A person's birthday?

In the past 20 years, Qiu Lan has always celebrated her birthday alone, with no exquisite cakes, no family company, no birthday songs, only a crescent moon.

However, the moon is accompanied by stars, but she only has the black shadow illuminated by the light.

That pale and powerless loneliness was deeply engraved in Qiu Lan's heart.

So when she heard that Xu Chengyan was not accompanied by his family on his birthday, she had a feeling of "being the same person at the end of the world".

As a colleague, she had no way to refuse this invitation, so she nodded and agreed.

"Happy birthday, I didn't know before, I didn't have a present, but I'll be there on time tonight. ”

Hearing her answer, Xu Chengyan involuntarily hooked the corners of his lips, and his eyebrows and eyes smiled.

Qiu Lan's promise was his best birthday present of the year, but he was looking forward to another one tonight.

In the office of the autopsy room, Qiu Lan simply washed up, changed into the clothes prepared in the office, and opened the documents on the computer.

The black font swirled in front of her eyes, but unconsciously, she thought of yesterday's events, of that embrace, and of that person.

The scene at the top of the mountain came to her mind, her eyes closed and her brow furrowed slightly.

No, you can't think about that, you still have to work, there are more important things to do.

Qiu Lan rubbed the frowning brow on her forehead, took a deep breath, and tried to straighten out the thoughts in her head.

At this moment, the assistant Xiao Cong walked into the office, "Doctor Qiu, it's early." ”

"Early. Qiu Lan turned around and hooked the corners of her lips and greeted him.

But at this moment, her eyes were attracted by a bloody mark on Xiao Cong's hand, "Xiao Cong, what's wrong with your hand?

"Injury?" Xiao Cong inadvertently raised his eyebrows, raised his reddened hand, and glanced at it indifferently, "This, it should be that I was crushed when I was in the laboratory yesterday." ”

"By the way, Dr. Qiu, that film maker is faulty, I have already reported for repair, don't use it for the time being. I was accidentally pressed yesterday, and I pressed it twice, so I made this mark. ”

"Well, you have to be careful afterwards. Qiu Lan replied softly, and then moved her gaze back to the copy on the computer screen.

Suddenly, she frowned, thinking about Xiao Cong's words and the wound, as if she had thought of something.

A film maker is a small machine used to fix the loading position, and the force is not very strong, even if you accidentally press your finger, it will not cause blood marks.

However, after pressing it twice, it caused a red mark.

Could the wounds on the deceased's chest have been caused two or even more times?

I still remember that when examining the corpse, Qiu Lan carefully inspected the scar, the side was flat, and there were no overlapping marks, so at that time, she didn't expect that it would be caused many times, but she judged that the impact was very strong.

"Xiao Cong, get ready, I want to conduct a second appraisal of the body of the deceased in the oil drum case. ”

In the autopsy room, the shadowless lamp above the dissecting table shone on the pale corpse, and Qiu Lan stared indifferently at the wounds on the deceased's chest, with a serious face.

"Xiao Cong, prepare the ultraviolet light, I am going to conduct a subcutaneous examination of the wounds on the deceased's chest, I suspect that the injuries on the deceased's chest were not caused by one time, but may have been caused many times. ”

"Yes. Satoshi nodded and picked up the goggles and UV light next to him.

After making all the preparations, Qiu Lan turned off the light on the planing table, leaned over slightly, and carefully examined the scars under the illumination of the ultraviolet lamp.

Sure enough, it was as she expected.

Although the edges of the wound are flat and regular, they form spaced bruised patches under the skin.

This confirmed Qiu Lan's speculation that the injury was not caused once, but many times.

She made the results of the second appraisal in the form of a report and sent it to the computer of the serious crime team.

Sitting in the office, Qiu Lan closed her eyes and slowly exhaled a breath, as if relieved.

Although this is only a small discovery, for a difficult case that has fallen into the mud, any insignificant discovery can be a key point in breaking the deadlock.

At six o'clock in the evening, the sun was setting, the breeze was light, and the twilight was falling, Qiu Lan received the location from Xu Chengyan and rushed over with the birthday cake she had booked before.

In the small building of Cloud Cliff, the soft and dim light spread throughout the restaurant, and the melodious light music poured into Qiu Lan's ears leisurely, sweeping away the fatigue of her work day.

Led by the waiter, Qiu Lan came to a box at the end of the corridor and knocked lightly on the door, and a deep voice came from inside.

The voice was filled with surprise and excitement.

"Doctor Qiu, you're here. Xu Chengyan greeted him happily, with a smile on the corner of his mouth.

"Officer Xu, happy birthday, I'm late, this is a cake for you, I hope you like it. Qiu Lan handed him the exquisite cake box in her hand and approached the room in small steps.

"Thank you, but it's not that you're late, it's that I'm too early. Xu Chengyan took the cake box and put it on the table, and the joy on his face couldn't be hidden.

They sat across from each other at the small wooden table, looking at each other, and the silence of the two men was slightly awkward.

Before coming, Qiu Lan thought that this was a birthday party, and other colleagues from the police station should also come, but she didn't expect that it was only the two of them.

"Doctor Qiu, I don't know what you like, so I ordered some side dishes first, and if you still want to eat something, you can order again. Xu Chengyan pursed his thin lips, and a touch of warm affection crossed his eyes.

He seemed inexplicably nervous tonight.

"Okay, I don't pick anything, I love to eat it, and today is your birthday, you have the final say. Qiu Lan raised the corners of her mouth slightly, revealing a sweet smile

It didn't take long for the waiter to walk in with some exquisite dishes, "Two slow use, if you need anything, you can press the call button next to you directly." ”

The waiter put down what he was holding and politely left the box.

Xu Chengyan, who was smiling, opened a pot of plum wine on the table, and the fragrant and fragrant smell instantly wafted out and filled the entire room.

"Doctor Qiu, the food here is not bad, the wine is quite fragrant, the wine is not strong, you can taste it." Xu Chengyan filled the wine glass in front of Qiu Lan, and his voice was soft.

"Good. Qiu Lan nodded slightly, and tasted the fragrant plum wine with a wine glass.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, Xu Chengyan's humor broke the awkward atmosphere between them and brought bursts of laughter.

The dim light caressed the two people in the room, Xu Chengyan glanced at the person in front of him with tender eyes, and quietly took out the small black box from the bag of his clothes.

He swallowed nervously, his eyes lowered.

After taking a deep breath, Xu Chengyan raised his dark eyes, stared at Qiu Lan solemnly, and put the black box in his hand on the table, "Doctor Qiu, there is actually something I want to tell you." ”