The car was parked on an unfinished broken bridge, and Wang Shiqi leaned against the railing. The sunset was so red that it seemed like the whole city was on fire, and the strong tongue of fire licked straight to his cheeks, and was suffocated by Tie Qing's face, leaving only bursts of smoke. He hung his head in the smoke and remained motionless, like a powerless Buddha.

As a police officer, it is taboo to be overflowing with compassion, and of course he knows that he can't take 100% of his word for it, but this little ghost is too similar to Zheng Yuan - not just in appearance. From the first time he saw them, he had such an illusion, that they were the same pale, the same innocent, the same suffering, and the calamity randomly descended on them like a meteorite, so that the eyes that should have been bright and burning were clouded with a vast cloud, and for a moment the god couldn't tell which one was which.

He almost lost Zheng Yuan, three times. The kidnapping a year ago, the drowning in the year I entered college, and an "accident" in my senior year of high school. I haven't seen his father since he met Zheng Yuan when he was five years old, but his mother is at home, but unfortunately he gets drunk every day, and he doesn't know his name when he arrives, so he keeps calling him "Huang Seventeen". The mother-in-law and aunts in the alley are all rumored that the man of the Zheng family may have committed a crime and hid. He ran to ask his father, Wang Haiyang, then deputy director of the Public Security Bureau, who was kicked back by the old man: "What is wrong with children's learning, learn from others to spread nonsense!" ”

Wang Shiqi was not annoyed when he was reprimanded, because Wang Haiyang liked Zheng Yuan very much, and always asked him to come over to eat with his family, and he was so happy that he was tired of being with people every day. In a blink of an eye, Xiao Nian came, he used to ask Zheng Yuan to come to the house to eat dumplings together, that year Xingsha rarely snowed, the fine ice ballast creaked when stepped on, and the cold air froze his nose red. He couldn't help but be happy, jumped all the way, and slammed the door outside the courtyard of the Zheng family: "Lao Zheng! Lao Zheng! My dad called you home for dinner! "Normally, Zheng Yuan would have hurried over and opened the door, complaining that he was loud and running away with each other, but not today. Wang Shiqi's hands were numb and he didn't hear a response, so he simply stepped on a stack of waste bricks at the root of the wall and poked his head across the courtyard wall.

The door was open, Zheng Yuan's mother was half prostrate outside, the coagulated plasma covered her facial features, and a pair of men's leather shoes stepped over and over in the room, and occasionally heard a muffled sound, which was the movement of smashing things. What about Zheng Yuan? He was so frightened that his heart was about to jump into his mouth, but at this moment the pair of men's leather shoes strode out, stepped over the woman, grabbed her hair with one hand, and raised a shovel with the other. The blood-red face was facing him, and his eyes widened sharply.

"Seventeen!" Her shrill voice roared, "Go call your dad!" ”

He didn't remember how he ran home, let alone why he had returned to the Zheng family's yard. The scarred Zheng Yuan curled up next to him, trembling all over, Wang Haiyang went over to help Zheng Yuan's mother up, and the man fell face down in the white fresh snow, with a tailor's scissors stuck in his back.

"I did it." The woman's eyelids were swollen and high, her feet were so weak that she could barely stand, and the only firm thing was her voice: "I did it, I did it...... He deceived people so much that I couldn't do anything about it...... I did it, I did it. ”

As one of the witnesses at the scene, he corroborated the woman's confession.

Later, the investigation came out that the man was Zheng Yuan's father, drug trafficker, and he was also addicted to drugs, and after being on the wanted list, the business could not be done, and he hid for a while, and finally found his hometown in desperation, according to Zheng Yuan's mother's confession, he came to ask for money, otherwise he would have asked for their lives.

Zheng Yuan's mother was sentenced to excessive defense and suspended for two years, and Zheng Yuan recuperated at home for a month, and finally returned to him. They still go to school and play basketball and copy homework, but by chance, in the night when he can't sleep after tossing and turning, he will ask himself if he is hallucinating. For example, Zheng Yuan looked at the anatomical principles at his house, and used his hand into a fist to compare the position of the heart to him: "The position of the heart is generally on the left chest, between the second and fifth ribs. In front is the sternum, and here, medial to the midclavicular line on the left. Another example is the pair of snow-white pullbacks on Zheng Yuan's feet on the day of the accident, with one or two drops of blood stained on the toes, and the splattered blood droplets are like small exclamation points, with the tips pointing outward. Although he was beaten and his nose and face were swollen, he did not bleed.

He had to distance himself from the story.

Wang Shiqi dialed Qi Kexiu's phone: "Go, help me check someone." I want a list of the heads of all the childcare centers, nursing homes, psychological clinics, and similar private educational institutions in the surrounding counties and cities, yes, women, with a son, and then compare the list of missing young men in the last five years, and I think, we need to know who he is. ”

***

Wang Shiqi returned to the car, and the story continued.

Gu Tianqing still didn't wait for the dean, as time passed, all he gained was a narrower and narrower field of freedom, and more and more arbitrary reasons for corporal punishment. There seems to be an unwritten rule in this growth center - whoever is punished once, whose status will drop a level, if it is corporal punishment in public, it is almost a direct sentence to deprive all dignity and rights, and anyone who dares to report you to the instructor for any reason in exchange for their own reward, even if the reward is only a few steamed buns for dinner, or an extra ten minutes of rest.

Two weeks later, Gu Tianqing had endured to the limit, and some things had reached the point where he had to do them.

The exit he was desperately holding was still there, and the security guard's clothes had not yet been found. What he needs is time, chance, and luck to gamble.

Three days later, the center ushered in the annual Mid-Autumn Festival. Even here, the festival is a little more relaxed and enjoyable than usual. Dinner was a little more meaty, one person could get half a piece of mooncake, and even, everyone was specially approved to gather in the canteen to watch the Mid-Autumn Festival party on local TV.

This is the best chance to take advantage of the chaos to leave. Gu Tianqing exchanged the last pack of cigarettes he had hidden for the old oilman to help him agree, and he shook himself into the bathroom, and then quietly came out when everyone had passed, sneaking all the way from under the flower bed with his waist bent, and finally came to the familiar window.

The lights were on and the curtains were not closed, Gu Tianqing carefully observed and confirmed that there were no outsiders inside, so she gently knocked on the window. Three times first, two seconds and then two times are their code.

He opened the window in surprise and welcomed people in: "Why are you here?" He couldn't control himself like a puppy, and circled around him happily: "Are you okay?" I heard that you were punished, and I was afraid that something would happen to you. ”

"What can I do, it's just that I've been a little strict recently, and it's not very convenient." Gu Tianqing's tone was relaxed, but his face was so cold that it seemed to freeze. "What about you, are your eyes better?"

"It should be," he touched the gauze on his face, unable to hide his frustration: "I should have removed this a long time ago." ”

"Not yet?"

"Hmm...... Because...... I cried again, and I didn't notice the inflammation. He lowered his head a little shyly: "I heard that you are confined, I don't know what to do......

"Really? What about me so much? The corners of Gu Tianqing's mouth twitched into a vicious smile. Of course, he couldn't see the expression on the other side, otherwise he would definitely not agree to the suggestion from the other side: "I was thinking, why don't we go today." ”

"Huh? Are you sure? But......" he hesitated a little: "Is it appropriate now?" You didn't say you wanted revenge first, you wanted the dean to watch you burn down the house......"

"There is a change in the plan, we will go out first, and then there is a way to come back." Gu Tianqing hugged his shoulder: "I'm tired of being here, don't you feel bored?" ”

"Yes...... Laa...... But we're not going to be able to walk like this. Do you want to wait for my eyes to see before ......?"

"I've thought about what I'm afraid of, I'll pretend to be an instructor and say that your eyes are uncomfortable and you have to be sent to the emergency department."

"I—I'm afraid I'm not pretending."

"You don't have to pretend, just follow me. I went out to buy you food, let me tell you, there are a lot of delicious foods outside, today's festival, there are performances, singing, and telling jokes in the mall, so lively. ”

He was still hesitating, and Gu Tianqing finally pushed him: "If you are really afraid, I will send you back when you go out for a spin, what are you afraid of?" ”

In retrospect, it was almost a doomed plan, full of loopholes and flaws, but it was just done, and it went so smoothly that even he thought it was incredible. The old man at the door was probably listening to the play on the palm-sized radio, babbling and singing along the night wind, he heard Gu Tianqing shush, and then his right hand was grabbed, and the force that could not be refused dragged him forward for a while, and when he came to the door, he heard a "stop", he felt that the skin of the two of them became clammy and slippery, and he didn't know whose sweat it was.

"What are you doing?"

"The kid is sick, tell me to take it out quickly, this person is not very good, I'm afraid something will happen." Gu Tianqing sighed impatiently: "It's annoying, tossing for a long time, Lao Tzu hasn't eaten." ”

His hands trembled slightly, and he felt like he was about to cry at any moment. Before he could gasp, his little finger was pinched with all his might, a reminder and a threat.

The air became as viscous as glue, and the second hand dragged through one, two, and third, and just as he felt like he was about to suffocate, the old man coughed, scolded and waved open the door.

Free.

It's just a door, but it seems to rush out of a world.

He breathed heavily, and so did Gu Tianqing beside him. The hot air has never felt so fresh. For a few minutes he didn't think about anything, but was led away, walking, striding forward, unsuspectingly out of the place where they had been imprisoned for so long. He felt that he had walked out for almost a mile, Gu Tianqing spent five yuan to get on a three-jumper, the howling wind blew up his forehead, he stretched out his hand, felt the silky touch flowing between his fingers, joy made him have stars in front of his eyes, he couldn't wait to regain his sight, look at the world again, and look at Gu Tianqing's face, there were too many words he wanted to say to him face to face.

For example, "thank you", such as "let's be friends for life". He even wanted to apologize to him, to replace the woman who was nothing, to give even a little relief to his scarred heart.

But before he could say anything, the destination had already arrived.

They stepped on the rubble and got out of the car, and Gu Tianqing said that this was the place where he had temporarily stayed. Surrounded by darkness and silence, his crisp voice echoed through the void: "Are we there?" Is there still a festival on the street? Isn't it too late, it seems like there's no one left...... Gu Tianqing? ”

His hand fumbled in the air, not knowing that Gu Tianqing was already standing behind him silently, the belt was tightened between his hands, as long as he took a step forward, he could put it around his neck.

Gu Tianqing is twenty years old, strong and strong, and the tendons and flesh on his arms have developed like rolling mountains. Breathing closely, he suddenly realized that something was wrong, the stress response made him stiff, sweat running down his back, cold as snow water, hot as magma. No, no, don't! He gritted his teeth and felt the other man's arm raised high, but it didn't fall.

Gu Tianqing said that at that moment, opposite him, on the wall that was eroded by mildew and moss, he saw Gu Tianyu's face in a trance.

Gu Tianyu shook his head at him and said softly, "Don't." ”

Don't kill him, it's not his fault.

Gu Tianqing turned around at the last moment, and the brass belt buckle whistled to the top of his head, and with one hit, two blows, his soft body fell to the ground, and he didn't even have time to cry out in pain.