"Have you ever worked with him?" Gu Bei asked.
The middle-aged man patted his thigh: "More than colleagues, we have a good relationship. We used to have a drink together."
"Can you tell me what kind of person he is?"
Gu Bei and Chu Zihang pulled up two chairs and sat across from the middle-aged man.
"Old Chu, Old Chu..." The middle-aged man's eyes were nostalgic, "Old Chu is a good man. He was married before. His wife was a beautiful dancer and gave birth to a son. Later, they got divorced. He used to pay taxes. The boss of the bureau drove. Later, he wanted to make more money, so he quit his job and drove for our boss. We have a good relationship. We used to have a drink together."
Oh, this is still a plot NPC.
Gu Bei raised his eyebrows and looked at Chu Zihang.
Chu Zihang just listened quietly without any reaction.
Gu Bei twitched his lips: "Is there anything more specific? I mean... what kind of person he is. I'm not asking about his experiences. I know all his experiences."
The middle-aged man opened his mouth, but was stunned.
He and Chu Tianjiao were old colleagues, and he should have a lot to say, but when it came to talking about it, he felt that the man was unreal.
Chu Tianjiao has no characteristics at all. He is a lackluster middle-aged man. He has no hobbies except drinking, and he has nothing to say except bragging. He does not have any family except his ex-wife who is a dancer and his son who has someone else's surname.
That man was alive and kicking in front of him every day, but now that he thought about it, he was shocked to realize that he didn't know that man at all.
"It was just that kind of person." The middle-aged man could only say, "He was a nice person, but he disappeared later. It's a pity."
Gu Bei frowned.
This statement is too vague, saying it is the same as not saying it.
"Think about it again, doesn't a living person have anything else to say?" Gu Bei said.
The middle-aged man thought for a long time: "He likes to eat braised large intestine..."
"anything else?"
"When I eat grilled chicken wings, I always add double the spiciness. It's so spicy that I can't stand it..."
"..."
Please!
Are you really familiar with Chu Tianjiao?
Do you only have braised large intestines and grilled chicken wings in your impression of him?
Are you the braised intestines and grilled chicken wings brothers who drink wine together under the night light?
"There's really nothing to say."
The middle-aged man scratched his head helplessly.
"Lao Chu doesn't mean much, he's just a person. He gets out of the car when the boss tells him to. When he has nothing to do, he stays in the factory. He's either in the car or in the factory."
Chu Zihang grasped the key point faster than Gu Bei: "You mean he lives in this factory?"
"Yes, he couldn't afford a house with his small salary. He probably left home when he got divorced. Of course he had to live in the factory. The factory gave him a single dormitory, and that dormitory is still locked. All his stuff is in there.”
"Take us to see it!" Gu Bei decided decisively.
"It's okay to take you to see it, but it hasn't been opened in many years, so it's probably full of dust," the middle-aged man said. "It's hard to tell if something bad happened because it's a basement."
"Stop talking nonsense, take us there quickly." Gu Bei's tone did not allow for rejection.
"Okay, I'll look for the key and take you there." The middle-aged man didn't want to offend the two young men introduced by Miyazong. After all, Miyazong had an official relationship, and to a certain extent, he was part of the Media Asia Group. A creditor who cannot afford to offend.
They passed a long corridor with offices on one side and rows of glass windows on the other.
The middle-aged man carried a bunch of keys and murmured as he walked: "To be honest, sometimes I miss Lao Chu quite a lot, but he has been gone for so many years and no one has come to ask him. It seems that this person is no longer good to anyone." It doesn’t have any impact, it’s quite miserable for people to be like this... Sometimes I order a takeout of braised intestines, and while I’m eating, I miss him quite a bit.”
Gu Bei's heart moved and he turned to look at Chu Zihang.
If anyone has looked for traces of Chu Tianjiao's existence after he disappeared from the world, the answer is 200% Chu Zihang.
This young man once endured the loneliness of the whole world and always believed that the old man was waiting for him somewhere in the world. He searched all over the world for proof of the man's existence, but his expectations were met with disappointment again and again.
But the young man has never come here to take a look.
This doesn't make sense.
It was obviously the place where the man had worked, and it was obviously the place where clues were most likely to be hidden, but it was ignored by the young man.
The only explanation is that the boy was somewhat affected by fate and subconsciously forgot about the existence of this place.
The middle-aged man in front was still chattering: "Speaking of which, this little brother here looks a bit like Lao Chu, but his personality is completely different. Lao Chu can't stop talking. Yes, I brag all day long about how I am doing abroad, but no one else believes me. I am the only one who is stupid. I chase him every day and ask questions. He is very patient and answers whatever I ask. Although this little brother is tall, It looks like it, but it's too cold, like a stone."
Chu Zihang listened in silence, as cold as stone.
They arrived at the second underground floor. The stairs and corridors were dark and slender. The air was filled with the hum of the air-conditioning compressor, and old mechanical parts were piled in the corners.
"This place used to be an air-conditioning machine room and a temporary warehouse. When Lao Chu came to work, he said he had no house to live in, so the boss said he would temporarily arrange a room in the basement for him to live in. I took him to buy bedding. I thought he would live there for ten years. He moved out in half a month, who would have thought that he would stay here for several years." The middle-aged man's mouth was like Chu Tianjiao's, and he couldn't stop talking once he started. It's no wonder that the two of them are good brothers.
"The smell of kerosene is so overwhelming." Gu Bei fanned his nose with his hand.
"Is this considered choking? The smell here is choking when the factory is running. It's like burning a kerosene pot."
"There's not even a window here."
"Isn't that right? We also told Lao Chu at the beginning that your salary is not too small. Although our boss ran away with the money, he was still very generous to the people below. I asked him why he didn't find a rental house nearby. Living there only costs a few hundred dollars a month."
The middle-aged man sighed.
"Lao Chu said that he needs to save some money. Although his son has the same surname, his biological father will receive a gift on the day of the wedding."
Gu Bei said nothing and glanced at Chu Zihang again.
This stone-like man was silent from beginning to end, but Gu Bei noticed that the man's hands were clenched into fists.
"This is it." The middle-aged man stopped in front of a door wrapped in iron.
He squinted and picked out a key and tried it in the keyhole for a long time. There was a "click" and the door opened.
"Brother, please take a few steps back. I'm afraid if this door isn't opened for a few years, rats will make a nest in it, or there may be mold or something, which is bad for your health." The middle-aged man took out a tissue and covered his mouth and nose. , slowly pushed open the door.
Unexpectedly, the air blowing towards my face was actually fresher than the air in the passage, but it smelled of dust.
What appeared in front of several people was a clean hut.
A double bed, a bedside table, a writing desk and a chair, and a small refrigerator, this is all Chu Tianjiao's furniture.
There are some steel wires stretched out in the corner of the room, which should be used to dry clothes, because there is still a jacket hanging on it.
There was no decoration on the cement floor and walls. Things were neatly placed, the bedding was neatly arranged, and there were no instant noodle bowls thrown around. It really didn't look like a place where a man lived alone.
It was a dull and boring room, neatly tidied up, but to be honest, there was nothing to tidy up. Apart from the necessary daily necessities, it was hard to find even a piece of extra paper.
The owner of this hut lived more of an ascetic life than a simple one.
"It's okay, okay, Lao Chu is very clean. He never puts food in the room, and rats don't care about coming in." The middle-aged man said.
"We can stay here
Soon? "The implication is that I don't want outsiders to be present.
The middle-aged man was also a smart man. He immediately understood the meaning of Gu Bei's words and nodded hurriedly: "Okay, okay, no problem. I just happened to go to the equipment room to have a look. I'll do some work when I get down."
The door was closed, and only Gu Bei and Chu Zihang were left in the room. The wind stopped flowing, and the sound of the compressor was also isolated outside the door.
Chu Zihang stopped in front of the door, while Gu Bei paced slowly in the room, examining everything in the cabin.
There is a photo on the bedside table. Unsurprisingly, it is a family portrait. The woman is bright and beautiful, and the boy looks only four or five years old. The man is wearing a white shirt and woolen pants, with oily hair, and he is holding the woman proudly. waist.
Gu Bei recognized at a glance that the woman was Su Xiaoyan when she was young, and the boy was Chu Zihang when he was young.
Gu Bei also had a chance encounter with that man.
However, compared to the weathered face under Odin's mask, Chu Tianjiao in this photo is obviously more energetic.
Gu Bei rummaged through the bedside table and found a few magazines. They were all the most common ones, such as "Friends" and "Story Club". There were also a few invoices on the table. They were for eating, rubbing feet, washing in the sauna, etc. They must have gone out to help with the boss. The boss paid the bill.
One of them says "Alibaba Foot-Pinching City", which is full of the atmosphere of a second- and third-tier city.
Standing in the room, Gu Bei could really feel the traces of this man's past existence.
To be honest, before this, although Gu Bei had been helping Chu Zihang find Chu Tianjiao, deep down in his heart, he did not feel that Chu Tianjiao existed.
The reason why he was looking for Chu Tianjiao was just because of his trust in Chu Zihang.
Even after tearing off Odin's mask from the heroic spirit's face with his own eyes and seeing the man's face, Gu Bei still felt unreal.
Because this man's existence is too illusory, and he only exists in Chu Zihang's world.
In Gu Bei's opinion, what kind of person is Chu Tianjiao?
A cool guy who graduated from Kassel. He likes to wear black trench coats. He is proficient in killing people. His superb knife skills can cut him directly from Penglai East Road to Nantianmen. He can also win the hottest spot among countless suitors. Su Xiaoyan.
But what kind of person is Chu Tianjiao in reality?
Being able to live in the basement for so many years, isolated from the world, listening to the monotonous sound of the compressor, loving to eat braised large intestines and super spicy grilled chicken wings, a returnee from overseas who loves to brag, saving his salary as a wedding gift for his son who "marries into a rich family" gift money.
This person is both illusory and contradictory.
The whole person seemed to be hidden in the mist.
Everything about this person is maintained in this world by Chu Zihang.
If there is no Chu Zihang in this world, then Chu Tianjiao’s existence will disappear in an instant, and no one will remember that he has been in this world - not necessarily, maybe the chicken wing brother who braises large intestines outside will still remember , after all, the Chu Tianjiao he knew was different from the Chu Tianjiao others knew.
This is also a loophole left by fate's correction twice.
In the first revision, grilled chicken wings would not leave any impression on Chu Tianjiao. However, because of the existence of Chu Tianjiao, the second revision was added with elements of Chu Tianjiao's existence, rationalizing away the news of Chu Tianjiao's death. .
But it did leave a life path for Chu Tianjiao.
Even if this trajectory is almost in line with anyone, the whole life is to serve Chu Zihang and then die in front of Chu Zihang.
And now, for the first time, he truly felt the existence of this elite hybrid - this feeling was far stronger than when he faced Chu Tianjiao himself. It seemed that the Chu Tianjiao he met was just a person wearing the appearance of Chu Tianjiao. A dead empty shell, but the real Chu Tianjiao has been living in this basement, and occasionally runs out to eat grilled chicken wings and braised intestines.
as always.
Chu Zihang slowly walked into the room and sat on the small bed.
A layer of dust had already accumulated on the bed, but Chu Zihang lay down directly.
This is where my dad used to live.
Chu Zihang was lying on the dusty little bed, feeling a familiar aura wrapping him up.
He closed his eyes and seemed to feel a third person appearing in the room. This was a middle-aged man. He sat or stood in the room, leaving his mark in every corner.
What was Dad thinking about and what would he do when he was alone in this small room?
Should he lie in bed, close his eyes and recuperate his energy, or gear up and maintain his weapons?
Chu Zihang tried to replace himself with Chu Tianjiao, but felt that this was wrong.
If it were dad, he wouldn't be so serious.
He should be more casual and carefree, with a free and easy energy about him, like a prodigal son.
But it shouldn't be as wasteful as Caesar.
Moreover, Dad himself came here with Cassel’s mission.
Chu Zihang himself is also a member of the execution department, and he knows the style of the execution department very well. In addition to killing embryos, people in the execution department also have another characteristic, that is, they are meticulous in their actions.
No matter what you do, you will always leave something behind.
In this case, my father should be no exception.
This is the place where my father once lived. If I were my father, what would I do? ..net
Chu Zihang closed his eyes and thought.
For a long time, he slowly raised his hand and tapped vertically downward.
"Dong dong——"
The bed board and knuckles hit each other, making a crisp echo.
Hearing the sound, Gu Bei and Chu Zihang's eyes lit up at the same time.
found it!
