Both money and sex

After one autumn rain and one cold, the roads in the Tongxin community located in a corner of the capital were extremely muddy due to years of disrepair.

Braving the slanting wind and drizzle, Luo Ping, led by Liu Chao, came to this old residential area.

Building 3, 201, the door was closed tightly, and the door frame was covered with dust. Liu Chao took out the key and opened the door. With a light push, the situation in the room was clear at a glance.

With tears in his eyes, Luo Ping slowly walked into the room.

This is the house allocated to his parents after they got married, and it is also his home.

The furnishings in the room are very simple. All the furniture and electrical appliances are in the style of more than ten years ago. On the left hand side of the door, there are a few pairs of shoes neatly stacked on a simple shoe rack.

The big ones are men's shoes, the small ones are women's shoes, and there is a pair of very small children's shoes.

The thick dust made the whole room look very dark, and the windows were covered with dirt accumulated over the years, but none of this could stop Luo Ping's excitement in the slightest.

He saw a large picture frame on the opposite wall.

A handsome young man and a beautiful and gentle woman are standing on the green grass and embracing each other affectionately.

"Dad, Mom."

This was the first time Luo Ping saw his mother after more than ten years, and it was also the first time he walked into his home after more than ten years.

Tears flowed silently, splashing down on the dusty floor, one drop, one string, as he walked, dripping all over the one-bedroom hut.

"After your parents disappeared, no one has moved here. What you see is almost what they looked like after they went out."

Liu Chao understood Luo Ping's mood at the moment, and exited the room after speaking briefly, leaving Luo Ping alone.

A small desk, a small chair, and that small schoolbag.

Looking at these, Luo Ping couldn't stop his tears from streaming down his face. He finally remembered something. He remembered that he was happy all day when his father bought back the small desk, and when his mother bought him this beautiful schoolbag, he was so excited to carry it on his back. He picked up his schoolbag and clamored to go to school.

And the fabric sofa in the living room, on which I used to sit intimately with my mother watching TV.

……

The past events appeared before his eyes one after another, but things remained the same, but people were no longer.

He looked up at the huge wedding photo, feeling as painful as a knife.

"Dad, Mom!"

Luo Ping couldn't bear it anymore, and wept bitterly.

After 15 years, he finally returned to his home and finally recovered his memory, but his mother was no longer alive, and his father was nowhere to be seen—what could be more sad than this?

Liu Chao stood outside the door, listening to Luo Ping's suppressed cries, there were crystal tears in his eyes.

Half an hour later, Liu Chao returned to the house.Luo Ping was sitting on the sofa, staring at the photo album in front of him in a daze.

He lightly patted Luo Ping on the shoulder, "Don't be too sad, no matter what, you're finally home."

Luo Ping nodded, and the tears that had just been held back flowed down again involuntarily.

"Yeah, I'm home, I'm finally home!"

He lightly stroked the photos in the album, seeing the smiling family of three on them, his heart hurt like a knife.

After a while, Liu Chao saw that his mood seemed to have stabilized, and left the room after handing him the key to the door.

Luo Ping sat on the sofa for a long time, and finally looked up at his parents in the photo frame.

"Dad, Mom, I'm finally home."

He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, went out to buy a mop and a broom, and started cleaning silently.

Until night fell, he cleaned every corner of the house, and the whole house looked brand new, even the pairs of shoes on the shoe rack were wiped clean by him.

Although, maybe no one will ever wear those shoes again.

That night, Luo Ping suffered from insomnia.

Lying on the only big bed at home, he would stare blankly at everything in the room.

Childhood memories kept appearing in front of him, and the voice, appearance and appearance of his parents also kept appearing in his mind.

He didn't fall into a deep sleep until dawn.

In the dream, he saw his parents again. This time it was no longer like the previous dreams. Their faces were so clear and their voices were so clear that they ran towards him happily. Luo Ping also happily went up to him, thinking Hug them with all your might.

However, his hands were empty.

Luo Ping suddenly woke up from his dream, his whole body was drenched with sweat, he looked at the strange yet familiar room, his nose turned sore again.

……

Coming out of Tongxin Community, you can walk through a section of badly damaged path to a wide and tidy street.

Beside the intersection, there is a Teana Cafe. It is still in the morning, and there are very few customers in the cafe. To be precise, there are only two customers sitting by the south glass window.

"Uncle Liu, can you tell me about my parents?"

Liu Chao lit a cigarette and looked at the street outside the window with empty eyes, just like the misty water vapor outside, as if he was thinking about the past that had been dormant for many years.

"Your father and your mother are both my colleagues. They fell in love for two years and then got married. After less than a year, you were born. You were very smart when you were young. Your parents liked you very much and often took you to work. Go to play in the bureau, and the colleagues in the bureau also like you very much."

Luo Ping looked down at the coffee in front of him, bit his lips tightly, trying not to let the tears fall again.

"...Your father is a very dedicated person. After working in the Cultural Relics Bureau, he has been traveling for many years and rarely has a vacation. The unit leader gave him a one-week long vacation in order to let him have a complete rest. But, who I didn't expect that after the three of you went to the south, you never came back."

Liu Chao wiped away a tear from the corner of his eye, and continued, "Your father and I are comrades-in-arms and colleagues, a lifelong friendship. After your family of three disappeared, I went to the south to look for it several times, but there was no news of you...No Thinking about it, when I saw you again, 15 years had passed."

Luo Ping was silent, with tears in his eyes.

"Your father is an orphan, and your mother is from the capital, the only daughter in the family. After you disappeared, your grandpa and grandma missed you so much that they both left a few years ago."

"Luo Ping, do you still remember what happened and why your father disappeared suddenly?"

Luo Ping looked up at the misty drizzle outside the window, heaved a sigh of relief, and said slowly according to the memories he gradually recalled yesterday, "After my mother fell into the water, my father hired someone to salvage it in the East Lake for three days and three nights, but I have not found my mother. , the money was almost running out, so Dad had to give up and continue to salvage. When we were about to return to the capital, he suddenly heard that an ancient tomb had been unintentionally dug in the south of Jiangcheng, so he led me to see it look."

"I know about this. Your father once called the unit. In order to check this ancient tomb, he extended his vacation for two days." Liu Chao said.

"Father found a piece of black skin in the ancient tomb... because of this piece of black skin, we were stopped on the way. In a panic, he pushed me down the mountain."

Luo Ping did not tell Liu Chao the whole truth. The cautious habits he had developed over the years made him always guard against strangers.

"Black skin?" Liu Chao pondered for a while, then suddenly raised his head to look at Luo Ping, "Do you still remember the appearance of that piece of black skin?"

"It's just a piece of broken skin the size of a palm, it's pitch black, but there are some strange white patterns on one side."

Liu Chao was stunned, and sighed after a long while, "So it is, so it is."

"Uncle Liu, do you know that piece of black skin?"

Liu Chao nodded, "This piece of black leather involves very important state secrets. Your father must have been targeted to protect this piece of black leather."

Luo Ping's heart moved, and he asked, "Can a piece of black leather involve state secrets?"

"It is said that in the Yin and Shang Dynasties, King Wen of Zhou once secretly cast a bronze three-legged Yunlong tripod to suppress evil spirits and prosper the country. It is precisely because of this tripod that King Wen of Zhou made his historical achievements. Later, after During the change of dynasties, this tripod has been secretly collected by the royal family and used for sacrifices. Until the end of the Tang Dynasty, this bronze three-legged Yunlong tripod suddenly disappeared, and it has never been seen again.”

Although Liu Chao spoke miraculously, Luo Ping did not take these words as fantasy, because the Pixiu blood on his hand was a myth in the eyes of others.

"Uncle Liu, is this cauldron related to that piece of black skin?"

Liu Chao has been working in the Bureau of Cultural Relics for these years, and he has heard about these historical secrets for a long time, so when Luo Ping told the general appearance of the black leather, he would know what the black leather is in the first place .

"That kind of black leather legend has a total of five pieces. As long as you put the five black pieces together, you can form a complete map. Through this map, you can find the bronze three-legged Yunlong tripod that has been missing for many years... Your father used to He was conscientious in his work, smart and capable, and was favored by the deputy director at the time, Mr. Chen, who was also an expert in cultural relics protection for decades, and accepted him as an apprentice. I believe your father must have seen the piece collected by the bureau. Black skin, so when he found another piece from the ancient tomb, he kept it with great care."

"It turns out that the fifth piece of black leather is in the Bureau of Cultural Relics."

Luo Ping felt a slight shock in his heart, but he soon realized that as a national cultural relic protection unit, it is reasonable to have a piece of black skin.

"Judging from your experience, there are many people who know the true origin of this piece of black leather. Your father has been missing for so many years, maybe he has—"

"Will not."

Luo Ping stood up suddenly, his face flushed with excitement.

Liu Chao looked up at him, hesitated to speak, sighed, and continued, "Your father has been missing for so many years, and the work unit has never given a definitive opinion on this matter. After the long holiday, I will call the bureau immediately." Report, I believe the bureau will properly accommodate you."

Luo Ping understood what he said and knew that he wanted to apply for his father to die in the line of duty. He shook his head, "Uncle Liu, thank you. But I believe my father must still be alive. No matter what, I must find him."