Chapter 96: Please delete it.
At the end of April and the beginning of May, a light, patchy rain fell over the city. The rain wasn’t heavy, and there was faint thunder, coming from somewhere unknown.
Qin Ge finished his work and rubbed his neck in his spacious office.
Sitting in the office for a long time always made him feel uneasy. He planned to get a membership at Gao Shu’s gym and go there to work out whenever he had time. Tang Cuo had been working out for a while, and now his arms bulged with muscles. To show off, he wore short sleeves to work even in the mildly cool weather.
The rain was getting lighter. Qin Ge didn’t use an umbrella and went downstairs directly to the security office to pick up a package. Xie Zijing had bought a gimbal for his phone, planning to use it when they went camping.
He was very interested in the mountainous area in Qin Ge’s sea region. Ever since he learned that it was a place Qin Ge visited as a child, he had been clamoring to go see it too.
Qin Ge didn’t mind Xie Zijing’s arrangements since Xie Zijing was in charge of everything anyway. He just had to pick up the package, pack his bags, and set off together when the time came.
The security guard’s grandson was playing in the guard room again, munching on a big plum, his black eyes staring at the stranger at the door.
The man was very tall, with hair cut extremely short, so short that Qin Ge could see his blue-gray scalp. Because of this, the man’s facial features were fully exposed: he was very handsome.
His hair and shoulders were covered with fine raindrops. Shaking his head, he lit a cigarette and turned to look at Qin Ge.
Qin Ge nodded as a greeting. He could tell this man was a guide.
“Mao Mao, where’s your grandpa?” Qin Ge asked the child.
“He went to the bathroom,” the child said, mimicking his grandpa’s tone. “You’re here to pick up a package? I can help you find it.”
“Can you read?” Qin Ge laughed. “Just look for the one that says ‘Xie Zijing,’ that’s mine.”
Qin Ge noticed the stranger beside him was staring at him with a look of interest.
“Are you Xie Zijing’s colleague?” The man asked with a smile.
When the man smiled, the harshness in his features softened, becoming half playful and half teasing.
Qin Ge couldn’t help but scrutinize him. “I am. Are you here to see Xie Zijing?”
“Yes.” The man reached out and shook Qin Ge’s hand. “Hello, I’m Gu Ming.”
Qin Ge suggested, “It’s raining. Why don’t you wait for him directly at the Criminal Investigation Department?”
“I’d rather not.” Gu Ming smiled again. “I’ll just say a few words and then leave.”
Qin Ge became suspicious. Xie Zijing had very few friends, except for Francisco, who still refused to leave the country. Qin Ge had never met any of Xie Zijing’s other friends. Many of Xie Zijing’s old classmates had already returned to their hometowns to work and live. Last month, when Qin Ge went to New Hope for business, he saw Xie Zijing’s graduation photo in the school history museum. He was very curious and interested in everything about Xie Zijing’s past. Xie Zijing had told him about people he was still in touch with, and Qin Ge remembered their faces and names.
But there was no “Gu Ming” among them.
“Are you his friend?” Qin Ge asked.
“Friend… I don’t know if he would define our relationship that way.” Gu Ming held his cigarette between two fingers, smiling leisurely as he exhaled smoke. “Let’s say we’re old flames.”
Near the end of the workday, Xie Zijing finally drove back to the Crisis Management Office.
He was now working in the Criminal Investigation Department, thoroughly enjoying the tough job that required daily outings. “He’d rather die than sit in an office,” Xiao Liu commented about Xie Zijing.
Xie Zijing got his driver’s license with Qin Ge accompanying him. During driving practice, Xie Zijing scared off more than half the instructors at the driving school. Almost everyone tumbled out of the training car, vomiting, and refused to get back in with him.
Xie Zijing was extremely puzzled by this situation: “I just drove a little fast, braked a little hard, and turned a little sharply.”
Finally, the head of the instructors stepped in, shouting and cursing all the way, and somehow managed to get Xie Zijing to pass the driving test.
Qin Ge understood that Xie Zijing only behaved and followed instructions during practice and the exam because of the instructor’s white tiger spirit.
The day he got his license, Xie Zijing went to the instructor’s office and proudly released his Barbary lion: “Coach, you have a tiger; I have a lion too.”
Bai Xiaoyuan gave only one comment on his behavior: childish.
Xie Zijing carefully parked the car, got out, and checked the front and rear to ensure the distance was safe before he felt at ease. Qin Ge was waiting by his own car with a serious expression on his face.
“Don’t worry,” Xie Zijing said. “I parked well today. No scratches, no fines. Give me ten more minutes; I need to give Lei Chi some documents. I felt really cold in the car just now—freezing cold. Were you cursing me?”
Qin Ge said, “Someone came to see you.”
Xie Zijing asked, “Who? To report a case or close one?”
Qin Ge replied, “His name is Gu Ming.”
Xie Zijing’s face changed instantly.
Qin Ge continued, “He said he was your old flame.”
Xie Zijing retorted, “I… bullshit!”
Gu Ming had already left the security office and was now waiting for Xie Zijing in the service hall on the first floor of the Crisis Management Office.
The hole dug out by underground creatures in the service hall a year ago had been repaired, and from the outside, it looked fine. However, the sound was always different when people walked over it.
Smoking wasn’t allowed in the service hall, so Gu Ming held back and paced around the large hall, looking at pretty girls and handsome guys.
When Xie Zijing and Qin Ge walked in, he was leaning against a counter, asking a girl for her phone number.
“Bai Xiaoyuan, this guy is a pervert; don’t pay attention to him.” Xie Zijing strode over and dragged Gu Ming out.
Bai Xiaoyuan, on duty in the service hall this week, was thrilled to see this, having been annoyed by Gu Ming: “Go, go, don’t bother me. I have thirty thousand files to organize.”
Gu Ming: “You’re a sentinel, right? We’re a perfect match.”
Bai Xiaoyuan: “Get lost, or my cats and dogs will scratch you.”
Xie Zijing pulled him outside and gave him a hard push. Gu Ming had a steady stance. He took two steps back and stood firm, smoothly producing another cigarette from somewhere and putting it in his mouth.
“You’re so fierce,” he said with a grin. “We haven’t seen each other for over a year, and you treat me like this?”
Xie Zijing looked at Qin Ge: “He’s not an old flame of mine. We both worked at the Western Office, that’s all.”
Gu Ming: “From the moment you joined the Western Office, I was your work partner. How are we not old flames?”
Xie Zijing: “If you were a true partner, why did you forcibly invade my ‘sea area’? And you were the one who reported to the office that my sea was abnormal, right?”
Qin Ge’s heart stirred: Xie Zijing had indeed mentioned that his “sea area” had been forcibly invaded by a guide. The guide discovered the abnormality of his “sea area” and immediately reported it to the office, resulting in Xie Zijing being suspended and eventually coming to the headquarters.
“Wait.” Gu Ming raised his hand to stop Xie Zijing’s accusations. “Forcibly invading was wrong, but it’s a fact that your sea is abnormal. An abnormal sea must be monitored. Reporting it was my right and duty, and I don’t accept your protest on this matter.”
“Who the hell cares if you accept it or not?” Xie Zijing was furious. “What are you here for?”
Gu Ming flicked the ash off his cigarette: “To visit you, to say hello. Your temper is still the same; it hasn’t changed a bit.”
Xie Zijing: “Goodbye.”
He pulled Qin Ge away. Gu Ming watched them with a grin, waving warmly and blowing a kiss to Qin Ge when he looked back.
Xie Zijing had always been unwilling to let any guide patrol his “sea area.” While working at the Western Office, he adhered to this principle. Although Gu Ming was his partner, Xie Zijing, having no fixed guide, actually worked with almost all the guides in the office during missions. Gu Ming wasn’t special, and his abilities didn’t astonish Xie Zijing.
During the period from New Year’s Day to the Spring Festival last year, there was very little work at the Western Office, so the staff enthusiastically organized various New Year activities. Xie Zijing drank too much, went back to his dorm without closing the door tightly, and fell soundly asleep on the bed. Gu Ming from next door sneaked in.
Recalling that incident, Xie Zijing still gritted his teeth: “It was a terrible feeling. My consciousness was unclear, but I felt it when he started breaking through the breakwater. He entered my ‘sea area’… that small room you saw, and tried to open the door.”
Qin Ge understood: as long as Gu Ming tried to open the door, he would immediately know that Xie Zijing’s “sea area” was just an extremely small space.
“I woke up immediately and gave him a good beating,” Xie Zijing frowned at the memory. “I thought that would be the end of it, but who knew he’d run to the office director the next day and report everything about my sea area.”
“And then you got suspended,” Qin Ge said, stopping at a red light. “That guy is really strange. Why did he forcibly invade your sea area?”
“He wants to find a sentinel,” Xie Zijing pointed to his head. “That guy’s head is full of dirty thoughts, always thinking about either love or se-x. He desperately wants to become a sentinel’s partner, whether male or female.”
Qin Ge: “…”
Xie Zijing: “He loves reading… you know, the kind of books Bai Xiaoyuan likes.”
Qin Ge was shocked. Thinking about Gu Ming’s appearance, he found it hard to believe: “Are you sure?”
Xie Zijing: “I’m very sure! I used to be one of his targets.”
Qin Ge: “No, I mean, you and he are a bit similar. The old you and him.”
Xie Zijing: “Impossible. I used to be very cute.”
Qin Ge was speechless, smiled ambiguously, and took it as a response.
The light turned green, and the car moved forward slowly. As Xie Zijing reminisced about the past, he gradually realized: “Are you talking about when we first met?”
Qin Ge: “Yes…”
Before he could finish speaking, his phone suddenly rang. Xie Zijing leaned over to look, and the screen showed the name “Gu Ming.”
Xie Zijing: “???”
Qin Ge: “Oh right, we exchanged phone numbers.”
Xie Zijing: “Please delete it.”
