Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 119 The Face Behind the Surveillance

Although the investigation into Zhou will continue for some time, the theft and murder case in Xiangfu Community can be closed.

Under the bright sunshine, Tan Jia watched Zhao Qingxiang, Qu He, and Jin Xiangyuan being sent away, then followed them out of the police station and turned a corner to head home.

In this weather, you no longer have to walk around outside until you're parched and sweating profusely. You can go home, enjoy the air conditioning, and eat watermelon—it's simply a pleasure.

As she stepped out of the elevator, she was still smoothing her hair, pondering where to begin her summer indulgence. It was only when she saw her neighbor across the hall that she remembered the task she had entrusted to him a couple of days ago.

Has anyone been sending strange things lately? Have any suspicious people been sending them?

Lin Zhiyue shook his head.

She felt relieved, and as she opened the door, she said, "Come to my house in half an hour, I'll treat you to watermelon. I also have something to tell you."

Lin Zhiyue took two steps after her, wanting to ask what was wrong, but Tan Jia slammed the door shut, almost hitting his nose.

Come back in half an hour.

When you come home in the summer, taking a shower is the most important thing. The warm and cool water washes away the dust, sweat and stickiness, and you can go out to the living room to enjoy the cool air from the air conditioner. It's so comfortable that you can let out a long sigh.

After wiping his head with a towel, Tan Jia went to the refrigerator to find ice cubes to make his own sparkling water. He had just taken two sips when there was a knock on the door.

She glanced at the time and joked as she opened the door, "You really can't wait even a minute. Come in, I'll go cut the watermelon."

Lin Zhiyue stood at the door for two minutes.

He didn't mean to look, but when he opened the door just now, he was so close that the image of her legs wrapped in super short shorts was etched into his mind like a photograph.

Despite the stifling heat in the hallway behind him and the air conditioning in the living room in front of him, he felt a wave of heat rushing towards him as he stepped inside.

He was a little stiff when he sat down.

Tan Jia placed the sliced ​​watermelon on the table and told him to help himself.

Then he sat down not far from him, casually put his legs on the cushions, continued drinking ice water, and haphazardly dried his hair.

Water splashed from the ends of his hair onto the back of Lin Zhiyue's hand. He recoiled as if he had been burned by hot wax.

The movement was a bit too much. Tan Jia turned her head to look at him and asked, "What are you doing?"

After a few seconds of silence, Lin Zhiyue said in a tense voice, "Is the case... closed?"

"You changed the subject so abruptly. The case is closed, and Captain Zheng asked me to thank you for your help."

After saying that, she looked at his still tense face and asked, "Are you not used to being in unfamiliar places?"

People who have suffered trauma in childhood are indeed more prone to stress reactions when alone with others in unfamiliar places.

Without waiting for a reply, she continued, "I was going to teach you how to sculpt dough, but I'll just tell you what's going on. After I'm done, you can take the watermelon home and eat it."

Just as I was about to mention the gathering at the loquat orchard, Lin Zhiyue quickly said, "I can make dough figurines."

I spoke too fast and almost choked.

Tan Jia looked at him until his eyelashes trembled, then he let out a soft laugh through his nose.

"Oh—then stay a little longer."

She didn't eat much watermelon. Instead, she took him to a small studio specializing in dough sculpting and showed him her latest works.

"Look, the figures I've been sculpting lately are a bit better than before. Can you tell this is Jin Xiangyuan? And Qu He, I made a dough dress for the first time, and I've learned how to sculpt the key points. You just need to connect these key points to figure out what kind of case this is..."

She seemed to be introducing her own business, but the room was too small, and Lin Zhiyue, standing behind her, could only smell the fragrance on her body.

There were also traces of water dripping from the ends of her hair onto her clothes.

For the first time, he felt that having exceptional visual abilities was truly offensive; he could see every detail about her without even looking closely—the mole on her wrist, the curve of her waist, the long legs under her shorts.

"...So I'd also like to invite you. There's a farmhouse restaurant at the loquat orchard. I heard it's quite comfortable to eat while enjoying the breeze, and you can even pick loquats. What do you think, Lin Zhiyue? Did you hear me?"

Lin Zhiyue hurriedly raised her eyes, wanting to ask what was said, but found it difficult to speak of her absent-mindedness, and pressed her lips tightly together.

Tan Jia crossed her arms and looked him over: "What are you spacing out about?" Seeing his ears were red, she added: "Are you hot? Are you not used to being so close? Maybe we should go outside..."

"Need not."

She raised an eyebrow and moved aside slightly: "Okay, be sure to tell me if you feel unwell. How about we make a loquat? Making dough figurines can calm you down and distract you, it should help you relax a bit."

Lin Zhiyue sat down, with an unmixed dough in front of him, but he hesitated to pick it up, his breathing becoming a little rapid.

"Don't you like having someone standing behind you?" Tan Jia was behind him and could see his stiff shoulders and back. "You can say it."

"……Um."

"Um what?"

"...Don't stand behind me."

"Hmm, that's better to say it out loud. Where should I stand?"

"Beside you".

Tan Jia stood beside him, but heard him say again, "Come closer."

She moved a little closer, and seeing that he didn't react with any tension or resistance, she said, "It seems that you're not afraid of others getting close, but rather afraid of people not being in your sight, and you can't predict what they'll do next."

"Ah."

"Let's pick some loquats. I'll repeat what I just said. Team Leader Zheng said he's hosting a dinner party at the loquat orchard. There's a farmhouse there, the environment is pretty good, and you can pick loquats. He asked me to invite you, to see if you want to go. If you don't want to, I can bring you some loquats back."

"You can go."

"Then I'll send a message to Captain Zheng."

The casual conversation calmed Lin Zhiyue down, and she quietly began to sculpt dough.

Loquats are relatively easy to shape. After mixing the color and kneading them into shape, you only need to add color to the important parts.

As he mixed the paints, a hand slowly reached out and touched his arm under his gaze.

"You're so hot," Tan Jia said casually.

The next second, Lin Zhiyue seemed to be ignited, his whole body burning up.

The heat made his mind go blank, and he could only hear the playful laughter around him.

That's outrageous; no one has ever dared to treat him like that.

A dozen minutes later, Tan Jia saw the person out and stared at him for a long time as if he had been reprimanded.

She leaned against the door, smiling and waving: "Remember the gathering at the loquat orchard the day after tomorrow."

Lin Zhiyue returned home with unsteady steps.

Perhaps the desensitization test was too successful, because on the day of the dinner party, Lin Zhiyue sat next to Tan Jia on a bench, and their arms occasionally touched, but there was no adverse reaction.

Of course, there was no intention to avoid it.

Tan Ming noticed something was off about it, and on the way back, he kept saying that "traumatic men are very likely to be perverts."

Tan Jia wanted to laugh when he heard this.

Under the streetlights, her smile was relaxed and carefree, and when it was reproduced on the screen, it was dazzlingly natural.

In the dimly lit room, the video on the screen automatically finished playing, then jumped to the next video, and the next one... It was all of her, walking, shopping, greeting people, riding her skateboard into the archery range, playing in turn.

A hand tapped pause, and Tan Jia's enlarged face was fixed in the center of the screen, her eyebrows raised, as if she were provoking someone.

Tilt it slightly, and the dark background other than the face reveals the person in front of the screen, a blurry, distorted shadow, with only the faint crimson of the cigarette butt flickering.

“Tan, Jia”.

(End of this chapter)