red dust under the lamp

There are still remnants of firecrackers and fireworks in the streets after the New Year, and the nostrils are full of coal ash along the way.

After dismantling a pack of cigarettes and giving them away, her friends chattered and finally pointed out a piece of news.

Laba saw a woman in the hospital that day, and some people secretly speculated that she had that kind of dirty disease, so they stayed away.Later, I saw her enter the hospital empty-handed, and when she came out, she was holding a child.

If women are not crazy, how can they steal other people's children for no reason?

But then she inquired about it by herself, entrusted a few friends, and invited two meals. It is appropriate for men to hand out cigarettes these days. entanglements.

After waiting for two days, Ning Jue cleaned up the woman's room. After waiting for an address, it was said that a child was lost in the hospital that day, and the child's biological mother lived here. As for where the woman went, no one knew.

The Harvest Building is located in a remote place, a good place to kill and steal goods, and it is normal that there are no witnesses.

Ning Jue wrote down the address first, and then found an old faded photo of the woman, smiling at the camera, revealing half of her face—the other half was torn off at some point.

Go to the train station, show a picture of a woman to the deceitful and deceitful sellers who are often running around there, and ask if you have seen such a person.

But there is no time, no place, and relying on people's memories, Ning Jue has nothing to gain.

In the end, the clue pointed to the child's biological mother. Ning Jue took out the rubber duck from the miscellaneous items, trying to let someone recognize her by it at that time. The middle-aged woman turned her head frequently, and looked at Ning Jue, a street gangster, with righteous eyes. She lowered her head to think about things, and squeezed the childlike cry of the duck into a scream.

Among the old buildings, the innermost room on the top floor of the most inconspicuous one is the residence of the child’s biological mother. Water leaks frequently, and even the corridors and stairwells are full of damp. The goose-yellow underwear that was washed out in an unknown year and month is hanging out to dry. .Ning Jue pinched the rubber duck and squeezed it towards the cat's eyes a few times, and only knocked on the door when she heard it screamed several times.

No one answered.

The knock on the door disturbed the neighbors, and the door on the right opened, revealing the face of a middle-aged woman with fluffy hair, looking at Ning Jue with vigilance and curiosity.

Ning Jue raised the duck and pinched it at her a few times, making fun of herself, but before she could speak, the woman wrinkled her face: "What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for someone. Did the owner of this house lose a child some time ago?"

"What do you do?" The middle-aged woman tightened the crack of the door, as if worried that Ning Jue would suddenly pull out a knife and enter the house to rob her.

"My friend disappeared. They said they had seen this family two days ago. I asked about it."

What Ning Jue said was the truth, so she was calm and sincere.

The crack in the door was finally loose, revealing the nightgown of the house. The middle-aged woman rubbed her eyes and poked the door Ning Jue knocked on from the air, as if poking the other person's spine: "I ran away a long time ago. There is a woman living in this house. It's a mistress, the man's wife came to him two days ago, and he was beaten like hell, but then he seems to have moved away... What's your friend doing?"

"Salesperson." Ning Jue was not lying, the salesperson was selling things, and the woman was selling her own body.

The middle-aged woman finally let go of her guard, opened the door, and told in detail about the mistress's usual misdeeds, staying up late at night to sing, coming back late at night, disturbing her children's rest... last time she knocked over a basket of vegetables... one piece Everything is listed clearly.

Ning Jue spelled out the image of a third party who was lurking day and night and was crazy, and then she asked again, but the woman didn't know, and she had nowhere to look for the original partner, so the clue was cut off.

The rubber duck was placed by the window, and Ning Jue consciously did her best, but if she couldn't find it, it was because the fate between her and the woman was exhausted, and the fate of the three people in Fengshou Building was exhausted, so there was no farewell, and they scattered.There's no need to look for it anymore, and it doesn't matter who the child is. She has laid out all her worries, and there is no room for her to worry about others.

But the fate kept cutting. When she passed by the police station, the little policeman who gave her melon seeds talked to her and asked when she would come back.

"What?" Ning Jue took a handful of peanuts and rubbed the shell carelessly.

"There was a case a few days ago," the little policeman lowered his head to peel the peanuts as if he was talking about the news, "It's from your Harvest Building."

Ning Jue crushed the peanuts and even the leather belt. She raised her head, "What case?"

"How should I put it, it's not a case, it's a dispute. There is a woman who has an improper relationship with a married man and has a child. The man's original spouse made a fortune in business at home, so the man is afraid When something happened in the sky, I went to this mistress and said that I wanted to break up. The mistress refused, saying that she had raised a child for him, and that she had another child in her belly. Going to the hospital, I don’t know why I talked about the child now, and there was a quarrel in the hospital. There is a woman, who is from your Harvest Building, and I don’t know if it’s idle or what, those two people quarreled, the child Beside her, she was obsessed with ghosts, took the child away and ran away, and raised it for a few days."

"How did things work out?"

"Then the man found the child first, and told the woman, if you are willing to raise it, I will give you 500 yuan, and you can take it away, leave Pingdu, and go anywhere. This woman is also heartless, so she agreed. Take the money and run away. Xiaosan said that the child was missing and reported the crime. We held him down at the train station. The man refused to admit it, so he said it was your woman who abducted and trafficked children... The incident became more and more serious, and the original partner knew about it I got into a fight with Xiaosan, and then said that the family ugliness should not be publicized, and if you are sure, you will say that it is a woman who abducts and sells children."

The peanuts were crushed to pieces in their hands.

"Then?"

"Then the woman couldn't explain clearly to others, and ran away when she couldn't think about it. In fact, she made it clear that she was fine. She felt that she was absconding in fear of crime and left overnight."

Ning Jue let out a breath of white air, picked out the peanuts from his palm and stuffed them into his mouth.

The process was bumpy and bumpy, she cared about the result, the woman was fine, but she was on the run, no one was chasing her and she fled, and her life was in a hurry... But it was fine in the end, she was a whole person, there was no lack of arms or legs, and no grievances.

As for the rest of the ups and downs, like the embers of artillery fire, they are not worth mentioning at this moment. Ning Jue brushed off the dust from the woman and put his heart back.

Now she is the only one left in the Harvest Building. She had inquired about the man's whereabouts before. Someone saw him carrying a package on the train going south in the twelfth lunar month. The south is half of China. Who knows his whereabouts?

Maybe I won't see it in this life?

The way back from the police station became very long, and Ning Jue accidentally got lost.She walked through all the streets and alleys of Pingdu, why did she get lost at this time?I don't know how to go back, isn't the Harvest Building in Daliangtun?Can't we go out from the city and walk along the highway?Why can't she tell the difference?

The dirty water in the sewer was slowly bubbling.

Never see those two again in this lifetime?Those two who don't even know their names?

Stopping at the side of the road, Ning Jue found himself lost on the streets of Pingdu. People say that Pingdu is a beautiful tourist poster, giving instructions on going north and down south.

All the surrounding scenery is pointing the direction, but suddenly there is no direction in my heart.

Where should I go?

Many years ago, she could rely on her naivety and ignorance to jump into this society at a leisurely pace, relying on no one, and living happily alone... But now she obviously has no dependence on anyone, but suddenly she has no purpose.

It's like jumping into the vast fog, without markers, she loses her coordinates and can only float in the air.

want to……

What to do...?

All kinds of causes and effects in my heart are like rivers converging into lakes, brewing an unspeakable slightly sour.

In the end, she still did not return to the Harvest Building.

Spreading the national map on her knees, Ning Jue sucked on fruit-flavored pagoda candies, wondering if there was anything in the city represented by each dot that would fill her body and mind, and then she could take a stroll to see what other cities looked like .

Swiping her finger between Haijing and Hepingdu, she suddenly thought of Xie Yichen.

Why do you think of Xie Yichen?Ning Jue asked herself, she left because she thought she was doing face to Xie family and herself.

But Xie Yichen began to dance in his mind, the cripple stood up, and the white lady rose into a fairy.

She lay back on the concrete floor, covering her face with a map.

It was a gangster who woke her up. He was an acquaintance who was assigned by his boss to go to the place to collect money. Ning Jue was lying near the auto repair street. He saw her easily. He thought she was a beautiful woman who was alone. No accident, it was Ning Jue. .

After picking up a cigarette, Ning Jue held it in his mouth, and the gangster leaned over to light it for her: "I don't know what to do? Didn't you go to Haijing to make a fortune a while ago? What about your partner? Leave it alone and you don't want it? We have a car together Let people vent their anger on you."

It's just a joke, the law and order in Pingdu is different from that in Haijing, and the gangsters will not fall into the trap of themselves.

"I'm not a stranger...I don't like it." Ning Jue said casually, completely not matching the keyword with Xu Liwen.

"Then do you do business? Let me introduce you to a way to get rich." The gangster mentioned casually.

"What business is left to me, you don't do it yourself?"

"For a massage parlor, it's appropriate for a woman to come to the top, and the boss is cheap. She said she would wash her hands and quit. Let's add fire behind the scenes to keep the price down, and Lao Huang, Lu Yan and the others will pool together the money and tell the boss. , take it down, from now on, the one who talks about white is a manager, and the one who says black is a Tsing Yi, how about it?"

It's a bit heartwarming to say the least.Ning Jue was thinking in his heart.

Collecting money also requires people to manage it, but in essence it still needs these people from the society to take care of them. When the time comes to treat guests to dinner, there will be a lot of money to be given away for some obvious things. Although it will be thrown out at that time, but There must be a lot left between the fingers.The gangster said, the one in black is Tsing Yi, which must mean that he has taken refuge in his boss Zhao Huhu, and she must be able to fight... She is not as good as others, and she is beautiful. I heard that Zhao Huhu is lustful, and Ning Jue does not sell it, but It can't be sold cheaply, she is still wondering if it's worth it.

"How much money have you collected?"

"Subscription, it doesn't matter how much you want now, the boss said he would lend us the money, a three-point interest, not counting the principal, and repay it in five years, we lack a manager..."

After Ning Jue thought about it, the gangster immediately decided to take her to dinner.

The hooligans went into the restaurant and had endless credits. The books were only on credit but not repayment. After ordering a table, the four of them drank together and talked about a better tomorrow. While talking, they already talked about opening a branch in Nancheng in the future.

Ning Jue lowered his head and sipped his beer, picked up the food slowly, and listened to their thoughts about the future, being dazzled by the dreamy bubbles.

After a day, Ning Jue thought it over: "I'm really not good for business...I want to go to Nancheng for a break."

However, she really doesn't have the ability to make a living. She is not a typical singer who went to the New York dance floor to become a hit, and she is not a representative of an actor who is silent in Hollywood. Apart from making her appear transparent, she has no extraordinary qualities.

But people who are not extraordinary will also be blown up by the extraordinary era.

In the second year, some important person dug out a sitcom "Family Fighting" that seemed to be full of canned laughter from the pile of old papers, and sent it to Haijing Satellite TV.

It was born at a bad time, and the ratings were miserable when it first aired.

The second airing was its east wind, blowing it to the front pages of entertainment newspapers across the country.

In the group photo of the stills, there is a face with a greasy head and a pink face. With the brilliance of the whole play, more and more people know it

The brilliance of the leading role also shone on the faces of the supporting actors. When Xu Liwen received the director's notice to accept the award, he almost forgot that he once dreamed of becoming a star.

The family portraits of "Fighting and Fighting" are printed in every corner of the newsstand.

Ning Jue, who was wearing work clothes, walked past the newsstand. The huge ball hall in Nancheng was competing with the sun not far away. She glanced at Xu Liwen's smile in the group photo, and suddenly stopped, grabbed the change, and bought a copy of Nancheng Daily .

The author has something to say: The time span of this chapter is two and a half years.

The next chapter is Xie Yichen's perspective.