Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 35

The world was a big place, holding many stories. To find an answer, one had to dig through thousands of stories, which was equivalent to finding a needle in a haystack.

Lin Chen followed behind Xing Conglian, thinking the other party was reasonable and was in a rush, probably trying to find the answer. However, he didn’t expect Xing Conglian to take him around the parking lot and went straight to the cafeteria of the management center.

Since it was past meal time, the cafeteria was already closed. The entrance to the small market had an old auntie and a cat dozing together, and the lights were off.

Xing Conglian went inside and came out with two bowls of beef-flavored instant noodles filled with hot water.

Lin Chen wanted to go over and help, but Xing Conglian tapped his pocket with his elbow.

Lin Chen then understood and reached into the pocket of the mixed-race young man and, unsurprisingly, found an unopened pack of cigarettes.

When people were irritable, their smoking addiction indeed became much stronger. Lin Chen patiently unwrapped the plastic packaging, pulled one out, and stuffed it into Xing Conglian’s mouth. Xing Conglian turned around again and signaled for him to take the lighter from his other pocket.

Lin Chen took out the lighter and saw that Xing Conglian had bowed his head slightly and very naturally put the cigarette towards his hand.

With a flick, the flame lit the cigarette. In the dim space, the eyes of the mixed-race young man lowered. His green eyes, which were as clear as water, were covered by long, slender eyelashes. This was just an ordinary action, but Lin Chen felt his heartbeat suddenly accelerate.

He retracted his hand and naturally put the lighter back into Xing Conglian’s pocket.

Xing Conglian took a deep puff and breathed out in satisfaction.

From beginning to end, Xing Conglian didn’t say a word. He was smoking solemnly as he slowly walked back to the car.

He put down the two bowls of instant noodles and patted the hood, then asked, “Can you get on by yourself?”

Xing Conglian drove an off-roader that had a high hood. Lin Chen was left a little speechless. As he held onto the hood of the car and stepped on the bumper to get up, he thought to himself, ‘If I can’t get up, what are you going to do? Hold me up?’

When he sat down did he find out why Xing Conglian chose this place.

The area where the jeep was parked was facing the endless reeds. An egret had swept across the sky in the distance. The afternoon sun was warm with a mellow breeze blowing. It was very suitable, comfortable, and pleasant. He picked up the instant noodle cup next to him and moved a bit so that Xing Conglian could jump up.

The instant noodles were still hot. When he lifted the lid, heat dissipated from his face. When Xing Conglian silently handed over a fork, they began to eat their belated lunch in silence.

As he took two sips, Lin Chen suddenly realized that he was very hungry. The spicy soup and chewy noodles entered his stomach, relieving him of the tension and fatigue.

“I’ve known you for a while now, but I still don’t know where you are from.” Xing Conglian took two sips before suddenly saying.

The breeze was soft, gently swaying the deep green reeds. What Xing Conglian said was just ordinary small talk.

“I’m from Maolin.”

After Lin Chen answered, he suddenly remembered that Xing Conglian had taken out his phone and ordered a private investigation to be done on someone, and received that information back within a few minutes. Though the question he asked him was seemingly casual, what Xing Conglian meant behind it was that he had not explored his past through those investigative methods.

Sure enough, after hearing Lin Chen’s answer, Xing Conglian continued to eat his noodles quietly.

Lin Chen also noticed that although Xing Conglian was only eating a bowl of instant noodles, his back was straight, his hands were holding the food and the frequency of eating was very steady, as if he was an unmoving mountain. Lin Chen suddenly remembered his teacher’s joke from a long time ago. He said that eating and sex were the best ways to tell a person’s character. Thinking of this, Lin Chen thought, ‘Xing Conglian is really scary.”

However, Lin Chen’s emotions only lasted for a short time. Xing Conglian had quickly finished eating his noodles and even drank the soup clean. He put the bowl aside and lay down on the hood, looking as if he was going to sleep.

“Ever hear psychologists say that if you don’t understand one thing, you have to change your perspective?” Xing Conglian asked as he lay down on the hood.

Lin Chen glanced at him and nodded. “Because one’s mindset sometimes prevents them from generating new ideas, so…”

Before he finished speaking, his elbow was pulled. Xing Conglian somehow supported his upper body and took the bowl of noodles from his hand and put it on the side of the windshield wiper, then without a word, pulled him to lie down together.

“Then come and take a nap,” Xing Conglian said.

In this way, Lin Chen was inexplicably forced to lie on the hood, and even more inexplicably, there was a man lying next to him.

The hood felt cool to the touch, and the breeze was mixed with the familiar scent of mint tobacco and instant noodles. It was a clean and warm feeling, even reassuring, that he couldn’t help but clear his mind and relax.

Lin Chen felt a little drowsy, but suddenly remembered the familiar low voice.

“You’re not really going to fall asleep, are you?”

Nonsense…

“I was just suddenly thinking, since he asked us to find answers, can I interpret this as he’s looking for help from the police because he’s at the end of his rope?”

Lin Chen opened his eyes slightly. “That’s one way you can look at it.”

“Since he wanted to seek the help of the police, he actually expressed what he wanted clearly on the call. According to your words, he has put all the clues in front of us.”

“Correct.”

“The first clue he gave us was the Hongjing Highway, because there’s no doubt that this incident occurred on the highway.”

“Nn.”

“You also analyzed that if he can persuade those people, then his reasons must be heavy, and the things in this world that can make people feel such heaviness must be related to life and death. Therefore, something related to this happened on the highway…”

“Car accident?” Lin Chen instantly became awake. “You mean, he wants us to find the truth about a certain car accident?”

“If my thinking is correct, the reason why he’s looking for reporters is for public revenge. He wants to make the person at fault or the person behind the car accident pay.”

Lin Chen thought for a while and felt that this line of thought was really clear. “That makes sense. Then we have to trouble Wang Chao again.”

“It’s his pleasure.” Xing Conglian took out his phone as he spoke and dialed the number of a certain technical genius.

——

As soon as the young technician got in the car, his phone immediately rang. Seeing that it was the Captain, he became extremely depressed.

“You, check on how many car accidents have occurred on the Hongjing Highway within a year and a bit back.” The Captain’s voice came through the phone. Wang Chao had the phone between his ear and shoulder because he was loading things into the car. He felt exhausted hearing the Captain’s orders. “Captain, what are you up to? Even if there are only 3 accidents a day, there will be thousands on the highway within a year.”

“Be quiet and listen to me.” Xing Conglian paused before continuing in a clear voice. “First, rule out all accidents that had no casualties.”

“Un…”

“Then, filter the list of casualties to see if there are any students or teachers from Fengjing.”

“Eh, Captain, it takes time to adjust the data and investigate. You have to wait for me.”

“I know. In the end, filter out all family members of all those car accidents with casualties again and see if there are any between 15-18 years old, and if so, see if there are students from Fenjing among them.”

“Oh, I understand what you mean, but I’m on the highway and the wireless signal isn’t very good. It’s going to take a bit.”

Xing Conglian was keenly aware of some abnormalities in the call. “Aren’t you in the car with Lao Peng and the others?”

“No, Captain Peng seems to be almost at the scene where the kidnapper is. Just now, Manager Yang said, since he’s going back anyway, he’ll give me a ride…” After Wang Chao reported casually, he hung up the phone.

On the jeep with a view of the reeds, Xing Conglian sat crossed-legged and moved the phone from his ear. He frowned lightly and didn’t speak.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Chen asked.

“I suddenly remembered that the kidnapper actually gave us a clue.”

“Hm?”

“The bus tablet.”

In fact, when they first got the tablet, the teenager had used extremely rugged means to deliver it to the police. They had checked it carefully, but with the exception of the weird driving route recorded by the GPS, there was no abnormal information on it.

“Didn’t you say that the tablet had a bizarre and complex route that couldn’t be done by humans?”

Xing Conglian glanced at Lin Chen, then suddenly ruffled his head and jump down from the jeep. “Yes, there’s no way to accomplish that feat with just the strength of one person. In fact, it’s very simple. The navigation calculation is based on roads. Of course, he could jump off the highway and take shortcuts. Then he only needed to pass the tablet to someone, and they would pass it to another. After several passes, the route will, of course, become weird and unpredictable.”

“Someone is helping him.” Lin Chen sat up and said, “Young people, especially among classmates and friends, are prone to being hot-blooded and having strong loyalties.”

——

Xing Conglian drove the car onto the highway, but this time, without rushing. He was driving slowly in a purely outing posture.

The time that passed would continue to pass, minute by minute, as it slowly approached the agreed 90 minutes. In the face of the torrent of time, no matter how much hard work and thinking was involved, it always seemed to be a drop in a bucket.

The spring breeze and the scent of grass made the body and mind relax untimely. Outside the window, the reeds were taller than people, and the teenager was hiding among them, probably playing games with the children. However, perhaps in the next moment, a sniper’s bullet would pierce his head.

Without answers, there would be no happy ending.

The road ahead was exposed with a bright luster from the sun, as if a thin layer of wax had been applied to it. After driving for a while, they seemed to have encountered traffic as the speed of traffic gradually slowed. Not far ahead, red lights from cars braking appeared one after another. Xing Conglian was able to break just in time to avoid a collision, but in the end he couldn’t avoid the jerk from abruptly stopping.

Surprisingly, at that moment when Xing Conglian braked, the traffic in front suddenly started moving again.

Lin Chen jerked forward and saw a black Buick parked directly in front of them. The black Buick was just about to go when a bus in the right lane suddenly blocked it and tried to merge over.

The Buick driver, who had been waiting anxiously, stepped on the gas in a fit of rage and was unwilling to give way. However, the bus driver refused to stop. A loud bang rang out as the Buick and bus collided.

Because of the size difference between the two, the front of the Buick was completely crushed, and the windshield shattered. The passengers on the bus were all stunned by the accident.

Seeing this situation, the bus driver immediately opened the door and jumped out of the bus. He kicked the front of the Buick and yelled, “Fuck, do you want to kill laozi! Laozi has a car full of people. You looking to die?”

The hotheaded bus driver’s cursing wasn’t enough. When he saw the driver of the Buick stuck inside, he kicked the door vigorously as if he was trying to ram it in.

At this moment, the angry bus driver suddenly felt a tightness in his neck and slumped over in an instant. He wanted to get up after falling to the ground, but his back had such a heavy pressure on it that he could only flail around, failing to get back up.

Xing Conglian eased his knees and stretched out his hands, grabbed the bus driver’s hands, and took out his handcuffs and restrained the bus driver. His movements were indescribably decisive and swift, like flowing clouds and water.

After doing this, Xing Conglian stood up and returned to the Buick. All the airbags in the front seat had popped out, and the driver was immobilized.

Lin Chen retracted his gaze and continued to knock on the car window, asking if the driver of the Buick was okay.

At this time, the sound of police sirens suddenly came from the reverse lane. Xing Conglian frowned as he stared at the flashing police lights coming from afar.

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