Chapter 9 Chapter 8 Tracking

Luo Shaohua saw Lin Guodong coming out of the building door from a distance, put down the binoculars hastily, and tried to shrink his body in the driver's seat, only showing half of his head, monitoring his movements. Lin Guodong was still wearing the same clothes he had on the day he was discharged from the hospital, and was carrying a black plastic bag in his hand.He walked slowly to the side of the road and threw the plastic bag into a roadside trash can.Immediately, he put his hands in his coat pockets and looked around aimlessly.A few minutes later, he scratched his cheek and walked towards the gate of the park.

Luo Shaohua sat upright and stuffed the binoculars into a black backpack on the passenger seat.The backpack was bulging, with a water bottle and a half-sectioned bag protruding from the mouth of the pocket, as well as a black stick all over. Luo Shaohua glanced at the stick, it was a retractable baton. Hope you don't need it.Luo Shaohua raised his head, just in time to see Lin Guodong disappear at the gate of the park.He started the car and followed slowly. Luo Shaohua was not sure whether Lin Guodong still remembered him, so he didn't dare to take risks, but followed him from a distance.After Lin Guodong walked out of the park, he walked a few hundred meters to the right and turned into a small road.

Luo Shaohua glanced at the street sign, cursed secretly, and parked the car on the side of the road. It was the morning market on Chunhui Road, and cars would definitely not be able to enter it.While locking the car door, Luo Shaohua wondered if Lin Guodong had discovered him.He walked quickly into the morning market, only to find that Lin Guodong did not disappear into the crowd, but was walking slowly not far ahead. Like a useless "cook husband" who has been unemployed for a long time and has to rely on his wife to support the whole family, he patiently walked through the vegetable stalls, carefully looked at each commodity, asked the price tirelessly, and picked up a box of konjac or a bamboo shoot Looking at it repeatedly, it seems to be full of curiosity about everything.

Luo Shaohua tried his best to hide behind the crowd, carefully observing his every move.At first, he was a little baffled by Lin Guodong's strange behavior, but he soon understood—for a person who has lived in a mental hospital for more than 20 years, he is already unfamiliar with all kinds of things in the world. A surge of joy welled up in Luo Shaohua's heart.This person not far away spent half of his life under the electric shock baton and restraint clothes, and now he has become a useless person who doesn't even know bamboo shoots. But Luo Shaohua soon realized that the reason why he felt weird just now was because he regarded Lin Guodong as the same person as himself.

Just like myself, I witnessed the rising sun and setting sun, experienced cold winter and summer rain, spring and autumn, and witnessed the rapid development of this city, from bungalows everywhere to high-rise buildings. Just like the illusion that Luo Shaohua often felt: when he stared at those darker corners on the dark street, he always felt that a pair of eyes were looking back at him. He never actually left. After passing through the morning market, Lin Guodong went straight to the bus stop across the street, looked up at the stop sign, and waited quietly on the spot.It was too late for Luo Shaohua to go back to drive, so he could only hide behind a breakfast stand and stare at him closely.

A few minutes later, a No. 116 bus came slowly.Lin Guodong got into the car behind a few old people carrying vegetable baskets, walked to the center of the car, and stood by the rings.Seeing the bus leaving the stop, Luo Shaohua trotted across the road, waved for a taxi, and followed. After saying to the driver, "Follow the No. 116 bus in front", Luo Shaohua took out his mobile phone, connected to the Internet, and began to check the bus stops along the way.After analyzing several stops where Lin Guodong might get off, Luo Shaohua put away his phone and found that the driver was looking at him constantly.

"Old man, you are..." Luo Shaohua almost blurted out the words "police handle the case", but changed it to: "Grandson skipped school, I'll go and see which Internet cafe this kid goes to." The driver's chatterbox opened up, from educating children to Internet bar rectification.Luo Shaohua had no intention of chatting with him, and dealt with it absent-mindedly, his eyes fixed on the bus in front of him.After four stops, Lin Guodong got off at Changjiang Street Station.Luo Shaohua asked the driver to park the car not far in front of the bus, watched Lin Guodong walk into the intersection of Changjiang Street, he paid the fare and got off the bus.

Changjiang Street is a commercial pedestrian street in this city. At this time around nine o'clock in the morning, most of the commercial buildings have opened for business.In Luo Shaohua's memory, Changjiang Street has been one of the city's main commercial districts since the reform and opening up, and several major commercial buildings have a history of more than 20 years.At the same time, he also realized the reason why Lin Guodong got off the car here. Lin Guodong is trying to fill the gap in his memory, and the commercial street is obviously the best window to re-understand the city.

He stood in the middle of the entrance of the pedestrian street, with his hands in his pockets, looking up at the tall buildings around him.The cold wind of deep winter was blowing, and the fat pants were blown against the legs, outlining the shape of the slightly curved legs.At this moment, the pedestrian street is still deserted, there are not many pedestrians, and everyone looks in a hurry, no one pays attention to this old man with outdated clothes but a strange expression on his face.Lin Guodong looked at the place for a while, then walked into the nearest commercial building. He walked slowly, looking around all the time, and seemed to be interested in everything around him.A few minutes later, he was attracted by a vending machine in the main hall of the commercial building. After studying up and down for a long time, after carefully reading the instructions, Lin Guodong took out a wad of cash, took out a five-yuan note, and stuffed it into the coin slot.Then, he went back and forth between the rows of bottles and cans, finally pressing the button below the can of Coca-Cola. With a "gudong", a can of Coke fell into the delivery port.He was taken aback, as if he didn't know where the sound was coming from, and he walked around the vending machine a few times, still with a look of confusion on his face.

A girl next to the Kanto cooking stall covered her mouth and laughed, pointing to the outlet under the vending machine.Lin Guodong suddenly realized, and took out the can of Coke.He held the red jar, looked around in circles, and then looked at the vending machine, with a happy expression on his face, like a child who has aligned the four-sided Rubik's Cube. Immediately, he opened the can of Coke, took a sip cautiously, first frowned, then smacked his lips, as if he was quite satisfied with the taste. So, Lin Guodong began to stroll slowly in the mall with a Coke in his hand, taking a sip from time to time.The first floor of the mall is mainly counters of various jewelry and watch brands.Lin Guodong looked at the counters one by one, occasionally stopping to listen to other customers talking with the salesperson, always with a friendly smile on his face.Probably because he listened too intently, he attracted the attention of a pair of young men and women who were shopping for diamond rings.The young man looked at him vigilantly from time to time, while the girl turned the satchel to her body and held it tightly.Lin Guodong didn't take it seriously, smiled, and left slowly with a Coke in his hand.

When going upstairs, Lin Guodong encountered some small troubles again.He hesitated at the escalator, and finally stood aside to watch the other customers climb up the escalator one by one.After pondering for a while, he stepped up the escalator carefully. The moment the escalator rose, Lin Guodong lost his balance. After dancing on the narrow steps, he barely grasped the handrail and stood still.The escalator ascended to the second floor, and he watched breathlessly at the end point where the steps were gradually coming together, and he jumped exaggeratedly, almost falling on the smooth marble floor. Surprisingly, he held the can of Coke firmly in his hand all the time, without spilling a drop. The second floor mainly sells women's clothing.Lin Guodong still looked leisurely, walking slowly.Luo Shaohua followed him from a distance, relying on pillars, counters and other customers to hide himself.After more than an hour, he gradually lost his patience and began to doubt whether his follow-up was necessary.The current Lin Guodong is indeed like an old man who has just recovered from a long illness, gentle, clumsy, weak, harmless to others and himself, and even looks a little pitiful. Poor? When these four words appeared in Luo Shaohua's mind, he immediately reminded himself to stay alert. Don't be fooled, never again.Because, there is no longer 23 years to remedy and repay. Luo Shaohua cheered up, poked his head out from behind a large poster, his eyes widened immediately. Lin Guodong is gone. Cold sweat immediately covered his forehead.Luo Shaohua rushed out from behind the poster, looking around.At this moment, he is in the two rows of shops on the second floor, with women's clothing of various brands on the left and right.He remembered that the last place where Lin Guodong appeared was the Amash women's clothing store on the right side in front of him. After rushing into the store, there was no sign of him. There were only a few women in the store who were choosing trench coats and trousers. woman.Damn, woman. It's daytime now, and it's in a bustling business district, so why wouldn't he... Another possibility is that you have already exposed yourself. After only a few hours of tracking, he was discovered by the other party and was easily thrown off.Luo Shaohua scolded himself secretly, is he such a waste just after retiring? Even after entering several shops, Lin Guodong still disappeared.Luo Shaohua began to consider whether to search for fire exits, and just walked to the corner of this row of shops, a person appeared in Luo Shaohua's peripheral vision.He didn't stop, and didn't turn his head, but went straight to the fur clothing discount exhibition area in front of him, got into a row of men's leather jackets, picked up a random one in front of him, and then, he barely suppressed his rapid breathing, Turning around slightly, she looked towards the door of a women's clothing store. Lin Guodong was still holding the can of Coke, with his back to himself, quietly watching something in the window.Because the line of sight was blocked, Luo Shaohua had no way of knowing whether he was looking at a certain person or a certain exhibit, but judging from the time, Lin Guodong should have been looking at it for a long time. A few minutes later, Lin Guodong, who looked like a wooden sculpture made of clay, suddenly started to move. Immediately, he made a strange movement: he raised his jaw, raised his shoulders, stretched his back as far as he could, and opened his arms slightly... He seemed to be stretching, or trying to stretch his body completely, releasing something that had been suppressed for a long time. This movement lasted for a few seconds, and then, just as suddenly as at the beginning, Lin Guodong relaxed again, turned around, and walked away unsteadily. Luo Shaohua finally saw clearly what he had been staring at, and in an instant, his heart was cold. Lin Guodong spent a whole day shopping in the pedestrian street, during which he also ate old duck vermicelli soup and Taiwanese fried chicken chop.At dinner time, he entered a KFC restaurant and ordered a set meal. Burgers, fried chicken and French fries are fresh foods for him. Lin Guodong peeled off the wrapping paper, looked at the bread with chicken and lettuce in his hand, and opened it layer by layer curiously, and looked at the neon signs for ordering food. The display on the signboard seems to have some doubts about the size and appearance of the burger.However, this did not affect his appetite. After taking the first bite, Lin Guodong showed a satisfied expression on his face. Luo Shaohua hid behind a lamp post opposite the restaurant, already so hungry that his stomach ached.He didn't dare to go away to buy food, for fear that Lin Guodong would disappear without a trace again.At this moment, night has fallen, and the bright neon signs on the pedestrian street are set off like daylight.The flow of people is still not sparse, and the young men and women wandering here after get off work are jostling shoulder to shoulder in the street, which seems more lively than during the day.In the darkness of the night, coupled with the various lights and shadows and the hustle and bustle of human voices, an ambiguous atmosphere slowly flows on the street. For Lin Guodong, night is opium, intoxicating but full of danger.Luo Shaohua thought so. He lit a cigarette and silently looked at Lin Guodong in the restaurant.The latter had already started to eat French fries and followed the example of other customers and spread ketchup on them. He ate slowly but attentively. The Coke can was still in his hand, like a treasure that he was reluctant to throw away.In fact, Lin Guodong had already drank all the Coke.But he seems to use it as a symbol to bring himself closer to the world, even though it makes him look more like a scavenger picking up soda bottles. After about forty minutes, the long dinner finally came to an end.Lin Guodong ate all the food, even chewed and swallowed the ice cubes in the drink.After wiping his mouth, he picked up the empty coke can and got up to leave. Luo Shaohua stubbed out his cigarette, turned around, and looked at the window of the opposite shop.In the reflection reflected by the glass, Lin Guodong stood at the door of the restaurant, looked left and right, and walked towards the bus stop at the intersection of the street. Luo Shaohua breathed a sigh of relief, and followed quietly. Half an hour later, Lin Guodong walked into Unit 4, Building 22, Lvzhuyuan Community.Luo Shaohua was in a corner on the opposite side of the building, and couldn't wait to unzip his pants chain. Urine poured out, and the bladder that was about to burst finally relaxed.What followed was a tight burning sensation in the stomach.Luo Shaohua rubbed his stomach while staring at the window of Room 501.Soon, a light came on in that window.Lin Guodong's figure was looming, judging from his movements, he was taking off his clothes.After a few minutes, he disappeared from the window, only to reappear, seemingly vigorously wiping his hair with a towel.After a while, the lights in the room suddenly dimmed—he turned on the desk lamp and turned off the electric light. Immediately afterwards, the light in that window began to flicker, alternating light and dark.Luo Shaohua guessed that he was watching TV, hesitated a little, and ran out of the park. He ran all the way to the intersection of Chunhui Road, and the dark blue Santana car was still parked by the side of the road. Under the low temperature in the middle of the night, the body was covered with a thin layer of frost.Luo Shaohua took out the key to open the door, and at the same time found a parking ticket stuck on the window.He cursed secretly, tore off the ticket, put it in his pocket, and sat down in the cab. After starting the car and turning around, Luo Shaohua held the steering wheel with one hand, and reached for the backpack on the passenger seat with the other hand, pulled out a piece of bread, tore open the plastic wrapping with his mouth, and took a big bite. He chewed the bread in his mouth, stepped on the accelerator hard, and drove back to the Lvzhuyuan community quickly. The light in the window of Room 501 is still there, and the indoor light is still erratic. Lin Guodong should still be watching TV.Luo Shaohua parked the car in a hidden place, turned off the engine, and ate bread slowly. After being frozen for a day, the bread has become dry and hard, and it is like a log in the mouth.Luo Shaohua gradually felt that his mouth was dry and his throat was choking uncomfortably.He took out a bottle of water from his backpack, and the place where he touched was hard and cold, and he immediately realized that the bottle of water had been frozen into a lump of ice. damn it! Luo Shaohua subconsciously raised his hand to touch the car keys, wanting to turn on the warm air in the car and melt the bottle of frozen water as soon as possible.However, he looked up at room 501, where the lights were still on, and put his hand down again. cold.Hungry.thirsty.anxiety…… All kinds of bad emotions came to my heart, and finally gathered into a wave of anger.Luo Shaohua rolled down the car window and threw the water bottle out viciously.The water bottle as hard as a rock hit the wall, making a loud noise, and the voice-activated light in front of Unit 4 turned on.The sudden light made Luo Shaohua calm down. He was panting heavily while sitting in the cab, still chewing mechanically.Finally, the saliva moistened the bread crumbs in his mouth, and finally swallowed it with difficulty. You bastard, you better be honest, otherwise... Luo Shaohua raised his head, just in time to see the lights in room 501 go out.The window is like a closed eye. Is the giant beast going to sleep at last, in this silent night? In an instant, a strong sense of exhaustion suddenly grew from somewhere in Luo Shaohua's heart, quickly occupying every bone and every muscle in his body.He began to long for the bed and warm quilt at home.However, he still didn't dare to relax, and kept staring at the dark window tightly. Half an hour later, there was still no movement in Room 501, and no one entered or exited the corridor.Luo Shaohua sighed, slowly turned his stiff neck, and raised his hand to start the car. Driving out of the Lvzhuyuan community, Luo Shaohua looked at his watch, it was already half past ten at night.After hesitating for a moment, he took out his cell phone and dialed a number.After more than forty seconds, the call was finally connected. "Shaohua?" "Well, where are you?" "At home." "What are you doing?" "Watch the football, the European Champions Cup." "Oh." There was a moment of silence, and after a while, the other party tentatively spoke: "you've been drinking?" "No, I'm driving." "It's so late...what's the matter?" "Oh it's all right." "Just talk about it." "It's really okay-how about it, find time to get together, I haven't seen you for so long." "Okay, call." "it is good." Luo Shaohua hung up the phone, looked ahead, and stepped on the gas pedal to the bottom.He had to go home and rest as soon as possible to recover his strength, because Lin Guodong was bound to be followed day after day. In the shopping mall, when Lin Guodong turned and walked away, Luo Shaohua saw something in the window. It was a plastic mannequin wearing a gray cashmere coat and a black shoulder-length wig. She strikes a warm gesture with her hands stretched forward, red lips and bright teeth, and a hollow, lifeless smile out of the window. The night grew darker.The entire residential area fell into silence.There was no moon, the stars were dim, and a kind of utter darkness completely enveloped the corners of the city. If you've never wandered around at night, you don't feel the boundless void. Suddenly, a little light shone in the thick darkness like ink. The window of Room 501, Unit 4, Building 22 quietly woke up. After a few minutes, the faint light disappeared again.Immediately afterwards, the seemingly invisible sound tore open the curtain of the night bit by bit, from top to bottom, from far to near, until the voice-activated light in front of Unit 4 suddenly turned on. Under the light pouring down from above his head, Lin Guodong's face was as pale as paper.Hidden behind shadows, his eyes looked nothing but black mist. He stood like this, standing in a halo of light, quietly looking at the endless darkness in front of him.A few seconds later, the voice-activated light went off silently again. Lin Guodong's eyes lit up. He took a step forward and quickly merged into the night. When he reached the side of the road, he raised his hand, and the red aluminum can flew into the trash can accurately, making a crisp crashing sound. Walking out of the park and coming to the road, there is a bright light in front of you.Under the illumination of the street lamps, the empty street looks extremely spacious.Lin Guodong walked slowly along the side of the road, looking around while walking.Soon, an empty taxi came.Lin Guodong beckoned to stop the car and sat on it. The taxi was speeding all the way on the deserted street.From time to time, the driver looked at the silent man in the rearview mirror.Street lights flashed by the car one by one, and the man's face flickered.He kept looking out the window, without saying a word, as if he was thinking about something. The driver touched the storage bar on the door, and there was a large long-handled screwdriver inside.The place this passenger was going to was very strange. If it wasn't for the bad business tonight, he wouldn't have accepted the order.However, the guy in the back seat looked to be in his 50s and had an average build, so even if he played tricks, he wouldn't be difficult to deal with.Thinking of this, the driver felt a little relieved, and secretly worked his feet hard, just wanting to finish this job as soon as possible and go back to sleep early. Soon, the taxi drove out of the city.The street lights on both sides of the street gradually thinned out and finally disappeared altogether.The passengers in the back seat have been completely hidden in the darkness.This car is like a meteorite thrown by a high-speed rotating comet, leaving only two faint lights, all the way away.After driving for another ten minutes, the car body began to bump up.The driver knew that the smooth asphalt road had come to an end, and the next journey was a section of dirt road.He turned on the high beams, and the speed of the car did not slow down. Finally, the taxi stopped at a three-way intersection, and there were several white characters on the blue road sign above: Xiajiang Village, 2.6km. "It's here." The driver quietly held the long-handled screwdriver with his left hand, "64 yuan." The passenger got up slightly and looked out the dark car window: "Go a little further." "No." The driver refused bluntly, "The road is difficult, and the chassis can't stand it." The passenger made no sound, and reached out to fumble in his pockets.The driver tensed up, watching his movements. Soon, the hand was pulled out of the pocket, and there was a stack of RMB in it. "I'll add money." The passenger handed over a 100-yuan note, "Just drive a little further, please." The driver hesitated.Old, frail, and seemingly not short of money - it shouldn't be robbery.He took the notes and started the car again. When driving to the entrance of Xiajiangcun, the passenger signaled him to move on, but the driver disagreed anyway.This time he didn't insist, and got off after paying the fare. Lin Guodong walked through the silent farmhouses without meeting anyone.The villagers here still maintain the habit of working at sunrise and resting at sunset.Especially in winter, they have nothing to do, at most they go to bed early after playing a few rounds of mahjong.At this moment, the whole village is asleep.No voices, no lights.Even when they heard his footsteps, the dogs who guarded the house didn't bother to take a look. Sweat came out of Lin Guodong's body, and the hot air from his mouth condensed into frost on his eyelashes.He had to wipe his eyes every so often to make sure he could see where he was going.Ten minutes later, he walked through the village and stepped on a rough path. Without the shelter of the building, the cold wind of the winter night suddenly became violent.The sweat on Lin Guodong's face was quickly dried, and he began to ache.His gaze was always focused on the open field around him, stopping from time to time, silently estimating the distance.Finally, he stood beside a snow-covered cornfield and looked south.However, it was still pitch black as far as the eye could see.He tried to open his eyes wide, trying to distinguish his target in the inseparable night.However, apart from the darkness in front of him, it was still darkness. He pouted, turned his head to face the village behind him, until he found the big elm tree, and there was a little light in his eyes. right here. Lin Guodong walked down the dirt road and walked into the corn field.There were still more than ten centimeters of stubble left in the field that had been harvested. Lin Guodong stumbled and walked, his feet hurt by the stubble under the snow.He slowly identified the direction, finally found the field ridge, stepped on it carefully, and continued to move forward. Gradually, a thin and tall building slowly emerged in the darkness.Lin Guodong looked at it, his breathing suddenly became rapid, and his steps quickened his pace. Finally, he came to it.It was a water tower, made of cement, with a fishy and cold smell all over it.He reached out and touched the cold, rough surface of the water tower. A satisfied sigh came from the bottom of Lin Guodong's heart.He put his hands on the water tower, walked around slowly, finally stood on the west side of the water tower, turned around and leaned against it. The already sweaty back immediately felt the cold soaked into the bone marrow.Lin Guodong raised his head, looked at the pitch-black sky, his nostrils kept moving. The smell is slightly fishy and slightly sweet. Lin Guodong slowly closed his eyes.