Is the boss fine today?

"Where did you go? Why is your face pale and pale from the cold, you poor boy." Zhao Zhao was sleepy, and touched Tan Yue's face, which had lost its temperature due to the fan, with his warm palm.

Tan Yue yawned, he was tired: "I'm going to the mountain."

"I told you to go climbing with me, but you didn't go, but went with Situ."

"Different."

"Are you dating?"

"No, are you and Yi Yun dating?"

"No wow."

"My relationship with Situ is like you and Yi Yun."

Zhao Zhao poked the arm of Situ who was making tea on the table, "Is that so?"

"Drink tea." Situ brought two cups of hot tea, "It's cold today."

The rainy season and winter overlap in the south, and the wetter the weather, the colder it is, but this place does not belong to the heating area.On the cliff, they were wrapped in the cold wind, with a cold fog behind them.Talking about complaining about the weather, Situ said that if Talking stays until December, the rain will freeze and ice will be everywhere. If you go out, you have to change into a pair of boots that have a firm grip, or you will fall easily.Tan Yue fantasized about this situation. He and Situ walked on the frozen milky white street with their hands in their hands. The road was white and endless.He asked Situ if this was the same as the ice and snow in the north.Situ said that he had never been to the north, and he had never left City W.

For a moment, Tan Yue almost said "Come with me".

This idea appeared suddenly, and it only stayed for a second, because Tan Yue quickly reined in the cliff.Leaving aside the fact that Situ can't leave, has the relationship between him and Situ really reached such a level that he can be desperate?That's why he hesitated.Just as Tan Yue said they were friends with guns, Zhao Zhao asked, but Situ didn't refute.So he thought so too.

It was too cold on the mountain at night, and the moonlight was not so beautiful.After finishing the cigarette, Situ patted the dust off his body and said, "Go back to the inn." The two went back.

After Zhao Zhao drank his tea, he didn't worry about this problem anymore, "It would be great if the inn had heating."

Zhao Zhao is a very lively person, in Tan Yue's view, he is a bit naive.Zhao Zhao once said that he is a painter, but Tan Yue, a retired photographer, spends much more time picking up his camera than when he was holding a paintbrush in the inn. Anyway, Tan Yue has never seen him paint or his paintings.Thinking of this, he guessed that Zhao Zhao might not be here to paint, but maybe he was here for vacation and to take some drugs by the way.

Tan Yue asked him, "How long do you plan to live in Meizhen?"

"Next month." Zhao Zhao breathed out a mouthful of white mist, looking satisfied, "My painting is not finished, I just care about it."

"What painting?"

"sun."

"Send it to me when you have time." Tan Yue said.

At night, Situ and Tan Yue were bedded together as usual.Situ seems to be really afraid or unwilling to see Tan Yue committing suicide. In fact, this kind of thing cannot be stopped. If you want to prevent a person from committing suicide, you may have to knock out his teeth, nail the doors and windows, and interrupt him. Hands and feet tied him to the bed to prevent this person from biting his tongue, jumping off a building, or crashing into a wall to his death. In fact, Situ really had a lot of worries, and he talked about at least not planning to forcibly commit suicide these days.He is now very frustrated, failed to commit suicide and fell into the arms of a drug dealer by mistake.

The bedside lamp was on, and Situ took off his shirt. His body was very strong, with firm and distinct muscles.Tan Yue bent his fingers and tapped on his abdominal muscles, and it was pushed away.The moonlight from the rear window danced on the quilt, and the shadows of the branches outside the window dangled on the quilt.Tan Yue jumped out of bed and closed the window.

The lights went out too.Situ lay beside him, his shoulders rubbed against his shoulders, and the cloth rubbed against him for a while.When he calmed down, Tan Yue heard him say: "Tomorrow you must leave here."

"When?"

"Morning."

"understood."

Tan Yue turned over and closed his eyes.

They didn't sleep for a long time, and both of them were woken up by Zhao Zhao's screams.Situ opened the door, and he told Tan Yue: "Don't come out."

The door closed again, the inn was silent for a while, Tan Yue sat on the quilt and his eyelids were fighting.If Zhao Zhao hadn't started crying and howling again, he would have almost fallen asleep again.

Everyone in the inn gathered in the lobby on the first floor, except for Tan Yue who was going downstairs, the others surrounded Zhao Zhao, pressing Zhao Zhao to the floor with both hands.He was like a mouse on a cutting board, caught by the splint, screaming and shaking all over.Tan Yue didn't understand what happened, so he asked, "What happened to Zhao Zhao?"

No one answered him.Zhao Zhao's hands were cut behind his back, and he was lying on the ground, his legs and back were firmly held down by Lao Xing and Xia Sheng respectively.He seemed to have a lot of strength, both Xia Sheng and Lao Xing showed strained expressions on their faces.Zhao Zhao's face was pressed against the tiles, and the sound of yelling was indistinct. When Tan Yue walked over, he suddenly bounced off the ground - and was immediately pushed down by Lao Xing, who was still in shock.Zhao Zhao started to go berserk, his forehead slammed against the floor, and the dull sound of his body colliding with a hard object woke Tan Yue suddenly.

"Is he sick? What kind of disease?" Tan Yue was startled, he thought of epileptic patients.His questioning eyes swept over the faces of the people present one by one, all of them were silent and anxious faces.When his eyes stopped on Situ, Tan Yue realized that Situ was holding a bundle of ropes in his hand.

He heard Situ say: "Let's tie him up, drive, and take him to the hospital."

Yi Yun said sharply: "No! The hospital will call the police!"

Everyone looked at her.Yi Yun wore a beige silk nightdress, his hair was messy and frizzy, and his expression was extremely flustered.

Call the police?

Tan Yue suddenly had an epiphany - Zhao Zhao was addicted to drugs.

Zhao Zhao was still struggling on the ground, twisting his neck, the sweat from his skin dragged a trail of water on the floor, his head was sweating profusely, his face wrinkled into a distorted ball, gray and white indistinct.

A rat on trial, insanely miserable.

Others argued about his going or staying, and it was not accurate to say that they were arguing. Except for Yi Yun, everyone was calm.

Lao Xing said: "It's too noisy, it will attract the neighbors, put a piece of cloth on his mouth."

Yi Yun ran into the kitchen and came out with an extra rag in his hand.Lao Xing pulled Zhao Zhao's long hair to make him raise his face.Zhao Zhao's face was covered with tears, snot, and saliva. His mouth opened without a teacher, and a long wail was firmly blocked by a rag.Lao Xing wiped his hands on him.He said, "All right."

Xia Sheng took the rope from Situ's hand: "Tie it up and put it in my room. I'll watch him, don't hit him to death!"

The binding process was very thrilling, Zhao Zhao nearly jumped up several times, he was like a spring now, he really jumped up, and knocked Xia Sheng aside hard.The tables and chairs fell down with a bang, and Zhao Zhao was dragged back by Lao Xing.It was the first time that Tan Yue saw Lao Xing's hideous appearance. Veins burst out of his bare arms, and his eyes were fierce and cruel.Zhao Zhao had dark circles under his eyes and a thin body. His ribs stretched out his skin, and his bones were as thin as a handful of firewood wrapped in a layer of skin.He was in pain, and although he was gagged, his pain was silently conveyed to all the men and women present, spreading throughout the hall, and lingering for a long time.Until he was dragged away by Xia Sheng and Lao Xing, this invisible and silent pain still lingered in the air, being swallowed up by Tan Yue with every breath.

"Will he die?" Tan Yue asked Situ.

"will not."

"Has such a 'guest' died in the inn before?"

"There was one."

The two turned their heads and went upstairs, and the more they talked, the more they stepped on a flight of stairs.Situ walked in front of him, with a broad back and powerful arms. He had kissed every inch of his upper body on the lake.They used to be close.Now, he's more of a stranger.

Tan Yue asked him, "Is it the drugs you sold to them?"

Situ stood on the stairs one step higher and suddenly turned his head.Seen from this angle, he raised his face, his slightly bearded jaw was sharp-edged, and his cold eyes looked down on Tan Yue, like a solidified black water, steaming in the winter.

"This question offends you?" Tan Yue asked again, "Or—"

"No, it's not me." Situ replied calmly, "The inn is just a place for reception, I can't stop them from smoking this stuff."

"Ok."

The tension on Tan Yue's face loosened slightly, as if the rope tied around Zhao Zhao's body had loosened from him.

It rained heavily at night, and Tan Yue didn't realize it.When he got up the next morning, he was wrapped in the moisture of the soil as soon as he went out. He felt that he was wet by the fog, and he could squeeze out the water by pinching his body. The climate in City A is very dry, which is quite different from that in City W. Tan Yue is always surprised by such wet weather.On the side of the road, a drunk old man walked past him on a bicycle.A beam of headlights pierced into his eyes, and the light spots blocked the face of Situ who was steering the wheel in the driver's seat.

Tan Yue squinted his eyes and got into the car.The lucky cat smiled and waved to him. The road was very clean in the morning, with few pedestrians.Situ drove very fast and arrived at the station in the blink of an eye, and both of them got out of the car.Standing in front of the bustling bus while holding the ticket, Tan Yue and Situ fell silent.

There is really nothing to say.Tan Yue turned around and got into the bus. On the seat, the figure of Situ Leaving outside the car window became smaller and smaller, like a gradually shrinking flame.

At this moment, he lost his voice for a short while, just as abruptly as when Situ took his eyesight away.He looked at the back, but couldn't hear the words that disappeared between his lips.

The city Tan Yuexuan chose was City X, which is neither far nor close to City W. He didn't know City X well, and when he got off the plane, he found that the weather here was also cold and humid.He hailed a taxi and went straight to the nearest police station.

He talked as much as possible, but his knowledge of the smuggling and drug trafficking in Meizhen was limited, and most of the information came from Situ's dictation.The police took notes and asked him some questions from time to time, many of which he could only answer with "don't know".

The USB flash drive that was presented was put back on the table.He was told it was empty inside.

"The USB stick is empty, it doesn't have any data," he said.

The air suddenly thinned a lot, and he was almost out of breath for the moment of talking, that dangerous possibility popped out of his mind, making his hair stand on end.The policeman looked puzzled: "Is there something wrong?"

"He didn't get any evidence..." Tan Yue stared into the other party's eyes at a loss, "Nothing... This USB flash drive was used by him to trick me away..."

His glued eyes returned to his knees, and a vision of nothingness jumped out in front of him.He was standing at the end of the road when he was young, and so was Situ.They were all very young, with childish and innocent smiles on their faces, probably sixteen or seventeen, or fourteen or fifteen years old.On a scorching afternoon, they ran one after the other and disappeared at the end of the road.

After leaving the police station, Tan Yue broke into the shop next door. It was so cold that his whole body was shaking and his teeth were chattering.The noodle soup was served, strips of round white noodles like floating worms.After a while his body warmed up and he put down the soup bowl.Two girls came over to talk to him and invited him to sing a song in the newly opened KTV.They looked like promoters, and the more they talked, the less sure they were.

The box was very stuffy, the temperature was much higher than outside, the more absent-minded he was talking, his palms were sweating.

When the girl finished singing, another girl asked him what he sang.The prelude to the next song had already sounded, Tan Yue cut the song, flipped through it on the screen, put the microphone on the girl's chin, and said, "You sing." So she sang.

Tan Yue turned on the phone again, and the number "111" slipped across his fingertips, and he felt that he should give him a call.But what's the use?Situ would still coax him as before.

"Are you in a bad mood?" the girl who didn't sing asked him.

"I got dumped."

"Ah," she yelled strangely, "then what are you going to do?"

"I have to go back," Tan Yue said, "I don't know what he's facing."

At the same time, Situ walked out of the Tula Temple.He raised his eyes and found a few men squatting or standing in the previously empty woods, holding a knife or iron rod in their hands.The man with burn marks on his face jumped off the stone at the door, and the tip of the iron rod made a harsh grinding sound on the ground.

Not surprised, he avoided them and entered another mountain road.

The man followed, and he said behind him: "I heard that he left, you broke the rules. What do you want to do?"

Only then did Situ turn his head.

It was dark in the woods.In the dark night, there is no moonlight.