About a quarter of an hour later, I sat by the window of the café and saw Xin Xiaoruo trotting across the road with a parasol and rushing towards this direction.

The café in the morning was deserted and the air conditioning was turned on just right. She pushed the door open, looked up to find my spot, ran to the front desk and ordered an iced latte, then walked over and sat across from me.

"It's hot!" She grumbled, then glanced at the espresso in front of me.

"What kind of pen is it to drink such a strong thing?"

"Hey, you're a girl, can you ...... talk?"

"Civilized, huh? Only you men are allowed to scold, and we women are not allowed to be angry? ”

"You're taking a feminist stance, dividing everything into two extremes, men and women." I said to her.

"Hehe, my feminist? Then I ask you, why are the words in so many languages divided into yin and yang? Aren't they all French, German, Italian, Spanish?

"Society is feminine, bureaucrats are masculine, schools are masculine, work is masculine – you say, did I divide things into men and women first, or did they divide things into male and female first?"

I was speechless, I just backed down when Xin Xiaoruo was aggressive in the past, but now I only refuted a few words, I didn't expect her to be so sharp-tongued.

"You're stealing the concept." I say.

"Oh, I haven't seen you for a day, like every three autumns - I haven't seen you for two months, and you're starting to go on the road." Xin Xiaoruo took a sip of coffee, glanced at me, and snorted vigorously through her nose.

"Looking for me?"

"Nonsense, why are you looking for you if you have nothing to do?"

"What about Lao Zheng? Didn't you two look for me? ”

"I asked him to contact you, our relationship in the publishing house is so stiff, I look for you, are you willing to pay attention to me?" She said in a weird way.

"Have you ever been stiff? I'm letting you, right? If one side attacks and the other side retreats, then there can be no confrontation, and without confrontation, there is no stalemate, right? Besides, I don't understand, I have a deep hatred for you. ”

"Ouch, eloquence is good, and it will lure the enemy deep - it's not that you have a deep hatred, it's just that you don't like it!" Xin Xiaoruo sentenced life and death with one word.

"Okay, I'll serve, you cow." I raised my hands in surrender.

"I want to slap you when I see you!" She said angrily.

I really don't understand what I've done wrong, I don't have anything to do with her, I don't have any reason, and I usually have very little communication in the unit - probably some love and hate, it's really no reason.

"Okay, let's get down to business." I reminded her.

"When did I not get down to business? Okay, long story short, I heard that you are now with the criminal investigation team, what kind of consultant are you doing? ”

"It's kind of a follower."

"Can you help me look into something?"

"Aren't you trying to smack me in a big mouth? Why did you ask me to help you again—use it like an arch, and discard it like a piece of? ”

"Uncle's! You're not the same person anymore! Xin Xiaoruo accused indignantly.

"It's normal, we have to look at the problem from the perspective of development. You used to see me in the sky, and there was no affection between the two of us, so you came up and asked me for help, which is a bit unreasonable, right? ”

"Love to help or not - aren't you investigating a serial murder case with lettering? I was going to give you some clues, but now it's okay, don't talk about it! Xin Xiaoruo put the coffee cup on the table with a bang, then picked up the parasol and turned around to leave.

"Oops!" As soon as I heard that it was a clue, I quickly chased after it, "Just kidding, I have something to say." ”

"It's disgusting to look at how mercenary you look now." Xin Xiaoruo said ugly words on his lips, but he stopped his steps.

After a lot of persuasion, I finally gave her enough steps and coaxed her back.

"What clues?" As soon as she sat down, I asked with a smile.

"It's not a big clue, I see rumors on the Internet that these forehead tattoo murders were all done by a group of monsters, is this the truth?"

Because I am afraid of causing panic among the citizens, the existence of the faceless man is still in a state of secrecy, and I can't admit it according to the regulations. However, from Xin Xiaoruo's eyes, I understood that she already had the answer.

Although the book editor is not an investigative journalist, he has a unique acumen in the hooking and sinking of information, logical collation, and exploration of microscopic information. So since Xin Xiaoruo said this question in person and grasped some clues, she must have the bottom in her heart.

"The truth is what you deduce." I chose a sentence that was not indisciplined and reassuring to her.

She nodded.

"That's right, I've recently spotted a weirdo, and—I should have found the nest of the weirdos."

"What?!" I was so surprised that I almost jumped out of my seat.

"Why are you so excited?" Xin Xiaoruo said casually.

I was anxious: "You must not act alone!" You don't know how dangerous those guys really are! ”

"Of course you know, didn't they say that they were the ones who killed people and stabbed words? I also know that there is danger, so I am looking for you and telling you! Don't I want to discuss a solution with you? ”

“…… Most of them are tattoos, and they don't do it directly. I had to vaguely clarify, "How the hell did you find out, can you tell me about it?" ”

"It's just a chance...... Xin Xiaoruo suddenly blushed for some reason, this is not like her usual appearance at all.

……

It all started half a month ago.

Xin Xiaoruo has an ex-boyfriend, she probably opened up this time and told me everything. She repeatedly stressed that this was just one of her more than two dozen ex-boyfriends.

"It's not the fifteenth, it's the sixteenth." She tilted her head and thought for a moment before saying.

"How old are you today?"

"Twenty-three."

"Fall in love when you come out of your mother's womb, and talk about it once a year?"

"Don't make a fuss, you old, you still have the thinking of the Xianfeng period in your head. Why talk about one a year, a month, half a month.

"The process of falling in love is not simple - love at first sight, a few dates, a meal, a hand, a kiss and a hug, you and me, the last shot and two scattered, and each went to the end of the world. What a simple thing, why do you drag on for a year and a half? ”

"Gotta get it." I spread my hands to express my helplessness.

Anyway, Lao Fifteen (tentatively called so) rented a place and wanted to open a real-life secret room party hall, he asked his friends to visit, and Xin Xiaoruo was also among the people invited.

"Can you still be friends after you break up?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Why can't you be friends when you break up, friends are the foundation, and breaking up is just an embellishment, do you understand?"

"I understand, I understand!"

"I understand your size, I understand!"

A few friends came to the secret room pavilion, and after playing two games, they went to the platform on the top floor of the building to have a barbecue.

There is a whole bunch of debris on the platform. Lao 15 explained that this was a former hotel, and these are all things left over from the hotel.

"It's okay, a scrap company will take it away in the evening." He said to everyone.

"What kind of scrap collector has to come and move it at night?" Xin Xiaoruo asked in surprise.