Chapter 4 The third chapter seems to be an old friend
The summer in Xiushan is always cooler than that in the urban area tens of kilometers away.
Not only is the population density relatively low due to distance, but it is also due to geography—there are several low-altitude mountains here, which are still branches of a famous mountain hundreds of kilometers away; there are reservoirs, lakes, and several small It’s not small but it’s a river with flowing water at its source; there’s a large area of farmland, and in recent years, local people have successively planted fruit trees, planted peaches, apricots, cherries, and apples, and it’s also a farmhouse for picking seasons... It’s a farmhouse with mountains, water, and orchards The place is jokingly called "the back garden of the provincial capital".Two years ago, it changed from a "county" to a "district", and began a vigorous urbanization transformation.But the locals have apparently never found the feeling of being transformed into a "city dweller", and they are still used to calling the process of taking a shuttle bus for an hour to enter the downtown area of the city "going to G City".
Mu Xin is like this.
After more than a year of official work, her life did not follow her ideal romantic picture, but gradually became uneventful: she has always stayed in the post of responding to the police, answering and making calls every day, Repeatedly.According to regulations, every day shift has a 24-hour break, followed by a night shift with a 48-hour break.It doesn't seem like a very intense work rhythm, but the schedule is basically disrupted, and it is becoming more and more difficult to overlap with Yang Qian's vacation. There are no rules.So right now, Mu Xin's life aspirations have been falling again and again, from the noble level of realizing the value of life to the simple "when can I go shopping in G City with Yang Qian".
But it was such a simple wish, Yang Qian didn't have time to help her realize it, and she was not interested in fulfilling it by herself, gradually, she was farther and farther away from the prosperity of the past.
At 8:10 in the morning, when the phone rang, Mu Xin was buying pancakes and fruits at a breakfast stand in a small alley next to his unit.Looking up, not far away, at the gate of District Experimental Primary School, Duan Xiucai, the deputy section chief, was sending his son to school.Wearing a police uniform, he drove a broken van commonly found in the Public Security Bureau. He parked the car in the middle of the small road in front of the Experimental Primary School, and said to his son Duan Wei: "Go straight to my office after school, don't mess around." Run! Give the twenty yuan that your mother gave you to the teacher as soon as possible, and then go secretly to buy some messy things to see how I can deal with you..."
Because his car was parked in an inappropriate place, it immediately blocked more than half of this already narrow alley.The driver of the car behind saw that the person driving in front was a policeman, so he dared not speak out, even honking the car horn.But the cars behind were beeping one after another because they couldn't see the situation in front of them clearly. For a while, the noise in this narrow alley was harsh and chaotic...
Mu Xin felt that it was very embarrassing, so she shrank behind the uncle in line in front, hiding at an angle where Duan Xiucai could not see.Unexpectedly, the mobile phone she had been holding in her hand suddenly rang. Mu Xin was startled, turned her back quickly, and answered the phone angrily: "Yang Qian, why are you calling when you don't go home early in the morning? ? Your night shift last night was worth the rest, wasn't it?"
"I want to stop!" Yang Qian complained, "An unknown male corpse was found in the abandoned quarry in Siding Town. Gloves. I guess you won’t be able to go home for a few days, so you can sleep by yourself. If you are afraid, ask Hao Huinan to accompany you.”
"Not going home again..." Mu Xin frowned dissatisfiedly, and then asked worriedly for the umpteenth time, "Then pay attention to your own safety, follow orders in all actions, and don't be too reckless."
Yang Qian agreed with a "hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh'' Yang Qian, not knowing how much he listened to.I have handled too many cases, and I have heard too much of my wife's nagging. Gradually, my left ear goes in and out of my right ear.Mu Xin was angry that he couldn't understand how much she cared about him, so she hung up the phone angrily.Putting away the mobile phone and turning around, the aunt who happened to spread the pancake fruit also put the spread pancake fruit in a plastic bag and handed it over.Mu Xin said "thank you", took the pancake fruit and turned to walk in the direction of the Public Security Bureau.In the distance, Duan Xiucai's broken van could be seen bumping all the way into the gate of the Public Security Bureau. Mu Xin frowned and looked at his watch—it was 8:20, and it would be captured by the camera at the gate of the police station in ten minutes. No mercy for being late.
Five minutes later, Mu Xin entered the gate of the unit, went up to the second floor, turned right, and there were two huge glass doors at the end of the corridor, on which were written in bold characters: Command Center.
Everything remains the same—the pancakes at 8:20 every morning, the gate of the command center at 8:25, and the sound of alarm calls behind that door. This kind of realism is Mu Xin. The day begins.This is the place commonly known as the "110 Alarm Station", and its scientific name is "Command and Dispatch Section of the Command Center of the Xiushan District Branch of the Public Security Bureau of G City".There are thirteen people in Corey from the section chief to the section staff, eight of them are police officers, and they are dispatched in teams of two.Mu Xin's partner is Meng Yueyue, a police academy graduate who is three years younger than her but started working a year earlier. She is a pretty girl and very enthusiastic.There is also a little bit of gossip - thanks to this habit, Mu Xin had the opportunity to systematically learn about the political history of the leaders of the Xiushan District Bureau, down to the nepotism map of the police, and even all kinds of peach blossom secrets and old anecdotes ...
Of course, this day was still like this—Meng Yueyue was already on duty when Mu Xin pushed the door open, and was taking notes neatly while answering the phone: "Shuanglong community pays the front room of No. 1, okay, we will send the police as soon as possible."
Putting down the phone, Meng Yueyue turned her head and greeted Mu Xin with a smile: "Sister Mu, good morning!"
"Morning," Mu Xin put away her things, walked to her podium with a water glass and pancakes, and asked Meng Yueyue with a smile as she sat down, "Did you call the police a lot last night?"
"Of course there are many," Meng Yueyue shook her head while dispatching the police to the police station of Shuanglong Community. "In summer, there are many people enjoying the cool air at night, and there are many people drinking and making trouble. Brother Xu complained when he was on shift just now, saying that there was no call to the police last night. Broken. In urban areas, there are mainly fights in front of barbecue stalls, quarrels between neighbors, and people who rush to grab bags. In rural areas, it is mainly drunk people who beat people and destroy crops... I just got a policeman, not far from our district government A sea cucumber shop far away was robbed, and the initial estimate of the loss is millions of dollars."
"Millions?" Mu Xin clicked his tongue, "How do you move the millions of sea cucumbers? By car?"
"It doesn't need such a big show, a small three-wheeler is enough," Meng Yueyue counted, "Now a catty of sea cucumber costs several thousand yuan, right? That's high-end consumption, and there are only a few sea cucumber shops in our district? "While talking, I couldn't help gossiping, "Oh, right, how did I hear that the owner of the sea cucumber shop is our Duan Ke's wife's natal relative? Duan Ke didn't come into his office just now, so he came here for a stroll first, annoying It has to be like something."
Before Mu Xin could answer, the phone on the podium in front of him rang.She put down the pancake she just took a bite of, and picked up the phone: "Hello, Xiushan 110..."
Before she could finish speaking, an old lady's terrified voice came from the phone: "Police! Is it the police? I'm looking for the police!"
"Hello, auntie, we are the police, how can I help you?"
"Are you a policeman? Let me tell you, Comrade Policeman, the security of this society is really a problem!" The old lady was heartbroken. Let’s do it, even if you lend me ten brains, I can’t imagine that this kind of thing will happen! Isn’t this a harmonious society? How can you be so insecure, you say..."
"Auntie, don't be angry, tell me what happened first?" Mu Xin didn't understand why the old lady called the police, so she had to interrupt the old lady's impassioned comment on current affairs.
"What happened?" The old lady became more and more indignant, "I told you that you may not believe it! This world is getting worse and worse. You said it was early in the morning, it was only after eight o'clock, and I just When you go out, how can you encounter such a thing..."
"Auntie, what happened?" Mu Xin was very helpless and interrupted the old lady's chatter again.Listening to the old lady's eloquent words, Mu Xin thought that she must not be from the subordinate administrative village.
"What's the matter? Oh, yes, I haven't talked about the matter yet," the old lady remembered that she had come to call the police, not to chat with someone, "Let me tell you, Comrade police, I am here at eight o'clock this morning. As soon as I went out, before this person came out of the stairs, the paper bag in my hand was snatched away with a 'whoosh'! Didn't you look at that fast! I saw the back of a young man, not tall Gao, he ran quite fast, and disappeared in no time! In my hand was a paper bag with the Erdos cashmere sweater logo on it. You said he didn’t think it contained a cashmere sweater? You said it was a cashmere sweater Well, then why is he grabbing a cashmere sweater? He might not be able to wear that size either!"
"Auntie, just tell me where you are, and we will contact the nearest policeman, and maybe we can snatch your bag back for you." Mu Xin was worried for this nagging old lady—she had time to talk , Maybe the police patrolling nearby have already captured the suspect.
"Get the bag back?" The old lady regained her spirits, "You can still get it back? Why didn't I hear that there are still people who got it back? Are you sure you lost it or lost it for nothing?"
"Don't worry, there was a robbery at the entrance of the hospital the day before yesterday. Because the owner called the police in time and the suspect's characteristics were accurate, he was arrested on the spot by the patrolling police ten minutes later." Mu Xin said concisely, "Auntie, please tell me your address and phone number!"
"My house is next to the TV station in our district, the dormitory of the experimental primary school, but you don't need to use it! I just want to tell you about someone robbing, you just need to know," the old lady finally became satisfied, "tell your leader , this law and order work must be unremitting, and the people's police must serve the people!"
Mu Xin was completely dizzy: "Auntie, isn't your bag robbed?"
"Yes, it was robbed," the old lady suddenly realized, "Oh, did I forget to tell you, that little thief is so stupid, he robbed the garbage bag that I was about to go downstairs to throw away!"
"..."
When Duan Xiucai entered, Meng Yueyue was still laughing so hard that tears were about to flow out of her eyes.Duan Xiucai glared at Meng Yueyue, and scolded: "Why are you laughing so loudly during working hours, don't you know that the leadership office is right next to you? The policeman! The policeman!"
"Uh," Meng Yueyue hastily swallowed back the last half of her laughter, and explained, "Don't blame me, Duan Ke, it's so interesting that Sister Mu met an old lady when she called the police just now..."
"What's interesting? It's only interesting when the work is done!" Duan Xiu glanced at Meng Yueyue angrily, and then put a typed copy of the instant warning in front of Mu Xin, "You wrote this?"
Mu Xin bowed her head, because it was the warning message she had issued before: At 5:12 p.m. on July 13, a citizen called the police...and arrested two criminals...the gang burglarized many times, involving a total of more than 40,000 yuan ...
"What is a gang?" Duan Xiucai asked angrily.
"It seems... a little less rigorous." Mu Xin frowned and thought.
"It's not a question of imprecise, it's a very idiot!" Duan Xiucai gave Mu Xin a look, then turned to look at Meng Yueyue, "What do you mean by a gang?"
Meng Yueyue studied law and order at the police academy, and was terrified by Duan Xiucai's stare, so she had to answer honestly: "The two are a gang, and the three are a gang."
"That's right." Duan Xiucai had a headache expression on his face, and he didn't miss any chance to hurt Mu Xin, "Mu Xin, you are still a graduate student after all, right? Why don't graduate students even know this?"
"Graduate students can't know everything," Mu Xin seemed to be joking while busy with the work at hand. "Besides, I don't have to have this degree. The school has to award it to me when I graduate. What can I do?"
"Then it's better to throw it away." Duan Xiu curled his lips in disdain, as if this would be enough for his mouth.
These words were really unpopular, coupled with Duan Xiucai's cold brows and cold eyes, Mu Xin held his breath for an instant, feeling that his face was obviously humiliated.But he couldn't show it yet, so he could only take a deep breath, and repeatedly warned himself in his heart not to fight for quality with people without quality, and a strong dragon can't overwhelm a snake... After a few seconds, Mu Xin finally swallowed this breath for the nth time, With a half-smile, he said: "Alright, why don't you go and talk to the director of the Education Department and ask him to take back my academic qualifications. Anyway, I also have a full stomach for my opinion. I have studied art design for seven years, but in the end the award is still the same. 'Master of Arts' degree, don't talk right, don't you think I'm engaged in literature?"
Mu Xin's tone was joking, and Duan Xiucai didn't know what to say next.He could only throw the warning message on Mu Xin's desk, ordered "rewrite" and then turned around and left the gate of the command center.From the monitor, Mu Xin saw that he was driving the broken van away from the Public Security Bureau spewing smoke all the way, and then appeared at the intersection two streets away, so he turned around and asked Meng Yueyue, "Where did Duan go?" ?”
"I guess I went to help my wife's natal relatives. You haven't seen Lao Duan's wife, a tigress! Cory always has to call to check on the post when he has dinner, for fear that he is eating out alone with the little girl. I guess this is My wife ordered him to find someone to help solve the case as soon as possible."
"Then it's not like this...to be so angry, right?" Actually, Mu Xin wanted to say that Duan Xiucai "catch whoever bites whoever". After thinking about it, he swallowed it back.
"Section Chief Gu has graduated and will officially start working next week. I guess Lao Duan is depressed," Meng Yueyue finally couldn't resist the eternal pursuit of exploring and disseminating leadership gossip, "Actually, Lao Duan also wants to be recommended to the Provincial Party School Going to graduate school, but there is no way, people stipulate that they can only recommend majors or above to study, the old section is a minor, definitely nothing to do with him. I suspect that he will be angry now thinking about it!"
"I think Section Chief Gu is a very easy person to get along with." Mu Xin recalled Gu Qing. There is always a fight in a relationship.
"Of course. In fact, I really like to hang out with female section chiefs. At least they are all women. We can understand each other in some things. Last time I had dysmenorrhea, and I was dying of pain. Section Chief Gu let me go home and rest without saying a word. , she answered the phone for me for a long time. This has to be replaced by Lao Duan. Even if you finally let you go home on vacation, he will have to tickle you a few times, and he will let you go after a while. I don’t know how he So it’s unreasonable? Hey, you said you’re going to be allowed to leave anyway, so it’d be great to sell your favors! You have to be superfluous, and you’ll be satisfied if you don’t invite people to see you..." After all, it’s a little girl, and Meng Yueyue loses her head when she complains.
Mu Xin didn't know how to react to the little girl's emotions: she could tell from her conscience that she wanted to complain with Meng Yueyue, but her reason told her that she couldn't—this was Xiushan, the unfamiliar Xiushan, the She will leave Xiushan one day.She knew very well that since she didn't know anything about this place, she couldn't tell the truth. "Don't speak ill of others" is the way of survival that Yang Qian told her before she came here.She agreed, and took it to heart.
What saved her was when the phone rang at a critical moment. Mu Xin looked at the name and answered with a smile: "Why do you think of me when you have time today?"
"You really know how to say, I have been waiting in this poor country for almost two years and finally waited for you, an unlucky boy, to accompany me. Who else can I miss if I don't want you?" Hao Huinan also had a smile in her voice, "Is today the day shift or the night shift? I invite you to dinner."
"Day shift, get off work at seven in the evening, can you wait?"
"Can't wait," Hao Huinan said, "Tomorrow, come to our village at noon tomorrow, and I'll treat you to dinner."
"Your village? Aren't you in the town government?"
"Oh, yes, I mainly want to tell you this - I officially became the secretary of the village party branch and director of the village committee of Dadingjia Village, Siding Town, a week ago, commonly known as the 'village head'. The past week has been very good It’s precarious, I wanted to invite you to lunch today to listen to my complaints, but you don’t have time, so let’s try another day.”
Mu Xin felt the news was incredible: "Aren't you in the government of Siding Town? Why did you go to the village again?"
"It's hard to explain," Hao Huinan sighed. "Simply put, there are two factions in the village fighting each other. They all want to be the secretary of the village party branch, bribery, cold war, petitioning... all tricks are exhausted, and they fight like black-eyed chickens every day. The town really had no choice, so it decided to temporarily parachute a village chief to make the transition. Probably the leaders felt that I was the only waste in the town government office. The distribution came here... Hey, didn't CCTV report similar things, I read it as a story at the time, and it was my turn to find out that there is no story more bleak than life itself..."
"Trash?" Mu Xin didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "After all, you also graduated from a bachelor's degree. Logically speaking, you can be regarded as a limited number of highly educated talents in the town government?"
"It's been so long since you graduated, why haven't you realized that 'high education' has something to do with 'talent'?" Village head Hao sneered roughly, "You are still a graduate student, so you have to come to the county to be a small student. Police? What does your degree help you? Does it make you more capable of leadership, or can you write beautiful official documents? I think this degree has not benefited me at all, but has added to my confusion—you haven’t seen everyone When the subsidy was issued on the 10th, I was directly evaluated as a section member because I graduated from university, unlike them who all came out of clerks. We have been working for the same money for many years, and I have paid the same amount of work these years. Hey, you said that the difference between the first-level salary is only a few tens of dollars. Are they going to trouble me every month? They really think they are Aunt? I can't wait to slap their mouths with a sanitary napkin!"
Mu Xin couldn't help laughing, and the feeling of being irritated by Duan Xiu just now was relieved immediately.
"Forget it, let's not talk about these bad luck, anyway, you have to come to the office whether you like it or not, you still have to enjoy yourself. Let me tell you that my biggest achievement this week is to find out that there is a small shop at the entrance of our village The fried chicken is pretty good, come over someday when you have time, I'll treat you to eat."
"Tomorrow, I'll find you at noon tomorrow."
"That's fine. When you come, bring me a few bags of microwave popcorn from the supply and marketing cooperative next to your bureau. This thing is too advanced, and we can't buy it in the supermarket in our village."
"Sister, it's not called a supply and marketing cooperative, it's called 'Lianshang Supermarket', it's such a big place..."
"Don't think that I don't know it if I change the vest. When I first came here two years ago, it was the County Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Hurry up, don't say much, don't forget to buy popcorn when you get off work."
After Hao Huinan finished speaking, she hung up the phone.Mu Xin closed the line, sat at the table, thought about Hao Huinan, Yang Qian, and herself, and suddenly felt a lot of emotion—maybe, life is indeed an unknown journey, when you are in a desperate situation, an inconspicuous You will gratefully recognize all the small and small paths that are life-saving; but if there are two equally golden roads in front of you, the torment of the choice is no less than the entanglement of nowhere to go.In fact, no matter which path you choose, you will still be unwilling on the road afterward because you have not tried another life.
People are always like this, either in panic or regret.Mu Xin thinks, from this point of view, Hao Huinan is better than himself, because Hao Huinan is better than Mu Xin in finding comfort in life, even if it is just a fried chicken shop at the entrance of the village or a "supply and marketing cooperative" Microwave popcorn inside.
At noon the next day, Mu Xin boarded the bus to Dadingjia Village as scheduled.When she was sitting in the car, she thought of the process of getting to know Hao Huinan, and she always seemed to be at the point of panic or regret.
It was the summer vacation of the junior year, in the basic class of postgraduate entrance examination counseling, Mu Xin and Hao Huinan happened to sit next to each other.In the middle of summer, the auditorium was full of students who were learning English and politics from the masters from the capital.When that large room was crowded with people in an auditorium where the air conditioner was not working well, the air became more and more sticky.So all kinds of heat-relieving equipment appeared on the stage - the girl sitting in front of Mu Xin was holding a hand-held miniature electric fan, the boy on the right was holding a bottle of mineral water with ice cubes, only the girl on the left was the strangest, she seemed The buttocks shook from time to time as if being pricked by a needle, and occasionally she half-raised her body and reached out to touch the seat... While listening to the boring political analysis, Mu Xin sneaked a look at the girl on the left until the other party caught her. After she stared curiously, she froze for a moment and smiled.
I saw the girl who was still swaying left and right just now took out a soft cushion from under her buttocks, and complained to Mu Xin in a low voice: "I bought a water cushion yesterday, saying that it will be cooler when sitting. I think this The house was five yuan cheaper than others, so I bought it, but it turned out to be a bit leaky..."
While talking, she raised her body again when everyone was writing quickly, and turned to show Mu Xin: "Help me to see, is there something missing?"
Mu Xin was surprised as she walked along the girl's slender fair legs and firm buttocks in front of her, all the way to see the big water stain in the middle of the back of the blue denim shorts... Counterfeit and shoddy products kill people!
As a result, that day, the girl next to Mu Xin turned into the Art Academy with her hands behind her back and the large plastic bag that Mu Xin used to store materials, seemingly nonchalantly—it was the nearest school to the location of the remedial class. Mu Xin was still a student there, so she could lend this carefree girl named Hao Huinan a skirt that looked a bit nondescript.The reason why it is nondescript is probably because this girl who obviously has a good figure has basically never worn a skirt since she was a child.But Mu Xin's trousers were a bit too long for her of medium stature, so she had to drag the borrowed skirt awkwardly all the way outside the school.While walking, he told Mu Xin that the school he was going to apply for was in Shanghai, and that he was a "three-cross" candidate across schools, majors, and regions. It was normal not to pass the exam, but it was abnormal to pass the exam...
Mu Xin was overjoyed when she heard it, and asked her, "What if I don't pass the exam?"
"Go to work, I don't want to repeat the study. Repeating the study is equivalent to being unemployed for a year. Even if you pass the exam in the future, I don't know if the employment situation will still be bleak in a few years." Hao Huinan was an extremely pragmatic person at that time, " If we study accounting, if we are willing to work as an accountant in a small company, we won’t be able to make a penny, anyway, a company must have finance.”
Mu Xin nodded. In her heart, she was actually very envious of Hao Huinan, who had a "special skill", because she didn't know, if she couldn't get into a graduate school, and couldn't get into a related design company, what else could she do?
But fortunately, God favored her after all—half a year later, after Mu Xin participated in the postgraduate entrance examination counseling improvement class, sprint class and even quiz class, she was admitted to the graduate school of the school and was able to continue to breathe for three years.
It's a pity that Hao Huinan failed the ranking.In the following two years, she first joined a Taiwan-funded company, but she resigned because of her boss's sexual harassment; I took the postgraduate examination of the accounting department of my alma mater once, and failed again; I failed the examination twice for civil servants in central government agencies, once in provincial government agencies, and once in municipal government agencies; I applied for jobs in two public institutions, but was told that it could only be regarded as a "contract system" , because there is no "career editor" quota recently... It is a long road to job hunting, and at the most difficult and difficult time, it is not that Hao Huinan never thought of giving up, but what is the difference between giving up and not giving up? It is a last resort.
When she was in such a desperate situation, Hao Huinan felt that she had no face to contact her old classmates. She didn't even have the courage to attend her old classmates' wedding ceremony, just because she didn't want people to know that she was once arrogant and wanted to get into a big city. Hao Huinan, who is a graduate student, can only move express parcels in logistics companies.Before being suffocated to death by the dross of life, Hao Huinan had no choice but to confide in Mu Xin—after all, she did not graduate from the same school, and Hao Huinan believed that no matter how vain she was, she would not be so stingy enough to be jealous of Mu Xin who got what she wanted.And Mu Xin was "frustrated in love" after "proud in the examination room". Speaking of which, these two people are also sisters and sisters, and they have been sympathetic for a while in the following days.
Fortunately, in Mu Xin's second year of graduate school, Hao Huinan finally passed the G city civil servant examination and was admitted to the township civil servant position - of course, this is also due to the fact that her two years in the society were counted as "two years of grassroots work experience". ", in line with Xiushan County's strict requirements for grassroots experience in the recruitment brochures, and there are therefore many fewer competitors.In the first six months after the official registration, Hao Huinan also felt lucky and gratified for this stable meal, but as time went by, she gradually developed a heart that "water flows to a higher place".
Therefore, in the days that followed, Hao Huinan quietly picked up the review materials for the civil service exam, hoping that one day she would be able to pass the exam on a higher platform, but unexpectedly, the more she wanted to go to a higher place, the fate would take her instead. Throw it at the lowest level.
Although Mu Xin was fully prepared, she was still startled when she saw Hao Huinan: the girl in front of her had short hair, was tanned, and her face was still covered with a thin layer of gray.
"Where's the long hair?" Mu Xin asked with staring eyes.
"I cut it early, how long have you not seen me?" The two sat down in the fried chicken restaurant, Hao Huinan stretched out her hand and called the proprietress over, "Fried a chicken, spicy, fried mint leaves, and a scone."
The proprietress turned to go to the kitchen, and Hao Huinan opened up the complaint box completely: "You haven't seen how miserable I have been this week. When I first took office, I called a meeting of village cadres, and I sat at the door of the village committee office and waited for a whole day. Come to participate. I really had no choice but to invite members of the two village committees to come to the meeting in person. Anyway, I am a girl, so they are always embarrassed to kick me out. So after a day of delay, our meeting was finally completed. Of course, as for the two factions during the meeting, no one spoke at first, and then they rushed to speak, and they talked like crazy... But I can't go door-to-door right away, because it's always inconvenient for me to be a girl. Second, I don’t know which faction is which. If it’s wrong, it’s easy to cause trouble. I can only wait and see, and do some superficial work by the way, such as repairing roads. Anyway, I’m already in office, so I can’t be idle .”
"How can it be so easy to fight for road construction funds?" Mu Xin frowned, "Prevarication, bureaucratic airs, isn't it rare these years?"
"Since they dare to let me come, I dare to make a scene," Hao Huinan snorted coldly, "It's the end anyway, and there's nowhere to go down. I figured it out, it's really a soft persimmon! After a few years of being cautious, I ended up being dismissed. It’s better to be like a rabbit and bite people in a hurry! You see, since they dare to let a woman come down to pick up this mess, they have to pay for their actions courage. As the only female secretary of the village party branch in the whole town, I plan to display my female characteristics, crying, making trouble, hanging myself, throwing up and rolling, and making them look good without giving me money!"
"According to the "Civil Servant Law", they really can't just fire you," Mu Xin laughed. "As long as you have the courage to tear your face and make trouble, maybe you can really make a difference!"
"I don't plan on that, let's do a little bit of the work in front of me first," Village Chief Hao said with emotion a few days after he took office, "After all, we are not college student village officials, and there is no village chief to command us. You, on the contrary, you have to direct others. It is impossible to complete tasks by teaching villagers to surf the Internet, helping left-behind children with homework, or building electronic files. Myself. I really don’t know if I don’t come, the work of dealing with people is the hardest, much more difficult than simply sitting in an office.”
As if to confirm what she said, just halfway through the meal, a chubby woman rushed in and shouted from a long distance: "Village chief, village chief, there is a fight, and people are about to be killed!"
"What?" Hao Huinan stood up "scrambling" with brows bristling, "What's going on?"
"Zhao Meihua and Ding Shuren are fighting again," the woman who reported the news was panting, "The village chief did not miss out before, but it was useless..."
Hao Huinan threw down her chopsticks and rushed out without finishing listening, followed closely by Mu Xin, running zigzagging all the way, when she was approaching the door of Ding Shuren's house, she heard someone crying at the top of her throat.
"It's a murder! It's a murder!" Hao Huinan managed to push aside the crowd of onlookers on the third and outer floors, and heard Zhao Meihua's iconic loud voice before entering the courtyard.She was in a hurry to walk into the yard, but she didn't expect to see a white light flashing in front of her as soon as she entered the yard. With a "snap", countless fragments splashed, Hao Huinan took a step back in fright, and hit the person behind.
Before she could react, the people behind her had already stepped in front of her, looked down at the burst thermos liner, and then yelled into the room: "Are you all fucking crazy!"
Hao Huinan looked up in surprise, first saw a blue police uniform, and then saw a familiar face: "Zhang Le?"
Zhang Le turned to look at Hao Huinan, then at Mu Xin who was following Hao Huinan, and asked angrily, "What are you doing here?"
While speaking, Zhang Le's colleague, Zhao Xuhui, also a policeman from the Siding Town Police Station, had already rushed into the house.As soon as the young man entered the room, he exploded with anger—all he could see was Ding Shuren pressing his wife to the ground and beating him.The corner of Zhao Meihua's mouth was already bleeding, but the man on top of him was still punching her on the forehead.Without saying a word, Zhao Xuhui rushed forward and knocked Ding Shuren to the ground.Ding Shuren's reaction was quite quick, he rolled and got up and was about to punch him, Zhao Xuhui followed him and kicked him on the ass, and the moment he fell to the ground, he cut one of the opponent's arms behind him, and then died with his knee Pressing down on the opponent's back, Ding Shuren suddenly fell from the prestige of beating his wife to the position of screaming in front of his eyes when he heard an "Aw".
Zhang Le then followed in, took out the handcuffs and squatted down, neatly handcuffed Ding Shuren's hands, and scolded contemptuously: "You still want to attack the police? Ding Shuren, you are not small."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Meihua jumped up from the ground, pointing at her husband's nose and yelling: "Ding Shuren! I'm fucking your eighth-generation ancestor, you use family money to support a shameless person, you still beat people, you deserve to be rotten to death in your next life Poisoned to death, no one will collect the corpse and let the wild dogs eat it!"
"Say something!" Zhang Le yelled again, the woman's arrogance was instantly extinguished, and she sat down on the ground, patting the ground with her hands and crying loudly.
"I'll call the police! Woohoo, I'm dead. Police officer, he gave all my daughter's school money to that guy. How can our mother and I live... Oh my god, kill me! I It's meaningless to live, I'm going through it day after day! I'm going through it and I'm just waiting to see how these two dogs and men will die!" Zhao Meihua's hair was all messed up, tied in knots, hanging down in strands, sticking to her cheeks side.The red gown on her body was stained with pieces of mud, mixed with her snot and tears, making it extremely dirty.The trousers were also rolled up to the calf, revealing a mass of bloodshot bruises at the ankles.
The people who watched the excitement outside were probably used to this kind of scene, and they didn't think it was strange. They still watched with great interest from the walls, windows, and doorways, and their expressions were more devoted than last winter when Wenhua went to the countryside to watch the show.Mu Xin's chin almost fell to the back of her feet, and she felt that this woman acted much better than those movie stars on TV.
"What's going on?" While talking, Hao Huinan also entered the room, looked at the fragmented environment at the scene, and then turned to ask Zhao Meihua.Zhao Meihua was stunned when she saw Hao Huinan, and then she realized it after a while, and started howling again: "Village chief! You have to make the decision for me! They are all old women, you can't favor this shameless person! He made money Take some money and raise a little wife outside! Woooooo..."
Accompanied by her address, Zhang Le was stunned for a moment, and then looked up at Hao Huinan thoughtfully, but Hao Huinan didn't look at him, but just took out a piece of facial tissue from his pocket, frowned and handed it to Zhao Meihua: "Wipe your face first." nose."
"Ah! Blood!" Zhao Meihua took the paper and wiped it, and then screamed, followed by another series of wailing, "Ding Shuren, you are not as good as a dog or pig, you have to kill me, you have to kill me ..."
Zhang Le glanced at Zhao Meihua, who was bitter and bitter, and turned to look at Ding Shuren with disgust: "Ding Shuren, your wife was slightly injured by you last time, if someone called the police, she would have been killed! This time it's still the same, are you Do you feel uncomfortable if you are not sentenced?"
“我打自己老婆你们管得着吗？”丁树人趴在地上扯着嗓子号叫，“你警察管东管西还管人拉屎放屁？”
“我们不管人拉屎放屁，但是像你这样打人的我们得管，”张乐蹲□，平视着还在不断咒骂的丁树人，“看来我们是得把你带回所里关几天了……你这种人单纯调解没什么用！”
他一边说一边站起身拽一把丁树人的后胳膊，一使劲把他从地上拖起来，“走走走，别在这丢人现眼，先去看守所睡一觉，好好反省反省。”
“啥？”张乐话音未落，赵美花已经冲上来，一把拦住正在往外带人的赵旭辉，“你说啥，要关我男人？你们凭什么关他？”
围观人群都愣了，敢情刚才那个咒丁树人祖宗十八代的不是她赵美花？
“少叨叨些没用的，”张乐推一把丁树人，再看赵美花，“说人话他听不懂，进班房关几天就老实了，知道吗，这是为你好！”
他转身又搡搡丁树人：“赶紧走，我这半个月接你们家两次警了，还蹬鼻子上脸了！”
他手下一使劲，丁树人往前晃了一步，结果又被自己在撕打中脱落一截的裤腿绊了一跤，险些要摔倒的同时还扯落了裤子，露出里面的红裤衩。围观人群发出一阵哄笑，赵旭辉赶紧在旁边扶一把，丁树人才晃晃悠悠站住了，只是嘴里还不干不净：“妈的，你们管不管两口子上床睡觉？赵美花你不用高兴太早，我真进了监狱你就等着喝西北风吧！咱离婚！离婚知道不？”
赵美花闻言愣一下，突然冲上来紧紧搂住丁树人的腰：“我不报警了，我不报警了，你们不能抓他！”
郝村长闻言愣住了，穆忻在一边也看得发呆，反倒是张乐和赵旭辉好像习惯了赵美花的这种反应：“不抓他下次你还得挨揍，我们还得来救你。这种人就不能心软，想想你闺女的学费，这会儿又心疼了？”
“你们要是抓了他，我闺女的学费更没着落了！”赵美花死死搂住丁树人不放，“我不报警了，不报了！”
“警都出了，还差点被袭，你说不报就不报了？”赵旭辉看赵美花一眼，没好气地说。
“你们刚才还打他呢，你们这是刑讯逼供！”赵美花说着又开始放声大哭，“警察都欺负人！你们把人打成这样还脱他裤子，我们老百姓没有活路了啊！”
张乐气笑了。
结果此事到最后到底还是不了了之。围观村民见没有热闹看，三三两两也就散去了。只余下赵旭辉好像有先见之明一样揣着几张做笔录的纸来来回回找人签字，偶尔还训斥丁树人几句。丁树人梗着脖子不说话，赵美花在一边抽泣，他们的小女儿在屋门口探头探脑地看，手里抓块饼干，“喀嚓喀嚓”啃得正香。
张乐回头看一眼赵旭辉，径直走到郝慧楠跟前，抓起她的手：“伤着没？”
郝慧楠毫不犹豫地把手抽回来：“没事。”
“让我看看。”张乐不屈不挠。
“张警官你很闲吗？”郝慧楠面无表情。
“我怎么得罪你了，你一天到晚看见我就跟看见阶级敌人似的？”张乐气得瞪眼，但还没忘压低声音，“我不就是追你一阵子，你至于躲到村里来？”
“你还真抬举自己！”郝慧楠提起这事儿就烦，也低声回骂，“你以为我愿意来村里？我也是牺牲品，知道吗？”
“你俩什么时候变得这么熟？”穆忻在旁边看热闹，有种迷惑的小兴奋。
“我跟他一点都不熟！”郝慧楠矢口否认。
“张警官，下面还有案子吗？”
还没等张乐反驳，一个声音突然插进来。张乐恍然大悟地拍一下自己的脑袋，转头笑：“嘿！对不起啊，褚记者，一忙起来就忘了还要采访了。”
穆忻沿张乐的视线转身往后看，却在看见来人面孔的刹那心脏猛地收缩——褚航声？
这边张乐还在热情地帮大家作介绍：“这是省报的褚记者，来采访'平安G城'建设。”
又转头对褚航声道：“这是穆忻，我们指挥中心的同事，研究生！”
他说完看看穆忻，却见穆忻一副张口结舌的表情。有点纳闷地再回头看看褚航声，只见他先是礼貌地冲自己点点头，然后才朝穆忻微微一笑。
“穆忻，好久不见。”他说。
围观人群都愣了。
那一瞬间，穆忻不知道是该失笑说这个世界真小，还是该抱怨说老天太残忍，过了这么久，久到她以为可以忘记的时候，却安排他们重逢。
过一会，还是张乐先问：“你们——认识？”
认识……是啊……他们当然认识，可是若论渊源，又岂是一个“认识”所能形容？
“好久不见。”半晌，穆忻才生涩地说。
褚航声是真心地笑了，他好像又看见了多年前的那个攥着馒头的小姑娘、那个问他“那个船里面有没有兔子”的毛丫头。他甚至习惯性地想抬头碰碰穆忻的脑袋，但穆忻身边闪烁在张乐领口上的警徽光芒及时制止了他。让他只是笑着说：“忻忻你长这么大了。”
这话没错，但语气太慈爱，瞬间就把郝慧楠和张乐雷得外焦里嫩。郝慧楠憋着笑看张乐，只见他一副快要憋出内伤的样子，便也使劲憋，结果憋得咳嗽起来。张乐见了，直接笑出声。
穆忻瞪一眼郝慧楠，却也托这笑声的福，终于消除了之前难以言说的尴尬，也便笑着答：“快三十了，是不小了。”
“你读的是警察学院？”褚航声再看看穆忻的警服，笑着问。
“我是艺术学院毕业的，”穆忻不知道有关自己的消息有没有经由褚妈妈传到褚航声耳朵里哪怕一点半点，但她自从入警后有一段时间每天都要回答这个问题，所以言简意赅、驾轻就熟，“我考的是省委组织部选调生。”
褚航声恍然大悟。
他乡遇故知，张乐一锤定音，说晚上要请大家吃烤全羊。回去的时候自然是搭派出所里那辆时不时就抛锚的破面包车，由赵旭辉开车，郝慧楠第一次主动和张乐一起坐到最后排，把中间的位置让给久别重逢的穆忻和褚航声。
路上，褚航声问穆忻：“叔叔、阿姨还好吗？”
穆忻侧头看他一眼，确信他在这若干年里真的没有听说关于她家的任何信息，只轻轻在心底笑一下。她想，万幸，再见面的时候，他已不再是那个让她魂牵梦萦的少年了。因为她像他一样有自己的家、自己的爱人、自己的生活，所以，她终于可以这样坦然地跨越四年的年龄差距，从同样是社会人的角度以平等的目光看着他，而不再是多年前，那样无助的仰望。
“我爸不在了，癌症，前年去世了。我妈下岗了，现在还住在老地方。我去年从艺术学院毕业，学的设计，做了警察，在秀山分局110指挥中心。”她轻声答，借着交谈的机会细细打量他：他的脸孔、他的眼睛，他更成熟一点的表情，他更沧桑一点的气度。
她从没有像现在这样大胆地端详过他，这种大胆让她觉得很有趣，也很快乐。只不过，那样的快乐，是隐藏在心底深处的泡泡，细小地泛出来，汩汩的，于表面而言，却不动声色。
但褚航声显然为这若干年里自己的疏忽感到一些歉意，他愣一下，过会才说：“对不起。”
“没关系，”穆忻知道他所指，便笑一笑，“我爸走得很快，也并没有太痛苦。对病人来说，这也算是福气了。”
看褚航声点头，穆忻顿一下才问：“哥，你结婚了吧？”
这声“哥”太久远，远到褚航声因为这个称呼而有一瞬间的错愕，过一会才低声答：“嗯。”
“嫂子做什么工作？”
“她……在外企。”褚航声有点迟疑。
“一定很能干。”
“她确实很能干，”褚航声看看窗外，不知该说点什么，只能下意识重复，“很能干。”
他的语气有些迷茫，穆忻敏感地捕捉到了，但她知道那不是自己所能深究的部分，便不再多话，只是也扭头看向窗外。她觉得有点好笑——她曾经试想过，如果相遇，她会忐忑，会紧张，会不知所措，也会忍不住问他很多分别后的事，比如他的家庭、他的妻子、他们的过去与现在。但真正见面时才知道，好像随着时间的前行，昔日再亲近的人，也会回到原点。
所谓原点，应该就是一点点惊喜、一点点好奇，以及一点点礼貌的客气。
那晚酒局的气氛也是欢快而热闹的。中间张乐起码接了两个约饭局的电话，都被他以各种名目推掉了。推完了放下电话，张乐一边给众人倒茶一边感慨：“这年头干个企业真不容易，伺候了工商伺候税务，就连片儿警也不敢忘了。”
“公安是执法部门，被求来办事的机会也多。”褚航声点点头，举起酒杯和张乐碰一下。
张乐喝口酒，笑着摇头：“毕业时我们都说，穿上这身警服就能帮人办事儿了。可是警察这行，你得干了才知道，到老了老了，办的可能还是这点事儿。”
所有人都会心地笑了，穆忻抿口茶，笑道：“就当是各司其职吧。杀人放火的毕竟是个例，再说真要杀人放火引起公愤了，谁敢保？能平平安安地管点家长里短，也不错了。”
褚航声看着她说话的表情，突然有点愣住了——他印象中的这个女孩子，有小时候眨着一双大眼睛的懵懂，有读书时因为成绩不够好而生的忧郁，有所有关乎童年的记忆，却从来没有这样成人化的恳谈。
似乎，是另外一个人了。当然也或许，只是另外一段时光。
刚好张乐喝口酒，扭头问他：“大哥你和穆姐认识很多年了？”
褚航声愣一下，才答：“我们做了起码十年的邻居，不过也好多年没见面了。”
“哦，那怪不得，我还纳闷呢，怎么就没听你提起褚大哥，”郝慧楠笑眯眯地看着褚航声，“穆忻结婚时的答谢宴上还是我帮忙给大家发的喜糖呢，我说怎么一点印象都没有。”
“你结婚了？”褚航声有些惊讶地看着穆忻。
“我没说过吗？”穆忻瞪眼回忆一下，才不好意思地笑一笑，“我结婚半年多了，我丈夫是和我同批的选调生，也在我们局工作，刑警。”
“可惜了，今天这是小羊羔，杨哥没口福。”张乐惋惜地咂咂嘴。
“上案子了，身不由己，”穆忻看看张乐，皱眉，“你喝酒后还怎么开车？”
“没事儿，我考的是酒后驾照。”张乐不以为然，继续给周围的人倒酒。
“你疯了？现在查得多严！也不能因为咱们是郊区就放松警惕吧？”郝慧楠不高兴地看张乐。
“这点酒也不算多呀！”张乐挺无奈地看看郝慧楠，“再说这附近都是本区的交警，谁不认识谁？”
“你这人怎么这样儿呢？满脑子特权思想不说，那万一撞了人，你还穿着一身警服，怎么收场？现在警民矛盾已经够激烈的了。”郝慧楠生气了。
“你能不能别咒我？”张乐见郝慧楠在这么多人面前让他下不来台，脸色也不好看，可也不知道哪根筋转出了奇妙领悟，突然又喜笑颜开，“你这算不算是担心我？”
这次，感觉在众人面前下不来台的变成了郝慧楠，她气急败坏地瞪着张乐：“我祝福你长命百岁！”
“谢谢，”张乐挺高兴，往郝慧楠盘子里夹一块肉，嘱咐，“村里要是有什么事，你就直接给我打电话，比打110找穆忻他们反应还快速。”
“其实有这句话就不容易，”穆忻看看郝慧楠，有意替张乐说好话，“全分局最忙的一个所就是四丁镇派出所了。”
“那肯定的，”张乐干脆地答，“有一所高中、一所职业学院、一个物流基地，还有若干行政村，事情少不了。大案子不算太多，关键是小事儿太杂，送醉鬼回家、给打架的拉架、帮走丢了的小朋友找妈妈、替忘拿钥匙的大妈联系开锁工……114的口号是号码百事通，我们110的口号就应该是贴身小保姆！”
大家都乐了，看着张乐笑。
“你们说，那些坐大机关的人，比如省直机关、中直机关，离咱近点的就是市直机关的人，他们都忙不忙？我有时候会很迷惑，一边觉得自己很幸运，有份工作，有稳定的薪水，哪怕不多，也饿不死；有时候却又觉得很苦闷，不知道自己当初为什么要这么执着的参加各级公务员考试，直到来到个举目无亲的地方，还百无一用。”郝慧楠苦笑。
“我倒是有不少同学在省直机关，客观点说，我觉得倒不是单位和单位之间的差距，而是岗位和岗位之间的差距——比如说每个单位都有比较忙碌的岗位和比较闲适的岗位，就看你具体被分配在什么岗位上了，你们说是吧？”褚航声想了想才说。
“应该是这样，”穆忻点头，“比如我的工作虽然晨昏颠倒，但算不上太忙碌。值一个白班可以休息二十四小时，值一个夜班后可以休息四十八小时。不过杨谦他们那个刑警队就比较忙。”
“算了，人贵在知足，咱这样，真是挺好的了，”张乐感慨，“尤其是女同志，有份薪水，真是个保障。你们都看见赵美花家了吧？她为什么不敢离婚？不仅仅是因为她拖着个女儿，怕离婚后不好改嫁，也是因为这农村妇女一旦嫁人，在娘家村子里的土地就被收回了。如果离婚，婆家村里的土地不能带走，娘家村里你原来那块地也早就分给了别人，你靠什么生活？就算你能打工赚点零用，住哪儿呢？爹妈不能养你一辈子，兄弟媳妇更不愿多双筷子……所以今天一收到报警我们就知道十有□最后还是得算了，因为很多农村妇女根本不敢离婚，所以到头来还是要向着自家男人的。”
众人终于恍然大悟，随后是沉默。
直到郝慧楠拿出村长的气魄，“啪”的一拍桌子，招呼大家：“得了，也甭伤春悲秋了，这年头不管黑猫白猫，能找着工作的就是好猫！不信问穆忻，她考公务员的时候还念叨什么专业不对口，结果今年你那些师弟师妹有多少参加公考的，不少吧？我可听说今年乡镇公务员面试里面还有个是学雕塑的……咱们是不是得为咱是好猫喝一杯？”
众人都笑了，纷纷举杯，一餐晚宴终于从牢骚大会变成本来该有的活跃气氛。穆忻想，或许我们都是这样走过来的吧——当你好不容易熬成了校园油条，一转眼却发现自己又变成了职场新人；每个人都厌烦自己正在从事的工作，可真让其放弃，又不舍得；聚在一起谈论的都是行业辛酸，看见师弟师妹们求职无路时才会由衷感叹自己已经算是幸福。
而幸福，真是简单。
马克思爷爷告诉我们，物质决定意识，经济基础决定上层建筑。
所以，要想幸福，吃饱很重要。而对于“吃饱”二字的不同理解，或许也是幸福的人与不幸的人的区别之一。
只不过，到后来伴随着总有人出出进进地上洗手间，酒局喝着喝着就分成了两个分会场。
一个是留在屋子里的张乐和郝慧楠不断抬杠，赵旭辉从旁煽风点火；一个是院子里葡萄架下的穆忻和褚航声，在黑灯瞎火里有一搭没一搭地聊天。
要多少带着些酒意，穆忻才有胆量问：“你为什么要回来？”
说这话的时候，她觉得自己的头有点晕，但还在可控制的范围之内。话应该是有点多了，但仔细想想，似乎也无伤大雅。嘴比脑子快，大约就是酒意上涌的必然结果。
褚航声沉默了一会儿，才答：“因为她想回来。”
穆忻“哦”一声，又问：“有照片吗，能不能给我看一眼？”
褚航声一愣，又是过会儿才答：“没有。”
“怎么会？”穆忻不相信，瞪眼看着他，“钱包里没有吗？手机里没有吗？”
她觉得自己这会儿真是胡搅蛮缠，可是既然喝了酒，一切总算是有情可原，更何况，在他眼里，她永远都是个可以胡搅蛮缠的小姑娘不是吗？
既然永远不会走进他的世界，那么站在这世界之外，就算胡搅蛮缠一点，又怎样？
这样想着，穆忻也就释然了，越发不忌讳地盯着他看。直到褚航声低下头，老老实实掏出自己的钱包和手机：“那你自己看。”
Sure enough not.
穆忻觉得这人真是不怎么上道儿，钱包里怎么能没有老婆的照片呢？而且手机里居然一张照片都没有，这人还有点生活情趣没？
褚航声看她瞪眼，摊摊手解释：“钱包里本来就没有放照片的习惯，手机是刚换的，没来得及照。”
说完了紧接着反问：“不把你老公的照片给我看看？”
穆忻爽快地掏出手机，找到照片夹，递过去。
褚航声一张张地翻看：穿春秋常服的杨谦、穿执勤服的杨谦、穿作训服的杨谦，当然还有穿便装的杨谦。同样站在一个男人的角度，褚航声不得不承认，这个小妹夫，长得还真是不赖。
想着想着就说出来了，穆忻笑一笑，把手机从褚航声手里抽回去，一边往兜里放一边说：“我妈就喜欢这种小白脸，看见了就恨不得替她姑娘抓牢了。那时候我妈总说你长得好，读书也好，是我们楼上最有出息的孩子。不过就是太有出息了，我妈知道高攀不上，才不敢乱想。”
说完话，一阵凉风袭来，穆忻才怔住一下：自己刚才都说了什么？
褚航声却笑了，伸手拍拍穆忻的头顶，拍完了手却僵在半空中，他也怔住了，他想：自己刚才在做什么？
他们都不知道，这看似不经意的轻轻一拍，在对方心里掀起多么大的波澜——于穆忻而言，她似乎突然被一股柔软的暖流击中，心脏蓦地胀一下，好像是瞬间感觉到一种异性的友好，又像是一个哥哥的慈爱，甚或是一种难以名状的温情；于褚航声而言，他似乎才意识到眼前的小姑娘长大了，长大到已为□，长大到成熟漂亮，她不再仅仅是个妹妹，而是一个仅仅比他褚航声小四岁的年轻女人，全身上下散发着爽快却又婉约的韵致。
就像一团轻雾，瞬间，有奇怪却又好受的滋味，在两人心头弥漫。
或许直到此刻，褚航声才真的意识到，当一个十岁的男孩和一个六岁的女孩在一起时，四岁是悬殊的差距；而三十二岁的男人和二十八岁的女人在一起时，四岁只是一步之遥。
褚航声终于在这个有点闷热的晚上后知后觉地意识到：他印象中的小姑娘，是真的长大了。
面对长大了的小姑娘，褚航声不知道自己该问些什么。
或许也不需要他问，因为穆忻已经开始借着酒意絮叨，说她是怎样考到这个城市里来，可他走远了，青梅竹马果然不靠谱，因为青梅太酸、竹马易折，比不得长大后花花世界里的香甜饮料或是电动小火车；说她其实在报纸上见过他的名字，专栏嘛，有深度，但隔着一层报纸，写字的那个人却如此陌生，因为她小时候只知道他数理化成绩好，却没想到他连作文都很好；说做记者多精彩啊，想写什么就写什么，自由自在、针砭时弊，可她呢，糊里糊涂就做了这完全不懂的一行，隔行如隔山……
她就这么絮絮地，低着头，不看他，只是自顾自地说。褚航声并不觉得烦，只是听着听着，就有些发愣。
她才刚刚说到自己不快乐。
她不快乐吗？
褚航声好像又看见了小时候那个总是问他“大白船如何如何”的小姑娘，他实在是没法想象，这样一个女孩子，怎么就会不快乐？
后来，那晚，是褚航声送穆忻回家。
出租车里，穆忻借着酒意对褚航声说：“一定要让我看看你老婆，她比我漂亮多少？”
褚航声不知道该怎么回答，过了很久才答：“她去香港了，很长一段时间内