Chapter 5 Chapter 4 The Fall from the Top of the Ivory Tower

It was three days later when Yang Qian returned home, when he opened the door, he saw Mu Xin sitting on the small bench next to the coffee table, eating a bowl of instant noodles while blowing on the air conditioner.The stomach that had been hungry for a whole day made the sound of "gurgling" in response to the occasion, and Yang Qian felt that the aroma of the fried noodles swelled in his brain instantly.Speaking of which, everyone knows that instant noodles are junk food, but after not eating them for a long time, they miss them somewhat, and when they are hungry again, they simply feel that they are invincible and delicious.

So as soon as Mu Xin looked up, she saw Yang Qian's expression of shrinking his nose. He almost couldn't wait to throw down the car keys and walked into the house, asking her, "Are there any extra noodles?" Mu Xin looked down at her own bowl, worried: "You didn't say you would come back for dinner, I only cooked for one person. How about... cook another bag for you?" "I'm almost dying of hunger. You can cook another bag. I'll eat this bowl first." Yang Qian went forward to hold the bowl while talking, but was beaten by Mu Xin: "Wash your hands."

"No, I'm starving to death. I'll die after I wash my hands." Yang Qian resisted Mu Xin's hand, took the chopsticks and sat down on the sofa to gorge. Sitting back on the small bench, Mu Xin looked at Yang Qian in surprise and asked, "Have you not eaten for a few days?" Yang Qian didn't have time to answer her, so he buried his face in the bowl and ate the noodles.Seeing his sweaty face, Mu Xin felt infinitely sad. She thought, now, if she had another chance to meet the junior sister who had secretly promised Yang Qianfang back then, would the other party believe that the person in front of her was the handsome and suave senior brother she stubbornly believed to be Zhilan Yushu in the past?

Sighing secretly, Mu Xin felt that she had completely lost her appetite, so she simply got up and went to the kitchen to cut watermelon. Yang Qian swallowed a few big mouthfuls of noodles, and then regained some vitality. He stood at the door of the kitchen with a bowl in his hand, and complained to Mu Xin while eating: "Squatting for three days in a row, every meal is full of biscuits. It turned into biscuits. It’s such a hot day again, even if the car has an air conditioner, it still smells like sweat. I went to the mobile company to get materials in the afternoon, and I almost didn’t smoke them! The old man at the gate watching the parking lot is very special Seriously, he insisted on asking me to pay the parking fee, and he ignored me when I said I was a policeman, and in the end he took out his police officer's ID and let me go, muttering..."

Mu Xin frowned: "Are you playing with privilege? Even if I go out by bus, I still have to pay the parking fee." She carried the watermelon all the way out of the kitchen, and Yang Qian followed her around in circles: "Are you an idiot? You pay the parking fee with your police officer's card, like a policeman!" "Yang Qian, listen to what you call it?" Mu Xin turned to stare at him, "It's normal to play with privileges, but it's abnormal to follow the rules? No wonder people say 'the police and gangsters'!" "Isn't it just to stop the car? As for the online release? Next time whoever says 'the family of the police and robbers', you can tell him that if you have the ability, don't call 110 in your life. Anyway, the police and the family of the robbers are nothing. "After eating the noodles, Yang Qian reached out to wipe his mouth indifferently, "You haven't seen some people who scold the police behind their backs more fiercely than anyone else. Everyone can't wait. I don't want you to help them with their affairs in the future, just to make it easier."

"Flies don't bite seamless eggs," Mu Xin took the noodle bowl and handed Yang Qian a piece of watermelon, "It's really like what Hao Huinan said, the conflict between the police and the people is troublesome enough, but I met you people who are afraid of the world." Those who don’t mess up are either Zhang Le who drives after drinking, or you who deliberately don’t pay parking fees, and those who change lanes illegally and run red lights at every turn, since you dare to do it, are you afraid of being criticized?” "Zhang Le is about to make a contribution, right? Last time he caught the flying car and robbed a gang." Yang Qian asked while eating watermelon.

"He is really awesome. He caught one at the scene and ran away. The ones caught during the interrogation were all thrown away, and those who ran away were in vain." "What's so awesome about this?" Yang Qian looked at Mu Xin with a smile, "If you catch one, you can catch a whole bunch, it's obvious." "Are you so sure they will recruit?" Mu Xin squinted at him. "Is there anything impossible about this? The evidence is conclusive. There are plenty of ways for him to recruit." "Extorting a confession by torture?" "Hey, don't look at me with that kind of look. We don't count it as torture, right? It's corporal punishment at most? Besides, sometimes it's a last resort. It can save lives at critical moments."

"Excessive words." Mu Xin was somewhat disappointed. "Really. When did that happen? If we hadn't beaten the kidnapper to death in that kidnapping case, he would have never revealed his hiding place early on, and he would have died two hours later if he went there—it happened to be kidnapped." Someone with heart disease," Yang Qian finally took a breath after eating the noodles and watermelon, and lay down on the sofa comfortably, squinting his eyes and sighing, "It's still comfortable at home." Mu Xin felt that he was talking to a duck, so he ignored him and turned to the kitchen to wash the dishes.Amidst the rushing of the water, she was a little distracted while washing the dishes: in the face of the earth-shaking changes in the people and things around her, she didn't know whether she was being too idealistic, or the world was hopeless?

However, no matter how many unsatisfactory things are in life, there are still three or two points of satisfaction in the end——Mu Xin finally had the opportunity to watch TV with Yang Qian that night——this ordinary life scene of ordinary people is extremely unfavorable to life. For them who are regular, it is nothing more than a kind of enjoyment. The two of them nestled on the sofa and watched the TV series broadcast by the local TV station. It was the TVB classic "Forensic Pioneer". Yang Qian was lying on Mu Xin's lap, watching TV and laughing while touching his wife's leg, and was photographed by Mu Xin. More than once: "Be careful!" "Be quiet!" "Don't laugh!"

Yang Qian was overjoyed: "Daughter-in-law, your taste is really peculiar, do you like watching science fiction movies now?" "Nonsense, this is a gangster movie!" "Do you want to watch a gangster movie? Come to me someday, and I will take you there, sweating while eating biscuits, and smelling the smell of stinky feet in Santana. That's called a gangster movie. This is to measure liver temperature at every turn, and what kind of instrument is used to find bloodstains?" What kind of police film is fingerprints? What kind of substance is that box of ointment? How can our technical squadron have such a thing! Didn’t you see that the pile of footprints in the warehouse of the technical squadron near the door are all footprints made with yellow mud? Check the dead body Time is enough to rely on forensic experience, why is it so troublesome to measure liver temperature? It’s a mystery, science fiction movies are like this.”

"You're so tacky!" "How can I be vulgar? This is the reality. You women just can't accept the reality. Last time you said that the old Zhou of the technical squadron didn't look like a good person. Didn't you think he was not handsome? I also I didn’t realize how handsome the black potato was on TV.” "What black potatoes, that's Ouyang Zhenhua, I really like him." Mu Xin protested. "I think Lao Zhou is cuter," Yang Qian glanced at his wife, "Don't think he's a little naughty, but he has a technical secondary school education, and his business is excellent! There was a case a few years ago. A woman came to report the case, saying it was two Years ago, the village party secretary hacked her man to death at her home. How can you settle the case after two years of death? The scene of the crime has been cleaned and painted! It’s still Lao Zhou, the one with poisonous eyes, someone else After searching around, he couldn't find any evidence, so he went to the scene to have a look, and he aimed straight at the Eight Immortals table in the middle of the main room. He opened his mouth and asked the reporter, "Was this table here when the incident happened two years ago?" The reporter said, "In Ah', Lao Zhou asked someone to turn the table over and scraped the legs of the table to scrape off a layer of mud on the outside, and there was a layer of dried blood inside! The village party secretary was frightened, and before we asked, he Recruited..." "Really? It's just him...he doesn't look like..." Mu Xin couldn't believe it when he thought about Lao Zhou's foolish face. Yang Qian put on a contemptuous expression: "Women are always superficial." He was grabbed by Mu Xin's ears and twisted, and then he begged for mercy, then closed his eyes and frowned, "I have a headache, isn't it heatstroke?" Mu Xin let go of Yang Qian's ear with some distress, lowered her head and hugged his head and pressed it: "Where does it hurt?" "Brain hurts." Yang Qian hummed. "Nonsense." Mu Xin reached out to pat his forehead and massaged him, "By the way, can you imagine that Hao Huinan actually became the village head! And when I went to mediate family disputes with her, I even met her." What do you think is a coincidence that the elder brother of the neighbor's family is now working as a reporter for the provincial newspaper?" When he said this, Mu Xin suddenly felt that Chu Hangsheng really seemed to be just a passer-by - he was once a dream of a little girl's crush, and now the person in this dream stood before him alive, but because of their identities in their marriage , and indeed turned into a novel encounter. But obviously Yang Qian's attention was not here, he just opened his eyes and looked at Mu Xin in surprise: "Hao Huinan? Didn't she study finance and accounting? How did she become the village head? She is not considered to be recruited by the Organization Department." A college student village official? I remember that he was a civil servant recruited by the county, so does this count as a temporary post?" "You have a pretty good memory." After Mu Xin explained Hao Huinan's background in a concise manner, his subordinates put in a little more effort and pressed Yang Qian's temples hard, "Who told me to get into the civil service first, even if I’m not afraid to start from the grassroots, and I’m not afraid of saying, ‘As long as you enter the system, you will have mobility opportunities in the future, so the goal should be lowered, and you can’t go to the sky in one step’... Yeah, look at us, it seems that we were recruited by the Public Security Bureau , but was sent down to the county town in one go; look at Hao Huinan, who thought he was admitted to the county party committee compound, but was sent to the town not long after, and now he went directly to the village. It's like, rushing, flowing straight to the lower place!" Yang Qian quickly grabbed Mu Xin's hand and said haha: "Don't say that, anyway, we were considered to stand out in the one-in-a-hundred exam, right?" Mu Xin was happy: "Stand out? Who is 'Ying'?" Yang Qian didn't understand: "What do you mean?" "The 'Ying' who 'stands out'! Everyone has 'get away', and we have become 'Ying'..." Yang Qian was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help laughing out loud.He looked up at the ten o'clock position of the wall clock, and he didn't want to waste any more time. He turned over and pressed his daughter-in-law who was still whining and complaining under him. Put your arms around his neck.But with just one glance, in the eyes of Yang Qian, who was gathering less and leaving more, it was still like a fire that burned himself instantly... It's a pity that tenderness is always short-lived. The next morning Yang Qian was called away by a phone call. Mu Xin woke up and looked at the alarm clock beside the bed, it was only six o'clock.Looking at the empty bedside, Mu Xin sighed, got up and washed, and started a new day—the pancakes at 8:20, the gate of the command center at 8:25, life is the same. At around eleven in the morning, Mu Xin went to the district government with the "Public Security Information" she had just printed out, and when she was about to reach the gate of the government compound, she received a text message from Yang Qian: "I am checking files at the Organization Department of the District Committee, and we will meet at noon Let's eat!" As soon as Mu Xin was happy, she simply called him back: "What a coincidence, I'm here to deliver the message. Are you on the nineteenth floor? I'll find you after I deliver it?" "No, you wait for me on the first floor, I'll go down now," Yang Qian replied with a smile, then asked again, "Why are you so noisy over there?" "I walked to the gate of the district committee, and I don't know why so many people surrounded me. Hey, is this a petition?" "Don't watch, come in quickly, finish your work and go eat!" "Okay!" Mu Xin rejoiced, walking towards the district committee compound and subconsciously looking at the crowds around her, but she didn't expect her luck to be so "good"-to meet the Xiushan District Committee committee member of the year. The largest group petition at the door!On that day, it was said that hundreds of petitioners blocked the gate of the district committee firmly. No matter how the director of the bureau mobilized and the 110 police who came after hearing the news persuaded them, they just guarded the gate. We must wait for the secretary of the district committee to come out and give justice! The inexperienced Mu Xin made an obvious error of judgment when the two sides were in a stalemate - she tried to squeeze through the crowd and squeeze into the gate of the district committee, which was guarded by security guards and police, and the security guard standing at the gate did indeed see This familiar girl tried to open a door for her.Then, at the moment when the gate was about to open, the swarming crowd wrapped Mu Xin in the crowd and pushed forward. After Mu Xin stumbled and staggered a few steps, he was knocked to the ground by the person in front who suddenly turned around. , so the people behind were tripped by Mu Xin again, and then piled on Mu Xin one after another like dominoes. In an instant, the screams of many rural women changed their tunes, "I trampled to death"... The scene suddenly became chaotic. group. In the chaos, Mu Xin wanted to stand up but couldn't stand up. She could only feel countless chaotic feet stepping on her out of balance.She wanted to yell "Help", but before she could yell out, the people who seemed to have just got up behind her were squeezed down again and hit her back heavily again. The powerful impact made her want to bleed out on the spot!In a critical moment, she could only keep in mind the instructor's instructions during the training, hugging her head tightly and protecting the back of her neck, until a few hands stretched out from nowhere dragged her from the center of the arhat-like storm like a bag of rice come out! The moment he saw the sun again, the blue police uniform on the savior almost brought tears to Mu Xin's eyes.But in the next second, when she was still clinging to the policeman's arm in front of her, and she couldn't tell the direction, the riot policeman who dragged her out had already pushed her hard, pushing her directly out of the crowd.The huge inertia caused Mu Xin to sit down on the curb in embarrassment when she was completely thrown out of the crowd. The sharp pain instantly went up from the tailbone along the nerve endings. She grinned and rubbed her waist while raising her head. Suddenly found that the entrance of the district committee has become a mess... When group petitions turned into group conflicts, Mu Xin realized for the first time that the industry she had chosen might really be a high-risk industry. At the same moment, Yang Qian was burning with anxiety in the elevator. The reason was that he was about to go downstairs to pick up Mu Xin, but he just heard two people chatting in the elevator, and one of them asked, "I just heard the noise downstairs, do you know what's going on?" Another person replied: "I'm going to petition, the land near Datian Village is going to be expropriated, and the compensation has not been coordinated." "Oh, too little money?" "No. Some people planted saplings in their fields, while others didn't. After the compensation plan was announced, it was said that those who had saplings could pay more, so someone planted more than 4,000 saplings in one mu of land overnight. .” "It's too exaggerated. It's a fake at first glance. Can so many saplings survive?" "That's right, so people who didn't make fakes didn't want to. They came to petition once. Later, it was changed to compensate only according to the area regardless of whether they planted saplings. Come to visit." "No wonder it's so lively." "It seems to be stepping on someone? I just heard someone shouting 'stomped to death' at the gate. I was shocked." "Who did you step on?" "I didn't see clearly, the police and the masses are mixed together. Anyway, as long as it's not the masses, you say that if the masses are injured, there must be a series of people involved; if the police are injured, we can go to condolences. It's really not possible. Can... be rewarded for meritorious service." It was around this time that the speaker realized that Yang Qian, who was standing behind him, was staring at him, so he paused before changing the second half of the sentence.But Yang Qian heard it clearly, and knew that this sentence was originally a buzzword in the officialdom. I don't know which leader said the original sentence. He just said: No one can kill the common people!When the common people are dead, let's take off our black hats and stop doing it; if we die, we would rather die the policeman than judge him as a martyr and give his family a lifetime pension! The first person to say this to Yang Qian was an old policeman in the criminal police team who had worked in the police force for thirty years. cold. Now that you know that you are disappointed, be careful inside and out, and live well.If he really died, he wouldn't even know how to write the word "cold". ... Yang Qian was thinking wildly all the way down from the 19th floor far away from the ground to the first floor. He just came out of the lobby and saw Zhang Le running this way. My sister was stepped on." Yang Qian felt that his blood rushed to the top of his head, and his heart probably had a little insufficient blood supply, and he didn't know where he fell to.I ran to the gate in three steps at a time, and saw that the staff of the police station were already calming the emotional crowd one by one, and the policemen in duty uniforms were checking the injuries of the injured. "Wow, wow" and drove this way, amidst the crowds, he didn't see Mu Xin alone. It wasn't until he finally squeezed out of the crowd that he saw his poor daughter-in-law on the curb: her hair was loose, her body was covered with shoe prints, and she was holding a few torn white papers in her hand, blowing them carefully. Scuffs on the wrists.Yang Qian was so distressed that he didn't know what to say, so he hurried forward, squatted down, looked into Mu Xin's eyes and asked, "Are you okay?" Mu Xin saw that it was Yang Qian, her nose was sour, and she felt tears were about to flow down, but suddenly remembered that the three floors around her were full of people, so she held back her tears.He just lowered his head and let out a "huh", sniffed, and stopped talking. Yang Qian looked carefully at Mu Xin's wounds: mainly abrasions, mainly concentrated on the forearm and calf, the wrists and ankles are fine, and the ribs are not broken, so Yang Qian heaved a sigh of relief. It was already 12:30 noon when they got home, and the two of them were starving, so Yang Qian had no choice but to cook instant noodles, the only thing he was good at.Mu Xin went to take a bath, and when she came out of the bathroom, Yang Qian saw that her eyes were red and knew she had cried, so he had to sigh secretly. Sure enough, when eating noodles, Mu Xin's tears rolled down one by one if the heat blinded her eyes.Yang Qian couldn't eat anymore, so he sat beside her and hugged her, and heard her cry on his shoulder and said, "Yang Qian, I've had enough, can we leave here?" leave?Yang Qian smiled wryly in his heart: You have to be in the middle of everything to know that no matter how luxuriant the idealistic flowers are, they can't match the lack of pH in the real soil, and it will be a matter of time before they wither.Just like before he came here, he only knew that the transfer students had to go to the grass-roots level to be eligible to pass the exam, but he never thought that in the past twenty years, the entire Xiushan branch had introduced dozens of transfer students, but no one had successfully left. There are doors that are easy to come in but difficult to get out. For example, he and Mu Xin are the first and second batch of master students introduced by the Xiushan District Public Security Bureau, but if they have no connections and no test skills, they will have to stay here for the rest of their lives.After all, according to the documents above, the police force must be lowered, and outstanding talents must undergo training at the grassroots level, so don’t say you have a master’s degree, even if you have a doctor’s degree, there is always a chance and reason to be sent to the district or county police station for a transfer.It’s just that some people with background and ability leave after a symbolic experience, but some people have to go on forever—he or she has no chance to become the former when reincarnated, so will it be the latter? When she lay down on the bed after eating, Mu Xin was still crying, choked up and complained: I studied for nineteen years just to be an operator?All kinds of strange calls to the police——clashes between villagers in nearby villages, scams by gangs at logistics bases, calls made by a resident in the community who kept a dog to disturb the people, calls that were drunk and couldn’t find their house, a tree fell on the side of the road, or there was a gap in the middle of the road. A sewer manhole cover... Why do you have to do it yourself when you can do it after elementary school?She is not a local and does not understand the local dialect. In order not to affect the dispatching of the police, she has to use greater energy to learn and use the dialect vocabulary than when she took the English test for CET-4.She can clearly speak standard Mandarin, why did she have to twist her into such a nondescript appearance?She used to host various cultural and sports activities on the stage of the Academy of Arts, and tried her best to approach the elegance of intellectuals. At that time, what she tried to manage was just the word "temperament", but now, what she tried to get rid of is not It is these "temperament"? She thought, now she finally understands Hao Huinan, and finally understands why she refuses to attend the reunion of college classmates—why isn't she Mu Xin?She was considered an excellent girl in the past, a civil servant who "stands out" in the eyes of everyone, who knew that she was just an operator wearing a uniform? This is like a glass city wall. Everyone outside the wall thinks that they have seen everything behind the glass: the comfortable and comfortable iron rice bowl, the official consumption and gray income, and the conveniences in daily life... So That's why so many people flock to it while scolding and despising it.But only after I walked in did I realize that power and gray income have nothing to do with me.She still lives at the bottom of the civil servant system, and when she raises her head a little, she can see many second-generation officials and second-generation rich people who are not as good at learning as her. People who can't be neglected... You see, no matter where she is, she has to rely on others and can't help but feel inferior. But laymen are laymen.As a married woman, no matter how wronged she was, she didn't have the courage to break the glass wall all at once, and exchange for a precarious "freedom" in a bloody way.Therefore, she can only fantasize more than once: One day, she and Yang Qian can obtain a fair and suitable mobility opportunity within the existing system, and work hand in hand on a higher and broader platform. Smile appropriately, talk politely, and use your brain to study, instead of being like a robot, serving tea and water to the leader and buying cigarettes all day except answering the alarm call. Isn't this a waste of life? Thinking of this, she couldn't hold back the grievances accumulated for more than a year: "Sometimes, when you don't come home, when I sleep alone, I often look at the ceiling and cry, and I never tell You, because I am afraid that you will think that I am blaming you, but to be honest, I am indeed blaming you, and every time I feel sad because of unhappiness at work, I hate you." Yang Qian was stunned. Mu Xin ignored Yang Qian, just looked up at the ceiling blankly, and repeated: "Yang Qian, I hate you! I hate this place, and I can't leave as soon as possible. You are the one who dragged me into the quagmire, so I hate you." Yang Qian's heart tightened, and he turned around and hugged Mu Xin tightly in his arms. Mu Xin didn't speak, but listened to the noisy cicadas outside the window, and felt that there was something in his heart, a crack appeared faintly. It was one o'clock in the afternoon when he woke up, and after only sleeping for half an hour, Mu Xin rushed to work.Before leaving, Yang Qian held her back as if he remembered something: "My parents said they would come and stay for a while." Mu Xin was a little confused. After a while, I remembered and asked, "When?" "It's the weekend, they also had a whim, saying that we haven't come to see it after we've been married for so long..." Mu Xin bit her lower lip, thinking that it would be good if she didn't come to see it, and she didn't really want her newlywed life to be disturbed—even if it's such a newlywed with few gatherings and many divorces, wouldn't it be awkward for two more elderly people? But these words can only be thought about but not said, she nodded: "Okay, will you pick it up then?" "I'm afraid I have to go on a mission, so call me when the time comes, and pick it up if you're free." Yang Qian patted his head again, "My mother has a cleanliness habit, so find time for us to clean up before coming here, so as not to be caught She nags." "Cleanliness? You never said that." Mu Xin was surprised. "Didn't you tell me? I thought you found out when you went to my house." Yang Qian was also very helpless. "Anyway, it's just a worrying life. It's not clean anywhere. Both my dad and I think she's menopausal." Syndrome, as long as you are mentally prepared, don't say that I deliberately hide it from you." Mu Xin didn't know whether to laugh or cry - so what if she kept it a secret?After getting married, they are still two people who are planning to live together for the rest of their lives, and they are not playing games. Even if the mother-in-law is really picky, can she really take it to heart? Mu Xin really didn't know much about her mother-in-law Xiao Yuhua. On the weekend, while standing on the platform waiting to be picked up, Mu Xin sorted out all her impressions of Xiao Yuhua in her mind. She only met Yang Qian's parents twice. The first time was after they confirmed their relationship, she followed Yang Qian to his house and met his father who was a technical worker in the power plant and his mother who was also a logistics worker in the power plant.Just like what Yang Qian said, his family is not rich and powerful, nor is it a scholarly family, but ordinary urban civilians.It's just that because it is a large state-owned enterprise, the income is good. In addition to a welfare house of more than 100 square meters allocated by the unit, I also bought a commercial house.When they met their daughter-in-law for the first time, they were not very friendly, but they were very polite and gave Mu Xin a watch with a generous style and an affordable price as a gift.By the time we met for the second time, it was already at the wedding.That day, it was the first time Mu Xin bowed and called "Parents" to the other two people who had never lived together in their lives.After more than twenty years of not meeting each other, Mu Xin felt for the first time that the two syllables "Dad" and "Mom" were so jerky when they came out from the tip of her lips... While thinking about it, the train finally came from a distance and stopped in front of Mu Xin.Mu Xin just stood in front of the number "6" written on the platform, and when she looked up, she saw the door of carriage 6 open with a bang in front of her.What a coincidence, the first one to come out was Mu Xin's father-in-law Yang Chenglin, behind him was her mother-in-law Xiao Yuhua who was dragging a huge luggage bag. "Dad, Mom, how are you doing on the way?" Mu Xin hurried forward to take the luggage bag from Xiao Yuhua's hand, and greeted her in-laws. "Mu Xin!" Yang Chenglin saw Mu Xin smile kindly first, then looked behind Mu Xin, and then asked wonderingly, "Where's Yang Qian?" "He's on the case," Mu Xin hurriedly explained, "There's a murder case, and he didn't go home last night." "I really don't know how he, a policeman, can be so troublesome." Xiao Yuhua was unhappy when he heard it, and complained while wiping his sweat, "I don't go home during the Chinese New Year, and I say I have to be on duty. It seems that the earth will not turn without him. .” Mu Xin thought for a while, but still had to explain: "This is how the public security works. To ensure the police force, the best way is to arrange a shift every two days, so you can't go far during the long holiday..." "But Yang Qian clearly told me that he was admitted to the Public Security Bureau, and if he didn't pay attention, he became the Public Security Bureau," the mother-in-law interrupted Mu Xin's explanation, "You said that the postgraduates who graduated from the provincial university came to support the frontier? ?” Mu Xin originally wanted to say, "Being transferred in the name of the Public Security Department does not mean that you will stay in the Public Security Department to work", but before she could say anything, she heard Yang Chenglin ask, "Can I find a taxi at the door?" "I borrowed my colleague's car." Mu Xin looked back at Yang Chenglin, smiled, and replied, "It's just that I have to work the night shift tonight, so I can't be at home with your elder brother..." "It's all right, work is important," Yang Chenglin nodded, "Just go to your class, as you are all from your own family, so you don't have to pay too much attention." Hearing this, Mu Xin breathed a sigh of relief, took a peek at Xiao Yuhua's unhappy expression, and didn't dare to say anything more, but rushed to the parking lot with his luggage, and drove the broken Jetta all the way in the scorching heat. Rumbled back to "home". On the way, Mu Xin looked at Xiao Yuhua in the rearview mirror countless times, and saw her constantly wiping her sweat, and Mu Xin began to feel uneasy—it seemed that she always felt that Xiao Yuhua was not as friendly as when they first met. It is said to be "home", but it is actually just a simple and cramped space. The rented two-bedroom house was located in the dormitory area of ​​the original county fertilizer factory.The house has a history of more than 20 years, and it is only about one kilometer away from the district government and the central square in the district.In recent years, in order to reflect the newly built buildings nearby, the exterior walls of the fertilizer factory dormitory building have also been repainted, and the flat roofs have been transformed into red pointed roofs, commonly known as "dressing and wearing hats".However, although the exterior has been changed from the old to the new, the interior has not changed at all - the house is still dilapidated, old, and short, and there are drainage pipes with a strange smell all the year round. Occasionally, the vigorous figure of a mouse can be seen jumping up and down. But even for such a dilapidated house, with the increasing number of commercial outlets and floating population after the county was transformed into a district, the rent is also rising.Mu Xin's monthly salary is only 2,500 yuan after becoming a full-time employee, and these two houses alone cost nearly 1,000 yuan.After buying some simple household appliances and giving Mu Xin's mother some medicine money every month, the two of them had very little money left.Mu Xin admits that she has no money, time or energy to find some cheap and high-quality things to decorate this home, so the simplicity is unavoidable—especially the concrete floor and blue and white checked bed sheets that can be seen as soon as you enter the door are even more impressive. It immediately reminds me of the student dormitory in the university. As soon as Xiao Yuhua entered, seeing such a simple and shabby house, he immediately felt a little sad.And because the room is small, it is almost impossible to find a place to stand after putting down the luggage, and the irritability in my heart bursts out in the midsummer temperature of 37-8 degrees. Mu Xin saw that Xiao Yuhua's expression was not good, so she rushed to the bedroom and turned on the air conditioner.The window machine, which has not been seen for many years, makes a roaring sound when it is working.Fortunately, the cooling effect is not bad, instantly blowing some coolness into the small living room. After the cool air from the air conditioner gradually dissipated the hotness in his heart, Xiao Yuhua finally became kind, and began to rummage through the things in the luggage bag: "One family doesn't talk about two families, so I brought you a What about a gift, where did I put it?" Yang Chenglin turned his head and reminded his wife: "Didn't you stuff it into the bag of underwear? It is said that the bag is not conspicuous, so it won't be stolen..." "Oh yes." Xiao Yuhua suddenly realized, hurriedly stepped over the two big bags on the ground, dragged a small bag, reached in and touched for a long time, finally took out a small red bag, carefully poured out the contents, Mu Xin Look, it turned out to be a small golden longevity lock. "This is for my grandson," Xiao Yuhua explained with a smile on his face, "You two have a stable job, so why don't you have a baby early, and help you take care of it while we can. Yang Qian said, you two You have to take the exam in two years, and you will go back to the hall after you pass the exam. Don’t worry, with us here, the children will not drag you down. Young people have to be busy with their careers, we understand this truth.” Looking at Xiao Yuhua's earnest face, Mu Xin didn't know what to say, so she nodded and said, "Thank you, Mom." However, Xiao Yuhua seemed to understand what she was thinking, and said to himself: "We know that coming to live with you is quite a hindrance, but thinking about Yang Qian's job, he may have to stay in the provincial capital for the rest of his life, and he will never return. We are a small city. Although the provincial capital is unfamiliar to us and the air is not good, we only have one son after all, and it is not a problem that the family is always so far away. Over the years, we have also saved Some money, when the time comes, when your work is settled, you can buy a house here, and we will take care of your children, okay?" Xiao Yuhua's expression was so sincere, it made Mu Xin forget the little apprehension and hesitation when they first met.Instinctively, she felt warm in her heart, looked at Xiao Yuhua and nodded: "Thank you, Mom." "You're welcome, I was supposed to give a meeting gift," Yang Chenglin smiled kindly, "You guys were in such a hurry when you got married that you forgot to give this thing, it was saved by your mother several years ago, when gold was cheap , and you can buy a bigger one.” "Gold, no matter how cheap it is, how cheap can it be?" Xiao Yuhua picked out Yang Chenglin's thorn again, glared at him, then opened the small bag and took out the longevity lock to show Mu Xin the label on it, "Ten grams! Did you see, it says here, what is the price of gold now? This is thousands of dollars saved for my grandson!" "It's too precious, Mom," Mu Xin said quickly, and then changed the subject, "Dad, Mom, I have to go to the night shift now, time is tight, and I haven't had time to make you some dinner..." "No, no, let's do it ourselves," Yang Chenglin was squatting on the ground to pack his luggage, but now he also stood up, "Then what do you have for dinner?" "There is a cafeteria in the bureau, so I'll just go and buy some," Mu Xin felt really sorry, "I originally wanted to make dinner for you guys before picking you up at the station, but our place is too far away from the train station..." "Let's go, let's go, we are all a family, so you don't need to see outsiders like this," Xiao Yuhua naturally beamed with joy when he saw his daughter-in-law being so well-behaved and sensible, "We make our own food, so you don't have to worry about it." Mu Xin smiled, didn't say any more, turned around, picked up her bag and said goodbye to go out.When I walked outside the door, I could hear Xiao Yuhua scolding Yang Chenglin in the room, "You are dementia, what are you talking about 'cheap', which makes people think that we are not willing to spend money on our children, so we paid two thousand yuan when we bought it"...It has always been silent Suddenly there was such a strong popularity in the house, Mu Xin felt a little uncomfortable. Compared with the noisy home, the office building of the Public Security Bureau has always been quiet. Every time, when Mu Xin walked in the corridor of the office building, she vaguely felt that the silence was more like a kind of extremely solemn dead silence—because the criminal police brigade, patrol brigade, technical squadron, pre-trial team, etc. were coming and going.科之类实战部门都另有办公场所的缘故，这个基本上是由保障部门组成的大楼里既听不到警车的喧嚣，也没有办案人员的嘈杂，就连走廊尽头处指挥中心的报警电话声都被那两扇硕大的玻璃门掩在了后面，只余下长长走廊两边一扇又一扇深色的门如同玄幻小说里的结界一样阻绝一切声响。余下的，仅有安静的、沉默的、庄严的、纤尘不染的空气，衬托着高跟鞋敲击地板时的“嗒嗒”声，清脆得让人只想踮起脚尖，把这最后一点声音也屏蔽掉。 参加工作一年余，穆忻渐渐知道，这里是另外一个军队。 艺术院校毕业的学生，很多时候比综合大学的学生更没有时间观念。然而站在警徽下，久未谋面的“纪律”二字好像一把锉刀，在第一时间内狠狠磨去你以前所有的张扬、自负、清高，让你知道，在纪律面前，个人不过是微小的细末，只需服从，不必探究。恰好又遇见一个军人出身的分局局长，更是严肃要求随时随地保持警容整齐、内务整洁，譬如领带一律要拉紧、扣子一律要系好、女孩子的长发一律要束起，办公桌亦需光洁如镜，除了电脑，就连一盆绿色植物都不能放。 倘若说严苛的纪律算是“个性”的话，那么这里作为一个基层政府机关，同样有着基层机关单位的“共性”：诸如每天既要伺候着上级单位所需要的这个计划、那个方案，又要随时接待着老百姓的这个上访、那个申诉；办公人员许多都是本地土着，不仅关系上盘根错节，官方语言也自动默认为当地方言而非普通话；基本学历为大学专科或是党校本科，研究生凤毛麟角，属于珍稀动物；摊子铺得大，升迁机会少，科级下面还有股级，听上去难登大雅之堂，但也足以让“有理想有追求”的人们争得鸡飞狗跳；酒局多、酒风盛，领导可以随意，但很少有人怜香惜玉，所以酒场之上女人当男人用，男人当酒桶用…… 至今，穆忻都记得她正式参加工作的第一天，副科长段修才那张看上去热情，但总觉得有点生硬的笑脸：“你就是穆忻吧，欢迎欢迎！研究生，这可是咱们分局的最高学历啊！” 穆忻本能地谦虚一下：“离开学校学历就没用了，我会努力学业务。” “怎么会？”段修才摆摆手，“学历有用着呢，以后你就知道了。” 以后你就知道了——果然，熬过试用期后，根据政策，研究生毕业的穆忻直接定级为副主任科员，简称“副科”。 这个级别相当于什么呢？ 其实，这就相当于段修才自警察学院专科毕业后奋斗了整整十年才获得的那个级别。 十年啊……段修才的十年是派出所里的夜以继日，是出警追捕时的凶多吉少，是审讯犯罪嫌疑人时的斗智斗勇，以及后来回到机关部门后的勤勤勉勉——十年的时光，他段修才也曾怀揣理想、勤奋工作，然后才在竞争上岗时力挫群雄，三十几岁就成为了指挥调度科的副科长。“副科”，这在市直机关、省直机关、中直机关里都平常到不能再平常的级别，却是基层民警十年的汗水累积。那么，穆忻，一个刚毕业的小姑娘，面对基层警务还两眼一抹黑的一个新人，凭什么就能一步跨越他段修才的十年？ 段修才不甘心。 这种不甘心好像一只小虫子，蛊一样钻到他心里噬咬着他，让他在平日里看似温和，心里却极度不平。尤其是当他想到科长谷清同样也是选调生背景时，他更忍不住担忧穆忻会成为自己的障碍——说起来谷清只比段修才大三岁，省理工大学毕业，也是被省委组织部扔在这光荣的基层接受伟大的锻炼，一呆就是十二年。十二年里曾经有过三次考省直机关的机会，但第一次考试时公安局没批准，第二次考试时她即将临盆，第三次考试时孩子生病住院……一晃，所有的机会都擦肩而过，她便被永远留在了这个最最基层的地方。 所以，段修才并不相信谷清能够像她所表现出来的那样从容洒脱、毫不在乎。毕竟作为一个半路出家的警察，谷清在这里无疑是寂寞的——她既没有在警校里一起摸爬滚打三年的同学，也没有办案时可以助一臂之力的师兄师姐、师弟师妹，更没有哪个亲戚在公安队伍里举重若轻，甚至于她都不是本地人，还说着一口标准的却在基层毫无用处的普通话。这样的人，一旦遇到竞争上岗的机会，怕是连给她投票的人都没有。 但，偏偏，段修才没想到的是，谷清那本来在乡镇街道办事处工作的丈夫因为工作能力突出被调入县委组织部，成为了年轻有为的后备干部。从此，夫贵妻荣，几乎在他段修才还没有任何准备的时候，时任秘书科副科长的谷清就调入指挥调度科，成为了他的顶头上司。 三岁，这在官场上几乎算不上任何年龄差。说白了，如果一直和谷清共事下去，谷清已经把段修才的前进道路堵得死死的。 段修才到这时是真郁闷了——尽管不能表现出来，但郁闷仍然无处不在。 他不知道下一次竞争上岗会是在哪一年，但他已经意识到一旦谷清把穆忻当“自己人”栽培，他段修才的机会就更少了：要知道，“学历”这东西在提拔时完全是个可有可无的借口——领导愿意拿它当资历，它就可以成为一种资历；领导若是愿意提拔没学历的人，那你的学历再高也完全可以被忽略不计。所以，段修才明白，他既然已经学历不如人，就唯有在“阵营”上找准位置站准队。 他只是不知道，其实，在穆忻心里，这里从来都不是归宿。 晚上七点，段修才看见穆忻时一副没好气的样子：“小穆，咱们虽然是七点交班，你就不能早点来？” “家里有急事，下次我早来。”穆忻不卑不亢，走进来坐到自己的座位上，平静地答。 “女人永远都是家里的事情多，”段修才烦躁地抓抓头发，“真不明白我们这种部门为什么要这么多女人。” “科长，这话可千万别让嫂子听见，”穆忻回头看一眼段修才，笑一下说，“要是没有女人，谁照顾家里？您哪儿能有时间建功立业？” “嘁，建功立业……”段修才嗤之以鼻，“你们不给我添乱我就能建功立业了。” 说完话，他瞥穆忻一眼，转身出了指挥中心大门。穆忻纳闷地看着段修才，问孟悦悦：“他又怎么了？” “不知道，天天一副提前进入更年期的便秘表情，俗称'早更'，”孟悦悦从一开始就看段修才不顺眼，一不留神就爆了料，“穆姐你不知道，你来之前，段修才好几次来咱屋里炫耀说要引进一个研究生了，研究生啊，多么了不起的学历……也不知道他是不是脑残，反正他说得次数多了，我就亲耳听到过有人回他，说那以后所有工作都让研究生干得了，我们不干了……” 穆忻第一次听说这件事，惊讶地瞪大眼看小孟，想说点什么又觉得说什么都不合适、不安全，于是只好转移话题似的感慨：“想想真是有意思，那么多人争着抢着走仕途，可是有几个知道仕途根本不是想象中那么鲜花遍地、外快多多？说到底除了那点死工资，灰色收入没看见半毛钱，倒是操心太多让人老了不少。” 穆忻一边说一边掏出面小镜子照照自己的脸，好像压根不在意小孟刚才那段话一样若无其事地叹息：“曾经如花似玉，如今徐娘半老。” 孟悦悦噗嗤笑了：“穆姐你真逗。你们家杨哥那是全局都有名的帅哥，上次大家还说要推选他当咱分局形象代言人，以后出个海报什么的就让他露个脸，保准提升全局形象。他都对你忠心耿耿，你怎么会是徐娘半老？” “他？”穆忻想想杨谦，忍不住笑了，“他的审美一直挺奇怪的。” “哦对了，听说下午刑警二队有人受伤了，”孟悦悦有点忧心忡忡，“你没给杨哥打个电话？” “受伤？”穆忻心一沉，抓起手机就拨号，响了好多声才有人接。 “喂，找我什么事儿？”杨谦粗声粗气地在那边问，嗓门很大，中气十足。 听见他这个声音，穆忻松口气：“你没受伤吧？” “你怎么知道的？”杨谦很惊讶，“咱局的情报网这么发达了？” “你受伤了？”穆忻立马就急了，“你伤着哪儿了？” “没大事儿，就是从房顶掉下去扭了一下腰。我还特地嘱咐他们别外传，谁知道他们怎么学的保密条例，个个都跟喇叭似的，”杨谦安慰老婆，“还有比我惨的呢，我们队小宋从房顶掉下去刚好摔在耙子上，屁股上被捅了两个洞，这几天只能趴着了。也不知道那家的房顶怎么修的，刚一踩，哗啦啦碎了一片，刚好就把我俩给漏下去了。” 穆忻苦笑不得：“那你还要继续上案子吗？” “不上了，我今晚在医院观察一下，明天早晨回家，”杨谦语气轻松，“你不是刚好明天早晨下夜班？要不我坐出租车去接你？” “还是我去接你吧，伤员，”穆忻叹口气，“或许也算因祸得福，至少你能陪爸妈两天了，他们都挺想你的。” “唉，”过了一会儿，穆忻才听见杨谦的声音，似乎一下子就安静了许多，“其实今天应该我去接他们比较好。” 他顿一顿，轻喟：“媳妇儿，我好几天没见你，都想你了。” “杨谦，”穆忻突然眼眶一热，不知道是因为心疼还是因为心酸，只是喊一声他的名字就再不知道该说什么，过很久才说，“你小心点。” “我知道，”这样温情的夜晚，杨谦似乎又回到了他们初相识时的小贫嘴，而不再是粗声大嗓，“要是值夜班困了就趴一会儿，明天还是我去接你，回家好好睡一觉。再这么熬下去，我媳妇儿的皮肤都快要熬粗了。” 穆忻不说话了，她微微转过身，挡住自己眼里的泪花，不想让孟悦悦看到。可她挡不住自己心里的难受——她知道夜班不能脱岗，不然她一定会在最短时间内冲到医院。她又不是傻子，怎么会想不到：如果只是简单的扭了腰，哪至于还要留院查看？ 可是他不说，她问也没有用。 她只是，只是在这灯光明亮的晚上，突然无法遏制的想念他。 是深夜，报警电话仍然时不时响起，孟悦悦有点犯迷糊，已经开始趴在工作台上打盹。穆忻看着面前的电脑有点愣神。她在想孟悦悦刚才说的那些话，或许到这时她终于明白自己上岗以来的那些疏离感究竟从何而来——原来，从一开始，这个陌生的地方，这些陌生的人，对自己这个既不是警校毕业，又不是警察子女，偏偏学历还有点偏高的外来户，就是有戒备的。 她有点哭笑不得——不管别人是敌视、戒备还是欢迎，其实她自己又何尝积极地寻找过归属感呢？直到今天，哪怕是她穿着齐整的警服在警员餐厅里就餐的时候，看着身边一片深深浅浅的蓝色，她都仍然觉得是爱丽丝漫游奇境记，好像一觉醒来就会发现这是自己做的一个梦，这些听不懂的方言，搞不清的术语，揣摩不透的人心，都不过是一场梦境。 这些在她眼中高中生都能完成的工作、这些日复一日的机械劳动，这种不被重视也毫不对口，甚至完全无法发挥所长的环境，她不知道还有没有改善的一天。她只知道，七年大学生涯，到这时不是一种优势，反倒成为了一个包袱——对他人而言，这是副主任科员的级别，是竞争对手的存在；对她自己而言，是一种难堪的诘问，一遍又一遍问她自己：“穆忻，这就是你读了七年书的选择？你的所学，几分能够派上用场？你的才华，你花昂贵学费砸出来的专业素养，就这么扔掉了，你可惜吗，后悔吗，心疼吗？” ... 显然，在那时，穆忻还完全意识不到这样的心理落差从何而来——其实，这不过是跳下象牙塔后的失重感，是瞬间抛弃所有曾经的荣耀、必须白纸一张从头做起的无措。她，或是他们，因为多年象牙塔生活的庇护，理所当然地把涉世之初想象成了“读书就是为了前途似锦”的舒适与安逸，所以任何一点委屈都会让自己觉得消沉；也会狭隘地把一段必不可少的历练理解为一种自找的磨难，在不断的后悔中扩大自己的纠结……但，毕竟，这些是要成长之后才能看清的事，就当时而言，她的心智显然没有成熟到如此客观的自省。 那时的她还那么年轻，对未来仍充满花团锦簇的幻想。当成功者的故事在这个浮躁的世界中被无数次宣扬，她像所有那些刚毕业的大学生一样，只看得见成功的光环，却无从把握那些光环背后虐身又虐心的曾经。 是的，日子总要一点点过起来才知道：无论是杨谦爱情的承诺，还是穆忻职业的追随，甚或他们彼此对于这身飒爽警服的想象，都不过是生活对涉世未深的年轻人们，最绚烂的糊弄。 事实上，我们手中所紧握着的生活，其本质更像是一场从象牙塔顶视死如归的坠落。