Floating Island
The elevator reached the ground floor. Chen An walked out of the elevator. Jiang Li was already packing up. After turning off the lights, he trotted over.
"Let's go."
Chen An walked in front and asked, "Have you eaten?"
"No."
"What do you want to eat?"
"Hmm...anything is fine."
Chen An realized later that he didn't know much about the city, so he opened the car door and said, "Then listen to me."
Ten minutes later, the car stopped steadily in front of a small shop. As soon as I got out of the car, the owner greeted me, "Hey, Officer Chen, what would you like to eat?"
Chen An stood at the door and turned to ask him, "What kind of food do you like?"
Jiang Li thought for a moment and said, "Fish."
"I'd like one serving of sweet and sour fish, one serving of steamed pork ribs with taro, one serving of eggplant with fish sauce, and one serving of corn and pork rib soup."
Jiang Li tugged at his clothes and asked, "Can you finish all the food you ordered?"
Chen An sat down and wiped the table with a tissue. "I've finished eating. The last time I ate with Han Ming, it was almost not enough."
Jiang Li also imitated him and wiped it with a tissue, but said in a dull tone, "You two are very familiar with each other."
Chen An looked up at him and laughed, "Han Ming and I have known each other for many years. We are good friends. We often come here to eat when we get off work late. They specialize in late-night snacks. They close at five in the morning and are close to the Municipal Bureau, so it's convenient."
"oh."
"Have you found a place to stay?"
Jiang Li tapped his chopsticks and said with a hint of frustration, "I was originally planning to find a job with room and board, but I got here too late and many shops were full, so I just made do with a job in a milk tea shop. As for accommodation... I've found one."
Chen An had no doubts, "That's good, I'll take you home after dinner."
"Um."
Half an hour later they stood in front of a dilapidated building. Yes, it could barely be called a building.
"Is this the place you were talking about...residence?"
If Chen An hadn't insisted on sending him in, he wouldn't have known where this kid lived.
Jiang Li stood beside him submissively like a child being scolded, making a weak noise of resistance, "Actually... I can live here."
Chen An had seen many unfinished buildings about to be demolished. The word "demolition" on the red brick wall of this remote building was almost peeling. He took a deep breath and said, "Let's go upstairs."
Jiang Li didn't know what he was going to do, so he took the key and opened the door. He looked up from the ground floor and was shocked. What a haunted building.
The corridor was pitch black without any light, and there were thin rusty railings. He couldn't be the only resident in this building.
Chen An turned on the flashlight, but the weak light was like a drop of water thrown into the sea, completely useless.
Jiang Li followed him cautiously. Fortunately, he lived on the second floor, which was low. When he stood still, he could still hear the laughter of men and women upstairs. He could still see inside when he pushed open the door, but the environment was not very good. It was small, stuffy, and had no windows.
Chen An took a quick look and saw that Jiang Li didn't have much. There were only a few clothes stuffed casually in the open suitcase. "Pack your things."
"ah?"
"I said, pack up your things and take you somewhere else."
Jiang Li was not stupid. Why would he live in such a shabby place when there was a better place? He quickly stuffed his things into the suitcase.
"Remember to check out tomorrow." Chen An took the suitcase and slid it twice, making it incredibly light. Of course, what could a kid who had just come out to the world have?
In the car, Jiang Li had been observing Chen An's expression. His observation was not open and aboveboard, he just kept glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.
Chen An suddenly said, "Don't look at it anymore. I won't sell you out."
"I'm not afraid that you'll sell me out."
Chen An added with a sidelong glance, "It doesn't cost money either."
"But the teacher said that most things that don't cost money are not good things."
He didn't say anything, but stepped on the brakes and said, "We're here, get out."
His home is on the eighth floor and there is an elevator. When it's almost twelve o'clock, there are usually no people in the corridor.
After turning on the lights, the whole house took on a light warm color. "This is my house. You can stay here until school starts."
Jiang Li looked around and said, "My living...is not very good."
Chen An ruffled his hair and threw the key in the hallway. "What's wrong with that? You call me brother, right? I'll give you half of the house. Besides, I don't come back often. When I think about it, I feel like it's not worth buying."
"Why don't you go home?"
"It's common to sleep in the police station when there's a case." Chen An was already tired and was lying on the sofa. "By the way, what time do you go to work tomorrow? I'll take you there."
"No need." Jiang Li leaned his hands on the back of the sofa and looked down at him. "This place is quite close to the milk tea shop. I'll go there by myself tomorrow."
"Okay, be careful." Chen An stood up from the sofa and pointed to the room. "This is where I live. There are two rooms on the right. You can choose one." He walked over and opened the door. "This one has a toilet and bathroom, which is more convenient. The other one is a guest room."
Jiang Li nodded, "Okay, then the rent..."
"No..." Chen An stopped himself just as he was about to say that. "Wait until you get your salary."
The room is simply decorated in black, white and grey, which suits the aesthetic taste of most straight men.
Jiang Li threw himself onto the soft bed, raised his right hand and pointed it towards the light, and the light shone into his pupils through the gaps between his fingers.
He had a dreamless night, and when he woke up, Chen An had already left.
There was a note left on the dining table, with elegant handwriting reading: Breakfast is in the microwave.
Jiang Li took breakfast, ate it slowly, and left for work at nine o'clock.
As soon as I arrived at the milk tea shop, I heard Sun Qin say that there was a big order today.
"What big order?" Jiang Li asked while changing into work clothes.
Sun Qin said: "There will be two new employees today, and the boss has given me a training task."
"Training on what?"
"Collaboration, our milk tea shop launched a new product, Ice Blizzard Grapes, in collaboration with Lin Ran."
"Who is Lin Ran?"
Sun Qin raised an eyebrow, "I can tell you're not a fan."
Then he explained, "Lin Ran is the male star who recently turned down a role in 'The Legend of Liu Guang'. He's very popular. The boss wanted to use his popularity to sell more, so he collaborated with him on a new product. If you buy the new product, you can get his peripheral products."
"Oh~" Jiang Li said, seemingly understanding, "It's just about making money from fans."
Sun Qin immediately covered his mouth and said, "You can't tell the truth."
Jiang Li blinked innocently with his deer-like eyes. Sun Qin let him go and said, "I'll teach you how to make this drink later. There are some rules to explain when they all arrive. We open at 10 o'clock, so keep an eye on the time."
At ten o'clock, Jiang Li put on his mask and waited for the food to be served. With a ding, he entered the order box and it quickly fell to the ground. He was stunned and stared for a while. Sun Qin said, "Hurry up and do it!"
Jiang Li squatted down to look for the first list, and then there were many lists hanging on the projector in the store, like a door curtain.
Suddenly, a large number of people rushed into the entrance of the department store. They rushed to the front desk and shouted, "Two glasses of Blizzard Grapes, postcard sticker style!"
"Oh." He placed the order with his hand while Sun Qin shook his head vigorously behind him.
At a quarter past ten, the new employee finally arrived and could barely squeeze through the door.
Without having time to introduce them, Sun Qin briefly explained the precautions to them. The two of them quickly took up their posts, one was responsible for taking orders, and Jiang Li also joined in the production.
More than 20,000 cups were sold in 30 minutes. Sun Qin could not handle it anymore and stopped taking online orders. As a result, the store was filled with customers waiting outside. Some were queuing for orders, while others were buying things upstairs and came to pick up drinks after making their purchases.
Jiang Li finally got a moment's break when he finished the 100th cup. Four people took shifts, and he sat inside to enjoy the air conditioning for a while. When he took off his hat, his forehead was covered in sweat. Coincidentally, the phone rang just as he sat down.
"Are you at work yet?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Jiang Li complained subconsciously, even speaking with a bit of a spoiled tone, "I'm so tired~ There are so many milk teas. I made a hundred cups in just half an hour. Didn't I say that star chasers are so strong? I'm dying of heat, and..." He originally wanted to count on his fingers to see how many there were, but a rough calculation made him even more upset, and he groaned, "So many~"
There was a chuckle from the other end of the phone, "Yeah. Thank you for your hard work."
“It’s not hard work, it’s a hard life.”
Chen An could hear a noisy sound over there, and then someone called him, "Go quickly."
Jiang Li wanted to cry but had no tears. "Then I'll hang up first."
"Um."
Han Ming suddenly patted him, "What are you doing? Calling your kid?"
"Tsk." Chen An frowned slightly, "What do you mean my little friend, Jiang Li?"
"Oh, that's right." Han Ming put his arm around his neck and leaned in closer to ask, "What does it say?"
I can't laugh when I mention Chen An. The clues about Z have been reported for several days, but they act as if nothing happened. "What else can I say? No response."
"I knew it." Han Ming curled his lips. "It's always like that. When something big happens, he never lets us know."
"You stay here, I'm leaving."
"where did you go?"
Chen An didn't answer. Instead, he got in the car and contacted the hospital. He had previously arranged a paternity test for He Cheng and Qiao Qingfeng. He wasn't particularly curious about Z. Since the higher-ups hadn't mentioned it, there must have been other arrangements. Besides, a case like this would likely end up in the hands of the "Special Investigation Team," which was full of elite personnel, making it irrelevant to him.
The hospital is a familiar one and the person I am looking for is also a familiar one.
Song Zuo handed him the report, and he only saw the clearest words on it: "no family relationship."
He Cheng is not Qiao Qingfeng's son.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
