The choice of pulling up seedlings to help them grow
Ye Luan's flower shop is located south of the city center, not far from where the two are; walking is recommended.
Halfway through the walk, Cheng Xiangwu received a call from Bai Yunxian. After bringing the phone to her ear, neither of them spoke, nor did Xiao Fu.
"...I got beaten up." Bai Yunxian spoke, her voice so weak that it was barely audible even without radio interference.
"Pfft—" Cheng Xiangwu couldn't help but laugh.
"...Isn't that funny?" Bai Yunxian sneered, looking a bit more energetic. "My sister did it. She personally lashed me with her sword. You should be glad she didn't just cut my head off."
Cheng Xiangwu stopped laughing. She paused and asked, "Are you sure?"
"What?" Bai Yunxian asked, "You want to get beaten up too?"
“…No need,” Cheng Xiangwu said.
“However, it is true.” Bai Yunxian seemed to move slightly, the fabric rustling as it folded. “I dug out two headless corpses according to the timeline. I checked them, and their atlases were still intact, without any injuries.”
In other words, those people only removed their heads without damaging their cervical spine, and their technique was quite precise.
“…I see,” Cheng Xiangwu said.
"What do you mean, 'like this'?" Bai Yunxian sneered again, her voice accusing. "I almost had my leg broken, but I didn't tell anyone about you. Cheng Xiangwu, if you have any conscience, bring a fruit basket to my house to see me, understand?"
"I know, I know." Cheng Xiangwu thought for a moment, "I'll go there as soon as possible. Is there anything else you need?"
According to the address of the Bai family sent by Yao Shaoqi, it was not easy for Bai Yunxian to go to the city, and now that she had been beaten up, it would be even more difficult for her to have the strength to run.
"Hmph." Bai Yunxian smiled with satisfaction. "Let me see. I'll send you the list in a bit."
The call has ended.
"It seems Bai Yuntian is indeed still alive." Cheng Xiangwu put away his phone. Although Bai Yunxian is nearsighted, she shouldn't be so bad as to not recognize her own sister face to face. If she still couldn't recognize her, she would have recognized her after being beaten up.
“…What is this?” Little Fran was very dissatisfied with the result, but fortunately another fact diverted her attention, “This means we should shift the focus of our investigation to what happened thirty years ago.”
"But why does she still need to use a stand-in to see us?" Cheng Xiangwu still couldn't shift the focus, "and the office."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Fu frowned impatiently and said, "Since Miss Bai Yunxian has already proven—"
Suddenly, she stopped.
“And if that’s the case, what about the rooftop…” Cheng Xiangwu turned around and asked, “What’s wrong?”
"...She did not testify about Bai Yuntian's condition." Xiao Fu's voice lowered, as if deep in thought. "Neither her attitude nor her words, nor did she mention Bai Langtao's attitude."
After saying that, she looked at Cheng Xiangwu and said, "She still needs us to verify these things."
“We will go no matter what.” Cheng Xiang nodded. “Since she is there, I have to see for myself whether she is dead or alive.”
Little F's mood improved again. "What? You're just so adorable in that respect."
The Paraquat Flower Shop is located in a rather inconspicuous alley in the southern part of the city. After turning into the alley from the intersection, you can immediately see the gray wall sealed off at the end of the alley. Follow the small advertisements, and you will find it behind the frosted glass door next to a bicycle parked on the side.
Anyone could, after a brief moment's thought, immediately suspect something was amiss at this flower shop. Given its location—so small that you have to walk ten meters just to find some sun—it's hard for customers to believe they could buy any healthy plants there. But precisely because it's so blatantly suspicious, teenagers often voluntarily open the door to satisfy their curiosity.
For example, the person blocking the doorway right now.
"Hey, I was introduced by someone, you know what I mean by 'introduced'—" Before he could finish speaking, he was stabbed in the stomach with a broom and fell out of the door. He stumbled back a few steps and bumped into the wall behind him before he fell down.
"Are you all deaf?" Ye Luan stepped out of the door with an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips. He was wearing a vest and gloves, and looked somewhat like a gardener. "What's with the introduction? Get lost."
"I said don't—" The man was about to say something when he saw two people walking towards the alley entrance, so he stopped talking abruptly, turned around and glared at the shop manager before walking aggressively towards the alley entrance.
As they passed each other, Cheng Xiang glanced at him and saw that he was just an ordinary unemployed vagrant.
"Oh, it's you." Ye Luan also noticed the two newcomers. Her expression softened slightly, and she quickly slipped off her gloves and tossed the broom aside by the door. "And there's a foreigner here too. What's his name?"
"Please call me Xiao Fu." Xiao Fu gestured to the person next to him. "I've heard about the incident from her. May I show you the store?"
"Come in." Ye Luan nodded.
The moment they entered, they were greeted by a whiff of plant scents mixed with tobacco. The shop was as cluttered and crowded as any typical flower shop, but unlike others, there were no single-stem flowers, which were usually popular. Perhaps this was because there were no wrapping papers or ribbons on the wooden table at the cashier. The shop mainly consisted of potted plants, whether standing or hanging, most of which were just green leaves. The care they received was questionable, with yellowing leaves scattered everywhere, and a few flower buds occasionally peeking out from the gaps as decoration.
The kettle and scissors were placed in a convenient spot; this flower shop seemed more like a place for the shop owner to cleanse their lungs than a place with any commercial value. Behind the wooden table, besides a reclining chair covered with a white coat, there was a door. There was no sign, but it wasn't closed properly either. Cheng Xiang noticed something familiar on May 5th.
That was the container she used to recycle the old tires after changing them on that car. It seems Ye Luan doesn't rely on this flower shop for a living, at least not recently.
The shop was a bit cramped to walk in, and there were no seats. Cheng Xiangwu ignored the plants' overly enthusiastic waving and walked into the shop, asking, "Is that person also there?"
"Of course, there are piles and piles of them," Ye Luan said irritably. "But those I scolded haven't come back. They're so annoying."
"Is your address around here?" Xiao Fu asked, looking at the potted green ivy on the wall.
“It’s not that close.” Ye Luan shook his head, walked behind the table and closed the door. “These plants don’t need to be watered every day. You just happened to run into me in the shop today, so feel free to look around.”
“I don’t think you were planning to sell these potted plants,” Cheng Xiangwu said. The shop manager closed the door after entering, so normal customers couldn’t tell from the alley entrance that there was a flower shop there.
“Yes.” Ye Luan sat down on the recliner, her tone and movements quite casual. “I’m just waiting for the day when all these plants die, then I’ll get rid of everything here and leave.”
This negative business attitude left Cheng Xiangwu speechless.
“You must know where those buyers got their route maps from,” Little Fran asked as he walked to the table. “Hallucinogenic drugs are a big category, and most of those people don’t have the guts to buy the illegal stuff. It’s a matter of mutual benefit.”
“…I don’t know either, I don’t understand drugs.” Ye Luan frowned and sighed. “They are all young people, I really can’t understand why they don’t just buy cigarettes if they want to smoke, instead of going to all this trouble to ask me to buy them.”
“You just don’t understand the difference,” Xiao Fu said, glancing back at Cheng Xiangwu. “Let’s be honest.”
Cheng Xiangwu stepped forward, took out his phone, and showed Ye Luan the previous transaction information. "Let's talk about everything except the flowers and plants."
"...Quite a coincidence." Ye Luan chuckled, then formally raised her eyes to look at the two of them. "So what are you here to discuss? After-sales service?"
“Hallucinogenic drugs,” Xiao Fu said, “and the traces left by Miss Ye Shu here.”
Upon hearing the name, Ye Luan frowned as if by reflex, but she quickly regained her composure. "I really don't sell that stuff. To be honest, even if I wanted to do this business, I'd need the technology or the source of the goods."
"So you're just using ordinary health supplements to fool those union members?" Little Fu laughed.
As soon as she finished speaking, Ye Luan stopped smiling and squinted at Xiao Fu.
“You know why those people came to you, but you don’t plan to address the source of the leaks because they were indeed your buyers.” Xiao Fu took out his phone and showed photos of the health supplement jars that Xu Lidong sold, “or at least they used to be.”
“Then you should know that I’m definitely not doing this deal anymore,” Ye Luan said, emphasizing the word “now.”
"Is it that we shouldn't do it or that we can't do it?" Little F asked.
“…Yes.” Ye Luan said, then looked away from the plants again. “After these plants are all taken care of, I plan to leave Senhu.”
She leaned back in the recliner, her fingers tapping the armrest as she looked at the green plants, which calmed her down a little. "You know I've forgotten a lot of things, including those people. I don't know what I was thinking before, trading those kinds of things with those dangerous people."
"I'm actually more curious about why they were willing to let you go," Cheng Xiang asked five times. "Amnesia isn't a good reason."
“I don’t know either. Maybe I won’t live much longer if I don’t go to a big hospital soon.” Ye Luan turned her head, her tone still casual. “I experience sudden breathing stop in the middle of the night, and I occasionally have trouble breathing. The hospitals here can’t find any symptoms, so they just say I have a bradycardia or something. Those people seem to know about this too, and they haven’t contacted me since. I didn’t make those ordinary health products you mentioned. I really don’t understand pharmacology.”
"...When did it start?" Little Frye asked thoughtfully.
“A long time ago.” Ye Luan thought for a moment, then simply waved her hand to clear her mind. “But I think I was quitting smoking back then, I don’t know what I was thinking.”
As he spoke, the man who had given up smoking stood up from the recliner. "Alright, you want to see her things, right?"
Led by the shop owner, the two guests were given a glimpse into another space within the shop. Behind the wooden table was a warehouse, with shelves displaying boxes of various sizes; at first glance, it looked like a luggage shop. Ye Luan made no attempt to hide anything, and right in front of the two, she pushed aside the only empty shelf and opened the hidden door.
Behind the door is a greenhouse.
Inside the bright, artificial botanical garden, arched by glass, there was only one plant—or perhaps "one" would be a better word, as it was nearly three meters tall, almost reaching the sky through the greenhouse's glass roof. It was a lush, black datura tree, its roots buried in the soil. Its overly abundant branches, leaves, and flowers filled the entire greenhouse ceiling, drooping down to touch a person's head, leaving no room for another plant in the approximately twenty-square-meter space.
The purplish-red rhizomes gleamed with a smooth, oily sheen, with thorns at the nodes. The leaves that extended out were large and oval, yet their edges were sharp. Some leaves facing away from the visitors showed off their purple veins, as if flaunting their poisonousness.
Countless pure black flower buds faced the visitors, all in full bloom, like a trumpet band, neither drooping nor tilting their heads to the sky. The tiny curled thorns at the tips of the petals twitched slightly in the breeze brought up when the door was opened. The only non-black flower center, the faint white heart, stared intently at the visitors, providing unobtrusive surveillance.
"...I remember Miss Ye Shu's profession is a math teacher?" Xiao Fu asked doubtfully, "Did she train her?"
"Probably, anyway, it's not something I can do." Ye Luan seemed unsurprised. "I've basically never taken care of this one. It's quite resilient; it even bloomed on time at the beginning of last month."
The greenhouse only has ventilation windows with fine mesh; the designer did not intend to let moths in to pollinate this plant.
“The black one must be a cultivated variety. A math teacher wouldn’t have the energy to accomplish such a feat.” Little Fu happily took out his phone and walked around taking pictures of the plant. “Moreover, regardless of the color, the seeds of the datura tree are indeed hallucinogens, or rather, one of the raw materials for its branching inhibitors. People who take choline-stimulating hallucinogens for a long time are likely to experience delirium when subjected to physical stimulation, which is consistent with the cases of the previous few who have not yet woken up.”
As she spoke, she took out her notebook and jotted down some things.
"You said it yourself, it has to be seeds, and it has to be made into medicine." Ye Luan spread his hands, indicating that he couldn't do it. "Right now, it's just an ornamental plant, but it seems to be poisonous, so I haven't touched it much."
“So the person in charge of processing and production is Miss Ye Shu, but the cultivation was done jointly by the two of you, and you were in charge of the trading part.” Xiao Fu stopped what he was doing, looked at Ye Luan, and said with certainty, “You were both members of the guild before.”
Upon hearing this, Ye Luan slapped his forehead, grinned, and sighed, "Hey, to be honest, I wasn't that surprised. This plant couldn't bear fruit because it missed the artificial pollination period, so this one's ruined. If I were just an outsourced contractor, those people would have been way too nice..."
Ignoring those words, Xiao Fu simply put on his gloves and asked, "Do you mind if I take a sample?"
Ye Luan simply waved his hand.
"You really don't remember anything?" Cheng Xiangwu asked. In her eyes, Ye Luan was just an ordinary businessman, but the union members also looked quite ordinary before the riot.
"...I really don't remember," Ye Luan said after a moment's thought. "But I have a vague recollection of this plant. I don't know why, but it seems like I got it, and then we planted it together, and then..."
She didn't go down, but tapped her arm little by little, as if she was feeling irritated or had a craving for cigarettes.
“That’s true, but it seems you don’t know much about pharmacology and medicine.” After collecting the samples, Xiao Fu put away the evidence bag and walked towards the two people standing outside the soil area. “The choline M receptor was suppressed by datura-based drugs for a long time without treatment, resulting in acetylcholine secretion disorder and central nervous system disorder, which is consistent with your sequelae.”
"What's that?" Ye Luan asked.
“I’m saying that your bradycardia and smoking addiction are caused by your long-term close contact with this person.” Xiao Fu pointed to the large green belt behind them. “Usually, you can avoid absorption by wearing gloves when handling datura, but this is the first time I’ve seen this variety. In addition, you need to carry out artificial pollination for a long time. You don’t need to feel ashamed of having this series of symptoms.”
Upon hearing this, the person being diagnosed, holding the non-existent report, froze, pondered, and was surprised.
"You mean the two of us, Ye Shu and I, risked our lives to grow this stuff?!" Ye Luan said incredulously. "No, why? Making money was one thing, but we didn't even make much!"
As her tone progressed, her complaints about the latter part became more pronounced.
“Yeah, why should we?” Little F asked with a smile, then added, “Let us see the place we used to process seeds.”
“…Okay.” Ye Luan composed herself, went back to the warehouse to get an umbrella, opened it and held it over her head. “Let’s go, let’s go inside.”
The umbrella ruthlessly shoved aside the obstructing flower buds and led the three across the path at the edge of the greenhouse. Ye Luan took a key from a shelf and opened the wooden door embedded in the glass. A smell of dust mixed with unidentified chemicals wafted out as soon as the door opened. Apart from the tools that were clearly more suitable for a chemistry classroom, this place could be a kitchen.
“I haven’t touched any of these.” Ye Luan folded up her umbrella and leaned against the door. She herself didn’t plan to go into the chemical kitchen. “Just look around. I really don’t recognize any of these things.”
"Thank you for your generosity." Little Fu didn't stand on ceremony at all, and started rummaging through drawers and cabinets as soon as he entered the door.
If the greenhouse had merely satisfied the teenagers' fantasies about the mysterious products in the flower shop, then this kitchen perfectly confirmed their suspicions about the shop's business scope. Cheng Xiangwu immediately noticed a pile of health supplement jars in the corner, as well as sealing and filling machines—tools typically needed for mass production.
The cans were even labeled as over-the-counter drugs, so there was no doubt that this was a small, unlicensed workshop producing those questionable health products.
"Come here." Xiao Fu beckoned from behind a cabinet. Cheng Xiangwu walked over and saw that the cabinet contained a large number of dried plants, dried flowers, dried leaves and seeds, and glass jars neatly arranged with dismembered datura flowers.
The jar in Xiao Fu's hand was full of black dried flowers and was sealed. The date on the cap was two months ago, and the label had the word "white" written on it. She then took another one; the date was the same, but the label had the word "self" written on it, with an extra horizontal line that couldn't be ignored.
Fresh clues.
“It’s still naturally air-dried, but hallucinogens don’t need dried flowers. This is one of the materials for wax.” After thinking for a while, Little F said, “It should be used to replace the white chrysanthemum part, which explains that person’s symptoms. It’s a kind of aftereffect.”
"The union members are also making that wax." Cheng Xiangwu frowned. "Where do they get their materials from?"
“There’s only one whale oil supplier in the entire city of Lake Sen, but that’s hard to say about datura; rarity is a quality,” said Xiao Fu.
“…But she said the Bai family and the union had fallen out.” Cheng Xiangwu pondered, “However, she was also unaware of what had happened in the last six months.”
In the past six months, Bai Langtao has made contact with the union again, perhaps to obtain this material, but the reason is currently unknown.
"Can you remember where you got that plant?" Cheng Xiang asked Ye Luan.
"...Checking the transaction records should be able to find it." Ye Luan thought for a moment and asked, "What are you planning to do with all this information?"
"Work together to bring down the local criminal gangs?" Cheng Xiangwu said thoughtfully.
"...Do you want to hear what you're saying?" Ye Luan stared at the two of them for a while, then waved his hand. "Forget it, I don't care about this. There's something big going on over there lately, so I can't be there for you. You guys help me deal with that big thing, and I'll check the records for you."
Judging from this tone, Cheng Xiangwu knew that this person was preparing to run away ahead of time, which could be described as a very wise and enviable choice.
“Okay.” Little F nodded. “What about the kitchen utensils and plants?”
“I’ll take care of the things in the kitchen. Take what you need now. As for those potted plants…” Ye Luan’s tone became helpless as she said this, “I’ll take them with me. I’ll let you know when I’ve finished dealing with things here.”
With permission granted, Xiao Fu happily brought back a batch of raw materials for illegal health products.
"Hey, wait a minute." Just before leaving, Ye Luan called out to Cheng Xiangwu. She was carrying a leather suitcase about a meter long and had a cigarette in her mouth again.
Cheng Xiangwu took it, and the wobbly feel indicated that it was quite heavy.
“Take this to the store manager.” Ye Luan raised her chin. “Also, please apologize to her again for breaking something she cherishes.”
"Okay." Cheng Xiang nodded five times, then asked, "Why don't you go by yourself?"
"...Forget it." Ye Luan waved his hand. "Let's go, I need to smoke."
Cheng Xiangwu didn't say anything more, turned around and walked towards the alley entrance. When he looked back, the frosted glass door was closed, and the shop manager refused to share secondhand smoke.
"Why was she able to leave that union?" Cheng Xiang asked Xiao Fu. "Work injury is not a valid reason."
"Of course, members of the union should be loyal to the collective to the death, and should not be afraid even if they are burned to ashes." Xiao Fu finished speaking in a shouting tone that he had learned from somewhere, and then turned to indifference, "Perhaps Miss Ye Luan is fiery, perhaps Miss Ye Shu did not expect this, perhaps those cats have an appetite beyond our imagination, in short, no one is asking her to be loyal now."
Clearly, she didn't think people who had run away were worth paying attention to anymore, but recalling the many cleanup tasks she had handled, Cheng Xiangwu found it hard to believe that the reason the guild let Ye Luan go was simple.
“But at least all the members I’ve met have done it,” Cheng Xiangwu said, adding, “Ye Shu did too.”
If this math teacher is a union member, then she must be on the list of those responsible for the Senhu No. 2 Middle School case.
"You can't say that, and don't forget, there's a fundamental difference in their current treatment," Little Fran reminded her.
"Ye Shu has already been cremated." Cheng Xiangwu nodded.
“...That can also be included,” Xiao Fu said with dissatisfaction. “But I’m talking about something more essential, the essence, the soul! Those who are swept away are obviously unable to separate their souls from the rest, but the remaining souls are still preserved within their bodies. I suspect that this is also the main basis for Miss Ye Luan’s ability to escape the torment of faith.”
“Indeed, they are all still alive.” Cheng Xiangwu thought for a moment and asked, “Are the union members unconscious because of the drugs?”
“Let me go and test it out.” Little Fu laughed again as he said this. “I now suspect that the wax has been modified. After all, UFOs are not living things, so there’s no reason for them to be affected by hallucinogens.”
"...At my house?" Cheng Xiangwu disagreed.
"Do you really think every kitchen can cook such ingredients?" Xiao Fu said with dissatisfaction, then added smugly, "Thanks to my hard work yesterday, the chemistry classroom at No. 1 Middle School is now open to me. Although it's a teaching place, it's still much cleaner than your kitchen."
“My kitchen is very clean,” Cheng Xiangwu emphasized. “Just keep it up, and don’t get reported by any students.”
“Even if I’m arrested, I’m still a guest of the police station,” Xiao Fu emphasized.
The two parted ways at the intersection. Xiao Fu would take himself and the materials to school, while Cheng Xiang would go to the Shechao Hotel. Although the bar was closed today, the door to the boss's office should still be open.
Just one intersection away, Cheng Xiangwu vaguely saw a furtive person looking around at the office door, standing guard in front of the closed door like a sentry. When she got closer, she realized that the person standing in the sunset was Yan Xizhao.
The moment you recognize someone's identity, "suspicious" can be replaced with "vigilant," but of course, it's still suspicious.
Of course, her gaze was noticed. When Yan Xizhao saw that it was Cheng Xiangwu, her expression under the shadows visibly became conflicted. Even when the newcomer actually stood in front of her, she still looked like she wasn't prepared to say anything. Her lips were tightly pursed, and her eyes under the brim of her hat didn't know where to look.
"...Ms. Cheng, hello." That was all she said at the end.
Actually, Cheng Xiangwu was about to pretend she didn't know her and just walk in, seeing her like that, but since this person had spoken first, she could only respond, "Hello, you are...?"
"I didn't come here to drink..." Yan Xizhao was about to say something in defense, but then she stopped herself. Not only did she stop herself, she changed her mind, "Yes, I did come here to drink."
In fact, Cheng Xiangwu did not suspect that this person came to drink, and she did not understand why drinking was such a shameful thing to talk about. But since the other party had said so, she could only follow his line of thought and asked in confusion, "...Now?" She glanced at the sky; it was bright.
“...Yes.” Yan Xizhao’s tone and face were stiff and rigid, as if he wanted to die.
"Actually," Cheng Xiangwu thought for a moment, then said, "we're resting here today."
“...I see.” Yan Xizhao pulled his navy cap down to cover half of his face, his voice barely audible.
"Hmm," Cheng Xiangwu replied, looking at the other person with a questioning look in her eyes about why she hadn't left yet.
Just as Yan Xizhao's hat was about to cover her entire face, the door to the boss's office opened by itself.
"Xiao Wu?" Zhou Yan smiled as soon as she saw the visitor. "Why are you here at this hour? Come in and have a seat."
Cheng Xiangwu shook her head and handed over the suitcase in her hand. "I have something to do later, I'll come again next time. The person who smashed the cup yesterday asked me to bring him. He also apologized for smashing Sister Yanzi's precious cup."
"...Oh my." Zhou Yan took the suitcase with surprise and weighed it in her hands. "This is really a great gift. I'll treat her well next time she comes."
“She said she was moving away,” Cheng Xiangwu said.
"Her?" Zhou Yan paused, but didn't say anything more. She picked up the suitcase and, as if only then noticing another person waiting at the door, looked over and politely asked with a smile, "Is there another one here? What is this person here for?"
Cheng Xiangwu also looked over and, seeing that Yan Xizhao was still silent, spoke up for her, "She said she came to drink."
"Is that so?" Zhou Yan asked in surprise, then added regretfully, "But we're not open today. Maybe next time?"
"Huh?" Yan Xizhao was taken aback. "But—"
"As a substitute," Zhou Yan interrupted her, handing her a food bag. "Take these. Next time you're hungry, you can just knock on the door instead of waiting outside."
“...Um, yes.” Yan Xizhao took the paper bag and said softly, “Thank you.”
She then left immediately, moving very quickly but not running.
Watching the voice disappear, Cheng Xiang turned around and found Zhou Yan looking at her, so she couldn't help but ask in confusion.
"Xiao Wu." She called out, and the bar owner, who always seemed to be smiling, rarely smiled. Facing the setting sun, Cheng Xiangwu couldn't quite make out her expression or the scene inside the bar.
"What's wrong?" Cheng Xiangwu asked.
"...It's nothing." Zhou Yan closed her eyes and opened them again, her smile returning. "You've been back for several days now, how have you been?"
“It’s fine,” Cheng Xiangwu replied, then added after a moment’s thought, “I’ve been quite busy since I came back, and this is the first time I’ve known that so many things have happened here at Senhu.”
“Yes…” Zhou Yan said softly, “So, Xiao Wu, what do you think of this place now?”
"Hmm?" Cheng Xiangwu was somewhat surprised by the question. Due to her own lack of basic knowledge, she found it difficult to answer what she "thought" about a place. However, after thinking about what she had experienced in the past few days, she came up with a conclusion that she could say: "It's quite interesting."
All the experiences, encounters, and meetings were quite interesting.
"Really?" Zhou Yan sighed and reached out to smooth Cheng Xiangwu's hair, which was tucked into her fur collar. "That's good. Go ahead, come and visit again next time."
"Mm." Cheng Xiangwu nodded.
Following a long list of orders sent by Bai Yunxian, Cheng Xiangwu needed to rush to the designated locations before these stores closed and take them home for safekeeping. Fortunately, the commercial district of Insen Lake City is concentrated there, and most of the addresses are located inside shopping malls in the city center.
As Cheng Xiangwu was leaving the mall carrying a large bag, she encountered Diana sitting on the long steps of the square, lost in thought. She looked quite tired, hunched over, propping her head up and letting the passing wind blow her hair and trench coat, motionless. You could believe she was asleep.
Just as Cheng Xiangwu stopped in his tracks, filled with doubt, Diana looked up and their eyes met.
"...Fellow traveler, you've switched to delivering food?" Her voice was hoarse. "Can you hang in there for a few more days?"
"It's just running errands, it's unpaid," Cheng Xiangwu replied, sitting down next to her. She then took out a cup of milk tea and handed it to her, mimicking Han Lingfeng's tone, saying, "Thank you for your hard work."
There were a pile of food packaging bags and two people on the long steps, making it look a bit like a spring outing.
"Thank you!" Diana took the milk tea, and before she even took a sip, she felt a bit more energetic. "Indeed, today is a major turning point in my career."
"Are you planning to become a live streamer?" Cheng Xiang asked.
“…That’s just a side job.” Diana smiled helplessly, inserted a straw and tidied her hair. “Although I always ask you to work with me, I know that journalism isn’t a very popular profession.”
She took a sip of her milk tea and exclaimed in surprise, "Why is it so sweet?"
"Really?" Cheng Xiangwu asked doubtfully. "Full sugar means normal sweetness, right?" At least that's what Bai Yunxian wanted.
“…Now everyone considers 30% or 50% sweetness to be the normal sweetness level,” Diana said, taking another sip. “But that pure sweetness is also quite nostalgic.”
She gripped the rim of the cup with her five fingers and swung it in mid-air. "Speaking of which, what happened to that Ms. Xu Chunfen later?"
“Xu Lidong became like that because she had talked to a psychologist. She was the one who found the psychologist, so she seemed to feel that she was the one who caused her sister to become like that,” Cheng Xiangwu said, looking at the lanes on the road. “She cried for a long time.”
“…I see,” Diana said. “A psychotherapist sounds like a good cold case killer. I hope we can catch him.”
“Yes,” Cheng Xiangwu said, turning her head to the side, but she didn’t see Diana’s satisfied or excited expression. She just stared blankly ahead, as if that was what she was looking for.
“…I’m wondering if I’m actually not suited to be a journalist,” she said, her tone unusually calm and even. “Journalists are supposed to gather information, not create news, right?”
As she spoke, she looked at Cheng Xiangwu and said, "When I ran out of there this morning, I was still excited and thinking, this is big news, and so on."
A long sigh escaped her lungs and spread into the dimly lit street. The golden world carried her sigh, neither making it lighter nor heavier, nor slowing it down.
"Are you scared?" Cheng Xiang asked five times.
"Aren't you afraid?" Diana retorted.
“…I’m not a reporter,” Cheng Xiangwu said.
“Reporters shouldn’t be afraid,” Diana said.
"Is that so?" Cheng Xiangwu asked in confusion.
“I said yes.” Diana nodded.
"Are you scared?" Cheng Xiang asked.
“…I was scared,” Diana said. “I’ve never been so scared.”
That gun, that inexplicable behavior, that incomprehensible pursuit, and the explosion.
"So people really are afraid of explosions." She seemed bewildered, as if learning this for the first time. "Bombs, suicide bombers, explosive news... people really are afraid of these things, just because they weren't prepared? What the hell..."
As she spoke, she looked at Cheng Xiangwu as if trying to divert his attention, "You're really not afraid? Why?"
“…The last time I was afraid was a long time ago, I don’t know.” Cheng Xiangwu shook her head and asked again, “If it’s because you’re afraid, you can leave Senhu now. Those people will stop chasing you once they get the memory card.”
Upon hearing this, Diana bent down and folded herself up, resting her head on her knees. She turned her head to look up at the person who was advising her to run away, and suddenly laughed.
"...What's wrong?" Cheng Xiangwu didn't know what this person was laughing about.
“You’re saying the same thing as the mayor.” Diana stopped laughing. “Thank you for your advice, colleague, but my biggest dilemma right now is career choice, not whether or not to give up the mission.”
"Isn't that the same?" Cheng Xiangwu asked.
“…It’s different now.” Diana sighed again. “I was thinking that what I was actually doing wasn’t revealing the truth, but creating problems, using the impact of those problems to achieve the effect I wanted. Attention, buzz, conflict—controversy gets people to watch, but what I want people to see isn’t that kind of thing, it’s the truth.”
She picked up her milk tea cup, raised it above her head and swirled it like a wine glass. "But now I think that people might not want the truth. If they're scared after seeing it, then maybe it's better not to see it in the first place, right?"
"How will you know if you'll be scared if you don't look?" Cheng Xiang asked five times.
"It's better than being scared and then blaming the original author, right?" Diana put down her milk tea cup and muttered.
"So who are you blaming?" Cheng Xiang asked five times.
“…It’s myself,” Diana said. “Who else could it be?”
“…that mayor, or something like that,” Cheng Xiangwu said.
“When someone says ‘who else could it be,’ they usually mean there’s no one else, not that they’re asking.” Diana laughed again. “But I have no right to complain about the mayor. She’s given all the advice she could, and she’s the one who’s having a headache dealing with the aftermath. If I were to secretly resent her in this situation, the mayor would be working too hard.”
“I know that people who say this usually do have grievances in their hearts,” Cheng Xiangwu said.
“…That’s why I felt I should have thought things through. If I wasn’t prepared, why did I even come to see it?” Diana said. “This explosion won’t be the last one, so I either shouldn’t be afraid, or I should get out.”
"So you're sitting here making a decision?" Cheng Xiangwu asked.
“No, I’m blaming myself, because I’ve made decisions for my future self who’s forced to watch the explosion.” Diana said, getting up and magically producing a camera and a memory card from her trench coat.
Clearly, the piece that Xu Lidong ate was not the truth.
Cheng Xiangwu had nothing to say to the reporter.
But Diana held the camera high as if showing off, saying, "What's this called again? Courage? Impulsiveness?"
"A camera," Cheng Xiangwu said.
"Hahaha—" Diana laughed happily, "You have a real talent for flattery, colleague."
"If you run into them again, it won't be time to call me," Cheng Xiangwu warned.
“My legs are still pretty good, and—” Diana paused, feigning mystery, “Anyway, there’s no need to worry. I’m not very noticeable unless I actively try to draw attention to myself.”
Cheng Xiangwu then understood that this person was indeed resting. Whether she was contemplating, exhausted, or even doubting herself, nothing would derail her path towards her goal. She would definitely get up again, continue calling herself a colleague, and continue creating trouble. As for why—
"Are you really not considering leaving?" Cheng Xiangwu asked again to confirm.
"Hmm?" Diana paused, then smiled and waved her hand. "I'm past the age where I'd get stuck on this kind of thing, and it's really hard to change careers at this age. You should take note of that, my colleague."
"...Whatever." Cheng Xiangwu sighed, took out her phone and texted Xiao Fu, "So, do you have any clue why they're chasing you now?"
"Destroy the records? But their method makes it impossible to verify the goods." Diana was also clueless. "Honestly, I still don't understand why they're so obsessed with destroying these things. Is it going to trip someone up?"
Xiao Fu said she would try to analyze it.
“An expert said he would help think about it.” Cheng Xiangwu stood up, carrying the bag. “I have to go back.”
"Ah, wait a minute." Diana put away her camera and took out her phone. "Wait a minute, someone just contacted me asking about you."
"...Who?" Cheng Xiangwu frowned.
“A couple, seemingly looking for a lost child, said someone saw her talking to you at the bus stop,” Diana said. “The description sounds exactly like you.”
Cheng Xiangwu realized something.
Diana dialed the number, answered, and gave her location. Less than five minutes later, a car pulled up below the long steps, and the person who ran out of the driver's side door was Golson's mother. She ran around the car and up the steps without even closing the door.
"Hello..." She was still panting, her anxiety already showing on her face, "I...you should have seen a first-year high school girl—"
"Okay." Cheng Xiang nodded five times. "I'll take you to find her."
"Good luck!" Diana waved.
The two got into the car, which moved quickly but steadily. They rarely spoke during the journey, and the driver focused on driving. A little over ten minutes later, the car stopped outside the residential area.
The streetlights haven't come on yet; it's time to go home.
In the community's fitness area, Gao Ersen sat on a swing, swaying casually. It was before dinner time, and most of the children around him were young kids who were expending their energy on the artificial turf and playing games like guessing who would be called home for dinner first, during the time between school and dinner.
She was sitting there waiting. If the two people in the apartment hadn't returned by nightfall, she would go find Zhou Mi. If they did return, they would go back together and chat about dinner topics that were far beyond what was usually discussed at that strangely elaborate dining table.
The world is golden at this time because many people are looking forward to something.
Suddenly, she looked up.
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