murder begins in summer

The last two days on the boat were quite leisurely. Qiu Shili vaguely felt that the person who came to find trouble before had a close relationship with Eguchi Risako. There was too much tension, and that Risako never appeared again.

So Qiu Shili put his heart down for the time being, and spent the few holidays well.

It is expected to return to Port Elizabeth, New York at around three o'clock in the afternoon. The morning was extremely sunny, the sky was high and the clouds were clear, and the sea breeze was as warm as spring.Some passengers were standing here and there on the deck, enjoying the wind, and the two of them were basking in the sun on the deck chairs at the stern.

Shi Zhanyang suddenly took off his sunglasses, turned to look at Qiu Shili, "ナナ," he said, "there is one thing that I think I should tell you in advance."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Shili put down the detective novel in his hand, lay on his side, and listened quietly.

"After this time, when you get home, you'll be considered a real player." Shi Zhanyang said carefully, "As you said, everyone will start to treat you as an adult."

"Then do I have to wear earrings?"

Shi Zhanyang was stunned for half a second, then smiled, "Well, you guessed it."

Qiu Shili also laughed, "What color will I wear?"

Shi Zhanyang looked at the clouds in the sky, "Black, silver, red, white, what do these four colors mean, and what are their functions, can you guess?"

"I guess—it's for the sake of looking good. Silver looks the best." Qiu Shili arched again, lying on the recliner with his waist limp, and looked sideways at the cold spring silver on his elder brother's earlobe.

Shi Zhanyang didn't buy it, and seemed a little embarrassed, so he grabbed his ear and asked him to guess seriously.

So Qiu Shili calmed down, and based on his long-term observations, he seriously explained his conjecture, "Father's ears are black, and he has been the only one wearing them for so many years. Black must be a symbol of the highest status."

Shi Zhanyang nodded silently.

"Brother, mother, and second brother are all silver, and so are some loyal veterans." Suddenly some cold northeast wind blew, and Qiu Shili wrapped the blanket tightly around his body, "so this should be the second only The color of black, correspondingly, it may also represent some special powers."

Shi Zhanyang didn't deny it, stopped the waiter and asked for a cup of hot milk, "Where is the red?" He asked Qiu Shili again.

"The red earrings I've seen are all thug bodyguards. I think it might be because their work is going to be popular, so they wear red."

Shi Zhanyang nodded approvingly, and said: "There is another kind of Dai Hong, who has mastered core technology or important information, but they usually stay in the factory and don't show up often." Shi Zhanyang took the glass from the waiter cup, touched the temperature, and handed it to Qiu Shili, "I will introduce you to them in the future."

"It seems that red has a higher status than I thought." Qiu Shili drank half of the glass obediently, licking off the milk stains from the corner of his mouth, "The driver and helper at home, as well as teachers and coaches, and aunts who raise cattle and sheep are all White earrings, this should be the most basic."

"Well, there are also workers in the workshop and ordinary R&D personnel," Shi Zhanyang explained briefly, "but these colors don't just represent status, that's too formal. Besides, it’s murder.”

Qiu Shili put down the milk glass, "Murder?"

"Yes." Shi Zhanyang tried to make the matter less cruel, but he also knew in his heart that this was impossible, and there was no need for this to happen. "Except for white, the other three are fixed by a single person. Even the serial number can release high-voltage voltage, causing the wearer to die instantly."

Qiu Shili opened his eyes wide and did not speak.

Shi Zhanyang said again: "Black has the greatest power because he can decide the life and death of Yin and Hong alone. He has an account, logs in to an internal website at any time, and can select the number he wants to deal with at any time, no matter where the other party is. Where, there is no doubt about death. Silver does not have such complete authority, and all silver members need to log in at the same time and agree to kill a person."

"Can it kill black?"

Shi Zhanyang nodded, and said lightly, "Yes, this is originally a measure to limit the highest power. That's why my father gave so many people silver and let them restrain each other. Only he can decide. Anyway, wearing it He can kill anyone at any time, no matter whether the other party simply angered him or really threatened him. If power is held in the hands of too few people, interest groups are too easy to form, and he It's dangerous."

Qiu Shili was shocked for a moment and had nothing to say. He thought that from the moment he put on the earrings, he would give up the freedom of life and death and sign a permanent contract. What he had been curious about and even longed for, the so-called decorative little The rhombus is actually a cold weapon that can instantly kill a person. All along, even his elder brother's life has been hung on that tiny sharp corner.

The environment in which he works, and even the family he relies on, are also built within this cold system. His father, who smiles at the dinner table every day and tells anecdotes from all over the world, can kill any relatives without bloodshed.

"Brother, did you know about these things when you wore them?" He asked.

"I heard it a lot when I was a child. It's actually a family tradition. Two or three generations ago, people wore badges. They couldn't access the Internet when they wanted to kill anyone. They had to hold a meeting before deciding to assassinate them. Now that technology has advanced, it's easier and faster to kill people," Shi said. Zhan Yang said calmly, "Everyone was told clearly and willingly before wearing it. I felt that I was the eldest son, and it was my responsibility to wear it for granted. I didn't have much personal feeling until someone put it in front of me. After being killed in this way, I really realized what was stuck in my ear."

Qiu Shili got up, stood beside Shi Zhanyang's recliner, looked down at him, "Father won't kill us."

Shi Zhanyang shook his hand, "I haven't finished yet. Red can't kill, but it can be killed by black and silver. White is on the white road, so don't participate in these."

Qiu Shili took both hands, "Then will you inherit black in the future, brother?"

"Maybe."

"Which one will I wear?"

"I don't know." Shi Zhanyang sat up straighter, "ナナ, you will be led to your father's secret room underground, only you two, I can't go in, let alone participate, he will also tell you These rules."

Qiu Shili nodded clearly. He remembered very clearly that his eldest brother killed someone for the first time at the age of 16. After returning home, he disappeared for a few hours. When he reappeared, the silver diamond was nailed to his ear. .

He also asked at that time, and Shi Zhanyang said at the time, "I hope you will never wear this kind of thing."

He didn't understand the meaning of this until today.Today is a done deal.

"Anyway, it's definitely not white." He sat down next to Shi Zhanyang, and they were crowded together on the narrow chair.

Shi Zhanyang moved his legs, let him lie down, and hugged him gently, "After I get home, I will talk to my father first. After that, I will stay outside the room and wait for you to come out. Now let's talk about this, I was afraid that he would lie to you and not speak clearly to you. "

Qiu Shili leaned on Shi Zhanyang's shoulder calmly, "No way, Dad doesn't hate me, and I didn't mess with him."

"Well. Yes." Shi Zhanyang didn't know what was wrong with him. One was his biological father, the other was his dearest brother, and the two closest people. Why was he so nervous? There was a big storm in front of him, and he seemed unable to grasp the strength in his hands, "Whether he is fierce or not, and which one he asks you to wear, don't be afraid, don't be dazed, think it over before agreeing. He will not force you to wear it." you."

"I see." Qiu Shili put his hands on Shi Zhanyang's chest, felt the steady and powerful heartbeat, and those few warm breaths were on his forehead, which made him feel extremely stable at any time.He just stayed there for a while, then suddenly said, "I'm actually looking forward to it."

"expect?"

"After wearing it, I will be your colleague, finally, or I will be your subordinate and you will be my boss," Qiu Shili raised his hand, and carefully touched Shi Zhanyang's thin earlobe, He held the hard metal piece between his fingertips and twisted it lightly, "When I grow up to be 24, will I become as powerful and courageous as my brother?"

"That's for sure, you will be much better than me, it's trivial to be alone." Shi Zhanyang smiled, the messy frenzy in his heart suddenly calmed down, the sea breeze was blowing again, clear and bitter, he He pulled the blanket from the side, covered Qiu Shili, and closed his eyes comfortably.

After arriving in New York, Shi Zhanyang chose to take the fastest plane home.When we landed in San Francisco, the sunset had already set in the west, and the afterglow sprinkled on the thin snow all over the city, which was beautiful and quiet.Sure enough, there was his own car waiting at the airport, so he sent the driver away and drove Qiu Shili back to his home in the Bay Area.

He refrained from smoking all the time, because he didn't want to make his mouth full of bitterness. On the tree-lined road outside the manor, at the corner of the road that was only one corner away from the large iron gate guarded by people, he stopped the car and walked over. Qiu Shili, who was carving words on the tissue paper with the tip of a knife, gave him a small kiss.

His original intention was to touch him once and enjoy it, and the deeper the kiss, the more painful it would be for him to hold back, but Qiu Shili bit him and leaned against his shoulder, until he blushed and was short of breath before he would give up. , and made him keep his toes on his toes, and he didn't even dare to touch the accelerator, for fear that he would step on the car directly if he tried hard.After the kiss, his little brother still glared at him, as if blaming him for the sudden attack.

Shi Zhanyang wiped the moisture on those two lips with a smile, "After returning home, there are many eyes staring at me, kiss more now."

Qiu Shili turned his face away, looked at the snow-covered fir forest outside the car window, and whispered, "Brother, I will still go to your room to say good night every night, and this will not change."

"Oh, is that so?" Shi Zhanyang was seldom called "brother" by this word, inexplicably he felt comfortable all over his body, so he began to twitch again, "ナナ likes me so much, you've helped me think carefully."

As a result, Qiu Shili refused to turn his head to look at him all the way up to the front of the room.

Since my mother passed away, the family has been visibly deserted, and this day is no exception.Dinner should have passed, and the family members were nowhere to be seen, only a few maids came out to pick up their luggage, and the old housekeeper was waiting for them in the living room.

"Young master," the butler continued to invite Shi Zhanyang upstairs with the same cautious look, "Master is already waiting."

Shi Zhanyang took off his gloves and handed the coat to the housekeeper, "How are the second and fourth children?"

"They should be in their own rooms. The second young master has not been assigned to work these days." The old housekeeper took the overcoat from Qiu Shili again, "Go quickly, the master should be in a hurry."

Shi Zhanyang adjusted his suit and stepped up the stairs. At the corner, he looked down at Qiu Shili again, "Uncle Feng," he called the housekeeper, "ask the kitchen to prepare some dinner for the third child. It's too cold outside."

Before he went upstairs, he was mentally prepared. After he went upstairs, he pushed open the door of his father's room, and what hit him was a cold face.

"Yangyang," my father said, "a few days ago, I heard that you exchanged [-] white pieces, and then I heard that you have already boarded the boat."

"I have nothing to do recently, so I'll take a vacation." Shi Zhanyang walked to the desk and sat down without pulling away the chair.

"Well," my father grinned, "Going to the Million Dollar Club is considered a vacation."

Shi Zhanyang wanted to say that no matter how much money was spent, I earned it myself, but he finally endured it. "The acquisition of Advancer is also beneficial to us. It filled the vacancy of cutting tools and did not exceed the budget. I made a loss." Is it a deal?"

"Are you trying to do business?" Father took off his reading glasses, his eyes brightened a lot.

Shi Zhanyang smiled and said frankly: "Of course not. If I want to hire someone in the future, I have to help him pave the road. It's just sharpening the knife."

The father didn't seem to want to argue with him again on this matter, and suddenly asked: "This time, your 'knife' finally killed someone?"

Shi Zhanyang was not surprised by his well-informed news, and simply said: "Yes, it is inevitable."

Father sighed and poured himself a cup of tea, "I thought you would take the responsibility on yourself again, saying you did it yourself."

"I don't have this idea anymore," Shi Zhanyang shook his head, and said bluntly, "Father, please give the third son silver earrings. He is fully capable."

"I have my own judgment. Ask Lao Feng to take him underground, and I will go there in a while."

"Please give him silver earrings, the same as my second child's. He is not an outsider." Shi Zhanyang insisted.

"Go and rest first."

"Please agree." Shi Zhanyang stood up straight, "This is my request." He had never asked for anything so persistently from his parents.

Unexpectedly, his father suddenly became angry, he smashed the purple sand pot on the ground, and it was broken behind Shi Zhanyang, "Ridiculous! Get out!"

Shi Zhanyang was splashed with hot tea all over his trousers, he knew that staying in this room would only cause side effects, and standing here by himself was the original sin.So he silently swept away the debris, then retreated silently, closing the door.

The reason may be that my father has been holding grudges against me for a long time these days, blaming myself for presumptuously buying such a big item, or maybe my tough attitude stimulated him. I always hope that the people around me are respectful and obedient, just like the old lion king, before he fights his last battle, it is most difficult to accept the young lion's rise, because he feels dangerous, and he is unable to leave the juniors alone and lead the lion group alone.

When he descended to the first floor with a calm heart, Qiu Shili had already been led away.Shi Zhanyang blamed himself for not putting away the edges and corners, washed his face with cold water, ignored the hot potato soup on the dining table, and hurried down to the ground floor, the door of the secret room was closed, the old housekeeper and five or six red earrings Stay outside.

He smoked quietly leaning against the corridor wall, opposite the door.Not long after, my father came slowly, glanced at him briefly, and entered the room without hesitation.The door was made of gray marble, and the walls were very thick. Shi Zhanyang couldn't hear any sound from inside the room, so he lit another cigarette.

Time passed minute by minute, Shi Zhanyang thought carefully, what kind of mentality did he have when he put on this pair of shackles?Unexpectedly, he couldn't remember clearly, and his state of mind really didn't matter at all, just as he was thinking about it, there was another footstep, it was Shi Yizhou.

"Brother," Shi Yizhou was in high spirits, "You're back? How are you doing?"

"Not bad." Shi Zhanyang smiled.

"I haven't spent New Years with us yet. Mom just left. You know, Dad can't stand it, and I feel so lonely." Shi Yizhou also leaned against the wall and stuffed something like a chocolate bean into his mouth .

Shi Zhanyang wanted to coax a few words at first, he did not think carefully, but now he is staring at the iron box in Shi Yizhou's hand, "What is this?"

"Candy." Shi Yizhou was absent-minded.

"Second," Shi Zhanyang pressed on his cigar, took a deep breath, "I've seen this thing before."

"That's even better. Would you like to try it? It's delicious."

Shi Zhanyang snatched the tin box and pushed his hand away, "Who gave it to you?"

"What a fuss, it's not that the family didn't cooperate with the drug dealer. Dad recently asked me to take over that one," Shi Yizhou said with an empty smile on his face, took out another box from his pocket, and poured a With a small handle in his mouth, he chewed inarticulately, "I can't do anything else, I'm still very good at dealing with bastards, don't worry, this stuff is weak, it's not as good as marijuana, Dad doesn't care about me, and you don't care Slightly."

"Fuck you, you are courting death!"

"Really? I'm looking for death?" Shi Yizhou wiped the corners of his mouth, raised his brows and said, "I said brother, you are the one who is looking for death, and you want to kill others. This time drifting in the Pacific is very romantic, right? You should do it Did it all?"

Shi Zhanyang looked at him coldly as if separated by an ice wall, "Second brother, I don't want to quarrel with you," and hurriedly bit the cigarette holder, lighting it up for himself, "I don't want to quarrel with you." He said again over again.

"Okay, big brother, I don't want to be beaten anymore," Shi Yizhou laughed again, "What color do you think your baby brother will be nailed to? Will daddy give him anesthesia? I remember it was so painful back then. , I shed a lot of blood, got a hole, and put it on directly. Could it be that he doesn’t even have such broken money like ours, maybe eating some of my candy will be much better.”

Shi Zhanyang kept silent and lowered his head.

The butler yelled at the door, "Second Young Master, stop talking!"

Shi Yizhou was taken aback, raised his hands in surrender, and stepped back along the dark corridor, he looked at Shi Zhanyang playfully, "Brother, let me remind you one last thing, you know what Dad heard the news a few days ago, what did you say?" Yours? He said why don’t you buy a snow mountain and put Qiu Shili Bing in it? He said you are as naive and stupid as a fool! He can understand it, understand it!”

The soot fell on the back of Shi Zhanyang's hand and burned him. He stared blankly at the red mark for a while, then squatted down.Time was slowed down like this, the silence was boundless, and the seconds seemed like years. A stone heavier than the stone gate was pressed against his heart, making him think about all kinds of murders in a daze.Who is he going to kill?He wants to kill everyone now.

In the early morning, the stone door opened and the housekeeper went in. Afterwards, Qiu Shili came out alone, and the door slowly closed again.

There was no panic on Qiu Shili's face, nor was there any redness in his eyes, but his complexion was as white as paper.Shi Zhanyang seemed to be lifted up on the spot by someone pulling his spine, ignoring the numbness of his legs as if electrified, he stepped forward and grabbed him to watch.

Those two small and soft earlobes are no longer so innocent and empty, with two bright red patches dormant on them.Is the blood not wiped clean? How could there be so much blood? How could it be put on like this? Shi Zhanyang thought almost crazily. He raised his hand to wipe it off, but it couldn't be wiped off.

Really red.

He only heard Qiu Shili's careful gasp.

"I'm sorry," he snapped his fingers, "I'm sorry, ナナ, I hurt you, did I hurt you?"

"It doesn't hurt, it's just that this thing is so cold, I didn't expect it," Qiu Shili smiled, and when he smiled, some blood finally appeared on his lips, he lowered his head and rubbed his eyes, "I'm just so sleepy, come on brother, I want to sleep."

Shi Zhanyang took a few glances at the red earrings guarding the door, he was impulsive, he wanted to push open the stone door and go in, he wanted to question his father's different treatment, and ignored the rest, but he finally endured it go down.Letting Qiu Shili walk in front of him was like escorting a piece of freshly punched glass. He sent Qiu Shili back to his room. After a secret, as promised, and frivolous goodnight kiss, he returned to his own room.

Turn on the lights, all the furnishings have not changed, not even dust, a week is so short.Shi Zhanyang leaned against the door and sat down on the floor. The immense sorrow and boredom wrapped around him for no reason and overwhelmed him, making him seem to have no strength at all, but the giant wheel of fate took the opportunity to crush the thick The shadow erodes forward without stopping.When he subconsciously covered his eyes and looked at his palm again, he saw tears that were about to dry up.

Shi Zhanyang thought that he no longer had such a thing.

But there is nothing surprising about it, nothing is fixed, just like he thought confidently before that his heart has been able to skillfully reject all burdens, and he will never fall in love with anyone again.