opposite building

"Will you carry me on your back?"

Fang Chengyin looked at the aggrieved person in front of him with frustration, and really wanted to kick him.

Jiang Zhi, oblivious to his own limitations, pointed to his leg in a cast and said, "It says it can't walk anymore, and it likes you a lot too."

Fang Chengyin suddenly remembered something: "It's not impossible, but the debt should be halved."

Jiang Zhi laughed: "Apples are not selling well, and my leg is useless. At this time, to say this while beating drums and gongs is really taking advantage of my misfortune."

Fang Chengyin neither confirmed nor denied it.

"Help me organize my sales strategy tonight. If we succeed, my debt will be halved."

Tonight? Fang Chengyin thought of the unreasonable Liu Jinyi. "Fine."

"Then carry me on your back now."

Seeing Jiang Zhi's expectant face, Fang Chengyin felt he had been meddling and turned to leave.

"Are you really going to treat your creditors like this? Why don't you take this opportunity to curry favor with them? I'll be in a good mood after Apple is sold, and maybe I won't ask you to pay back the money."

Fang Chengyin suddenly stopped at the orchard entrance, turned around and squinted at him, then quickly walked back and picked him up in his arms.

Jiang Zhi panicked: "What...what are you doing!"

Fang Cheng kept walking steadily, making Jiang Zhi feel like banging his head against a block of tofu.

As Jiang Zhi walked out of the orchard and encountered an older man he knew, his shame surged. He growled, "Fang Chengyin, put me down!"

Fang Chengyin chuckled: "Why should I listen to you? I'm just thinking about my debts."

The older man across from him looked over with a puzzled expression, and Jiang Zhi could only bury his head in Fang Chengyin's arms.

After brushing past his uncle, Fang Chengyin teased him, "I never thought you could be so petite and dependent."

Jiang Zhi wasn't particularly annoyed: "Okay, although it's embarrassing to be carried by a man, it's much better than being treated like a pervert and having a bottle of red wine poured on me."

Splash red wine...

The past was too painful to recall, Fang Chengyin asked in a deep voice, "Which way do we go now?"

Jiang Zhi then looked up from his arms and saw that the buildings above him were cramped and crowded. He said with a lot of helplessness that he could only stay here for the night.

Fang Chengyin frowned: "Why don't we go to your little white house?"

"Oh, it's across from the orchard, it takes forty minutes to walk there, shall we go?"

Fang Chengyin never imagined the orchard would be so big.

"So now we need to rent a small hotel."

Fang Chengyin doesn't have the habit of staying out overnight, and he dislikes living with people he's not close to. However, he asked, "Can I stay in C32-1033 for one night?"

Why not just stay in C32-1034?

C32-1034 is the address of the suspect that the two located last time.

Fang Chengyin ignored him.

Jiang Zhi laughed: "Without an elevator, do you think I can climb up?"

"You live on the first floor, I'll go upstairs."

Jiang Zhi stopped laughing. "I asked you to come and help, not to leave me hanging. Also, don't alert them."

"That's not true. He/She has been monitoring me all along."

Jiang Zhi remained silent.

"Then it's settled."

Jiang Zhi grabbed the person who was about to leave, saying, "What are you talking about? I have mobility issues and it's impossible for me to live alone."

Fang Chengyin looked at him irritably, but when he stood opposite C32-1034, he lost his temper.

Equally dilapidated and congested, Building C31 actually has an elevator?! And the window is only about two meters away; jumping across from there doesn't seem like it's impossible...

Don't even think about it.

Fang Chengyin turned to look at him with a puzzled expression.

Jiang Zhi gripped his sleeve, "Don't jump!"

"You're fierce, like a wolf cub," Fang Chengyin's lips unconsciously curled up. "I suddenly find you quite cute."

"Really? Even being cute doesn't mean you can jump."

The buildings here are cramped, without even a balcony, and only a sliver of light filtering in from the top floor makes the outlines barely visible. When Fang Chengyin leans against the window and looks down, it feels as if he is being stared at from the abyss.

Suddenly, he was pulled inward.

Jiang Zhi whispered, "There are people in the house across the street."

Fang Chengyin looked up, but couldn't see clearly.

This place is so poor; the windows have no curtains, but are covered with all sorts of paper, creating a kind of antique charm. Through the tattered paper, you can see a familiar figure dressed in black moving around inside.

The house was small but cozy; when a man walked inside, the little house felt full of life.

The man stood in front of the small blackboard hanging there for a while with a can of beer in his hand, then walked to the coat rack, preparing to take off his clothes.

The next second, his view was blocked, and Fang Chengyin heard Jiang Zhi whisper in his ear, "Is watching others take off their clothes part of the investigation?"

"Tsk!" He slapped Jiang Zhi's hand away and continued looking straight ahead. A white, naked body came into view. The man was actually naked!

Fang Chengyin suddenly turned his head and met Jiang Zhi's dark eyes. It felt like falling from one mud pit into another. But perhaps because he felt guilty, Fang Chengyin wanted to dodge this time.

It was already dark when the dim light from the room shone through the two people sitting so close together, and the light spots danced on Fang Chengyin's fluttering eyelashes.

"Why won't you listen?" Jiang Zhi's words were still tinged with anger.

Fang Chengyin shifted back, took a deep breath, and asked, "Has he finished changing?"

Jiang Zhi laughed in exasperation, "What exactly are your tastes? You realized it was wrong of you to stare at naked men, so you started encouraging me to look?"

Fang Chengyin didn't know where his anger came from, so he ignored him and turned back to look at the man.

The man had changed his clothes, still all in black, and his face was still obscured. The window opposite looked so dirty it was frosted.

Fang Chengyin was feeling irritable when Jiang Zhi suddenly said, "I'm hungry."

Fang Chengyin glanced at him, his meaning clear.

Jiang Zhi continued with a dark expression: "I have difficulty moving around."

Fang Chengyin didn't turn around: "Help me see—uh?" Before he could finish speaking, his face was cupped and pressed against the window.

The buildings here are old, and this behavior is actually very dangerous. Fortunately, Jiang Zhi protected the back of his head with his other hand.

"What are you doing!" The distance was too close, their lips almost touching, which Fang Chengyin disliked.

Jiang Zhi said coldly, "Didn't you notice that the man has glanced in this direction several times?"

Does it? Even if it does, what does Jiang Zhi's behavior amount to?

"Get out of my way!"

Jiang Zhi grabbed him: "Which do you think is better, being suspected by a man that he's being followed, or finding out that we're just a normal gay couple renting a hotel room?"

Fang Chengyin glared at him, "Who the hell is your lover!"

Jiang Zhi tilted his head and thought for a moment, "It is indeed missing something. How about this?" Then he kissed her.

His kiss was urgent, yet carried a certain unspoken anger.

At this moment, Fang Chengyin finally understood what it meant to reap what you sow. He didn't dare to struggle at all, for fear of really crippling Jiang Zhi, and also for fear of attracting the attention of the other side.

After kissing for a while, Jiang Zhi looked at the reddened corners of his eyes, pulled him away from the window, and wiped the water stains from his lips: "The man saw it, and probably guessed that I kissed you because I was jealous of him."

Fang Chengyin slapped his hand away, gave him a cold look for a moment, turned on his phone camera, placed it on the windowsill pointing across the street, and then walked back to ask Jiang Zhi, "Can you help me investigate someone?"

Jiang Zhi didn't ask who it was: "If you can let me fill my stomach first."

Actually, this hotel is more like a guesthouse. The owner's refrigerator is filled with all kinds of food, but Fang Chengyin can only offer noodles.

So they started cooking egg noodles. During the process, Jiang Zhi pointed and made comments, and Fang Chengyin couldn't take it anymore: "Can you shut up?!"

He cooks noodles entirely by feel, and while he thinks they taste alright, they naturally wouldn't meet the standards of a master chef like Jiang Zhi. But criticizing them is disrespectful, which Fang Chengyin finds very annoying.

Only after taking the first bite did Jiang Zhi apologize: "I didn't expect it to be so good. I'm sorry about earlier."

Fang Chengyin ignored him and didn't even look at him, preferring to stay out of sight rather than worry.

Jiang Zhi realized he had offended someone and quickly tried to redeem himself by saying, "I found the person you mentioned earlier."

Fang Chengyin then reluctantly looked at him.

“Song Zixin did have a female assistant surnamed Li, named Li Jingning. She resigned after Song Zixin left.”

"Can I see the details?"

Jiang Zhi handed over the phone.

Li Jingning became Song Zixin's assistant as soon as she debuted, and it can be said that she was the one who helped Song Zixin climb out of the mud.

"Looks like everyone's here." Jiang Zhi's words had a hidden meaning.

Fang Chengyin wouldn't tolerate his veiled insults towards Song Zixin: "What do you mean!"

Jiang Zhi took the phone away and looked him straight in the eye: "Fang Chengyin, can you really step out of your emotions and look at this incident rationally?"

Fang Chengyin clenched his back teeth and looked away.

"You see, you can't do anything."

Fang Chengyin remained silent.

Jiang Zhi: "I'll handle him for you."

Fang Chengyin looked at him: "Who is he?"

"We'll find out eventually."

Fang Cheng stood up and said, "If you really want what's best for me, then stay away from me."

"Who taught you this bad habit of carrying everything on your own? Actually, you can't stop him from doing whatever he wants, can you? But since he contacted you first, he probably wants you to do something, right? What is it?"

Fang Chengyin turned his back to him and looked across at the man lying on the sofa. He didn't know if the man was asleep or not, and the light was still on.

Jiang Zhi watched his retreating figure and continued, "Come help me sell fruit; you never know when you might run into him."

Fang Chengyin hesitated for a moment, then was interrupted by a phone call before he could answer.

The call was from Zhong Qiqian: "Yes, I've made contact."

"Qiqian...I want to go home..."

From the moment Fang Chengyin answered the phone, Jiang Zhi put his hands down, leaned back in his chair, and looked grim.

Fang Chengyin felt wronged, and he felt wronged in front of others.

Fang Chengyin was unaware of the murderous gaze behind him. Listening to Zhong Qiqian's worried voice on the phone, he pointed to the window. From this angle, his finger landed precisely on the head of the man sleeping on the sofa across the street.

He tapped it one tap at a time.

"Okay, I'll send you my location."

"Okay, we're not going anywhere. The door is closed."

After the call ended, Fang Chengyin sat by the window, his gaze fixed on the opposite window.

Jiang Zhi continued, "Have you heard the story? A girl attended her mother's funeral and met a handsome man she had never met before. The girl fell in love with him at first sight, believing he was her soulmate. But she forgot to ask for his phone number, and after the funeral, she could no longer find him. A few days later, the girl killed her sister. Why?"

Fang Chengyin turned to look at him, and Jiang Zhi smiled. "Why, Fang Chengyin?"

Fang Chengyin did not answer, or rather, he did not know where to begin his thought process.

Jiang Zhi continued, "Two mice fell into a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse refused to give up, struggled desperately, and finally churned the cream into butter, managing to climb out. Survival of the fittest. People never care about losers, but they certainly care about the mentally ill."

Seeing that they were about to drag that murderer into it again, Fang Chengyin asked, "Why do you want to make Apple a big and strong company?"

Jiang Zhi didn't expect him to change the subject, and smiled, "I've seen people who cite Apple, and they all like it. I'll show you sometime."

Fang Chengyin was puzzled.

Jiang Zhi: "So far, none of the apples you've seen me sell or bring back have been for reference. Only by selling those can I earn the maintenance fees for the reference apples."

"That one in the book—"

He was referring to the apple growing books on the balcony, which clearly recorded and cited the appearance and characteristics of apples.

“No.” Jiang Zhi said, as if he had just pulled off a prank. “Back then, the 'Yuanji Apple' had just been cultivated and wasn’t on the market yet. After the book was published, many readers flocked to it, but they all left empty-handed. The large-scale cultivation project of the 'Yuanji Apple' has always been kept secret. Only the cultivators and tasting experts have actually seen it. It takes five years to cultivate it once, and this year will be its first year on the market.”

"So, it's a genetically modified apple?"

"No. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) cannot be naturally induced."

"When will it be released? Are the other Apple products almost sold out?"

Jiang Zhi asked mysteriously, "Do you know where the apple tree is grown?"

Fang Chengyin didn't know the exact location, but he knew it was in the orchard. But wouldn't that mean the cultivation process was exactly the same as that of ordinary apples?

"You'll find out when the time comes. We'll need to harvest soon, and you might need to come and help."

Fang Chengyin hummed in agreement, then said, "So you've been doing false advertising lately?"

"Really? I just put up a sign next to my stall that mentioned Apple, but I didn't say that the apples on the cart were Apple. I also explained it to customers who came to my stall. Otherwise, given the popularity of that book, do you think I would need to set up a stall every day? They would sell out in seconds. This kind of door-to-door promotion usually doesn't make much of a splash; it's just for peace of mind. So I'm really worried. After that book was released, a lot of fake Apple references appeared on the market, causing Apple's reputation to plummet. If this first battle this year fails, Apple will have no chance to recover."

"If you know what the problem is, why do you keep setting up a stall on the street all day? Don't you think the urban management officers are annoying enough?"

Jiang Zhi laughed: "It's quite annoying, but I met you. I even paid your rent. How nice of me."

Fang Chengyin: "..."

Jiang Zhi: "So you should help me too, and let everything else take its course."

Fang Chengyin received a message on his phone from Zhong Qiqian:

"I'm at the door, open it."

Fang Chengyin did not answer, but stood up and looked across. The man in the living room was still lying down.

Another message arrived: "Introduction?"

He patted it again.

It took a minute for Cheng Yin to reply:

"I'm using the restroom, the door's unlocked, just push it in."

The next moment, the man in the living room was startled and jumped up, turning his head to look at the door, but he didn't move.

Fang Cheng sent a text message: "It might not be open yet. Wait for me a moment."

After putting down her phone, she watched the man's every move. The man looked warily at the door, and then turned around the next second. Fang Chengyin's position was too conspicuous, so conspicuous that it was obvious he was being monitored.

Men will definitely be wary.

Fortunately... fortunately, Jiang Zhi, who appeared beside me at some point, came over and kissed me again.

Fang Chengyin didn't know how to explain this ridiculous coincidence, so he and Jiang Zhi could only get what they wanted through a kiss.

Jiang Zhi kissed him urgently, as if he wanted to devour him whole, lifting the back of his head to make it easier for him to bear. His left hand held Fang Chengyin's phone, his thumb pressing the voice input button on the chat interface.

"Uh... um..."

The wet, slurping sounds of their lips entwining, along with Fang Chengyin's low moans of barely suppressed anger, were all sent as voice messages.

Fang Chengyin pushed him away with difficulty, "What's wrong with you!"

The corners of her eyes were so red that it made you want to pluck them off.

Jiang Zhi held his breath and leaned in to kiss the other's soft lips again. "He's still watching."

Fang Chengyin remained still, letting Jiang Zhi kiss him gently this time.

Only after hearing the sound of a door being kicked open from the other side did Fang Chengyin push Jiang Zhi aside, glance at the chat interface, and see that Zhong Qiqian had sent several messages:

"Chengyin, what's wrong!"

"Who are you with! What did he do to you?!"

"Fang Chengyin!"

"Open the door!"

Upon scrolling up to the voice message that infuriated Zhong Qiqian, Fang Chengyin raised his hand and slapped Jiang Zhi across the face.

Jiang Zhi touched the corner of his mouth. "You're allowed to use others, but others aren't allowed to use you?"

"You fucking..."

Fang Chengyin didn't want to see him anymore. The man opposite had already opened the door and met Zhong Qiqian. He had achieved his goal.

Zhong Qiqian called, and he planned to go there to meet him, but unexpectedly, he felt a pain in the back of his neck and his vision went black.

Jiang Zhi caught him and pulled him into her arms, grasping the phone that had slipped from her grasp. "It's me, C31-1034."

He hung up after saying that.