CH 1

Chen Yuncheng saw the little girl at the intersection for the second time today.

The little girl looked seven or eight years old, perhaps older than that. Because she was very thin, the trousers on her legs looked very loose. Although the clothes were not dirty, they seemed to have been washed so many times that the colour was faded.

Usually, she appeared at the intersection when the commute was most crowded, and crossed the road with a group of passers-by, looking for a target to strike with her two big eyes. But her luck was very bad. Yesterday, Chen Yuncheng saw her going back and forth at the intersection many times and couldn’t find any success. Today, when she just stretched out her hand, a traffic policeman came to the intersection on a motorcycle to direct the traffic. She was startled and hurriedly retracted her hand, putting her hands into her jacket pockets, and slowly left along the street.

Chen Yuncheng retracted his gaze, and his two legs on the chair were crossed. He leaned back his body, his arms behind his head, and his two long legs placed on the counter as he continued to watch the ball game on the TV.

Up until a regular customer came to buy cigarettes. Chen Yuncheng put his legs down from the counter and opened the glass cabinet to get him cigarettes.

The elderly customer took the cigarette case with one hand, touched the lighter with the other, and said, “The temperature has cooled these two days.”

Chen Yuncheng said, “Yeah, it’s time to get a down jacket to wear.”

The elderly customer nodded. He grabbed the lighter on his body, lit a cigarette and walked out.

He didn’t know if it was because the weather was too cold, but from the past two days, at 8 or 9 o’clock in the evening, Chen Yuncheng’s kiosk would be almost out of goods. He would pull down the shutter halfway down so that the light and sound from the store could pass through the lower half of the door. This was so that the old customers who come to buy cigarettes could still knock on the roll-up door outside and then lower their heads before entering the shop.

This way, Chen Yuncheng wouldn’t get too cold from sitting inside and watching TV. The small heater placed by his feet would be enough to warm the entire small shop’s tiny area.

There was a spy war movie on the TV, and Chen Yuncheng watched it a little carelessly until he suddenly heard someone knocking on the rolling shutter door. He subconsciously sat up straight and shouted, “Just come in, we’re not closed yet.”

A young woman with a child in her arms struggled to get in under the shutters.

“Jiajia?” Chen Yuncheng was a little surprised, “What’s going on?”

The woman’s name was Gu Yaojia. Actually, Chen Yuncheng didn’t know her full name. He only knew that she was Zhou Yan’s girlfriend, and Zhou Yan usually called her Jiajia so he also copied him and called her Jiajia.

Gu Yaojia’s hair was a little messy. She patted her hair first and said unsteadily, “Cheng ge, have you seen Zhou Yan today?”

Chen Yuncheng shook his head.

The child in Gu Yaojia’s arms stretched her arms restlessly. She looked down at the child and said, “He hasn’t come back and I can’t reach him on the phone. I don’t know where he’s gone.”

Chen Yuncheng said, “He didn’t come to me.”

Gu Yaojia asked, “Then can you help me look for him?”

Chen Yuncheng picked up his mobile phone, dialled Zhou Yan’s number first and found that the other party’s mobile phone was off. He then looked at Gu Yaojia and asked, “Could he have gone to KTV1?”

“He resigned,” Gu Yaojia said.

“Resigned?” Chen Yuncheng asked strangely, “Why did he resign?”

Gu Yaojia shook her head.

Chen Yuncheng hesitated for a moment, then dialled Zhang Wenyong’s phone with his mobile phone, but the other party didn’t answer after several rings. He hung up the phone, looked at Gu Yaojia’s pitiful appearance with the child in her arms and said, “I’ll go to KTV to find someone to ask. Do you want to come with me?”

Gu Yaojia said, “I’m not going, the baby is not feeling well.”

Chen Yuncheng nodded, “Then go back first.”

Gu Yaojia took the child and left first.

Chen Yuncheng turned off the ceiling lights in the store. When he got out from under the shutter door, he saw Gu Yaojia’s back.

Gu Yaojia looked very young. Even if she had a child, Chen Yuncheng suspected that she was still under twenty years old. She and Zhou Yan moved in together for about three months, she then became pregnant and gave birth to a child. The two rented a place in an old neighbourhood only a few minutes away from Chen Yuncheng’s small shop and they had not obtained a marriage license yet.

Chen Yuncheng pulled down the rolling shutter door, stepped on it with his foot, and locked it from the outside. He then wrapped his down jacket tightly around himself and walked towards the subway station.

It had been almost three years since he bought this down jacket. It was not expensive when he bought it. From time to time, a feather would come out from the fabric. Now, Chen Yuncheng didn’t know if it was psychological, but he always felt that the jacket was getting thinner and thinner.

I should buy a new one in a few days, Chen Yuncheng thought about it while walking forward.

No matter how cold the weather was outside, the subway station was still warm, and even after the rush hour, the flow of people had not decreased too much. Chen Yuncheng squeezed into the subway carriage but didn’t get a seat. He stood in the corner, took out his mobile phone and glanced at it. He didn’t see Zhang Wenyong returning his call. In fact, he and Zhang Wenyong hadn’t been in contact for a long time. If it wasn’t for Zhou Yan’s matter, he would not be very willing to contact Zhang Wenyong.

The KTV where Zhou Yan worked was called Glorious World. It was a newly opened KTV located on a street full of bars and restaurants. Zhou Yan went to work for Zhang Wenyong about three months ago. He worked as a waiter at the KTV, and it was always Zhang Wenyong’s thugs who were making trouble.

The door of KTV had two automatic glass doors. When people approached, the doors naturally opened to both sides. The floor in the middle was covered with a red carpet, and written in big, vulgar yellow letters were: Welcome.

When Chen Yuncheng entered, he passed a man who was walking out. When they were a little closer, the both of them turned aside.

The man was taller than Chen Yuncheng. Chen Yuncheng himself was 1.81 meters. He guessed that the other party was around 1.87 to 1.88 meters. He was wearing a long black coat, and the leather shoes under his feet were dark and shiny.

The moment he brushed past, Chen Yuncheng looked up at the man subconsciously. Just as the man looked down at him, Chen Yuncheng saw that handsome and slightly indifferent face.

Chen Yuncheng was stunned for a moment and stopped, but the man had already raised his head and walked out. When Chen Yuncheng looked back, he could only see that man’s straight back and smelled a very light and chilling perfume.

The glass door slowly closed. Chen Yuncheng stood still and saw the man walking towards a dark grey Land Rover parked on the side of the road. The Land Rover flashed its lights as the man approached.

Through the glass door, Chen Yuncheng kept looking as the man got into the car. He then took a deep breath, turned and walked inside.

A waiter greeted him and asked him if he would be singing.

Chen Yuncheng shook his head, saw a familiar face at the service bar, walked over and asked, “Xiao Ou, is Yong ge here?”

Xiao Ou, who was wearing a waiter uniform at the bar, raised his head, saw Chen Yuncheng’s face, and was instantly a little surprised. He said, “Cheng ge, I haven’t seen you for a long time.”

Chen Yuncheng smiled and asked again, “Yong ge is not here today?”

Xiao Ou shook his head, “There’s generally nothing to do now, so Yong ge didn’t come.” After speaking, he said tentatively, “Cheng ge, just call Yong ge directly if you need anything.”

Chen Yuncheng didn’t say anything about Zhang Wenyong not answering his phone, but asked, “Where is Zhou Yan? Have you seen him today?”

Xiao Ou said, “Zhou Yan has resigned for several days.”

Chen Yuncheng remembered what Zhou Yan’s girlfriend said. It turned out that Zhou Yan had really resigned. He asked, “Why did Zhou Yan resign?”

Xiao Ou shook his head. He lowered his head and mechanically sorted out the receipts in his hand, then raised his head, lowered his voice and said to Chen Yuncheng, “I heard Zhou Yan and Yong ge quarrelled a few days ago. I don’t know if this was the cause of his resignation.”

Chen Yuncheng then asked, “What were they arguing about?”

Xiao Ou whispered, “I don’t know, but I heard that Zhou Yan wanted to borrow money.”

Chen Yuncheng nodded, and he said to Xiao Ou, “Thank you.” Before walking out of the KTV hall.

When he went out, Chen Yuncheng took out his mobile phone again and tried to dial Zhou Yan’s number, but it still wasn’t turned on. He didn’t notice that the Land Rover that the man in the black coat had just gotten into was still parked on the side of the road with the lights off and hadn’t moved at all.

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