side by side

Liang Jixuan groped his way to the top floor, crying louder the higher he went.

His palms were sweating.

When they got to the top floor, the crying became weaker, and Liang Jixuan took a sneak peek at it curiously.At the end of the corridor, a plainly dressed girl was sitting slumped, holding a silk handkerchief in her hand.Those days of crying had already been exhausted, and although she was still sobbing now, her mood seemed to be much more stable than before.

According to the notice posted at the door, St. Jordan University's closing time starts on August 31st and ends on September 31th, and classes resume on the [-]th.It was already September [-]th at this time, and if it was a student of our school, he would absolutely not be able to do this thing of smashing the lock into the building without special reasons.According to the current situation, this girl was obviously also a participant in the August [-]st gang rape—maybe even an important participant.

Liang Jixuan stood at the head of the stairs. At this moment, he was a little bit in a dilemma.Although he was anxious, but seeing the girl sobbing, he really didn't want to disturb her rashly.Liang Jixuan thought about it and went downstairs to wait, and after the girl calmed down, he would find a chance to go up and ask.As soon as he turned around, the tail of his coat hit the railing of the stairs, making a crisp crash.

"Who is it!" The girl who was sitting paralyzed outside the classroom door suddenly straightened up, she staggered up, and shouted towards the other side of the stairs, her voice was sharp and trembling, "Who is there!"

Liang Jixuan walked out bravely, the criticism announcement he just saw on the bulletin board downstairs suddenly appeared in his mind.In that announcement, except Du Ruobai, among the three people, it seems that one of the other two is a girl.

"Qi...Qi Ruqiu?" Liang Jixuan called her tentatively, "Is it Miss Qi?"

"Ah!!!" With a flash of lightning outside the window, the girl saw his appearance clearly, she suddenly screamed, and stepped back several steps, her clear face turned pale with fright.

"Girl... Miss, are you okay?" Liang Jixuan was taken aback, thinking that something happened to her, he hurried forward and took a few steps.

"Don't come here! I beg you, don't come here!" The girl leaned against the wall and moved back, she broke down in tears, "I didn't mean it, I really didn't mean it."

Liang Jixuan froze in the middle of the road, he was really at a loss.

The girl didn't know where the courage came from, she was so small, and suddenly bumped into her.She pushed Liang Jixuan violently with all her strength, and Liang Jixuan was in a daze, and fell straight down the aisle unprepared.The girl screamed and rushed forward, and disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Liang Jixuan, who was grinning from the fall, froze on the spot, secretly wryly smiling.With a click, the dial of the pocket watch that was originally intended to be given to Liang Jiqing in his coat pocket shattered.First it entered the water and stopped turning, and now it broke the glass dial again, Liang Jixuan couldn't help sighing, he might not be able to pay back the watch he owed to his brother.

Liang Jixuan returned the key to Gu Huatian. Before he left, he did not give up and went to the fixed activity classroom of the club where Du Ruobai joined. The classroom was empty, except for a brazier in the corner, which was full of papers and burned up. The remaining ashes are still steaming.That girl, or Qi Ruqiu?He took care of this one step earlier.

This girl was afraid of him, Liang Jixuan became suspicious, he had never seen this girl before.When he called her Qi Ruqiu, the girl didn't refute or be surprised, but her face was full of panic.What is she afraid of?Didn't mean to... what else did she do?

"Hey, are you okay?" Gu Huatian stared at him, very worried.

"No, no, no," Liang Jixuan realized that he had just sighed directly.Thinking that Gu Huatian is also a teacher of St. Jordan's School, Liang Jixuan concealed the news of seeing this girl just now, fearing that she would be punished for talking too much, "It's not that I didn't pay attention just now, and fell down on the road. Fall, did you break this new pocket watch that you just bought not long ago, I feel distressed."

"Hey! Your luck is really good, kid. Do you know that there is something unique in this western suburb?" Gu Huatian slapped his hands happily, "Do you know that there is a Chen Er watch shop on this street? Chen Er Grandpa’s watch repairing skills are among the best in the capital—the first one in the list! Let’s go, my brother will take you to have a look.”

Unable to resist Gu Huatian's warm invitation, Liang Jixuan had no choice but to go with him. It would be a good thing to have the pocket watch repaired along the way.Before entering the door, Liang Jixuan always felt that the name of Mr. Liang sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had heard it before.After stepping through the door to see, he was delighted, this old man, his appearance was [-]% similar to the old man he saw in Minsheng Daily.

Second Master Chen is a boring gourd, he has a quirk, this is what Liang Jixuan listened to Gu Huatian give him popular science on the way here. "Mr. Chen, as long as he stretches out his hand like this, he wants to look at the clock with a problem. No matter how faulty your watch is, give this old man an hour, and it will be easy. But this old man has a quirk. , he doesn’t like to talk, and he doesn’t open his mouth easily. It’s also very interesting that he charges a fee. If you don’t let him speak a word, no matter how big the problem is, it’s a basic price; but if you let him open If you say a word, it will be broken, and if you say a few words, the price will go up several times."

Liang Jixuan was scruples about Mr. Chen's eccentricities, and he was full of curiosity but he didn't dare to ask.Second Master Chen closed his eyes, he took the pocket watch and dangled it for a while, then he raised his head suddenly, his eyes were sharp.He beckoned and asked Gu Huatian to go out first.Gu Huatian, who was watching the excitement, was taken aback for a moment, and Liang Jixuan was also taken aback, not knowing what happened.Gu Huatian was not stubborn, he blinked at Liang Jixuan, and went out.

Mr. Chen Er looked down at his pocket watch, and looked up at Liang Jixuan again. This hard-to-open golden mouth was opened by himself, "My lord, I'm really sorry, I can't repair your watch here, wait a minute." I'll replace the dial with a new one for you later, but I can't solve the problem of the needle not moving here."

Liang Jixuan's heart sank, "Old man, why is this? You are the top watch repairer in the capital, if you can't do it, then who..."

"This watch, its movement has been soaked, and the gears and hands are tightly wrapped in sea salt particles." Second Master Chen sighed, "I'm afraid it won't be saved."

Although Liang Jixuan felt a little regretful, he resigned himself to his fate. With that doubt in his heart, he couldn't help but asked, "...Then can I ask you some specific questions?"

"You ask."

"What is your relationship with Mr. Chen from the People's Voice newspaper?"

"Hey... that's my brother." Second Master Chen sighed again, "I just sent him home."

As soon as Liang Jixuan went out, Gu Huatian stepped forward and dragged him, and hurriedly dragged him outside.

"Hey, this Second Master Chen is really weird." Liang Jixuan told Gu Huatian about the whole process, "Speaking, he's talking like a god."

"Hey... brother, I'm sorry for you," Gu Huatian apologized, "I just chatted with his neighbor, and I learned that the elder brother Chen Er just left, and he came back after delivering the funeral. It's not quite right... I said why are you talking. This is crazy, this."

Gu Huatian was cursing.

Liang Jixuan froze on the spot, and in an instant, his head went cold to his feet.

tbc.