Originally, it was just a good idea for the two families to meet and have a meal together, but Liao Zhiting and Cheng Nuo's mother were both at the same time, and the number of people at the table rose like blowing up balloons, and finally the next hall was wrapped up in Xiangjuyuan. Cheng Nuo had a big job that day, Wang Shiqi drove to pick her up, and waited at the door for fifteen minutes before she appeared, Wang Shiqi looked up and down: "You just wear this?" ”

"What's wrong?" Cheng Nuo looked down at himself inexplicably, the overalls windbreaker, white shirt, and wide-legged pants had just been changed, and he specially washed his hair and rubbed his hands, otherwise there was a smell of human oil. Wang Shiqi smiled: "It's nothing, fasten the seat belt." ”

The car was driving very fast, and Wang Shiqi's mobile phone was thrown in the armrest box, and it jingled twice, and then twice. Cheng Nuo raised his eyes from the notebook in his hand: "You have a text message, do you want to read it?" ”

"It's inconvenient to drive." Wang Shiqi stared intently out the window, "It's coming soon." ”

Cheng Nuo looked at his tense side face and didn't speak again.

It's almost autumn, and it's getting dark early, and when they get to the door, the high and low neon lights have been lit up, and the outline of the antique hotel exterior wall is blurred, half-hidden in the thick blue, like an open ink painting. Wang Shiqi parked the car and saw that Cheng Nuo was still standing outside, wrapped in a windbreaker and raising her head, the evening breeze blew her short hair up and down, which was a sharp look. He walked quickly behind her: "Why don't you go in yet, isn't it cold?" ”

"I didn't expect it to be so beautiful at night, so let's take a second look." She gently pinned a strand of messy hair behind her ear: "Anyway, this meal can't be eaten." ”

Wang Shiqi's breath stagnated: "You want to go?" ”

"yes, I'll call a car home later, and I'll talk to my parents. As for the upstairs game, it's better for you to figure it out, you're thick-skinned anyway. She didn't look joking: "It's a pity that this meal is paid." If your family is distressed, I will refund half of it to you another day. ”

"No," Wang Shiqi's throat was dry, and he stumbled when he said it: "Didn't you say it all morning......

"It's all said early in the morning. But I thought about it, it's still not right, it's lying to you, and it's also lying to myself. Cheng Nuo tilted his head and glanced at him: "Wang Shiqi, to be honest, you actually don't love me, right?" ”

"I ......"

"You'd better not deny it. Because I'm too-" Before she could speak, she was interrupted by Wang Shiqi: "Don't say it." ”

"You don't even dare to listen to this?" Cheng Nuo raised his eyebrows, and his eyes softened: "Hey, you are really the same as when you were studying, you haven't changed at all." ”

Wang Shiqi smiled bitterly: "Isn't it getting more and more handsome?" ”

"What nonsense are you talking about." She took out a pack of women's cool cigarettes and lit them, the firelight flickered, the faint fragrance of roses wrapped in the mint smell spread around, Wang Shiqi's mind was also hazy and hazy, and the shadow of the small leaf flashed in the white smoke - the cotton shirt was soft and cool, holding the smooth skin, and it seemed to be the smell that swam between the fabric and the flesh.

Did she smoke at the time? He couldn't remember anymore. But smell doesn't deceive, the "Proust effect", he remembers a book that says that memories of taste are stored in the amygdala, down to the deepest subconscious. "I'm sorry," in the curling smoke, Ye Zimin's soft voice traveled through time and space with moisture: "I can't associate with you, I have someone I like." ”

Is she talking about Lao Zheng? The bitter taste of defeat churned in the mouth of eighteen-year-old Wang Shiqi. If he were to change to anyone, he would have to fight at least once, but if it was Lao Zheng, he wouldn't be involved.

No matter how good things are, he doesn't want to rob Zheng Yuan.

"You look at the five big and three coarse, but in fact, your heart is as soft as a girl-wait, stop, don't be in a hurry to refute me." Cheng Nuo leaned against the car door and raised his index finger at him: "We are also college classmates, and we have been colleagues for so many years, and I have watched you go all the way to today." Don't laugh if I say a word, although I don't like you very much, but you are a good person. Sometimes I feel that we are not worthy of your good, so am I, so is Xiao Ye, and so is the surname Zheng. She spat out a smoke ring: "We are smart people, and smart people are selfish and cold. But you're not, you're always like a fire, very sincere. ”

"You're turning around and calling me stupid?"

"Sometimes, stupidity isn't necessarily a bad thing." The corners of Cheng Nuo's mouth curved, and there was finally a smile in his eyes: "Simple people will suffer less." For example, you may never know who you love and who really loves you. ”

"I ......," Wang Shiqi said. He replied unconvinced: "I don't know, do you know?" ”

Cheng Nuo's slender finger tapped his eyes: "Bystander clear." She strode to the side of the road to stop the car, and turned back to urge him: "Hurry up and look at your phone." ”

"Huh?"

"You know what? You can't hide anything. As soon as the bell rang, your soul was no longer here, and you could hear your heart beating from the other seat. ”

She wasn't wrong, it was the bell he set for Zheng Yuan, he didn't expect anything about the monotonous synthesized sound, who knew that it actually rang at this time.

He took out his mobile phone, and there was not a word on it, only a familiar location message.

It's Zheng Yuan, he's back.

***

Wang Shiqi had never driven the car so hard - Zheng Yuan had a situation, and his intuition told him. Cheng Nuo is right, Lao Zheng is a smart person like her, and smart people don't do superfluous things, just like if she wants to refuse him, she can immediately refuse in person, Zheng Yuan chooses to beat around the bush There is only one reason, that is, the road of positive contact will not work.

Time was pressing, he only had time to call his own mother and hurriedly got on the road, the tachometer here soared to the red line, and Liao Zhiting's voice over there was also very tacitly raised an octave: "Stinky boy, you don't plan to come back to see me again in this life, right?" ”

"Where's the case—Mom, there's a case now. When I'm done, I'll promise to go back and take the blame. ”

"It's useless for you to bear a king's shell, your father and I are going to lose our old faces! You say, how did you offend people Xiao Cheng, why did you get to this point and run away? ”

"I can't say that. Anyway, I'll tell you, it's neither my fault nor hers," Wang Shiqi slapped the steering wheel and stepped into the fast lane, "Yes...... We have all figured it out, there is such a thing as feelings, and we can't make do with it like this. ”

"Where's the make-up? The girl's condition is not bad, she looks beautiful, you are also like a dog, or a peer, how rare! I'll just ask you, where is this okay? Liao Zhiting didn't relent: "You young people, why don't you make do when you sleep together?" Give me this set of ...... when it's time to be responsible."

"Mom-I'm also your own big fat boy, what do you think of me?" Wang Shiqi shook his head: "Think about it yourself, at that time, my father was a little policeman, and the whole family did not agree to you marrying, and you also ran to marry my father naked, and then gave birth to me in childbirth, and then took me to Australia, how much suffering did you suffer, at that time, uncle They asked why you didn't leave, what did you say?" ”

The young Liao Zhiting had just entered Christianity in Australia and had memorized Bible prayers by heart. She said, "Because there is love." Love is to bear all things, to believe all things, to hope all things. Love is endurance.

There was silence on the other end of the microphone.

"Mom, if one day I want to live with someone for the rest of my life, then this person must also be the person who allows me to do this." Wang Shiqi tapped his fingers lightly and hung up the phone.

The location is shown in the public house of Zheng Yuan's family. Wang Shiqi had the key to his house, and hurriedly rushed up to open the door, the black light inside was blind, the smell of dust floated in the air, and there was no popularity at all. He tried to dial the phone, and a humming vibration came from the dark depths, like a guiding bell ringing in the underworld. Wang Shiqi's heart was pounding, he followed the sound and touched it, the door of the children's room was ajar, and the movement came from there.

"Don't do it again, I can't stand to scare me and tell you, Lao Zheng." He gritted his teeth, like a prayer and a threat. With a squeak, the door opened softly inward, and then I saw a little light flickering regularly, outlining a small outline with closed eyes—yes! Wang Shiqi hung in the air in one breath, hurriedly touched the switch and turned on the light, the warm yellow light flowed down instantly, and the child also woke up, as if he was frightened by the headlights, his fat fingers rubbed his eyes, and his voice was crying: "Dad......"

"Don't be afraid, it's Uncle Wang, my uncle is here." Wang Shiqi copied the child from the bed and touched it up and down, but fortunately, there were no external injuries. He hurriedly asked, "What about Dad?" How do you put someone here? ”

"Daddy...... Dad ......" thought about it for a long time, and it seemed that he couldn't tell where Dad had gone. "Dad didn't send me to kindergarten today."

"Today, Saturday, I didn't have to go to kindergarten in the first place. Think about it, what did Dad take you to do today? ”

"I had breakfast, I watched Ultraman, my father's colleague came, I ate KFC at noon, and then, just, fell asleep......" I knew that my mouth was deflated, and my cry was elongated again: "Dad lost it-"

Wang Shiqi's heart sank. Zheng Yuan doesn't have a driver's license, and there are only two ways to get back to Xingsha: train and car. The train takes three hours, but there are only four departures a day, excluding morning and evening, and the only eligible departure time is four o'clock in the afternoon, if you arrive on time at seven o'clock, then why did you receive Zheng Yuan's mobile phone location at half past six? And six hours have passed since lunch, and it is not normal for a child to sleep for so long during the day. He touched the round little brain: "It's okay, Dad didn't lose it, Dad has work to do, so I asked Uncle Wang to come and pick you up." Are you hungry, uncle bought you chicken legs? ”

"Don't eat chicken legs." Zhi lay on his shoulder and sobbed: "After eating chicken legs, Dad is gone." Uncle Wang, I want my dad ......"

Wang Shiqi was distressed, comforted the child with one hand, and called Cheng Nuo with the other: "Hey? Eh, are you back? I'm really sorry, can I work overtime, I have something I need your help with. He stared at the half-used mobile phone belonging to Zheng Yuan on the bed sheet, and a new hole appeared in the lower right corner, which he didn't seem to have seen before. Can you take a blood test for a child? Four and a half years old, yes, boy, I suspect he took an excessive dose of tranquilizers. ”

***

At one o'clock in the morning, the results of the urgent blood test were brought out by Cheng Nuo. Wang Shiqi took a simple physical examination by the way, but fortunately there was no major problem in his body, but his consciousness was still a little blurred. He placed the child in the passenger seat, took off his windbreaker and covered it tightly, carefully tucked the corners, and when he looked up, he found Cheng Nuo holding his arms next to the car door looking at him and laughing. "What are you laughing at?" He was inexplicably a little embarrassed, Cheng Nuo saw him blushing and smiled even more happily: "I can't see it, you are a good father." ”

"Hey, just this year for Lao Zheng to watch the children, otherwise how would I." He scratched his ears and saw the report in Cheng Nuo's hand at a glance: "How is it?" ”

"You guessed right, there are indeed *** ingredients left in the blood, but this drug is risky for such a young child, I can't think of any need for that Zheng Yuan to do this to his son."

"He won't." Wang Shiqi was categorical, "There's no need for this." ”

"How do you know?"

"Because the role of tranquilizers is to control." Wang Shiqi said: "A four-year-old child's loss of control is nothing more than noisy, crying, and disobedience, which the father has long been used to. Only outsiders need to do this, especially when it comes to long-distance transfers and they don't want to reveal their whereabouts. ”

Cheng Nuo on the opposite side showed a look of confusion, as if he was salvaging some familiar shadow in his memory. "Do you feel ......?"

Wang Shiqi nodded. Yes, it's familiar. This happened to Xie Li not long ago.

Wang Shiqi's sense of foreboding deepened again. He hurriedly rummaged through Zheng Yuan's mobile phone to bring up the call log, the latest call was a month ago, and the contact was his name.

There is only one explanation, after leaving Xingsha, he changed to a new number, and even a new mobile phone.

This mobile phone was still given by him, is it necessary to break it so thoroughly?

Wang Shiqi didn't have time to be unhappy, after all, it was important to find someone. He turned out the number of Zheng Yuan's former boss Zhuo Yibo, and the mahjong sound on the phone was loud, and when he heard him report to his home, the background sound suddenly disappeared like a filter. "What are you going to do?" Zhuo Yibo's tone was not too friendly, after all, Zheng Yuan was also a capable general he had carefully cultivated, and now he was so reluctant to go to the field, Wang Shiqi had to bear a lot of responsibility.

"Director Zhuo, please do me a favor, do you have Zheng Yuan's contact information in Jinju?"

"What? He didn't tell you? He won't tell you what's the use of you asking me. Zhuo Yibo laughed, and Wang Shiqi had to say in a low voice: "Director Zhuo, the situation is urgent, now Zheng Yuanren can't find it, and he sent a person back to Xingsha's old house, I'm worried about whether anything will happen to him." ”

"Huh? Wait, I'll give you a call and ask. Zhuo Yibo hung up the phone, and Wang Shiqi stared at the extinguished screen in anxiety. It's useless for you to keep an eye on a hole, and you have to be contacted. Cheng Nuo handed over the cigarette case: "Get one?" ”

Wang Shiqi knocked out one in a frustration, and before he could light the fire, the mobile phone rang suddenly screamed, and cold sweat immediately broke out in his palms, and the lighter was not held steady, and he fell to the ground. "Hello? Director Zhuo? How's it going? Is everything okay with Lao Zheng? ”

"You better hurry up and look for it," Zhuo Yibo's voice was also tinged with a hint of panic: "I called his new landline, but no one listened, and then called the newspaper office, saying that he was supposed to be on duty this weekend, and he asked for leave temporarily, and they couldn't tell where he was." ”

Wang Shiqi put down the phone in a daze, and it wasn't until Cheng Nuo pressed the back of his hand that he noticed that his hand was trembling. Cheng Nuo said: "Don't be afraid, things haven't reached the worst yet. ”

yes, he's been through the worst. What's more, he's still a police officer, and no one allows him to be afraid.

He entrusted the child to Cheng Nuo's care, and slammed the accelerator into the Wushen Expressway.