Chapter 13 The Lady Chief Can Act Spoilt

Szzt, szzt, szzt, szzt, szzt, szzt…

有了经验，这一次夏雷焊接钥匙的速度比刚才焊接铸铁铁片还要快。不到五分钟的时间他就完成了焊接，而且比刚才还要好。

With some prior experience, Xia Lei was able to weld the key together more quickly than the pig iron pieces. He finished welding it in under five minutes and the result was even better than the first time.

西装男激动地用红布将还很烫的铸铁钥匙抓在了手中，观察着焊缝与纹路，然后他对身边的女人说道：“给他六千块，我们走。”

The suited man used the red cloth and grasped the still-hot key in his hand excitedly as he inspected the welding and the pattern. He then spoke to the woman, “Give him 6,000. Let’s go.”

性感女郎二话没说就从钱包里点了六千块给夏雷。

The sexy lady handed Xia Lei 6,000 yuan immediately.

夏雷将钱递给蒋老头，蒋老头却却连连摆手，“不不不，小伙子我怎么能拿这钱？我要是拿了，我这张老脸就没地方搁了。这钱是你挣的，你自己留着吧。”

Xia Lei offered the money to Uncle Jiang but he waved it away. “No, no, no. How can I take this money, young’un? I’d have no place to hide my old face in shame if I take it. You earned it, so you keep it.”

夏雷笑了笑，“那我就留下了。”

Xia Lei smiled. “I’ll keep it, then.”

就在两人说话的时候西装男和性感女郎已经离开了，连一句多余的话都没有说。

During their exchange, the suited man and sexy lady had left without saying a word.

“神神秘秘的，也不知道是干什么的。”蒋老头嘟囔了一句。

“So secretive. Who knows what they’re up to,” grumbled Uncle Jiang.

夏雷的心里其实也很奇怪，他暗暗地道：“那钥匙恐怕有好几百年的历史了吧？它为什么会被折断？这两人又怎么会跑到这个偏僻的地方来找焊接师傅呢？”

Xia Lei found it strange too. “That key looked like it was a few hundred years old. Why was it broken? And why did those two come to such an out-of-the-way place to look for a welder?” he thought.

“小伙子，我们接着谈吧。”蒋老头说。

“Come, young’un. Let’s continue our talk,” said Uncle Jiang.

夏雷笑着说道：“嗯，大爷你就痛快点开个价吧。”

Xia Lei smiled as he spoke, “Yes. Name your price, Uncle Jiang.”

蒋老头说道：“本来我是想卖十一万的，你也看见了，这些设备，还有这里的口岸，还有两年的房租，这个价钱是很公道的。不过，看你露了一手，老头子我是打心眼里佩服，我干这行干了一辈子，我还从来没有见过谁有你这么好的手艺。我把这个伴随了我半辈子的店交给你，也算是一种缘分。这样吧，你给我十万零五千就行。”

“I was originally thinking of selling this place for 110,000 yuan. You’ve seen it yourself - the price is justified by this equipment, business traffic and two years’ rent. However, after seeing you at work, this old man is impressed by your skill. I’ve been in this line of work for my whole life and I’ve never seen anyone with better workmanship. Leaving the machine shop I spent half my life building to you must be some sort of fate. How about this - I will accept 105,000 yuan.”

“成交，谢谢你了，大爷。”夏雷也很爽快。

“Deal. Thank you, Uncle Jiang.” Xia Lei agreed quickly.

办好一切手续的时候天也快黑了，夏雷将马小安叫了过来。他把事情给马小安一说，马小安顿时惊呆了。

The sun was almost gone from the sky when they were done with the paperwork. Xia Lei called Ma Xiao-An down to the shop and told him what had transpired(发现，发生). Ma Xiao-An was shocked.

“我的哥，你哪来这么多钱啊？一下子就盘下了这个店，这也太突然了吧？”马小安的表情很夸张。

“My goodness! Where did you get so much money? You took over this shop just like that? Isn’t this too sudden?” Ma Xiao-An’s expression was complicated.

“钱的事情你别管，我只问你有没有兴趣和我一起干？”夏雷说。

“Don’t worry about the money. I’m only asking if you are interested in running this business with me,” said Xia Lei.

“当然有啊，这几年你在哪我就在哪，我们兄弟俩一直都在一起，我去给别人打工还不如给你打工呢。”马小安开心地道。

“Of course! I go where you go, as it has been the past few years. We brothers are always together! Why go work for others when I can work for you?” exclaimed Ma Xiao-An happily.

“那我们就一起干吧，你也不给我打工，赚了钱我们平分。”夏雷说。

“Then let’s run this business together. You don’t work for me, though. We shall split the profits evenly,” said Xia Lei.

“那不行，这店是你的，我怎么能跟你平分呢？亲兄弟明算账，这样吧，赚得多你就给我多分点，赚得少你就给我少分点，要是赔本了，我就不要你的钱。”马小安说道。

“No, that’s not right. The machine shop is yours - how can I take half of the profits? How about this - give me more when you earn more, less when you earn less and if you make a loss, I don’t want any money,” said Ma Xiao-An.

“你小子，好吧，就这么说定了。回头我再添置点设备，然后把店面简单地装修一下就可以开张了。”夏雷笑着说道。

“You joker, you. Okay, then it’s settled. I’ll add some equipment to the set up and do some simple renovations(革新，翻新，装修) to the shop and we can open for business,” grinned Xia Lei.

“店名想好没有？”马小安问。

“Have you thought of the name?” asked Ma Xiao-An.

夏雷想了一下，“嗯，我姓雷，你姓马，就叫雷马工作室吧。”

Xia Lei thought for a moment. “Hm. My name means ‘thunder’ and your surname means ‘horse’, so let’s call it ‘Thunder Horse Workshop’.”

“不好。”马小安说。

“Nah,” said Ma Xiao-An.

“你有更好的？”夏雷好奇地看着马小安。

“Got something better?” Xia Lei looked at Ma Xiao-An curiously.

马小安笑着说道：“你姓雷，未来嫂子姓江，应该叫雷江工作室才对。”

Ma Xiao-An grinned as he said, “You’re ‘thunder’ and the future missus Jiang’s surname is ‘river’ so you should call it ‘Thunder River Workshop’.”

“去你的！”夏雷一巴掌拍了过去，马小安却一早就躲开了。

“Fuck off!” Xia Lei made to smack Ma Xiao-An but he was prepared and avoided it.

有了自己的工作室两人都很开心，那种感觉就像是在外漂泊很久的人突然有了一个家。

The two of them were overjoyed(非常高兴，欣喜若狂) to have their own workshop. It was like finally finding a home after drifting around for a long time.

两人将店里的杂物清理了一下，然后又把卫生打扫了一下，直到夏雪打电话来催吃晚饭两人才骑着一辆破旧的钱江125摩托回去。

They cleared the garbage, then went about cleaning up the workshop till Xia Xue called and reminded them to eat dinner and they went home on a battered Qianjiang 125 motorcycle.

这天夜里夏雷在网上订购几样设备和工具，又花了好几万。他在澳门赢的钱到此也就花销得差不多了。钱没了，他的心里反而更踏实了。有了自己的工作室，不说赚很多钱，工作和收入肯定会比以前更稳定。更重要的是，凭借他的左眼的能力，只要他在这一行闯出名声，没准还真可以干一番大事业出来！

That evening, Xia Lei spent thousands more ordering several pieces of equipment and tools online. The money he had earned in Macau was almost gone but he had a greater peace of mind. He may not earn a lot with his own workshop but the work and income would definitely be more stable than it was before. More importantly, he would be able to do great things and make a name for himself in his line of work using the power of his eye!

这一夜夏雷睡了一个好觉，他梦见了江如意，又梦见了龙冰，白生生，粉嫩嫩，他把她们的所有的秘密都瞧了个饱。然后，他尴尬地换了一条新内裤……

That night, Xia Lei had a good dream. He dreamt of Jiang Ru-Yi and of Long Bing. Snowy but firm skin, pink and soft - his eyes feasted on every nook(僻静处，幽静的角落) and cranny(小孔，缝隙). Afterwards, he shamefacedly changed into a fresh pair of underwear…

第二天一早，夏雷随便吃了点稀粥便出了门。刚来到楼下便碰见了正埋头往楼上走的江如意，如果不是他主动让开，江如意一准一头撞他怀里。

The next morning, Xia Lei went out after having a simple porridge breakfast. He was going down the stairs when he ran into Jiang Ru-Yi heading up and if he hadn’t moved aside, she would have crashed into his embrace.

“如意，你怎么了？大清早的就失魂落魄的样子？”夏雷说。

“What’s wrong, Ru-Yi? Why are you so distracted in the morning?” asked Xia Lei.

“哎哟，我正要去你家找你呢。”江如意一见夏雷，脸上顿时露出了笑容。

“Ah, I was going to your place to talk to you about something.” Jiang Ru-Yi flashed a smile when she saw Xia Lei.

“别冲我笑，你一冲我笑就没好事。”夏雷说道：“我可先跟你说清楚，我今天没空陪你去逛街买衣服，你实在需要人陪你的话，我让小雪陪你去。”

“Uh oh. Don’t smile at me - smiling at me means trouble for me,” said Xia Lei, “I’ll have you know that I’ve got no time to go shopping and buy clothing with you today. If you really need someone to go with you, you can take Xue.”

“还买什么衣服啊？现在就是给我穿龙袍姐都不开心。”江如意又皱起了眉头。

“Buy clothing? This big sister won’t be happy even if you get me empress gear.” Jiang Ru-Yi frowned.

“发生了什么事？”

“What happened?”

江如意快嘴说道：“昨天和你吃过午饭的时候我不是接了一个电话让我去案发现场吗？遇到一件棘手的案子，上面下了死命令，限我们分局一个星期破案，不然就撤了我这个局长。”

Jiang Ru-Yi spoke quickly, “Remember the call that I got about a case after we had lunch yesterday? The case is hard to deal with and the higher-ups have decreed(法令，裁定，判决) that it has to be solved in one week or I’ll lose my Chief position.”

“什么案子啊？没那么严重吧？”

“What case? Surely it can’t be that serious?”

“怎么不严重？海珠市考古界的泰斗张泊清教授两天前被人杀死在家里，昨天他家的女佣从老家回来才发现他的尸体。凶手的手法很老练，现场没有留下任何痕迹，就连监控器的终端都被人取走了，我们的手里没有任何破案的线索。”江如意哭丧着一张脸，“雷子，你说我该怎么办呢？”

“How is it not? Professor Zhang Bo-Qing, leading scholar of Hai-Zhu City’s archaeological community was murdered in his home two days ago. His maid found his body when she returned from her hometown yesterday. The murderer seems to be a professional - there were no clues left at the crime scene. Even the surveillance(监视) monitors were taken. I have no leads at all!” Jiang Ru-Yi looked like she was about to burst into tears. “What should I do, Lei?”

“这样的事情确实很麻烦，不过我也帮不上你什么忙啊。”夏雷说。

“This does seem like a big problem but I can’t be of help”, said Xia Lei.

“谁说你帮不上忙了？我来正是找你帮忙的。”

“Who says you can’t? I’m here because I want your help.”

夏雷讶然地道：“我？我一不是警察，二不是私家侦探，我能帮你什么忙？”

Xia Lei was surprised. “Me? I’m neither a police officer nor a private investigator, so what help can I give?”

江如意说道：“你不是认识一个很有来头的女人吗？就上次拿枪指着李清华的脑袋那个女人，我昨晚想了一夜，她那么厉害，又大有来头，一定可以帮我渡过这道难关的。”

“Don’t you know a powerful woman? That woman who pointed a gun at Li Qing-Hua’s head. I spent the whole of last night thinking - she’s impressive and has great backing so she can definitely get me through this difficult case.”

夏雷，“……”

Xia Lei was speechless.

“雷子，你就帮帮忙嘛，你也不忍心看我只当一个星期的局长吧？”江如意拉着夏雷的手，轻轻地摇晃着，一副撒娇的样子。

“Help me, please, Lei? You wouldn’t bear to see me be Chief for just one week, would you?” Jiang Ru-Yi held onto Xia Lei’s hand and swayed it gently, pleading(恳求，央求) sweetly.

夏雷哭笑不得，“我和她真的不熟，人家也不可能帮这种忙吧？”说到这里，他忽然想起了什么，“等等，你刚才说丢了一件文物，丢了什么文物？”

Xia Lei didn’t know how to react. “I’m really not that close with her. She can’t help you like this either, can she?” He suddenly remembered something and asked, “Hold on, you said that an item was missing. What is it?”

“是一把钥匙。”

“A key.”

夏雷心中怦然一动，急道：“什么钥匙？”

Xia Lei’s heart thumped as he anxiously asked, “What sort of key?”

“好像是一把铁钥匙，有好几百年的历史了。”江如意直盯盯地看着夏雷，“你问这个干什么？”

“It looks like a metal key hundreds of years old.” Jiang Ru-Yi stared at Xia Lei. “Why are you asking?”

夏雷笑着说道：“我恰好见过那把钥匙。”

Xia Lei smiled as he said, “I just so happened to have seen that key.”

江如意惊讶地道：“你见过那把钥匙？这怎么可能呢？”

Jiang Ru-Yi was surprised, “You saw the key? How?”

夏雷将昨天下午发生的事情说了出来。

Xia Lei recounted the events of yesterday.

“快快快，跟我走！”江如意拉着夏雷就往小区停车场走。

“Quick, quick! Come with me!” Jiang Ru-Yi pulled Xia Lei towards the carpark.

“你要带我去什么地方？”

“Where are you taking me?”

江如意激动地道：“跟我去警局，我的办公室里面有那把钥匙的照片，还有一些张教授研究它的资料，你可以看看。最重要的是，你给我描绘一下那两个人的相貌特征，我把他们画下来。”

Jiang Ru-Yi spoke excitedly, “To the station! I have pictures of the key in my office and some of Professor Zhang’s research information on it that you can take a look at. More importantly, I need you to describe those two people so we can get a sketch.”

夏雷心里暗暗地叹了一口气，他本来是打算去他的工作室的，现在看来是去不成了。

Xia Lei sighed inwardly. He wanted to go to his workshop but it looked like he wouldn’t be going now.

半个小时后夏雷跟着江如意来到了北拱区警局。一进警局，夏雷便发现警局里的警察都在瞧着他和江如意，不少人的眼神里还带着幸灾乐祸的意味。这些人好像在等着看江如意的笑话。如果江如意一个星期就被免去局长职务，这还真是够他们取笑好一阵子的了。

Half an hour later, Xia Lei and Jiang Ru-Yi arrived at the North Police Station. Every police officer’s gaze was on them once they stepped into the police station, and quite a few seemed to be rejoicing in Jiang Ru-Yi’s misfortune. If she lost her position of Chief after just one week, these people would have a lot to laugh about for a long time.

“快点快点，我讨厌这些家伙。”江如意低声催促着夏雷。

“Move, move. I don’t like these guys.” Jiang Ru-Yi prodded(戳，捅，催促，督促) Xia Lei quietly.

夏雷笑着说道：“你是局长啊，是他们的上级，哪有上级怕下级的道理？你应该有点威严才行。”

“You’re their Chief - their superior! How can a Chief be threatened by subordinates? You should be firmer with them.”

“先把眼前这关过了再说什么威严的问题吧。”江如意推着夏雷的肩膀往前走，一点也不介意警局同事的异样的眼光。

“We’ll talk about threats after this case is solved.” Jiang Ru-Yi pushed Xia Lei’s shoulder and kept walking, ignoring the unfriendly stares of her colleagues.

进了办公室，江如意将一只文件袋拿了出来了递到了夏雷的手里。

In her office, she took out a document file and handed it to Xia Lei.

文件袋里装着几张照片，有尸体的照片，有现场的照片，还有一张钥匙的照片。

The file contained some photographs of the body, the crime scene and the key.

看见照片上的钥匙，夏雷顿时呆住了。

When Xia Lei saw the key in the photograph, he was shocked.

照片上的钥匙正是昨天他焊接好的钥匙，两者的长度、颜色和纹路都完全一致！

The length, the colour, the patterns - all were exactly the same as the key he had welded yesterday!

他的脑海里顿时浮现出了那个西装男和性感女郎的样子，两人的服装、身高、面孔、眼神等等一一浮现在他的脑海之中。给人的感觉就像是他仿佛回到了昨天下午的时空中，在蒋老头的小店中亲眼瞧着两人一样！

An image of the suited man and sexy lady appeared in his head. Their clothing, height, appearance, stance(观点，态度，立场，站立姿势) and everything appeared in his head. It was like he had returned to the day before and was looking at the two of them in Uncle Jiang’s machine shop!

“这是怎么回事？我怎么会记得如此清楚？就像是看着两人的照片，就算是记忆力出众，也不可能达到这种程度吧？”夏雷的心中一片震惊。

“What’s going on? How can I remember so clearly? It’s like looking at a photograph… even if I have a good memory it shouldn’t be so detailed, right?” Xia Lei was shaken.

江如意直直地盯着夏雷，“你想到了什么？”

Jiang Ru-Yi stared keenly at Xia Lei. “Did you think of something?”

夏雷却仿佛没有听见她的声音，他闭上了眼睛回忆着他焊接过的铸铁钥匙的纹路。他的脑海之中跟着又浮现出了那把铸铁钥匙的影像，那些复杂的纹路清晰地呈现在他的脑海之中，每一个细节都非常清楚，就像是他正亲眼看着那把钥匙的照片一样！

Xia Lei didn’t seem to have heard her. He closed his eyes and tried to recall the patterns he had welded. The image of the key appeared in his mind and the complicated patterns were as clear as day. Every detail was as crystal clear(清澈透明，十分清楚，浅显易懂，显而易见) as if he had a high quality picture of it!

半分钟后夏雷睁开了眼睛，看着钥匙的照片。他刚才回忆的钥匙的纹路与照片上的钥匙的纹路完全一致，就在刚才的回忆里，他几乎没有忘记任何细节！

Xia Lei opened his eyes 30 seconds later and looked at the photograph of the key. The patterns on the key he had recalled were exactly the same as in the photograph, and his memory had left out nothing about it!

夏雷忽然明白了过来，这根本就不是回忆，更像是他的左眼储存了他所看过的一切的影像，只要他去回忆某一个影像，他的左眼就会提供出类似照片一样清晰的画面！

He suddenly understood that it was not his memory but his left eye. It had saved all images he had seen. He just had to recall an image for it to display a crystal clear picture of it!

无意之中，他发现了左眼的新的能力——过目不忘！

He had unexpectedly uncovered another ability - eidetic(极为逼真，异常清晰，似在眼前) memory!