Towering chimneys, spewing smoke at every moment, foggy the sky; The tall buildings made of steel and concrete roared loudly, even from a long distance, they could be heard clearly; Locomotives spew steam and drive slowly on metal tracks, tall horses pulling laden wagons through the snow-covered roads unhurriedly, leaving rut marks in their wake.

Standing at the crossroads, Zhao Xi is like a city during the Industrial Revolution, where tradition and modernity coexist, but compared to the picture depicted in history books, there is a remarkable place that the former does not have.

Whether it is a worker with a hurried footsteps and a tired face, or a gentleman with elegant manners and a top hat, or even a policeman with a solemn expression in a woolen jacket, all of them have animal characteristics in appearance-----

The fluffy round ears on both sides of the head, the fluffy hair covering the whole body and the curls at the ends, and even the head of a bear or a wolf are simply grown, the style is like an anthropomorphic animal in a cartoon, which is quite fantastical.

Even though he witnessed it many times along the way, this scene still made Zhao Xi feel strange. Staying at the intersection and watching the pedestrians coming and going, the young man waited for several minutes before he suddenly came back to his senses:

I didn't come to investigate the customs, I came to do the right thing.

The idea is very clear, but unfortunately there are few clues at hand, and someone is also a clever woman who is difficult to cook without rice. Trying to overcome the anxiety in his heart, Zhao Xi pursed his lips and groaned for a moment, and finally took out a device that looked like a smartphone from his arms, and took a step after some operation.

Sometimes briskly, sometimes observing, the person concerned wandered through unfamiliar alleys until he finally arrived at a clearing in the middle of several residential buildings. "It should be, it's here~" muttered to himself put away the device, and after a little inspection, nothing unusual was found, Zhao Xi quickly turned his gaze to the side of the road not far away, a man who was busy behind the cart.

Perhaps someone's gaze was too strong, and the bearman, who was busy placing bottles and cans, stopped moving, lifted his maned face, and squinted his eyes to look the young man up and down.

"Where's a strange face, outlander?"

The other party took the lead in breaking the silence, and it was not appropriate to pretend to be deaf and dumb again, and Zhao Xi, who confirmed the nearby others, stepped forward and said hello with a smile. After a little politeness, he expressed his meaning, and the young man quietly observed the bear-faced man while talking, and the big stone hanging in his heart fell:

Even if their work is affected, the bear people who set up the stalls are not vigilant and angry. Impatience and other emotions, but scratching his chin with his nails, acting very reasonable. "So, sir, you're coming... Looking for someone? ”

"That's right," pointing to the open space where the snow had not yet been cleared and was a little depressed, Zhao Xi pretended to sigh helplessly. "I only know that he netizen 'Nikolai', who moved here about half a month ago, and his scope of activities is in this area. Uncle, you set up a stall in this position, and people who come and go every day can't escape your eyes, nine times out of ten you have seen him, do you have an impression of such a person? ”

Hearing this, the burly man frowned and thought for a long time, then shook his head slowly but firmly. "I'm sorry, sir."

"There are several people named Nikolai nearby, but none of them match your description and let you down."

After all, there is so little information that it is pitiful, and some key points are inconvenient to disclose, so Zhao Xi is not surprised to encounter setbacks. Bidding farewell to the uncle who had begun to tie his apron around his waist, he rubbed his hands and looked around, starting to look for his next target.

"Thank you, big sister, goodbye." Smiling and waving at the middle-aged woman carrying the vegetable basket, seeing her figure disappear around the corner of the street, Zhao Xi narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, opened his mouth and exhaled a white breath.

"That's ...... so"

Nikolai's search was still clueless, but Zhao Xi was not in vain, and after several attempts, he confirmed that he had one trait----

Negotiation skills.

It's not the erudition of being proficient in multiple languages and having its own translation, nor is it the talkative who is good at observing words and feelings, and can see people talking and talking nonsense when encountering ghosts, but something more metaphysical, similar to 'favorability'. As long as Zhao Xi communicates with good intentions, most of the targets will let down their guard and communicate with them as enthusiastically as they treat friends, even ignoring the illogical parts of the rhetoric.

It's a pity that this ability doesn't work at all for hostile people, for example, a certain ragged homeless man, Zhao Xi touched a nose of dust. The young man who thought of this unintentionally glanced at him, but was noticed by the person who was curled up in the corner of the wall and shivered from the cold, and the brown-faced man with a thin yellow face immediately pulled up his collar to cover the black scar on his neck, and at the same time shouted at Zhao Xi with a fierce look in his eyes:

"Look at it, get out of here, you criminal who oppresses the infected!"

Neurotic, but just ask a few words casually, there is no need for this face, Zhao Xi, who was speechless, didn't bother to argue with it, and turned around with an easy-to-understand gesture. Thinking about what to do next, it was not until a familiar voice came to his ears that the young man realized that he had unconsciously circled the entire area and reached his original position.

"Yo, sir." Seeing that Zhao Xi didn't react, the middle-aged man who had already put on his fur hat put down the knife in his hand and said with concern: "Still haven't found your friend?" ”

"Nope." With a bitter face and shrugging his shoulders, Zhao Xi looked at the kitchen knives and seasonings on the cart, and said without words: "Uncle, you are selling... Toast? ”

"Freshly baked white bread with freshly picked cucumbers and lettuce in the middle, topped with this year's honey, this is Chernobog's favorite delicacy!!" When it came to the goods he was selling, the middle-aged man suddenly became energetic, and a proud smile appeared on his face. His hands flew up and down like butterflies, and someone made a copy on the spot in a few moments and enthusiastically handed it to Zhao Xi.

"Come on, you should eat something delicious on a cold day, the original price is twenty Lu, seeing that you are a foreigner, it is enough to give eighteen Lu."

On the one hand, it was difficult to be warm, on the other hand, he was busy for most of the day, and he was indeed a little hungry, so he peeked into his pocket to confirm that the funds were still abundant, Zhao Xi couldn't help but take the golden bread and took a bite tentatively. "Ouch, it tastes good."

Laughing, the man took out a cucumber from the hidden compartment under the cart and sliced it with a knife. Placing the processed vegetables on the side of the board, he saw Zhao Xi looking distressed, and his eyes rolled to the young man.

"Sir, if you really don't have a clue, I have a suggestion----

"Suggestion?".

"Well," after a slight pause, the man pointed behind Zhao Xi and said, "Go down this road, turn right at the second intersection, and there is a red building on the left. ”

"That's the Chernobog police station, where the military police are stationed, and you can ask them for help."