Rebirth

The pure white iron cage shook slightly. Jiang Li sat on the ground idly, confronting this artificial little thing.

Autumn is approaching and the weather is about to turn cold. Jiang Li doesn't dare to leave the melon seeds outside, so he has to live with them in the same room. Who knew that this thing, which looks so small, would take so long to build.

Guazi stopped moving, grabbed the cage with his pink and white hands, tilted his head back to sniff outside, and as soon as he let go, the whole mouse fell onto the thick wood chips with a plop.

Because of it, Jiang Li barely slept last night. He started gnawing at the cage at 12 o'clock, started running on the wheel at 3 o'clock, and then continued gnawing at the cage after running for a while. It turned out that putting it in the living room was the right decision.

But this little thing was still unaware. It stood up and looked around, and when it was caught, it showed a pitiful and innocent expression.

Even though it tried its best to behave well in an attempt to win the human's sympathy, Jiang Li would never forget that "lively" night last night when the human face kept zooming in, pressing against its nose, and the human asked viciously, "Why don't you sleep?"

"It's the middle of the night, why aren't you sleeping???"

Unfortunately, Guazi couldn't speak human language and had no way to answer him, so it turned its face away and struggled with its hands and feet flapping.

Jiang Li took a deep breath, let it go, and comforted himself: Forget it, it's just a mouse, don't bother with small animals... Bullshit!

In the blink of an eye, the rat was gone!

There was no sign of Guazi in the cabin. He lay down and searched for a few times, repeatedly calling out his name, "Guazi!" but to no avail.

"Where are you, Guazi?"

Under the bed? No. In the closet? No.

"Where have you been, Guazi? Come out now!"

It couldn't understand what humans said, so it just ran around the house. A white color appeared in its blurred vision, and it offered its teeth without hesitation, and its clever teeth grinded through the skin.

Jiang Li heard a slight "hissing" sound, and the next second the fan stopped blowing.

“Ahhhh!”

Nan Jiaxu looked in that direction, "What happened to him?"

Qiu Yang gestured and said, "Let's go and take a look."

Jiang Li had already caught the culprit and lifted up its loose "coat". "How dare you bite the wires!"

"You're lucky to be alive!"

Nan Jiaxu went into the house to check the wires, while Qiu Yang was attracted by this little thing.

Qiu Yang typed a line of words on his phone and showed it to him, "Can I play with it for a while?"

Jiang Li also communicated with him in the same way, "Okay, it doesn't bite people, you can take it for a walk outside."

Nan Jiaxu was repairing the electrical wires, and Qiu Yang took a little hamster and ran out excitedly.

Taking advantage of this moment, Nan Jiaxu chatted with him casually, "Hey, what's wrong with you recently?"

"What's wrong?"

"Why have you been so absent-minded lately?" Nan Jiaxu hammered home a point and continued, "I see you're always lost in thought. What's wrong? What happened?"

In fact, he discovered it himself without him saying anything.

Even so, he still denied it, "No, nothing happened."

Under normal circumstances, Nan Jiaxu would definitely have changed the subject, but today he didn't seem to have any intention of letting him go.

"I've got the wires connected. I'll hook them up for you to prevent Guazi from running away again." Nan Jiaxu put the wrench back in the drawer and sat down with him. "Hey, I heard from Jimao and Holland Bean that you've been staying with a police officer for over a month?"

"Um."

Jiang Li did not deny it.

"Then why are you here? Did you get kicked out?"

"I moved out by myself."

"Oh, so 'staying together' means living together." Nan Jiaxu stood there gloating, having discovered a new world across the bay. His burgeoning curiosity fueled him. "Why?"

"No reason, I just moved out when I didn't want to live here anymore."

Jiang Li refused to answer for the second time.

Nan Jiaxu pressed on, "Is there anything special about that policeman?" He tilted his head. "I think his name is... Chen An. I'm suddenly a little curious about him."

Jiang Li glared at him, "Curiosity kills the cat."

"What a coincidence! I'm a mouse," Nan Jiaxu said. "Could that hamster be related to him? I remember you used to be very opposed to keeping animals."

"Is it not okay if I change my gender?"

After saying that, he stood up and took out a can of Coke from the small refrigerator. Perhaps the iced Coke could quench his inner restlessness.

"I want to drink too."

Nan Jiaxu looked at it eagerly, and was kicked by Jiang Li. "Get it yourself."

"Honestly, you're not going back?"

Jiang Li was silent for a moment, "I got into the police academy, I have to go back."

"Will you still see him?"

Nan Jiaxu felt like an entertainment reporter interviewing him about his love life.

Jiang Li fell silent again.

He was troubled for several days after living here, and he was shocked himself. When did a simple approach task turn into an intricate relationship?

I was already annoyed, and some people added fuel to the fire.

"Do you want to continue to approach the people in the Municipal Bureau? Or do you plan to infiltrate the Municipal Bureau and seize..."

"No." Jiang Li interrupted him, "There's already someone at the Municipal Bureau. I don't want to continue. After graduating from the police academy, I will obey the transfer to another place."

After a few seconds, Jiang Li pulled himself out of the chaos, his eyes turned cold, and he said: "He and I are on different paths, there is no need to see each other again."

"You should think more about yourself than me. After all, you like Qiu Yang."

"I have nothing to think about. I won't leave him. We are fine now and it will be even better in the future."

"Really? What if he discovers your true identity one day?"

Nan Jiaxu raised his eyes. For the first time, he noticed that this man had very little white in his eyes. When he stared at someone seriously, his eyes were filled with a terrifying black.

Nan Jiaxu said word by word, "He will never find out."

Jiang Li shuddered inwardly, and soon he returned to his nonchalant self. He supported himself with his hands, stood up, patted his butt, and said, "Let's go."

After making the decision, Jiang Li felt much clearer in his mind. When the sun was not so strong, he finally stepped out of the room and began to enjoy the last time before school started.

Walking down the cement road is a wheat field, and a little further on should be the school that Nan Jiaxu mentioned. He took this opportunity to go and see how the school was run by this guy.

The school was right on the side of the road, with some weeds growing at the door. Sporadic sounds of reading could be heard from inside. He walked in and could see through the window that there were young teachers teaching inside. They put their hands on their throats and patiently taught how to read the words.

He stood in such a boring class for half an hour. These children were very different from them. They could not hear or speak. The world had been performing pantomime for them. They must be very lonely.

The teacher on the podium noticed him. She asked the students to rest and walked down the podium. "Who are you?"

Jiang Li said, "I'm passing by and want to take a look."

"Oh." The teacher nodded. Seeing him standing there, she thought he was also deaf and mute.

Seeing more and more children looking this way, Jiang Li didn't want to bother them any more and signaled that he would leave first.

The village was very small and he had nowhere to go. He was about to go back home when he heard the laughter of Jin Mao and the others not far away.

"I advise you not to even think about competing with us, you're bound to lose." Nan Jiaxu raised his middle finger with a smug look on his face.

Jin Mao and He Dou's shirts were almost wet. They looked at each other and decided to scold him from the bottom of their hearts.

"You're not in a good condition either." Jiang Li suddenly appeared on the shore with his arms folded across his chest.

Nan Jiaxu got excited and wiped his nose. "Come down?"

The two-meter-high riverbank could easily flip over. Jiang Li stepped on the stones, rolled up his sleeves and trouser legs, and prepared for a fight. A muffled "Come on" came from the side, and Qiu Yang sat on the stone and watched.

"Three, two, one!"

The battle was about to break out. There was a shallow stream, and the four people bent down to splash water. With Jiang Li's joining, the situation quickly turned around. Nan Jiaxu was soaked all over. He wanted to stop this unfair three-on-one fight, but ended up swallowing another handful of water when he opened his mouth.

“No…” Nan Jiaxu spat out the water in his mouth and raised his arm to block the water splashing towards him, “Pooh…”

"Wait a moment!"

Jiang Li paused to see if he had anything else to say.

"Can you please splash it gently? I make a living by my looks!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Li led a new round of attack. Nan Jiaxu was already soaked, so someone stood in front of him. Qiu Yang clumsily scooped up a handful of water to fight back for him. Nan Jiaxu was stunned for a moment, then smiled and fought back with Qiu Yang.

Jin Mao was splashed hard, and the stream water blurred his eyes and made him unable to see clearly. His teammates were mocking him and laughing. Amidst the laughter, Jiang Li seemed to sense something. He turned around and looked at the road leading into the village, but it was still quiet and no vehicles passed by.

He didn't know why, but it felt like someone was staring at him.

When he bent down, his sight bent with him; when he turned around, his sight disappeared.

"Boss, why are you daydreaming?" He Dou was already suffocating due to the suppression of the two-person alliance on the opposite side. When he turned around, he saw his boss still making the gesture of scooping water, but there was no water between his bent fingers, as it had already run away.

Jiang Li came back to his senses, scooped up another handful of water, and put that indescribable feeling behind him.

In the car far away from the sunset, the rearview mirror reflects the scene under the afterglow, and the unsent messages in the dialog box are cleared.