If I don't have money to go to college, I can only go to slay the dragon.

Chu Zihang sat in the right seat of the cabin, quietly looking at the rising view outside the window. Everything on the ground was quickly moving away. The light, noise, temperature, and wind from the lake blew in through the gap in the cabin window, lowering the level not long ago. Hotness and boredom.

Xia Mi sat opposite, a lock of wet and smooth forehead hair dangling in front of her eyes. She looked at Chu Zihang in front of her in confusion.

No one expected that things would develop to this point. They were locked in the same cabin of the Ferris wheel when they were supposed to separate. This big guy was leading them to a higher place.

The Ferris wheel keeps going up, and the view below keeps looking upward. If the view does not belong to a group of Chicago police officers who have belatedly arrived to guard the entrance and exit of the Ferris wheel, this picture will be even more beautiful.

The neon lights hanging outside the cabin prevented the cabin from looking too dark. Xia Mi hesitated for a while and was about to say sorry, but Chu Zihang made a move first. He took a packet from his pocket. He took out the tissue and handed it to Xia Mi.

"Oh oh oh, thank you, senior brother." Xia Mi was a little surprised by Chu Zihang's sudden thoughtfulness. He pulled out two paper towels and wiped the still wet areas on his body, "Sorry, I seem to be holding back."

"It's not time to talk about this yet, but we can still make amends." Chu Zihang said, "Lu Mingfei, are you still in the channel?"

"I'm here, I've always been here. What happened over there? Why was it so noisy just now?" Lu Mingfei's voice sounded in the public channel of the earphones.

"We need your help here." Chu Zihang said concisely, "Xia Mi and I are trapped on the Ferris wheel. I need to go to the power distribution room of the amusement park to turn off the main switch."

"What trouble are you in?" Lu Mingfei was surprised. He never thought that Chu Zihang, an embryo-killer, could be forced into a skyscraper in Chicago. He was usually the one who forced others into despair.

"People from the Chicago Police Department and many onlookers can only stay away temporarily. They are now waiting under the Ferris wheel." Chu Zihang glanced at the scene below from the passenger cabin near the Ferris wheel. Several police officers in police uniforms were waiting. After evacuating the crowd and setting up a cordon, the young men who were held down by Chu Zihang while holding knives were also handcuffed to the railings and watched over.

"Let me go, why did you provoke the police? What do you need me to do?"

"Go to the power distribution room. There is a gray house walking north through the green garden. There is security in front. The back door has been opened. You can sneak in directly and turn off the main switch. We will continue to complete the task and then steal from the Ferris wheel while it is dark. Climb up and down.”

"Is it too late? Don't let me turn around and get caught before I get there." Lu Mingfei asked.

"The Fireworks Ferris Wheel is different from other Ferris Wheels. Once started, it will turn counterclockwise three times, and the cabin will open after three turns." Chu Zihang said, "Each circle lasts two minutes, and now we have five minutes. time."

"I've seen the green garden." Lu Mingfei's voice was a little breathy when he spoke. It should be that Chu Zihang was already running quickly when he spoke.

"Leave it to you." Chu Zihang stopped talking after saying this.

The next step is to wait.

The Ferris wheel was still spinning quietly and was almost reaching the top of the first circle. Xia Mi, who was sitting opposite, wiped off the water stains on his body. He balled up the toilet paper and put it in his pocket. He raised his eyes and looked at Chu Zihang. When he found that the other person was not looking at him, he whispered, "Senior brother, are you angry?"

"No." Chu Zihang looked out the window of the Ferris wheel.

"." Xia Mi didn't know what to say and turned his attention to the window embarrassedly.

The cabin swayed upwards, the noise on the ground became farther and farther away, and the cabin became quieter and quieter.

Both of them were fermenting in silence. This situation and environment were too suitable for random thoughts. Their thoughts and ideas kept rising, and exploded the moment they surfaced.

Suddenly, for a moment, one of the two people inexplicably remembered that in the past, his classmates would always have a special reaction when talking about the Ferris wheel, as if this facility was independent and had a special status in the amusement park. , he didn't understand it very well at that time, but now he seems to understand it vaguely.

The Fireworks Ferris Wheel on the lakeside of Navy Pier is not a giant Ferris wheel like the "London Eye", so its cabin is not too spacious, and it is on a very fine line between crowded but not crowded, comfortable but not satisfactory.

Guests sitting on the skyscraper sit on the left and right seats, and their knees touch each other within a few centimeters. In such a small space, they are prohibited from having their own comfort zone. Even in places where there is almost no way to hide your eyes, when you look out the window, you will inevitably see the person opposite you from the corner of your eye.

Her breathing rate, the curling of her fingers, the fluttering of her eyelashes, all the tiny movements can be caught in the eyes, and you can even smell the scent of her body that you can't usually smell, which is sweet and has a hint of intoxicating temperature.

Coke flavor.

This was the smell that lingered in front of Chu Zihang's nose. The entire cabin was filled with the smell of cola. There was no doubt that Xia Mi was the source of the smell.

Xia Mi himself seemed to realize that his 'fragrant' smell was too strong, and he played with the wet lock of hair in embarrassment, his eyes averted.

"Xia Mi." Chu Zihang called her name, breaking the silence that would have become awkward if it continued.

"I'm here." Xia Mi perked up and his eyes met Chu Zihang's in front of him.

"Why don't you hide away?" Chu Zihang asked.

"Huh?" Xia Mi was startled.

Chu Zihang silently looked at the water marks on her body.

"Ah, there was someone behind me at that time, and I didn't want to cause more trouble." Xia Mi replied.

"The highest priority for the Executive Department Commissioner when performing field tasks is to protect his own life." Chu Zihang said, "This time it was Coca-Cola, but it may not be the case next time. There is always a better way to deal with it."

Xia Mi stared at Chu Zihang without answering. It wasn't until Chu Zihang felt that he had said something wrong and recited the regulations of the executive department silently again that the girl opposite sighed, "I know, senior brother, I'm sorry. This time I made a mistake."

"It's not a mistake. It's not wrong to choose to calm things down and control the situation at the first time. I just want to tell you that the next time you encounter a similar thing, you can think more about whether there are other better solutions." Chu Zihang shook his head and said.

"What would you do if it were you, senior brother?"

"Without alerting others, use force to deter the conflict before it escalates further," Chu Zihang said.

"Will you take action directly?"

"There is an easier way." Chu Zihang gently lifted his shirt with his left hand, revealing the handle of the PM pistol fastened to his waist.

"Deterrence by force." Xia Mi immediately understood what Chu Zihang meant.

Sometimes a simple and hidden action can solve many conflicts.

"Protect yourself. The mission is indeed important, but there is no need to think about sacrificing for the mission all the time." Chu Zihang nodded and said.

"Sacrifice is too much, isn't it? I just got splashed with coke."

"You can see the big from the small." Chu Zihang looked directly at Xia Mi and said, "In Kassel College, during the specialist assessment of the Executive Department, the examiner will use tests from various angles to judge a student's comprehensive quality, including Emergency response, psychological hazards, etc. If this is an assessment, your judgment and reaction will undoubtedly be unqualified, and the examiner will think that you are self-destructive and cowardly."

"I thought that at least I would get a good evaluation of 'forbearance'." Xia Mi opened his eyes and felt a little annoyed, "Have you instructors never heard the saying that a small amount of patience will lead to a big plan?"

"But can you imagine Lin Nian having coke thrown on his face?" Chu Zihang said.

Xia Mi paused for a moment, then shook her head. After interacting with Lin Nian in the past few days, she really couldn't imagine Lin Nian looking as embarrassed as herself.

"I'm not completely denying the practice of forbearance and retreat, but I want you to know that in most cases, 'forbearance' is linked to 'incompetence.'" Chu Zihang said softly, "A lot of times it's just because I can't find a better place. They try to find a better way to solve the problem and then turn around and run away, but this will only make things worse.”

Xia Mi still wanted to defend herself, but she suddenly stopped talking when she saw some emotions in Chu Zihang's lowered eyes.

The cabin was quiet for a while, and the Ferris wheel began its second revolution.

"Senior brother, you said that I like to regress. Maybe it has something to do with my past habits." Xia Mi said.

"Habit?" Chu Zihang raised his head and asked.

"I've always been used to minimizing big things and taking a step back to open up the world." Xia Mi turned his head and looked out the window at the black Lake Michigan in the distance. "My mother often taught me that it doesn't matter if you suffer a little loss. Don't worry too much. Just get by. .”

"I thought you were well-liked at home."

"Why?" Xia Mi asked.

Chu Zihang didn't know how to answer. He didn't know why, but he thought she was the kind of little princess, a bit like Liu Miaomiao and Su Xiaoqiang. What parent would not love and love a girl like this? She was born to be proudly displayed to others by her parents, right? A smile on his face is like shining out sunshine.

"But it's not a good practice."

"It's not true for other people, but it's true for me." Xia Mi said, "Do you still remember my brother?"

"Xiawang, we should still let him rest in the hotel room."

"What do you think of my brother?" Xia Mi asked.

Chu Zihang didn't speak for a while. He looked at Xia Mi, wondering in what aspect the girl's 'how' she asked him was an evaluation of the boy with blue eyes.

Seeing that Chu Zihang didn't answer, Xia Mi just smiled: "Have you ever thought that my brother looks like a puppy? The kind that's particularly clingy?"

"Some." Chu Zihang replied honestly.

"We are twins." Xia Mi said, "He and I both stayed in my mother's belly for ten months. He was born six hours earlier than me. By the time I was born, my mother may have run out of strength and her fertility was too weak. , so it was very difficult to give birth to me. I was busy for a long time before I was born. During this time, the nurse forgot to take care of my brother, leaving him suffocated for half an hour. When I found out, it was already too late."

"Dissociative disorder." Chu Zihang still remembered Xia Mi saying the name of the disease, "Is there no way to treat it?"

"It cannot be treated." Xia Mi said, "This is one of the sequelae after brain damage. Even if he did not have this disease, he might still be a dementia child, but the doctor said that fortunately this disease allowed him to retain part of his intelligence. When he is not sick, he will be very noisy. He likes to tear down the house and toys. It is as scary as a manic depressive. When the disease attacks, he will calm down, his IQ and cognitive ability will become lower, as if he has been cut off. The frontal lobe is just as stupid."

Chu Zihang was silent.

"My mother said I owe this to my brother." Xia Mi looked at the night view outside the window. "I have had good grades and good sports since I was a child. I was even the captain of the high school cheerleading team. But even so, I am still the one at home. My brother is taken care of a lot more. Because they think that without me, my brother might be as good as me, or even better than me. I can only be a cheerleader, and he can go to the Olympics and win gold medals. But I gave up my brother’s opportunity. Take it away, of the twins I am the only one with a normal brain, so I owe this to my brother."

"So you hate your brother?"

"No, I don't hate him." Xia Mi lowered his head and played with his hands. "Brother, he used to listen to me the most. Maybe it was because we stayed in the same belly for ten months, so he liked me very much. I said Whatever happens is what it is. One time he got into a fight with five or six boys, and the reason was stupid, because one of the boys told everyone that I was his girlfriend. My brother got very angry and fought with him, punching his front teeth. Lost."

"Xiawang? Knock out other people's front teeth?" Chu Zihang was stunned for a moment, and he really couldn't connect the frail boy with the fight.

"My brother always liked to get into trouble. Before his illness became serious, he was not weak in health. He was very strong in fights. Even the gangsters on the street couldn't beat him!" Xia Mi smiled, "But there were always fights. He was going to get into trouble. Every time he got into trouble, I apologized for him and dealt with the aftermath. As I walked, he would follow me by the corner of my clothes, dragging him from house to house to say sorry. Those people scolded us as brothers and sisters. Tutor, I can only apologize with a smile, because it was indeed my brother who did something wrong."

"On that rare occasion, I got angry with him. I felt very embarrassed, so I wouldn't let her hold the corner of my clothes, and asked him to stay at least ten meters away from me. He followed me from a distance, not even ten meters away. Not far. Every time I turned a corner, I had to stand and wait for him until he turned and bumped into me. Then I ran back in fear and kept ten meters away. It took me a while to see him poking his head around the corner, wanting to see me. Have you moved forward?"

"I felt so angry and funny at that time. When I got over my anger, I waved to him who was still submissive behind me. When he saw me waving, he became happy and ran over to me and continued to hold my skirt. horn."

Chu Zihang looked at Xia Mi and said softly: "What about now?"

Yes, what Xia Mi said at the beginning was "Brother, he used to listen to me the most." The meaning of "before" was a bit intriguing, and Chu Zihang noticed this.

Xia Mi's expression didn't change much. He looked at the scenery outside the skyscraper and said slowly: "Didn't I say that my brother is sick? As he gets older, it becomes more and more serious. Dissociative disorder is really a miraculous disease. It can be To make a noisy guy quiet, the doctor said that when the disease occurs, his IQ will be greatly reduced, his desire will be lowered, his emotions will be suppressed, his perception will be damaged, and his body will become worse and worse. In the past, he could Hitting two bad boys with one hand, after a while he couldn’t even beat me in an arm-wrestle.”

"When he was sick, my brother spoke very little and had no strength. He would just sit quietly. When I looked at him, I even doubted whether he was my brother. It was like he was a different person." Xia Mi Said, "I would sit next to him when he was sick when his family was not around, put the hem of his skirt in his hand, and ask him if he still remembered me. If it had been before, he would have caught me and called me by my name. , but at that time he just turned his head and looked at me and then turned back. At that time, I didn’t know why I suddenly wanted to cry, and then I cried on the bed.”

"He's been like this ever since."

"Always like this."

"Have you ever heard of frontal lobotomy surgery?" Chu Zihang suddenly said after a moment of silence.

"Well, what?"

"In the past, people used to create bipolar disorder and psychosis. Removing the prefrontal cortex of humans would effectively regulate emotions and aggressive behavior. The specific process was to saw an opening in the human skull, and then cut the forehead through this opening. Alcohol is injected into the lobe, which dissolves the lipids to destroy the nerve fibers in that area, thereby damaging the connection between the prefrontal cortex and other brain areas. People who have undergone the operation are like walking zombies, with only the most basic desires and reflexive behaviors." Chu Zihang said, "People who have this kind of surgery will forget many things, including their family members. What I want to say is that it is usually the patient's family members who choose this kind of surgery. They know that this can be better for the patient. After the patient has lost a certain ability to take care of himself, they also regard the patient as their own family. This is a blood relationship, a bond that can never be severed, so no matter what happens to him, he is still your brother. He has always liked to hold your skirt since he was a child. 's brother."

"Yes, he is still my brother." Xia Mi nodded and said, "I just don't like him as much as before. I still like the brother who likes to cause trouble, is strong, and will fight for me, even if I bring him He went around the streets to apologize, but now I don't have that chance."

Chu Zihang lowered his eyes and looked at Xia Mi's clothes. He didn't know why the topic suddenly reached this point. It seems like this kind of thing should be hidden deep in his heart, right? Just like the "absolute realm" in "EVA", the absolute spiritual realm, you don't want others to come in.

For example, he has a Maybach full of holes hidden in his heart. When he suddenly wakes up from his dream, he often feels that he is still sitting in that car. It is raining heavily outside and that song is playing repeatedly on the stereo. He never told anyone about it because others wouldn't understand. In this case, why tell others? Just tell him.

Perhaps Lu Mingfei was serious about what he said before, that he was a good tree hole. There were indeed many people who liked to analyze these inner matters with him, just like countless times before.

before.

Chu Zihang recalled the past, those vague memories, and looking at Xia Mi, he felt that the girl's cheek gradually overlapped with one of the memories. No, several outlines overlapped, just like putting thin rice paper on the TV screen. Just like a flower, with just a little force of the pen tip you can pierce the paper and see the bright crystal lattice behind it.

But at this moment, Chu Zihang's vision suddenly turned dark.

The cabin beneath them stopped, swaying slightly in the air due to inertia.

"Senior brother?" In the darkness, Xia Mi subconsciously raised his hand, and his wrist was immediately gently held by Chu Zihang before he put it down.

"Lu Mingfei succeeded." In the darkness, Chu Zihang stabilized Xia Mi's emotions and looked outside - the entire Ferris wheel stopped moving.

Xia Mi also turned to look outside and was stunned, because not only the Ferris wheel, but also the entire south side of Navy Pier was dark! There was no light in the entire area, and the entire Navy Pier was filled with the exclamations of tourists. From time to time, mobile phone cameras turned on and took pictures everywhere.

"He seems to have made a mistake with the switch. And the timing of the power outage was also a little worse." Chu Zihang observed the position of the cabin. The cabin of the Ferris wheel they were sitting on was now at a lower position. The most ideal time. The Ferris wheel should take them to the three o'clock or nine o'clock direction. At that time, when they climb out of the cabin, they can directly walk parallel to the iron rod of the Ferris wheel to the smiling face axis and install the signal jammer.

Chu Zihang bent down and stood up in the cabin. Xia Mi shrank to the corner to make way for him to easily remove the cabin glass of the Ferris wheel. He was worried that tourists would fall while climbing. These glasses were designed to be fixed and could not be opened. of.

The dark cabin gradually lit up with a molten red color, and the temperature of the entire cabin rose by tens of degrees Celsius in an instant, making the breath feel a little stuffy. Xia Mi's eyes locked on Chu Zihang's fingertips, and the molten red light illuminated most of the cabin, Chu Zihang's pale red profile, and his beautiful pupils like molten gold.

He raised his burning fingers close to the screws at the four corners of the cabin glass. The alloy holding the window was deformed and twisted due to the high temperature, and the entire piece of glass was quickly and easily removed.

At this moment, the refreshing lake breeze outside poured into the cabin with the sound of tide, washing away all the sultry heat. Xia Mi couldn't help but take a deep breath, and the smell of the lake lingering on the tip of his nose was all the smell of the boy. Shower gel scent.

"Brother, be careful," she said.

Chu Zihang stood the removed glass on the seat and leaned his front body outside. The strong wind instantly messed up his black forehead. Unaffected, he pressed hard on the top of the cabin with both hands. The veins on the back of his hands were slightly convex and he pulled out the back half of his body. In the cabin, while hanging in the air, he exerted his strength with his arms, performed a horseback gymnastics side-by-side motion, and directly 'thrown' himself onto the roof of the cabin!

There was a "bang" on the iron sheet on the top of the cabin. Chu Zihang crouched down and glanced at the darkness beneath him. He listened to the noise on the ground and made sure that no one had noticed him. Then he prepared to reach out and give Xia Mi a hand below.

But what he didn't expect was that Xia Mi didn't appreciate it at all. He grabbed the roof of the cabin with both hands from the inside. As soon as he used his wrists, his slender legs reached out of the cabin first. He hooked upwards and turned his body in an almost arc shape. Following the trajectory, his feet first touched the roof of the cabin, and then he used his terrifying core strength and flexibility to straighten his upper body and stand beside Chu Zihang!

"Isn't it awesome?" Xia Mi said proudly.

"." Although he was in the dark, Chu Zihang's golden eyes had a certain degree of night vision, and he could see the girl's incredibly flexible figure. He didn't say anything. There was a certain reason why Xia Mi was rated as an 'A' grade bloodline by Norma, and it was by no means limited to the high-risk 'Eye of the Wind King'.

"Wait for me here." Chu Zihang told Xia Mi, then bent down and climbed up the iron pole of the Ferris wheel.

If the tourists below saw Chu Zihang's current actions, they would definitely be shocked and couldn't help but record it and upload it to the video website. In this extreme environment of walking on the balance beam, he was almost walking on flat ground. The strong winds of Lake Michigan could not interfere with his movements at all. The feet on the iron pole are like nails on the wooden board, each step is more stable.

When the pouring angle reached more than 30 degrees, Chu Zihang hugged the iron pole with both hands and continued to climb up with tree-climbing skills. This step required more than just skills. Only the maintenance staff of the Ferris wheel would discover something in the future. An iron rod connected to the rotating shaft is covered with dark, sunken palm rubbings.

Arriving at the platform with a slightly curved axis without any danger, Chu Zihang placed the signal jammer. After simple modulation, he wrapped it repeatedly with tape and fixed it on the iron sheet. After making sure that it would not be blown by the wind, he returned to the original route to find it. Xia Mi was waiting for him.

Back on the roof of the cabin, Chu Zihang was about to discuss a way to continue with Xia Mi, but before he could say anything, Xia Mi, who was sitting on the cabin and hugging his knees, raised his hand and pointed downwards, saying, "Senior brother, look."

Chu Zihang looked in the direction Xia Mi pointed, and then was stunned because he saw a very beautiful and strange scene.

The entire south side of the Navy Pier was originally experiencing a power outage, and it should have been dark when looking at it, but in the darkness where Chu Zihang was looking now, countless white stars were rising. Those stars are like schools of fish surging in the black tide. Looking at them, they shine like the Milky Way.

That's not a star. Those are the flash lights that tourists take out their mobile phones to light up. When there are more of them, they turn into the Milky Way flowing on the ground.

It was also different from Chu Zihang's imagination that the crowd would be panicked after the blackout. The people in the darkness were surprisingly calm. They all stayed in their places. There was no crowding or panic. Instead, they looked up at the sky and listened to the lively discussions. Zhong pointed at the sky.

Chu Zihang, who was high up, thought for a moment that they had been discovered, and subconsciously crouched down and lowered his head, but when he saw Xia Mi sitting next to him looking up at the sky, he suddenly realized that things were not what he thought.

"Look up, there are stars." On the ground, the Yankee boy who was tied to the railing whispered to the girl in the baseball cap holding her wrist and sobbing quietly.

"Leave me alone." The girl in the baseball cap lowered her head and said.

"I'm not going to lie to you, look up, there are real stars." The Yankee boy elbowed her.

The girl in the baseball cap was annoyed, glanced up at the sky, and then froze.

Some people say that modern cities cannot see the stars because of light pollution. Migratory birds will lose their way due to the influence of light pollution. Newly hatched sea turtles will die due to light pollution. Without urban light pollution, the human eye can see as many as 7,000 stars in a clear night sky. stars.

Chu Zihang, who stood upright next to Xia Mi in the cabin, didn't know how many stars he saw in the sky now, but there was no doubt that at this moment of the blackout, the stars were shining brightly in the night sky of Lake Michigan from the Navy Pier.

The fierce lake wind swept through the darkness, lifting the white cloth covering the scroll, causing the flowers underneath to sway in the air, and stars like golden chains trembling in the black sky!

It was a starry sky, a starry sky that had long since disappeared from memory with the development of the times. People by the lake held up white stars and looked up at the purple starry sky. Lake Michigan by the dock faithfully recorded this. everything.

Among the splendid stars, Chu Zihang stood on the high Ferris wheel, standing on the iron roof of the cabin and looking at the entire night sky in front of him. Amidst the sound of the wind, he heard the girl sitting next to him hugging his knees saying: The girl was reading something seriously, so he listened carefully.

Behind the scenes, the lights in the distance of Chicago's CBD area and the headlights of cars are connected together, flowing endlessly in the golden veins of the city. The crowds of people on the ground and the various voices are intertwined, woven into a soft gauze that covers the tide hitting the rocks on the lakeside. The vast night wind from far to near blew up Xia Mi's hair on the Ferris wheel: one lock, two locks, three locks, just like Chu Zihang standing silently beside her, listening to the stars she was counting in a low voice. : one, two, three.

ps: No pigeons! But two in one!