I don't know where I am.

After his arrest, the Public Security Bureau learned the lessons of the previous time and took extremely cautious measures to prevent this former special forces murder suspect from fleeing again. Coming out of the bureau to the new detention center, he was blindfolded with a black cloth all the way. The car was highly sealed, and it was difficult for his ears to pick up the sound outside the car, but from the frequency of the escort police car's start and stop, he could tell that his group was gradually moving away from the city and onto the highway.

As the police car sped forward, the eyes could not see, and the rest of the body's sensory organs became extremely acute, especially the sense of pain. Several fresh wounds reminded him of what happened yesterday, especially on his right eyelid, where the blood clot that had coagulated covered the wound, and the blindfolded black cloth rubbed against the flesh that had just been scabbed without hesitation, and the pain was pushed deep into the eyeball in the same way as an electric drill.

The armed police next to him were drinking water, but no one remembered that the prisoners they were escorting had not drunk a drop of water for more than ten hours. Despite the burning thirst in his throat, Rigor did not speak out against it. From the moment he heard Xu Zhiqun's phone call and understood that it was impossible for him to return to the detention center by turning himself in, he knew that his treatment must be very different from before he escaped, and it could no longer be compared. At this time, although the image was embarrassed, the primitive pride and self-esteem were still there, and he was not used to whispering to the young armed police.

The police car arrived at its destination more than two hours later. Rigor was taken out of the police car and locked up in an empty room. The police officer escorting him was in the next room, and he could hear the buzz of a wall away. Discernible from the accents of those people speaking, it has moved away from Beijing and into the territory of Hebei Province, near Hengshui.

The buzzing sound next door was silent, the door was opened and closed, and the correctional cadres of the new detention center and the escort police from Beijing said goodbye in the corridor, and everyone said that they were humble while saying goodbye, and the Beijing police said that their vigilance was not strong, and the spirit of the correctional cadres was lax, which caused the escape of the prisoners, and the cadres of the detention center said that their counterparts in the capital of Beijing were well-informed, and there were many places worth learning, and they would definitely live up to the trust and take good care of the prisoners. With that, they walked into the room where they were tightly held.

The rigorous blindfold was finally removed, and the bright sunlight that suddenly poured into his eyes stimulated him to raise his hands over his eyes. The upper and lower eyelashes of his right eye were glued together by dried blood, and he didn't dare to open them hard, and the wound on his eyelids was the pain of tearing the flesh when he moved.

A policeman came over, roughly pulled down his arms, opened his handcuffs, and changed them back to the detention center. Rigor squinted at it, the handcuffs in the detention center were clumsier than the delicate stainless steel handcuffs that the police carried with them, but if he really wanted to get out of the handcuffs, the two were equally fragile to him. He curled the corners of his mouth, smiling slightly mockingly, and let the police put on him the shackles that only a felon.

Dragging more than a dozen pounds of heavy shackles, Rigor was transferred to a room in the far corner of the entire cell area. The condition in the room looks good, there is only an iron bed fixed to the wall, equipped with a separate bathroom, it is a rare one-room and one-bathroom layout in the detention center. But after only a glance, Rigor saw the problem: this room has no windows, only a ventilation hole, the light switch is outside the door, and as soon as the light is turned off and the door is turned off, the room is pitch black - in fact, this is a disguised confinement room, no different from the dark room that Marin stayed in before his execution, normal people stay in this dark environment for three days at most, and there is a possibility of mental breakdown if it is too long.

Rigorous walked in, and the door quickly closed behind him. A great cloud of darkness immediately rushed up. The darkness that you can't see your fingers is soft and cold when you touch your face, hands, and body, and you feel as if your whole body is infused in this darkness, turning into a black and transparent piece of amber. He fumbled to lie down on the bed. The restraint of the handcuffs and the weight of the shackles meant that he had to lie on his side to relieve the pain in his wrists and ankles. The darkness in front of him was no stranger to him, and he was not afraid. At that year's "Little Black House" training, his highest record was a full seven days. A small room of about four square meters, without any light source, no communication tools, and no information from the outside world, only food and water. The only tool for calculating time is the interval between one meal and the next. After three meals, he entered a deeper and longer darkness, and that was his night. In the alternation of darkness and darkness, he also has to pay attention to any movement and sound outside the room at all times, because when he leaves the small dark room, there will be examiners who will ask him about the characteristics of the sounds he hears, and if he can't answer, he will be eliminated. Coming out of the small dark room, a young soldier who was originally outgoing and lively has since learned to be silent. He could keep looking at a flower under the sight for twelve hours until he closed his eyes, and the image of the flower in his mind was clearer than the picture taken by a 24-megapixel camera.

But this time, rigor completely loses the concept of time. The hole in the door is opened three times a day to remove the scraps of food from the first time and bring in fresh food and clean water. In the first two days, the person in charge of delivering the food could still see the traces of the food and water cups being moved, and on the third and fourth days, almost every meal was delivered in a different way, and then taken out untouched.

Rigorous feels tired. Ten years ago in a small dark room, he had a lot to do: familiarize himself with the environment with his sense of touch, run in place, sing, and endorse...... But at the moment, he just felt tired, every bone was sore and soft, as if he had just had a stretch beyond the limit. Lying in the same darkness, he kept thinking of the starry sky on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. It was the most he could remember seeing the night together. The black wind of the primeval forest is whistling in the ears, the air is full of the smell of rotting animals and plants, the scorching heat of the subtropical depression, and the thick polyester mesh camouflage suit on the body are all breathless. At such times, he can only raise his head to look for the starry sky. On the plateau at an altitude of 2,000 meters, which is rarely polluted, the sky is full of stars hanging in the deep night sky, so bright and dense that without an astronomical telescope, the naked eye can see each constellation flashing on the canopy in its place, exuding a quiet and eternal light. The permanence and vastness make people feel awe.

He rolled over with difficulty and opened his eyes. By this time, he had fully adapted to the darkness around him, and this boundless darkness was like a viscous liquid, flowing silently into the veins and muscles, soaking into the internal organs of the person. But I don't know when it started, but it lit up in front of me, as if bright meteors were gliding one by one. Rigor feels that his memory is a little confusing, the most magnificent Perseid meteor shower at the end of the twentieth century should be when he participated in the special brigade selection test, when he was blindfolded and thrown down by a jeep, and was left alone in the depths of the Xilin Gol grassland, he accidentally saw an unforgettable scene.

He curled up slowly. It's so cold in the cell! It was as if the wind on the steppe had blown over, cold and hard, like a knife. The night, the cold wind, the swamp, the green eyes of the nocturnal creatures, the little private, who had not yet reached the age of nineteen, stood on the unobstructed grass, and for the first time knew what it meant to be small and what it meant to be afraid. Clutching his beloved automatic rifle, he cried without shame until he saw the countless shooting stars streaked across the sky. He wiped away his tears and stared up blankly at the grand fireworks show overhead, surviving the longest night of his eighteen years of life.

People will remember the first experience for a lifetime, not to mention this special memory, more than ten years later, he can still remember every detail.

In the grassland under the sun, the temperature rises sharply, and you can't walk far to sweat, let alone march with heavy loads. The camouflage uniform is always half wet and half dry, with a layer of white flowers and salt behind it. Without a positioning instrument, he could only rely on his intuition to find the direction to the special training base. When he finished drinking the water he had brought with him, he was so thirsty that his tongue turned into a piece of wood without feeling. From time to time, there will be small pools of water on the grassland, but the kind of stagnant water after the rain breeds mosquitoes, and people will vomit and diarrhea when they drink it. Before he found a clean source of water, he could only put the grass in his mouth and chew it, relying on the sap of the grass blades to relieve the symptoms of water shortage.

Then came the pain, the scorching pain. The heavy strap almost pinched into the shoulder blades, and with each step, the backpack jumped behind him, and the strap rubbed against the flesh of the shoulder, and sweat seeped into the broken parts of the skin, like a knife cutting through the flesh and bones. But at that time, I didn't notice my pain at all, and compared to the increasingly serious body dehydration, this kind of pain in the flesh was nothing at all.

Lying on the iron frame bed in the detention center, it seems to be reliving the scene more than ten years ago. The body is sweating, but I don't know where the moisture is coming from. thirsty, thirsty so that the entrails burn like fire. The memories near and far are gradually blurred, and the only clear feeling is that the water in the body is losing little by little, as if life is leaving little by little.

"Water ......" a fuzzy * escaped from his lips, but no one heard it, only a faint echo in the darkness of the room.

Rigorous's eyes widened, hoping to see the brilliant meteor again like he had done more than ten years ago, but in front of him, there was only omnipresent darkness in front of him. And the darkness seemed to increase little by little, and with each breath, most of it seemed to contain that indescribable black impurity, and then the whole lung seemed to be filled with viscous black fluid. He tried to sit up, but he couldn't, he breathed hard, his memory became more chaotic, and the familiar scene that he had relived many times in his dream returned.

In the dense subtropical forest, the sun shines like a sword from among the dense leaves, and there are unknown insects jumping around without stopping, and there are also blue-gray snakes swimming silently at hand.

"Attention, the target appears."

"Distance?"

"Eight hundred and seventy meters, approaching. The wind is to the right, three-quarters, corrected, two. ”

"Targeting."

"You can shoot."

With a "ping", a wisp of green smoke rose from the muzzle of the gun, and the target in the scope seemed to have been punched in the face as if it had been suddenly punched head-on, and all movements were instantly still, and then fell down with a bang.

"Target hit."

"The threat is lifted. Remove. ”

"Ping", again, the gunfire was far away, but the people around him fell.

He never wanted to look at the fallen target under the muzzle, and he didn't want to see blood and corpses, but this time, at a close distance of 30 centimeters, he witnessed a dazzling blood flower blooming on the chest of his closest comrade-in-arms, and watched with his own eyes how the blood flowed down and how life disappeared little by little.

A little cold liquid slowly slid over his rigorous cheeks, his lips trembled, and in his already completely hoarse voice, he softly sang a song: "You said you have no regrets...... This uniform was worn once...... You say you have no regrets...... These years have become monuments...... You say that being in the army is picturesque...... It's like a wax plum in life......"

It took more than a dozen hours for the detention center to discover the serious anomaly. When the correctional officer opened the door and entered, he was already unconscious. Rigor was carried on a stretcher, the door of the cell opened, and a fresh wind blew in, the morning breeze full of the moist and warm smell of spring, which made him sober for a while. He felt like he was under the water, trying to climb through the viscous darkness of the world, trying to climb up to the light above. In his sane moments, he heard a conversation with the police officer next to the stretcher.

"Didn't you say that he was born in a special forces, and he was so unhelpful?"

"But no, someone from Beijing still says that he is very skilled, who believes it?"

"Yes, his case is too famous, I heard that his family still has a bit of a background, and he is going to die here for us, but it will cause a big mess."

Rigor wanted to speak, but his throat was like being stuffed with a handful of sand, hot and spicy, and he couldn't make a sound at all. He tried to adjust his breathing, but a severe headache forced him to close his eyes, and the darkness consumed him again.

He was first sent to a prison hospital not far from the detention center, where he was diagnosed with acute pneumonia, and because he had not been treated in time, he had already developed symptoms of lung damage. He was urgently transferred to a tertiary hospital in the city, and in order to facilitate police guarding, the hospital specially vacated a single room for him, and of course the window was nailed from the outside in advance.

Yan Yan stayed in this tertiary hospital for nearly a week, and the inflammation was basically controlled. Fortunately, he was physically strong and did not leave too many sequelae, and at this time, the doctor gave him permission to let out the wind in the corridor and meet with outsiders.

The first person to meet with Rigorous was his defense lawyer, Zhou Zhongwen.

When Zhou Zhongwen pushed open the door of the ward, Cheng Cheng was walking slowly in the ward by himself holding on to the wall. Although the doctor believes that going out for walks regularly will be beneficial to his physical recovery, the police need to be closely guarded because of his history of escaping from prison. He had to wear equipment when he went out, and if he was seen in a private hospital, it would be too shocking and too bad, so he was only allowed to let off steam, or take a walk in the ward, at the end of the short corridor. Hearing the knock on the door, Rigor raised his head, and that appearance startled Lawyer Zhou. Because of a head injury, his hair has not been washed for many days, his thick black hair is almost knotted, his eyes are bloodshot, his eyes are tired, and the dense hawthorn covers his entire chin.

Hearing the knock on the door, he raised his head at the same time as the policeman sitting in front of the window. Originally, the police were burying their heads in a pile of local newspapers, but Lawyer Zhou came in and showed him the lawyer's card and power of attorney, and he looked at it with a serious face for a long time, and threw the documents back to Lawyer Zhou, and his eyes fell back to the newspaper's entertainment news, and there was no intention to avoid it at all. Lawyer Zhou knows that there are many public procuratorates, laws, and local rules in the following provinces and cities, which are not as good as Beijing's norms, and many things cannot be taken seriously, so he has to grit his teeth and endure as if he does not exist.

There was no second chair in the ward, and as soon as he sat cross-legged on the bed, his two long legs occupied most of the bed, so Lawyer Zhou could only carefully put half of his butt on the narrow edge of the bed, frowned and asked him, "How did this happen?" ”

Rigor smiled bitterly: "I overestimate myself." I thought I could freeze outside for a few days and nights like I did when I was eighteen or nineteen years old, but who would have thought that I could freeze out of pneumonia? I'm old, and I can't accept it! ”

"But why are you running?"

Glancing at the policeman in front of the window, the policeman happened to move the newspaper away from his eyes and was looking at him with blazing eyes, so he had to lower his voice and reply: "I accidentally got an address, thinking that I could find Liu Wei." ”

"The result?"

"The result? The result was that I was wrong in my judgment and wishful thinking. ”

"Confused!"

"Yes, you're so right, I'm confused!"

"Forget it." Lawyer Zhou sighed, "Let's get down to business. ”

He opened his leather bag and took out a button lunch box from it, "Your mother asked me to bring it to you, and I explained to the police for a long time, and finally agreed to let me bring it in." I just asked the nurse to help me warm it in the microwave, eat it while it's hot, and tell you about the case while I eat it. ”

Carefully open the lid of the box, and inside is a box full of snow-white and plump dumplings. He pinched one and stuffed it into his mouth, and immediately smiled: "Mutton and green onion filling!" Oh, it's still our old lady who loves her son the most. ”

Lawyer Zhou was looking for reading glasses in his purse, and when he heard the movement of his fingers here, he paused, as if he wanted to say something.

But the rigorous gobbling action suddenly stopped. He flicked the remaining dumplings with his fingers and slowly put down the lunch box.

"Lawyer Zhou."

"Huh?"

"You tell me the truth, is there something wrong with my mother?"

Lawyer Zhou's eyes looked at him from the top of his reading glasses: "Why do you ask that?" "This dumpling is not made by my mother, the ingredients are all wrong, I have eaten her dumplings for more than 30 years, and her level has not grown for decades."

Lawyer Zhou closed the file in his hand, took off his glasses, looked at the policeman next to him, and then said, "Originally, this news was blocked from you, because they were afraid that it would affect your peace of mind to confess guilt." But since you asked, I think it's better to tell you the truth. ”

Rigor closed his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering in the air: "My mother...... Passed away? ”

"Nope. Not as bad as you think. Just a stroke, a second-degree cerebral hemorrhage. ”

"And now?"

"It's recovering, and it may take some time to regain the mobility of the left half of the body."

Only then did Rigor open his eyes and look at him intently for a long time. Ordinary people can't stand being stared at by the pair of black eyes of the rigorous, but Lawyer Zhou is well-informed and will not be easily influenced by others, he is still calm under the rigorous gaze, "You don't have to look at me like that, I tell you the truth." ”

"I believe in you." Rigor smiled a little bitterly, "Actually, what else can I do but believe you?" I'm also sure they didn't give you much time, let's talk about the case. ”

"Okay." Lawyer Zhou opened the file and went straight to the point, "These days, I have gone through all the relationships and consulted all the case files I can see. In those case files, the police provided enough evidence to prove that you had committed a felony murder. In addition to the ones we mentioned last time, the fingerprints and blood stains of the deceased were extracted from your residence and in the elevator, and under the guidance of your part-time worker, a shirt of your shirt was found from the garbage can, and fragments of a glass screen were also found, all of which had blood stains of the deceased, especially on the floor of your living room, where low-speed splattered blood stains were found. I've heard that you've worked as a special forces soldier before, so you must know under what circumstances a blood splatter appears. ”

"Of course I do. But at that time, Zhan Yu was cut by a glass shard, and when the person was injured, blood dripped from a high place onto the floor, and if the angle was right, it could also form a low-speed splattering blood stain. ”

Zhou Zhongwen flipped through the materials in his hand: "Well, yes, in your interrogation transcript, I saw these details. But this is only your own confession, which only represents a possibility, but there is no other evidence to support what you say is the only fact. ”

"That is, if there is no evidence that I did not kill someone, then I did, right?"

Zhou Zhongwen stretched out his hands, in a helpless posture, "You react very quickly." But this is clearly a paradox. The fact is that although the evidence provided by the police is not perfect, the motive for the killing, human evidence, and physical evidence are all there, which is enough to support the court's guilty verdict. ”

Rigorous disappointment was directly revealed on his face: "That is, even if we go to court, we have no chance of winning?" ”

"Of course not! I'm not saying it, the police evidence is not perfect. So far, they have not been able to find the tools of the crime and the scene of the dismemberment, which is the best breakthrough point for us to defend our innocence. As for the effect, it depends on how the court adopts it. ”

"Can you only wait for the trial?"

"Yes, if the real culprit never appears, we can only wait for the official trial."

The two talked more about the details of the trial, and finally got impatient, and suddenly lay down on the bed: "How long will it take to be free?" The death penalty is better than doing it every day. ”

Lawyer Zhou looked at him, and a complicated look quickly flashed through his eyes: "Your case has already made a lot of noise." Don't worry, soon, it will be over soon. ”

Rigor only cared about his own little thoughts, and didn't seem to see the instant change in Lawyer Zhou's expression. With his arms behind his head, he asked, "Are we done talking today?" ”

"Yes, I've told you everything it's time to communicate with, and if there are any new developments before the trial, I will apply for a meeting again."

"Lawyer Zhou, in addition to criminal defense, can you help me do some more work as an economic lawyer?"

Zhou Zhongwen replied while packing up his things: "What do you say first, I'll consider whether I can do it." ”

"I have a restaurant in Tianjin, and I want to change the legal person to my girlfriend's name, is it difficult?"

"It depends on how much turnover you have each year."

Rigor quickly mentally calculated: "Normally, 45 million to 50 million a year." ”

Zhou Zhongwen was simply shocked by this number. A man who could have spoken eloquently made a speech moved his lips twice and then froze, as if his lips had been misshaped and did not speak.

His expression was captured with rigor and sensitivity: "Lawyer Zhou, I know what you want to say. For me, money is something outside the body, and life does not bring it to death, so the value of one dollar and ten thousand yuan is the same in my case. If I can give them to the right people, then I will die. ”

Zhou Zhongwen was almost stunned. He thought that Rigor didn't know anything about the outside world, and he didn't know how popular the public opinion on the Internet was today, and how loud the call for the murderer to be sentenced to death immediately was, but in fact, Rigor seemed to know his situation and future destiny. He looked rigorously for a long time, and finally exhaled slowly: "I haven't been in court yet, and the outcome has not yet been decided, so you don't need to humiliate my professional ability so much." ”

Rigor laughed out loud: "I don't mean to underestimate you, I'm just planning for the worst." Not many people still believe in me today. In addition to the family, you are counted as one, and she is counted as one, I will remember it in my heart and will not forget. ”

Zhou Zhongwen shook his head: "Your girlfriend, what's her name?" ”

"Ji Xiaoou."

"What?" Zhou Zhongwen was taken aback, "She...... She's not...... Not the ...... you hijacked."

"That's her."

Zhou Zhongwen hurriedly looked at the policeman next to him, and saw that his attention seemed to be completely focused on the newspaper, so he lowered his voice and asked as vaguely as possible: "You...... Do you really want her to come to the front? ”

In the end, he was a lawyer and well-informed, and he sorted out the whole story in an instant, and guessed the truth about the so-called hostage-taking before he was arrested again. He wanted to remind him that if the police's investigation of Ji Xiaoou's suspected harboring fugitive has not been completely concluded, once the relationship between the two is confirmed, wouldn't it be unfavorable to Ji Xiaoou?

Rigor knew exactly what he was trying to say. It's not appropriate to talk about it at this moment, he can only smile: "I'm sorry for her, can I compensate her?" What law says that I can't compensate the victim? ”

Zhou Zhongwen lowered his head and thought for a while, then stopped saying anything, opened the notebook in his hand, and wrote down the name one by one. Looking at Ji Xiaoou's three words, he was somewhat curious.

What kind of woman is this?

Sitting on the intercity train from Beijing to Tianjin, Ji Xiaoou slowly read through the pages of the booklet he found in the safe. Last time she came back from Tianjin, she went to the hair salon to get a short hair as neat as a boy, and her bangs and sideburns were highlighted with a few strands of grape purple, and the whole person looked more and more light and pretty. The travel companions around her repeatedly looked at her, and wanted to talk to her several times, but she had no distractions, and looked focused and serious.

Judging from those contents, it seems to be the product of rigor taking a piece of paper when he was in a bad mood, and then scribbling two sentences on the paper, only the last page is a serious suicide note, A4 white paper, the handwriting is regular, and the word by word is written very clearly.

On July 20, 1999, it was sunny to cloudy, with wind speed of 4~5 in the southeast

It's time to write about this kind of stuff again.

I have to write before the training camp, and I have to write before the mission, and I have probably written more than a dozen times before and after the past few years, right?

Parents:

Although the leader does not allow us to write a suicide note, if this piece of paper reaches your hands, it will be a suicide note. If you think about it more when I make you angry, you won't be too sad. It's a big deal, I'll go first in this life, die early and be reincarnated early, and in the next life, you will be my child, and I will be your parents, so that I can pay off the debt I owe you in this life.

Caution:

I'll admit one thing to you, when you were in the second grade of primary school, the New Year's money you hid under the mattress was not taken by a mouse, but I took it away and took it to invite your classmates to eat ice cream. In the future, there will be no brother to cover you, your violent temper will be restrained, otherwise no one will fight for you.

Two sons, little one:

It is said that those who are brothers have no afterlife in this life, and it is worth it to meet you two good brothers in this life. The rest doesn't need to be said, you all get it. Whether it is dedication or sacrifice, it is just for a faith, a flag, a vow.

Salute!

preciseness

Ji Xiaoou had never seen such a suicide note, and she almost laughed out loud when she saw it at first, but when she read the last sentence, she burst into tears.

She turned her face out of the window and quickly wiped the drops off her eyelashes. She is grateful to Rigor for giving her these memories of the past, so that she will finally have the opportunity to replay the youth that she did not participate in in a special way, the youth full of blood and passion.

The scenery outside the car window is speeding by, the branches on the roadside have sporadic buds blooming red inner cores, and the soft branches of spring flowers are also glowing rich green. Beijing's long winter is finally coming to an end, and spring is approaching.

Arriving at Tianjin Railway Station at noon, Ji Xiaoou changed into a taxi and rushed to Tanggu. Today is the second time in this month that she has come to the "third". In the past week, she has stayed in Beijing to deal with a number of private matters. first transferred his "flowing years" to an acquaintance to contract. Because she knows that she is not a superman and knows nothing about the catering industry, she can only go all out if she wants to do a good job of "one-third", and she will never have the spare energy to take care of the beauty shop at the same time. After three years of hard work, she had to change hands to others, although her heart was like a knife, she could only temporarily cut her love.

Then there's renting. Even though Ji Zhaolin hurried back from abroad and tried his best to mediate, the relationship between the mother and daughter did not improve. Ji Xiaoou was determined to help strictly manage the restaurant, and Zhao Yamin was also determined to teach her daughter a lesson, and resolutely refused to take back her life. Ji Zhaolin had no choice but to secretly stuff money for his daughter again, and let her go to the express hotel for a few days first, and then go home when Zhao Yamin's anger was gone. Ji Xiaoou collected the money, because before the transfer fee of the beauty shop arrived, her finances were indeed tight, but she did not go to the hotel, but directly entered the real estate agency. Knowing her mother is like a daughter, she knows that Zhao Yamin's anger will not be easily digested, and she must make plans to live abroad for a long time. But it is unfortunate that it is in the off-season of housing rental at the moment, and there are very few houses, so she followed the agent for two days and did not find a suitable house, either the environment is too chaotic, or the rental price is too high. In desperation, she could only find a quick hotel to live in temporarily, and the room rate of more than 100 per day cost her to death. At a loss, Fanya heard about her renting a house and immediately took it over. Fang Nia said that her family's two-bedroom old house has a convenient location, complete appliances, and the lease is coming soon, so she can go out and talk to the tenant in person, even if it is a month's rent, let him move out immediately. As for the rent, it's easy to talk and discuss between the sisters, and Ji Xiaoou looks at it.

The house is implemented, and Ji Xiaoou still has to find a way to solve the problem of transportation tools. After all, the "third" is not in the urban area of Tianjin, but in Tanggu, which is 50 kilometers away from the center of Tianjin. The two places travel frequently, and it is obviously unrealistic to rely only on Beijing-Tianjin intercity trains. But when Ji Xiaoou really planned to buy a cheap car, she remembered that since last year, Beijing has begun to implement the license plate lottery, and she has been in a state of chaos for the past few months, and she has even forgotten about online registration, let alone winning the lottery in the short term. Another problem loomed in front of her, and there was no solution at all, unless she was willing to pay seventy or eighty thousand yuan to buy a license plate from a broker. She was about to listen to the flicker of the 4S store shopping guide and take the risk of renting a company license plate when she received a phone call. This call came from Cheng Ruimin, a strict child.

Cheng Ruimin said: "I just heard Yan Shen mention you, saying that you want to help take care of the 'third' rigorously. You write down my mobile phone number, if you need help in the future, don't see me. In addition, my daughter-in-law is pregnant, not suitable for driving anymore, she has a 'Bora', I will send the 4S shop to overhaul it thoroughly, if you don't dislike it is an old car, just take it and drive it. ”

Ji Xiaoou was very surprised. I didn't meet Cheng Ruimin much, but his elegant conversation left a deep impression on her. She did have a lot of questions about restaurant management that she wanted to ask, but she felt that it was very inappropriate to contact him recklessly, but she didn't expect him to call first, and solve a big problem for her as soon as he came. She accepted this kindness with great gratitude. Before ending the call, she hesitated and asked, "Brother Ruimin, can I ask you a question?" ”

"You're welcome, please say it."

"What if...... If you take over the 'third', what would be the first few things to do? ”

Cheng Ruimin was silent for a while and replied: "First, look at the income and expenditure in recent years, and have a good idea of the entire business situation. Second, start with the biggest problem at the moment, find a feasible solution, and start working on it right away. Third, clean up the outliers among the employees, and if there is a second mind, immediately try to find someone who can replace him. But Xiaoou, there is something I want to tell you, you are a girl, you must be careful, the people you come into contact with in the catering industry are very complicated, and when you encounter something that you can't solve, don't be reckless, come to find someone who can solve the problem. Me, Yan Shen, and you Zhiqun brother, you can do it. ”

Ji Xiaoou was very moved. She didn't expect him to reply seriously, but she didn't expect him to give a sincere and feasible answer immediately. Holding the phone, she sincerely thanked him: "Brother Ruimin, thank you!" ”

For the remaining few days, Ji Xiaoou stayed in the hotel room and carefully studied the account books in the safe. Finally, we have a clear understanding of the turnover, daily operating expenses and gross profit of the "third" in recent years. In those ledgers, she also saw that the last page of each year had a list of year-end dividends with a name, the date of purchase, the contact person and contact information. These people have various backgrounds, such as industry and commerce, public security, urban management, and health and epidemic prevention, all of which are closely related to the operation of restaurants. The list has not changed from previous years, except last year, when a new name was added. Only there is no work unit behind this name, and it is someone she knows - the "little beauty" who forced her to cut off her long hair. However, on the list, the real name of "Little Beauty" - Li Guoqiang is used, 10% of the shares, and the date of entry indicated later is June last year.

Facing the name of "Little Beauty", Ji Xiaoou thought for a long time. She remembered that in June of last year, it seemed that something big had happened. At that time, Zhan Yu disappeared for a long time for no reason, and he also underwent detraumatic plastic surgery because of his facial injury. The rigorous and vague conversation with Zhan Yu in the ward suddenly jumped out of her memory at this time, allowing her to connect the two unrelated things of the "Little Beauty" into the stock and Zhan Yu's injury, and intuitively, she guessed that the "Little Beauty" entered the "third", which should have something to do with Zhan Yu. But it's a pity that the two parties, Rigor and Zhan Yu, can't answer her questions.

After sorting out the accounts, she felt that she could implement the second point that Cheng Ruimin said, that is, to start with the biggest problem and find a feasible solution. And the biggest problem for "One-Third" at present is how to get out of the quagmire of male sex trade and restore its reputation. When she came to Tanggu this time, she was ready to discuss with the store manager the first step to implement: Is it possible to fire some male waiters and interview female waiters?

But when Ji Xiaoou was besieged on the gangway by "one-third" of the employees, she realized how wrong her judgment was. The most pressing issue for the "third" right now is not the restoration of reputation, but the flow of money.

Ji Xiaoou didn't even enter the "third" hall, so he was stopped by the male waiters and kitchen workers on the gangway of the boarding ship. There were only a dozen people on duty that day, but there were at least thirty people around Ji Xiaoou, all of them were emotional, and the first few were even more intense, when talking to her, their mouths would not be more than twenty centimeters away from her face, and their breath was mixed with saliva and sprayed directly into her face.

Ji Xiaoou resisted the urge to wipe her face with a napkin, pressed a hand that was almost on her nose, and tried her best to amplify her voice to the limit: "Everyone be quiet!" ”

Her voice was unexpectedly loud, and the crowd seemed to explode two kicks out of thin air, and her gossip suddenly quieted down.

After a period of pushing just now, Ji Xiaoou's obedient short hair was all messed up, and the original neat bangs were draped on his forehead one after another. She stood firmly against the railing, her voice was not high, but she was calm: "What's the matter?" I thought my aunt and grandmother were so good bullies? ”

The lead waiter looked her up and down. At first, they all thought she was just a strict girlfriend, young, plus she had long hair when she first came, and she was slender like a female model. didn't take her seriously, until she confronted the "little beauty" face-to-face, and they made them look at her differently. At this moment, seeing her crossed her waist, her tone of speech was vicissitudes and the rivers and lakes, and her momentum involuntarily weakened a little.

"Sister Ji," the waiter opened his mouth, "We are not unreasonable, but we are all 'one-third' old employees, and we have worked hard without credit over the years, and Boss Yan has always been polite to us when he is here." Hello, let's lay off employees without saying a word. It's just layoffs, according to the contract, you always have to give advance notice, and you always have to compensate, right? ”

Ji Xiaoou was stunned on the spot: "Who told you to lay off employees?" ”

"Don't pretend!" A waiter in the back spoke, "Manager Liu has said it, what do you mean by pretending again?" ”

"Manager Liu?" Hearing this, the angry flames in Ji Xiaoou's heart suddenly burst into flames. The store manager Liu Wanning deliberately missed the appointment last time and let her face the ruffians of the underworld alone, which had already made her angry. She didn't know how many times she had persuaded herself in her heart before she could suppress her anger at him and be able to talk to him normally. She was polite to Liu Wanning because his prestige among the restaurant staff was not bad, and the entire restaurant now relied on him to support its normal operation, and she didn't want to easily offend a mature store manager. But the content of the secret conversation between the two on the phone more than ten hours ago, she specially told several times that she must not disclose half a point to the employees before the implementation of the implementation plan.

She took a deep breath and clenched her fists to calm herself, not letting the situation get worse. After thinking for a while, she spoke: "The restaurant's business has been sluggish recently, and it is necessary to open up sources and reduce expenditures. But layoffs are only a last resort when forced to do so, and they are the worst option. Whether it needs to be implemented or not, it depends on the recovery of the restaurant's turnover in the past two months, is it a bit too much for you to be so excited? ”

The waiters only thought that layoffs were imperative, but they didn't expect her to explain like this, and they lost the direction of the attack for a while, and couldn't help but look at each other. The leader groaned slightly, and then said, "It's not that we're excited. Sister Ji, think about it, last time the TV station said that 'one-third' was a pornographic place, and we were all regarded as selling lust, and under so much social pressure, many people didn't leave, so they just stayed. After Boss Yan went in, he owed us two months' wages inside and out, and everyone didn't say anything, believing that as long as Boss Yan came back, it would be fine. But now the situation is ...... What should we do with the restaurant, whether we are going to stay or staying, and when will the arrears of wages be paid to us, there must be an accurate word, right? ”

Ji Xiaoou was stunned again when he heard it: "What? Owe you wages? Manager Liu...... He...... Didn't he mention it to me? ”

The waiters shouted again, dozens of people and dozens of voices, so noisy that Ji Xiaoou didn't hear anything, and he couldn't suppress it. In the end, she had to fly up and kick the fire extinguisher on the side of the ship, and the fire extinguisher flipped over, with a loud bang, and then the bones rolled out for a long distance, and with this loud noise, the noisy human voices also stopped.

"Everyone, be quiet, listen to me for a few words." Ji Xiaoou stood a little higher on the gangway and said loudly to everyone: "Since you give me 'one-third', you will hand over your future to me. Here I would like to make a promise to you, even if Rigorous will not come back in a short period of time, the 'third' will neither fall down, nor change hands, let alone lay off employees. As for the salary, wait for me to confirm with Manager Liu, at half past three in the afternoon, everyone will come to the restaurant, and I will definitely give you an explanation today. The restaurant is about to open, so please take your seats. If there is no shift, go back and rest as soon as possible. ”

Her tone sounded very affirmative, and there was no doubt about it, and the waiters judged the situation and slowly dispersed. Ji Xiaoou and the others were all clean, and then they took out a napkin and wiped the saliva that had dried off their faces. After throwing the crumpled napkin into the trash, she smiled self-deprecatingly, she didn't expect to taste the taste of spit and dry herself in this life.

Back in Rigor Rigour's office, she found a paper cup and poured a glass of water, and just brought the cup to her mouth, when she suddenly found a courier on the table, with Rigor writing Rigbe's name.

Look at the sender, above is the address of the District Court. Since it was an official letter, Ji Xiaoou was afraid of delaying the matter, so he opened the seal, but unexpectedly saw a notice of the court's hearing. The notice said that because a company sued "one-third" for malicious default, the court has filed a case and will hold a trial in a month.

Holding this summons, Ji Xiaoou only felt that the Venus in front of him was popping up, and he felt out of breath for a while. If the news of the non-payment is reported and the bank and other collaborators know that there is a problem with the restaurant's cash flow, they immediately call for loans and old debts, and stop the supply completely, it will be a real defeat, and there will be no chance of turning over.

In a fit of anger, she dialed Liu Wanning's phone, but after calling several times, she answered her with a cold recording: I'm sorry, the number you dialed is down.

Ji Xiaoou looked down at the number on her mobile phone, and the ominous premonition overflowed from the bottom of her heart like a tide, drowning her like a roof. She only felt that the temperature of the water was like the cold sea water in December, freezing so that the bones of the whole body were stiff, she remembered that Yan Shen told her that this shop was the lifeblood of Rigor, and remembered that Yan Shen said to her before leaving, "Xiaoou, take a good look at the 'third' for me." This time, she was afraid that she would finally fail his trust.

Ji Xiaoou held the mobile phone, as if he had lost his soul for a while, and stared at it in a daze. It wasn't until the phone "jingled" and prompted that there was a new text message that she glanced down in a trance.

The text message was sent by Cheng Ruimin: "The car has been retrieved, come to my house at your convenience." ”

This text message made her wake up from a dream and slowly come back to her senses. Biting her lip and thinking for a while, she dialed Cheng Ruimin back.

Cheng Ruimin listened to the cause and effect, thought for a moment, and then said, "I'm afraid the situation is not good." I have the contact information of the chief accountant in Beijing, you wait first, I will contact him, and I will call you in ten minutes. ”

Ji Xiaoou hung up the phone, and for the next ten minutes, she was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, holding her mobile phone and walking around the room non-stop. When the phone rang again, she didn't delay for almost a second, and quickly answered the call.

"I've checked it." Cheng Ruimin said, "The wages of the first two months, as well as the payment, Beijing has transferred on time." You contact the store manager immediately, if you still can't get in touch, call the police as soon as possible, I suspect that he is missing the money. ”

"How much is it?"

"The salary of employees is 500,000 yuan, and the payment for goods is 4.32 million."

"Huh? So much? Ji Xiaoou's eyes widened.

"Yes, almost five million. Listen to Xiaoou, you can't mess around at this time, do it one thing at a time. First, first choose a capable person from the floor manager below and temporarily act as the store manager, and at the same time, I will also ask the headhunter to help you find a more suitable person. ”

"Okay."

"Second, the supplier that sued, you try to understand its background, and after many years of cooperation, it can get into trouble to the extent of a lawsuit, and there must be some story in the middle that you don't know. Before the other party's details are clear, don't act rashly. ”

"Okay."

"Third, employees should be emotionally stable, and the restaurant business must not be affected by this incident. The strict bank account is now in the hands of Yan Shen, the arrears of employee wages, you hurry up to find her to find a way, if there is a problem, I will pay it. ”

"Remember, Brother Ruimin."

Compared with Ji Xiaoou's impatience, Cheng Ruimin was particularly calm. Ji Xiaoou was very convinced of him. At the end of the call, she immediately called the floor manager of the hall into the office, told him the current situation, and asked him to temporarily take over the position of store manager.

The floor manager is in his thirties, and at first glance he is a person who has come over in the society, is very knowledgeable about current affairs, and speaks beautifully, and immediately patted her chest to reassure her that everything has him, and he will definitely be in the same boat with the "third". Ji Xiaoou knew that this person was not very reliable, but in extraordinary times, he could only adopt unconventional employment to ensure the normal operation of the store's business. She asked the new store manager to check it out and see if there were any other anomalies.

The manager of the new store promised to go out, and Ji Xiaoou calmed down and thought about what he would do next. There was a thick employee file in the bookcase, she took it out and found Liu Wanning's page, the contact information column, in addition to his mobile phone number, there was also a home phone number for emergency contact. She dialed it, and the phone went through, and a woman answered. But as soon as she mentioned Liu Wanning's name, the other party immediately replied bluntly: "I don't know, you made a mistake!" Then the phone hung up. When I dialed it again, I could only hear the busy sound of Di Di, and it was obvious that the other party had put the microphone on the table.

At this time, the new manager and the head chef had already made a tour of the bilge, and came up to report that the seven or eight bottles of good wine that had been kept privately in the cellar before, worth hundreds of thousands, had all disappeared overnight.

Ji Xiaoou sat down on the chair and muttered, "Bastard! Don't miss even a few bottles of wine! She waved her hand tiredly, "You guys get busy first." ”

The new manager stood in front of her and refused to leave: "Then if I ask about the salary, how can I tell them?" ”

Ji Xiaoou sighed: "I'll go to the police first, and you have to go with me." When we come back, I'll explain it to you, and I won't embarrass you. ”

The procedure for reporting to the police is complicated and cumbersome, but fortunately, Ji Xiaoou also opened a store herself, and her experience in dealing with the police at the police station and the street office is enough to deal with it, and it is not difficult for her. The most difficult part at the moment is how to inform the restaurant employees who are waiting for their salaries to be paid.

The new store manager said: "We can only hide the fact that Liu Wanning ran away with the money for the time being, and try to make up the salary first, otherwise once the employees below know that even the store manager has run away, I am afraid that people's hearts will fluctuate and it will be difficult to manage." ”

Ji Xiaoou has not spoken, her worries are the opposite of the new store manager. She was worried that if she hid Liu Wanning's affairs from the employees below, once the news leaked, the situation would definitely get out of control, and it would be too late to remedy it. There is also a rigorous current situation, even if you don't say it, everyone can understand it through the Internet. Public opinion on the Internet is extremely unfavorable to rigor, and most netizens believe that he will be sentenced to death, and if he does not find a way to tie up the employees with the restaurant at this time, he is afraid that he will lose more than half of his salary. On the way back to "One-Third" from the police station, she originally wanted to call Yan Shen, but she took out her mobile phone and thought about it, and then took it back, and at this moment she had made a decision in her heart.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, there was only one table left for the customers in the store, and except for the two waiters who were left for this table, the rest of the staff, including the foreman, waiter and kitchen staff who were on rotation, were concentrated in the largest private room. There were not enough chairs to sit on, and many people were standing, and for a time a huge room was crowded.

Ji Xiaoou stood in front of everyone, fortunately she was tall, although she faced a room of men, her aura did not show weakness.

"Brothers, uncles, I never dreamed that one day I would face such a scene. Needless to say, you must have learned a lot from the Internet. But there is one thing I must say, I believe in rigour, I believe that he is by no means a murderer, and that one day he will come back. In the days leading up to his return, we will have to get through it together. There is one thing that I was advised to keep it a secret from you for the time being, but I felt that since we need to be in the same boat with each other, then I must be honest with everyone. Mr. Liu of our hotel, no, it should be said that Mr. Liu is the former Mr. Liu, who rolled up the hotel for five million and disappeared! In addition to the payment of more than 4 million yuan, it also includes two months' wages for you. ”

There was a moment of silence in the private room, like a few drops of water falling into a hot oil pan, and suddenly exploded, and the faces that were originally nervous because of their high attention showed a variety of expressions because of their different reactions to the news, but the most were obviously anxious and angry.

Ji Xiaoou waited quietly, waiting for people to vent to their heart's content, and then he quieted down. When the sound in her ears subsided slightly, she pulled up her chair and stood up.

"Listen to me. Manager Liang and I just came back from the police station to the police, after all, it was too late to find out, and it is difficult to say whether the money can be recovered. Five million is indeed not a small number, especially when our hotel is in a difficult time, and it is difficult to turn over funds. You may not know that the more than 4 million yuan of money that Liu Wanning took away involved a fishery company that had cooperated with us for three years, and this company had already gone to the court to sue us. Of course, I'll try to deal with it. I understand that the most important concern is the issue of salary. As for the salary, I have two options here, and you can choose which one is more appropriate. The first one, the hotel will start to disperse from today, and all the assets in the store, you can take away the salary, tables and chairs, and kitchen guys, what is valuable, you will not stop it! At this point, she paused for a moment, condescendingly glanced at the noisy and quiet crowd in front of her, and continued, "The second way, from today onwards, all the daily flow, I mean, all, I don't keep a penny, after the end of each day's business, the day's turnover will be paid according to the proportion of each person's salary, every day, until the wages you are owed." After that, the debts are cleared, and who wants to go or stay is up to them. ”

When these two approaches are compared side by side, most people may prefer the second option. Because although the first way can be cashed out instantly, it directly extinguishes all people's hopes. How much are tables, chairs, pots and stoves worth? How can you stand up to so many people carving up? In the second case, although the "one-third" business is currently light, the daily turnover is at least 30,000 or 40,000 yuan, and if the store is not closed within two months, the arrears of wages can be completely offset. Although there are many uncertainties in this approach, it can delay the final despair until two months later. Choosing the second option is basically human.

Ji Xiaoou has never done management, only a few years ago when he was working as an assistant to the general manager, he was exposed to the words corporate culture and team cohesion, even if he opened a beauty shop, he was just doing it on instinct. But from the arrest of Rigorous, in just over half a month, she seemed to have grown up suddenly, forced herself to think about a lot of things, and fulfilled the responsibilities that were hastily pressed on her shoulders without a teacher. In this way, she ties those old employees to the "third", and the economic interests that are closely related to her will force them to use more potential to increase their daily turnover.

After enjoying more than 20 years of comfortable life, Ji Xiaoou finally understood that the original desperate situation is the fastest way to make a person grow.

The next morning, Ji Xiaoou drafted a wage payment agreement according to the method discussed the day before, and watched the store manager stamp the official seal on dozens of copies one by one, so she left Tanggu and returned to Beijing with confidence. On the intercity express back to Beijing, Ji Xiaoou received a cautious phone call.

"Xiaoou, come to the house immediately, it's a very urgent matter."

Ji Xiaoou shuddered for a moment, and her stern tone made her feel frightened: "I'm still on the intercity express, and I won't be able to get to Beijing in forty minutes." What the hell is going on? ”

Yan Shen was silent for a few seconds, and then used a very low voice, so low that Ji Xiaoou had to put his ear tightly to the earpiece of the mobile phone to hear clearly.

Yan Shen said: "Lawyer Zhou will take you to meet Rigorous. ”