Late at night, the sound of every move is enough to attract attention.
For example, the footsteps of people walking, the gurgling sound of water after turning on the faucet, or the sound of TV coming from the far away window with the light on.
It was playing a nighttime program, maybe the owner of the house forgot to turn it off while he was asleep.
Tang Qian shook off the remaining drops of water on his hand, glanced at the faucet that could not be tightened and was still dripping water, and turned to leave.
The sound of slow dripping water and light footsteps continued to pass along the quiet corridor.
Tang Qian walked to his door and opened it.
After walking in, he locked the door and raised his other hand to the wall beside the door, skillfully pressing the light-off button.
The room became dark for an instant, and Tang Qian finally breathed a sigh of relief, then threw himself forward and fell on the bed.
It's like such complete darkness is the destination he recognizes.
The room in the darkness gradually became adapted to the retina, and the furnishings in the room gradually became clearer in the eyes from darkness. Tang Qian lay down quietly for a while, until he felt that there shouldn't be too many problems. He turned over and took out a small flashlight from under the pillow.
Then he pulled the book beside the pillow that had hit him that morning.
Putting the two objects together, eyes adapted to the dark can already see their entirety directly without relying on memory. Tang Qian flipped through the pages of the book briefly, but still hesitated and glanced in the direction of the window where the curtains were completely closed and the window was completely sealed.
Everything is ready, but some things still make it difficult to feel at ease.
He turned on the flashlight as if he had made up his mind, and illuminated the open page of the book.
This is just an ordinary idiom dictionary, and that's what it looks like from the outside.
Tang Qian explained to his aunt that this was because he needed to memorize idioms for the college entrance examination, so he put this big thing on the bedside, which was suitable for memorizing when getting up early and before going to bed. But only Tang Qian himself knows what the truth is.
He turned to a blank page—or rather, a blank page originally left by the dictionary due to layout issues.
The empty page now is densely filled with scrawled small characters, which are Tang Qian's own handwriting.
These words were once scrawled on a note, but Tang Qian really didn't dare to ensure that he could keep a fragile note for a long time, so he copied the contents into other books or other books as soon as he made up his mind. Notebook gap. One is to prevent it from being easily discovered, and the other is to ensure that it can be stored for a long time.
And the note at the beginning had already been burned by him with a smoking lighter he secretly borrowed from his uncle. He was younger at that time and had never been exposed to open fires outside the kitchen. He even stole an ashtray and placed it on the window sill as if burning incense. He stared at the flames "devoutly" until they disappeared, for fear of accidentally causing a fire. What unnecessary trouble.
He was not secretive at that time, because no matter how determined his plan was, he could be considered absolutely safe at that time.
Although he didn't want to admit it, he still realized that it was only because of that woman's subsequent treatment that he was able to get out of the whirlpool.
But at this moment, he still followed his original hope and walked back from the whirlpool.
The future is uncertain and I am alone.
Each line is a description of a few words separated by several words, representing a living person. There are dozens of lines of descriptions in separate categories.
These descriptions are not complete, not to mention that some basic information cannot be written in full, and even the names are just patchwork details. Because at that time there were very few people who showed their true names to others. It is rare to even meet someone who tells someone a complete name, real or pseudonym.
Because of this, every line of information cannot be completely believed, but it is also the only clue and can only be used reluctantly for investigation.
[Mr. Li, who speaks with a northern accent, lives at No. 723 Wenze Street, Linjiang District]
[Brother Xi has a mole on the left side of his neck and is about 1.8 meters tall. He has a daughter who is too young to take care of himself]
[Ms. Yu has long hair, wears glasses, and keeps white-haired pets. She lives in Linjiang District, details to be investigated]
…
These handwritings have been almost imprinted on his mind due to dozens of position changes and copying over the years. But he still didn't dare to give up the preservation of the entity, maybe because he couldn't believe his memory, maybe because... he regarded its transfer as a ritual to remember his purpose.
It's really... too easy to forget.
Comfort is more suitable for him than danger, and he is not a brave man.
The promising compliments, the light-hearted banter among classmates, the noise during recess radio, the shouting and hawking at the stall at the door after school.
Everything in reality was so natural and beautiful that he even forgot the existence of those writings and what had happened. It wasn't until he turned to that page when he had nothing to do while studying that he was urged to study, that he suddenly realized that it was something that had really happened. It was the instructions he had given himself in the midst of his immature sorrow.
The experience of childhood is like a long-lasting dream.
Even now, he could only dare to recall the moment he feared most in his dreams.
Recalling the person who accidentally led him into the abyss and then desperately rescued him. Only in that way can he break free from the deep fear again, grit his teeth again, remember what he has to do, and carry it out to the end.
It wasn't like he knew nothing about the people on the list.
What saved Tang Qian's life in the first place was the excuse of being that man's younger brother.
Tang Qian's eyes wandered, finally stopping at the lower right corner of the blank page. He knew it was meaningless, but he never forgot to copy it.
That character is "Tang", which is the signature of the person who wrote the original note. Even when he burned the note to keep the secret, Tang Qian looked at the last handwriting left by the man and couldn't bear it. He tore off the corner and now he doesn't know where it was lost.
Even a coward who is extremely afraid of anything and can only do his best to feel at ease may sometimes get lucky - just leaving such a little thing behind should not cause any problems, right?
So the corner with a word written on it eventually disappeared - a note is easy to lose, and the small corner of a note is naturally even more likely to disappear. Tang Qian is not an overly careful person.
Tang Qian also wanted to find it back, but a piece of paper with one word written on it might have been blown into the air by some gust of wind and swept into the wastebasket, or it might have been blown onto some road and crushed by a wheel. It chased and chased it, and finally turned into a small black ball whose original appearance could not be seen.
This is probably the ending, right?
Tang Qian read the seventy-three lines of information again. After reading it once, his eyes finally returned to the thirteenth line where he stayed.
[Boss Gao is eager to pay off his debts and lives in Qiyuan Community, Nanfeng District. The specific address is yet to be checked. He lives alone and has fitness habits]
There was a reason why he chose this person to be the first to test and investigate when signs appeared.
Not only because he also lives in Nanfeng District, but also because this person does exist in his long memory.
That is one of the members who interacts with that person the most, and is also the top line in that person's mouth. On the rare occasions when he needed to go to crowded places, that person would also bring Tang Qian with him as a cover.
Because the combination of a young child and a young brother does not look conspicuous.
At that time, Tang Qian saw the younger Wei Gaochi himself, so he was confident in identifying that person's appearance. As expected, he was also in the sea of people. With such meager information, he searched for traces and found that person's true location and true identity.
He remembered that that man often met Mr. Gao in a coffee shop. When he took him with him, he would order an ice cream and let him enjoy himself alone.
The mobile phone Tang Qian took out on the other side flashed the contents of the news report. The content displayed above is very brief and obviously deliberately vague. It only states that the deceased, Mr. Wei, was killed in the city center and reminds citizens to pay attention to travel safety.
No other new content appeared. After searching for it, Tang Qian's expression darkened in the end.
That Mr. Gao, that is, Wei Gaochi, how did he die?
When he heard Officer Song's proposal before, he did feel moved for a moment. Especially after hearing the sounds of quarreling and running away with his own ears, the fear he couldn't help but feel kept him retreating.
It was one of the closest times he came to death.
Wouldn't it be more reliable than staying here in the dark? Will it happen to save some people? Will it also help achieve... my own goal?
But no matter how intense the fear was, Tang Qian still couldn't forget the reason why that person was eventually buried in the fire.
Because the people that that person trusted betrayed him.
Tang Qian actually... still remembered the moment when he was first brought into the whirlpool.
At that time, he was still a three-year-old child.
He still remembered what happened next - it was like a miracle, that was not an age when a child should be good at memorizing.
Seeing that there was no one in the truck at the door, he used his small body to squeeze into the gap under the rolling shutter door that was not completely closed.
The young children walked blankly among the shelves, looking left and right, but all they could see was the dim warehouse and dust.
It seemed that someone had told him that he would be safe if he found someone.
Is there no one there? But there is obviously such a big car at the door, isn't it?
Where is the owner of the car? The cars you usually see are filled with people.
But why not today?
He thought he had made a very smart choice, but it seemed that he had gone the wrong way. The more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he became. He quietly put down the last bit of self-esteem and reserve that a young man had, and wiped the tears with the dirt on his face.
He coughed due to the pungent dust in his nose, and the weak echoes of his cough continued to be transmitted in the cold warehouse, and he almost fell into despair.
The warehouse is huge and there are still opportunities.
He told himself this, with tears still in the corners of his eyes, and his steps finally slowed down because he realized he was tired.
After walking for a long time, he was really tired. Sitting on the ground, three-year-old Tang Qian fell asleep leaning against the cargo box beside him.
He was woken up.
"Kid, what's your name? Where are your parents?" The owner of the voice seemed to be trying his best to lower his tone to make himself appear more gentle.
But Tang Qian was almost unable to respond. He opened his mouth but said nothing.
"This is not going to be easy..." The person who woke him up seemed to be talking to himself anxiously.
Three-year-old Tang Qian's vision gradually became clearer, and he saw the big tree at the entrance of the warehouse behind the strange young man who woke him up.
Was he taken out?
"Kid, can you go home by yourself?"
Three-year-old Tang Qian, stimulated by the sunshine, suddenly opened his eyes wide when he heard these words.
I can't, help me! He wanted to say this, his lips kept trembling, but he still couldn't speak.
He was so thirsty.
Stepping out of that forest, he had already created a miracle.
"Hey, what's wrong? Wait...why is there a child here in such a remote place? Ah Hua, what's going on?"
This was another sound, and it seemed that someone was shouting to wake him up.
"This..." The person who woke him up was speechless for a moment, but he still explained, "This is my brother. Maybe I accidentally let him hide in the car and fell asleep. I just saw him. Sorry, sorry, my question , I’ll send him back right now.”
"Really... you have a younger brother?" Another voice gradually approached, "What is this little guy's name?"
Tang Qian felt that he had been given a drink of water, and his lips were moistened.
"This..." The "Ahua" who saved him seemed to be in trouble.
I can answer, Tang Qian thought.
He finally had water and could start calling for help.
He found someone and could live.
"My...name is Tang..." Before he could finish his words, he found himself being carried to the car. That Ah Hua interrupted him and added an unprecedented name.
"My brother's name is Tang Feng." The man laughed dryly, "The name sounds nice, right? Wait for me, I will take you back later."
