never forget [criminal investigation]

In Dongjiang in October, several successive waves of Siberian cold current passed through the border, and the temperature officially dropped below freezing point.

Fortunately, the heating season has begun, and the home has a tempting temperature.

Xing Yue booked a plane ticket to Beijing on October [-]th, and at the same time contacted Hu Guangyu again.

Then he and Xiang Hai changed shifts with the team members ahead of time, and finished their shifts a few days before the National Day holiday.

In the early morning, there was a touch of bright color in the sky, but the temperature was lower than that at midnight, and even the air was blue.

As soon as he walked out of the unit door, he felt a cold on the tip of his nose, and his sleepy nerves were instantly awakened by the crisp air.

"Hey, it's quite cold." Xing Yue was shocked.

"Are you cold?" He turned around and pulled the zipper of his jacket to the top.

"It's not cold." As Xiang Hai said, another cloud of white air rose between the two of them.

"You know the cold and the hot." Xing Yue smiled and pulled the woolen cap on his head to cover his eyes.

"Hey..." Xiang Hai pushed his hat up again, "Brother, are you cold?"

"I wear more clothes than you do."

Xiang Hai was wearing a light yellow thin down jacket, and a black wool cap was pressed on his bangs.

Xing Yue looked warmer than him.A thick black coat hangs down to the knees and is tightly buttoned, revealing only the collar of the light gray sweater underneath, which is loosely piled.

Neither of them had much luggage.Xing Yue carried a travel bag, and Xiang Hai carried a backpack.

"Let's go." Xing Yue picked up Xiang Hai's hand, put it in his coat pocket and covered it.

Xiang Hai scratched his palm while walking.

Xing Yue grabbed the troublesome finger and trapped it between his fingers.

Xiang Hai turned his head and smiled at him, he also lowered his eyes and raised the corners of his lips.

Xiang Hai seems to be in good condition, at least not very nervous.This made him sincerely gratified, and he was full of expectations for the upcoming meeting with Hu Guangyu.

When we arrived at the airport, it was still early, and the two sat in the rest area and waited.

The sun has already completely jumped out of the horizon. In the distance, a plane has just left the runway and is climbing with its head held high, facing the bright white sun.

The waiting hall was filled with warm sunshine, so after sitting for a long time, Xing Yue began to feel sleepy.

"Drinking coffee?" Xiang Hai lightly touched his elbow.

Xing Yue raised his eyelids and tilted his head to one side, "I want to sleep."

Xiang Hai sat up a little higher, "Then you can sleep on me for a while."

Xing Yue thought for a while, "Let's have a cup of coffee."

"Then I'll buy it for you, just wait." After speaking, he stood up.

Xing Yue watched his back go away, then watched him approach, and handed him a cup of hot coffee.

"Thank you." Xing Yue took it, leaned back in the chair, and drank slowly.

"Xiao Hai, aren't you sleepy?"

Xiang Hai shook his head, "Not sleepy."

After waiting for a while, Xing Yue asked, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"What?" Xiang Hai turned his head to look at him.

"Your classic quote, 'Because I'm young'."

Xiang Hai laughed, "I won't talk about this in the future."

The plane landed at Capital Airport 10 minutes later than scheduled.The two went out to take a taxi and went straight to the address given by Hu Guangyu.

Hu Guangyu rented an apartment not far from the school as a studio.I usually write reports, hold meetings, and discuss topics, all of which are there.

When the taxi stopped at the door of the apartment, Hu Guangyu just went downstairs.Seeing Xing Yue getting off the car from a distance, he spread his legs, ran over like a gust of wind, and gave him a bear hug on the spot.

Xing Yue was also very happy, he thumped him on the shoulder, looked him up and down, "Old Hu, you are getting fat!"

"Tsk, what do you know, this is plumpness."

After speaking, he looked at Xiang Hai who was standing aside, greeted him with a smile, and stretched out his hand, "Hello, is this Xiang Hai? My name is Hu Guangyu, and I'm Xing Yue's college classmate."

"Hello, hello!" Xiang Hai quickly reached out his hand and shook hands with him, somewhat cautiously.

Hu Guangyu is a little shorter than Xiang Hai, with a short cut, round head, and a pair of bright eyes under thick eyebrows, which makes him look very energetic.

He glanced at his watch, "Why don't we go to eat first, and just eat something nearby, and it won't waste much time."

"Okay." Xing Yue didn't object, and looked at Xiang Hai again.Xiang Hai also nodded in agreement.

The three walked side by side towards the door of the apartment, and then turned into the nearest Hunan restaurant.

After eating, they walked back together again, talking to each other more obviously, talking and laughing.

At the door of the apartment, Hu Guangyu pointed to the opposite side of the road, "There is a coffee shop over there, and the environment is quite good. Xing Yue, please go and sit for a while. My place is small, and the three of us may not be able to get away."

Xing Yue understood what he meant, probably because he was worried that Xiang Hai would not be able to let go if he was present, which would affect the effect of the conversation.Just nodded, went to take off Xiang Hai's backpack, and carried it on his shoulder, "Go, I'll wait for you."

As he spoke, he gently squeezed his arm again, which was regarded as encouragement.

Xiang Hai looked at him hesitantly, but Xing Yue forced the corners of his lips to rise, "Go in, call me if you need anything."

Hu Guangyu was overjoyed, and went over to pat Xiang Hai's shoulder, "Oh, let's go, let's go."

Turning around, he tutted at Xing Yue again, "I'm not a dragon's pond or a tiger's lair, why am I so miserable? I didn't see it, Xing Yue, you're quite..."

Watching the two disappear at the door of the apartment, Xing Yue turned around.

Xiang Hai followed Hu Guangyu into the lobby of the apartment, and Hu Guangyu couldn't help laughing as he pressed the elevator.

Xiang Hai didn't know why.

Hu Guangyu rubbed his nose, "I never thought that Xing Yue would have today."

"What's wrong?" Xiang Hai looked at him curiously.

The elevator came, Hu Guangyu let him in, and pressed the floor button, "I remember when Xing Yue went back to the dormitory in his sophomore year, he saw one of our roommates sitting there crying with the quilt in his arms, and he asked what was going on. We told him that the roommate had broken up with his girlfriend who had been away for two years and was feeling depressed."

"He just stared at him, 'What's the matter? You're going to die if you fall in love. Besides, is there any use for you to sit here and cry? Go find someone else!'"

"The roommate said that he already has a new boyfriend."

At this time the elevator door opened, Hu Guangyu led Xiang Hai out of the elevator while talking, and walked towards the door of an apartment, "Xing Yue looked puzzled, 'Then why are you crying?'"

"Then added fuel to the fire, 'Last time when I was shooting with live ammunition, you were the last one in the whole grade, and you didn't cry about such a shameful thing, so you shouldn't be crying now.'"

Xiang Hai pressed his temples straight.

Hu Guangyu smiled and opened the door of the apartment, and invited Xiang Hai in, "It's not over yet."

"Because we all had girlfriends except him at that time. He stood in the middle of the dormitory and scolded us one by one."

"'Looking at you all like that, don't you just have a relationship? You cry and laugh for a while, wipe your neck and hang yourself, can you save yourself some face? Love, guaranteed to be colder than Everest!'”

"..."

Xiang Hai imagined what he looked like when he said this, and sat silently on the sofa.

Hu Guangyu poured a glass of water and brought it to him, "So when I saw him like that just now, I wanted to ask, 'Where's your Everest?'"

Xiang Hai also laughed, scratched his forehead with his fingers, and suddenly raised his head and asked Hu Guangyu, "Did he cry when he was in college?"

Hu Guangyu shook his head, "No, I've never seen it anyway."

But he laughed and looked at Xiang Hai, "I guess, you must have seen it more than once."

Xiang Hai hurriedly picked up the water glass and drank the water.

Hu Guangyu patted his thigh and said, "Oh, I really want to see what it's like to see Xing Yue cry! Next time he cries again, why don't you secretly take a photo for me to see?"

Xiang Hai pursed his lips, "That can't be done..."

Hu Guangyu laughed even more, then stood up, "Sit down and wait for me, I'll go in and get something."

After speaking, he entered a room inside.

Only then did Xiang Hai have the time to take a closer look at the apartment.

The living room is large and has a balcony with floor-to-ceiling windows.On one side of the wall is a towering bookcase, with thin and thick book spines, one volume next to the other.

He looked away, and felt that the room didn't look like what Hu Guangyu said, the extent that the three of them couldn't turn away.

At this time, Hu Guangyu came back, holding something in his hand, and sat next to Xiang Hai.

is a photo album.

He spread out the photo album and put it on his lap, "Come on, I'll shake up Xing Yue's black material for you."

Xiang Hai regained his energy, quickly put down his glass, and moved over.

"This is the first group photo in our dormitory. It was not long after we entered school." Hu Guangyu pointed to the first photo on the first page.

Xiang Hai looked down carefully, but then frowned again, "Why is he standing so far away?"

Hu Guangyu was happy, "I don't know." Then he shook his head lightly, "At that time...we were not familiar with each other, and we were not friends."

The teenagers in the photo were obviously divided into two groups, Xing Yue on one side and others on the other, with a blank space in between.

At that time Xing Yue should be 19 years old.

He is tall, but not as tall and straight as he is now.He looks handsome, but still childish, with an expression of being an enemy of the whole world, and there is no smile in his eyes.The black hair is also longer than now, standing stubbornly.

"This is the first time for the few of us to go out for dinner and celebrate this person's birthday." Hu Guangyu pointed to a person in the second photo, "It should have just entered winter at that time, and I still remember going to eat hot pot. "

At this time, Xing Yue was still sitting alone on the side seat, but he was obviously closer to the others, with an arm draped over his shoulder.

"This, is that you?" Xiang Hai pointed to the young man with a bright smile sitting next to him.

"Yes," Hu Guangyu said with emotion, "At that time, he was still so young."

"It seems that Xing Yue and I started to get closer after this dinner together." He smiled and recalled, "He looks cool, but... anyway, we get along quite well. "

The photo album was turned page by page, from winter to summer.

The person in the photo grows from green to mature, from a savage sapling to a tall green pine, surrounded by many green pines, forming a solid barrier.

The black hair has become shorter, but the smiles in the eyes are more, just like him now.

Turning to the end, Hu Guangyu pointed to the last photo and said, "This is a photo of the two of us when we graduated from graduate school."

"After that, Xing Yue returned to Dongjiang. As for me, I prepared for another year, and then continued to study for a Ph.D. in psychology."

Xiang Hai's eyes are always on this photo.

In the photo, the two young people stand side by side, full of vigor, with their own ideals in mind.

Thinking that it was because of Xing Yue's decision that he had the opportunity to meet him and that his life would undergo such a change, he couldn't help stretching out his fingers, and gently touched Xing Yue's Feiyang eyebrows.

And Hu Guangyu has been observing his expression and movements.

"When I was an undergraduate, there were twenty students in our class. Do you know how many are still working as policemen on the front line?"

Xiang Hai raised his head, thought for a while, and guessed a number, "Ten?"

Hu Guangyu shook his head, lowered his eyes, and pointed at the person in the photo, "He's the only one."

Xiang Hai's fingers curled up and clenched tightly.

"At that time, Xing Yue's grades were very good. He was excellent in theory, practice, and comprehensive exercises." Hu Guangyu smiled, "He always said that I was a top student, but I actually admire him very much."

"Before he graduated as a postgraduate student, his supervisor suggested that he continue his studies. Whether he stays in the school or goes to another school, or takes the administrative route and enters a corresponding unit, in short, staying in Beijing is not a problem, and the development is definitely not bad."

"But he returned to Dongjiang and became a policeman, a front-line criminal policeman."

"To be honest, we didn't understand it at the time." Hu Guangyu closed the album and looked out the window.

The sky is a bit gloomy right now, like it's going to rain.

"There is only one old professor who supports him." Hu Guangyu looked away again, "That old professor is a criminal investigation expert hired by the school from the Ministry of Public Security. He often comes to give us professional courses."

"He especially supported Xing Yue's going to be a policeman, and said that Xing Yue should be a criminal policeman."

He scratched the chubby head, "I remember the old professor asked us when he gave us the first class, 'Why did you choose the Public Security University, and how many people want to be a policeman?'"

"Everyone raised their hands."

"Then he asked, 'So why on earth do you want to be a police officer?'"

"Everyone has their own reasons, and they are all quite tall. But when asked about Xing Yue, he said he didn't know."

Hu Guangyu smiled.

Xiang Hai also pursed his lips.This answer did not surprise him at all.

Hu Guangyu paused, then turned his head and looked at Xiang Hai, "I've been talking about Xing Yue for a long time, let's talk about you next."

"I heard from Xing Yue that you are also a policeman. Can you tell me why you chose to be a policeman?"

Xing Yue sat at a table by the window in the coffee shop, drinking cup after cup of coffee, and seeing off group after group of customers.

After a while, I looked up and looked across the road.

I made a few phone calls, booked a hotel for tonight, played games on and off for a few hours, and my phone ran out of battery.

I pulled out the charging cable from the bag, but couldn't find the plug, so I had to bite the bullet and borrow a power bank from the clerk.Sorry to use it for nothing, so I bought another cup of coffee.

After drinking it, I feel like I have never been so sober.

As night falls, the street lights are lit at the same time, like birthday candles around a giant Black Forest cake.

Car lights, neon signs, thousands of lights, and the roads of the city are decorated with radiant black velvet streamers, in order to celebrate the new life at this moment.

Xing Yue leaned back on the table again, resting his arm on his pillow, drawing with his fingers, and the round spot of water on the table gradually turned into a little fox.

At this time, the phone rang.

He quickly froze, and saw that it was Hu Guangyu.

"Hey, old Hu, how are you doing?"

"Calm down, calm down." On the phone, Hu Guangyu said in a relaxed tone, "It's over here. Xiang Hai has just left, and he is probably taking the elevator downstairs right now."

"He wouldn't let me take it off, so I didn't insist. You can go downstairs to find him later."

Xing Yue stood up immediately, and put on his coat while talking, "Then, what happened then? How is he feeling now?"

Hu Guangyu laughed again, "Can you relax a bit, we had a good chat."

"But out of professional ethics, I can't tell you too much, and you don't need to know too much."

"I can only say that Xiang Hai is not sick and is a completely normal person."

At this time, Xing Yue had already ran out of the cafe with two backpacks on his back, and suddenly saw the power bank in his hand, and quickly turned back.

"Everyone has heart knots, and so do you and me. Some heart knots can be untied, and some may be with you for the rest of your life. What we can do is to learn to live with it."

"Now Xiang Hai is willing to tell his most stubborn knot, which is a very good start."

"I won't say much else. In short, self-healing is a long and painful process. Fortunately, he is not alone."

Xing Yue left the cafe and came to the side of the road.

"I wanted to invite you to dinner, but what Xiang Hai meant was that you have already made arrangements tonight." Hu Guangyu chuckled, "Then I won't delay you. Let's find a place to get together tomorrow night."

Xing Yue stood by the side of the road, held up the phone, and listened blankly.

It seems that I understand a lot at once, and it seems that I don’t understand anything.

But since the old nonsense, Xiang Hai is normal, this is the best news for him.

After thanking you a thousand times, he hung up the phone.

Xiang Hai stood alone in the elevator, looking up at the constantly changing numbers.

Over the past few hours, they talked a lot.

Xiang Hai was surprised that he could tell the most embarrassing secret to a person he had known for less than half a day.

But he still said it, even more unreserved than what he said to Xing Yue.

Because he wants to clarify his confusion and wants to get help.

It's just that Hu Guangyu didn't express much opinion on this, he just listened quietly and occasionally asked him some questions.

When he answered, Hu Guangyu nodded for him to continue.He couldn't answer, so Hu Guangyu smiled and asked him to skip.

In addition, Hu Guangyu also led him to do a few tests.He didn't tell him whether he passed the test result or not.

It was not until the end that he was asked such a question, "Xiang Hai, do you like Xing Yue?"

"like."

"Then... what was your mood when you first found out that you liked him?"

"Fear? Disgust? Depression? Anxiety? Shame? Pain?

"None." Xiang Hai shook his head and looked at him.

"I'm happy. And imagining that he likes me too."

The elevator door opened, and Xiang Hai couldn't wait to run out, all the way out of the apartment door and to the side of the road.

Facing the apartment exit is a sidewalk with traffic lights for pedestrians crossing the road.

Xiang Hai was about to press the "pedestrian pass" button, only to find that someone across the road had already pressed it.

Only then did he raise his head and saw Xing Yue standing opposite, separated by the rolling traffic and the long zebra crossing.

He stood on tiptoe and waved to Xing Yue.

Xing Yue also waved to him, signaling him not to worry, he is waiting for him right here.

This is a busy road section, and the two-way four-lane lanes are filled to the brim.

The car lights kept passing by Xiang Hai's side face, his sight was constantly blocked, and Xing Yue appeared and disappeared in that dimly lit place.

Afraid that the button was broken, he pressed it a few times again.

Finally, the green light came on, and the cars on both sides stopped slowly.

Xiang Hai was the first to rush out.

He ran across the zebra crossing, through the interlaced headlights of cars on both sides.

Xing Yue was finally right in front of his eyes, within reach.

There are many people around, all kinds of eyes.

The moment the green light went out, he stopped and hugged Xing Yue tightly.