Chapter 43:
The crazy, suffocating, adrenaline-fueled love of a secret kiss.
I like. I like...
it's better for flesh and blood to melt away and burn you and me.
——Zhen Zhen’s diary. September 27, 2013.
...
On the blank page, new writing appeared. On the third night after witnessing Zhen Zhen's death, the girl's diary seemed to be on time again, absurdly.
Zhang Sheng walked in front, and the bustling New District Commercial Street during the day was now silent under his feet. His footsteps were followed by a stamping sound that was similar to his own rhythm and followed closely. The soles came from the specially made soles of British top-level shoes. The figures of the two people flickered in the dim yellow light.
The lonely moonlight was hidden under the clouds, and there were many dark roads around, especially the section that passed the street lights. After walking in the dark night for a long time, Zhang Sheng finally couldn't help but look back.
"Ayu, you're helping me, aren't you?"
The autumn wind was blowing, and the man behind him was wearing very thin clothes. The shirt underneath was clean and neat, but still thin enough for summer, but he folded his suit jacket and put it on his forearm. , not wearing it.
When Zhang Sheng came here, he didn't think about how many days he would stay, so he only brought two days' worth of clothes in his suitcase. He prefers plain, cheap and stain-resistant ordinary styles. He hasn't changed his habit of checking the price before buying something for many years. Habit.
Cui Yu's physical sense seemed to be different from that of ordinary people. He was not afraid of cold or heat. When he was sitting in the air-conditioned room just now, the coat was always placed on the back of Zhang Sheng's chair and did not move.
Mingming and dying are just like his complicated emotions.
He always felt that Cui Yu's concern has never changed, but the indifference in the other person's eyes has solidified into an unbreakable protective color, and now he can't even peel off the first layer.
"Contact Tu Minglang and don't mention me."
Zhang Sheng's face was tense, the hand in his pocket shook, but he still took out the cigarette case.
The smoke from the cigarette rose from the tip of his nose to the top of his head. When the wind blew up, a stinging sensation accompanied the sourness in his nasal cavity.
"How come you know the members of the National Crime Department if you haven't been abroad all the time? Brother Tu has always been in a daze, but he always gets lucky. He happened to be selected by the enrollment expansion plan and entered the Crime Department."
Tu said about others . Luck, in other words, speaks of its own misfortune.
Cui Yu understood, and the breathless anger ran up his spine again. He could only hear him stepping on the gravel stiffly, staring at him with a stern face, and a blazing fire in his eyes.
When he was about to turn a corner, Cui Yu pulled Zhang Sheng and pinned him against the wall. Half of his face was hidden in the dark, and only the corners of his mouth could be seen clearly.
"Separate from me, and if you still feel unlucky, then you can only blame your current lover."
He rubbed his collar with his palms and made a rubbing sound. Zhang Sheng opened his eyes wide and tried hard to adapt to the darkness before he saw the overflowing cold eyes. , he felt blood rushing to his temples, and the nerve behind his ear was beating loudly.
"...Lover?"
Zhang Sheng stood there, the skin touched by the man was filled with uneasiness and heat, as if the air was stagnant, tightly strangling his throat, and it took him a long time to utter the two words.
In the past three years, he had no time and energy to meet new people. In order to promise his mother that even if he left the police academy, he could live a famous life in Wangcheng, he really gritted his teeth and swallowed.
From the very beginning when he was confused, frustrated, and timid, to when he was forced to accept his first appointment due to lack of living expenses, Tu Mingming watched his ups and downs over the years.
He said that the Zhang family's son was an unlucky guy, and he had already told him to stay away from that evil thing, but he noticed that Zhang Sheng's voice showed that he was in a decadent state. He couldn't help but guess that it had something to do with Cui Yu's departure, so he secretly consulted with An Ran. You can't lend him a sum of money to temporarily replace the rent of the office.
Of course Ma Li also came to see him and learned that Zhang Sheng had broken up with his previous lover. His former suitor was more proactive and even offered to invite him to live with him, which would reduce some of his daily expenses.
Waiting day and night, asking for help, or expressing love at what he thought was the right time, he knew that Ma Li was also very persistent, but every time he saw the figure waiting under the office building, he always thought of the familiar person.
Duan Juanjuan also tried to find a blind date for him. As the years went by, her son seemed to have few female friends except for work partners. Her mother did not pray for success once, but hoped that her son could escape from the originally closed social circle. Meet more new friends.
You can't start from high school and only have that rich young man around you.
Sometimes, Duan Juanjuan couldn't figure out who confused whom. The boy who accompanied his son to counterattack in the college entrance examination and gradually became cheerful and unrestrained was right, and the son who tried his best was also right.
She even regretted that when she saw these two people getting intimate, she was too excited and said a lot of irresponsible things that she shouldn't have said.
Especially later, when Zhang Hua came to the house, carrying mugwort and a bronze mirror that he rarely brought, Duan Juanjuan had a hunch that this relative must have something important to tell her.
"Uncle Hua, why are you here? Come in quickly."
Zhang Hua's steps were slightly lame. He carefully inserted the mugwort into the gap on the top before slipping on his shoes and entering the house.
"Juanjuan, are you looking for a girl for my grand-nephew recently? Ji Gang is unwilling to answer my call, saying that he wants to set up a detective agency. Hey, it's good for young people to have their own ideas..."
Duan Juanjuan saw the old man He was barefoot and wanted to find a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet. After pulling them open, he saw a pair of familiar dark blue slippers that Cui Yu had prepared when he came home before.
Her cheeks trembled, and the sadness and panic in her eyes gradually disappeared, and she said in a trembling voice: "Uncle, I have something to do... I want to talk to you."
Her son has been sensible since he was a child. The rebellious period comes early and goes away quickly. The child is smart. The cleverness was inherited from her husband's youthful appearance. Unfortunately, alcohol numbed people's nerves, took away her husband's kindness, and prevented her son from growing up as steadily as other peers.
Facing the only surviving elder of the Zhang family, Duan Juanjuan's guilt burst out silently, and she cried bitterly: "Uncle, I'm sorry for you. Ji Gang has a mental problem. He doesn't seem to like women... I don't know what to do anymore. He is getting more and more unhappy." Please contact me..."
Zhang Hua stopped, placed the bronze mirror on the coffee table, and said in a sincere voice: "Juan'er, you have never been sorry to our Zhang family. I have thought about it for a long time and feel that I still have to tell you the truth. , the real cause of Amin's death, and the danger my grandnephew is facing now."
Duan Juanjuan, a short-sighted housewife who rarely travels far, has never seen such a weird thing. Just seeing it there makes Duan Juanjuan full of confusion.
"What is this, uncle? Is it a new mirror you bought for your home? I don't know how to install it."
Zhang Hua leaned over, as if taking something off his shoulder, but she could only feel the flow of air and nothing else. .
"Uncle, uncle...what are you taking?" Duan Juanjuan was timid, and she was scared to death when she saw the old man's slightly weird movements.
Zhang Hua: "Juan'er, be mentally prepared. Don't be afraid, but remember that what you see is real."
That day, Zhang Hua placed his cursed son Momo there. In front of the bronze mirror that could reveal her true identity to mortals, Duan Juanjuan screamed and fainted.
He had no choice but to cook a bowl of soothing soup for the woman in a small pot. He waited by the bed and continued what he had not said.
"Juan'er, our Zhang family is a family of ghost exorcists. If you hadn't never left Ah Min, he wouldn't have lived to be over forty years old, and Ji Gang wouldn't have been born. It was you who renewed our incense."
Duan Juanjuan His face was pale, and he endured the pain to finish listening to the words, but when he thought of Uncle Hua raising his own flesh and blood to such an age, his pity was greater than his fear.
She stretched her fingers tremblingly towards Zhang Hua's shoulder, with tears streaming down her face: "Uncle, the aunt you always talked about, she..."
"My wife couldn't accept such a child. She died of a convulsion more than 20 years ago. But I only have one wife, and I have to remember her."
Zhang Hua looked at the weak woman on the bed: "Ji Gang sees these things every day and every night. This is his inevitable fate. I only hope you can understand him and do the same. His strong backing."
Duan Juanjuan covered her face and cried, her shoulders shaking: "...Does Cui Yu know?"
"He knows, so the two of them can become friends."
"...But I gave up the child. My only friend kicked me out of the house, no wonder he didn't want to talk to me... Ugh..."
Zhang Hua envied his brother that it was so rare to find such a kind daughter-in-law, he was so scared to death that he could still think like this.
"I retired from the National Crime Department. I didn't even tell Ji Gang about this. He has little experience and a special status. It's better to practice alone outside."
Duan Juanjuan thought that the Mid-Autumn Festival would be soon and asked: "Uncle, what about you? Are you going to Wangcheng? Bring me some lotus paste mooncakes, and I'll make one for you. "
Zhang Hua: "What about the blind date?"
Duan Juanjuan shook her head: "As long as my son is happy. Well, I have to experience the life I finally picked up."
...
Zhang Sheng remained motionless, as if he was sleeping quietly on a deserted street in the early morning, with his eyelashes lowered.
After a while, he turned his head and said, "I don't have a lover, are you making this nonsense for me?"
After being in a stalemate with the man for too long, he suddenly felt a chill, uncontrollably sneezed twice, and raised his hand to scratch his reddish nose.
He said with resentment: "Can we leave, annoying..."
Cui Yu suddenly said: "When your mother kicked me out, didn't she say she would find a blind date for you and get married within a month?
" Pfft..." Zhang Sheng failed to suppress his laughter, and was followed by another sneeze that shook his chest, "Brother, if you get married within a month, what kind of family will that be? I'm unemployed and have a mortgage, so even if I get married, I still have to pay for it. I'm asking for a gift."
He thought this conversation was quite funny, but Cui Yu's expression didn't relax at all, as if he didn't find the point of the joke and remained tense.
Zhang Sheng hugged his body tightly, feeling a little dizzy and hot. He teased: "Maybe you are married."
The silky and delicate touch of the suit jacket covered his face, and his vision dimmed. Zhang Sheng felt the heavy body in a daze. Press it over, leaving heavy pressure on your lips through that layer of fabric.
"...Ayu."
"Put it on, and I'll take you into the ghost realm."
Zhang Sheng was dragged forward before he had time to react, feeling a light weightlessness.
"Damn...did you kiss me just now?!"
The man's voice seemed to come from far away, still cold: "Why did I kiss you? Zhang Sheng, pay attention to your sense of propriety, I don't like you. "