, flying to the other side of the square without light.

Xia Bingyang was stunned for a moment, put on the headset suddenly, turned around and rushed into the crowd: "Party team, the target is hidden in the planetarium across the square, hurry up and send someone to search for it!"