Curiosity

"Officer Song, what's up? Are you here again?"
Tang Tian sat at the door, helping his aunt wash vegetables. Hearing someone arrive, he looked up again.
There was still some sweat on his temples from the last rays of the afternoon sun, and his expression was a little helpless.
Why was this seemingly not-so-smart officer always clinging to him, relentlessly pursuing him?
It wasn't that he wasn't mentally prepared for a long interrogation, but Tang Tian felt that this officer was truly too unsatisfactory.
His interrogation methods were too simple.
Not quite like that person he had met a long time ago...
That woman almost entirely encompassed his previous understanding of police officers.
He didn't have too much respect for that officer, perhaps because of some unfinished business, some unfulfilled promises.
He was also not convinced, and at the same time, for this reason, he instinctively disliked... those people.
Even knowing that if he told everything, he might be better protected, he still couldn't believe it, couldn't trust it.
This was the principle he had always upheld.
Just for some very simple reasons.
Cannot trust, no matter how trustworthy someone appears.
After that incident, it was deeply etched in his mind.
Song Qiao Yu walked over to Tang Tian, pulled up a chair, and sat down.
His expression was serious, as if he had a definite plan, and had made a great determination.
Even Tang Tian, looking up and seeing his expression, couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
Although he had only seen him a few times, with this easy understanding, Tang Tian could sense that Officer Song's state...
Was not right.
This Officer Song was not right.
He seemed to be brewing something.
Tang Tian watched as Song Qiao Yu took a deep breath, as if solidifying his wavering resolve.
"I heard you went to an internet cafe last time? Minors... can't go to internet cafes." Song Qiao Yu suppressed his inner turmoil, speaking according to the general content of the dialogue Lu Yao had given him. "Shouldn't you explain yourself?"
This lighthearted, teacher-like talk felt completely out of character for Song Qiao Yu. Even the expression on his face wasn't his usual one; it looked very much like he had accidentally taken the wrong medicine.
Tang Tian was even more confused than before.
But the confusion Song Qiao Yu brought him seemed even more profound than his own. After delivering his lines, he began to space out, almost unable to resist looking at his interrogation subject for help.
He irritably pressed his temples, clicking his tongue.
Tang Tian also realized something. Looking at Song Qiao Yu's stiff, staring eyes, he raised the hand he was soaking in the vegetable water, pointed to himself, then subtly pointed to the other person...
"You mean, you want me to just answer like that?" He replied cautiously.
Song Qiao Yu nodded in agreement.
He could still barely maintain his unmoving, mountain-like image. Even his hazy demeanor only lasted for a brief moment, truly a miracle.
Tang Tian decisively put down the Napa cabbage in his hand and sighed.
He hadn't expected that after only half an hour apart, Officer Song had actually come up with a new trick.
...Though the execution was truly unconventional.
Tang Tian thought about what he should fabricate at this moment, but because he had already half-planned it in his head before, he just combined the situation with some new ideas.
"I went to see, to gain some knowledge, then just wandered around." Tang Tian replied casually, "Are you talking about a day after school? I was bored, so I just wandered around."
Even if exposed... there was actually nothing to say.
He truly wasn't afraid.
"The rules state no entry." Song Qiao Yu finally felt like he had the upper hand, raising an eyebrow. "Kid, do you know what 'entry' means?"
"Can't I even use the restroom?" Tang Tian replied even more casually. "You can't force that, people have basic needs."
Seeing the topic gradually stray, Song Qiao Yu could only try his best to pull it back.
He racked his brains, attempting to use some of his life experience.
"What if I tell your aunt about this, and let her talk to you?"
Song Qiao Yu finally resorted to this "telling on you to your parents" tactic.
After saying it, he clicked his tongue, rarely feeling a bit emotional, even a strange sense of nostalgia.
This was probably a rare part of the "childhood" he experienced in a normal child's life.
Tang Tian, however, seemed completely unfazed, glancing at him.
"My aunt won't do anything to me. That path won't work."
"Really?" Song Qiao Yu was a little surprised.
Tang Tian twitched his eyelids, speaking as if it were idle family talk.
"My situation, actually, is quite special. It might not be easy to understand."
He then placed the last washed piece of vegetable in a colander to drain.
"Auntie, the vegetables are washed!" He called out loudly.
He was the same intelligent teenager as always, washing vegetables with unusual seriousness. At this moment, there was no hint of perfunctory behavior.
A response came from the kitchen.
"Do you feel your aunt doesn't value you?" Song Qiao Yu, based on his limited understanding of education, speculated further.
"No, because my grades are good."
Tang Tian spoke plainly, then lowered his head, raising his hand to pour the dirty vegetable water into the drain, controlling the flow speed just right, carefully preventing splashes.
"There should always be some small privileges," he added.
This kid, truly deserved a spanking.
Song Qiao Yu realized that all his previous life experiences seemed useless with this child.
He couldn't even figure out whether he himself was an anomaly, or if this child was.
Or, if both were.
"Even if your grades are good, it doesn't mean no one will scold you." Song Qiao Yu shrugged, watching Tang Tian shake the drained vegetables in the colander, removing the last drops of water.
This truly didn't resemble the life a child on the brink of life and death should have; it seemed too ordinary and bland.
"At least very rarely. Wouldn't it be bad to waste effort on unavoidable physiological issues?"
He even felt this reason was quite good, casually extending his argument, his expression as calm as ever.
In fact, in this particular aspect, Tang Tian truly had a peculiar meaning.
"Over an hour, you really can drag it out. At most, I'll ask your aunt to help you with your stomach problems. There's always a reason for that, right?"
"Then auntie would probably be even more curious why a new tenant student knows I was at an internet cafe a few days ago, and even knows the exact time."
Tang Tian said, washing his hands under the tap, shaking them, then wiping the water on his pants.
At this moment, he wasn't paying attention.
Honestly, ever since Song Qiao Yu learned that this child named Tang might have known his own mother when he was young, a strange, indescribable feeling arose in his heart.
Song Jing hadn't told him too much; their relationship wasn't a normal mother-son one.
So what kind of attitude would a mother, who didn't even have a good relationship with her own child, have towards someone else's child?
Not as good as his excellent, all-competent mother, who was the biggest source of his sense of failure throughout his life. Even after retiring from the military and changing careers to become a detective, which had nothing to do with him, apart from some objective reasons, his determination was also due to his confidence in his genes.
Believing that he too could definitely be like that person.
But the truth revealed so far seemed to want to clarify: That wasn't the case.
In this child's eyes, what kind of woman would that thoughtful, reliable-in-everything woman be?
He was very curious.