After checking Chiba's ID, the police officer stood up and saluted.
"Where are you going? If the destination is too far, we can only reschedule you from the city."
"It's not far, I'll go to Bruno City——"
"Then it looks like we can go together," the woman not far from Chiba heard and looked sideways, "I'm going to Bruno City too."
The policeman looked at them both.
"...Can I send you two a car?"
"Okay, just as soon as possible." Chiba skillfully took out a cigarette from her coat pocket. However, she fumbled for a long time and couldn't find the lighter - she suddenly realized that she might have left it in the car during the fight.
At this moment, a box of matches was thrown towards Qianye from a short distance. Qianye caught a glimpse of it from the corner of his eye and quickly raised his hand to catch it.
"Do you need fire? Use mine." said the little man not far away.
"Thank you." Qianye put away her cigarette. She walked up to the woman and stretched out her hand, "Qianye."
The woman held Qianye's hand and said, "Si Lei."
…
On the road from Tube to Bruno, Chiba yawned and leaned on the passenger seat to take a nap.
Si Lei's car drove smoothly and encountered several temporary inspection checkpoints along the way. Si Lei showed his police officer ID and was let go, which saved Chiba a lot of trouble.
Passing by a gas station, Si Lei got out of the car to refuel, "Do you want something to drink?"
"No need." Chiba replied with his eyes closed.
After a while, Si Lei got into the car carrying a bag of canned coffee. She stood outside the car and drank two cans in a row, then cheered up and sat in the driver's seat.
Chiba handed over the cigarette case, "Do you need it?"
"No, I don't smoke."
Chiba was a little surprised, "You don't smoke, but you carry matches with you?"
Si Lei reached out and pulled out the seat belt, "My son likes to collect matchboxes."
Qianye understood and put away her cigarette, "How old is your son?"
"I was just sixteen last month." Si Lei smiled, "He is a very sensible child."
Qianye glanced at Si Lei again in surprise, "...I thought we were the same age?"
Si Lei laughed, "How old are you?"
"28."
"Haha, that's much younger than me...I'm already 39 this year." Si Lei replied, "You also work for AHgAs?"
"Yeah?" Qianye raised his eyes quite seriously, "Are you...?"
"I am affiliated with both the police headquarters and the AHgAs clock tower workstation in the core city of the third district." Si Lei replied, "When necessary, I will assist AHgAs in conducting some investigations within the third district."
"I understand." Qianye nodded, "That's right. There are establishments on both sides, and they are both iron rice bowls."
Si Lei laughed and said, "Really? Sometimes I feel that I am quite lucky."
The two of them just chatted as the car sped along and soon reached the border of Bruno City.
"Where are you going next?" Si Lei asked.
"Just drop me off near the Bruno Museum of Fine Arts." Chiba replied, "I'll have to worry about returning the car to the police station next -"
"No trouble," Si Lei glanced at Qianye, "But what a coincidence, I'll go there too, Gao Trie... what a great way."
With that said, Si Lei took out the notebook in his coat pocket and took a look at it.
"Gautre Cannon Avenue?" Chiba said the answer first.
"That's right..." Si Lei put away his notebook, "Are you going there too?"
Chiba had already guessed something, "Where are you going to Cannon Avenue?"
"Uh... you're not going to the 22nd, are you?" Si Lei looked surprised, "You're also going to visit Ms. Ava Morgan?"
Chiba laughed out loud, "Okay, we're just dropping by - let me guess, you're here for Fernan's case?"
"No, Fernand's case is not under my control. My work is related to another case," Si Lei replied. "I received the task order yesterday. Originally, I was supposed to go to another city now... But since Morgan The lady insisted that Youleka was the main culprit in the Fernan case, so it seemed like I should come here to take a look first, so I came."
Qianye looked calm, but the previous sleepiness had been wiped away - this lady named Si Lei was obviously an unusual person, and she might have come to trouble Hesta.
"What about you? What are you doing there? Is it business?" Si Lei asked enthusiastically.
"No," Qianye folded his hands and placed them behind his head, "I'm here to visit an old friend."
…
When Qianye got off the car with Si Lei and stood at the door of Ava's yard, she did not step forward immediately.
Si Lei stepped forward and pressed the doorbell, while Qianye stood seven or eight steps away from her.
Chiba's eyes swept across the entire courtyard. Although this was her first time here, she felt familiar with this place at first sight - just from the appearance of the courtyard and the building, it was full of AI. Baby's personal style.
Alja opened the door to the two visitors cheerfully as usual, "Can you two go to the living room and wait for a while? Ava is still resting at the moment."
Chiba glanced at the time, it was already 4:50 pm.
"Is she still taking a lunch break? Why did she sleep for so long?"
Alja nodded, then immediately shook her head, "I was supposed to take a half-hour nap at two o'clock in the afternoon, but considering that you two came to visit in the afternoon, I didn't sleep. Who knew that you two were late - did you two come together? "
"Yes," Si Lei replied, "We encountered a group of robbers on the road, so we were delayed for a long time. I'm sorry."
"It doesn't matter." Alja smiled, "You can just explain it to Ava later."
"Where's Eureka?" Chiba asked.
"She's charging," Alja replied. "She can't leave the basement while she's charging, so she might not be able to come out to see you until later."
The two sat down in the living room near the backyard.
Around 5:10, footsteps were heard upstairs - Ava had changed her clothes and was slowly coming downstairs.
Chiba looked in the direction of the stairs. She had not seen Ava for almost ten years. The old man came downstairs very slowly, perhaps because she had just woken up from a short sleep. Although her arms and back were still straight and stretched, they already looked a little thin compared to when they first met more than ten years ago.
Chiba stood there, feeling a little unspeakable sourness suddenly well up in his heart.
Whenever someone around her mentioned Ava, such as Valenti, people almost always lamented the old man's abundant energy and perseverance, but Chiba was only surprised at Ava's aging at the moment.
...From sixty-two to seventy-two, Ava's hair turned completely white.
"Qianye?" Ava, who had already said hello to Si Lei, looked over. She really didn't like the way Qianye looked at her now, "What are you thinking about?"
Chiba came back to her senses, she put her hands in her pockets with a smile, and walked briskly to Ava.
"I found that the decoration here is quite good."
