Luo Xiaopao was one of the two people who monitored Shen Xing a few days ago. At that time, they were upstairs opposite the hotel, using high-power telescopes and thermal imaging cameras to observe Shen Xing.
However, after the two of them were found by Achai, they immediately fell asleep and Shen Xing never saw him.
This was their first meeting, but after the meeting, Shen Xing's first impression of Luo Xiaopao was pretty good.
The initial impression was that this guy regarded himself as a potential partner, and he even knew that he had come all the way to the Duolan Hotel to inform him.
Now it is obvious that Luo Xiaopao is afraid that Shen Xing will be suspected by the people from the Sheriff's Special Task Force, because this time Shen Xing came to handle private matters. At least for Yao Tong at the beginning, he handled it by himself without notifying the Sheriff.
After putting Achai into the gap in his backpack without anyone noticing, the two of them left the hotel and came to the street parking lot behind, where there was a car that Luo Xiaopao had just rented.
The car model is an old model, very inconspicuous, very suitable for concealing your identity and leaving here.
On the way over, Shen Xing used his mobile phone to cancel the booked air ticket. Luo Xiaopao drove. He sat in the passenger seat, took off his backpack and put it on his knees, and then tightened the seat belt.
Luo Xiaopao called up the navigation on his mobile phone, and the two quickly left.
We drove all the way out of the center of Shicheng City, then out of the suburbs, heading towards the nearby Ping'an City.
On the way, Shen Xing asked Luo Xiaopao what happened. Luo Xiaopao didn't deliberately hide too much. He just said that he had received an order from Ye Yin's upper-level organization to go to Shicheng to collect an anomaly.
Unexpectedly, in the process of chasing the anomaly, he accidentally entered an abandoned school.
When Shen Xing heard this "abandoned school", his heart skipped a beat, and then Luo Xiaopao described everything he secretly saw outside the school.
From this, Shen Xing was certain that they encountered the Wall-Facing Man there.
Precisely because these people accidentally encountered the Wall Facer and were killed, the attraction of the serial symbols on their bodies may have been triggered, causing the Wall Facer to borrow a person's body and drive to Room 7088 of the Dolan Hotel to look for him.
This was also the reason why Shen Xing was suddenly attacked by the Wall Facer without any preparation.
Fortunately, I was lucky enough to pass the test this time. I solved four anomalies in a row and finally took care of the wall-facer. Otherwise, I would have been completely cold like those in the Yeyin Organization.
Originally, I came specifically to target the wall-facer, but no one could have imagined that it would be solved in this way.
During the journey, Shen Xing planned to take the opportunity to learn more about the Ye Yin Organization, but Luo Xiaopao remained tight-lipped about this aspect, saying only that he had formed a good relationship with Shen Xing this time and hoped to cooperate in the future.
Shen Xing knew that he was continuing the way Wu Junxian treated him at the beginning, so he didn't agree immediately. He only learned about this guy's situation from the side.
At noon, this old car drove into Ping'an City. Ping'an City is not very big, but it is a relatively famous small commodity wholesale city that brings together novel and eccentric gadgets from all over the state.
The most famous thing here is the puppet toys. The puppets come in different sizes. The largest ones are as big as a human being, but the best-selling ones are the ones for children to play with.
Each puppet is dressed in a variety of colorful clothes. For female puppets, there is also a full set of dressing toys for purchase, which has formed a mature market.
When passing by the entrance of a puppet shop, Shen Xing asked Luo Xiaopao to stop on the side of the road, got out of the car and walked into the puppet shop to take a closer look.
He looked at these puppets with the eyes of a woodcarver, and he found them quite good. Each puppet was very finely made, not a crude work.
Especially when making puppet faces, Shen Xing usually pays special attention to the face shape when making wood carvings, especially wood carvings like Hong Bin that have real people as references, to avoid the uncanny valley effect.
The uncanny valley also has the same saying in this world, that is, when the simulated person is more and more similar to real humans, when it reaches a certain point, the words and deeds of this simulated person will make real people feel sincere. Fear, revulsion and rejection.
Especially in terms of facial expressions, for example, the face of the wooden statue is almost exactly the same as that of a real person. However, when a person stares at it for a long time and finds that the wooden statue is even slightly different or slightly different from the real person, the difference is It will be infinitely amplified, causing those who observe it to feel fear and terror.
Within this range is known as the uncanny valley.
But when the wooden figures become very real and have no contradiction at all, the uncanny valley effect will disappear and never appear again.
Shen Xing noticed this when he observed the faces of the puppets. These puppets are divided into three grades. The third grade is cartoon style and is the least like real human beings. However, the price ranges from high to low.
The second level of puppets is slightly anthropomorphic and looks very ornamental. Children also have a special liking for this type of puppets, especially girls, and the price is slightly more expensive.
As for the last one, they are almost completely anthropomorphic, and the workmanship is very fine. Some are made in a one-to-one ratio with ordinary humans, and some are slightly scaled down, but their facial expressions are completely the same as ordinary people.
Not only that, the clothes worn by this kind of puppet are also made of much better quality. They are not made of the cheapest fabrics. Even if these clothes are sold individually, they will cost a lot of money.
After Shen Xing looked at it, he paid attention to one of the fully anthropomorphic long-haired girl dolls. The facial expressions of this doll were very natural, without any harshness, and it was not within the scope of the uncanny valley. It was a very good looking one. kind.
The one next to the girl puppet looks very natural, but under Shen Xing's careful observation, there will be a faint feeling of awkwardness in her heart. If an attentive person is watching, this puppet may become... Causing the uncanny valley.
"How much does this girl doll cost?" Shen Xing pointed at the long-haired girl doll and asked the store owner.
After saying this, he bent down and looked at the price tag next to the girl doll, and read the girl's name written on it, "Changge, is this girl called Changge?"
A fair and fat man walked over cheerfully, nodded and said: "Well, her name is Chang Ge. You really have a good eye for this gentleman. This is the work of Motu, a famous carving master in our city."
Shen Xing felt as if he had heard Motu's name somewhere, so he just nodded casually and asked, "How much is it?"
"3,600 yuan." The shop owner said.
"a little less."
"A hundred at most, you get what you pay for."
"Mr. Shen, this thing is too expensive." Luo Xiaopao, who had parked his car, came over.
Shen Xing shook his head. The wood carvings he sold now seemed to be much more expensive than this puppet.
Of course, the wood he used is different from the wood of this puppet. The wood of the puppet is very ordinary, and it is produced on an assembly line. There is no such thing as a finely crafted product.
The fat shop owner's bragging wasn't just to raise the price. In fact, the work of a master carver on this puppet was worth only 3,600.
"Up to 2800." Shen Xing said.
"You..." the fat shopkeeper shook his head, "you must have cut it too hard! It can't be done, it can't be done."
"Then what's the minimum you want?" Shen Xing asked.
"3200, no more," said the fat shopkeeper.
Shen Xing pondered for a moment and nodded, "Wrap it up."
The fat shop owner laughed cheerfully and explained: "You need to pay the money to a third party, and we will be responsible for packaging and mailing it for you. After receiving the goods, click to confirm the payment, and then I can receive the money."
"Why?" Shen Xing was surprised.
"This thing... hehe..." the fat shop owner said: "Because it looks a bit like a real person, you'd better not take it with you on transportation to avoid misunderstandings. Some customers have encountered this situation before, so we now mail it . Don’t worry, it will be here very soon, within two or three days.”
"Mr. Shen, do you really want to buy it? It still feels a bit expensive." Luo Xiaopao said from the side.
From his point of view, it was difficult for him to understand why Shen Xing would spend thousands to buy such a hard broken puppet. With so much money, wouldn't it be nice to buy a soft silicone one?
However, Luo Xiaopao soon came to understand himself. He believed that Shen Xing, as an outstanding special employee who was even favored by the Public Security Bureau, would definitely have his own special hobbies for a person of this level.
Maybe someone’s hobby is puppets? That soft silicone is no fun. What's more, the news they learned was that Shen Xing himself was a wood carver.
Once I understand it this way, it makes sense.
Shen Xing understood the fat shopkeeper's explanation. It was such a big thing and he didn't want to take it all the way back. Mailing it back was a good way.
I followed the fat shopkeeper to the counter, paid and filled in my mailing address.
At this time, Luo Xiaopao was wandering around the store alone. After Shen Xing had registered his identity and completed the procedures, he also selected a puppet here.
He raised his head and said loudly to Shen Xing: "Mr. Shen, this puppet has a good figure, even better than the one you chose. Look at the thin legs. It is big where it should be big and small where it should be small. It is a masterpiece!" Tsk tsk!”
Shen Xing:
The two of them strolled around a nearby store for a while, but this time they didn't buy anything else. They estimated that it was time to arrive at the airport in Ping'an City.
Luo Xiaopao was about to return the rental car to one of the car rental points here. When the two of them were about to separate, he invited again: "Mr. Shen, please think about it again. If there is an opportunity for cooperation next time, I will first send the abnormal information Send it to you, and it’s up to you to decide whether to cooperate. We will definitely respect your opinion!”
This time Shen Xing didn't say anything, and nodded: "Let's talk about it then."
The two exchanged contact information and left separately.
…
After seven o'clock in the evening, the plane slowly landed in Yungu City, Kuazhou.
Looking at the familiar night view of the city outside, Shen Xing sighed softly, feeling as if he had been away from home for more than half a year.
Just for a moment, I felt strange to this place.
He took a taxi and left the airport, heading straight to Dahu Apartments.
She had already called Feifei before she arrived. Feifei was so excited when she heard that Shen Xing was back that she kept standing in the corridor outside the apartment room.
As soon as Shen Xing got out of the car and approached the apartment building, she was already jumping up and down in the corridor and waving.
When they just entered the corridor, Feifei had already rushed over, hugged Shen Xing who was squatting down, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and said sweetly with a smile on her face: "Uncle Shen, you are finally back!"
After saying that, she had to help Shen Xing carry his backpack. However, the backpack was a bit heavy and it was very difficult to lift. Feifei had to hold his hand and let Shen Xing carry the backpack by himself.
As soon as I entered the house, I saw the idiot sitting on the sofa, looking down at the puzzle on the coffee table.
Shen Xing casually glanced at the puzzle and found that the puzzle was almost finished!
"Huh? Your second uncle is very good at playing puzzles now!"
Feifei pointed at the stack of puzzles placed on the sofa to the right of Er Huo. There were about three or five puzzles there, "Here, Uncle Shen, what you see now is the fifth puzzle piece that Er Huo put together. It has been completed." He got four pieces, and even the most difficult puzzle with 1,024 small pieces was completed by him."
"What?" Shen Xing was stunned and looked closer.
He found that the second-rate guy was so focused at the moment that he didn't seem to notice his arrival, and the puzzle he was putting together in front of him looked like he could complete it in less than ten minutes.
At this time, Feifei's little mouth was close to Shen Xing's ear, and she whispered: "Second uncle seems to have become smarter. Not only is he good at puzzles, but now he can also cook. And I feel that his skills in riding a scooter are better than yours." !”
Shen Xing became more and more surprised, staring blankly at this guy who didn't even raise his head.
After a moment, he stretched out his right hand and floated it above Jigsaw, blocking Erhuo's gaze from staring at Jigsaw.
Only then did Erhuo react. He raised his head in surprise. When he saw Shen Xing coming back, a smile immediately appeared on his face and he opened his mouth slightly.
"You're back."
His speech has become much fluent. If you don't listen carefully, you can hardly feel the initial pause and discomfort in this guy's tone.
Shen Xing nodded, "You have been taking care of Feifei during this period, thank you for your hard work."
The second-rate guy waved his hand, "It's not hard, I... like... Feifei, and Feifei also... likes me."
"Well, thank you, Uncle Second!" Feifei walked over and hugged his shoulders.
"Has anyone noticed you during this time?" Shen Xing asked.
To be honest, he was still not used to using the tone of a normal person to communicate normally with a person who was exactly like himself and who was a naive person before.
The idiot shook his head, "I took...Feifei with me. When I went out, I tried not to talk and just did things. No one noticed...that something was wrong."
Feifei said softly: "Second uncle just received the apartment management staff, and they inspected the gas and circuit in the house."
"Are you there?" Shen Xing asked.
Feifei said: "I was there the whole time, but the second uncle performed really well. If I were a manager, I wouldn't have known that he was not you."
Shen Xing shifted his gaze to the pile of neatly stacked puzzles on the sofa next to Ergo.
It stands to reason that it should be a good thing for him when he becomes smarter.
At least if I have to leave in the future, I won't have to worry about Feifei having no one to take care of me, and I won't have to worry about having no one to cover my departure.
Moreover, when it comes to handling some matters, if it is inconvenient for you to come forward or you need help from others, you can also ask a second-rate person to come forward on your behalf.
But for some reason, Shen Xing suddenly felt a strong sense of uneasiness in his heart.
Looking at the idiot sitting on the sofa in front of him, an idea suddenly came to his mind.
"Will this guy really replace me one day?"
:. :mx
