Rebirth
The bright moonlight shines through the wide window, casting a silver frost on the ground.
Jiang Li stared at his phone in a daze. Three days had passed since he was rejected. During these three days, he had quit his job at the milk tea shop and stayed in this house that didn't belong to him, wasting half his time here. Even so, he and Chen An still only saw each other a few times.
He clearly realized that he was no longer suitable to live here.
The night was peaceful, and so was his heart, although confusion would occasionally well up in his mind.
In fact, he had been thinking about a question since he came back from the amusement park.
Why doesn't Chen An like him?
It was a puzzle, and he was still working on it.
In order to solve the problem, he read it over and over again.
He replayed the events of that night dozens of times in his mind, his awareness of the emotions diminishing with each repetition. He was almost forgetting what he felt. Was it sadness? Confusion? Or heartache?
It seems neither.
Chen An said he shed tears, but he actually didn't believe it at all. However, when his fingers touched something wet, he was shocked. He rubbed the salty tears with his fingertips, and the tears turned into a sticky liquid that wrapped around the heart that should have been beating vigorously, dragging it again and again.
He didn't know what was going on and was even wondering if he had any hidden heart disease.
His brain had hardly stopped working in the past three days, but he didn't get the answer. If he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't be able to do what he was going to do next. However, things had changed, and it seemed that there was no need for him to do that now.
Thinking of this, his heart lightened, a disdainful smile appeared on his lips, he withdrew the number he was about to dial, stood up and patted his trouser legs.
Yu Xiaowei cried miserably, kneeling on the ground and refusing to get up. Several people tried to stop her, but Chen An squatted down and pulled her to sit on a chair. "Speak slowly and clearly."
"Zheng Tong, she...she's dead. She was killed by that woman!"
Yu Xiaowei roughly wiped her face with a few tissues, and then her sadness turned into anger, "She must have killed Tongtong!"
Chen An said: "You just said Zheng Tong was dead. How could that be true?"
A nearby police officer reminded him, "The deceased in the case handled by Team Two a few days ago seemed to be named Zheng Tong."
Second team? Xiong Wei?
Han Ming followed in when he heard something happened inside.
They lived under the same roof, and they were neither familiar nor unfamiliar with each other. At least for now, neither he nor Han Ming could get the case file.
Chen An said, "Tell me what you know first."
Yu Xiaowei calmed down and recounted, "After we separated that day, Zheng Tong said she had plans with other people for a show later in the night. I usually don't attend midnight shows, so I left first. Who knew..."
Yu Xiaowei waved to Zheng Tong and told her, "Don't play too late."
Zheng Tong nodded obediently. After sending her to the car, she left with her boyfriend Peng Yue.
At ten o'clock in the evening, they walked out of the park and went to another escape room. With the experience of the previous one, she felt that she could show her skills tonight.
There were many people who went to the escape room to play at night. When Zheng Tong entered the room, he found that almost everyone had arrived, and ten people went in one after another.
But during the tour, Zheng Tong was trapped in a water tank and drowned due to the loss of control of the props.
The case happened in the middle of the night. The police received a report and it happened to be the second team on night shift who responded. When they arrived, Zheng Tong had already turned into a floating corpse.
"If I had known earlier, I would have gone with her." Yu Xiaowei started crying again as she spoke.
"Is this your first time playing the Chamber of Escapes?"
"Yes," Yu Xiaowei said. "Zheng Tong arranged to go to the escape room tonight. I'm not interested in that. I came to the amusement park purely for fun. I went into the escape room because I saw there was a discount on the first day of opening. Otherwise, I wouldn't have met you guys."
"But I didn't expect you to be a police officer."
The young police officers beside them whispered to each other, "I didn't expect Captain Chen to be able to play the escape room."
Han Ming raised his eyebrows and understood.
"Who do you think killed Zheng Tong?"
Yu Xiaowei clenched her fists when she mentioned her, anger hidden in her eyes, "Anna, an auditor."
Later, according to Yu Xiaowei, they caused trouble tonight because of this woman.
Zheng Tong died, and Yu Xiaowei was very sad. Her friend accompanied her out to relax and wanted to comfort her, but she met Anna in the barbecue restaurant.
Yu Xiaowei angrily threw beer at Anna, and the two immediately started fighting. In a panic, she picked up the beer bottle on the ground and smashed it on Anna's head, drawing blood on the spot.
"It's unfair! Tongtong died, and even the organizer of the escape room bears half the responsibility, but she, the operator, is fine!" Yu Xiaowei said with gritted teeth, "And the police even called it an accident! How could this be an accident! How could such bad luck happen in the world? The props malfunctioned when it came to Tongtong!"
"You said Anna is the operator of the secret room?"
"Yes!" Yu Xiaowei said, "She was the one operating the water tank. The escape room sees so many people every day, and so many people have played that book. How come there's a problem with Tongtong?"
"Besides this, do you have any substantial evidence?"
Substantial evidence?
A report flashed through Yu Xiaowei's mind. She opened and closed her mouth slightly and shook her head, "No."
Chen An took in her expression, but she said nothing.
"If you don't explain clearly, I can't help her."
Yu Xiaowei's brows knitted together, looking very troubled. Finally, Han Ming interrupted them, "Okay, it's getting late. The hospital said it's not a big deal. A fine of 500 yuan and 24 hours of detention are enough. We can still arrive in time for the Dawn Bears. Tell them if you have any clues."
He walked in and pulled Chen An out.
Yu Xiaowei could only watch them leave.
Han Ming stuffed the coat he had just taken off back into his hands and said, "Okay, go home."
Chen An, holding his coat, was still thinking about Zheng Tong's case. He had only taken a few steps outside when Han Ming grabbed him. "Hey, I have to warn you, Xiong Wei is not someone who is easy to talk to. He never tolerates anyone interfering in his cases. Whether this case is ultimately ruled an accident or murder is none of our business."
Without waiting for his response, she pushed him two steps forward and said, "Go back quickly. Your little Jiang Li is still waiting for you at home."
"Tsk." Chen An rolled his eyes at him. "Talk properly."
Han Ming suddenly realized, covered his mouth and said in surprise: "Oh my God, I know, you are hiding from Jiang Li!"
If I don't say anything, this kid will bring up everything.
Chen An pouted his cheek unhappily, trying to find some insulting words, but after a while he realized that the other party was telling the truth. He had no way to refute it, so he gave up in disappointment.
Han Ming came up, put his arm around his neck, and lowered his voice, "Hey, what's wrong with you two?"
He was about to say it was nothing, but Han Ming pointed at him and said, "Don't try to argue. Confess and you'll be treated leniently. Resist and you'll be treated severely."
Chen An was at his wit's end, and tried to seek help in a tactful way, "I have a friend who..."
"Oh~" Han Ming's eyes lit up, a pair of bright eyes that almost illuminated the entire city bureau, "What's wrong with you?"
Chen An had no choice but to give up his euphemism. The two of them sat on the steps in front of the Municipal Bureau. Ten minutes later, Han Ming spat out a mouthful of melon seed shells and asked, "You said, Jiang Li confessed to you?"
"Um."
"Wow~" Han Ming gave a wicked smile, "Promise him."
Chen An frowned, "Are you crazy?"
"What's wrong? You don't like him?"
"I……"
Chen An was speechless for a moment. He felt a little special towards Jiang Li, but it wasn't to the point of liking her.
Besides, is it really that easy to fall in love with someone? How could it be possible when they had only known each other for a short time?
Han Ming looked completely amused. He must have been crazy to tell him that.
"Forget it, I'm leaving..."
He tried to stand up but Han Ming grabbed him and pushed him onto the steps. Then he expressed his opinion seriously, "I think you like him."
Chen An didn't react much, just said "Oh" lightly.
"Why are you reacting so calmly?"
"I think you're talking nonsense."
"Hey, I told you, and you still don't believe me!" Han Ming rolled up his sleeves and sat in a proud manner, admonishing with the air of a veteran. "I'm telling you, you'd better think it through before you regret it after everyone's gone."
Chen An chuckled and said sarcastically, "Like you and Xun Muke?"
That was it. He stood up and added, "Oh, I forgot, Xun Mu Ke doesn't like you."
Han Ming stood up, shook off the sunflower seed shells, and shouted in the direction the car was leaving: "Hey! How could you be like this? How could you hurt me like this? I'm very sad."
It was almost dawn when they drove back. Chen An passed by the breakfast shop downstairs and bought two breakfasts.
As he inserted the key into the keyhole, he was actually a little nervous. Jiang Li should not be awake at this time, so they should not run into each other.
With this thought in mind, he pushed open the door. Sure enough, the living room was quiet, and his heart was relieved.
If nothing unexpected happens, he should do the same as he did in the past few days, take a shower, change clothes and then return to the Municipal Bureau, without disturbing Jiang Li, nor ignoring Jiang Li.
When he woke up, breakfast would still be in the microwave, and everything would be the same as usual except that they didn't see each other.
He closed the door gently and put breakfast on the table, but as soon as he changed into slippers, he realized something was wrong.
Something was missing from the living room.
He looked to the window and saw that the cage was empty!
It wasn't a jailbreak, but it was cleaned up properly.
He ran to Jiang Li's bedroom in an instant, pushed open the door, and saw the quilt neatly folded on the bed. The suitcase was gone and the wardrobe was empty.
Han Ming was right.
At this time, Jiang Li was sitting on the bus to Lihua Town. Just like when he first arrived, he was carrying a faded schoolbag and a black suitcase. The only difference was that he had some melon seeds by his side.
Guazi was a little carsick and had been lying in the corner motionless since he got on the bus. He was worried that Guazi had burned something, so he would poke it after a while to make sure it was still alive.
The sun rose in the east, and the first ray of sunlight shone on him. Looking at the golden fields outside the car window, he smiled for the first time in a long time.
“Buzz buzz buzz—”
The phone vibrated. Jiang Li took a look at it, hesitated for a moment, and finally picked it up.
"Hello."
Chen An called him and asked anxiously, "Where are you now?"
Jiang Li said willfully: "I don't know."
Chen An said patiently, "Jiang Li, school is about to start, so please stop making trouble, okay?"
"I didn't make a scene."
The bus drove into a gravelly road and the car shook violently. Jiang Li's head hit the glass window with a "bang".
"You're on the bus?"
Jiang Li didn't want to reveal too much. He was sure that if he kept making calls, it wouldn't be long before he would find out where he was.
"Thank you for taking care of me during this period. I don't want you to take care of me anymore. Goodbye, Chen An."
He quickly hung up the phone and turned it off.
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