Babaoshan, the site of the factory.

The taxi slowly stopped on the side of the road, and the taxi driver was reluctant to drive on the road ahead, not because he was afraid that the sparsely populated passengers would try to rob or something, but that the place in this area had been abandoned for too long, the roads were in disrepair and all the potholes, glass shards and nails were everywhere, and if you were not careful, you would have to prick the tire and run aground.

Lin Nian opened the door of the taxi and walked into the light rain, the rain fell from the hood of the waterproof windbreaker, and the taxi driver behind him waved his hand, which probably meant to let him take care of his safety and pay attention to safety, turned the front of the car and drove into the rain behind the curtain of rain, leaving only two fluttering tail lights.

This is the second time Lin Nian has come to Babaoshan, and when he first came, he was accompanied by Wan Boqian and Chu Zihang, and it was just a trivial matter for the fraud group to come for it, who would know that the purpose of revisiting the old place suddenly became to find a super hybrid former residence that might have lived in this city for sixteen or seventeen years or even longer.

Lin Nian walked on the edge of the Babaoshan ruins, carrying a blue folder in his arms, and the nearby factories were black and hollow, and there was no movement, even stray cats and mice disdained to wander around this place. It's hard to imagine that ten years ago this was the busiest part of the city, with the machines of every factory rumbling and running, tens of thousands of tons of coal burned into heat, coal-fired boilers emitting black smoke rising into the sky, and the more chimneys the more representative of production, countless people crowded their heads to drill into it.

However, now all the prosperity collapsed in an instant, Lin Nian walked in this wasteland, and noticed a lot of ill-intentioned time thrown from some dark corners, and after the police cars and alarm bells disappeared, these people really came back - the homeless and the marginal people who did the black market trading, they were abandoned by the whole city, and a nest of snakes and rats gathered here to pull up a small world and become their own emperor.

"Are you looking for someone?" Not far in front of Lin Nian, an unkempt man in an earthy yellow coat walked out, his steps were very loose and straight, making it difficult to have a good impression of him.

"What's the matter?" Lin Nian asked.

"If you're looking for someone, I know all the people here, and they're all in that factory." The emaciated man smiled and pointed to the factory not far away.

Lin Nian turned his head sideways, he did call the relevant people who stayed here before coming to Babaoshan, and agreed to connect in the marginal area, but now he doesn't mind going on such a trip with the other party.

But just as he was about to take a step, a middle-aged man shouted urgently from far and near behind him: "Don't rob him!" Don't rob him! Don't rob him! Don't rob him! ”

Lin Nian and the emaciated man both turned their heads together, and saw a middle-aged man in a blue uniform running towards them in a hurry in the rain, the words shouted in his mouth were louder and louder, until he stood in front of the two of them and gasped breathlessly with his knees on his knees: "Don't... Don't rob him! ”

"You and Lao Liang... Are you a friend? The thin man glanced at Lin Nian and the middle-aged man thoughtfully, and patted Lin Nian's back lightly.

"Don't rob him... I know him, he's my friend. The middle-aged man reached out and grabbed Lin Nian's shoulder and pulled him to his side, looking at the emaciated man with an embarrassed smile.

"Since it's Lao Liang's friend..."The emaciated man shook his head, raised his finger and pointed at Lin Nian and the middle-aged man showed a trance smile on his face, and Lin Nian noticed no less than three or four pinholes on the cuffs he lifted, and instantly understood what kind of person this was.

"See you next time, see you next time." The middle-aged man greeted the emaciated man twice, pulled Lin Nian up and walked back, not far away The emaciated man was going to take Lin Nian to the factory at the beginning, and dozens of equally skinny men poked their heads out and watched them leave.

"Is it so messy over here?" Lin Nian naturally reacted, and he actually walked in front of the poison den.

"Hey, there has always been a group of fraud gangs that seem to be unprovoked to engage in religion here, and most of them are counted as their territory, so they are safe except for illegal assemblies, but yesterday I don't know who reported the gang, and these people are all back, and this is the chaos, I know the man just now, and he is a group of people who have broken their heads, so don't have anything to do with them." The middle-aged man looked at Lin Nian with a smile and let go of the hand that was holding him.

"Old Liang?" Lin Nian checked the name he had contacted on the phone before.

"Yes, yes, it's me, my surname is Liang. You were introduced by Miss Su to Mr. Lin, right? Look up for a long time. The middle-aged man shook Lin Nian's hand and shook it, obviously thinking that he saw Lin Nian and Su Xiaoqiao's identities very "thoroughly", "After the collapse of the Media Asia Group, our group has cleaned up the mess here every day... Speaking of the group, it has been almost gone a few years ago, and I am the only one left to stay here, and I have a clear understanding of the situation here in the past few years. ”

"Including those guys?" Lin Nian looked back at the figures gathered in the distance.

"They... Alas, it is difficult to say, it can only be said that they are all victims of Media Asia Group, a company because of the black boss collapsed, for a time I don't know how many people lost their jobs instantly, the labor market was quickly saturated in the process of re-job hunting, most people found new jobs, but a small number of people were still displaced, and then they have not turned over to become what they are now. The middle-aged man sighed and said.

"If I'm not mistaken, I asked Miss Su to help me contact an old employee of Media Asia Group, may I ask you..."

"Now the leader of the bankruptcy liquidation team, and the former director of the office of Media Asia Group... I heard Miss Su say that you came here to find someone, right? The middle-aged man took Lin Nian to walk in the labyrinthine factory area, passing through many factories and detours towards a gray-white three-story building.

"Chu Tianjiao, Miss Su should have mentioned it to you." Lin Nian said.

"I'm really looking for Lao Chu..."The middle-aged man muttered in a voice that he could hear, looked at Lin Nian and asked, "Take the liberty of asking, who are you from Lao Chu?" ”

"Don't ask what you shouldn't." Lin Nian said.

The middle-aged man shrunk his neck, and caught a glimpse of the fierceness in the eyes of the boy next to him who was old enough to be his son, this feeling he had seen before, when the people of the court rushed into the Media Asia Group to block the building and all assets, the leading guy was this kind of momentum, and the businesslike fierceness refused to allow any tricks to be close to the leakage of news.

"You call him Lao Chu, do you know Chu Tianjiao?" Lin Nian asked.

"To be honest, I was still a little dazed when I heard Lao Chu's full name all of a sudden... We used to have a good relationship. The middle-aged man and Lin Nian walked into the gray and white building, and the latter took off his hood with rain, took a look at the old and dusty environment, and probably guessed that the middle-aged man should be carrying out a bottomless unfinished work.

"You used to be colleagues?" Lin Nian took a few steps in the hall and walked to the dusty welcome sofa, on which several pieces of broken ceiling and wooden bars were piled up.

"Lao Chu is a colleague with everyone, after all, his job is for that bastard... Ahem, the former boss drives, so most people know him, he is also very kind, he can talk to everyone, the relationship between the two of us is very good, it's okay after work... Ahem, go get some wine and have some supper or something. The middle-aged man coughed twice and explained.

"Supper?" Lin Nian was a little surprised, but he didn't expect Su Xiaoqiao to help find someone who knew Chu Tianjiao well enough.

"Eat chicken wings, braised large intestine or something." Lin Nian asked casually, and the middle-aged man also said casually, he couldn't figure out what this boy was here for, but he still answered very cooperatively, "After all, he drives a car, and his work is usually quite boring, and he has a lot of pressure to stay with those big bosses, and it's night after work, and his only hobby is to drink some wine and eat some supper." ”

"What do you think of the other people?" Lin Nian asked, Chu Zihang didn't have much time to talk about his biological father, limited to the eye of the typhoon and some inconsequential trivial matters, except for understanding the relevant information, he didn't know what kind of person Chu Tianjiao was, whether he was cold or easy-going, rational or emotional.

"I love spicy food." But the middle-aged man's answer was a little off-line, he tilted his head slightly and recalled, "Lao Chu is very good at eating spicy... Braised large intestine spicy, porridge put the old godmother, I remember once we ate Sifang chicken wings and ordered a gloomy ecstasy, he ate nine layers of spicy, the neighbor of the school he ate one and almost went to the hospital for gastric lavage, he can still open beer while bragging to me. ”

"......" Lin Nian was a little confused by this answer, and was stunned for a while before nodding abruptly... At least he knew where Chu Zihang's ability to eat spicy food was inherited... Maybe it's not genetics but practice, maybe the little Chu Zihang, who used to live in a rental house with a man, would be spicy every time he ate his father's spicy braised large intestine, and the woman chased the man to beat, but the man still bought the extra spicy every time, and Chu Zihang also secretly ate it every time, and over time, the ability to eat spicy food was cultivated.

“... What about other than that? Throwing away the inexplicable association, Lin Nian asked again.

"Other than that... It seems that there is nothing, Lao Chu must not offend people, and he can't offend people as a driver, Lao Chu has always been a good driver. The middle-aged man said, "He used to drive with the tax commissioner for a while, and then the director fell and was dug by the Black Prince Group, a driver is several years, during that time the city is developing rapidly, the standard of living is rising, and prices are also rising, but his salary as a driver has not risen, and then he divorced and resigned, the boss of the Black Prince Group remembered the old feelings, so he half recommended and gave him to the CEO of the Media Asia Group, and then he has been driving on our side, and the salary is reasonable, but unfortunately he failed to remarry, His wife found a man who was better than him and married him for the second time. ”

Hearing the last sentence, Lin Nian's expression fluctuated a little, but he still lowered his eyes to hide his emotions: "Did he say anything about this, did he complain about it?" ”

"Of course I did." The middle-aged man sighed, as if remembering some years ago, "What man doesn't complain after divorce... But Lao Chu has a good temper, even if he drinks too much, he doesn't scold the street, and he doesn't scold his ex-wife, so he drinks so hard that the amount of alcohol is terrifying to death, and I have been drunk by him many times. After sobering up, he found that he was moved back to the office, and he was still drinking outside, blowing cold wind while drinking, and he was quite alone when he looked at his back, and he didn't tell anyone else what was on his mind... What man can't be angry when something like this happens? ”

"What else?" Lin Nian looked back at the door of the low building, where there was another step, and there were some blackened shadows on it... Maybe the middle-aged man also said something missing, for example, Chu Tianjiao can smoke, Lin Nian often finds him smoking in the photo, and the middle-aged man said that night is estimated to be the same, drunk and drunk his own wine, smoke his fingertips one by one, looking at the rainy night outside and not saying anything, but he wants to say more than anyone else, only let the smoke press all the emotions and words and alcohol into his heart.

"Other than that... Does he like to brag when he drinks too much? ”

"For example."

"There are still some that I don't, I always talk nonsense when I really drink too much, and I drank two bottles of white at a time, and he told me that once upon a time he was also awesome, and I asked him when he was awesome, and he couldn't speak... He said that he really had to work hard, and he would definitely be able to mix better than the one surnamed Lu, and he could afford the Maybach he drove... But who hasn't said that? Everyone wants to work hard, but they can't find a way to work hard. The middle-aged man sighed softly, with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

Once upon a time, who didn't want to have a once upon a time, but everyone was trapped in the present dilemma and couldn't help themselves.

"Where did he live all these years?" Lin Nian nodded silently and asked.

"It's in this factory." The middle-aged man said, "He doesn't have any hobbies, he either lives in the factory or drives outside, and he goes to supper with us at night." ”

"Take me to where he lives." Lin Nian nodded, "I'm in trouble." ”