After Kim finished everything, it was past nine o'clock.

When he got home, he saw his foster mother lying on the sofa and falling asleep with the music on. In front of her is a bottle of Burgundy red wine and a collection of essays.

As soon as Xiaojin University graduated, the foster mother said, it's your turn to work this time. She smiled and said, I don't want to work anymore. Xiaojin said, ok, I'll start raising you. So the adoptive mother, who was almost fifty years old, gave up all her jobs. She began to stay at home, regardless of whether her body can eat or not, and lived the life of "leading a drunken life" that she always wanted when she was young.

Xiaojin picked her up sideways. The foster mother was thin and light, and woke up in Xiaojin's arms.

You put me down, she pushed his hand away and I left by myself.

Xiaojin put her down and she sat down on the sofa again. "I've lived to this day, and people always think I'm a big man, but I always think I'm a young girl in my heart." She said with some disappointment, "I thought I was 20 years old. The only difference is that I am more beautiful." She looked at Xiaojin. "But today I suddenly feel old." Her face darkened.

"Nothing," Jin said. "I made you sad."

She smiled and waved. "At least I have to face the reality more bravely than I am 20 years old."

Xiaojin screwed on the bottle cap helplessly, changed the subject and asked, did you eat at night?

I'm not hungry and I don't want to eat. The foster mother is still depressed.

Then I'll make you some dinner. He turned to see what ingredients were in the refrigerator.

After a long time, he heard the sigh of his foster mother. You have been taking care of me for so many years.

Xiaojin didn't speak.

When he first met his adoptive mother, she was a woman who couldn't take care of herself.

At that time, she was in her forties. They first met at Xiaojin's math teacher's house.

Xiaojin's math teacher is a bachelor, and his life is very sloppy and bumpy. Xiaojin helped him clean up the room and cook, and he tutored Xiaojin throughout the junior high school and even high school courses.

In the evening, because of the teacher's friend, the woman who later became Xiaojin's foster mother came over. Xiaojin specially fried two more dishes. That night, although Xiaojin was still a student, they drank wine together and talked about many interesting things with great interest.

Later, when Xiaojin went to wash the dishes, he heard the drunken math teacher say to the woman: A very talented boy is also very pitiful. He can only go back to his hometown in the third grade, and there is nothing to learn here.

The woman didn't speak and lit a cigarette. She came over for a while, swallowed her cigarette and said, I should go back and go on a business trip tomorrow. Then she went out with her bag. When you leave the math teacher, you have to wander around like this, floating behind you, and it looks empty. How long will you run away, he muttered, and fell to the ground drunk.

Xiaojin thought there should be an unusual relationship between them, but he didn't expect to get involved with that woman.

But after several meetings, one day, the woman called him to the balcony alone.

What are you going to do in the future?

Xiaojin shook his head. He may have gone back to his hometown.

A woman asks what kind of place is your hometown?

Xiaojin shook his head again. He said that I left home when I was very young. My father said it was a very poor place. People are so poor that they can only wander around.

The woman went on to say, tell me the address of your hometown, and I will go home for you next time. Xiaojin looked at her in surprise.

The next time we met, she did bring back the news of Xiaojin's hometown.

She said it was a more terrible place than poverty. She put a handful of dates in Xiaojin's hand. Xiaojin heard from his father that his hometown is rich in red dates. He stuffed dates into his mouth. This is the best jujube he has ever eaten. It is as sweet and juicy as honey.

But the woman said, it's delicious. If you go back, you will be like these dates, and even the best dates will be buried. Jujube there is very cheap, and people live a humble life.

Xiaojin felt very depressed, because he realized at the same time that his hometown might be not only material poverty, but also endless despair.

The woman looked at him and said, go and ask your father if he wants you to be my adopted son. If I adopt you, you can get a Shanghai hukou and get a better education.

Xiaojin looked at him in surprise. He knew that his father would not be sad about it, but only felt that he saw hope.

When Xiaojin's father first named him, he was a little upset. His own name is Jin Yincai, his younger brother is Jin, and his younger sister is Jin. When he named his son, he found that all the good words such as gold were used up by his brothers and sisters, and he didn't know how to give the child a good start.

Therefore, it is finally called Jinshi Gold, which means that gold is gold after all, and it will shine in the end. This is of course Xiaojin's own simple understanding. Whether he is Kim or not and how he shines, Kim never gets to the point.

In his field of vision so far, the humble is his appeal from childhood to adulthood.

Not the child who lives in a shabby brick house and wears eye-catching clothes; No extravagant heroic dreams. Have a place to settle down and work hard for the rest of his life, so that he can have a place to live before the night comes and not be swallowed up by the uneasiness of wandering around at night. This is his greatest hope for life.

Xiaojin still remembers the time when his father went to a relative's house as a teenager and came home drunk very late. After school, he doesn't have a key. At ten o'clock in the evening, he and Ji sat on the roof that had been baked all day in summer, looking at the flashing lights in the distant apartment in the afterheat. Through the transparent glass, they can see someone watching TV, a warm corner of the restaurant and a balcony drying clothes.

Those gold-plated lamps reflect enviable light at night. During the day, they are just empty shells made of reinforced concrete. But at night, some people are resting, some are cooking, some are taking a bath, some are laughing, and a child is sleeping carefree, so they exude enough gravity and grab all the energy, so that a boy with such self-esteem as Jin will also release the desire and sadness of stray cats in his eyes.

Ji said to Jin, I also want to have a house like that, and I also want to have my own bedroom. She pointed to the orange light in the distance and said, I want a home like that. The balcony is full of flowers and plants. I opened my eyes in the early morning sun and felt very safe.

She lowered her head as if she knew how far it was.

During that time, Ji's mother was working the night shift. Every night, she sleeps alone in a small brick house and wakes up at the slightest sign. After years, she still can't sleep well at night.

But she didn't mention it to anyone. Compared with survival, she hardly slept.

Kim shook his hand the day Ji talked about his dream. That night, they slept together, on a bare bed, separated by two people, each guarding his own corner.

They are never ignorant children. As soon as they are sensible, they have carefully measured their living space and the land under their feet. One more step and I'm afraid there's no place to reply.

When Kim was brought back here by her adoptive mother, the adoption procedures were not completely completed, but her adoptive mother said that she would first move into a new home to adapt to the environment. The great inner fluctuation caused by this sentence is beyond description. A child like him is grateful to be accepted by the surrounding environment. What can we talk about? Some people will feel uncomfortable with the environment and then make demands, which Xiaojin can't even think about. However, he decided not to disclose it.

The foster mother said, are you still used to all this?

He nodded silently with food in his mouth.

"Tell me what's wrong", the foster mother stared at his eyes, and he tried not to show too much. He is very nervous, worried that he is too happy or slightly dissatisfied, and everything will disappear and change irreversibly in the next second. So he looked at everything calmly and indifferently His brand-new life, he didn't even ask anything, and it was separated from his old life. He didn't have time to show a little regret and sadness.

Children can only keep good things once in a while. This is the result of his long life experience.

However, Kim subconsciously shook his fist. If anyone dares to destroy all this, he doesn't mind fighting for it. In fact, he looked at his tired and alert face on the glass window and clearly showed the look of a fugitive in the dark. This makes him feel bitter.

He turned on the computer, it was already past one in the morning, and he thought it was a good time to reply to the email.

About three days ago, he received an email from Tian Yichuan in Japan. At that time, he had booked a plane ticket to return to China, but it was still a special ticket to Shanghai after one month. He didn't expect to come back in such a hurry, but the content of the email was so eye-catching that he didn't even have time to say goodbye to his classmates' tutors and close friends, so he hurriedly boarded the last plane back to Shanghai.

The urgent email is as follows:

Dear, Xiao Jinjun, (spat out his tongue), that's what they call you in Japan!

There is nothing else to write to you. I visited master the other day, and she said you would come back later. Long time no see, I miss you very much. How about getting together when you get back? By the way, are you still writing a novel? How's the research on the mystery novel you mentioned last time going? I haven't read an interesting novel for a long time since Edgar Watt Lapoul. Of course, I believe you will create a good story in the future. PS: Remember the murder case that you were interested in two years ago? I just got news from a police friend recently that an old woman survived the fire that year. I heard that I have been receiving rehabilitation treatment, and my consciousness has gradually become clear recently. It is estimated that it will provide valuable information. Didn't you want to use this case as material? This is a good opportunity.

65438+ 10 month 15

Tian Yichuan

The person who wrote this email is Tian Yichuan, a trainee reporter of foster mother. Of course, he became a trainee reporter two years ago. At that time, he followed his foster mother around editing, doing odd jobs and learning interview skills. In his email, he mentioned a fire in the villa group in Lane 777, Liangguang Road, Shanghai two years ago. At that time, the fire broke out at two o'clock in the morning and people were sleeping, so by the time the fire was rapid, the liquefaction tank was detonated and there was a violent explosion, the fire had formed a long queue and began to wreak havoc around. Even the nearest fire truck arrived within 15 minutes, and it was not until noon the next day that all the open flames and dark fires were annihilated, and besides the one that was seriously damaged in the villa group, several surrounding houses suffered greatly and suffered heavy losses.

So, you can imagine how many people gathered on the road at noon the next day, including journalists, nearby residents and police officers who kept order. Kim's foster mother got a call early in the morning and came here. And an intern reporter from the same company. Later, in order to know the first-hand situation, Xiaojin, who was interested in the incident, had to lie to young reporters that he was writing a mystery novel, which happened to have a part about the fire, and this incident might be a good material.

Because according to media reports, the cause of the fire is a bit strange. Although a lot of investigations have been done afterwards, the cause of the fire has been determined to be caused by the kitchen gas fire, but it is difficult to make sense to cook in the early morning. What's more, according to tabloid news, the owner who bought this villa seems to be no ordinary person. On the surface, he is a well-behaved Shanghai businessman, but there seems to be quite a mafia background behind him. Soon after, another newspaper revealed that a young woman was seen walking in the yard with her child in her arms after receiving news from her neighbor. Later, two charred bodies found at the scene were also confirmed, one was confirmed as the owner and the other was a maid who had worked here for several years. And women and children did evaporate.

But all the speculation came to an abrupt end, because neither the police nor the media could find further evidence and information, nor did they provide further inferences and information.

Xiaojin has discussed this matter with the young reporter many times, of course, when his foster mother is not around. Afterwards, in order to prove that he was really only interested in suspense detectives, Xiaojin rushed out a mystery novel overnight. The little reporter was immediately impressed after reading it. Since then, he is more convinced than Xiaojin himself that Xiaojin will create countless amazing stories, as long as there are more materials.

So when Xiaojin went to Japan to study design, he also explained it over and over again. At the same time, don't forget to do some research on Japanese mystery novels. Seicho Matsumoto and Seishi Yokomizo are good examples. These writers and their works he mentioned later became nourishment for Xiaojin to pass the time in his spare time. However, during the specific research, Xiaojin just told him smoothly once.

Now Xiaojin is back for this matter, and I don't want him to see his eagerness. So two or three days later, he specially replied to the email at 1 am and said:

I rushed back to Shanghai early because of something urgent. I'm sorry I'm late when I read your email! I've just finished everything, and I'm free tomorrow. How about meeting? I miss you too. I brought you Keigo Higashino's latest novel!

He clicked Send and looked at the empty light on the screen with some trepidation. He didn't expect that anyone would survive the fire that year. The police have been silent about the fact that there are survivors. Did they notice anything?

Directory of lost girls

The Missing Girl Chapter IV (Section 1)