Chapter 18 Chapter 17 The Girl in the Twilight

Yue Xiaohui was sitting by the bed, fiddling with her mobile phone, her fingers moving rapidly on the screen. "Old Ji, the speed of your portable Wi-Fi is pretty good. It's just that the name is too funny - '60-year-old old Ji', haha." "It's okay, you can play." Ji Qiankun said absently and perfunctorily, his attention still focused on the thick stack of documents in front of him. Wei Jiong searched a large amount of information on the serial murder case on the Internet, downloaded it, printed it out, and bound it into a book for Lao Ji's convenience.

Now with the help of Zhang Haisheng, Wei Jiong can come and go freely in the nursing home.Although Zhang Haisheng often looked bad, he obeyed Ji Qiankun's request obediently.The reason, only Wei Jiong knows. This is already the second time to bring materials to Lao Ji.He read it very carefully, marking the materials with a red marker pen from time to time, occasionally stopping to discuss with Wei Jiong. "Some information is inaccurate." Ji Qiankun looked at Yue Xiaohui, who was buried in her mobile phone, and lowered her voice, "It may be the subjective speculation of netizens, or even wild imagination."

"Yes, I screened out some of them, and eliminated the ones that were too outrageous." Wei Jiong suddenly smiled awkwardly, "You don't have to do this, Yue Xiaohui knows about us." "Oh?" Ji Qiankun raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Did you tell her?" "Yes." Wei Jiong scratched his head embarrassingly, "I met her when I went to the school library to look for case collections, you know... I won't lie." "I see." Lao Ji curled his lips, "I'm still wondering why you brought her here." "Don't hide by the side and speak ill of me." Yue Xiaohui said suddenly, but kept her eyes fixed on the screen of the phone, "I'm listening."

Both Ji Qiankun and Wei Jiong laughed. "Don't dare." Ji Qiankun took off his glasses with a smile, "More people means more power." "She is quite capable." Wei Jiong pointed to the stack of documents, "She found a lot of things." "Thank you then." Ji Qiankun turned to Yue Xiaohui, "Then, what's your opinion, Xiaohui?" Yue Xiaohui put down her phone, with a rare serious look on her face. "Old Ji, do you really think that the wrong person was arrested back then?" Ji Qiankun looked at her for a few seconds, made sure that Yue Xiaohui was not joking, and nodded: "Yes."

"En." Yue Xiaohui also nodded, "Then, are you sure the murderer is still alive?" Ji Qiankun was stunned, first he looked at Wei Jiong, and the latter looked back at him with the same puzzled eyes.After thinking for a while, Lao Ji said: "I have read a lot of books about serial killers—both domestic and foreign—the age of such people who commit crimes is probably before the age of forty. According to this calculation, the murderer is now It should be about sixty years old, so he won't die, right?" "Okay, let's assume that the murderer is still alive." Yue Xiaohui asked another question, "Then, are you sure he is still living in this city?"

Ji Qiankun was at a loss for words for a moment, and his face became ugly. "All of China, 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities, and countless counties and cities." Yue Xiaohui spread her hands, "How do we find someone?" The room fell into silence.Wei Jiong repeatedly winked at Yue Xiaohui, signaling her not to provoke Ji Qiankun too much.However, the girl didn't even look at him, and kept her gaze on Ji Qiankun's face.After a long time, Lao Ji smiled lightly, and said slowly: "So, I am doing something that is completely impossible to succeed?"

"I didn't mean that, Lao Ji." Yue Xiaohui leaned forward and put her hands on his knees, "I just think that we don't know anything about the murderer except that he is a man." Lao Ji thought for a while and admitted with difficulty: "Yes." "So, have you ever wondered why he killed those women—including your wife?" Lao Ji was completely attracted by Yue Xiaohui's thoughts: "What do you mean?" "There must be something about them that attracts the murderer." Yue Xiaohui's eyes suddenly became bright, "If we know this, maybe we can deduce what kind of person the murderer is."

"You mean..." Wei Jiong interjected, "common traits?" "Yes." Yue Xiaohui turned the phone screen to them, "I also collected some information about serial killers, such as Jerry Brudos, most of his victims were women wearing beautiful shoes; Bundy, he likes women with long hair and wearing jeans or shorts." Wei Jiong turned to look at Ji Qiankun, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Old Ji?" Ji Qiankun's body trembled, and his eyes became blurred: "My wife has long hair, and she was wearing a blue and white floral dress and silver high-heeled shoes on the day of the accident."

Yue Xiaohui turned her gaze to Wei Jiong, motioning for him to hand over the information booklet on Ji Qiankun's lap.Wei Jiong did so.Yue Xiaohui removed the dovetail clip on the information booklet, flipped through it, picked out the information about Feng Nan's murder case, and divided the other parts into three parts. "Let's divide the work and cooperate." She handed two of them to Ji Qiankun and Wei Jiong, "Let's see what these poor women have in common." Each of the three read a copy of the materials of the three cases, and Yue Xiaohui also prepared a notebook for recording at any time.However, after studying for a long time, there are only a few lines in the notebook:

For a while, everyone was a little discouraged, looking at the notebook with few words and not speaking.Ji Qiankun thought for a while, and added another sentence: Yue Xiaohui leaned over to look at it, and then raised her head to look at Ji Qiankun. "I have participated in court trials. According to the police's inference, he chose women who walked alone at night." Lao Ji avoided Yue Xiaohui's sight, lit a cigarette with trembling fingers, "After tricking the victim into the car, he was forced to Hit the head with a weapon, then take away, rape, and kill." Wei Jiong sighed softly, put his hand on Ji Qiankun's shoulder, and patted it.

Yue Xiaohui lowered her eyelids and wrote down in her notebook: Can drive. "It seems that the police have more and more comprehensive information." Yue Xiaohui closed the notebook, "It would be great if I could get it." "That's easier said than done!" Lao Ji shook his head, "It's been so many years." "Think of a way." Yue Xiaohui's tone was understated, "The old case may be easier." Just as she was talking, Yue Xiaohui's cell phone rang.She picked it up to answer.The other party seems to be in a noisy environment, and the words are urgent.Yue Xiaohui simply responded with "um" and "ah", but her expression gradually became serious. Finally, she asked "Where is it? Well, I see", and hung up the phone. Yue Xiaohui turned to face Ji Qiankun with an apologetic expression: "I'm sorry, Lao Ji, I have something to do, so I have to go first." "It's okay." Lao Ji hurriedly bowed, "You are busy with your work. I am already very grateful for your willingness to help." "Besides," Yue Xiaohui pointed to Wei Jiong, "he has to go with me." Sitting in the taxi, Yue Xiaohui just said "I'm sorry, I have to ask you to do me a favor", then stopped talking, resting her chin on her hands, looking out of the car window in a daze. Looking at her reflection on the car window, Wei Jiong was full of doubts, but he didn't dare to ask rashly. In fact, Wei Jiong didn't care much about the destination of this trip and the specific content of "helping me out".What made him curious was Yue Xiaohui's unexpected enthusiasm for serial murders.What he could never forget was the light in Yue Xiaohui's eyes when he stammered out what Lao Ji had entrusted to him in the empty corridor of the library.Wei Jiong knew that she was not a simple girl.However, Yue Xiaohui's performance in this matter could no longer be explained by finding it exciting and fun. "Well, let me check it for you." After finishing speaking, she quickly ran back to the reading room and browsed carefully on the rows of bookshelves. Wei Jiong still remembers her appearance at that time.Can't help but say, simply and resolutely. Thinking of this, Wei Jiong looked at Yue Xiaohui again.The girl seemed to be thinking about something, her expression was resentful and tired.This brought Wei Jiong's thoughts back to reality for a while, and made him secretly worried, because the favor Yue Xiaohui asked him to help was obviously not a pleasant thing. The taxi drove into the urban area quickly, and about half an hour later, it stopped at the door of a restaurant on Yong'an Road.Yue Xiaohui paid the fare and signaled Wei Jiong to go with her. The restaurant has a small facade and specializes in Sichuan cuisine.Judging from the decoration grade of the storefront, it belongs to the middle and low-end consumer places.Yue Xiaohui walked in front, walked through the almost full hall, and walked straight to the box.A middle-aged man was waiting at the door of a certain box. When he saw Yue Xiaohui, he hurried up to meet her. "Oh, Xiao Hui, you're here." Yue Xiaohui just nodded, passed by him, pushed the door open and entered. There were six other people in the box, all male, all around fifty years old.A man in a camel sweater turned his back to the door, yelling loudly, beating the table with one hand.The other five men sat crowded on the other side of the round table, with helpless and bored expressions on their faces. As soon as Wei Jiong entered the door, he could smell the tangy smell of alcohol, and at the same time there was a strange sound from his feet.He looked down and saw that the floor of the box was already in a mess. Broken cups and dishes were mixed with the leftovers. It seemed that someone had thrown a whole plate of braised large intestines on the ground. Yue Xiaohui frowned and walked towards the shouting man, patted his shoulder: "Dad, let's go." But the man waved his hand violently and hit Yue Xiaohui heavily. "Don't worry about it, I'm going to have a good talk with them..." One of the middle-aged men on the opposite side stood up: "Hey! Lao Yue, don't do anything with the child!" "It's all right." Yue Xiaohui rubbed the sore spot and smiled at the men opposite, "Where's my dad's clothes?" Soon, a black down jacket was thrown over.Yue Xiaohui put the down jacket on the man, turned around and whispered to Wei Jiong, "Come on, help me support him." Wei Jiong did so.Walking around to the man, he saw his face clearly for the first time--thin, with a stubbly beard, wrinkled, and morbidly flushed--the result of long-term drinking. I don't know if it was because of the smell of alcohol, or because he exhausted too much energy by yelling, the man closed his eyes, and leaned on the chair, panting continuously.It took Wei Jiong a lot of effort to help him up, and dragged him out of the box reluctantly. Behind them, Yue Xiaohui repeatedly apologized to the men.Finally, accompanied by the middle-aged man, he walked out of the hotel. Along the way, the middle-aged man kept complaining: "Isn't it the end of the Chinese New Year? We old brothers want to get together. You also know your dad, he looks like a different person after drinking, so I didn't call him. Who knew he found it by himself, walked in the door Just drink it, scold it after drinking it, and smash it after scolding..." Yue Xiaohui coped with it humbly, struggling to support her father's arm.Walking to the side of the road, the middle-aged man said, "Take good care of your dad" and went back.Yue Xiaohui and Wei Jiong supported the slimy man and waved for a taxi. Several taxis pulled over one after another, and when they saw the drunk man, they all refused to take the taxi.In the end, Yue Xiaohui asked Wei Jiong to help the man hide behind a tree, and then returned to the side of the road to take a taxi.Soon, a taxi stopped, Yue Xiaohui opened the door, half body sat in the cab, and then waved Wei Jiong to bring the man over. The taxi driver had no time to slip away, so he kept a straight face along the way and repeatedly stated that if the man vomited in the car, he would have to pay an extra fare.In order to finish this unlucky job as soon as possible, the driver drove the car very fast.However, during the sudden stop and high-speed turning, the man finally couldn't control it anymore and vomited in a mess. Finally arrived at the destination, Wei Jiong dragged the unconscious man out of the sour smelling taxi.The driver yelled and cursed, opened the window to ventilate the air, and finally left angrily after asking for an extra 50 yuan for the fare. Yue Xiaohui's family lives on the fourth floor.This distance was a long and difficult journey for Yue Xiaohui and Wei Jiong who were supporting a drunk.After finally getting him to the fourth floor, entering the door, and placing him on the sofa, Wei Jiong was so tired that his whole body was limp and sweating profusely. Yue Xiaohui was also out of breath.She asked Wei Jiong to rest, and went into the kitchen to boil water.Then, half a pot of boiling water was used to make tea, and half a pot of boiling water was used to heat a towel to wipe the vomit all over his head and face. Her movements were quick and her face was calm, as if she had long been used to taking care of her drunken father.I don't know how long it took Yue Xiaohui to do this annoying thing very well.Wei Jiong felt a little sad, but he didn't know what to do to help her, so he looked at her silently. Sensing his gaze, Yue Xiaohui turned her head and smiled apologetically.Wei Jiong hurriedly looked away and looked around the room. Two bedrooms and one living room, the area is not big, and the furniture and furnishings are not very fashionable. It can be seen that they are all things that have been used for a long time.However, the interior is still clean and tidy, and you can feel the traces of young girls living here from the details.For example, a small vase on the dining table, an alarm clock in the shape of Doraemon, and a pillow in the shape of Winnie the Pooh. Yue Xiaohui had already cleaned up her father, took off his dirty clothes and pants, fed him half a cup of tea, and covered him with a blanket.The man quickly fell asleep snoring like thunder.The girl got up and went into the bedroom. Five minutes later, she emerged in a house change, her hair tied in a ponytail at the back of her head.At her feet, a gray cat quietly appeared. "Let it play with you." Yue Xiaohui said with a smile.Immediately, she picked up her father's dirty clothes and went into the bathroom.Soon, the sound of rushing water came out. The cat walked slowly in front of Wei Jiong, raised his head, and looked at him curiously, with a faint blue light shining in his pupils. Wei Jiong bent down and stretched out a hand to tease it.The cat took a step back warily, then carefully sniffed his fingers.Seemingly realizing that he was harmless, the cat pushed its small head up and caressed slowly in his palm, its eyes half-closed. Wei Jiong rushed to the bathroom and asked, "What's it called?" The sound of water stopped temporarily. "Little Douzi." After finishing speaking, the sound of water reappeared. "Oh, your name is Xiaodouzi." Wei Jiong felt a mass of soft hair in his palm, numb and slightly itchy, making him lazy and comfortable, "Hello Xiaodouzi." The cat seemed to understand Wei Jiong's words, stopped dawdling in his hand, sat upright, watched him intently for a while, wagged its tail a few times, and jumped onto his lap. The little paws with pads stepped on the legs, and it felt amazing.The cat circled a few times in Wei Jiong's arms, chose a suitable position, stretched, and lay down comfortably. Almost instinctively, the moment the cat lay on his lap, Wei Jiong stretched out his hand and gently stroked its back.The little one was clearly enjoying it and soon fell asleep. The bathroom door opened, and Yue Xiaohui walked out with her sleeves rolled up high, shaking the drops of water on her hands. "Hey! Little Douzi quite likes you." "Shh." Wei Jiong made a silent gesture and asked in a low voice, "The one from the animal rescue station?" "Yeah." Yue Xiaohui sat across from Wei Jiong, and also stretched out her hand to caress Xiaodouzi.The cat became more comfortable and purred. "It was stolen, hehe." The girl winked at Wei Jiong, "This little guy can't leave me either." "You can do it." Wei Jiong smiled. "It has a skin disease, and the people at the rescue station don't care about it." Yue Xiaohui stroked the kitten's forehead, "I brought it back half a month and it was cured." The man on the sofa suddenly let out a series of indistinct shouts.Wei Jiong was taken aback.The kitten in her arms also raised her head, but Yue Xiaohui didn't turn her head back, with a calm expression on her face. The man turned over, smacked his lips, and continued to fall asleep. "It's okay." Yue Xiaohui smiled at Wei Jiong, "Every time I drink too much, I will make a fuss." "Oh—where's your mother?" Wei Jiong looked around, "Not at home?" "Oh, she passed away." Wei Jiong was stunned, and stopped stroking the kitten. After a while, he said, "I'm sorry." "It's okay." Yue Xiaohui's expression was relaxed, "She left when I was less than one year old, so I don't have much memory of my mother, and I can't say it is very sad." She stood up: "Are you hungry? I'll go cook." "Don't bother." Wei Jiong carefully picked up the cat from his lap, "I should go back too." "You just sit down obediently." Yue Xiaohui pressed his shoulders involuntarily, "It will be fine in a while. You helped me today, and I will reward you." There was clanking in the kitchen.From where Wei Jiong was sitting, he could just see Yue Xiaohui who was busy.The girl quickly took out various ingredients from the refrigerator, thawed, peeled, sorted, and rinsed.Her expression was focused, her face was slightly flushed from work, and gradually, fine sweat appeared on the tip of her nose.A lock of hair hung from her forehead and was tucked behind her ear from time to time.Then, following her movements, it fell to her cheeks.Occasionally, she would turn her head and smile at Wei Jiong who was sitting idle in the living room.At this moment, Wei Jiong, who had been watching the girl, would look away in a panic, pretending to caress the kitten on his lap. Ten minutes later, an increasingly intense aroma came from the kitchen.Xiaodouzi sniffed and opened his eyes.It stretched itself in Wei Jiong's arms, jumped down briskly, and ran to the kitchen with its tail raised. Yue Xiaohui was cutting a sausage, when she saw it running over, she smiled and said to it: "Are you awake, little greedy cat?" She picked up a piece of sausage, knelt down, and fed it to the kitten's mouth.The kitten sniffed it, opened its mouth to hold it, and began to eat happily. Wei Jiong patted the cat fur on his body, thought for a while, then got up and walked to the kitchen. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Wei Jiong leaned against the door of the kitchen, looking at the various semi-finished products on the stove, "No way! You have done so much?" "Small." Yue Xiaohui said lightly, "Go out, it's a mess here." As she spoke, she picked up a yellow croaker patted with flour, and let it slide along the edge of the pan into the hot oil. There was a "stab", and blue oily smoke rose. Yue Xiaohui skillfully turned the fish over with a wooden shovel, then turned to look at Wei Jiong who was still standing by the door. "If you really want to help, just peel a few cloves of garlic." The boy obediently followed suit, squatting beside the trash can to peel the garlic.The girl stood in front of the gas stove, the wooden shovel in her hand was flying, and she put various seasonings into the boiling iron pot from time to time.Both of them were silent, listening quietly to the roar of the smoke exhaust machine.A cat crawled between their legs, head thrown back, sniffing excitedly.The sleeping man in the living room turned over again, muttered a few words, and continued to sleep. Dinner was served quickly.Braised yellow croaker, stir-fried broccoli, cola chicken wings, sausage preserved egg platter, and winter melon ribs soup. "Do you want to drink?" Yue Xiaohui asked while setting the dishes. "No." "Well, then drink this." Yue Xiaohui took out two cans of Sprite from the cardboard box next to the refrigerator, "There is a lot of wine at home, but I don't like it." Wei Jiong looked at the sofa behind him: "Do you want to wake up uncle?" "No need." Yue Xiaohui opened the soda can and placed it in front of Wei Jiong, "Keep it for him, and eat it when he wakes up." Yue Xiaohui seldom talked when the food was in the mouth, and only occasionally teased the kitten that was entwined around her feet.It was Wei Jiong's first time eating alone with a girl, and he didn't know what to say, so he had to bury his head in chewing.Fortunately, Yue Xiaohui's cooking skills were good, and Wei Jiong ate heartily, and before he knew it, a bowl of rice had bottomed out.Seeing him being so flattering, Yue Xiaohui pursed her lips and smiled, got up and added another bowl of rice to him. It was getting dark.There was no other light in the room except for a chandelier over the dining table.Wei Jiong looked at the sofa in the dark from time to time, and there was only a vague outline of the man left, showing no sign of waking up—this reassured him a little. "Are you worried about how to introduce yourself?" Yue Xiaohui saw his thoughts, "Let's tell the truth, my classmate." "That's true." Wei Jiong was a little embarrassed, "However, uncle probably doesn't want me to get involved?" "It's okay." Yue Xiaohui took a chicken wing and handed it to him, "Even if he wakes up, he won't remember what happened just now." Wei Jiong let out an oh, and continued to bury his head in cooking.A few seconds later, he suddenly realized that Yue Xiaohui had been looking at him, and raised his head subconsciously, just in time to meet the girl's gaze. "Hey, let me say," Yue Xiaohui said with a smile on his face, "Are you afraid that my dad will misunderstand you as my boyfriend?" Wei Jiong took a mouthful of rice and blushed. After dinner, Yue Xiaohui removed the bowls and chopsticks and sent them to the kitchen for cleaning.Wei Jiong felt embarrassed to sit and drink tea, so he also followed in to help.One to scrub the dishes and one to towel dry.With the cooperation of the two of them, the kitchen quickly took on a new look.Yue Xiaohui washed all the dishcloths and dishcloths and dried them on the balcony.It was convenient for Wei Jiong to go to the bathroom, and when he came out, he saw Yue Xiaohui still standing on the balcony. He walked over and stood beside the girl. "looking at what?" Yue Xiaohui pouted forward, "Here." On the far edge of the city, the sun is slowly fading below the horizon.Half of the sky was dyed brilliant blood red, which gradually faded downwards, orange red, bright gold, light yellow, until the buildings and streets were all gray and black. Before falling completely into darkness, the city is struggling to show the colorfulness and prosperity of the day. Yue Xiaohui watched the sunset quietly, her smooth cheeks were coated with a layer of gold, and every hair was almost transparent.There are two burning fires in her pupils, and the rest is as deep as the ocean. After a long time, she let out a soft breath, reached out and groped on the shelf, and soon, she took out a box of Zhongnanhai cigarettes from behind the flower pot. Under Wei Jiong's surprised eyes, Yue Xiaohui took out a cigarette, lit it skillfully, and took a deep breath. The moment the lighter was lit, the two lights in her eyes turned into dancing flames, and then disappeared completely. The sun sinks.The black sea is filled with silent waves. "He wasn't like this in the past." There was faint moisture on Yue Xiaohui's body, and her voice was ethereal and hollow, as if it came from far away, "I still remember that when I was lying in the crib, he and my mother would Take turns to tease me. Sometimes, he came alone. Young face, round, smooth, and the feeling of fingers pinching my face. One day, neither of them came..." Wei Jiong was speechless, quietly looking at the girl in the night and the cigarette flickering on and off her mouth. The cat ran over silently, stuck to Yue Xiaohui's legs, and entangled them. "I lay in bed all day. Hungry, cold, and scared." Yue Xiaohui lowered her head and gently stroked the cat's belly with the back of her foot. "I can't do anything but cry or sleep. When it's very late, he will come back Alone." The cat curled up comfortably and lay on the girl's feet. "your mom……" "Actually, I often feel that these are all my illusions." Yue Xiaohui smiled softly, "I was not yet one year old at the time, so it is impossible to remember these. But, I clearly know that from that day on, Everything is different." She put the cigarette in her mouth, stretched her hands behind her head, untied the loose ponytail, and tied it again. "Only his face appeared on the crib. It was getting thinner, rougher, and more anxious." The girl breathed out the smoke into the dark blue night sky, "He didn't find any woman again, but, He couldn't take care of the lives of two people. So, from a very young age, I learned to cook, clean, and comb my hair by myself..." Yue Xiaohui turned to Wei Jiong with a calm expression: "It's my first menstruation, and I took care of it myself." Wei Jiong felt a little embarrassed, but the girl's eyes were clear and bright - he couldn't take his gaze away. "Later, he started to drink heavily, very, very violently. Can you imagine, a junior high school girl, looking for her father who didn't know where he was drunk." Most of Yue Xiaohui's body was hidden in the shadows, only a pair of eyes were shining brightly. "We found it, and we have to find a way to bring him home." Yue Xiaohui's voice was soft, with a little teasing, "I even bathed him, when he was so drunk that he passed out." Wei Jiong thought for a while, then asked softly, "Do you hate him?" "No." Yue Xiaohui spit out the word clearly, "When a man faces loss and grief, there is nothing he can do - so he can only do this." Drunk father.sleeping father.A father who enjoys a moment of peace in ignorance. "I'm much luckier than him. After all, I don't have a deep impression of my mother. But he is different." The girl slowly stepped out of the shadows, her slender figure and fair face emerged one by one.Immediately afterwards, an arm with its sleeves rolled up stretched out. "Thank you." Yue Xiaohui's eyes were as gentle as moonlight, "Thank you for helping me today." Wei Jiong also stretched out his hand and held that smooth and cold hand.Then, whoever was more forceful, when he came back to his senses, Yue Xiaohui's forehead was already gently resting on his chest. There was a faint fragrance in Wei Jiong's nose, the tingling of long hair brushing his chin, and the sleepy voice in his ear: "Thank you."