critical

It was past noon, and the sun was scorching in the sky, Yan Ji glanced at the sun, and the golden light shone in front of his eyes.

Yan Ji walked forward along the road.

The two breakfast shops opposite the Qiwushan Police Station are still open. One still sells noodles and wontons, and the other sells fast food. Seven or eight stainless steel plates are stacked on a long table, filled with meatballs, chicken legs, etc., covered with white Under the veil, flies and insects are flying up and down looking for opportunities.

She and Yan Deng ate here for the first time. At that time, they escaped from the sheep farm and it rained overnight.

Yan Ji thinks of the Youtang Hotel which is like a work of art, the cold dinner party of Xingxi Hotel photographed by Yan Deng, those distinguished and noble people, those resounding companies, the wealth of the sky and the power behind them.

Her life seemed to be torn into two very different halves in just a few days.

Yan Ji was a little puzzled, and followed the laughter.

In front of the fast food restaurant, several small pickup trucks were parked in disorder. The dark-skinned driver was holding a stainless steel dinner plate, sitting on the ground and hiding in the shadows by the tires, with a mobile phone between his knees.

The yelling of the anchors came from the mobile phone stereo, and the driver laughed out loud. He was so happy that he picked up a piece of chicken neck and threw it to the eager dog next to him.

Yan Ji also laughed.

The world is changing, gains and losses are impermanent, this is the essence of fate.As the teacher said, what a person can do is to be as cold as iron.

"The heart is like cold iron." Yan Ji sighed with emotion in a low voice.

At that time, Yan Ji had just entered high school, and the girl's adolescent rebelliousness was a bit different. From the bottom of her heart, she didn't like smoking and drinking to burn her head, and she was struggling with livelihood. She was just learning to paint and angry with her mother, so she couldn't escape. Youth pain.

So the young Yan Ji confided to Zhang Gongyu in a rare way: "Teacher, do people decide fate, or fate decides people? My deskmate recently read this book and clamored every day that my fate is up to me. It seems very reasonable, but I just find it funny and annoying."

As I write this, I feel a little ashamed, but I still hope that the teacher I admire can give me an answer: "I am very confused, what kind of life should a person choose? Get back, or go with the flow and go along the road in a muddleheaded way, or if something goes wrong, blame others."

Zhang Gongyu repeatedly wrote several drafts of this reply letter.

Hesitating again and again, thinking for a long time, finally sent Yan Ji only a few words——

[Yan Ji:

I was very pleased and relieved to get the manuscript yesterday.

You already understand speculation, but I have never heard of it.You are young, healthy, and smart, so you might as well look at it with a cold heart, and go further.

近佳

Zhang Gong and]

Heart as cold as iron?

Yan Ji thought about it over and over for a few days but still couldn't figure it out, and was afraid that the teacher would dislike him for being stupid, so he kept vaguely understanding in his heart.

"Sure enough, it was because I had too little knowledge and experience before. Now I finally understand what the teacher means." Yan Ji walked briskly towards the platform on the side of the road.

It is not accurate to say that it is a platform.There are no stations or platforms here, but the green belt grass has been trampled bare, exposing the bare loess.

Yan Ji stood up, took out his mobile phone and glanced at it, then put it in his pocket.

She drove Didi to take the airport line, and she knows the time of the airport bus very well.Sure enough, 5 minutes later, a brand new bus came from a distance.

Yan Ji waved, the bus stopped, and the door opened with a "crash".

When Yan Ji got into the car, the driver glanced at her, saw an unfamiliar face and reminded her: "Ten yuan, put it in the box."

Yan Ji put the two yuan coin into his pocket, and asked the driver: "Master, can you scan the QR code? Alipay and WeChat are fine."

The driver master has already closed the door and started: "No, I can't touch the money, you can find someone to change it at the back."

"Okay." Yan Ji took out 100 yuan from the envelope, leaning on the chair and wanted to walk back.

"Hey, wait a minute." The driver stopped her and pointed, "Put down the extra seat and sit down."

Yan Ji had the nerve to take advantage: "It's okay, I'll go to the back..."

The driver interrupted again and again: "It's okay, it's okay, I just want to ask, what happened to the last time you asked me about it? Did the woman catch it? Have I done anything?"

Yan Ji was taken aback.

The bus driver lowered his voice: "I went home and thought about it again, and I think there are still some clues that I can report to you. I almost rated as excellent last year..."

The driver glanced at Yan Ji, saw that she was calm and did not speak, he couldn't help but touched his nose guiltyly, and hesitated: "What? Lao He told you? No, I was afraid that he would delay solving the case if he didn't respond to you. .”

Yan Ji looked down and saw the envelope with the words "Public Security Bureau" printed on his hand, and explained: "Master, you made a mistake."

The bus driver was anxious: "Impossible, I checked the surveillance, it's true. It's just one person, it can't be wrong."

Yan Ji didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he even deliberately watched the surveillance. The driver seemed to want to be a detective.

Seeing her smile, the bus driver felt humiliated by the pack of cigarettes he gave to the monitoring room, and said emphatically, "Really, that's the woman in the photo you showed me." Tongue, afraid that Yan Ji didn't hear clearly: "It's the woman wearing glasses in the photo."

Yan Ji nodded. As soon as the driver spoke, she knew it was the teacher.After all, the criminal police team suspected that the teacher was involved in the Qian Hong case, and found the airport bus ticket in her wallet. They would definitely ask the driver of the day to find out the situation.

At this moment, Yan Ji's phone vibrated, it was Yan Deng's news.Yan Ji sighed in his heart, if the teacher hadn't gone to pick up Yan Deng that day, he wouldn't have suffered this calamity.I may not know Yan Deng, and I will not encounter those weird things, and I will live an ordinary life day after day like other ordinary people in this city.

"Master, that person is not suspected, so don't worry." Yan Ji answered the bus phone, and opened the text message with his fingertips.

Yan Deng: [I'm here. 】

Yan Ji couldn't help feeling anxious when he saw these three words, and quickly typed with his fingers: I just got in the car, you may have to...

"How could it be?" The bus driver argued, "It's not the murderer, what is she doing here?"

Yan Ji raised his head abruptly, and stood up from his seat: "Take a look?"

The bus driver's reaction was even more excited than her, his head was like a chicken pecking rice, and his voice was low and sneaky: "Yes, yes, she used to take Lao He's car before, and I didn't know why it was late that day. .”

Yan Ji's heart was beating wildly, and his face turned pale: "What else did you say?"

"Why didn't you say so?" The bus driver was overjoyed, seeing Yan Ji's serious expression, he hurriedly said, "Old He said, the woman wearing glasses sometimes gets off at your police station, and sometimes at Guanqiao Village. We The reason is that the airport bus does not stop at these two points. The main reason is that there is no bus here, and it is for the convenience of the people. Generally, they are old men and women in the village, and they don’t pay... Cough, comrade policeman, I think that woman is Step on the spot."

Yan Ji frowned.

Of course, it is impossible for the teacher to step on the spot and prepare to kill Qian Hong.

Yan Ji felt that her tongue was not in control, and she tried her best to restrain her voice to appear calm: "On that day, the day when the crime happened, before the lady wearing glasses got out of the car, did anything unusual happen?"

The bus driver was at a loss: "Anomaly? No, if there is, I will find it."

Yan Ji clenched his fists suddenly.

If the teacher got off the bus because he found Qian Hong on the iron tower of the base station, it is impossible not to tell the bus driver.The driver master did not find any abnormality at that time, indicating that the teacher came to "step on the spot" as usual.

Yan Ji asked unwillingly: "Not at all? Did she appear anxious?"

The bus driver frowned and thought for half a minute: "No, she's not in a hurry at all, and she stood by the door half a mile ahead of time."

A thunderbolt struck Yan Ji's mind, and his ears buzzed--

Yan Deng lied!

The airport bus ticket in the teacher's wallet is destined for Guanqiao Village, and it is not going to the airport at all... The teacher is not going to the airport... Not to pick up Yan Deng... She and the teacher are not friends at all...

She is lying.

She lied to me!

Some of her words are true...

Yan Ji's face was pale, beads of sweat trickled down his temples, and his hair was wet into locks.

Seeing her red eyes, the driver was shocked and angry, thinking that he had provided incredible information, he was nervous and excited, and licked his lips to resist not daring to speak.

Yan Ji closed his eyes and opened them again, leaning on the back of the chair and sitting down slowly.

She looked down at the floor of the car, wondering what she was thinking about, her lips were tightly pursed and the corners of her mouth turned down, her whole body looked cold and tense, like the depressive silence before a volcano erupted, but her face gradually returned to normal, not so pale anymore.

The airport bus sped along the road, stopped at three stations, and finally arrived at the bus terminal.

Yan Ji followed the flow of people to the exit, and stood over the stainless steel fence to meet the crowd, old and young, men and women, with earnest eyes and expectant expressions.

Yan Ji glanced coldly, and strode out of the bus station.