Chapter 15 Gift

"So...our mission today is to pick a gift for An Qing?"

Lin Xian looked at Ji Lin, who was carefully choosing a gift in the mall's gift section, and felt like the sun had risen in the west.

"Is it worth it? Taking a whole afternoon to buy a gift when you're so busy, isn't that too much of a waste of time?"

"Just consider it a break for the team members. They've been working overtime for so long."

Ji Lin said softly, looking at the Barbie doll gift box in his hand from all angles, then put it back.

"Don't you think we should look at more mature gifts?"

Lin Xian looked around at the colorful, pink, and tender children's gift section, feeling like Alice who had strayed into Wonderland.

"An Qing is turning 19, not 9."

"What should a 19-year-old girl like?"

Ji Lin raised his head and asked with a serious face.

"I've never given anyone a gift before, and I don't know what to give."

"Then what would you write if you encountered a gift-giving scene in your novel?"

"I would play to my strengths and avoid detailed descriptions, skipping over the birthday gift scene."

"Typical of you... But I don't think you need to be so serious."

Lin Xian scratched his head and walked towards the luxury goods display cases.

"A birthday gift is just a formality. You don't need to pick it so carefully. It's enough to have something, it's more about representing a blessing and care. It doesn't really matter what the gift itself is."

"That's true..."

Ji Lin followed Lin Xian, looking left and right.

"But it's rare for me to attend someone else's birthday party, and I still want to give her a gift that she truly likes."

"You don't even know her, how would you know what she likes?" Lin Xian smiled helplessly.

"A woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea. Sometimes figuring out what they like is harder than solving a case."

"That's not necessarily true."

Ji Lin suddenly realized something, staring at Lin Xian's back.

"Actually, Chu An Qing is quite easy to understand."

...

March 28th.

On this day, Ji Lin and Lin Xian together helped the Donghai City Public Security Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division 4 solve an old cold case.

Sometimes it's quite frustrating.

The files sent over by other departments, Lin Xian and Ji Lin casually glanced at them with a helpful attitude and easily found key clues to assist in solving the case. But their special team's progress was slow, which made the team members feel down.

The main reason was the lack of clues and evidence, which stopped the progress of the case and led into a dead end.

"If we could find those hit-and-run vehicles from before, that would be great."

A female team member complained.

"I just don't understand, how can those vehicles disappear out of thin air in Donghai, which is full of cameras?"

"Cameras always have blind spots."

A male team member sighed and said.

"If those hit-and-run vehicles insisted on taking the main roads, we definitely wouldn't lose them. The surveillance at the intersections can be linked together. But every time, the situation is the same. After these vehicles enter the surveillance blind spots, they disappear forever, disappearing out of thin air without anyone noticing."

"What do you think?"

Ji Lin looked at Lin Xian, who was twirling a pen next to him.

"How do you think those vehicles disappeared into thin air?"

Lin Xian twirled the pen, lowered his head and pondered.

"I think it's absolutely impossible to disappear into thin air. Nothing in this world can disappear into thin air. Those vehicles are either hidden secretly, or they are transferred away by some incredible means."

"For example?" Ji Lin asked with interest.

"I can't figure it out either."

Lin Xian shook his head.

"But there are many similar scenes in movies, like in *Fast and Furious*, the protagonist Tang once drove a car and hid it under a speeding truck, maintaining the same speed as the truck, and was never discovered."

"If the murderers in reality also use this movie-like method, driving the vehicles under the trucks in the surveillance blind spots, and then using devices to retract the cars from below into the truck's container... our tracking clues might be cut off here."

"I've seen the escape footage of that hit-and-run Audi and the taxi. The place where they disappeared last was the national highway outside the city, and there were semi-trailer trucks pulling containers everywhere. It's hard to find a tree hidden in the forest. Especially after such a long time, they would have already dealt with it."

"So... the best solution is to intercept those hit-and-run vehicles on the spot." Ji Lin crossed his arms and concluded.

"Therefore, we should strengthen communication with the scientific research department, and it is best to grasp the itinerary and conference information of every scientist who comes to Donghai to study the field of hibernation. When necessary, we can ambush in advance and use roadblocks to catch the escaping hit-and-run vehicles."

"Of course, first of all, we must ensure the safety of those scientists. This requires us to make advance predictions about which scientist will be murdered. This will be our main task for the next period of time... Only by predicting in advance which scientist the murderer will kill at the next 00:42 can we catch the murderer and advance the case to the next stage. This is our only chance."

Everyone nodded, agreeing with this idea.

Lin Xian too.

He had also been waiting for the next 00:42 murder case.

At that time, the murderer driver who killed Xu Yun and Tang Xin will definitely appear again.

As long as that driver is caught...

Lin Xian turned the pen, looking at Ji Lin who was tidying up the papers on the desk in front of him.

Follow the vine to find the melon, find the decisive evidence.

Zhou Duan Yun, Ji Lin, Ji Xin Shui... none of you can escape!

"Let's end the meeting."

Ji Lin stood up, ending the meeting.

...

In the evening.

Donghai suburb, university town, lakeside villa area.

Ji Lin's driver drove a black business car to send Lin Xian and Ji Lin to Chu An Qing's villa entrance.

"What a coincidence, I didn't expect it to be here."

Ji Lin looked at the familiar route home.

"I live here too."

"You live here too?"

Lin Xian pressed down the car window, looking at the scenic villa area. Living in this place must be very comfortable, but it's a bit far from the city.

Chu An Qing told Lin Xian in a WeChat chat that this villa was Chu Shan He's adult gift to her. However, for safety reasons, she was not allowed to live here alone, only allowed to hold birthday parties for her classmates here, or usually drink tea and play with her classmates here.

But be sure to go home or back to the dormitory on time at night!

Chu Shan He's rules are still very strict in terms of curfew.

"I live in that building."

Ji Lin pointed to Lin Xian through the window.

"6."

Facing two peers who were a few years younger than him, each with a lakeside villa, Lin Xian could only give a single 6.

Although Lin Xian now has the ability to take down a set in full, but if this full payment is taken out... his pocket will be empty.

In the future, Liu Feng will have to be brought over to settle his laboratory, so save some money.

Or...

Once the crisis around him is resolved, he can copy some useful technology products from his dreams, and maybe he can cooperate with the national official wave, directly whoring Liu Feng for a laboratory, and he doesn't need to spend money.

However, that's all later.

The cat and mouse game in front of him has not ended, so he can't be careless, and what's more... Lin Xian had a hunch that perhaps the real final battle was about to begin.

Pushing open the redwood double doors of Chu An Qing's villa--

"Welcome, welcome! Welcome, Senior!"

"Wow! It's really Ji Lin! Teacher Ji Lin is really here!"

The arrival of Lin Xian and Ji Lin caused a burst of cheers from the Donghai University juniors who had been waiting in the villa for a long time.

When Chu An Qing first told them that Lin Xian was coming to the birthday party, they were all very excited to see this legendary senior.

But!

When they heard that the popular mystery writer, Oscar's Best Screenplay's youngest nominee, young, melancholic and handsome Ji Lin was also coming!

The screams almost pierced through the classroom floor!

In their opinion, seeing Ji Lin was much more exciting than seeing Lin Xian, this was a great god who rarely appeared in the world!

So, they swarmed up, holding books to ask for autographs, holding mobile phones to take group photos.

"Hehe, Senior Lin Xian, I'm cooking today!"

Chu An Qing, wearing an apron, walked out of the kitchen with a spatula, looking like she knew what she was doing.

"I learned a lot of good dishes with my mother, I definitely won't let you down!"

There weren't many people in the house, all of whom were Chu An Qing's friends at school, as well as friends from high school, all of whom were girls, a total of seven or eight.

In addition to Lin Xian and Ji Lin, there were only 10 people in this small birthday party in total. The scale was not that large, but there were also benefits to having fewer people. Everyone chatted more closely.

Before long, the dishes were served, and the huge birthday cake was also lit with candles.

Turn off the lights.

The birthday party officially began.

In everyone's birthday song blessings, Chu An Qing made a wish for her 19th birthday in the swaying candlelight, and blew out all the candles in one breath.

"I hope everyone's life will get better and better! May our friendship last forever!"

Chu An Qing happily cut the cake for everyone, and handed the first piece to Ji Lin opposite.

"Ji Lin, I'm so happy to meet you! You must invite me to your birthday party!"

"Of course." Ji Lin smiled and took the cake, placing it in front of him.

"I'm honored to join you."

"I want to go too!" "Can we get a free meal?" "Teacher Ji Lin! Let us go too!"

The girls around this age were probably unable to get out of Ji Lin's appearance and temperament. For them, Ji Lin was a dimensionality reduction strike.

"Of course, everyone is welcome."

Ji Lin didn't seem very good at dealing with girls, and basically nodded desperately to fulfill every request.

Then, it was time to give gifts.

Everyone gave all kinds of things, and Chu An Qing opened them one by one in front of everyone, and she liked them all.

Lin Xian gave a LV co-branded tote bag.

He didn't know what to buy, he really didn't know what to give a 19-year-old girl as a gift, so he asked the shopping guide to recommend one.

Ah.

Giving girls gifts is really a difficult problem, a university question.

Thinking back to the night when the Bentley flew over the overpass before the new year this year, Zhao Ying Jun crossed the 23rd year to the 24th birthday... He directly gave Zhao Ying Jun the wrinkled bouquet that the gangster hung on the broken car door as a birthday gift.

Thinking about it now is quite awkward.

It's just that at the time, the atmosphere was there, and it wasn't appropriate not to give a birthday gift, and in that situation... I could only borrow flowers to offer Buddha.

"This is my gift."

Ji Lin took out a rectangular photo frame wrapped in colored paper from behind. He didn't know what was framed inside, but it looked like a painting.

"Huh?"

Lin Xian was a little surprised, looking at Ji Lin and said in a low voice.

"Didn't you buy a hat..."

Both of their gifts were recommended by the shopping guide, and they were not cheap, they were all big brands.

Lin Xian never expected that Ji Lin would temporarily betray him and send a painting instead of a hat.

"I think she likes this better."

Ji Lin said in a low voice.

"It's rare to give someone a birthday gift, so give her something she likes."

"How do you know she will definitely like it?"

"I'm very confident in this painting."

After saying it in a low voice, Ji Lin turned his head to look at Chu An Qing.

"Happy birthday, An Qing. But you should wait to unpack this painting later, just leave it as a surprise."

"Okay, Ji Lin, thank you for your painting!"

Chu An Qing was looking forward to unpacking it immediately, but since Ji Lin said so, she put the painting down first, and then continued to unpack other people's gifts.

This night's birthday party was very pleasant and relaxing.

Lin Xian and Ji Lin also had a lot of fun.

Ji Lin's performance this night surprised Lin Xian.

He thought that Ji Lin was not the kind of person who liked this lively atmosphere, after all, that's the feeling he gave people, withdrawn, unsociable, silent. But it seems that everyone is seeking common recognition and longing for joy. He gradually integrated into it and played a lot of games with everyone.

Later, those girls chattered about gossip, school, and TV dramas, and Lin Xian and Ji Lin came to the open-air balcony on the third floor of the villa, lying on the deck chairs, looking at the moonlight in the sky.

"Actually, I quite ship you and Chu An Qing as a couple, more suitable than Zhao Ying Jun." ???

The juice in Lin Xian's mouth almost choked him!

"What nonsense are you talking about all of a sudden?"

Ji Lin leaned back, turned his head, looking at Lin Xian.

"What is your relationship with Chu An Qing?"

"No relationship at all." Lin Xian answered truthfully.

"But Chu An Qing obviously doesn't think so." Ji Lin said with interest.

"She likes you very much, a fool can see it."

"Have you ever been in love?"

"No." Ji Lin shook his head.

"Then why are you so sure?"

"I've seen a lot, the emotional descriptions in the novels are all like this." Ji Lin turned his head and continued to look at the sky.

"So, I'm actually quite disappointed in you today. I thought there would be some big drama today."

"You're obsessed with writing novels, aren't you?"

Lin Xian really didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Can reality be the same as in novels? According to what's written in novels, what should I do now?"

"In the novels..."

Ji Lin blinked his eyes, and then said.

"You always have to do something romantic and loud, right? For example, set off a firework for Chu An Qing that covers the entire city? Light up Donghai's night sky? You clearly know that Chu An Qing would be very happy, but you just don't do it."

"Are you watching *Dragon Raja*?"

Lin Xian chuckled.

"Then I think your fantasy is a bit petty. Why don't I just order the heroes of the world to hold a Donghai conference, and let the world's top rich people, stars, and bigwigs come over to give Chu An Qing treasures and magic weapons one by one, and then ride a big eagle from the sky? Isn't this more interesting than the plot you wrote?"

Ji Lin was amused, and he naturally understood Lin Xian's reference.

"*The Return of the Condor Heroes*, Yang Guo and Guo Xiang."

He sighed softly.

"Actually, during this time with you, I feel like I can chat with you. At least you are a very interesting person, and I feel very comfortable chatting with you."

"In the past few years, I basically stayed in my room, doing math problems, reading books, writing novels, reading news... I rarely went out. I always felt that the outside world was boring and didn't arouse my interest."

"But now... it's nice to be able to attend Chu An Qing's birthday party and chat with you here."

He sat up from the deck chair, and the moonlight hit his slender face, making it look even paler.

He sat quietly, looking at Lin Xian who was closing his eyes to rest next to him in the moonlight.

"Can you tell me in advance... what gift are you planning to give me when it's my birthday?"

"There's no such thing as telling in advance."

Lin Xian smiled inexplicably.

"You'll know when it's your birthday. May 3rd, I remember? Don't worry, I'll give you a birthday gift."

But the premise is...

Lin Xian put away his smile, staring at the moon in the sky that was gradually climbing to the center.

Can you live until then?

Although during this period of time, he got along well with Ji Lin on the surface.

But Lin Xian's determination to avenge Xu Yun and Tang Xin has never wavered in his heart.

Ji Lin, if you are really the murderer...

I will not show mercy.