Chapter 7 Chapter Six Looking for Huang Zhi

Huang Zhi hasn't come yet. It was already past six in the evening, which was the busiest time in the news hall. The sounds of typing on keyboards, making phone calls, talking loudly and editors urging drafts mixed together made the big room steamy. I've written today's press release and sent it to the page editor, and if I wanted to, I could call it a day and go home in front of the eyes of most of my colleagues who were working on the day's draft. But I still want to wait for Huang Zhi, although according to the information Liu Tang sent me yesterday, she should show up at noon today.

On the one hand, I was wondering why Huang Zhi didn't come as scheduled, and on the other hand, I wondered if I took the words of a mental patient too seriously.It is always difficult for normal people to guess the logic of a mental patient. Even if she said she would come at noon yesterday, she might have changed her mind as soon as she turned around. Thinking of this, I decided not to wait any longer.Anyway, she came to me probably because of Zhou Xianxian's disappearance. I have already entrusted the local police to solve it with all my heart. I hope that when I come to work tomorrow, the security guard will not tell me that Huang Zhi came to look for me in the middle of the night.

Coming out of the newspaper building with the air conditioner fully turned on, the sweltering heat outside made me frown. The sun had already set in the west, but the sky was still bright. It looks like it's going to rain. I really hope it will rain sooner, so that it will be refreshing. The current time is considered to be the beginning of the off-duty rush hour. The newspaper office is located in a prime location in the center of Shanghai. Pedestrians are hurrying on the streets outside, and the sidewalks are packed to the brim. There are always some scenery on the streets of big cities in summer. For example, the girl who just walked by wearing ultra-short denim pants with a faint scent, although she didn’t see whether her face is pretty, but the pair of long legs from behind is enough Let the men gasp in admiration.

Before I could appreciate it for a long time, I was blocked by other pedestrians on the sidewalk.It's just that I was shocked to find that there was a rather familiar figure among them. This person was wearing a navy blue undershirt and baggy trousers. He had a thin figure and a slightly hunched back, making him look a bit sneaky.Isn't this the guy who didn't show anything after bumping into me yesterday?I remember that he was walking behind Huang Zhi at that time, not knowing why in a hurry. what is he doing nowSeeing his appearance, I always feel a little awkward. He does not walk very well, but fast and slow.When he was fast, he was like a loach crawling among pedestrians, even overtaking several passers-by in front of him. When he was slow, he even stopped and looked forward.

I don't know if it's my illusion, but I think the object he is looking at is the same object as what I saw just now.No, the long-legged woman crossed the road at the crossroads ahead, and the thin man's head slowly turned, and then hurried forward again. Is he following that woman?A thought flashed in my mind, could he be doing that kind of thing?I have never seen it with my own eyes, I only saw it in film and television comics before. The thin man followed the woman across the road and was about to disappear from my sight, so I decided to follow and have a look. The long-legged girl didn't know that there were actually two men hanging behind her.In this area with such a high pedestrian density, as long as the stalkers are careful, even those who have received professional tracking training may not be able to easily find out that they are being followed.But should the thin man and I speed up our pace and squeeze past the passers-by in front so as not to lose track of us?

After walking through several streets like this, the girl entered a high-end department store and lingered in front of the cosmetics counter on the first floor.It's inconvenient to get too close to this kind of place where only women go shopping.The skinny man didn't seem to have much scruples, dangling around the edge of the cosmetics section, glancing at the girl from time to time, In my opinion, it's too conspicuous and unprofessional. As for me, I stopped at the turnstile at the entrance. Many people like to stand here for a while, blowing some air-conditioning to escape the heat, and some of them make appointments with friends to meet here.I look like I'm waiting for someone.You can't see the girl in this position, but it doesn't matter, I just need to keep up with the skinny guy.

Not long after, the girl finished shopping and came out.I watched her walk past me, and then the skinny one.The girl walked out of the department store and did not go any further. Instead, she waited on the side of the road for a while, hailed a taxi and got in. The thin man watched the taxi drive away without further action.I saw it, and basically confirmed my original guess. I took a few hundred-yuan bills from my wallet and put them in my pocket. The thin man lingered at the entrance of the department store for a while, and was about to go back the same way. I snatched him up and slapped him on the shoulder.

I was still thinking about the slap I had yesterday, and this slap gave me strength.This guy was originally thin and weak, and he had a ghost in his heart. I staggered when I photographed him, trembled all over, took a step to the side, and then turned back to look at me. "Who are you and what are you doing?" He asked me angrily, but his voice was not very loud. "What were you doing just now?" I asked him back. "It's none of your business what I do?" he retorted. "Don't think I didn't see it, I followed you all the way." I said with a smile, adding an accent to the word "follow".

"What's wrong with you, what's wrong with you, is it against the law, I'm with someone else, are you following me?" The skinny man blushed and started yelling, but he still didn't dare to make too much noise. People in this world have all kinds of hobbies, but there are some people who like to follow women, and they don't know what fun they can get from it.I originally thought that only Japan had such a person, and even the name "Oko" came from there, so I didn't want to bump into one right now.Judging by his appearance, he fully deserves the title "Uncle Weird".

After the thin man finished speaking, he didn't intend to tangle with me, so he turned his head and left, but I grabbed his wrist. "Ouch!" the thin man yelled, and he could only turn around in the direction my wrist was twisted.Although I can't say that I'm good at fighting, it's more than enough to deal with such a tail-walking man.But I don't intend to make a big fuss here, and let him go right away. In just a short while, people around have already looked over. "You, you!" The thin man was in a hurry. Before she could fight back angrily, his eyes widened and his mouth opened wide. He watched me take out a hundred-dollar bill from my pocket and stuff it into the breast pocket of his undershirt.

"This, this..." The power of money is indeed infinite, a mere hundred yuan quickly disintegrated her fighting spirit, and made him not know how to react for a while. "Let's talk in another place." Without much effort, I pulled him into a small alley next to him, which was relatively quiet. I took out another two hundred yuan from my pocket and waved it in front of him. "It doesn't matter what hobbies I have, three hundred yuan, please do me a favor." Three hundred yuan was not a big sum, but the skinny man still had a tempting expression on his face.It's no wonder, how much money would he have for such an idle guy who just stalked women on the street for nothing? "I don't do anything illegal." He actually said this to me, which made me smile. Seeing me laughing, the thin man couldn't figure out what I meant, and said, "Do you want me to follow someone? I can't say anything else. My tracking skills are not good. But... is there any danger? Is there any danger?" If so, the money is not enough.” I thought of how blatantly he stared at the long-legged girl in the department store just now, and now he boasted about his tracking skills, held back his laughter, and said to him: "I don't want you to track people. Just recall, about two or two yesterday afternoons." At about one o'clock, did you follow a woman at the gate of the Morning Star newspaper building?" "Ah, yesterday?" "The one in blue looks very thin, and she's a pretty young woman." "Yes...it seems that there is such a thing, why?" "Where have you been with her, take me there once, and the money will belong to you." The thin man and I went back to the entrance of the Morning Star newspaper building, where he started to follow Huang Zhi yesterday. To be honest, walking with the thin man is a bit of a psychological burden, because his eyes are always hooked on beautiful women, giving passersby the illusion that the two of us are tailing a certain woman in front of us. "Do you remember clearing the road?" I asked after turning a few turns. "Of course, how could it be impossible to remember, she walked in front like this yesterday, the clothing store on the left, I still remember that she stopped there for a while, but didn't go in." Hearing that I seemed to question his "professionalism" , the thin man was quite dissatisfied. While speaking, I suddenly heard a long siren, and then my eyes suddenly opened up.Our newspaper office is very close to the Bund. Standing on the balcony and taking a deep breath, I always feel that I can smell the water of the Huangpu River, and the sound of sirens in the wind is often faintly heard.And now, we have come to the Bund.Through the underground pedestrian passage, the thin man led me to the river embankment on the Bund.The river water is yellow and turbid, petrels are flying in the distance, and the wind blows from the river, sweeping away the sweltering heat.In the afterglow of the setting sun, the modern high-rise buildings on the other side are still clearly visible, and the lights have been turned on.And here, European-style buildings built at the beginning of the last century and known as the World Architecture Expo stand silently.Just as my gaze swept across, first the big bell tower of the Customs was lit up with gorgeous lights, and then the light and shadow stretched away, and finally the riverside in Puxi also showed a splendor. Even the locals who were born and raised in this city can't help feeling refreshed when they see this scene in front of them. It's no wonder that this is the first beautiful scenery that tourists want to enjoy when they come to Shanghai.However, when Huang Zhi passed by here yesterday afternoon, the sun was scorching hot, and the glass curtain wall on the other side must have reflected the sunlight dazzlingly, and the feeling was much worse than it is now. Although the scenery is beautiful, but when I followed the thin man from one end to the other, and turned back from the other end, I couldn't help asking him: "We seem to be turning back?" "Yeah, turn around, that's how she walked yesterday, and she went around a few times. Then, she went out from Fuzhou Road ahead, and then went back on Beijing Road, and made two more circles." He raised his eyebrows with his head down, as if following Huang Zhi yesterday, going around so many circles was a very enjoyable thing. It's a good thing I asked early, otherwise I would have to take him around for a long time, so I hurriedly said: "Don't worry about her going around a few times, just take me to the last place she arrived. She should be staying in a hotel, right? Did you follow all the way to the hotel?" "Of course." The thin man said proudly, "But why are you so uninterested in the process? In life, you can't just look at the result. The process is very important." I resisted not rolling my eyes at him, and said to him with a dark face: "Don't be naughty, lead the way." I walked for more than half an hour, and took two bus stops in the middle. I didn't have dinner, and I smelled the fragrance of dinner at every household along the way. Braised pork, curry chicken, fried hairtail and other dishes came to my mind one by one. Can't help but go soft.The thin man is indeed a well-trained first-line man, and he still walks briskly. At last he stopped in front of a hotel on a side road, with a very small facade, I thought it was a small guest house. The fat lady at the counter on the ground floor is watching the funny program on the small TV in front of her with relish, and behind her is an upward staircase. "It's here." The thin man said with certainty, and then looked at me blankly. I took out two hundred yuan from my pocket, and he took it with a satisfied smile. "Do you know which floor she lives on?" I asked casually. "On the third floor, go out of the stairs and turn left to the end, then turn right to the second room." The thin man replied. "You are really professional." I couldn't help but say. "At that time, it was unprofessional to do anything." He whistled, turned and left. I walked into the guest house, and the fat aunt glanced at me, sure that I was not here to stay, she seemed a little indifferent.I ignored her and went straight up the stairs. The corridor is very narrow, the ceiling is also very low, stains and mottled traces can be seen everywhere on the walls, the whole space is very cramped, and there is a musty smell in the air, I think it is mostly from the old chemical fiber carpet under the feet. On the third floor, turn left and then turn right, passing through the closed doors, it feels like a maze, exuding an old atmosphere.I don't know how Huang Zhi found this hotel, and how he found the Morning Star newspaper.It seems that she can still retain a considerable degree of sanity, knowing that with her savings, she can only afford to live in such a place at most. The first room, the second room, this is it.I rang the doorbell, but there was no sound. Even the doorbell was broken in this shabby place. I knocked on the door.The knuckles hit the wooden door, and the sound was "empty", as if the inside of the wooden door had been hollowed out long ago. No one answered, I knocked harder, still nothing. Huang Zhi went here for a stroll again, or did the thin man just fool me and lead me blindly? Just as I was about to go downstairs to ask my aunt, I twitched my nose twice and smelled a strange smell. When people are hungry, their sense of smell is always very sensitive. Standing in front of this door, between the thick musty smell and the smell of disinfectant, I actually smelled some foul smell. I put my nose close to the crack of the door, took a deep breath, and immediately frowned.That's right, the smell comes from inside, it's really bad. "Bang bang bang!" I slammed on the door hard. The hardware of this hotel is really broken. I just slammed it a few times, and the door lock showed signs of loosening. I hesitated for a moment, recalling Wei Xingnan's words and deeds just now, it didn't seem like he was really lying to me, Huang Zhijiu lived here. After many adventures, I gradually developed something called "intuition", because it is often inaccurate, so it can be said that my nerves are sensitive and easy to be surprised.And now, I have a bad feeling. It's a big deal to lose the door lock and see what's going on inside first. With just one kick, the door swung open. As soon as I opened the door, I saw Huang Zhi. She was still sitting on the chair and dozing off after such a big commotion.But the smell became more obvious. Could it be that the flush toilet in the toilet was blocked? "Huang Zhi, Huang Zhi." I said and walked towards her. Huang Zhi was wearing a blue dress, leaning on the chair with her head drooping.I called her that, but she still didn't wake up. I took a few steps closer and stopped suddenly, unable to call her any more. Just a few steps closer, the foul smell became much more obvious. I was not stupid because of this reason, but now I saw her from a slightly different angle than when I opened the door. Strapped behind a chair! I was horrified and immediately rushed to her side.Huang Zhi's body was in a mess, but I had no time to take care of it, so I wiped her nose with my hand. Not to mention breathing, even the body temperature is gone. On her sideways neck, there was a horrible bruise, bruised and blackened. Huang Zhi had already been killed!