Chapter 76 A Dreamlike Night
Jiang Ranxu hurriedly packed up and went to meet Meng Weishen. About twenty minutes later, Meng Weishen's dog search was still stuck at the starting point: "Please ask the security guard on duty tonight to check the surveillance."
The security booth was only three or four square meters in size, but it was crammed with a wooden table, a chair, a small solar oven, and two adult men, one old and one young, one sitting and one standing. The old man was watching the game on his mobile phone, and the young man was running around anxiously beside him.
"Master, I'm really anxious to go to the monitoring room. My dog is missing. It just ran out of the yard and must still be in the community."
"I told you I can't do that. I have to wait until the property management team arrives in the morning and gives them the OK before I can let you into the monitoring room."
"My dog is very energetic. By this morning, it had already run to Changping... Please, my dog is very important to me. I need to see where it went."
"Extremely energetic? Your dog isn't that Alaskan Malamute, is it? Many owners have complained about you violating regulations by keeping a large dog and walking it without a leash. Let the dog run away, it's just a nuisance if you keep it."
"No! My dog is a medium-sized breed with a dog license. And I always keep it on a leash when I walk it."
"That also has to wait until the property management team gets to work. Didn't you see me watching the game? Go away, that's so rude of you."
Seeing that Meng Weishen's dog-finding career was about to collapse at the starting line, Jiang Ranxu pushed open the glass door of the security booth. The warm wind that blew in his face was mixed with the smell of human oil, and he felt like he had accidentally walked into someone's armpit.
Jiang Ranxu suppressed his expression and threw the plastic bag on the table: "Master Liu."
The old man in security uniform paused, his gaze shifting from the lush green court to the red plastic bag peeking through it, and he quickly turned his head: "Oh, isn't that Xiao Jiang?"
"You're old enough to enjoy your life, and you don't need a few bucks. Why are you still working the night shift in the middle of winter?"
"I'm just sitting around doing nothing anyway, so I'm trying to get the house deed for my second son's family." The old man pulled out a bottle of Red Star Erguotou from a plastic bag and hid it in a drawer. He then pulled out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes and put it in his chest pocket. He asked cheerfully, "What's up? Do you need me for something? Did someone take over your parking space again? I'm going to deflate their tires."
Meng Weishen interrupted anxiously: "I want to see the surveillance."
The old man narrowed his eyes and said, "Ignore him. This guy has no manners. He insisted on going into the monitoring room to check on his dog. Can you just watch the surveillance? It concerns the privacy of all the owners..."
"Master Liu, I'm here to look for the dog, too." Jiang Ranxu interrupted him at the right moment. "Let's take a look at the surveillance footage. We'll leave soon and won't cause you any trouble."
The old man was stunned: "You..."
"He's my brother, my biological brother." Jiang Ranxu took advantage of the situation and put his arm around Meng Weishen's shoulders, pulling him into his arms. "He's just too worried about his dog. I'm here to apologize for him, please don't bother with him."
The old man pulled up his military coat and said, "What are you talking about? I'll go get the key, just follow me."
The community has a lot of surveillance cameras, but due to the abundance of greenery, there are always blind spots that are not covered. For example, in the green belt outside their yard, a Sophora japonica tree completely blocks the cameras.
Fortunately, the surveillance footage at the residential compound fence and the four main gates (east, west, south, and north) was relatively clear. They checked historical surveillance footage and saw no trace of Qin Shi Huang, assuming he likely hadn't left the compound, so they could narrow the search area.
Jiang Ranxu left the old man a few photos of Qin Shi Huang and promised to pay him a thank-you fee if he had any information. The old man readily agreed and called his apprentice to guard the gate for him while he stayed in the monitoring room.
The two walked out of the monitoring room, and Jiang Ranxu put a down jacket on Meng Weishen.
Meng Weishen's ears were red enough to bleed from pinching, and he didn't know if it was from anxiety or the cold. When the situation calmed down, Meng Weishen finally realized that he was cold and shivered as he thanked him.
Jiang Ranxu subconsciously rubbed Meng Weishen's ears.
Although no one had time to mention the dispute at home, an invisible wall still stood between them. Jiang Ranxu withdrew his hand. "Don't worry. I've already offered a reward in the homeowners' group. Believe in the power of the masses."
"Thank you."
Meng Weishen was lost in thought and could only thank him somewhat awkwardly.
"Has Qin Shi Huang ever gotten lost before? Where do you think he went?"
"He's never gotten lost. Even if I don't hold the leash, he'll come back quickly."
"Does it have a locator?"
"There's a collar tag with contact information on it."
"What are you going to do next?"
Meng Weishen was still relatively clear-headed. "Go to the police station right away and ask them to help monitor the surveillance cameras near the community. Then, take his favorite can of venison and walk around the community a few times to see if we can lure him out. If we still haven't found him by tomorrow morning, we'll have to ask nearby businesses and the dog catching team... If he's caught, we're doomed."
Jiang Ranxu nodded slightly: "The police may not agree with you watching the surveillance. I will accompany you to the police station."
"No need." Meng Weishen tightened his collar, his expression somewhat evasive. "The police station is also very dirty, you...you don't need to go."
Jiang Ranxu's heart was in his throat. He tried in vain to change the subject: "I checked the door lock. It's unlikely that the dog bit it open. The dog walker you hired must have forgotten to close the door this morning. I didn't notice. Sorry."
"It's okay, it's my own fault. I haven't spent enough time with the dog lately. It must have gotten so pent up that it ran out on its own. You go back first, I can handle it myself."
Meng Weishen picked up the soft Zhonghua cigarettes and cherries that Jiang Ranxu had bought, took a taxi to the police station alone, and left him at the gate of the community.
All the unresolved issues between the two of them were intensified by Meng Weishen's departure. Jiang Ranxu knew that he had not really left, but the taxi engine kept buzzing in his head, disturbing him and preventing him from falling asleep.
Jiang Ranxu stepped into the entrance hall, without taking off his coat, but instead put on a mask and gloves, went out again, and went to the first floor to get canned dog food.
Following Meng Weishen's instructions, Jiang Ranxu bent his back as much as possible and walked close to the edge of the lawn, clacking the tin lids of cans while calling out Qin Shi Huang's name. It was as if he were performing some mysterious soul-calling ritual.
"Qin Shi Huang."
There was a rustling sound behind the trash can, as if there was some living creature hiding there.
Jiang Ranxu turned on the flashlight: "Qin Shi Huang, come and have dinner, then we'll go home."
Jiang Ranxu carefully opened the lid of the can and placed the food on the ground.
A dark shadow suddenly appeared from the trash can and ran towards him.
As the light gathered, he finally saw the shadow's true form. It was a calico kitten, probably an adult by its stature, but so thin it was barely wider than a hand, grunting as it gnawed on a can of dog food.
Jiang Ranxu was stunned. He didn't take back the bait, letting the kitten eat most of the can.
The cold wind stung his cheeks. Jiang Ranxu hesitated for a moment, then carefully embraced the cat's ribs through his gloves.
The kitten puffed its lungs gently in his palm, shaking off the dust from his memory. At that time, he didn't know what psychological barriers were, and now he briefly returned to the past, forgetting those annoying germs and hairs.
Jiang Ranxu carried the cat back upstairs and prepared a bowl of water for it. He then ordered a can of cat food for delivery and asked the delivery boy to post a dog bounty notice in the nearby delivery driver group. By tomorrow morning, when the delivery business picks up, these delivery driver groups will be the new era intelligence center.
——
[R Jiang] (Photo) Dear neighbors, this is a photo of my beagle. He got lost tonight. If you can help bring him back or provide any useful information, I'll reward you handsomely. Dog Characteristics: He has a serial number tattooed on the inside of his ear: 9970115.
[R Jiang] (Picture) I found a cat while searching for a dog in the neighborhood. This is what it looks like. It's too cold now, so I'm taking it home. Any neighbors interested in adopting it can contact me.
——
It was not until late at night that Meng Weishen returned from the police station.
Jiang Ranxu still poked at every trash can in the neighborhood, but he didn't even encounter a mouse, let alone a dog.
When he saw Meng Weishen with his head hung from afar, he knew that he was going to bring bad news.
Sure enough, Qin Shihuang was not seen in the surveillance cameras on the roads around the community, so we could only wait for news from the police.
Neither of them was fully awake, wandering aimlessly through the streets like sleepwalkers, banging on cans and calling out Qin Shi Huang's name.
The streetscape resembled a dream, too dark and sparse to discern outlines. Once-familiar places seemed strangely unfamiliar. Occasionally, passing riders and designated drivers awaited orders, their faces blurred beneath identical work uniforms.
Until the birdsong and the whistles began to herald the morning, they still found nothing.
They were both too tired to move, so they found a 24-hour convenience store and sat by the window, waiting for the sky to brighten. The sky was a hazy pale blue, which reminded Jiang Ranxu of the veins under Meng Weishen's wrist skin.
Meng Weishen sat beside him, drinking instant coffee from a convenience store. His yawns created clouds of white mist. "Do you remember? Almost a year ago, the night before we took our wedding vows, we also stayed up all night walking around together."
Their experiences were indeed similar, but their state of mind was vastly different from when they were newlyweds. Jiang Ranxu didn't hesitate to reveal his own abomination to the other party: "I was worried that you would regret it, so I made up an excuse to keep you by my side overnight."
Meng Weishen chuckled and said he was "really smart." It was unclear whether he was praising him or scolding him.
After a while, Meng Weishen asked again: "Isn't Qin Shi Huang captured by the dog meat shop?"
"No way, don't even think about it. There's no dog meat shop around here."
"If Qin Shi Huang is really lost," Meng Weishen said, facing the dawn outside the glass. "I want to leave Beijing for a while."
Jiang Ranxu almost knocked over the coffee cup beside him, "Why?"
"I stayed in Beijing to work simply because I didn't want to go back home. I didn't understand Beijing, and Beijing didn't welcome me, just like your neighbors didn't welcome Qin Shi Huang. I stayed in Beijing for Qin Shi Huang."
"Can you stay for me?" Jiang Ranxu asked in his heart. But he realized that this was an extremely selfish thought, and he couldn't ask it out loud.
Meng Weishen asked him, "Jiang Ranxu, if I want to leave, will you go with me?"
Jiang Ranxu was so sleepy he couldn't remember what he had said. He seemed to be saying, "Okay, take me away." Or perhaps it was as if he were dreaming.
After finishing their coffee, their dreams shattered, and they had to part ways. Meng Weishen still had to go further afield to look for the dog. Jiang Ranxu went back to sleep, agreeing to swap shifts with Meng Weishen at noon.
Jiang Ranxu had just touched the pillow when a new message from the owners' group popped up on his phone.
[The Powerpuff Girls] (Image) Hello, hello, is this your dog? I lifted its left ear and saw its number: 9970115.
[The Powerpuff Girls] It seems to particularly like playing with my Springer Spaniel, and it dug holes in my yard.
[Powerpuff Girls] Sorry, no one was home last night. I just got back from the night shift and found it.
...No wonder he and Meng Weishen couldn't find the dog all night, and there was no trace of the dog on the surveillance camera. It turned out that the stinky dog was having a nice date with the long-haired man (dog) next door!
Jiang Ranxu quickly forwarded it to Meng Weishen. He then sent a 58-second voice message, sounding furious, as if he wanted to teleport back and chop the couple down.
Jiang Ranxu was no longer sleepy. He put on his coat and went downstairs to his neighbor's house to pick up the dog.
Yes, the stinky dog that he and Meng Weishen had been searching for all night now appeared safely in the yard next door.
The stinky dog didn't seem to notice its owner's anxiety at all, lying on the floor leisurely, like a well-fed pig. Its long-haired boyfriend squatted beside it, wagging his tail at Jiang Ranxu with an innocent look on his face.
Jiang Ranxu had been forced to rummage through the trash can all night, and his mind was so calm that he almost had a death wish. He half-knelt and put a leash on Qin Shi Huang.
As soon as he touched Qin Shihuang's back, Qin Shihuang turned over and vomited on his hand.
Jiang Ranxu's mind went blank, and he felt a sticky hot current flooding his palms and wrists.
He shuddered as he pulled his hand back, turned his palm over, and collided head-on with a pool of green vomit. The sour smell made him close his eyes.
The vomit in his hand was paste-like, and dark brown soil, dark green fake grass, and... dark red bloodstains could be vaguely seen.
Jiang Ranxu felt like he was going crazy.
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