The soil cloth immediately started a fire, Ah Gui jumped up, even the knife on his waist was pulled out, the soil cloth was burning brightly, the cloth exposed, Han Zi didn’t hesitate, he even pulled open the belt, the restaurant’s boss and staff all ran to fight the fire, some holding tablecloths, some holding washbasins, some holding clothes to beat the fire, the noise was chaotic.
Ah Gui’s burn was not particularly serious, but needed hospital treatment. Han Zi paid the medical expenses, the victim suddenly remembered the most important thing – the child was gone.
It was just a matter of three or four minutes, not easy to track. The companions split up, searching inside and out. The restaurant had front and back doors, the car station was at a crossroads, vehicles and tricycles and small electric carts were everywhere, several people found good spots, but to no avail. Ah Gui could only sit back in the original car.
The knife was also in that car. This summer’s hiding place was on the car roof’s luggage rack. He watched Ah Gui get on the car, afraid he would climb up and search. Fortunately, Ah Ping didn’t do that. This summer had made many preparations, afraid Ah Gui would come up and grab him, thinking about how to speak to the driver and passengers to help, he thought of many methods, the best method was not to let such a scary thing happen. Suddenly he thought of the recruitment information from three months ago, and began to seek three-month insurance, hoping the police could send him home.
The car entered the urban area, the knife followed the car’s iron rack down, jumping to the road surface.
Here was the cinema entrance, many people were coming out, who knew if a broken tricycle might suddenly rush out? Ah Sa’s milk brother lived quite far, and even if he went, he didn’t need to enter. The sky was dark, he didn’t want to take risks. Finding the north school was near the school, but the school principal would not let him enter. He recalled just half a month of student life, the old teacher had said that when encountering difficulties, one should find the police.
The knife talked to a middle-aged woman who agreed to take him to the nearest police station. Leaving the station had only one police officer. This summer’s statement was that milk brother ran away from home, afraid in the dark, hoping the police could send him home.
The young police officer couldn’t open the duty room, so he gave the knife the main idea: “Sleep on the bench outside, tomorrow after my shift I’ll send you back.”
The knife had nowhere else to go, as long as he was safe and not driven away. The young police officer said again, “You must have fought, milk brother’s milk fell, so you ran. Look, your whole face is full of blood, your leg is broken!”
The young police officer opened the first aid kit, took out medicine and gave the knife warm water to clean up. After washing his face clean, he began applying medicine. The young police officer said, “This definitely needs to go to the hospital. You have several wounds on your head, all opened. This is a burn injury?”
The young police officer carefully checked the knife’s hand and wrist, examining the wound, his heart having some soft, flowing substance, and then another look. The young police officer put the knife into the room and said, “Good, good, male child, big brother is fine.”
The knife let out a soft cry.This was unbearable. Half of the summer, he was exhausted, lying on the bed with a swollen face. The young police officer covered himself with his own coat and lay on the chair, dozing off. The summer injury made him uneasy, but at this moment he couldn’t find anyone, and it seemed he could only wait for the day to send him to the hospital.
Unable to sleep soundly, he still had some matters to consider. Sitting in front of the chair, he first tried to test: “I’m hungry.”
The young police officer conveniently handed a tea towel to Jia De.
“I’ll be able to eat soon,” the young police officer said.
Jia De placed his hand on the table, and the young police officer also put his hand on the chair, his fingers aligned, clean and tidy, making the summer feel less anxious.
“Police officer,” the summer felt this call was not quite right, but actually calling the young police officer like an older brother of that age. The summer then asked, “Are you far from home?”
“Not far, I live in the collective dormitory. I’m here for an internship. The old man is in the east of the mountain,” the young police officer said, “I don’t know where I’ll be assigned in the future.”
Jia De was extremely disappointed. Originally, he thought there was a possibility of mixing in this police station, being a collective vehicle, but most likely he couldn’t do it himself. But he was unwilling and wanted to think of another way. The young police officer handed the convenient side to Jia De, and the summer took the bread, ate a few bites, and noticed the documents in front of the young police officer with several people’s photos, and looked at them.
“Look, these are all suspects we’re investigating. If you see these bad people, run quickly and tell us. This is also the responsibility of a young team member!”
Jia De naturally recognized that expression of determination.
“Why don’t you big guys look for them?” the summer asked.
The young police officer laughed: “The notice just came down, and this photo cost a lot of effort. It’ll be spread everywhere soon. The station’s communication channels, I’ll give you a few, you can also spread it near your place, the power of the masses is always very important.”
The summer wasn’t interested; he just asked, “If you catch him, do you have a good method?”
“Yes, I’ll make a contribution! Providing clues will also be a contribution!”
“What’s good about making a contribution?”
“There’s honor! The unit I’ll be assigned to might be quite good.”
Jia De really hoped the young police officer could go to a good unit; he was a good person. So he said, “I’ve seen this person.”
Jia De’s finger stopped on the first photo of the notice.
The young police officer was not particularly believing: “Where did you see him? When?”
“Just two days ago, in the… mixed market.”
The time made the young police officer very excited, but the next sentence made him pause: “This person has been away for a long time, we’ve received many clues, and each time he stops very briefly, always moving before we investigate.”
Jia De lowered his head to eat. Unable to respond properly, he was extremely uncomfortable.
The young police officer asked again: “Are there any landmark buildings near the mixed market? Just tell me names of people or objects.”
“Yes. The fire station’s goods store, I can help you find that store. Then keep going, going left and right, I can’t remember clearly,” the summer was very impatient, but the young police officer’s expectant eyes made him continue to recall, “There was a woman, in a small alley, locals, someone frying dishes at the door, frying mushrooms with meat, with dried chili. Another woman was washing clothes, with a reddish birthmark on her face, near the hospital gate, an old ice cream shop, with two small children painted on the light-colored wall.”
The young police officer quickly drew two figures on the paper that matched those in the summer’s memory, even the vertical thumb movement that Jia De hadn’t described was the same: “Is this the photo?”
Jia De nodded.
World is very lonely, leaving only myself.
Is there still a way back?
At home, the radio was playing a drama. Liu Fei’s low voice echoed, “A moment of time has already passed, revealing the bittersweet past of the mountain village.” I only heard “iron wealth for a lifetime” and who knows how many moments of life are fleeting.
