April 9. Monday. Afternoon, 13:01.

Hospital, fourth floor, former infectious disease area. During the SARS epidemic, many seriously ill patients were isolated, and more than one person was sent to the morgue every day. At the end of the long, silent corridor, Ye Xiao leaned his back against the wall, looking at the spotless ceiling.

He had just finished lunch in the hospital cafeteria, and no one spoke to him, not intentionally distancing, but treating him as a god on high, especially after he became the hero who discovered the first survivor underground.

As for the six survivors, the doctor decided on a recipe based on the different physical conditions of each person, which was prepared by the designated chef and sent directly to the ward.

I don't know what kind of lunch Zhou Xuan is eating. Scoundrel! Ye Xiao cursed secretly. Why are you still worried about that guy? His "I don't know" was still like a needle in his heart—not "I don't know", but "I don't want to say." Usually, if he encounters this kind of "stone in the pit", Ye Xiao has all kinds of means to deal with it, as short as two or three minutes, or as long as an all-nighter, he can pry out the secret from the other party's iron teeth and steel teeth.

However, when he was faced with the circumstance, he could not use any of the usual methods.

Ye Xiao's parents were both born in this city, and when he was young, he responded to the country's call to join the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. He grew up in the desert of the Tianshan Mountains, and only came to his parents' hometown in the coastal metropolis in the fifth grade of primary school, where he lived and studied at a relative's house. To this day, my parents are still living in an oasis by the desert, and they have no intention of returning to the city to settle down. When Ye Xiao was in elementary school, he was quite thin, it was difficult to understand the local dialect, he was often bullied, and almost no classmates played with him, except for Zhou Xuan, who was also often bullied.

And because they were neighbors, they became best friends. Later, both of them were admitted to Siyi Middle School, and they were still classmates, and they each developed into heroic and upright. Ye Xiao is good at sports, and when he fights, he makes the other party retreat, but he never uses force easily, and only when he encounters blackmail from a little hooligan, he will shoot and beat the other party to the ground. They also have a common hobby - reading mystery novels, often going to the library to borrow books, and then lending them to Ye Xiao after reading, and almost all of them were Sherlock Holmes at that time.

Before graduating from high school, Zhou Xuan's dream is to become a writer, and Ye Xiao hopes to become a nuclear submarine captain. Zhou Xuan was successfully admitted to a key university, while Ye Xiao did not pass the pre-selection of the Naval Ship Academy, so he applied for the Public Security University.

Later, Ye Xiao became a police officer, and Zhou Xuan really became a writer.

The last time they met, almost ten years ago. At that time, Zhou Xuan was already famous, and asked him for help for a mysterious event. Ye Xiao went to the coast of Zhejiang to look for him for this reason, but found that Zhou Xuan had disappeared without a trace.

In the past ten years, Ye Xiao has become a god in people's minds, but the name of Zhou Xuan is becoming more and more difficult to see. Occasionally, I see a mystery novel signed "Zhou Xuan Works", but it is also inserted in a corner of the bookstore and no one cares about it......

I didn't expect to see him again.

The joy of reuniting with an old friend quickly faded, and the long years had almost turned Zhou Xuan into another person, a person who was full of secrets and lies about his best friend.

Ye Xiao didn't hate him, he only felt sad - why him? Unless, the murderer who killed Luo Haoran is Zhou Xuan. However, Ye Xiao didn't believe it.

Not him!

This judgment does not come from years of affection.

At noon, police officer Lao Wang quickly made an investigation - Zhou Xuan had faded out of people's sight for several years, and there was reason to believe that he had been immersed in creation and had no fixed place to live among the scenic spots in various places. A year ago, Zhou Xuan's father passed away, and his mother suddenly fell ill, and he had to go home to take care of him. Soon after his mother died, he sold his house to pay off his debts, and instead of traveling as he used to, he rented a dilapidated apartment. Lao Wang visited the landlord and learned that the rent was only a few hundred yuan a month, because it was so cheap because of the murder a few years ago. Zhou Xuan rented a murderous house not for inspiration, but for extreme financial constraints. Checking the bank balance, there is only 219.81 yuan left, and the credit card is overdrawn 5286.19 yuan.

So poor that you can't even afford napkins, why spend a night in a five-star hotel? Ye Xiaocai doesn't believe in any nonsense about writing novels to find inspiration! Is there a rich woman who pays for it*?

Ye Xiao buried all the doubts in his heart, rearranged his police uniform, and went to interrogate the next suspect.

He changed into an anti-epidemic suit, entered the ward, and opened the protective glass door as soon as the nurse exited the door.

There was a young man lying on the bed, and he was a little nervous when he saw Ye Xiao come in—if it weren't for the infusion tube inserted in the back of his hand, he might have jumped down: "Who are you?" ”

Ye Xiao ignored his question: "Your name is Tao Ye?" ”

"Yes." Tao Ye stared at Ye Xiao's feet, frightened that he was so close.

"My name is Ye Xiao."

"Ye Xiao? I've heard of you for a long time. The doctor said you saved us. Thank you so much! ”

"That's what I'm supposed to do." He came to the hospital bed and didn't want to talk nonsense, "You're an employee of Calford's supermarket?" ”

"Yes, the supermarket tally clerk on the second basement floor."

Ye Xiao remembered the rotting corpse that was pressed under the wall of the supermarket locker room: "Mr. Steiger is your immediate boss?" ”

"That's right, when the earthquake happened—no, I heard there weren't any earthquakes." Tao Ye scratched his head in embarrassment, and his sentence slipped a lot, "When the disaster happened, he and I were in the locker room, and I was the only one who climbed out. I don't know if he was crushed underneath, but I never saw him again. I've been to the locker room to see it, it's all in ruins, is he still alive? ”

Ye Xiao shook his head: "Do you know that before you were rescued, one of your survivors was just brutally killed!" ”