winter past

Xiaoman closed the door of the private room, walked to a small square table in the room, looked at Lao Yao who was only wearing a white vest, and sat hunched over, and sat down at the seat opposite him.Lao Yao smiled at him, then quickly looked at the table, his neck stretched forward even more, the chandelier above the square table clearly illuminated the white stubble on his chin and lips.His two white eyebrows gradually squeezed towards the center of his brows, looking extremely distressed.Xiao Man then took a picture of Yin Miaozai who was sitting next to him and writing vigorously - what Lao Yao was reading were those flamboyant words she was writing, and his distress seemed to be caused by these words.Xiaoman said: "Let's do this first, I can't eat hot tofu in a hurry."

Yin Miaozai stopped writing, and showed Xiaoman the paper under her wrist: "Then ask me some questions first?"

Xiaoman took a look, Yin Miaozai listed two questions, the first one asked: Have you seen the man in the portrait?

The second question: Has Lingdang ever mentioned to you that he encountered any weird people and strange things when he was teaching at New Oriental?

Xiaoman turned the piece of paper in the other direction, pushed it to Lao Yao's hand, and gesticulated: "Look at it, look at it."

Lao Yao blinked and scratched his scalp, Yin Miaozai let out an "ah" and hurriedly stuffed the pen into his hand.Lao Yao smiled at them and slowly wrote on the paper.He grasped the ballpoint pen like a bundle of firewood, writing every stroke carefully.Yin Miaozai was impatient, so she simply sat beside Lao Yao and stared at him. When he wrote a word, she read it out: "Words, knowledge, not many, take it easy..."

Yin Miaozai hurriedly shook her head and waved her hands, making "please" gestures repeatedly: "It's okay, it's okay, take it easy, take it easy." She looked at Xiaoman and said regretfully, "I should find a sign language teacher." She said, "We Are you in no hurry?"

Xiaoman nodded.Both he and Yin Miaozai sat quietly, watching Lao Yao quietly.Lao Yao seemed to be doing his homework, and wrote the answers next to Yin Miaozai's questions.What he wrote was "No." and "I didn't mention it to me. My roommate said that she said that someone followed her from school. Later, I found out that it was a student."

"Student?" Yin Miaozai poked the word "student", raised his eyes, and looked at Xiao Man with a stern look, his chest heaved, a little nervous, a little excited.She wrote: Isn't it the person in the portrait?Has anyone seen the portrait of this man stalking her?Has anyone seen the student who stalked her with this guy in the portrait?

Old Yao shook his head.Xiaoman thought of a few questions, so he asked: which student, did she mention the name?How many times have you been followed?About how long before she disappeared?

Yin Miaozai said to him: "Cao Lv is the one following her, right? Do you want to show Lao Yao a photo of Cao Lv? Or ask for the contact information of Yao Lingdang's roommate back then?"

Xiaoman made a gesture of "Be safe, don't be impatient", Yin Miaozai swallowed, and Lao Yao replied: Name, I don't know, once, I followed home and asked the gatekeeper of the community, I don't know, I lost the previous month.

Xiaoman wrote: Did she not plan to continue teaching English one month before she disappeared?Did you teach English to subsidize your family?

Lao Yao looked at the question and started panting.Xiaoman wrote: Someone in the family suddenly fell ill before?

Lao Yao nodded again and again, grabbed Xiaoman's hand, pointed to the word "roommate" on the paper and kept knocking on the table.Xiaoman nodded knowingly, and said, "Okay, okay, please give me the contact information of this roommate."

Lao Yao took out his mobile phone and found a number, both Xiaoman and Yin Miaozai wrote down the number.Lao Yao also seemed a little nervous at the moment, he hurriedly wrote: Isn't it, the line office? ? ?

Xiaoman turned over the paper full of questions, and the other side was a leaflet made by Lao Yao. He wrote next to the man's portrait: "Who has seen him?"

Lao Yao's hand was half raised, trembling in the air, he touched the button-type mobile phone, and pressed it again and again.What he opened was the address book in his mobile phone, and he pressed the contact "Chen Menwei in the community", and then found the contact "Mahjong Hall Boss Zhang", and "Dongting Lake Water Delivery Xiaoyuan".

Yin Miaozai wrote: These people saw them talking at the gate of the community?Anyone heard it, know what this man said to the bell?

Lao Yao pointed to the first half of the question and nodded sharply, pointed to the second half of the question and lowered his head, rubbing the portrait of the man on the flyer and slowly shaking his head from side to side.He let out a "hey", extremely unwilling.The flesh on his arms also shook, the wrinkles on his face suddenly became deeper, his cheeks became more sunken, and his face was full of shadows. He looked like he was in his 70s or 80s, but Xiao Man remembered that he should be in his 50s this year. He is only in his [-]s, he should be a man in his prime, his arms look really strong, just look at his face—but at this time the chandelier can't cover his whole body, he looks weak and thin, like a A piece of dead flesh that had been drained of blood was wrapped in a sallow skin.

He was very similar to those victims who died under the hands of Lin Midong and Cao Lu.

At this moment, Lao Yao raised his head and looked at Xiaoman, as if to tell him that he was wrong, he was still alive, his heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys were still well stored in his body, and he still had energy and breath. , except that he is alive, and there is no difference between his daughter who had her lips cut, her body dug up, and her dead daughter who was smeared with embalming liquid.Their time also stopped at a certain moment 12 years ago.The moment when the god of death came inexplicably and for no reason.

Xiaoman felt nauseous for a while, and Lao Yao knocked on the table again, yelling "Mmhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh", pointing at the man in the portrait, he put his wrists together, and an honest and honest smile appeared on his withered face.

Xiaoman shook his head, and Yin Miaozai also understood what Lao Yao meant. She wrote: There is progress, don't worry, there is progress.

Lao Yao was still smiling, but his eyes were obviously lost, but soon, the loss disappeared, he became peaceful, and his eyes were moist.

He is probably used to being disappointed. For more than ten years, no one can give him a result. It's just that he still can't get used to his daughter's death.Would he dream of Yao Lingdang?Did he still see her...

Xiao Man rubbed his eyes, not daring to look at Lao Yao anymore, he seemed to be able to see a girl sitting in the dark corner behind Lao Yao.The girl was crying, and the funeral procession came in from outside the private room, beating gongs and drums, Xiao Man covered her ears, bowed her head, her stomach was really uncomfortable, and her chest was suffocated.He was about to get up and go outside to get some air and smoke a cigarette when the door of the private room opened and Zhao You came in hurriedly. , waved his hands with a smile, and kept doing the motion of tying a towel with his hands in front of his waist. Lao Yao clapped his hands happily, pointed to his head with an "ahhh" and made a salute.Zhao You glanced at the table, glanced briefly at the words on the flyer, sat next to Xiaoman and said, "I'm thirsty."

He picked up the teacup in Xiaoman's hand and drank tea, patted his chest and spoke loudly to Lao Yao: "There will be results soon!"

Yin Miaozai frowned and said, "What are you doing? He can't hear you. No matter how loud you say it, it's useless."

Zhao You took a few tissues for her, her eye circles were strangely red.Yin Miaozai blew her nose and said, "I'm going to the toilet."

She gets up and walks away.Zhao You wrote on the flyer: "Soon, the result." He looked at Lao Yao with a smile.

Xiaoman said, "There are other sides." He said, "I'll go for a walk."

Zhao You just looked at him, pitifully: "I just came and you are leaving?"

Xiao Man raised his chin: "You buttoned the wrong button."

Zhao You said: "Some people can't smoke outside, you have to go outside to smoke."

When Xiaoman slapped him, she was very helpless—helpless to herself, Zhao You saw through his thoughts again, why couldn't she hide anything from him?He said, "I don't smoke."

Zhao You tugged at his sleeve and asked, "Have you asked a lot?"

He quickly scanned the text on the front and back of the leaflet, and wrote in the blank space: "Have you eaten?" and handed it to Lao Yao.

Xiaoman stretched his neck to follow and laughed out loud.Lao Yao pointed out, Zhao You nodded: "Yes, there are a lot of food outside."

Xiaoman kicked him: "Is there nothing you want to ask?"

"I think you've finished asking all these questions."

Zhao You pointed to the word "eat", looked at Lao Yao, and kept poking his mouth out at him.Lao Yao pointed at his wrist, Zhao You got up, Lao Yao also got up, laughed again, shook Zhao You's hand, then shook Xiao Man's hand, and kept bowing to them, how could Xiao Man bear it? , I also want to bow to him, the private room is not big, the two of them bent down at the same time, their heads hit each other, Zhao You pulled them away, sent Lao Yao out, and others also went out, Xiao Man scratched his throat and sat alone In this small private room, the temperature is suitable, neither too hot nor too cold, he sweated a little, and couldn't sit still, he still wanted to go out.The second time he stood up, it was Zhao You who happened to come in again.He took some fruit snacks and asked Xiaoman, "What did you have for lunch?"

Xiaoman said: "Is there anything more important than eating in the world?" He sighed, sat down, and said: "Rice noodles." He asked Zhao You: "Is there any progress?"

Zhao You unpacked the walnut kernels, but did not answer.Xiao Man shoved his shoulder and changed the question: "What about you? What did you eat?"

Zhao You said with a smile: "Steak steak."

Xiao Man laughed: "You really don't treat yourself badly."

Zhao You said: "The real feeling of life."

Xiao Man curled his lips, and Zhao You said again: "There is some progress." He ate the walnuts and said, "And I figured out something on the way."

"what?"

"It has nothing to do with the case, do you want to listen?"

"I don't want to listen to you?" Xiao Man smelled the aroma of walnut kernels, took some and ate, and glanced at Zhao You, "You will change the way to let me listen to you? Either' I'll go outside to smoke a cigarette, or else..." Xiao Man half covered his face.There was a walnut taste in his mouth, and the pain in his stomach was not so uncomfortable, but he was still bored. He felt a puff of air rushing through his body, and he couldn't find the exit. Some went to his throat, some went to his heart, and he sat I was also uncomfortable, unable to stand up again, my muscles and bones were tense, my head was heavy, and my shoulders were held up in the air as if being hoisted by someone.He thought it was time for him to take his medicine.

At this time, Zhao You pulled his fingers away and looked at him closely, Xiao Man choked, Zhao You handed him water, and he coughed continuously.Zhao You gently patted his back.He approached Xiaoman, and the two sat next to each other.Xiao Man gradually relaxed, he slowed down, put down his teacup and said, "Do you want to talk?"

Zhao You opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Zhao You's mobile phone rang loudly in the private room, Xiaoman covered half of his ears, took a walnut and threw Zhao You down, Zhao You also felt noisy, frowned, and took out his mobile phone He saw that Zhan Xuanang was calling, and he checked the time again, it was 03:30.It's long past their scheduled meeting time.

Zhao You put on the earphones, answered the phone and said first, "Team Zhan, help me check the entry and exit records of the wife of the foreigner who gave Cao Lu a mental appraisal."

"Huh? What does she have to do with the case?"

"Have you seen her?"

"No, what am I doing seeing her?" Zhan Xuanang became angry, and said half a sentence, "I..."

Zhao You said: "It's related to the Yao Lingdang case. You can search for her photos. For Elizabeth or something, you can definitely see Mark's file, and you'll know it when you see it."

Zhan Xuanang was silent.Zhao You said in a good manner: "I'm still running other clues, or I'll use my mobile phone to listen in?"

Zhan Xuanang remained silent, Zhao You touched his arm and said, "I want to apply to see Cao Lv."

Xiao Man listened, looked at Zhao You, picked a few grapes and stuffed them into his mouth.

Zhan Xuanang finally spoke again on the other end of the phone: "What did you say?? Did I hear you right?"

"It's just..." Zhao You looked at Xiaoman, pouted his mouth in distress, picked up a pen and wrote on the paper: wait a minute.

He said, "Just to meet the suspect in the case..."

Zhan Xuanang obviously swallowed his saliva, and his voice moved away from the receiver: "Okay, Deputy Zhao is listening, Shu Le, you can continue to report, what did Xue Mao say when he surrendered?"

Shu Le's voice sounded: "I just asked him, I said, didn't you say that the person was dead at that time, did you run away after taking the things? You also said that you didn't care about grabbing the shoes... "

Xiaoman wrote: The case is important.

"...He said, officer, I didn't say the person was dead. I said that the person moved a little bit. Thinking about it now, the person should be alive, otherwise why would he move suddenly? That’s right, I was also obsessed with ghosts at the time..."

Xiaoman wrote again: Why do you suddenly want to see him?Don't you not interrogate prisoners?

"...Otherwise, why don't I want his shoes? If I can't wear them, I can sell them for money. Otherwise, why should I cover him with cardboard..."

Zhao You wrote: It's not that there are no trials, it's just that there are very few trials.

Xiaoman wrote: Oh, that's because I'm being self-indulgent.

"I was afraid that the body would be discovered. I felt guilty. Later, I went back to my hometown and thought about it. I felt that something was wrong. I am poor, but I still have to be a little responsible."

Zhao You looked at him and wrote: You don't think I'm meddling, do you?

Xiaoman smiled, stroked his hair, and asked him: What are you going to ask him?

Zhao You shrugged: I don't know.

Xiao Man couldn't hide his surprise: "Huh?"

Upon hearing this, Shu Le asked, "What? Deputy Zhao, do you have any questions?"

Xiaoman covered her mouth.Zhao You said: "Look at the first transcript at that time, Xue Mao took 300 yuan, right?"

"Let me see..."

Bai Lan asked, "Is there any problem with the 300 yuan?"

Zhao Yong said: "Didn't you check with the owner of the restaurant in Heishan? He was very impressed with Xue Mao. As soon as this old boy had money, he would go to their place for dental sacrifices and prostitution. He ate more than 200 yuan for that meal. I still remember that Xue Mao said at the time that he had no money to go whoring."

Zhao You wrote: The boat is naturally straight when it reaches the bridge.

He found the four words "Meddle in My Business" written earlier, and drew several lines under it.Xiao Man said, "No."

He said, "Thank you."

He naturally wants to ask Cao Lv a lot of questions, and wants to confront him face to face, but with his current status, it is absolutely impossible to see him. If Zhao You is willing, and can also meet with Cao Lv, maybe they have many questions now. , doubts about his motives, about his dual personality will be easily resolved.He has never seen Zhao You interrogate a suspect, and he knows that he doesn't like interrogation-people will lie, and he, who is good at disguising himself with lies, knows this well-maybe that's why he doesn't like interrogation .Dealing with people's lies probably bored him more than anything.Just because he doesn't like it doesn't mean he's not good at it. I don't know why, and I don't know where the confidence comes from. Xiaoman firmly believes that Cao Lv will show his true colors in front of Zhao You, just like a little demon meeting a big monster...

Thinking of this, Xiaoman's heart tightened, the back of his neck felt cold, and he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He hurriedly held Zhao You's hand. At this moment, he suddenly wanted to make sure that Zhao You's hand was warm and warm. of.He smiled at Zhao You, and Zhao You also smiled.He also wanted to make sure that Zhao You could laugh, and that he would smile from the bottom of his heart.Xiaoman's heart was a little annoyed and messed up again.

At this time, a call came in, it was Xiao Jing, Zhao You couldn't answer it, so he hung up first, then turned off the voice of talking with Zhan Xuanang, and signaled Xiao Man to call Xiao Jing back.Xiaoman called, and after the call was made, he turned on the speakerphone.Xiao Jing said, "Zhao You is with you?"

Zhao Youdao: "What's the matter, tell me."

Wan Qingtian said: "Do you want to check Xue Mao's bank records? Qinglang and I will go to his hometown? His lawyer is from Zhong Ming's firm, isn't it suspicious? There must be something tricky."

Xiao Jing said: "I found the report in the newspaper in Nanjing, and I sent a copy to your WeChat. There was a special report in the Evening News, which specifically mentioned that Mark can speak some Chinese. He said that because his wife is a Chinese. He grew up in an orphanage and was later adopted by an American family. The point is, he also mentioned the name of the orphanage, Montenegro Orphanage, and mentioned that his wife had undergone cleft lip correction surgery, and then I went to the Internet Pick it up, guess what..."

Shu Le said: "I found it! It is indeed three hundred, and it is said to be three hundred."

Zhao Youdao: "No change? Just put the three hundred in the back pocket of your trousers, right?"

"Ah, yes, three hundred. It was folded and put in the trouser pocket. No other change was found in the trouser pocket."

Xiao Jing was at a loss: "What are you talking about?"

Zhao You said: "You continue."

"There were anonymous reports on Reddit and Twitter on the Internet, in response to the metoo. More than one person came out and said that Mark loves to fuck his students, and some people came forward and said that Mark had harassed her, and that his current wife is him. The former student, after following him, published a joint paper between two people in three days, and now he is happy to be a university professor. He also said that Mark has now found a younger and more beautiful student, and that girl is now his assistant. He has also started publishing joint papers. According to Mark, he plans to divorce Elizabeth. The person who broke the news said that if his wife leaves him, he will be abandoned by the academic world. There are some problems, and she can't get any benefits, so she keeps dragging on and refuses to leave."

Xiaoman muttered to himself: "So... this makes now a 'critical period'?"

Zhao You looked at him, as if he understood what he meant.If Elizabeth, the little apple who grew up in the orphanage, really has anything to do with this case, and if Cao Lv is really a fake dual personality... What kind of public opinion storm will this case cause in society?If Yao Lingdang is really the wronged soul of Cao Lv's subordinates, Xiaoman couldn't help but think that Lao Yao will be relieved to a certain extent, can he let go of it?As for himself... Will he also be able to obtain a certain degree of relief and relief?

It is impossible to reconcile with that part of the past and let go of it completely.Xiaoman knows.What he doesn't know is...there are many, many things he doesn't know. The future is foggy and full of unknowns.

His hand tightened at this moment, and he saw that it was Zhao You who was holding his hand.But the strength of the grip seemed to be two-way, and he could feel that he was also holding Zhao You's hand tightly.

Let’s take one step at a time. The future is like this, and so is he and Zhao You. He is willing to walk into the fog and try it out. Soldiers will block you, water will cover you, and everything will come and happen naturally... …

Xiao Jing screamed suddenly, Xiao Man was startled, Zhao You said: "What's wrong?"

There was a panic in Xiao Jing: "Old Xing has entered the hospital, I will run now."

At this time, Zhan Xuanang said to Zhao You: "I have found the entry and exit records, and I have sent you a copy."

Yan Boyuan's voice sounded from far away: "Team Zhan, there was news from the second team just now that Cao Lv suddenly went crazy and attacked that foreigner expert. Both the foreigner and the reporter were sent to the hospital."

Zhao You stood up and said, "I'll go to the hospital too, where did you send it?"

"The reporter seems to be fine. He is in Hongfeng, and the foreigner is going to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Qingda University." Yan Boyuan said.

Xiaoman also got up.

Zhao You looked at the time and said, "The flight is ahead of schedule? Did you meet Cao Lu early? It's not yet four o'clock..."

Xiao Man asked him, "What are you mumbling about?"

Zhao You grabbed two packs of biscuits and said, "I thought they would arrive at 04:30, and they might see Cao Lv at five o'clock. I guess Cao Lv would do something after five o'clock... I can still have dinner."

Xiaoman rolled his eyes, grabbed two more packs of biscuits and stuffed them for Zhao You, the two ran into Yin Miaozai when they went out, the three of them together, Xiaoman and Yin Miaozai went to Hongfeng to see Xing Tianxiang, Zhao You went to the Second Affiliated Courtyard of Qingda University Look at Mark.