Winter Returns

Chapter 52 Help! (Bonus Chapter, Please Vote!)
"And then what? Go on and tell us!" Ruoping urged.

"That man, or rather the suspect, is the husband of the woman at the bubble tea shop, from the commercial street, understand?"

"No...no way." Even Ruoping, who was usually slow on the uptake, understood, and stammered for a moment, "You mean that aunt and her family are the murderers?"

She was a regular at the bubble tea shop and couldn't quite accept it at first.

"The woman herself may not have known."

"That doesn't make sense. If they hate Gu Qiumian's family so much, why does that uncle still work at the supermarket?"

"There's something we've misunderstood."

Qingyi analyzed:

"It was Shutong who just told me that he was wrong before. He shouldn't have tied the other person's reason for going to the supermarket to their personal likes or dislikes. His only purpose was to gather information."

"To put it simply, if you want to target Gu Qiu Mian now, how can you ascertain her movements or those of her family? There are actually only three places—"

As she spoke, Qingyi held up three fingers:

"School, villa, her family's shopping mall."

“You can find out about her situation at school, how she's feeling, and where she's planning to go. The villa is similar, but you can't just barge into either of those places. Only the shopping mall is a place where you can apply for jobs, but note that this is the only place where you can find out about Gu Qiu Mian herself, but rather her father's whereabouts.”

Ruoping asked:
"So that man came here to work to gather information about Gu Qiu Mian's family?"

"Pretty much, and they applied for the job several months ago, which means they were well-prepared."

"Wait, wasn't it supposed to be your first day at work?"

"Idiot," Qingyi sighed, "His wife sprained her ankle, so he took a few days off to help out at the bubble tea shop. He's back at work today, and this is his first day back."

"Oh, then what did he come here for this morning?"

"Think about it, let's assume he's the mastermind behind it all. He must know about the arson and that her father isn't home, but he doesn't know when he'll be back. So, what's the fastest way to get that information besides asking Gu Qiu Mian herself?"

"Her family's shopping mall?"

Qingyi nodded:

"That's right, or more accurately, it's her father's management team, the mall manager, who has a direct way to contact Boss Gu."

"Following this logic, in order to get the other party's attention, the suspect would definitely spread the word about the arson. It's even possible that he orchestrated it himself, first spreading the news and then deliberately going to the manager to complain that some kind of rumor had spread that morning. If you were the manager, what would you do?"

Qingyi directly provides the answer:
"We can't just watch our subordinates gossip about the boss, can we? Shouldn't we release some information to reassure them?"
"Does this make sense? So the suspect came to work this morning to find out when Boss Gu would return to the island, so he could determine the right time to strike."

The two walked out of the supermarket while talking. Amid the beeping sounds of shopping, Ruoping nodded blankly. She felt that Qingyi's reasoning was very smooth and in a sense impeccable, but she also felt that something was wrong.

It wasn't until the other person was typing on their phone with a mysterious smile that she reacted:
"I know what's wrong. You're clearly accusing the other person of being the murderer first, and then trying to deduce the motive. That's not rigorous at all!"

“Well, that’s true,” Qingyi said, looking up. “I didn’t think it was very reliable at first, but Shutong kept it a secret. Well, he just happened to stumble upon a crucial clue.”

"what?"

“Let me tell you,” the boy said, a strange smile breaking across his usually expressionless face, “this case is so interesting, I never thought I could connect all the clues…”

Before he could finish speaking, Ruoping glared at him:
"What are you so excited about? Shouldn't you be looking for the killer right now?"

As she spoke, the girl sent Zhang Shutong a message with some concern.

Because just now at the deli window...

She only saw the hanging pig liver, but not the knife used to cut the meat.

……

The bicycle travels through the winter suburbs, and as far as the eye can see, it is desolate.

Zhang Shutong rode his bicycle slowly. The elegant bicycle seemed to have been specially modified, with particularly sensitive brakes. Every light touch in the city would turn into a sudden stop. Gu Qiumian said that she did it on purpose, which was really a misunderstanding.

Now things are finally looking up. They've reached the outskirts of the city, a desolate place. The young man, a mere errand boy, leisurely rides his bike while the young lady leisurely sips her milk tea behind him.

As they drank, Gu Qiumian asked him again, her tone somewhat worried, "Where did your friends go?"

It seems she guessed something too.

Zhang Shutong said it was fine and he was perfectly safe.

As soon as the words left his mouth, as if to slap him in the face, his phone suddenly rang.

That was Du Kang's phone call.

The group had agreed not to make calls unless absolutely necessary; if they did, it would mean they were in an emergency.

Zhang Shutong stopped the car, sighed, and pressed the call button.

Sure enough, the first thing they heard was Du Kang shouting fiercely:

"Help!"

……

"Then what did Du Kang do?" Ruoping finally reacted after a long while. "Since you've already identified the murderer, why did you send him to Gu Qiumian's villa? Could it be that..."

At this point, a look of worry appeared in her eyes:

"That man didn't actually follow them; he went straight to the villa?"

The girl had recently listened to a lot of reasoning, and her mind was working quickly, instantly coming up with many ideas:
She had always assumed that the man left the deli to follow Zhang Shutong and Gu Qiumian.

But then it occurred to me that no matter where they went, the two of them would never leave the city, so it seemed that it would be difficult to make a move anywhere.
You can't kidnap people directly, so there's only one possibility—

Find a deserted place;

It must also be a place that Gu Qiumian must pass through.

There is only one place that satisfies both of these conditions:
It's on the way back to the Gu family villa.

Ruoping knew the place they called the "castle" well; there were very few signs of pedestrians there, making it a natural crime scene.
Then she thought of the possibility that worried her the most:
What if Gu Qiu Mian doesn't encounter the murderer, but Du Kang does?
Her heart began to race with anxiety, and she blurted out her guess. Just as she was about to emphasize it again, Qingyi nodded indifferently:
“That’s possible. In a sense, the killer’s whereabouts are unpredictable, making it difficult to catch him. However,” the boy gestured to the chat history, “Shutong and I have already considered this, so…”

"I'm talking to you about Du Kang right now, but I need to make a phone call right away..."

Qingyi smiled smugly:

"Don't worry about him, our birthday boy will be fine."

……

"Help!" Du Kang shouted.

Zhang Shutong moved the microphone further away from his ear:
"You actually got caught?"

"You've ruined me, Shutong! You said everything was fine!"

"Sorry, sorry, I'll call for backup right away."

Zhang Shutong smiled and then handed the phone to Gu Qiumian.

She was initially tense listening to the cries for help on the phone, but when she saw the smile on her face, she became bewildered.

"Help me save someone?" Zhang Shutong asked the young lady for help.

"Why do you always get into trouble?" She didn't answer the phone right away, but asked irritably, "Explain to me what's going on first. What do you mean I'm helping to save someone? What trouble have you two gotten into this time!"

“Because you’re the young lady, you have to give her face,” Zhang Shutong added. “I mean, he accidentally broke the only two flowerpots you had left.”

"what?"

"Well, please accept my condolences."

Zhang Shutong comforted her, saying that Qiu Yumian's eyes were already wide open.

……

"What?" Ruoping was completely dumbfounded. "You mean Du Kang didn't go there to catch the murderer, but to cause trouble?"

"Hmm." Qingyi found her every shock particularly amusing.

"What's the point?"

"Well, that's a long story," Qingyi said regretfully, stroking his chin. "I had come up with a brilliant idea, but Shutong rejected it."

"What idea?"

"Since we're constantly suspecting this and that, and still can't find the real culprit, why don't we just take the initiative and kidnap Gu Qiu Mian?"

"Roll rough!"

"Actually, it was to test her nanny's attitude." Qingyi was a little hurt after her idea was rejected again, and she was no longer in the mood to keep them in suspense. "Didn't we say before that we suspected that Gu Qiumian's nanny had a problem, about that dead dog?"

"I know, please continue!"

“But it’s hard to be sure whether the nanny really didn’t see it or just pretended not to see it. In that case, Shutong said, let’s use the process of elimination. Don’t waste brain cells thinking about this and that, like the nanny’s identity, who she has a grudge against, etc. Just go and try it yourself.”

"so?"

"So I sent Du Kang over to hang around a bit. He went during mealtime, when her housekeeper was cooking. From the kitchen, you could see right into the backyard, hmm..."

At this point, Qingyi glanced at the time:

"I reckon the results should be out by now."

……

As a result, he was caught.

In Zhang Shutong's memory, the nanny, Aunt Wu, should have been a quiet and gentle woman, but now she seems like a completely different person.

Even without the speakerphone on, you could hear the other person's serious voice, which was barely suppressing their anger, through the earpiece.

Gu Qiu Mian stared blankly for a moment with a strange expression, then went to the side to make a phone call to explain, feeling both amused and exasperated.
"Really, Aunt Wu, that person is my friend. Please don't make things difficult for him; he didn't mean it..."

“My dad said to tell him if anything seems wrong? Oh, Aunt Wu, I'm not lying to you, everything's really fine here, and that person really is my friend. He was just... just playing a prank, he didn't mean any harm, just pretend you didn't see it…”

When Gu Qiu Mian starts to act coquettishly, no one can resist her, and the woman on the other end of the phone softened her tone.

Hearing this, Zhang Shutong breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, he did not intend to give Gu Qiumian a "surprise".
The original plan was to have Du Kang act as a suspicious person and loiter outside the window for a while;
Then, proceed with the next step based on the nanny's reaction.

The best outcome would be nothing more than arousing the nanny's suspicion, being questioned a few times, then having to explain things clearly before riding away on her bike.

Perhaps the nanny was too focused on cooking, or perhaps she was nearsighted, but she simply didn't see it.

Left with no other choice, they had to resort to some "malicious" and "attractive" actions.

With those five arsonists in the picture, Zhang Shutong naturally thought of smashing the flowerpots.

He noticed yesterday that there were still two intact potted plants in the backyard.

Using two potted plants to test a person's character is a very worthwhile deal; Gu Qiu Mian probably wouldn't care about that. However:
"What? Not only those two pots in the backyard, he also smashed the one I kept in the front yard?" Gu Qiumian suddenly paused.

Zhang Shutong was also stunned. He remembered telling Du Kang that he only needed to smash the backyard, so how come this guy exceeded the task?
But you no longer need to figure things out on your own.

Because Gu Qiumian had already handed over the phone:

"You did a good job!"

She silently opened her rosy lips, gritting her teeth as she prepared to settle the score.

Zhang Shutong quickly dodged to the side.

……

"Oh, Du Kang replied." Qingyi suddenly looked at her phone screen and smiled.

Ruoping also saw it, because this time the other party posted it in a large group chat. Through the phone screen, there was a photo of the flowerpot's corpse and the boy's bright red ears.

It also includes the following sentence:
(Burning from being pinched)

Ruoping laughed along and sent a voice message:
"How come you got caught even for smashing a flowerpot? You just smashed it and ran away."

“There was nothing I could do,” Du Kang said helplessly. “When I smashed the two behind her, she had just come out of the kitchen, so I ran to the front yard and smashed one more. But I didn’t expect that she would come out to throw out the trash and catch me. Besides, I didn’t do anything. If I ran away, I would be more suspicious. I might as well explain. But her nanny is so fierce. She caught me and gave me a lecture.”

Qingyi interjected:

So what are you doing now?

"Gu Qiu Mian explained it to me, and since nothing came of it in the end, the auntie invited me in to have something to eat, so I followed her inside."

"You really don't consider yourself an outsider, even though you just finished causing trouble," Ruoping said with a laugh.

Du Kang, however, claimed that he was wronged:

"Let me tell you, I rode all the way from home here, I'm freezing! Besides, isn't this all for Gu Qiu Mian? Why don't you come in and sit down? Let's not chat anymore, I want to try the young lady's cooking."

He disappeared after saying that; he has absolutely no morals.

"So now we can rule out the nanny?" Ruoping asked, putting down her phone.

"Well, no problem."

Ruoping then asked:

"So you suspected the nanny was the arsonist in the 'six missing one' game from the very beginning? Did Du Kang's trip go to waste? He just finished testing the waters, and you've already found the real culprit?"

"No, not exactly," Qingyi explained. "The nanny has nothing to do with the arson. Think about it, this was done by people from the commercial street. She's a nanny from out of town, she doesn't know the local situation, and she's a home-based nanny who rarely goes out. How could she possibly arrange things for those five people without anyone noticing, and still manage to stay out of sight herself?"

"The nanny and the shopping street are actually two separate things, but you did suspect she was the murderer?"

"Yes, because we didn't find the man selling pig liver at first, so we had to make several plans. In Shutong's words, we had to eliminate one suspect along the way so we could narrow down our search."

Qingyi paused for a moment, then said:
"Actually, it wasn't just a simple test of the nanny. Like you said before, what if the murderer is stupid and goes straight to Gu Qiumian's villa without confirming anything? So, we had this idea in mind when we sent Du Kang over. If things go wrong, we can just ride away on our bikes."

"So all these problems can be ruled out now?"

"Correct."

"So, if we catch the liver-pig man, we'll have accomplished our mission?" Ruoping also got excited. Heaven knows when she changed her address from "uncle" to "liver-pig man."

This time, Qingyi shook his head:
"That's not right either."

"why?"

"Because it's just a matter of ruling out one person, but in reality, there's still one person we haven't identified."

"What do you mean? You said there are two people?" Ruoping was taken aback.

Shu Tong suspects it was a conspiracy.

"Really? How did another person suddenly appear?"

"Shutong only had doubts, not certainty."

"So what do we do next?"

Qingyi said:

"Didn't we just say that, in a sense, we still can't be sure of the liver-colored man's whereabouts? He might have followed Shu Tong and the others, or he might not have followed them and had gone directly to Gu Qiu Mian's road home to wait for her. That would be too wide a range of activity, making it difficult to catch him."

"so?"

"So, the next step is the fourth phase of the 'Operation Goddess of Destiny, which will control the young lady's future'."

Qingyi held his hands loosely in front of him, as if holding a fishing rod, and passionately declared:

"Since the commander-in-chief is absent, I will explain the main objectives of the fourth phase on his behalf. Next, we will utilize the liver-pig man's accomplices to completely control the enemy's movements, and this action is generally referred to as—"

Just before Uchiha Kiyomi could speak, his phone rang again. The young man glanced at the screen, the atmosphere abruptly interrupted, and he said regretfully:

"Forget it, let Shutong say it himself. Anyway, he arranged this operation from beginning to end. A man can't steal the limelight from his comrades."

Ruoping then hurriedly looked at the small group of four people.

There was a picture taken by the water.

New peach and old bamboo:

"Starting fishing, phone battery is almost dead, do not disturb."

So that's what "fishing" was all about.

"You two are such a perfect match in your chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) tendencies."

Ruoping initially grimaced, but the more she looked, the more familiar the body of water seemed. She stared in disbelief and exclaimed:
"He's out of his mind. What would the two of them do at the 'base'? There's nobody there. Why would they deliberately use themselves as bait?"

"Wrong, quite the opposite, of course it's to shake off the murderer. Otherwise, why would it be called fishing?"

Ruoping remained silent and said:
"You guys are too carefree. I think he won't catch any fish and will end up getting caught instead."

……

Du Kang has already eaten three bowls of noodles.

There is nothing more blissful than eating a bowl of duck soup noodles in the dead of winter when your body is frozen solid.

The rich broth, the chewy noodles, and the sprinkled scallions—gold, white, and emerald green—each in its own orderly fashion, with a fragrant aroma wafting through the wispy steam, made Du Kang feel that the trip hadn't been in vain. He prepared to tell Shu Tong to call him again for this kind of work next time.

He was very happy, but the woman across from him sighed:

"You silly child, why aren't you at home in this freezing weather? What are you doing here smashing flowerpots?"

Du Kang could only chuckle awkwardly, too embarrassed to say that he was being manipulated, nor to admit that he actually suspected Auntie. He could only apologize repeatedly and eat his noodles in silence.

"You're Mian... Qiu Mian's classmate, right?" The nanny seemed to have something to say.

Du Kang nodded.

"I heard she doesn't have many friends in her class. Since you're her friend, you should try to get along well with her. Is that alright? Consider it a favor from your aunt?"

The other party spoke sincerely, but Du Kang inexplicably wanted to laugh, thinking to himself, "Auntie, you're not asking me for a favor; the person you're asking is someone else."

Judging from Ruoping's expression, it seemed that the conflict between her and Gu Qiumian had been resolved, so she naturally nodded in agreement since she had no enmity with this young lady.

Nanny Aunt Wu finally smiled:

"Then I'll put my snacks down. Is that enough? If not, I'll get you another bowl."

"No need, Auntie, that's enough..." Du Kang tilted his head back and finished the last bit of noodle soup. "I'm leaving soon, thank you for your hospitality, Auntie."

Now that he'd run away, there was no point in staying home, so he decided to go find Qingyi, Ruoping, and the others to reunite.

Anyway, Shutong said that he didn't need to do anything from now on, and could arrange things as he pleased.

Du Kang grinned, casually wiped his mouth, and was told by the nanny to slow down. He ran to the entrance to change his shoes, said goodbye to her, and opened the door. Just then, the doorbell rang.

The security system in the villa was electronic, and when he looked at the screen, he was surprised to see an unexpected face.

——Song Nanshan.

Or rather, their homeroom teacher.

The man in front of the camera had his head down; he had just hung up the phone, so his expression was obscured.

No, what's Old Song doing here?

Du Kang looked at it with a puzzled expression. He wasn't very good at tinkering with these new gadgets, so he could only wait for the nanny to open the door. Just as he was about to explain who this was, he saw the nanny press a button, as if the two of them had known each other for a long time.

"I've met your teacher," the woman added.

"Oh……"

Du Kang nodded a beat later. Since they knew each other, they must have come to see Gu Qiu Mian for something, and it had nothing to do with him.

He wasn't sure whether being seen at another girl's house by the homeroom teacher was a good thing or a bad thing... Just as he was pondering this, his phone rang.

A man's voice came from inside:
"You're at Gu Qiumian's house, right? Hurry up and pack your things, then come with me. I need to talk to you guys urgently."

"How did you know I was the teacher?" Du Kang asked in surprise.

"I just finished a call with Qingyi and the others. Anyway, you come out first."

"oh oh……"

He was a little flustered, not knowing what the homeroom teacher was trying to do, having to say goodbye to the nanny, and getting into the car in front of the villa in a daze.

"I'm here to pick up my students." The man rolled down the car window, smiled at the nanny as an explanation, then released the handbrake, and the Focus slowly drove off.

"Teacher, my bicycle is still here!" Du Kang shouted hurriedly.

"Nothing will happen, you can ride it another day." The man glanced at the rearview mirror. "The nanny took it back for you."

"Oh..." Du Kang asked belatedly after a while, "What exactly are we going to do? Why are you being so mysterious?"

"Go to school and do me a favor. You'll find out soon enough."

"Shall we go pick up Qingyi and the others now?"

The man lit a cigarette, nodded, and remained silent, as if he had something on his mind.

“Wait a minute, Lao Song,” Du Kang suddenly slapped his thigh and realized, “There are three of us, including Qingyi and Ruoping, and then there’s Shutong and Gu Qiumian. Your little car can’t fit them all.”

Only after he finished speaking did he realize that he had accidentally called out his teacher's nickname. Normally, the man would have been furious and accused him of being disrespectful, but this time the other person acted as if he hadn't heard him at all.

Song Nanshan suddenly smiled, and his teeth were visible in the rearview mirror, along with the cigarette glowing between them.
"Who told you I was going to pick them up? There's plenty of room."

This chapter is an extra update for the 4th. Today's update totals 10000 words. Please vote with your monthly tickets!
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(End of this chapter)