Published exclusively in Jinjiang Literature City on July 10, 2019.
【Chapter 1, Card World】
In the twelfth lunar month of winter, the temperature plummeted and heavy snowfall for several days turned the entire Jiangzhou City into a world covered in snow.
The school was on winter vacation and the students had already gone home. Xiao Lou was sent by the department to attend an academic exchange meeting. The meeting lasted until the 28th of the twelfth lunar month. After a day of rest, he packed up and flew back to his hometown to spend the New Year with his grandparents.
When he was a child, his parents were too busy at work. Xiao Lou lived with his grandparents in the countryside for a while. He was too young at the time and has vague memories of his childhood. However, he would go back to his hometown every Spring Festival because it is the tradition of the Xiao family to reunite during the New Year.
, father and uncle will take their wives and children home to have New Year’s Eve dinner and watch the New Year together.
It was the afternoon of New Year's Eve when Xiao Lou arrived home. As soon as he entered the house, his cousin Xiao Xinyue came up to him and said with a smile: "Brother, why did you arrive so late? Grandma was talking about you just now!" She came over.
, whispered in Xiao Lou’s ear, “I’m talking about why you’re not married yet.”
Xiao Lou: "..."
When I go home during the holidays, I will be urged to get married by my elders.
Xiao Lou is indeed an "older unmarried young man" now. He is still single at the age of 27.
He went to school early and was admitted to medical school at the age of 17. After graduating from graduate school, he stayed at the school to teach and was promoted to associate professor at a young age. Xiao Lou has a gentle personality, tall stature and handsome appearance. Logically speaking, with his condition, he would be a good candidate for a blind date.
The market should be very popular…
It's a pity that he studied forensic medicine.
When people hear the word "forensic medicine", they will naturally think of corpses. Who likes to be with a man who dissects corpses every day?
In fact, Xiao Lou is not a forensic doctor in the criminal investigation system and does not need to go to the murder scene to identify the cause of death of the deceased.
After graduation, he stayed at the Medical University to teach at the recommendation of his tutor. He spent most of his time teaching students in the Department of Forensic Medicine. In his spare time, he would go to the Forensic Identification Center in Jiangzhou City to help. Cases sent to the identification center were
Usually it's the injury assessment of car accidents or fights. Occasionally there will be genetic identification, poison identification, etc. He hasn't seen a corpse for a long time.
***
After arriving at the living room, Xiao Lou greeted the elders politely and distributed the gifts he brought to everyone. As expected, grandma looked at him with a smile and asked: "Xiao Lou, when will you bring grandma a granddaughter-in-law back?"
While Xiao Lou squeezed the old man's shoulders, he said warmly: "Grandma, I'm too busy with work now. I want to wait until I'm thirty to think about getting married."
Xiao Xinyue was yelling at the side: "Brother, if you studied clinical medicine and went to the hospital to be a doctor, with your appearance, there would definitely be a lot of girls queuing up to chase you. But now, when they hear that you are a forensic doctor, most of the girls are
You scared me away, hahaha."
Xiao Lou looked up at his sister and said with a half-smile: "This is a professional bias. Forensic doctors don't dissect living people. They are not as perverted as in horror movies. Besides, I haven't touched a corpse for a long time."
Upon hearing the word "corpse", Xiao Xinyue's scalp went numb and she immediately turned around and ran away.
Just as the meal was about to start in the restaurant, Xiao Lou helped his grandma to sit down, changed the subject and asked Xiao Xinyue: "Have you decided which school to apply for next year?"
The youngest cousin Xiao Xinyue is 18 years old this year and will face the college entrance examination next semester. When Xiao Lou asked, the topic among the elders also turned to what major should a girl choose to find a job in the future. Xiao Xinyue actively joined the discussion and no one mentioned it again.
Xiao Lou's marriage made Xiao Lou slightly relieved.
After the New Year's Eve dinner, the elders started playing mahjong, while Xiao Lou took his cousins to the next room to play.
Xiao Xinyue took out a brand new deck of playing cards and said, "Let's play Landlords among the three of us. How about a drink for the loser?"
Cousin Xiao Wei rolled up his sleeves and looked eager to try: "Come on, come on, I'm the best at Landlord Fighting!"
Xiao Lou was not interested in playing cards, but every Spring Festival when he returned to his hometown, his elders would always have a table of mahjong. Playing cards with his younger brother and sister was too boring, so he, as the eldest brother, had no choice but to accompany them.
Landlord fighting is one of the most common ways to play poker. The rules are very simple. The person who is the "landlord" can add a few cards to improve his combat effectiveness. The other two "peasants" need to join forces to fight one against one. The two sides are divided into two camps.
, whoever finishes their hand first wins.
Xiao Lou's first move was very good and he directly touched a king bomb.
Seeing the big and small king in hand, he said without hesitation: "Call the landlord."
Xiao Xinyue and Xiao Wei had no choice but to join forces to beat him.
As a result, Xiao Lou's cards in this round were a bit too good. In addition to the big straights of 9, 10, j, q, and k, there were also several pairs, four 5's, and a pair of kings. They simply didn't give it to his opponent.
Way to survive.
His younger brother and sister looked at him with bewildered expressions as he played all his cards in one go.
Xiao Lou smiled slightly: "I won, you can drink Coke."
Xiao Xinyue and Xiao Wei had no choice but to drink Coca-Cola with a grimace.
Next, no matter Xiao Xinyue calls the landlord or Xiao Wei takes the throne, he will be beaten to death by his eldest brother every time - Xiao Lou's poker luck tonight is so good that it is impossible to evaluate. He touched the king's bomb several times, and his younger brothers and sisters drank.
I almost vomited from the drink.
The three of them played cards until twelve o'clock in the morning.
There was a deafening sound of firecrackers outside. The younger brothers and sisters ran excitedly to the yard to set off fireworks. Xiao Lou put on a coat and was about to go out. At this moment, his phone suddenly lit up and a message popped up on the screen: "Happy New Year."
.”
Sender: Yu Hanjiang.
Seeing this familiar snow scene portrait, Xiao Lou raised his lips slightly and quickly replied: "You too, Happy New Year."
Yu Hanjiang asked: "When will you go back to school?"
Xiao Loudao: "I'll go back after the seventh day of the Lunar New Year."
Yu Hanjiang said: "Thank you for your help last time. I will treat you to dinner when I come back."
Xiao Lou said: "Captain Yu, you're welcome. I'll contact you when you get back."
There was a "bang" sound outside the window, and fireworks of various colors bloomed one after another, decorating the night sky as bright as day.
Xiao Lou stood in front of the window, looking at the conversation records on his phone, and the scene when he saw Yu Hanjiang for the first time could not help but come to mind.
It was a rainy day. A girl from the Medical University fell to her death, alarming the criminal police in Jiangzhou City. Xiao Lou was not familiar with the girl, but the last class the girl attended happened to be his class. As a person related to the case, Xiao Lou was
The police please take notes.
When he walked into the criminal police brigade, he saw the man at first sight - the man was wearing a dark blue police uniform, standing upright by the window, tall, with slender legs, and a profile as handsome as the most exquisite statue.
.
Seemingly aware of the gaze from the side, the man turned to look at Xiao Lou, walked over and nodded to him, saying: "Hello, I am Yu Hanjiang, the leader of the serious crime team of the Criminal Police Brigade. Please ask Professor Xiao to come over and cooperate with the investigation."
Xiao Lou nodded politely to him: "Hello, Captain Yu, I will fully cooperate with you."
Yu Hanjiang led Xiao Lou into the inquiry room, made a "please sit down" gesture, and said calmly: "Name, age, occupation, these are necessary procedures for taking notes. Please answer truthfully."
During the process of taking notes, the man's voice was deep and powerful, his expression was extremely serious, and his eyes were as sharp as a sword, which gave people a strong sense of oppression. Being stared at by him made him almost breathless.
Even if Xiao Lou was not directly related to this matter, he didn't want to look him in the eyes.
——Those eyes are deep and cold, like the surface of a frozen lake in the dead of winter, sending chills down your spine.
The case was solved much faster than Xiao Lou imagined, and it was determined to be murder. The police caught the murderer the next day. It was the girl's roommate who pushed her downstairs. This incident also caused a sensation on the Internet.
That time, Xiao Lou made a big difference in the crime-solving efficiency of the Jiangzhou City Criminal Police Brigade.
He inquired about Yu Hanjiang through the forensic classmates he met. It is said that Yu Hanjiang's origin and background are mysterious, but he suddenly came to serve as the leader of the criminal police team's serious crime team at a young age. The crime team is a specialized crime team set up by Jiangzhou City.
The action team that detects major criminal cases such as murder and rape has solved many unsolved cases since Yu Hanjiang took office, greatly improving the efficiency of case handling.
This man is selfless, cold-blooded, and ruthless, making criminals frightened. Just a stern glance can make a guilty person tremble with fear. It is said that he has a good way of interrogating prisoners, and no matter how stubborn the suspect is, he will
Under interrogation, he would obediently confess his crime. In just two years, Yu Hanjiang's name has become a legend among Jiangzhou police circles.
After hearing about his deeds, Xiao Lou admired this man very much and felt that Yu Hanjiang was young and promising.
I thought I wouldn’t have much interaction with him, but within a few days, Yu Hanjiang suddenly found the office of the Forensic Identification Center and asked Xiao Lou to help identify an extremely rare poison. Xiao Lou specialized in forensic toxicology identification during his graduate studies.
, published several papers of high value and was quite famous in the forensic field. Yu Hanjiang approached him, and the two of them exchanged WeChat messages and phone numbers.
Xiao Lou assisted the police in detecting this heinous poisoning case. Yu Hanjiang's "thank you for your help" was what he meant. The two met four times, both because of work, and their friendship was not deep. Therefore, they have always been indifferent.
Captain Yu took the initiative to invite him to dinner, and Xiao Lou was also very surprised.
Xiao Lou, who was standing by the window and lost in memories, did not realize that the playing cards on the table suddenly had a blood-red luster at this moment. The luster gradually formed a vortex, and the space near the cards was also distorted.
, as if to suck everything around into the card.
***
On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, Xiao Lou said goodbye to his family and flew back to Jiangzhou City. Thinking of the WeChat conversation on the eve of the Lunar New Year, Xiao Lou simply sent a message to Yu Hanjiang: "Captain Yu, I'm back. When will you be there?"
Time, let’s have a meal together?”
There was no response to the message.
He thought the other party might be busy, so he sat on the sofa in the living room and browsed the news while waiting for a reply.
Seeing that dinner time had passed, Yu Hanjiang still didn't reply to the message.
After all, Captain Yu had a special status. Perhaps he didn't reply because he encountered some difficult case and was investigating and collecting evidence at the scene. Xiao Lou wisely didn't bother him anymore and went downstairs to eat a bowl of noodles.
After finishing his noodles, he wanted to go to the supermarket to buy some daily necessities. When he was crossing the road, he suddenly saw a bus rushing towards him at the corner——
Xiao Lou's eyes widened and his heartbeat almost stopped!
He quickly ran away, but the speed of the bus was too fast. As soon as he took a step, his body was violently knocked out!
Suddenly, the world was spinning in front of his eyes, and Xiao Lou soon lost consciousness completely.
***
When I woke up again, I was surrounded by a vast white mist. In the blurry mist, a cold, mechanized voice came clearly to my ears: "Xiao Lou, congratulations on being selected by the card world. You now face two choices -
—
a: Die peacefully and forget everything. Your soul will die completely and you will never be sick again.
b: Keep the memory until you are reborn in the card world and accept new challenges. However, the survival rules of the card world are very cruel. Perhaps it is better to die altogether if you are alive here."
Xiao Lou was a little confused.
Is this voice an illusion? He was also given two strange options?
Since he didn't respond, the cold mechanical voice spoke again: "I'll give you 10 seconds to think about it. The memory erasure countdown is in progress, 10, 9, 8..."
Xiao Lou said decisively: "I choose b."
Regardless of whether the voice was an illusion or not, among the two options, he could only choose the latter.
He is only twenty-seven years old and has a great time. He does not want to erase his memory and die completely. As long as he is given a chance to start over, no matter how difficult and dangerous the new world is... at least he is still alive, right?
There is hope only when you are alive.
Xiao Lou quickly calmed himself down and asked: "Who are you?"
The other party said coldly: "I am a highly intelligent system elf in the card world. You can't see me, but I can see you."
The feeling of being watched made Xiao Lou frown. He took a deep breath and continued to ask: "What exactly is the 'card world' you are talking about?"
The next moment, countless cards suddenly appeared in front of him.
It was the playing card he used when he played Landlords with his younger brothers and sisters on the night of the Spring Festival. The back has a familiar blue diamond pattern, the most common one in canteens. 5 hearts, 8 diamonds, 10 clubs, and spades.
j... Poker cards of various suits and colors were strung together into a long chain, passing quickly in front of him, like a movie film played at four times speed.
In the vast white mist, the chain of cards quickly arranged horizontally and vertically. The four suits were mixed together without any rules. The densely packed playing cards formed a huge wall in 10 seconds at a speed visible to the naked eye.
wall of cards.
System: "Player Xiao Lou, welcome to the card world."