Angle of view
Before I came to Lixian County, I had done a small thing.
Tan Jiao's car wash card was lost, and Xiao Hua also said that it couldn't be found in the records. I suspected that Xiao Hua and others were careless, so I took out the card registration book and flipped through it page by page.
There isn't really one.
Xiao Hua swore: "I really didn't find it, Brother Ou, what can I do? There are just so many people opening accounts and getting cards these past few days..."
I had a vague feeling that something was off, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I looked at Xiaohua's doll-like face - he always liked to joke around and tease me and Tang Jiao. But sometimes, you felt like he wasn't joking at all.
He's been a bit off since I got back from Suzhou.
I didn't say anything and decided to wait and see. When I left the store, I turned back and saw that they had hung out the promotional red banner again: "Grand Opening Offer 100 yuan for a 12-time car wash card".
Arriving in the countryside of Lixian County, it was already evening. Professor Chen had called me on the phone and invited me to stay at his home. I declined politely. It wasn't because of anything else, but because Chen Ruying had previously shown affection towards me, and now her spirit was stimulated again. In my heart, I felt that keeping a distance from her would be more stable.
I didn't expect Tan Jiao to follow me all the way, and even secretly followed me to where I lived.
……
After being discovered by me, she was like an enemy at the gate, hiding in her room and refusing to come out or make a sound. At that time, I felt as if I had picked up this little hedgehog again, prickly on the outside but you knew very well that inside she was soft and fragile beyond measure.
I could only barge into her room.
The room was dimly lit, with only a soft glow emanating from the lamp. She sat on the bed, her face flushed as she hugged her knees to her chest, refusing to look at me.
In the past year, I have experienced all the sorrow that this life can bring. My heart has died several times, cold as iron.
At this moment, the quiet room, the soft light, and the quiet woman. She didn't say a word, I stood beside her, in that instant, all my worries and heartaches vanished, an indescribable tenderness rose up in my heart.
As soon as she appeared, I could feel the tenderness of love.
I took her out for dinner.
She gradually became cheerful, unlike her previous gloomy and cold demeanor, as if she had returned to her usual carefree self. We sat in a small shop, not discussing love, but casually talking about our shared fate.
She found that there was no Shen Shiyan's phone call in the mobile phone. There was also none in the call records of a month ago. But we and Shen Shiyan collaborated on the case, clearly it was half a month ago.
She was drawn in by the joyful atmosphere of the store, seemingly unaware.
But one after another omens made my heart seem to fall into an icy abyss. Suddenly a snow-bright light cut through all the chaotic darkness.
I sat in a small village shop on July 15th, my heart spinning rapidly like a top.
Xiao Hua used to call her "Tan xiaojie" one after another, and also said "You two being together, it feels unclear and ambiguous." Now when he mentions Tan Jiao, he only says "that xiaojie, that meinv", as if he had never heard of her name.
Tan Jiao's car wash card can't be found and there is no record in the registration book. It was originally handled by Xiaohua, but he also has no impression.
The car repair shop has rehung its grand opening promotional banner.
Tan Jiao's phone lost Shen Shiyan's call record, even the communication records were gone.
I was in Suzhou, and every day I would look at her Weibo posts: July 1st, 3rd, 5th, 8th, 12th... At the time, I just felt that time was passing too slowly, slowly torturing me, but I didn't notice anything unusual about the timing.
……
