Text: Episode 19

1.

I watched Cao Chengrui sitting on the sofa, and there was no light in the living room.

He was silent, silent for a long time. Of course, I didn't say anything, just looked at him silently. I think he must have something on his mind. I looked at him, and being able to make him think quietly was the best company.

This is a tacit understanding between us.

2.

It was quiet next door this night.

Cao Chengrui's mouth was dry, his throat was tight, and his lips should be hard, but he didn't want to drink water.

20:31。

He just wanted to wait quietly for Li Ling to come back.

The mobile phone screen placed on the coffee table in the dark suddenly lit up, and a pale flicker made Cao Zhibo close his eyes, and then the bell rang, it was Li Ling's phone.

"Hey."

"Are you home?"

"Yes."

"Can you pick me up? I noticed that someone had been following me, a full two streets! ”

Li Ling lowered her voice and said nervously.

"What?" Cao Cheng sat up straight because of nervousness: "Where are you?" ”

"I'm ...... I don't know what this place is. ”

Li Ling's voice sounded anxious and helpless.

"Don't worry, see if there are any obvious buildings around? Tell me, I'll go to you right away, hang up the phone and you'll send me a location later. ”

"There is a building...... There are banks and trees. ”

Cao Chengrui forced himself to calm down, took a deep breath and asked, "Is there anyone else on the street?" ”

"Nope."

"Where's the taxi?"

"Not really."

With neither pedestrians nor cars, how can there be such a secluded street? Cao Chengrui thought for a while and said: "Don't be nervous, don't worry, you go to a crowded place now, see if there are any open restaurants or shops or supermarkets on the side of the road, find one to enter, and then send me the location." ”

"Okay."

3.

At 21:03, it was close to minus 10 degrees.

Every time I exhale, it looks like smoke.

Cao Chengrui trotted to Yuanda Street and stopped a taxi for a long time.

"Master, go to the newly opened mall on Phu Quoc Road."

The driver nodded.

Phu Quoc Road is located in the northern suburbs of the city, next to a geopark, and the government plans to be a new area for tourism, entertainment, leisure and shopping. Phu Quoc City Plaza is an important project in the new district, with shopping malls, large supermarkets and hotel and office complexes. Calling it a new district, it is conceivable that this place must be sparsely populated, and it is not known that it will become a "ghost town".

Li Ling found a café and hid in, and then sent a message saying that the person who was following her had also entered the café with her. After all, the café is a public place, and there are not just the two of them, so it should be safe. Cao Chengrui didn't expect Li Ling to go to the northern suburbs to wander so late. And what is the purpose of the person who is following Li Ling?

Cao Chengrui leaned his head against the car window, his thoughts confused.

4.

Li Ling tightened the neckline of her brown coat, and a bitter cold wind penetrated her body from the neckline. She has a handbag under her arm and a silver bracelet on her left hand. She was walking from Block B of Urban Shopping Center to the subway station with her head slightly bowed.

The subway station is at the intersection of Fucheng Road and Taipei Street, and there are a few shops and vacant office buildings on the street, except for large tracts of land to be developed. The road is wide, and the public facilities on the street are perfect, but there are few pedestrians.

The road was empty, and when she passed the green light, Li Ling noticed a man in white on the sidewalk on the other side, who seemed to be looking at her. Although the man was standing under the street lamp, he couldn't see his appearance clearly, he just stood quietly as if he suddenly appeared out of thin air, looking at Li Ling quietly.

She didn't care at first, the man was probably just looking at this way by coincidence. Li Ling thought about it, so she withdrew her gaze and walked leisurely, her steps were not so fast. Just as Li Ling stopped looking at the man, the man left from under the street lamp and began to follow behind Li Ling.

The man left a little distance and followed Li Ling for a while. He was trying to adjust his pace, keeping a fixed distance, almost the same as Li Ling's steps. He was so cautious, and it was certainly not easy to walk in such a way. From time to time, he paused, pretending to pull his phone out of his pocket, or paused and pretended to be confused, looking left and right as if he were looking for his way. He was trying his best to avoid being discovered by Li Ling, and he was chasing after him.

Li Ling's pace did not change, she didn't look back, she didn't look sideways at other places, she kept walking towards the subway station. After passing through Tianfu Hutong, the road becomes uphill. Li Ling had walked out of the mall for about ten minutes, and there were still at least ten minutes ahead to walk to the subway station. A white sign 308 drove out of the alley, which happened to distance the man and Li Ling slightly.

"Are you home?" Li Ling quickly took out her mobile phone and dialed Cao Chengrui's number.

The man suddenly noticed that Li Ling stopped, glanced across the street casually, looked left and right, and after making sure that there was no car, he crossed the road and walked in the direction of the shopping center.

The man who followed Li Ling was obviously stunned, he must have wondered why Li Ling turned around and walked back. But he only hesitated for a moment before taking a step and continued to open an appropriate distance to follow behind Li Ling.

Li Ling sensed that the situation was not good, but she still held her head high and kept her pace and walked in the direction of the shopping mall without hurrying.

After a while, Li Ling returned to the shopping mall, and without hesitation, pushed open the door of the street café on the first floor and walked to the bar.

She glanced out of the corner of her eye, and the man didn't leave, he was standing six or seven meters away from the door of the café, holding the phone in his right hand and putting it to his ear, his eyes were looking in her direction.

Now Li Ling has several options, the first is to ask the staff of the café for help, the second is to run into the mall through the back door of the café, and the third is to quietly find a seat to drink a cup of hot coffee and wait for Cao Chengrui to come to her. At this time, Li Ling had an inexplicable curiosity about the man who was following her. After thinking for a while, Li Ling ordered a glass of American cuisine and then found a position facing the bar and sat down.

There are not many customers in the café, and the air is full of the aroma of coffee, the warmth is blowing, and the music is soft and soothing.

The man outside the door looked extremely cautious, he whispered on the phone while wandering at the door of the non-museum, as if he was waiting for someone, but his eyes never left Li Ling. After a while, he slowly pushed open the door of the café, also asked for a cup of American coffee, and sat down about five tables away from Li Ling. As he walked to his seat, he casually grabbed a magazine from the shelf.

Li Ling looked at her phone and sent a location message to Cao Chengrui. She pretended to be indifferent, secretly observing the man's movements.

And the man who was following her was also secretly watching her from the side of the magazine.

"It doesn't look like it's malicious, is it someone who knows me?" Li Ling thought in her heart: "If it's someone who knows me, why don't you just come over and say hello." ”

She took a sip of her coffee, which was really warm to her heart.

5.

21:36

I got out of the taxi, pushed open the door of the café, and immediately found Li Ling. The café was so hot that I had to take my glasses off and walk to Li Ling.

"It's okay." I asked, wiping my glasses.

Li Ling picked up the coffee cup and took a sip and nodded slightly.

"What the hell is going on?"

She snorted lightly and said in a deep voice, "Behind you, the man in white is the one who follows me." I glanced back, then turned my head to look at Li Ling, I don't know if it was because I was in a hurry or for some other reason, I was sweating all over, and the sweat was sticking to the shirt I was wearing. I sighed and stood up to talk to the man. Li Ling wanted to stop her, but I just nodded at her lightly, wanting to tell her not to worry. I took off my coat and put it on the back of my chair, walked over to the bar and ordered a cup of coffee. I repeatedly told myself not to be nervous, to appear calm. But no matter how much I tried to suggest myself, the tension still gripped me. As if going mad, my heart was pounding wildly, and I couldn't help but feel like I was going to vomit.

I silently walked over and pulled out a chair and sat down in front of the man.

He looked up at me, and I pretended to be calm and looked at him directly.

A familiar feeling came over me, as if I had seen this person somewhere.

"Hello." I tried to keep my voice calm and said, "Why don't you drink coffee when you order it?" ”

He first looked at me, then at Li Ling.

Li Ling sat on the sofa seat in a very comfortable position, holding the cup in her right hand and the bottom of the cup in her left hand, looking at the two of us while drinking coffee. I think it's the first time she's experienced something like this, and it's the first time she's seen it.

The man sitting across from me was shorter than me, but he had a very strong physique, like the kind of "black and swarthy man with a tiger's back and a bear's waist" as described in the commentary, he was wearing a white coat, which looked a bit like a white coat, and a black scarf was draped around his neck, which was already pilling on some ground, and it seemed to be some years old. His complexion is very healthy, he is about thirty years old and less than forty, and his eyes are carved by the vicissitudes of life.

The waiter dragged the plate and put a cup of coffee in front of me, and said, "Two gentlemen, we close at 10:30, I don't mean anything else, I just want to remind the two of you that if there is no more need, we will start cleaning the workbench." ”

I shook my head and looked at the man across from me, who also smiled and shook his head.

"Slow use for two."

"I don't think we need to go to the police station, right?" I control the intonation and try not to appear too high or too low. It looks neither angry nor nervous, like a conversation between friends, with no superfluous expressions on their faces.

"Take a sip and warm up."

He leaned back, his hands crossed on the edge of the table.

I took a sip from my cup as he said, "Who are you?" ”

"You don't remember me?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not impressed."

Then he looked at my face without saying a word, and smiled with a strange expression that I couldn't detect anything, but I couldn't be nervous, and I couldn't be afraid. If he's really some kind of villain, I can't lose in momentum. Not to mention that he was stalking my girlfriend.

"Why are you stalking my girlfriend?" I asked in a very polite tone, as restrained as before.

He was silent.

"You started following her as soon as she walked out of the mall. I don't want to make a big deal out of it. I just want to know why you're following her? ”

He still didn't say anything, he was probably wondering how Li Ling informed me and what went wrong.

"It's nothing if you don't say it, but let me tell you, we don't cause trouble and are not afraid of it, the right way in the world is the vicissitudes of life!" My voice involuntarily became louder, and I seemed a little excited: "I don't know what bad things you want to do, but as long as I'm by her side for a day, you don't want to hurt her!" ”

6.

"I have nothing but this life!" Cao Chengrui stared at the man in white and said, "I'm not scaring you, if you want to talk about hard work, I'm really not afraid of anyone!" ”

The man sitting opposite Cao Chengrui just stared at Cao Chengrui's face motionlessly, as if to say, "You will come if there is a kind", but he was silent.

"I don't want to cause trouble, and I guess you don't want to." Cao Chengrui leaned back in his chair and said, "That's the end of today's business." ”

After saying this, Cao Chengrui got up and strode towards Li Ling.

"You really don't recognize me?"

The man asked behind Cao Chengrui.

Cao Chengrui didn't say anything, sat down next to Li Ling, got dressed, and took Li Ling's hand and walked out of the café together.

7.

The two of them walked briskly towards the main entrance of the shopping mall, just in time for the end of the theater on the third floor of the shopping mall, and there were a few taxis waiting for live at the entrance of the night passage of the cinema.

Cao Chengrui opened the car door and let Li Ling sit on it first. He himself looked in the direction of the café, and the man who had followed Li Ling just now did not follow him again.

"Where are you going?"

The taxi driver asked.

"Go to Minzhi Road and learn Hutong." Li Ling said.

Cao Chengrui sat next to Li Ling and asked, "Where are you going, what are you doing?" Haven't had enough? ”

"Have a late-night snack to suppress the shock."

8.

Xuexue Hutong is located in the business district of People's Square, which is the prosperity of the city.

Minzhi Road at the south entrance of the alley has become a street of food stalls after ten o'clock, regardless of spring, autumn, winter and summer.

The buses were all the same, the charcoal stove was burning in the car, the seats were removed and replaced with tables, chairs and benches, and the cotton curtain behind the door blocked the cold. The guise of red, green, blue, purple light swayed with the night wind.

22:37, -12 degrees Celsius.

The two of them sat at the table at the back of the car, on which were two bowls of mutton soup, a drawer of roasted wheat, and a tin foil hero, ten skewers of roast beef.

Cao Chengrui was picking garlic while thinking about the man who was following Li Ling just now, and the feeling of déjà vu became stronger and stronger. Li Ling poured some vinegar into the mutton soup, took two tablespoons of chili oil, thought about it, and picked up the pepper noodles and sprinkled some more.

"It's going to be spicy if you put so much." Cao Chengrui said.

"It's okay, it's spicy." Li Ling took a sip after stirring well, and then stuck out her tongue: "I was scared to death just now." ”

"Don't be nervous, I'm here."

"What if I didn't have you."

"Then maybe there are other men who will be there for you to protect you."

Li Ling put down the soup spoon and looked at Cao Chengrui, "Do you have something you want to ask me?" ”

"What's going on with Yi Yao?"

Li Ling seemed to be instantly relaxed when she heard this, and said calmly: "Are you talking about novels?" I read it, isn't that just a mission in a story? ”

"Fictitious?"

"You ask me?"

Cao Chengrui just wanted to speak, but saw the proprietress come over with a bottle of pure draft beer in one hand, she put the beer on the table and asked, "Do you want something else to eat?" ”

"Is there anything else you want to eat?" Cao Chengrui asked at Li Ling.

"Add a serving of tin foil enoki mushrooms and two skewers of grilled chicken gizzards."

"Two more skewers of grilled chicken hearts." Cao Chengrui said: "I remember that you like to eat chicken hearts the most. ”

9.

I drank my beer silently, and every sip made my stomach shiver and chill from the inside out. Li Ling she ate very happily, and the food in front of her seemed to instantly dispel her fear, and she smiled, as if I had met her for the first time. But why is she so strange now? Where did Li Ling go at the beginning?

"Thank you for your hard work." I looked at Li Ling gently, "It's good in Beijing, and I was called to this cold and broken place to be wronged." "It's like I raised my hand and touched her head.

"What's wrong with you?" She bit a chicken heart and wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin.

"I don't know what's wrong with me." My chest tightened, and I subconsciously tugged at my throat, "I'm afraid I'll never see you again." ”

Li Ling smiled and said, "How come, aren't I in front of you?" Good thing you came in time! ”

I'm afraid I'm too sensitive again, Yi Yao is just a fictional name in her novel, and it's just a coincidence.

There are always coincidences of one kind or another in life, which can be explained, but when you think about it, it is not the case.

Now I am suddenly very afraid that Yang Xinyue will contact me.

Text: Episode 19 -End-