night
Nan Nan, half lying on her stomach, tilted her head towards Wu Siqi. "Sister Siqi, have you finished asking questions? Do you know what happened?"
Thinking of what the police had just told him, Wu Siqi shook his head and said, "I don't know either. Do you know anything?"
Zhang Li squinted at her. Seeing Wu Siqi's expression, she clearly didn't believe he didn't know what was going on. Since he didn't seem to want to talk about it, she tentatively asked from a different angle, "Given the situation, our event shouldn't be able to go ahead, right?"
"Well, they said this place will be closed for a while." Wu Siqi nodded. After discovering such a horrific murder burial scene, it goes without saying that the opening time of the children's playground will be a long time away.
Nan Nan held her face in her hands and wailed, "Ah! I worked so hard for a month for nothing, and I was still thinking of using this bonus to travel."
Zhang Li looked up and asked her, "With only a few thousand yuan in prize money, where are you going to go?"
"Hong Kong! I've already got my pass, but now it's gone!" Nan Nan said regretfully, then asked, "Team Zhang, I heard you love traveling and take half a month's annual leave every year to travel. Have you ever been to Hong Kong?"
Zhang Li smiled proudly: "I've been there several times. If you want to go to a place this close, don't wait for a bonus. A trip to Hong Kong is not expensive. I'll send you some tips."
Nan Nan made a series of "hmm" sounds in her throat. "I'm afraid I can't speak Cantonese, and if I act stingy and poor, I'll be laughed at by Hong Kong people."
Hearing this, Wu Siqi recalled some past events and smiled slightly, which was caught by the sharp-eyed Zhang Li. She asked, "Siqi, what are you laughing at?"
"Nannan's words reminded me of what happened when I went to Hong Kong as a child. No, there are many good people in Hong Kong, don't be afraid." Wu Siqi said softly.
Zhang Li also said: "And even if you encounter some bad people, don't worry about it. They discriminate against everyone equally."
Zhang Li turned around and asked Wu Siqi, "When you were little? It wasn't convenient to go to Hong Kong back then."
Wu Siqi hummed. "It happened after the return to China, I think it was 2007. I went there with my parents. It was quite fun. It's the off-season and flights aren't expensive. Nannan, if you want to go, go ahead. I'll approve your leave."
Nan Nan giggled, "Okay, I'll make some plans."
A few more colleagues came over and we chatted about things that had nothing to do with work. Gradually, the atmosphere became better, and there was no longer much fatigue from work being delayed. More and more people came over and started sharing their travel experiences.
Some were happy, "I was super lucky that time, the weather was great, the photos were 100% perfect, and my circle of friends was flooded with praise."
Some people are sad. "My ex-boyfriend was very impatient. He started complaining if I took a few more pictures. We had a huge argument at a tourist attraction. I was so angry that I broke up with him on the spot."
Some have regrets, "It was a pity for me last time too. I slept too late and couldn't get out of bed, so I didn't get to see the sea of clouds."
With you and I chatting, the boring night is not so hard to bear.
Wu Siqi stopped talking and sat at the edge of the crowd to listen to them, his thoughts drifting away. If those eight children had not met with accidents, they would probably be like this when they grew up, complaining about life but also loving life.
But they no longer have such an opportunity. What kind of person would do such a cruel thing?
What role did Yi Ning play here? What connection could a band manager have with such a murder case? The confusing pieces of information were twisted into a tangled ball of wool.
She closed her eyes to rest her head, and her headache started to return.
Someone tapped her shoulder twice, and Wu Siqi opened her eyes. Zhang Li gently woke her up, but she had actually fallen asleep. She half-opened her eyes and asked, "What's wrong?"
"The police said we can go." Zhang Li handed her cell phone back, which showed that it was two o'clock in the morning.
Wu Siqi took the phone and asked, "It's so late, did they say anything?" The other party even helped to take her backpack, put on the bag, stood up and walked out with her.
Zhang Li nodded. "The entire children's playground has been sealed off. We can't tell anyone about what happened here today. They've already negotiated with the city government. Our project has been postponed. We'll have to wait for further notice when the lockdown is officially lifted."
Some employees had already left, and only a few colleagues were walking towards the main gate together. They were all dragging their feet and looked exhausted. The entire park was still brightly lit, and people in police uniforms were constantly moving around.
Zhang Li added, "You can't stop a car so late, so I'll drive you home." Her tone left no room for refusal.
Wu Siqi looked at the order in the ride-hailing app that hadn't responded for four minutes and pressed his thumb to cancel it. "Okay, thank you for your help."
Fastening her seat belt, Zhang Li called up the car navigation: "Where is your home?" She waved for her to enter the address, and Wu Siqi entered her home address.
"I didn't expect that we live so close to each other, only about two or three kilometers apart." Zhang Li chose the nearest road and started the car.
Wu Siqi: "Really? I didn't expect that."
As they turned out of the theme park parking lot, the traffic light at the intersection happened to turn red. There were no other cars around except Zhang Li's white car, parked on the road. She said, "I noticed the police were running in the direction you were leading. What happened over there? It's so serious that they've blocked off the area. Don't say you didn't know. Your eyes don't lie."
In the passenger seat, Wu Siqi folded her hands on her knees and bit her lip. "You know about the recent missing children case, right?"
Zhang Li curled her lips, puzzled by her question: "I know, there are missing person notices posted downstairs in the company building. This park is not open, and the child was not lost here. What does it have to do with us?"
"It was indeed not lost here, but it was found here." Wu Siqi's voice was very soft, like a whisper in the sky.
Zhang Li couldn't understand it at all. "Huh? We don't have any children here." She just said it out loud before she realized, "What!"
She slammed on the brakes in the middle of the road, the brake pads slamming to a stop and the wheels screeching on the asphalt.
Wu Siqi: "Drive carefully! It's dangerous to brake suddenly in the middle of the road! Pull over first!" She raised her voice to call Zhang Li back to her senses.
"Oh." She turned on the right turn signal and parked the car on the side of the road. After thinking for a moment, she dared to ask, "Those children were not abducted, but died?"
Recalling the sand pit, Wu Siqi's face turned pale. She nodded, her voice trembling a little: "Well, they dug it out in the children's sand pool."
The car was quiet, with the engine's noise becoming especially noticeable. As the gears jerked, Zhang Li suddenly cursed, "Fuck, what a pervert!"
She released the parking brake and the car started again. Zhang Li asked her concernedly: "You must be scared."
"It's okay, I just need to stop thinking about it." Wu Siqi looked out the window. The street scene slowly receded, and his face was reflected in the car window, as pale as a piece of paper. "Some people, what do they really think of life?"
Zhang Li was silent. She didn't know what to say for a moment. Life was heavy and worthless.
It was silent all the way, only the mechanical female voice of navigation was not affected, and she completed the navigation work conscientiously.
Zhang Li parked at the gate of the residential complex. Wu Siqi half-opened the car door and thanked her. "Thank you. Be careful when you go back."
Zhang Li: "You're welcome."
She nodded, closed the car door and turned to walk towards the community.
"Don't think too much. Good night." Zhang Li rolled down the window and shouted to her, then waved to her.
"I see. Thank you."
Wu Siqi also waved goodbye to her.
The white car quickly drove away from the intersection. Wu Siqi turned the key to open the door of his house and closed the security door. His hand holding the key drooped limply.
My knees, which had gone weak beside the sand pit, finally knelt down.
The key slipped from her fingers and hit the tile with a sound as crisp as a broken bone. She supported herself on the ground with both hands, and the coldness of the ceramic seeped into her palms.
The scene in the sand pit played in my mind on a loop, jumping frame by frame like a broken slide.
She didn't turn on the lights. The room was quiet and dim. That hand, that hand asking for help, reminded her of the car accident in the past.
She closed her eyes, and the rainy night reappeared before her eyes. The big truck pierced through the darkness and crashed towards her like a cannonball.
At that time, the whole car rolled several times before it stopped. The seat belt made her breathless, and the blood flowed down under gravity, blurring her eyes, her eardrums buzzing, and the whole world was spinning.
Before losing consciousness, her father also stretched his hand out of the window to call for help.
Her chest moved violently, and a feeling of vomiting surged in her throat. She covered her mouth, her shoulders trembled, and she curled up into a ball little by little. The blood rushed to her head again, and she could not cry. She could only gasp with a hoarse voice.
Suddenly, she heard a very soft cat's meow.
"Meow."
Wu Siqi trembled all over and looked up suddenly. A pair of bright yellow eyes looked at her quietly in the night, and the black back and white belly revealed its identity.
I'm back.
She approached gently, stopped in front of her, and slowly rubbed her face with her furry head. The fur was soft and warm, tentatively soothing her.
Wu Siqi loosened his knuckles that were gripping the floor, and finally reached out his hand, slowly and firmly holding the cat in his arms.
The cat didn't struggle at all, but moved into her arms, climbed onto her shoulders with its white gloves, and clung tightly to her.
She leaned her face against the cat's back, her thin lips slightly parted, her uncontrolled emotions bursting out instantly, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes, dripping onto the floor and quietly blooming.
The warmth spread from her arms to her heart, her eyes were filled with soreness, and tears blurred everything in front of her. She tried hard to control herself from making any sound, and tried hard not to let a whimper escape from her throat.
The cat seemed to have sensed something, and Wu Siqi's knuckles on her body slowly tightened. He raised his head and gently rubbed her chin with his face and whiskers. His movements were gentle and his gesture was very comforting, trying to help the person in front of him share the emotions.
Gradually, her emotions began to grow numb, and bottomless fatigue crept into her consciousness. Her heart beat very slowly, and her consciousness began to drift away from her body. The cat raised its head and licked her ear, its tongue tickling as if to remind her, "I'm with you."
The iron door behind her was cold, and her arms tightened slightly, holding the cat tighter, longing for her warmth.
Wu Siqi slowly tilted her head to one side, her cheek resting on the cat's fur. She suddenly felt as if her heart had calmed down. She didn't have to think about it anymore, didn't have to hold on anymore, and didn't have to let her memories eat away at her.
Her breathing slowed down, and on the verge of emotional collapse, she felt like she was forced to shut down, falling completely into darkness and losing consciousness.
The cat in her arms maintained its original posture, burying its head in the crook of her thin neck, just staying with her, guarding here, not wanting to disturb anything at the moment, and closing its eyes as she breathed.
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