After finding the project team and understanding the specifics, I spent a lot of time organizing the materials and left the company at 3 p. m. to go to the city police department to visit the staff in charge.
After leaving the building where my company is located, I took out my phone, opened the ride-hailing app, and posted my trip.
Since it wasn't rush hour, my fare was accepted by a driver in just a few seconds.
It's nearby, just a minute away... I glanced at the notification and was very pleased that I wouldn't have to wait too long.
A minute passed quickly, but as I looked around, I couldn't see the license plate I remembered.
I started to doubt if I had remembered correctly, so I quickly turned on my phone again to check the situation.
Just then, I heard a ringing sound.
Uh... I subconsciously looked up and saw a light orange bicycle.
A young man wearing a dark baseball cap and a thin black jacket was sitting on the bicycle.
Ring ring.
The bicycle stopped in front of me, and the man then stretched out his right foot and braced it against the ground.
He had a broad forehead, a thin face, short, slightly curly black hair, and eyes that were darker than average, almost pure black.
His most distinctive feature is that, like a cosplayer, he wears a monocle that looks like it's made of crystal inside his right eye socket.
The man, holding the dragon's head with one hand and adjusting his monocle with the other, smiled and looked at me, saying:
"Did you call this car?"
I called a car, but I called a car, not a bicycle...
I opened my mouth, unsure whether to answer.
At that moment, I even had questions about who I was, where I was, and where I was going.
"Going to the police station, right?" The young man with the monocle didn't seem to notice my lack of response and asked again with a smile.
... No way? Is there really an option to call a bicycle? And I even checked the box? I slowly nodded.
At that moment, only two thoughts were most prominent in my mind:
Should we take photos and videos and post them on WeChat Moments?
Should I call customer service to complain?
At this moment, the young man wearing a monocle pointed to the side of the building and said:
"Wait one more minute, my car is parked there."
As he spoke, he took out his phone and waved it.
"Huh?" I still didn't understand what was going on.
The young man adjusted the edge of his monocle and smiled, saying:
"I went to run some errands in the alley next door, but I couldn't drive in, and it was a bit far to walk, so I swiped my card to rent a shared bike."
"Excuse me, could you please wait another minute or two?"
Since they've already said that, and I'm not in a particular rush, I politely replied:
"Fine."
The young man immediately put away his phone, got on his bicycle, and headed straight for the side of the building.
Soon, a white sedan drove up from that direction and stopped in front of me.
"Alright, you can get in now." The car window rolled down, revealing a face wearing a monocle.
Just as I was about to open the car door, I suddenly realized a problem:
The car is shown as black on the software!
Uh... I was just about to go around to the back to check the license plate when the driver waved his phone at me from across the passenger seat:
I have two cars.
The car I drove today is linked to that car.
"See, my phone is correct."
After he finished speaking, he called me.
Seeing that the displayed number was correct, and that I had encountered a similar situation before, I felt relieved, opened the car door, and got in.
In broad daylight, in the heart of a bustling big city, what is there to be afraid of?
However, the platform's review process is truly problematic.
After I got in the car, the driver, who wore a monocle, looked ahead while picking up the cigarette pack next to him and handing it to the back of the car.
Want to smoke?
"Aren't we not allowed to smoke?" I blurted out.
"It's fine as long as I don't mind." The thin-faced driver smiled as he looked in the rearview mirror.
"I don't smoke," I instinctively shook my head.
The driver, with one hand on the steering wheel and not paying much attention to the road conditions, said:
"It's good that you don't smoke. I don't smoke either. Smoking makes people repulsive."
"Then how come you have cigarettes...?" I asked hastily.
As the vehicle moved nimbly through the traffic, the driver used his free hand to adjust his monocle over his right eye.
"Everyone has friends they don't want to see but have to see anyway."
"That's true." I nodded.
It was only then that I remembered Vice President Wu from the company next door. Although he smoked, he was by no means repulsive. However, there was no need to say it out loud. I'm not a human ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) device, a professional arguing machine.
"You don't seem like a ride-hailing driver?" I glanced at the obviously expensive cigarettes and looked around the luxurious interior of the car.
"Hehe," the driver replied with a smile, "Was I that obvious?"
"You don't look like someone who makes a living driving for ride-hailing services; you seem like a rich kid," I said, making up some excuse.
I, for one, can't tell.
"Hehe, even rich kids can make a living driving for ride-hailing services. Experiencing a completely different life and meeting all sorts of unique people is a kind of fun. Don't you think it's interesting?" the driver said with a smile.
There was something philosophical about that... I nodded and casually said:
"That's true, but I feel like you only take orders occasionally, and you're usually busy with other things."
"Yes, I came to your building to investigate something." The driver glanced at the rearview mirror again, his smile making me feel a little strange.
"Investigating something..." I was completely bewildered.
"It's a cult; they like to use vending machines to scam people." The driver's lips curled up slightly in a smile.
If I hadn't known beforehand, I would definitely have lost my composure right now!
"You're a private Detective? You... do you know a Detective named Sherlock Moriarty? That might be his nickname." A sudden Spirit Intuition struck me.
The driver raised his hand and pinched the top and bottom edges of his monocle, chuckling as he spoke:
"Of course I know you, we're old friends."
I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I always feel that the phrase "old friend" is emphasized.
"You, you guys, have you found anything out?" I tried my best to act like a bystander.
The driver glanced at me halfway back, a clear smile on his face, and said:
"You guess."
That's such a rude laugh... I controlled my emotions:
I guess so.
"Then let's say there is." The driver had a look on his face that said, "I know a lot, but I'm not telling you."
"..." As I was thinking of what to say, he suddenly straightened his back and stared intently ahead.
Then, he pushed up the monocle he was wearing over his right eye.
Suddenly, countless fragments appeared in my mind:
Overlapping roads, tunnel after tunnel, mixed colors, different signs, pedestrians and vehicles rushing forward and backward...
They all rushed into my mind at the same time, one after the other, giving me a severe feeling of motion sickness.
"We've arrived." The driver's voice reached my ears the next second.
I got off the bus in a daze and squatted down by the roadside, feeling like I might throw up at any moment.
After a while, I finally calmed down, but the ride-hailing car had already left.
Thinking back to what just happened, I suddenly felt a chill.
The driver's expression was very similar to the terrifying one " The Star " had described before:
(Monoglasses)