Winter Returns

Chapter 38 Decline Again
Perhaps because of the rain, some shops closed early today.

The commercial street runs north-south, and they parked their cars at the northern entrance.

The atmosphere along the way started with tension as they discovered something amiss, then progressed to deducing the intensity of the incident in the van, before gradually calming down. The two chatted occasionally, talking about school and laughing, but both knew it was just a way to relieve their anxiety.

So when the car entered the city, the surrounding light gradually brightened, but the car seemed to have entered a deeper darkness.

Old Song lit one cigarette after another, but he rarely smoked them, just holding them in his hand. He didn't care that the ash would fall on his legs. He would cough and sigh in frustration.
Zhang Shutong would sometimes lower the window a little, but the cold air that rushed in would make him raise it again. The air conditioner sent smoke throughout the car, making everything blurry. In the almost stagnant air of the car, the two of them shut their mouths at the same time.

Occasionally, he would think of more details and discuss them with Song Nanshan, but the total amount of discussion was only a few words. However, the clues were too few to be conclusive.

Everyone knows that the biggest challenge is yet to come.

They practically rushed out of the car. Old Song told him to put on an umbrella, and then led the way into the rain.

Zhang Shutong opened the car door, and as soon as his feet touched the ground, several splashes of water appeared.

He followed closely behind the other person, not in the mood to open his umbrella. Strolling in the rain with an umbrella is a leisurely thing, but if he ran, the umbrella would lift up and the handle would sway, only becoming a burden that dragged him down.

According to the plan they had discussed not long ago, the two would split up. Song Nanshan would go find a van, while he would go to the Nanhu Fish Restaurant first, preparing for both possibilities.

It was almost eight o'clock.

He walked past shop after shop, glancing occasionally at the cars on either side. The rain blurred his vision and filtered the light sources on both sides.

The streetlights cast a dim yellow glow, and the shop signs always lit up with colorful lights. It was the dead of winter, and the dust in the air seemed frozen. Compared to the torrential rains of summer, the air was much cleaner.

The air, light, and rain mingled together, eventually creating a misty, hazy scene.

Zhang Shutong walked through the fine drizzle.

His body, which had just warmed up in the air conditioner's hot air, instantly turned icy cold. His shoes and trouser legs were almost completely soaked. Sometimes he would think of Lao Song's words: if you like someone so much that you're not even afraid of the cold, maybe that's a good thing.

On the way, Song Nanshan kept telling him not to act impulsively. Since the two of them were not police officers, they had no legitimate reason to act and could only ask a few questions.

Even if they eventually find the van and follow it to the killer, they can only resort to petty tricks, which is no different from dancing in handcuffs.

For example, you could try to trick the other person with a few words. If they admit it, that would be best. You could secretly record the conversation on your phone and hand it over to the police.

But if they refuse to admit it, there aren't many options left. All you can do is give them a few warnings, remember their face and identity, and remind Gu Qiu Mian to be careful.

Zhang Shutong had anticipated this; it was almost the most challenging situation he had encountered since he began retrospectively analyzing the past.

Unlike that time in the reeds, when the other party's intentions were clear and they had already committed evil deeds, it was not a problem for the group to stop them on the spot and to use more forceful methods.
Unlike catching students who smash the castle, you can deduce the time and place in advance and then just wait for them to come to you.

Moreover, it's very likely that more than one person was poisoning the dogs.

Zhang Shutong recalled Li's mother's words. The worst scenario he could imagine was that he would follow the van to a shop, where there was a room with the lights on on on the second floor. He would either hide outside the door to eavesdrop or rush in to check, only to find four or five men sitting inside.

The next development will not be a battle of wits or a battle of brute force, but will only leave us helpless.

There's a philosophical question: if someone commits a crime in the future, is their past self considered innocent? Zhang Shutong finds this question utterly pointless. In this urgent situation, he could choose "guilty" without hesitation, but it would be best if the other party were truly guilty.

This means that the person who poisoned the dog and the murderer who killed Gu Qiumian should ideally be the same person.

But even if it is determined, the difficulty lies not in convicting anyone, but in how to prevent, restrict, or avoid it.

It's like a spiky ball of yarn—dangerous and messy.
Everything was so confusing that I didn't know where to begin.

For example, the Nanhu Fish Restaurant right in front of us is also closed.

Water splashes were visible on the grayish-white iron roller shutter. A large raindrop fell in front of him, bursting on the ground and splashing onto his face as well.

Zhang Shutong sighed silently.

On the way, he considered asking over the phone first, although it wouldn't be as effective as meeting in person—but after trying it, there was no need to worry about it anymore, because the phone was always unreachable.

Now even the last remaining road is blocked.

The phone didn't vibrate, which meant that Lao Song hadn't found anything either.

He turned back and ran towards the clothing store, where he had just become a familiar face the night before, hoping to make some money there.

The owner of the clothing store was an older woman. She was very happy to see him, thinking he was there to patronize her business again. Zhang Shutong had bought a scarf in the store yesterday. He originally thought that it didn't need to be too expensive as bait, but the solid red scarf was always in the middle to upper price range, so he had to pay for it himself.

Now he casually grabbed two raincoats and asked his most pressing question, though he had to be somewhat tactful, but it boiled down to this:

What exactly did the owner of the lake fish restaurant mean by "that incident"?
And who are the people involved in this?

The proprietress knew nothing about it.

However, considering that she had patronized the business for two consecutive days, Zhang Shutong received another piece of information from her.

Many people now know about the castle being smashed.

He was initially surprised, but then he figured out what had happened:

Li Yipeng and his mother returned to the commercial street in the afternoon.

Li's father usually lives outside the island, leaving Li's mother to run the supermarket on the street alone.

So when the two left school at noon, Li's mother took her son to the supermarket.

That woman was naturally flamboyant, and since the object of her affections was Gu Qiumian, she didn't see it as a scandal at all. Instead, she cursed and swore and didn't hesitate to spread the word. Almost all the merchants and neighbors on the commercial street were happy to watch the spectacle when they had free time. Even Li's mother had already achieved her goal, and some people joined in the indignation.

That's how the story of Li Yipeng taking revenge on Gu Qiumian at school spread.

The clues Zhang Shutong gleaned were simply who among those present had hurled the harshest insults.

The commercial street can now be divided into three groups:

One group consists of clothing store owners who may harbor some resentment towards Mr. Gu's business, but that resentment remains just that—resentment. Mr. Gu is getting old, and both his husband and son have jobs, so it's not unreasonable for him to take a sum of compensation money to retire at home.

One group consists of Li Yipeng's family and the couple from the lake fish restaurant. They harbor deep resentment towards the Gu family, to the point that they habitually curse each other behind their backs. However, for various reasons, they do not want to completely break off relations and simply remain at the level of "enemies."

The last group is the group that poisons dogs, or you could call them murderers. Similar to what Lao Song said, they were driven to desperation by life and took action directly from "enemies" to "revenge," willing to risk everything.

The good news is that the last group is ultimately a minority.

The bad news is that even the shopkeepers on this street don't know who the other party is. They are hiding underwater, and this kind of thing can easily be leaked if they are not careful. They certainly won't tell everyone that they want to take revenge on Gu Jianhong's whole family. They will just pretend to be the second faction.

Zhang Shutong thanked him and then turned and plunged into the rain.

The raincoat wrapped him up completely, and his nostrils were filled with the smell of cheap plastic. He thought that wearing the raincoat would make him feel better, but in reality, he was already soaked through. The plastic sheet clung tightly to his body, and the rain made him even colder.

Zhang Shutong wiped the water off his face and was about to go find Lao Song to meet up;

Just then, the phone rang.

(End of this chapter)