Longcheng Fengyun

The self in the mirror said: "There are nine brothers, and only the ninth master is left."

Luo Zhengnan was standing right behind Fei Jue, and he was also looking at Fei Jue in the mirror, and at him naked a few feet away.

Fei Jue had a slender figure, without a trace of fat on his body, and his fair complexion looked very smooth and delicate under the hazy water mist. A drop of water slid along his calf to his ankle, and flowed to his heel.Luo Zhengnan touched his chin, but Fei Jue's skin was not completely smooth. There was a bullet hole on his left shoulder, three slightly raised long scars on his abdomen, and a tattoo on his back waist, which was a snake wrapped around a A pistol, the muzzle pointed at the seam of his buttocks.

Fei Jue found a bloodstain on the side of his neck, he wiped it with a towel, and raised his eyebrows: "You won't throw away all my clothes, will you?"

Luo Zhengnan looked at him through the mirror, blinked, and brought Fei Jue a pair of jeans and a sweater over.

Fei Jue said while putting on his clothes, "You are a person who does great things."

There was admiration in his tone, and he couldn't laugh or cry on his face.

The trouser legs of the jeans were too long. Fei Jue squatted on the ground to pull up the trouser leg, and Luo Zhengnan helped him pull up the other side. The two of them were head to head. Fei Jue found that Luo Zhengnan's hair was very black, and his eyelashes were also very black and thick. However, the hair on his arms was not thick, so he secretly peeked into Luo Zhengnan's collar.

His chest is very clean, and the muscle lines can be seen vaguely.

"What are you looking at?" Luo Zhengnan raised his eyes to catch Fei Jue's sight, and Fei Jue asked him, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Luo Zhengnan patted his calf: "Okay."

"Boy friend?"

"Are you still eating dinner?" Luo Zhengnan was annoyed.

Fei Jue giggled, dug out the banknotes and cell phone from the changed pants, and went out with Luo Zhengnan.Luo Zhengnan casually brought out the trash can from the kitchen, and when he went downstairs, he threw away the trash and the can together.

When they were about to leave the residential area, Fei Jue and Luo Zhengnan said, "I will move out tomorrow."

Luo Zhengnan suddenly pulled him behind him: "There is a car."

A black car passed by at high speed, its headlights were dazzling, Fei Jue lowered his head, and stepped into a large pond.

Fei Jue took Luo Zhengnan to Maoji Congee Shop for dinner. The shop was mainly engaged in supper business. When they arrived, it hadn't opened yet. The boss knew Fei Jue well. When he saw him, he exchanged greetings and set up a table for them in the kitchen. A bowl of porridge, a plate of pickled melon, and a plate of braised goose were immediately served on the table.

"Order whatever you want, don't be polite to me." Fei Jue said, touching things, wiping things, looking around with his eyes, and a thin man walked into the back kitchen. Fei Jue saw him, his face immediately With a smile, he warmly greeted: "Little Loach!! Here, here!"

Little Loach is wearing an ill-fitting earth-colored shirt, a peaked cap on his head, covering most of his face, the sleeves are rolled up to his wrists, his jeans are fat and dragged on the ground, with frayed edges, and he is wearing a pair of plastic slippers.His feet were filthy, like creatures rolling in mud.

"Boss Mao, can I chat with Ni Qiu for a while?" Fei Jue said.

"No problem, ok, ok." Boss Mao was cooking porridge with a long wooden handle spoon in the corner of the kitchen, smiling.

Luo Zhengnan was pinching the menu with one hand. When the little loach took off his hat and approached him, his eyes turned several times on his face. The little loach was about the same age as Fei Juemo, and his face was very thin and pale. In the past, he was very depressed. There was a gauze on his forehead, and the corner of his mouth was torn and swollen. He also saw Luo Zhengnan, and his eyes met. He shrank back, but when he saw Fei Jueshi let go of his defense a little more, and laughed, this smile touched the wound on his mouth, he had to cover the corner of his mouth.

"Sit, sit, sit." Fei Jue patted the plastic stool beside him, and introduced Xiao Niqiu and Luo Zhengnan to each other.

"Ni Qiu, Ni next to me, autumn autumn, my roommates in the orphanage, Mo Zhengnan, Mo Shao." Fei Jue said to himself, went to the freezer to get two bottles of beer, and picked three from the sink The glass comes out.

"Hello." Ni Qiu nodded to Luo Zhengnan, his eyes swept away gently like a breeze.He used accents on both words when he spoke.

Fei Jue poured a full glass of wine for Ni Qiu: "Haha, isn't he very similar to his father!"

Ni Qiu picked up the wine glass, leaned against Fei Jue and asked, "Is he Master Ming's son?"

Luo Zhengnan looked at him: "Do you know my dad?"

Ni Qiu nodded: "He and Fei Jue often come here for supper together."

Fei Jue slapped his thigh and said loudly, "Do the same thing!"

After hearing this, Ni Qiu got up, put on an apron, and got busy with catching vegetables and bacon.He turned on the range hood, and Fei Jue had to raise his voice when talking to him: "This kid went to study abroad at the age of 16, and he only came back once in four years. He ran away after living at home for a few days!"

Fei Jue pointed at Luo Zhengnan, and Ni Qiu looked at them and smiled.His smile is also very light, very cautious, as if it has been carefully rehearsed and planned to ensure that this smile will not leave any unhappiness in anyone's heart.Neither too perfunctory nor too exaggerated.In comparison, Fei Jue laughed too exaggeratedly and presumptuously.

"Are you a girlfriend?" Luo Zhengnan stopped studying Ni Qiu and lowered his head to drink porridge.

Fei Jue clicked his tongue and scratched Luo Zhengnan's head. Luo Zhengnan bounced away like an electric shock, and even fought back. Fei Jue was not polite to him. He raised his eyes and looked at Luo Zhengnan: "Have you eaten gunpowder today?"

"First meal today." Luo Zhengnan scooped up a fish ball and took a bite.Fei Jue put another fish ball into his bowl: "Then eat more."

Ni Qiu's hands and feet were nimble, and a plate of sweet and sour pork was served in no time.He looked at them and asked, "Master Ming isn't coming today?"

Fei Jue raised his wine glass to drink, his little finger pressed against the glass, and Luo Zhengnan said, "My father is dead."

He picked up a chopstick of sweet and sour pork, and the hot dish was so hot that he almost shed tears.Fei Jue pushed the plate in front of him: "Is it delicious? Eat more and eat while it's hot."

But he didn't touch his chopsticks, just drinking, Ni Qiu wiped his hands on the apron, and went to fry two more dishes, a dish of dace with black bean sauce and lettuce, and a dish of green soybeans and pickled vegetables with fried leaves.While he was working, he cleaned up the stove, and the dishes were served on the table. The kitchen was still very clean.Neither Luo Zhengnan nor Fei Jue wanted to add more food, so Ni Qiu took off his apron, went to unscrew the radio on the refrigerator.The style of the radio was old, and the silver horns on the left and right sides were covered with vegetable oil. Ni Qiu stretched his arms and wiped the same greasy black buttons with his apron, and turned the antenna up.

The radio station was broadcasting an opera program. Luo Zhengnan tried to listen to it, but couldn't hear the slightest clue.Fei Jue said, "It's Pingtan."

Ni Qiu washed two guavas, cut them up and gave them to Fei Jue.

Fei Jue drank, ate guava, and chewed the hard guava seeds one by one. The sound was so loud that Luo Zhengnan's teeth ached.Ni Qiu sat down next to Fei Jue again, and the two chatted one after another.

"How is your mother recently?"

"same as usual."

"I want to cook some dishes with you in the morning. I'm too busy and I don't have my phone with me."

"I'll do some during the first seven."

"What do you eat in summer?"

"Salted vegetables and yam soup, river prawns in clear water, fried wontons, mung bean porridge."

"What is a yam?"

"Potatoes."

Ni Qiu drank with Fei Jue, took a sip of half a glass, and the two quickly opened a third bottle of wine.A bottle of Shaoxing Huadiao wine.Ni Qiu dug it out from the depths of the kitchen.

While Fei Jue was opening the bottle and pouring wine, Ni Qiu got up and left for a while, and came back with scissors and a fresh roll of bandages in his hand.Fei Jue put his hand on his leg, and Ni Qiu lowered her head and cut off the dirty bandage on his index finger.

Luo Zhengnan laughed softly before he was about to speak. Fei Jue looked at him. His sitting posture was awkward and his eyes were crooked. He seemed to be a little drunk, with a vague smile on his lips I mean, my eyes are dazed and wet.Luo Zhengnan covered his slightly open mouth with his chopsticks. He lowered his eyes. Under the dim light, he saw Fei Jue's bloody index fingernail on his right hand.

"You don't like beer?" Fei Jue knocked Luo Zhengnan's wine glass with his glass.Luo Zhengnan shuddered and looked up again. The beer in his glass hadn't moved.

"Then what do you drink in America?" Fei Jue asked him, his white bandages that had come off were hanging down on the emerald green tiled floor.The green is extremely full, like emerald, and very moist.

"Tell me about your time in America."

"Smoking is fine, don't fly like a ghost."

Luo Zhengnan picked up the bandage and put it on the table. There was Fei Jue's blood on it, some were dry, some were still wet, and mixed with a little gray dust, probably his father's ashes.

"Why don't you cry if you want to cry?" Luo Zhengnan asked Fei Jue.

An old song came on the radio.

Fei Jue looked at Ni Qiu and said, "I haven't heard this song for a long time."

Ni Qiu raised her neck and thought for a while, then said with a smile, "Bai Yuan Fanghui went to Zhou Huimin's concert later."

"Yes, yes, yes," Fei Jue sang along with the female singer: "The tide ebbs and flows, the moon is cold and windy and frosty..."

His eyes skipped over Luo Zhengnan, and stayed for a very short moment. He stopped looking at him, and no one else. He covered his mouth and hiccupped, over and over again.After Ni Qiu re-bandaged Fei Jue's wound, Fei Jue went to the back door to vomit.He held on to the door frame at first, then squatted on the ground.Luo Zhengnan stretched his neck to look, buried his head in the leftover sweet and sour pork, put down his chopsticks, and then stood up, but Ni Qiu held him down.His eyes were gentle and blank, without any desire to talk, nor any silent grief.He just watched gently with these eyes.

Ni Qiu turned up the volume of the radio.

The diva sings, sings.

At this moment, there is a ray of love.

A pair of shadows.

Ni Qiu picked up Fei Jue's half glass of Huadiao wine left on the dinner table, walked up to Fei Jue and walked out.

Luo Zhengnan also came out, and he said to Fei Jue, "I'm going to see my mother, let's go first."

Fei Jue covered his stomach and nodded, blew his nose on the ground, and handed Luo Zhengnan a handful of banknotes: "You still need some cash with you."

Luo Zhengnan took the money and left. Not long after he left, Fei Jue also left.

"Let's get together when we have time." Before leaving, Fei Jue and Ni Qiu said.

Over there, Boss Mao asked Ni Qiu to move the dining table and chairs outside, and it was almost time for the porridge shop to open for business.

There was very little business when the porridge shop just opened, but after ten o'clock, it was a different scene.In the kitchen, Boss Mao was sweating profusely from cooking porridge, and Ni Qiu didn't even bother to take a sip of water. Zhuzhu, who was running the hall, and Aunt Hui, who was washing dishes and serving dishes, wished they could grow big heads and six arms. Once the two of them bumped into each other in the kitchen They began to criticize Boss Mao, clamoring for him to hire more helpers, give them a round of vacation, or give them additional labor, pay hourly wages in line with international standards, and they are willing to clock in for work.Zhuzhu also likes to draw Ni Qiuzhuang's momentum, Ni Qiu is always silent, he responds to what Zhuzhu says, and he accepts whatever Boss Mao argues with a smile.Boss Mao's voice is rough, but his tongue is not very sharp, and he keeps repeating a sentence: "If you have free time, learn from Ni Qiu. I have learned the ability to endure hardship and stand hard work. Where can I not hold on to the sky?"

Aunt Hui said awkwardly: "This year, I'm six out of fifty, and I still need to support this piece of land. So, should this society continue?"

Boss Mao's son Alex came to report at twelve o'clock with a reggae hair on his head, and Boss Mao went to the front to greet the guests. Alex loves to listen to hip-hop dance music, so he brought a portable stereo, put it on top of the radio, and turned the volume to the maximum. After coming down three times, he picked up the spatula and hit Alex. Alex picked up the celery and beat him. Zhuzhu, who followed in to get the vegetables, saw that she rolled her eyes with Ni Qiu. Ni Qiu laughed, and Aunt Hui pushed away Boss Mao and Alex had no expression on their faces, and they were not surprised: "If you quarrel, quarrel, don't block the way."

The celery in Alex's hand was cut to the ground by Boss Mao. He jumped in anger and opened his mouth to greet the eighteen generations of Boss Mao's ancestors.

"Fuck your mother! I cook for you for six hours a day, and you don't even pay for a meal, and only give you two hundred coins a day! If you smoke you a cigarette, you will deduct [-] cents from me! Fuck your mother, Qizai one The bag only sells for [-]! Fuck your mother! Fuckyou!"

"Ah? Can you tell me one more time? You don't want to do it, okay, you have the ability, you have the ability to go to Hilton, go to InterContinental to speculate! You have the ability!"

"Fuck your mother! Fuck! Fuck!"

"My mother, your grandma is 68 years old, and there is no cure for dementia! People in Huawan are full of crotch shit every day. If you want to fuck her, you can fuck her now! If you don't fuck, you are not human!!"

"Fuck!!" The veins on Alex's forehead swelled, he grabbed two carrots and threw them on Boss Mao. Not to be outdone, Boss Mao threw three plastic bowls over them. All over the kitchen, Ni Qiu went to try to persuade the fight, but his forehead was accidentally injured by flying dishes. Alex saw the blood, his eyes were dazed, and he slipped away from the back door.Boss Mao chased after a few steps, leaned against the door panting and yelled: "Zhuzhu! What's the next order! Next order!"

Zhuzhu stood at the front door, poked her head in, and said, "Mustard vegetable and clam porridge, fried for two, boiled beef, no green onions."

Boss Mao lit a cigarette with shaking hands, and walked back to the porridge pot while smoking.Unexpectedly, Alex sneaked in again, grabbed the stereo on the radio and a large handful of peanuts on the table, and ran away. Boss Mao had a quick eye, scooped up a spoonful of hot porridge and poured it on him. Alex jumped to the side, the hot porridge spilled all over the floor, he didn't get a drop of it, Alex laughed loudly, showed his middle finger, hugged the speaker tightly and walked away.

"It's better to raise him with a piece of barbecued pork!! A stack of rice rolls!" Boss Mao turned pale with anger, Ni Qiu pressed the wound on his forehead with his apron, and cleaned the porridge and miscellaneous vegetables on the ground with Aunt Hui, comforting Mao The boss said: "Forget it, forget it, boss, I can stand it, I don't need to recruit more helpers, I'm fine."

Aunt Hui whispered, "It's a rice sausage."

Boss Mao's eyes widened, and he said to Ni Qiu, "I'll give you a salary increase! Three hundred!"

After he finished a casserole porridge, he cursed and went out to smoke. Aunt Hui saw him leaving, flirted with Ni Qiu, and muttered: "This is a good trick. Two people paid four hundred, but now you pay for it alone." , three hundred, no matter what."

"It doesn't matter whether it's barbecued pork or rice rolls, the money is always left to him," Ni Qiu helped Aunt Hui wash two bowls, and then said with a smile, "I have raised 100 labor, and I will treat you to roast duck rice noodles tomorrow ah."

"Hey!" Aunt Hui rolled her eyes and pushed him away: "Hurry up and get your wok!"

"It's a blessing, not a curse. It's a disaster that can't be avoided." Ni Qiu said, the corners of his eyes were full of laugh lines.

At 04:30 in the morning, the congee shop sold out all the white porridge made that day, and it was closed. Ni Qiu made a hodgepodge of leftovers in the kitchen, added some leftovers, and divided them into three packages, one for Aunt Hui and one for Zhuzhu , and the other bag was subdivided into two parts and taken away by myself.

Now it was raining again, the sky was still dark, the clouds reflected the lights of the city, and the world was red.

Ni Qiu put on her hat and walked quickly on the street with her packing box in her arms.Regal Street, which is full of fried food stalls, is still very lively. The long street is full of cold diners, but the Perfume Street next to it is a bit deserted. There are more neon signs on the road than passers-by, and some scantily clad women are walking in the drizzle. solicit business.

"Brother, do you want to come in and relax?"

"Boss, the newly arrived West Lake Longjing, 300 yuan a pot, cheap and good quality."

"This handsome guy, handsome guy, haha, don't go so fast, do you want to take a look, authentic Japanese girl, super kawaii, are you interested in maid coffee? Go in and have a look, I won't accept you money."

Someone also recognized Ni Qiu, and greeted him from the balcony facing the street on the second floor: "Little Niqiu, why did you finish work so early today?"

The woman's voice was hoarse, she was only wearing a suspender nightdress, and she was lying on the pole smoking a cigarette. Ni Qiu waved at the woman: "Sister Zhen."

Sister Zhen threw down a pack of cigarettes for him: "Here, your mother left me here during the day."

Ni Qiu caught the cigarette, took off his hat, wrapped the cigarette in the peaked cap, stuffed it into his jacket, put it close to his body, and waved again: "See you later."

His pace was faster, passing through a dark alley on Perfume Street, he was surrounded by a dozen high-rise buildings, each of these buildings had many small windows on each floor, densely packed, like pigeon cages, and like Pairs of sunken black eyes in the darkness.The red light of the sky did not fall here.Ni Qiu walked into one of the buildings, climbed up to the sixth floor, and stopped at the door of Room 6015.He didn't enter the house, opened his mixed meal, and sat on the newspaper spread by the door to eat.When he ate, he hardly made a sound, and he moved very quickly. After eating, he put the lunch box aside and took out the peaked cap he was carrying in his arms. Wet two.Ni Qiu touched the wet and soft filter tips, and frantically rolled the wet cigarettes back and forth on his palms, covered them with the corner of his dry clothes, and blew on them again.After being so busy for a long time, Ni Qiu was sweating all over. The two cigarettes were finally rescued. Ni Qiu heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed his sitting posture. Suddenly, he saw a centipede from the corner of his eye.

The centipede's body was black and shiny, like a pair of new oiled leather shoes. It twisted and moved forward, and crawled along a crack in the floor tiles to Ni Qiu's lunch box. Ni Qiu ate very clean, and there was only one layer in the lunch box. Light vegetable oil.The centipede with oil and water looks brighter and more eye-catching.

Ni Qiu stretched his hand into the lunch box. The centipede was not afraid of people, and climbed onto his finger and onto his hand. Countless small tentacles ran back and forth on the back of his hand, turning in an S shape, but it was very He soon lost interest in Ni Qiu's hands, stretched his body, hung half of his body from his wrist, dragged his lower body back to the ground, and climbed far.Ni Qiu smiled, took out a newspaper from under his buttocks, and read it under his nose.There was almost no light in the corridor, and he had to get very close to read the contents of the newspaper.

"18 yuan... force... watch, grab..."

"... Zhang... Open... Fang..."

Ni Qiu recognized each character, wrote each character on the ground, and read a piece of news with gusto.

After a while, the iron gate at the opposite door was opened, and a middle-aged man with a bulging belly, wearing a T-shirt and boxer shorts came out.He was holding two bags of garbage in his hand, and the sound of a mechanical time chime came from behind him.

It's six o'clock, it's morning.

When the man came back after taking out the trash, he took out a bunch of keys in front of the door and was about to open it when a woman with a curling iron savagely pulled open the iron door and scolded: "Zhao Wenming! Are you smoking outside again? "

The man was frowning, trying to comfort the woman, and said in a low voice: "Don't be so loud, listen to me..."

The woman was even more enthusiastic, and poked her finger on the man's face: "You, sow, you have sucked all your essence! Do you still want to want it? You are the one who wants to give birth, and you are the one who can't give birth!" !"

Ni Qiu blinked, picked up the cigarette case at hand, and waved at the woman: "Mrs. Zhao, it's me."

The woman was stunned for a moment, this time she glanced at Ni Qiu, the corner of her mouth twitched, she twisted the man's arm and dragged him behind the door, and continued to scold him endlessly: "Why are you so close to that dead son? Huh? No wonder you can’t pay your wages all day, you have a role to patronize that eighth woman??”

"Let's go, let's go, let's talk about it when we go back." The man pushed the woman into the house.

Not long after the two closed the door, the door behind Ni Qiu opened.

"Early in the morning, make a lot of noise! ​​You stinky, your husband! You've killed all the living creatures!" A long-haired woman in a nightgown stood inside the door, with one hand on her hip, cursing and spitting.She glanced at Ni Qiu and snatched the lunch box from his arms.Ni Qiu hurriedly picked up the cigarette and followed her in.

The room is filled with peach-pink light and the smell of rose essence. The curtains are drawn tightly. There is no furniture at all in the room. There is a simple cloth wardrobe behind the door. An electric fan was installed, and a sofa was placed close to the window. There were six patchwork plastic upholstery placed next to the sofa, each with a cartoon rabbit and an English letter on it.

The point of A has faded, and the arc of C is barely visible.

The entire wall behind the sofa is covered with the inside pages of fashion magazines, and there are many fur coats in transparent dust bags hanging on this wall.

A man was sitting on the sofa and wearing trousers. He was about forty years old, with a pot belly and slow movements. He was wearing a one-piece uniform of a freight company.The woman shuffled towards the man, scratched her hair, and sat down next to the man to eat a boxed lunch.As soon as she sat down, the man stood up, counted some money from his pocket and threw it on her. The man was very short, and there was always a "haha" panting sound in his throat. Breathing seemed to be a thing for him. Very difficult.The man lowered his head to fasten his belt, and the woman raised her face and asked him, "Is tomorrow also an early shift?"

The man responded, but didn't answer, and the woman said coquettishly, "Oh, it's true."

She stretched out her hand to grab the man's trouser leg, but the man turned around and walked away from her. He passed by Ni Qiu, and Ni Qiu suddenly remembered something, and passed the cigarette to the woman: "Sister Zhen said You left her there yesterday."

The woman winked, and Ni Qiu quickly lit a cigarette for her, but the woman took a puff of the cigarette before throwing it away, and the lunch box in her hand fell to the ground, and she threw the cigarette directly at Ni Qiu. Press on the arm: "How do you smoke a wet cigarette?? You smoked a wet cigarette for me, and you want to kill me?"

Ni Qiu lowered his head, clasped his hands tightly, and said nothing.

The man puts on his shoes at the door and leaves.

"Kneel down!" the woman snapped out a ruler from the crack of the sofa.Ni Qiu knelt on the ground, lowering her head even lower.He saw a centipede crawling towards the fried tofu scattered on the ground, it seemed to be the one that crawled onto his hand before and then crawled away.

The woman grabbed Ni Qiu's hair and forced him to look at her. She found a new wound on Ni Qiu's forehead and asked, "What's going on here?"

They got very close, and a strange smell from the woman's mouth mixed with her hot and humid breath sprayed onto Ni Qiu's face. Ni Qiu didn't dare to look at her, but looked at a female model behind the woman.She was covered in jewels and put one hand over her neck as if it was in pain.Ni Qiu said softly: "I accidentally bumped into it..."

The woman got even more angry, kicked Ni Qiu to the ground, slapped him on the back, and said angrily, "Are you meddling again? I want you to meddle! Meddle!"

Ni Qiu huddled on the ground and curled up his legs, the woman stood up and pulled him closer, raised her arms and slapped his thighs and feet: "None of your business! None of your business!"

Ni Qiu hugged his head subconsciously, closed his eyes tightly, and the woman went to slap his hand again, which made him tremble continuously, and he began to tremble too. After ten or so times, the woman finally got tired, threw away the ruler, and collapsed on the ground. On the sofa, I spread my legs and gasped for breath: "You just don't let me get better, you just don't let me get better, I'm exhausted, you're going to exhaust me..."

The woman's voice was dry, and the more she spoke, the softer she was, so Ni Qiu dared to open her eyes a little, and peeked out through the gap between her hands, but the two gazes collided with the woman's, and she made a gesture to slap Ni Qiu. With a slap, Ni Qiu's calf tightened, her knee pressed against her stomach, and she closed her eyes tightly again.

"Damn it," the woman didn't hit him in the end, but just threw the pack of cigarettes on Ni Qiu and kicked him, neither light nor heavy, "Buying cigarettes!! Hurry up!"

Ni Qiu got up with a grunt and ran out the door.

It was raining heavily, and when Ni Qiu ran to the nearest convenience store in the rain, he was completely drenched. He wiped his hands on his trousers for a long time before he dared to pick up the paid cigarettes.He held the cigarettes in his arms, but he didn't dare to let his wet clothes get too close to it. He focused on taking care of the pack of cigarettes like holding a baby, and accidentally bumped into the person walking towards him.

"Ni Qiu?" When the man called him, Ni Qiu looked up, laughed, and said hello: "Red Shrimp."

Red Shrimp looked him up and down: "You...this is...?"

Ni Qiu's hands were red and swollen, the gauze on his forehead was soaked, his cheeks were sunken, there was no flesh on his face and body, and his clothes and trousers seemed to be hanging on a wet hanger, dripping continuously.He stood barefoot on the ground, with a string of dirty footprints behind him.

"I forgot to bring my umbrella, and I came out to buy cigarettes for my mother." Ni Qiu looked at him, Hong Xia was wearing a tracksuit, and he asked, "Are you going for a morning run again?"

Hong Xia smiled: "It wasn't raining when I went out, so I can't run now, so I'll give you a ride."

"Aren't you going to buy something?"

"It's okay, I'll buy it after I send it to you. Your family lives nearby, right?"

Hong Xia went outside, opened the umbrella, Ni Qiu got under his umbrella, and Hong Xia asked, "Did Brother Jue go to your place yesterday?"

"Here we come, with Master Ming's son." Ni Qiu said, "Master Ming's son is so tall."

Red Shrimp nodded, and Ni Qiu said, "They look a little bit alike, but a little bit different."

Hong Xia looked at him, and Ni Qiu scratched his ears, feeling embarrassed.Hong Xia said: "It's a little bit. When I walked with Brother Jue, I felt a bit like Master Ming." Hong Xia paused and looked at the heavy rain outside the umbrella, "Maybe it's because I'm with Brother Jue."

Ni Qiu protected his pack of cigarettes, and without further words, Red Shrimp sent him downstairs, then turned back to the convenience store.

At the entrance of the convenience store, Red Shrimp received a text message, the sender only had a string of numbers, and the content read: LA24hours, HOTASIANCHICKS.

Red Shrimp bought a box of egg sandwiches, a bottle of herbal tea, and drove to the 24-hour gym two streets away.There was a yawning female receptionist sitting at the entrance of the gym. Red Xia waved to her. The receptionist gave him a towel and a bottle of mineral water, and said politely, "Brother Red Shrimp, good morning."

"Damn weather." Red Shrimp wiped his shoulder with a towel, his right shoulder was wet by the rain.

The receptionist smiled and patted the raindrops for him: "Do you want Brother Bao to come and run with you?"

Red Shrimp shook his head and walked into the gym.The huge sports space is brightly lit, against which the sky outside the floor-to-ceiling windows is misty and gloomy. It's still early, but there are already runners and boxers scattered in every corner.Red Shrimp walked all the way to the locker room. Two personal fitness trainers were cleaning the equipment, and they nodded in greeting when they saw him.

In the locker room, there was only one man sitting by the closet in the back row eating a sandwich. He was about thirty years old, wearing cologne, sweat on his forehead and nose, and his chin was blue, as if he had just shaved. The hair and eyebrows are carefully groomed.Red Shrimp passed by him, then turned back, it was indeed just him and the man in the locker room.Red Shrimp took out the sandwich he just bought and asked the man, "How much is yours?"

The man made an "eight" on his hand. He was half-dressed, wearing a T-shirt and no pants, and his feet in white socks stepped on a pair of Nike running shoes.

"It's so cheap." Red Shrimp snorted softly.He walked away, found an empty wardrobe to change, wet the towels in the bathroom, and went into the sauna.The steam in the wooden room was thick like clouds, Red Shrimp took two deep breaths, wet his face and lips with a towel, and sat down on a row of long wooden boards.

Not long after, the man eating the sandwich also came in. He wrapped a bath towel around his lower body, poured a spoonful of boiling water onto the stone, and the gushing white air instantly surrounded him.Red Shrimp glanced leisurely, and said, "It's better not to go to the sauna after eating, because it's easy to cause insufficient blood supply to the brain. Otherwise, it's like Zhong Sir."

"He's old enough to have a stroke." The man let out a breath, waved away the smoke, stood with one hand on his hips, and said while staring at the creaking stones.

"Fei Jue wants to avenge Mo Ming."

"Is there any way for you to follow up on the order that Hesheng won. The other fish are too low-grade to touch." The man put down the wooden spoon and sat down beside Red Shrimp.

Red Shrimp closed his eyes, leaned his head back on the chair, and relaxed his hands: "How is Zhong sir?"

"Do you have a relative in Huawan?" The man touched his knee and looked at the entrance of the sauna.

Red Shrimp echoed: "Well, yes."

He spread the towel over his face.

"As soon as Mo Ming dies, Xinglian will be disbanded sooner or later. You can see if you can transfer to Hesheng." The man said.

Red Shrimp stretched his legs, put his left foot on his right ankle, and said, "I'm young and Dangerous, not a signed artist. If a company doesn't want to mess around, if I have money, I will pay liquidated damages. If I don't have money, I will pay liquidated damages." It will be exhausted until the contract is invalid. If I transfer to Hesheng, I will die."

The man's gaze remained motionless, as if stuck on the wooden door, and he asked, "Do you have any news about the eight robberies?"

"I heard that they robbed money and killed people, making funeral parlors queue up."

"Help me find out."

Red Shrimp said, "Fei Jue flew to Thailand today to find a helper. Dr. Kang will do it during the [-]th birthday party."

The man said: "I'm looking for you? Otherwise, who else does he have under his command?" After a pause, he said, "It's best not to interfere. Dr. Kang is celebrating his birthday. Come and have some tea with us."

Red Shrimp didn't say a word, he sat up straight, caught the towel with both hands and wiped his face, and then said: "Next time it rains, don't meet each other, just treat each other as a holiday."

The man stood up and said with emotion: "I can't take it, it's too hot."

With that said, he walked out.Red Shrimp heard the sound of flushing water coming from outside the sauna, he got up and added half a spoonful of water, the sauna was even hotter, it was scorching hot when he breathed in and out, Red Shrimp sat quietly for a while, was I went out with my face flushed by the steam.The man had already left, and an empty mineral water bottle and a plastic box filled with half a sandwich appeared in the trash can in the dressing room.

Red Shrimp frowned, looked at the leftover half sandwich, kicked the trash can, very unhappy: "Don't waste it..."

He changed back into his sportswear, double-checked that the shoelaces were tight, took his mobile phone, plugged in his earphones, and went outside to find a treadmill for a run.He ran while listening to the song, the song was random, sometimes lyrical and sometimes dynamic, but Red Shrimp ran faster and faster, pressing the acceleration button continuously, 5.1, 5.4, 6.0, 6.3, 6.7...

Jacky Cheung sang: "Whoever is not guilty will be judged." When the treadmill stopped suddenly, Red Shrimp staggered, his mobile phone fell to the ground, and the earphones were pulled out of his ears by inertia. He almost fell on the ground while running. On the plane, Red Shrimp hurriedly grabbed the armrest and barely stabilized his body. Before he could stand upright with both feet, he clenched his right hand and punched the control panel.He lowered his head, gasped for breath while leaning against one handrail, and punched the treadmill several times in succession.

"Brother Red Shrimp..."

A personal trainer trotted up to him.

Red Shrimp bit his lips tightly, and firmly grasped the treadmill. His wrists kept shaking, and his knuckles could hardly see blood.

"Brother Red Shrimp, are you okay?" The personal trainer stretched out his hand to help him, and Red Shrimp pushed him away, jumped off the treadmill, swallowed hard, and said, "Your machine is broken, call Abao Get someone to fix it quickly."

What else did the personal trainer say, Hong Xia picked up the phone, ran out of the gym covered in stinky sweat without even taking a shower.It was getting late, and it was Fei Jue who called and asked him to take him to the airport.