"There is a café" does not seem to be affected by the strict arrest and continues to operate normally. The one who led Ji Xiaoou at the gate was still the waiter from last time. The boy has a good memory, and when he saw Ji Xiaoou, he asked directly, "Miss Ji?" Please follow me. ”

Ji Xiaoou was taken to the door of a private room. She pushed open the door, only to see the smoke floating all over the room, Yan Shen sat behind the desk, with a burning paper cigarette between her fingers, and nodded at her in a lazy manner, which was regarded as a greeting.

Ji Xiaoou stood outside the door, and suddenly had a trance illusion, because the smell of smoke in the house was too familiar, very similar to the smell that was often emitted by Rigor Rigue. Glancing at the cigarette case on the table, she understood where the familiar feeling came from. The cigarette in Yan Shen's hand is the old version of 329 "Soft China" that he smokes in a rigorous manner.

She rubbed at the door for a few moments, waiting for some of the smoke to clear from the room, then closed the door and sat down across from Yan Shen. Because of the influence of his family, Ji Xiaoou has always disliked the smell of smoke, and is even more reluctant to passively absorb second-hand smoke. The only exception is Rigorous, and it seems that when Rigorous smokes, she never has any objection. The reason is nothing more than because of the good looking posture of rigorous smoking, especially when he lowered his head and lit a cigarette, his eyelashes were lowered, his eyes were focused, and the flames burned quietly in the palms of his palms.

Yan Shen wore a Chanel classic houndstooth coat with a pearl necklace the size of a pinky finger around her neck, but her smoking posture was not as elegant as her clothes, vicious, and her vomiting was too rapid, which made the people watching next to her anxious for no reason. She didn't make a sound, Ji Xiaoou didn't speak, and quietly smoked half a cigarette with her. Yan Shen put out the cigarette butt in the ashtray before raising his head and saying to Ji Xiaoou: "You are braver than I imagined, I thought you would not come at all." ”

Ji Xiaoou smiled: "It's just an afternoon tea, as for it?" ”

Yan Shen also smiled, but her smile was always cold, as if it was just a change in the surface of the skin, but the muscles below were not moving.

She said: "My brother once had a girlfriend, before you, who was recently praised by manpower and used money to become the number one female in the movie, what is her name?" It's like something 'laughing'......"

Ji Xiaoou made up for her: "Shen Kaiyan." ”

"Yes, that's her. She got along with my brother for more than four months, buying clothes and jewelry, sending cars, taking her to Europe to play, how did she spend two or three million, she was interviewed by reporters yesterday, and was asked if she was a strict ex-girlfriend, do you know how she answered? ”

Ji Xiaoou shook her head, her eyes temporarily attracted by the light purple nail polish on her fingertips. The light purple that is popular this year, in Ji Xiaoou's eyes, is like the nail color of a heart patient in a state of hypoxia.

Yan Shen continued: "She said that all the news about her relationship with my brother was a rumor fabricated by the media, and her peers were jealous of her and deliberately wanted to discredit her. The truth is that my brother has been chasing her for a long time by any means, and it is thanks to her strong will that she can keep her innocence. Is it ridiculous? Probably you don't feel anything. But I've seen a lot of the ugliness of these women pestering my brother, so I think it's ridiculous. What is called a tree falling down, what is a wall falling down and everyone pushing it, I can be regarded as a profound understanding. ”

Ji Xiaoou looked at her: "So you think I will avoid it too?" ”

Yan Shen took out another cigarette, and then pushed the cigarette case to Ji Xiaoou: "You have one?" Seeing that Ji Xiaoou didn't mean to stretch out her hand, she withdrew her hand, lit it, and took a puff before saying: "I never smoked before, but these days I suddenly found that smoke is really a good thing. Ji Xiaoou, your name is Ji Xiaoou, right? From the moment I saw you step through the door, I was impressed with you, at least you were braver, unlike the women of my brother. To be honest, I'm curious, what's your reason for coming? ”

Ji Xiaoou didn't want to answer, hesitated for a moment and said, "For the truth." ”

Yan Shenyi frowned: "The truth? ”

"Yes, the truth."

"The truth?" Yan Shen smoked a cigarette, looked at her thoughtfully for a while, and nodded: "What is the truth?" What you believe, it's the truth. The first thing I want to tell you is...... He didn't kill anyone. Is this the truth you want? ”

Her eyes were very similar to rigorous, her eyes were black and bright, and her eyes were condensed and her blood pressure rose immediately when the person opposite her. Ji Xiaoou avoided her gaze and asked softly, "He specifically asked you to tell me this?" ”

"Yes. I think he's afraid you'll misunderstand him. ”

Ji Xiaoou bit his lip: "He...... Is he okay? ”

Yan Shen smiled mockingly: "If you say it well, you mean that you can eat and sleep, I think he is okay." ”

"That'...... His emotions ...... Is it okay? ”

"Looks like you don't know him." Yan Shen sighed twice, "Rigorous served in the special forces, you know about this, right?" ”

"Yes."

"Then how did his lumbar vertebrae break back then, do you know this?"

"I don't know. He didn't say that. ”

"Want to hear me talk about it?"

"I really want to. Thank you! ”

"Ten years ago, he was on a mission in the mountains of Yunnan Province when he suddenly encountered a crosswind while descending from a helicopter. You may not know that helicopters are the most afraid of crosswinds, because crosswinds can cause the fuselage to vibrate violently, and the people on the rope ladder are very dangerous. In order to save his partner, he fell down a rope ladder more than ten meters high and suffered comminuted fractures of three lumbar vertebrae. ”

"Comminuted fractures?" Ji Xiaoou unconsciously covered his mouth.

"Yes, comminuted fractures. My mom and I rushed to see him overnight, and the doctor said he would never be able to stand up again. Everyone was crying, my mother was crying, I was crying, and his comrades-in-arms were crying behind his back, thinking that his life was over. On the other hand, he lay on the hospital bed, smiled and comforted everyone, saying that he would definitely be able to stand up and get better. It took him two years to really get on his feet. But the hardships I endured in those two years of rehabilitation training ......" Speaking of this, Yan Shen shook his head gently, and his eyes instantly turned red, "I have seen other soldiers in the hospital, and they are also young men of more than one meter and eight, because I really can't stand the hardships of rehabilitation training, I cry in public, but my brother, I saw him bite his lower lip out of a row of blood holes, but I haven't heard a single complaint or a cry of bitterness." Do you think such a person will let others see his anxious appearance? ”

This story made Ji Xiaoou sting fiercely somewhere in her heart, because she remembered that she kicked Yan Yan into the operating room lightly and heavily, which made him suffer again. She turned the water glass in her hand and expressed a suspicion that had been put aside in her heart for many days: "I read on the Internet that their special forces will inevitably kill people when they perform their tasks, and they will lose their fear of life after a long time." These factors should be very bad for him, right? ”

Yan Shen pressed the cigarette butt into the ashtray and asked lightly, "What about you?" Do you believe what he says to you? Do you believe he didn't kill anyone? ”

Ji Xiaoou raised his head, and he could finally bravely look directly into her eyes: "My intuition, my heart, tell me that he is by no means the murderer of Zhan Yu." But I couldn't convince myself why the Public Security Bureau would formally arrest him? I'm here today to get this answer from you. ”

A slightly mocking smile appeared at the corner of Yan Shen's mouth: "What if I can't provide it?" ”

"Then I have no choice but to trust the task force, and I believe that the public security organs and the court will restore the truth."

"Do you believe in the police and the courts? Do you believe that what they say is the truth? Yan Shen raised his head and laughed, laughing so much that Ji Xiaoou was annoyed and angry.

"Is what I'm saying so ridiculous?"

Yan Shen easily stopped laughing, but did not continue the topic, but rang the bell to call the waiter in, replaced the half-full ashtray, and then asked Ji Xiaoou: "What do you drink?" Fancy coffee here is well done and can be tasted. ”

Ji Xiaoou replied: "I don't have any research on coffee, whatever." ”

Yan Shen said to the waiter, "A cappuccino, you go out." When the waiter closed the door, she smiled at Ji Xiaoou, this time she really smiled, no longer smiling, "What you said is not ridiculous, I just think you are too naïve." Anyway, rigorous he always likes this one. I'm telling you, the truth is the most extravagant thing, and the key depends on who you are willing to believe. ”

This made Ji Xiaoou quite surprised: "People like you can even think that the truth is extravagant? ”

"What do you call people like us?"

"You, rigorous, the second generation of officials, the children of high-ranking cadres, and those with vested interests in the system."

Yan cautiously stopped smoking, and his aggressive eyes finally drooped, landed on the table, and sighed: "So you think so too." No wonder the online attacks on our homes are so vicious. I'm very strange, do you think that the children of high-ranking cadres are the same as the children of the Eight Banners in the past, all of them are not diligent and rely on eating imperial food for a living? Like me, working in an investment bank, I still have to work overtime and travel to earn hard-earned money? As for the vested interests in the system, don't you understand that in this system, the power of the individual is always weak, no matter what class you are in, no one can protect themselves when the storm comes. ”

"But after all, you can work in an investment bank, you can afford to wear Chanel, and you can afford to use Burberry." Ji Xiaoou said, "I've heard rigorously say that you all graduated from S Middle School, and you went directly to a university abroad, how many people can have the same starting point, the same background and background as you?" You can sit in a place like 'Youjian' and consume without pressure, the money for a cup of coffee is worth half a month's living expenses of a low-income family, your children can go to an international kindergarten of more than 100,000 yuan a year, and many children of migrant workers can only grow up on the windowsill chained, this is the difference, don't admit it. ”

Yan Shen held his forehead and laughed: "My God, where did my brother find your baby?" Listen, what a moral high ground, how righteous and generous, you really make me reacquaint myself with his taste. Did you tell him these things? How did he react? ”

Ji Xiaoou shook his head: "No, he is different from you, he doesn't feel so good about himself, and he rarely has the urge to make me angry." ”

Yan Shen smiled and was in a dilemma, and his expression was embarrassed: "You are so honest." ”

"I'm sorry, honesty has always been my strength."

"Okay." Yan Shen picked up her Burberry handbag and stood up, "Thank you very much for coming, next time I see Rigorous, I can explain to him." But I personally think that you and rigorous...... Oh, and if you really love him, your affection for each other is based entirely on misunderstandings. Yes, let me tell you that if you should marry, you will marry someone, and you will think about him again. Probably he prepared for the worst, but I hope you still have a chance to clear up these misunderstandings. ”

There were too many information points in these words, and Ji Xiaoou digested it for a while before he could find the key words: "What is the worst preparation?" Didn't he say he didn't kill anyone? And how can you prepare for the worst? ”

"He's my own brother." Yan Shen replied, "The only brother." I grew up with him from childhood to adulthood, I know him as a person, and I believe he didn't kill anyone. But you've always heard of the crowd and the three of them become tigers, right? Our family has always put the worst preparedness first, and we have hired the best criminal defense lawyer, if there really is a day, we just want to spare his life. ”

"I don't quite understand." Ji Xiaoou's face turned a little pale, "Kill is kill, if you don't kill, if you don't kill, you don't kill, can the crime of murder still be blurred?" ”

"Then you can take your time and wait for the police and the court to give you the so-called truth." Yan Shen opened the door and bumped into the waiter with the tray and coffee. She turned her head with a bleak smile on her face, "Drink this cup of coffee before you go, the coffee here is really good." I can invite you for free this time, and next time, I'm afraid it will change hands, and I won't be able to drink such pure coffee again. ”

Yan Shen left. Outside the door, there was a faint click of high heels falling on the wooden floor, which gradually disappeared, and there was silence all around.

Ji Xiaoou sat motionless for a long time, repeatedly thinking about the words brought to her by Rigor Strict, and took a sip of coffee under the mixture of love and hate, the first thing in her mouth was a large amount of sweet and soft milk foam, and the foam quickly burst on the tip of her tongue, replaced by the original bitterness and sourness of the coffee beans. The coffee is already about to cool, and the sour and bitter taste is more prominent, and the alternation of sweetness and bitterness is just like a conflict between dreams and reality.

She sipped her coffee in small sips, a wry smile gradually appearing on the corner of her mouth. She remembered that someone had said that the true meaning of cappuccino was: waiting, waiting with a faithful heart, without changing your mind. This cappuccino was actually ordered to her on purpose, right? She understands Yan Shen's anxiety, and understands why she is the same as the arrogant and indifferent Yan Shen when they first met. As an only child, she may not be able to experience this kind of brotherhood in her own life. Will you wait without changing your mind? Challenging the emotional limits of modern human beings too much, she has no confidence in herself, and she doesn't know if she can do it.

Ji Xiaoou's private wish is to never deal with Yan Shen again. Every time she meets Yan Shen, she will regret that her performance is not good enough and not strong enough, and she always lets the other party hold her head down. Since she can't overcome her fear of this kind of person in a short period of time, she can't afford to hide if she can't provoke her.

But she couldn't hide from it, and a few days later, she received another call from Yan Shen. But this time, her tone was very polite: "Is it convenient for you?" Let's find a place to talk. I'm sorry, but it's still a serious matter, but I'd like to ask you for a favor. ”

Hearing that it was related to rigor, Ji Xiaoou's heartbeat began to accelerate, but she still covered the microphone and took a long breath, reminding herself not to be confused by the other party's attitude, and to show some momentum.

"I'm sorry, I can't leave." She replied in a rather cold-sounding tone, "But you can come to my shop, and I can spare half an hour for you at three o'clock in the afternoon." ”

Yan cautiously and silently, and finally said with great reluctance: "Okay, see you in the afternoon." ”

Although Ji Xiaoou barely managed to win back a city in the confrontation between the two, she had to keep cheering herself up in the face of strict caution in order to maintain a calm image.

In order to avoid the conversation being overheard by the beautician and customers, she introduced Yan Shen into the North House behind the main store.

Yan Shen has always been straight to the point, sat down and asked: "I heard that you are very familiar with the victim and their family, right?" ”

Involving Zhan Yu, Ji Xiaoou became vigilant: "What are you doing?" ”

Yan Shen's expression was cold: "If you really know them, I hope you can help persuade them to make peace, if their family is short of money, they can talk, we can give a little, let them toss around on the Internet, especially what Weibo." It's hard for my father to do such nonsense, and it's not good for their family or this case. What kind of goods their son is, everyone knows it in their hearts, don't rush people, make each other's faces look bad. ”

That condescending tone made Ji Xiaoou's heart feel disgusted, and she said coldly: "Although I don't understand what you're talking about, I will never be this lobbyist for you." In any case, the parents of the Zhan family are the families of the victims, and the white-haired people send the black-haired people, and they die in that way, is there anything worse than this? From their standpoint, nothing is too much. ”

Yan Shen immediately sneered: "Your position is really confusing, which side are you on?" Victim? Who are the victims? Who did my brother recruit to provoke whom, and somehow became a murderer? My dad has been cautious all his life, just trying to get out of the way, and the result? It's not a good time to be late! Our old lady has grown from young and naïve to old, but she has tasted the heat and coldness of the world, do you know that she has a cerebral hemorrhage? From the time he received the arrest notice that the prisoner had a cerebral hemorrhage and was sent to the hospital, to the time when he was still lying on the hospital bed, he had to rely on people to serve him for food, drink, and Lazar. My brother's case has been turned into a minefield by them, and we begged my grandfather to sue my grandmother, but no one dared to intervene and ask, is it too hasty for the Public Security Bureau to approve the arrest? Are they satisfied? Satisfied, right? Victim? Our family is the victim, right? ”

In the face of this series of cannon-like questions, Ji Xiaoou was silent for a long time. On one side is rigorous, on the other side is Zhan Yu, the palms and backs of her hands are full of meat, she really doesn't know what to say. After a few minutes, she spoke, "In that case, why are you looking for me?" ”

"You're thinking too much. I just think that you know both of them, and you know my brother's situation, and there will be no resistance to you over there. ”

Ji Xiaoou shook his head: "I have always regarded Zhan Yu as a younger brother. If you were me, could you sit in front of his parents and discuss with them how much their only son's life was worth? Can you do it? Maybe you can, but I can't! ”

"How do you know if you don't try?" The parts of Yan Shen's face that could be wrinkled were all wrinkled, and at this moment, his expression was surprisingly rigorous, "Didn't that kid surnamed Zhan sell it just for money?" Can parents who can educate such children not to be tempted in the face of money? It's just a matter of having more money and less money. To be honest, I don't like to deal with this kind of person, because you don't know where their bottom line is, maybe they don't have a bottom line at all. The poor are treacherous, and the rich have a good conscience, have you heard of this? Actually, I know you have something to do with that kid, but since my brother doesn't care, it's useless to say anything about this kind of thing, right? ”

Ji Xiaoou raised his eyes and stared at her for a long time, and asked quietly: "Then you are arguing with your heart, right?" ”

Yan Shen seemed to reflect on it, and he also realized that the last sentence was inappropriate: "I'm sorry, I've been under a lot of pressure lately." I'll take it back. In fact, I don't mean anything else, I just want to tell you that the Zhan family didn't know who was pampering, so they opened an account on Weibo, which was specially used to create rumors about our family, counting all the property in my brother's name on my father's head, and distorting the normal case-handling procedures of the Public Security Bureau into my father's interference. They clearly know how influential Weibo is, but they are afraid that there are many idlers in the world! Now that the Internet Supervisor is squatting on the Internet every day to read hot news, the Commission for Discipline Inspection has begun to intervene in the investigation, do you know? This is ridiculous! Who can really afford to deliberately go online for an investigation? This is someone fishing in troubled waters and deliberately making trouble, do you understand? If you can talk to the Cham family first, let them understand, don't be stupid to be someone else's gun, that's the best, as long as the price is reasonable, we are willing to settle it with money. ”

Ji Xiaoou stood up, intending to end this unpleasant conversation: "Again, I won't do this middleman." You can try it yourself. But I think Zhan Yu's parents, they have no money, but people who have no money are just like you, they have the dignity and bottom line of being a human being. She walked out of the room and instructed the store manager Xiaoyun, "Send off customers for me." ”

Although she broke up with Yan Shen, her appearance reminded Ji Xiaoou that she hadn't seen Li Meiqin for more than a month since Zhan Yu was cremated.

Ji Xiaoou didn't dare to see Li Meiqin, because she always remembered what she said to Li Meiqin: God didn't give you what you wanted, He made you wait in order to give you the best. She was afraid that Li Meiqin would ask her, now all this is the best thing you said? If Li Meiqin really questioned like this, she would be speechless.

The fact is as Ji Xiaoou expected, the lobbyist sent by the Yan family to the Zhan family really hit a big nail.

Zhan Yu's mother said, "Can you bring my son back to life? If he can come back to life, I will pay you for the blood and kidneys you want! ”

Zhan Yu's father replied: "We don't want blood money, the child's life is priceless, we just need the murderer to be punished." ”

But the description of the above details did not come from Yan Shen, but Ji Xiaoou learned from the Internet. Because she heard Yan Shen mention Weibo, she also registered an account and logged in. After groping for a while, I learned most of the functions, and soon found the Weibo that Yan Shen said. She flipped through the pages, and a strange feeling welled up in her mind. Although the Weibo was registered as "Zhan Yu's Father", she was sure that these Weibo posts were definitely not written by Zhan's father. People who write microblogs, judging by the size of their vocabulary and the accuracy of their words, have at least a university education level or above.

The latest two Weibo posts are about the Yan family's vain attempt to use money to buy the Zhan family's parents to shut up. The central idea sums up resoundingly: the justice of the law is the bottom line of the poor people's survival. Therefore, under the two Weibos, there are nearly 6,000 comments, and the retweets have already exceeded 10,000. Ji Xiaoou clicked on the comments and looked at them for a while, in addition to the comfort of Zhan Yu's parents, there was also an initiative to call for donations for them, and the rest were all insults to the rigorous and Yan family, which simply brought together all the derogatory terms in Chinese. She couldn't stand it anymore, so she had to close the comment page. Looking at the avatar of Zhan Yu at the top of Weibo, the feeling that upset her last time came to torment her again. But she couldn't tell what it was like for a while, she just felt that the words on Weibo were inexplicably familiar, and from these words, she seemed to know something, but the fact was that she clearly didn't know.

Finicky, she finally pushed open the door to her room and walked out. Zhao Yamin was sitting on the sofa in the living room watching TV, and when she saw her wearing the outfit she was wearing, she turned her head and asked, "Where are you going so late?" ”

Ji Xiaoou changed his shoes: "Don't go anywhere, go out for a walk." ”

Behind her, Zhao Yamin glanced at his wife meaningfully: "Have you seen it?" It seems that she has to hurry up when she finds a partner. If it goes on like this, something will happen. In our hospital, the two old girls who have never been married in their lives are not all nervous in the end? ”

Behind a few ginkgo trees, she saw a three-story building with a white piece of paper pasted on the glass of the gate, on which was written the notice of the church's activities on Sunday.

She stood for a moment on the side of the road, and on the third floor there was a window ajar open, with a light shining through, and there was a faint sound of piano accompaniment and the sound of hymns: "Will a sick man refuse to be healthy?" Does a grieving person refuse to be comforted? Do lonely people reject their peers? Will the lost person refuse the direction? Will the cold refuse to warm ......"

She tilted her face on tiptoe, trying to hear more clearly, but the voice seemed to disappear suddenly. When she turned to leave, the song drifted again: "Will the hopeless refuse hope? Will the drifters refuse their homeland? Friend, why did you refuse? Friend, why did you refuse? ……”

In an instant, the hustle and bustle of the city vanished, the noise of the vehicles slipped sharply, and all the sounds around it that hindered the music seemed to recede all at once. The mellow singing voice was like a teardrop from heaven, moistening her heart, which was crumpled by the cold wind of early spring. Her feet moved spontaneously, leading her up the stairs to the third floor.

The room on the third floor facing the staircase, the door was hidden, and the singing was coming from this room.

Ji Xiaoou quietly entered through the back door and sat down on the empty seat in the last row. It was a classroom-like room, with a simple piano by the podium, and a choir standing on the stage were all young girls in white robes, singing an extremely familiar hymn in a beautiful voice:

I am the rose of Sharon,

It is a lily in the valley.

My best mate is among women,

It is as if the lily is within a thorn.

My beloved is among men,

like an apple tree in the woods.

I rejoice

Sitting in his shadow,

Taste his fruit,

Feel sweet.