The Swan Bay Murders

Li Jiangluo was dyed orange by the setting sun, I couldn't see his expression clearly, but suddenly I understood why my brother loves him so much.

He has a unique temperament, as if he is always outside the world, indifferent but not indifferent, making people feel comfortable and at ease when looking at him.

The meeting lasted the whole afternoon, and the first cooperation project after returning to China was finalized, and I could breathe a sigh of relief.

Back in the office, Li Jiangluo turned around and asked me with a smile, "Will I get you a glass of water?"

It is rare to see him smile. This person is either frowning or expressionless, always looking restless.

I suddenly thought, he should not be like that when he was with Berlin before, but now he is smiling.

He can smile without any grudges, which means he has let go of it a little bit.

"I'll do it myself, do you want to add water?" Our way of getting along is very interesting, sometimes we are polite to each other like strangers we just met, and sometimes we seem to be family members who have lived together for many years.

When I saw the book on the table, I asked him casually, "Like this one?"

"Well, it's very good." Li Jiangluo also came over to add water, glanced at the cover of the book and said, "I stopped reading halfway before, and just finished reading it all today."

I haven't read this book, or I haven't read the books on the shelf. The books in a businessman's office are actually just for decoration.

I looked at the time, it was only after four o'clock, but I estimated it, I might not be able to go home until after eleven o'clock, and I have to meet a guest later, and I don't have time to take Jiang Luo to dinner.

This was beyond my expectation. I originally planned to go home with him after the meeting in the afternoon, but I couldn't get away because I had other things to do.

"Jiang Luo." I called him.

He was standing in front of the bookcase, browsing the books on it, when he heard me tell him to turn around immediately.

"I should have gone back with you, but I have something else to do, maybe you have to take a taxi and go away by yourself." I feel sorry for delaying him for so long, why not take him away when we met before, and leave Xu Zhao then let him go home.

"Have you invited someone to dinner?"

He probably thought it was almost dinner time, so I made an appointment.

"No, I have a guest here to discuss cooperation. I may not have time to eat, otherwise I will take you to the restaurant downstairs for a bite first."

"Ah... so busy." Li Jiangluo understood, drank the water in the disposable paper cup in one gulp, then threw it into the trash can and said, "Then I'll go back first, are you going to be late at night?"

"It should be." I followed him out, and then said to the front desk, "Book a car for me."

Li Jiangluo was a little surprised, and asked me: "Are you going out to meet guests? Why don't you drive your own car?"

"I made an appointment for you." I laughed at him, and raised my hand to stroke his hair.

This man's hair is just like his temperament, soft and soft.

"No, no, I'll just go out and take a taxi." He tilted his body and passed me to the front desk and said, "Girl, you don't need to bother, you can be busy."

I found it interesting to see his frightened look, and recalled it, it seems that I have never seen Li Jiangluo like this these days.

Most of the time he was in a daze and silent, or secretly smoking a cigarette.

I told him to quit smoking together before, but neither of us had any effect. Because of my work here, I have to smoke a lot, but he, as before, sneaked and hid downstairs or on the balcony in the middle of the night.

It's just that he avoided my parents before, but now he even avoids me.

Probably because I was afraid that I would blame him.

"Okay, I'll take you downstairs." I pressed the elevator and told him to come over.

"Leave me alone, go get busy."

The most prominent feature of Li Jiangluo's character is probably that he is afraid of bothering others, just like his anorexia, if it develops in the long run, it will definitely be serious, but he is afraid that we will worry about him if we find out, so he refuses to even go for a checkup.

This made me a little unhappy, I hope he can cause me more trouble, I want to do more for him, it can be considered as compensation for my brother.

I went downstairs with him and stopped the car for him on the side of the road.

Li Jiangluo didn't know whether to laugh or cry, he stood aside and said, "I'm not a child, you don't need to worry about taking a taxi."

"It's okay," I said, "Anyway, the guests haven't come yet, so I'll come out to get some air, otherwise I'll be bored and upset in the building."

It's easy for us to get a taxi downstairs. Seeing Li Jiangluo get into the car, I said enviously, "I really want to go back with you."

He smiled and waved goodbye to me.

Watching his car go away, I stood downstairs and smoked another cigarette before going up.

In winter, it gets dark quickly, and it goes dark immediately after sunset.

I originally thought that I would call Jiang Luo and ask him if he was home when the time was almost up, but as soon as I returned to the office, the appointed guest came.

I glanced at my phone, thinking he would tell me when he got home.

Although he seems to be fine now, I am always worried.

A few days ago, I worked overtime in the office very late, fell asleep on the desk, and had an unpleasant dream.

That dream happened in reality, it was the scene when Li Jiangluo tore up the letter from Berlin and tried to eat it.

Thinking about it now, I really suspected that he had a psychological problem at the time, and I was even ready to take him to the doctor.

Fortunately, after my parents came, Li Jiangluo gradually got better. He once told me that from childhood to adulthood, what he longed for most was a complete family.

I thought Berlin could give it to him, but I didn't expect this to happen.

It's inconvenient for me to ask more about his family situation, but knowing that his parents are gone, I comforted him and said that now he has a complete family, with an older brother and parents.

When I said this, I missed Berlin very much. I used to have a very complete and happy family. My younger brother is my pride, but I didn’t expect that the illusion was broken and the reality was so cruel.

However, I didn't believe in fate, but after I met Li Jiangluo, I began to believe it.

The relationship between us is like a jigsaw puzzle. The position that originally belonged to Berlin suddenly became vacant, and he just filled the vacancy.

That would be a relief to any of us.

In my heart, I am grateful and believe that Li Jiangluo is the same.

I chatted with the guest for a long time. It was almost seven o'clock when I saw him off. I was supposed to treat him to a meal, but because I still had something to do, I had to make an appointment next time.

Back at the company, Xiao Chen at the front desk happened to be packing up his things and getting ready to leave work. I casually told him, "Be careful on the road."

She looked up and saw that it was me, and yelled "ahah" twice.

She is only 23 years old this year, the age that loves to laugh and make trouble. The boys in the company usually like to tease her. She has a good personality, but she is a little surprised.

I thought she was making trouble again, and wanted to scare her deliberately, but I didn't expect her to take out an insulated lunch box from the compartment next to the table.

A light blue insulated lunch box with a post-it note attached to it.

Its owner may be afraid that it will fall, so the outside is firmly glued with transparent glue.

"Boss Xing, this was delivered by the Mr. Li who came before. He said that you don't have time to go out for dinner at night."

I looked at the lunch box, and suddenly an indescribable feeling rose in my heart.

Li Jiangluo returned home after cooking a meal, but I was still receiving guests at the time, so he was placed at the front desk.

I took the lunch box and asked, "Where are the others?"

"Let's go." Xiao Chen packed up his things and said while punching the card, "He said to let you go home early, don't be too late."

I looked at Xiao Chen's expression, she smirked and said goodbye to me, I knew she must have misunderstood, I never mentioned my sexual orientation to others, but the front desk of the company is always the person who has the most gossip, so It is not ruled out that she knows everything.

I was too lazy to care about her, let alone explain, I took out my mobile phone and called Jiang Luo.

"Are you home?" I asked directly as soon as he picked it up.

He smiled and said, "The guest has left?"

"Well, thank you for the dinner." I was suddenly a little embarrassed. I wasted my time in the afternoon, but I didn't invite him to dinner and asked him to come and deliver it to me.

"Thank you, I should." Li Jiangluo's tone was soft, I guess he was probably embarrassed, he paused, and then said, "Hurry up, don't you have to work later? Today The air is very good, I will take a walk downstairs with my aunt."

"Okay, it's getting dark, don't go far." I warned.

"Well, it's in the community, don't worry."

Li Jiangluo's tone was relaxed, as if he had really forgotten all the troublesome things, because of him, my mood became happier.

He made three dishes, two vegetarian and one meat, all of which can be prepared quickly. He seemed to be in a hurry, so he made simple dishes, probably because he was afraid that I would be hungry.

The last time I was treated like this was in Vancouver. I worked at home until late at night. My mother was already asleep. When she woke up in the middle of the night and saw that I was still working, she made me a midnight snack.

Jiang Luo's cooking skills are very good, and the most common scrambled eggs also make my lips and teeth delicious.

I suddenly lost my mind and began to wonder whether it was because of Berlin that he started to practice cooking hard.

When I came back to my senses, I smiled wryly, and I clearly made an agreement with myself not to miss Berlin all the time, after all, people cannot be resurrected after death.

However, although he is not there, he seems to be everywhere.

Every detail of our life seems to have his shadow.

I know that we still need time. It’s only two months now, and if we wait another two years or 20 years, the memory left by Berlin will become more and more blurred, and the scars will become more and more shallow.

As an older brother, it's wrong for me to think this way, but I have to, because I have to make my family happier every day than the day before.