Dare to Stop

Seeing the SUV pull over beside him, Xiang Kun felt quite surprised; someone was actually willing to stop.

The passenger-side window rolled down, and a middle-aged man with a buzz cut and dark skin looked him up and down a few times, asking curiously, "Brother, how come you're barefoot?"

Xiang Kun brought out the excuse he had prepared earlier: "Ah! My shoes broke while I was hiking, so I had to walk barefoot. Are you guys heading down the mountain? Could you give me a lift? Just drop me off at the bottom, and I'll find my own ride from there."

The buzz-cut man in the passenger seat looked back at his companion driving and asked in a low voice, "Should we let him in?"

Normally, given the distance between the inside and outside of the car, someone standing outside wouldn't be able to hear him at that volume, but with Xiang Kun's hearing, he caught every word clearly. He didn't mind, though; even if these people had ill intentions and wanted to lure him into the car to rob or kill him, he would simply have to engage in some "legitimate self-defense" again.

However, based on his observations, that possibility was extremely slim.

The driver was also a middle-aged man, appearing to be in his thirties or forties, wearing glasses and looking quite refined. He didn't answer, merely giving a slight nod.

With that, the buzz-cut man opened the door, stepped out, and said to Xiang Kun, "Get in. We're going that way anyway. It's so hot out, and you're not wearing shoes—you'll ruin your feet before you reach the bottom."

The buzz-cut man pulled open the back door and sat down, gesturing for Xiang Kun to take the passenger seat—because a quiet-looking girl of about sixteen or seventeen was already sitting in the back.

Xiang Kun thanked them, hugged his backpack to his chest, and prepared to get in.

"Wait a second," the bespectacled driver suddenly spoke up.

Xiang Kun paused, retracting the foot he had just stepped into the car with. If they had changed their minds, he wouldn't have any complaints; he hadn't really expected to catch a ride in the first place.

But the driver simply pulled the handbrake, shifted into Park, and stepped out. He opened the trunk and said, "I have a pair of slippers in the car. You can wear those for now. They're size 44; they should fit you, right?"

After grabbing the slippers and a bottle of mineral water, the driver closed the trunk, walked around to Xiang Kun, placed the slippers at his feet, and handed him the water.

Xiang Kun took the water, thanked him, and prepared to put on the slippers.

"Um... that water is for washing your feet," the driver reminded him, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Oh, oh." Xiang Kun looked down and realized his feet were indeed filthy, covered in a layer of dried, dust-caked mud.

After using the mineral water to give his feet a quick rinse, he put on the slippers, climbed into the passenger seat, and thanked the driver and the buzz-cut man in the back repeatedly.

As the car got back on the road, Xiang Kun noticed through the rearview mirror that the girl in the back had put on a pair of sunglasses after he got in.

The buzz-cut man sitting next to the girl noticed his gaze and smiled, explaining, "This is my daughter. She's blind."

Xiang Kun had actually guessed as much, but hearing the man state it so candidly left him unsure how to respond. He could only nod and shift the topic: "I've been coming down the mountain and stuck my thumb out five times; you're the only ones who stopped. I was already thinking I'd have to walk the whole way down today. I'm really grateful—you guys are truly good people... and good people will be rewarded."

"Little brother, if you're going to hike, you should pick a pair of better-quality shoes," the buzz-cut man laughed from the back.

Xiang Kun gave a wry smile: "Can't help it, I'm inexperienced. It's my first time hiking."

"With the way you're dressed, and no shoes on, it's no wonder most people didn't dare to stop," the driver laughed.

"Yeah, I know. That's why I was actually quite surprised you were willing to stop," Xiang Kun said honestly.

"Because I could tell you aren't a bad person," the driver said.

"Oh? You can tell that?" Xiang Kun asked. "Honestly, if I were driving and saw someone looking like me standing by the road, I wouldn't have stopped."

The driver explained, "Where you were flagging us down, there was no cover on the side of the road, and the visibility was wide open. That means there was no place to ambush anyone, so you couldn't have rushed us while we were stopping. Also, people with bad intentions who want to hitch a ride usually pretend to be pitiful, vulnerable, or friendly. But even though you didn't have shoes, your expression was very calm, your brow was relaxed—you weren't looking miserable, nor were you smiling. Based on your body language, it was basically: 'Stop if you want, don't if you don't, I'm just sticking my hand out anyway.'"

The remark made both Xiang Kun and the buzz-cut man in the back burst into laughter.

Although he felt the driver's reasoning was a bit of a stretch, Xiang Kun still buttered him up: "Your eye for detail is truly impressive. Did you study psychology?"

"Believe it or not, our line of work actually requires a bit of psychological knowledge," the driver laughed.

Before Xiang Kun could guess his profession, the buzz-cut man in the back added with a smile, "He's a police officer, a criminal investigator. If you really were a bad guy or a fugitive, you would've just handed him a promotion."

Xiang Kun realized, so that was the reason.

However, the driver shook his head and said seriously, "That's not it. If I really thought you were a bad guy, I wouldn't have stopped with you and Little Apple in the car."

After chatting for a while longer, Xiang Kun was stunned to find that not only was the refined-looking driver a criminal investigator, but the dark-skinned, buzz-cut man in the back who looked like a farmer was actually a university associate professor.

It really was... you can't judge a book by its cover!

Of course, when the two men heard Xiang Kun was a programmer, they were quite surprised as well. The driver joked that if Xiang Kun changed into a monk's robe, he would have believed he was an ascetic monk on a long journey.

Xiang Kun claimed his company had just gone under, so he was out wandering, hiking, and looking at the scenery to clear his head. Naturally, he didn't mention he had been in the deep mountains for four and a half days, only saying he started hiking from a nearby mountain and somehow ended up on this one, nearly getting lost before finding the mountain road and following it. His bad luck was that his shoes had broken.

He mixed truth with lies; if they ever went to verify his story, the things that were easy to check would basically be true.

The criminal investigator driving was named Li Sheng, and the associate professor in the back, Li Yang, was his younger brother. The quiet girl in the back, whom Li Sheng affectionately called "Little Apple," was Li Yang's daughter.

They were heading to a temple on the mountain to visit a relative and, incidentally, to go birdwatching.

Visiting a relative was one thing, but the mention of "birdwatching" left Xiang Kun quite puzzled, considering Li Yang's daughter was blind.

Li Yang noticed his confusion and explained, "Although my daughter can't see, her hearing is much better than an average person's. She can distinguish the different calls of various birds. She can even tell the intent behind their calls—whether it's a warning, a provocation, a greeting, or a mating call."

Xiang Kun could understand having sharp hearing; when he was training his own sense of smell and hearing, he would cover his eyes to help focus his attention on those two senses. When vision cannot be relied upon, both hearing and smell can unleash much greater potential.

Being able to distinguish different bird calls was also normal; if given time to train, he could do it too. Of course, he had his sense of smell to assist him, making it easier to identify the species.

But for this girl to distinguish the intent behind the calls through sound alone was truly impressive.

Xiang Kun didn't think Professor Li Yang was bragging, so he asked the girl for advice on how to identify the meaning behind bird calls.