Winter Returns

Chapter 45 The Mysterious Woman (Seeking monthly votes and first-day subscriptions!)

"Come with me later."

The girl immediately looked up, even stopping her slicing of the meat pie.

Nevertheless, she spoke slowly and reluctantly:
Why would I go out with you?

"How about I invite you to go shopping?"

To everyone's surprise, Gu Qiumian took a bite of the fried egg and suddenly couldn't help but laugh:

"Are you stupid?"

The first time he invited the girl out after the regression, although it was far from a date, he was called a fool, which made Zhang Shutong bite the soft flesh in his mouth.

Then Gu Qiumian said in a clear voice:
"That shopping mall belongs to my family. What do you mean you invited me there?"

"So, consider it as benefiting from your good fortune?"

She snorted upon hearing this:
"Who is there?"

"Qingyi, Ruoping, and the two of us, that makes four in total."

"I don't get along with her," she said, without saying whether she would go or not.

So you don't want to go?

However, Gu Qiu Mian didn't reply. She had already stuffed the last bit of food into her mouth in a few bites, her cheeks puffed out, and then ran to the elevator in her slippers, her heels exposed. Only when the elevator doors closed did her voice drift out from inside:

"Wait for me to change, I'll be right there..."

Look, the hypoglycemia has been cured.

Zhang Shutong called her out for a simple reason—he was afraid she would have problems if she stayed alone.

The people Gu's father sent won't arrive until tomorrow at the earliest. Now that her dog is gone and the villa is in such a remote location, it's not very safe.

Theoretically, the arsonist was caught last night. Theoretically, these murderers acted earlier than in the original timeline. Theoretically, the threat to Gu Qiu Mian has been basically eliminated.

But Zhang Shutong didn't need to get hung up on the theory. Her bodyguards would be back tomorrow, and given that they had put in a lot of effort so far, there was no reason for them to slack off at the last minute.

But there was one question that he couldn't understand:
Since Lao Song and the nanny were present in the previous timeline, why did they only report Gu Qiu Mian's disappearance a day later, on Tuesday, December 11th?

Before looking back, Zhang Shutong hadn't thought about this issue in detail, only assuming that the parents weren't paying much attention. But now it seems there must be another reason.

The only explanation he could come up with was that reporting the case meant going through official procedures, but Gu Jianhong might have some unspeakable reasons and didn't want the authorities to get involved too early.

There are still too few clues. If possible, he really wanted to grab Du Kang eight years later and ask him more questions.

At this moment, Song Nanshan came over and asked curiously:
What are you two arguing about now?

Zhang Shutong then explained the key points. Old Song is reliable in crucial moments, and it's best to get his attention.

But the other party's focus was completely off-target:

"You've finally figured it out, kid."

The homeroom teacher was greatly pleased.

It seems that his repeated rejections last night made him feel that he regarded Gu Qiu Mian as a monster to be avoided at all costs. In fact, it's not that bad. Unless there is a special purpose, Zhang Shutong rarely does things that seem deliberate at first glance.

Old Song said that's right, feelings need to be cultivated slowly, love at first sight is all nonsense;
Zhang Shutong had heard this before, that saying love at first sight was just a euphemism for lust, but he had no intention of developing feelings for Gu Qiumian. Therefore, finding Lao Song too noisy, he went to the sofa to browse his phone. Ruoping's Angry Birds game was pretty good, so he downloaded one too, waiting for Gu Qiumian to come down.

Anyway, she said it would be ready soon.

But as it turns out, Zhang Shutong shouldn't have trusted Miss Gu's words. He had already played through ten or so levels, and the birds were singing their way towards the pig's den, but there was still no movement from the girl.

So Zhang Shutong found Gu Qiumian's QQ—he added her last night and left his phone number—her profile picture was a Q-version drawing that looked like a cloud and a sheep, prettier than the ghost face on the glass, and her ID was "Qiuyu Mianmian" (meaning "Autumn Rain").

"New peachwood charms and old door charms" ask about "the continuous autumn rain":
"Not yet?"

"almost."

Zhang Shutong double-clicked the home button to return to the front line and continue fighting against Pighead.

These days, choosing a screen name is a skill, roughly divided into the "Shamate" (a subculture characterized by its flamboyant and unconventional style), the "Foreign Language" (another subculture characterized by its foreign and literary style), and the "Literary Youth" (another subculture characterized by its literary and artistic style). I used to belong to the latter. My screen name was Shutong. You would think that Zhang Shutong should have an unbreakable connection with the paulownia tree in his life, but actually, he wasn't called "Shutong" at first. He was called "Shutong".

It's not the same as the pupil in Chinese, but rather taken from a poem by Wang Anshi: "Thousands of doors and households greet the rising sun, replacing old peachwood charms with new ones," meaning the bright and warm appearance of sunrise.

However, it was drizzling on the day he was born, which cast a shadow over his name. The staff registering his household registration wrote his name wrong, so Shu Tong became Shu Tong. Therefore, whenever someone asks him what his name means and how elegant it sounds, Zhang Shu Tong doesn't know how to answer.

But his mother was a carefree woman and didn't care. Instead, she felt that the staff's small mistake had caused a magical chemical reaction in her son's name. She didn't care what it meant, as long as it was artistic enough, so the name was kept.

Zhang Shutong was initially unwilling, but his mother coaxed him, saying, "Silly son, isn't 'Tong' easier to write than 'Tong'? You'll understand when the teacher punishes you by making you copy names later."

Zhang Shutong once again believed his mother's words. He had never been able to deal with his mother since he was a child. However, since he started school, Zhang Shutong had always been a good student. The only places where he wrote his name were his homework and test papers. He was tricked again.

In short, when he was choosing his online name, he flipped through the Book of Songs but was not satisfied with any of the sentences that were related to "Paulownia". So he simply went back to the original source and took the next line, "New peachwood charms replace old ones", thinking that it was very profound.

But after all these years, no one has been able to understand what he meant.

On the contrary, it's not as good as Gu Qiumian's name. It's called Qiuyu Mianmian, which is straightforward and easy to understand. I guess when Boss Gu had his daughter, he must have thought she would be a gentle and tender person. It sounds like a melancholy and quiet girl, which carries a beautiful meaning. However, Miss Gu is just like me, and she just turned out to be a bit off.

Zhang Shutong once again overestimated Gu Qiumian's credibility. His phone was almost burning hot, and the elevator still hadn't come down. When Zhang Shutong asked again if she was ready, this time Gu Qiumian sent a voice message, "Hey, don't rush me, I've already applied my lip gloss crookedly..."

"Then as soon as possible."

No new messages were received in the chat box.

Zhang Shutong had a bad feeling—he didn't understand Gu Qiumian, but he understood his mother pretty well. If a woman lingered in her room before leaving the house, there were only two possibilities: she was putting on makeup or trying on clothes.

Finally, the elevator began to descend. The villa was quite well-lit; it was a chilly winter morning shrouded in mist, but the sunlight shone biasedly on the steel and glass of the elevator car. The cold, metallic door slowly opened, and before Gu Qiu Mian could be seen, her voice floated out:

What do you think of this outfit?

She wore a suede velvet dress, light blue, like a small pine tree standing tall in winter.

The girl spun around in place, shaking off the snow from the pine tree, revealing its shape in the bright sunlight.

Zhang Shutong noticed that she had specially applied lip gloss today, which she didn't usually wear at school. Her pink lips shone with a moist glow under the light, making them appear even softer.

The combination of a somewhat understated outfit and brightly colored lips doesn't seem out of place, Zhang Shutong objectively commented:

"Good."

"What do you mean 'good'? You should explain it more clearly," Gu Qiumian said, dissatisfied.

Zhang Shutong looked at Lao Song, who was sure to be good at praising girls, but Song Nanshan seemed not to see it, standing to the side with his hands in his pockets, laughing.

"I think it's fine everywhere," Zhang Shutong had no choice but to say.

"So, should I wear a skirt or pants?"

"Do whatever you want as long as it's not cold."

Zhang Shutong genuinely felt that in this kind of weather, you should wear a coat when you go out, so what's the point of dressing up nicely underneath?

"Then I'll try going up again..."

"Ahem, Qiu Mian, this dress is pretty enough." Song Nanshan finally cleared his throat, seemingly unable to resist the young lady trying on clothes again and again. "We have things to do later."

Gu Qiumian finally went to change her shoes. She didn't need to go upstairs to change her shoes. While calling out to Aunt Wu, "Aunt Wu, where are my boots? Did you take them for maintenance? Okay... I'll wear sneakers today." She picked up her bag from the sofa, rummaged through it, and muttered to herself that she had forgotten to pack something.

“Actually, just bringing your phone is enough.” Zhang Shutong’s thinking is very postmodern.

Miss Gu frowned and stared at him without saying a word.

"Don't you usually go out without a backpack?"

Okay, this time it's just staring.

Zhang Shutong stopped talking and lowered his head to play with his phone.

In fact, ever since Gu Qiumian came down, he had been fighting against Pighead, multitasking. He finally released the slingshot on the screen; it was the last bird. But his hand trembled, and the little bird screamed as it crashed into the concrete fortress, leaving only four large characters—

Failed to complete the level.

After playing for a while, he only got a bad ending. Somewhat disappointed, he stood up and prepared to put on his shoes.

……

The morning air is always cool and humid. Gu Qiumian rolled down the car window and waved goodbye to her nanny, Aunt Wu.

The woman smiled and asked her what she wanted to eat that night and whether she needed anything prepared. The girl thought for a moment and said she would decide later and would contact her in advance. She added that something simple would be fine, as she hadn't had Aunt Wu's pies in a long time and was starting to crave them.

She smiled genuinely as she said this. Then the car started, and the Focus slowly drove along the misty road. Zhang Shutong glanced at her:
"You and that aunt are very close?"

The two of them are now sitting in the back of the car. They were classmates at school and they are still classmates in the car—actually, it's because the cloth seat in the passenger seat is wet. He didn't take off his raincoat when he got into the car last night, and now it's all wet when you touch it.

Gu Qiumian, who didn't have much space, went behind Lao Song. She raised the window; she had been smiling just moments before, but when she looked at Zhang Shutong, her expression changed drastically, and she snorted:

"Of course, Aunt Wu has been coming to our house since I was in the first year of junior high school."

Zhang Shutong nodded.

They remained silent the whole way, or rather, the girl next to him didn't bother to talk to him. She would occasionally chat with Song Nanshan, and Zhang Shutong was happy to have some peace and quiet.

He watched the scenery rushing past the window. Gu Qiumian's villa was on the south side of the island. He hadn't been here often before, and after eight years, there was hardly anything familiar along the way.

The only thing worth mentioning is the funeral home, the one where the funeral was held eight years later, but now there's no trace of it, just a wasteland with a huge chimney standing there.

A wisp of smoke rose into the sky, gradually merging into it and disappearing without a trace. Perhaps because it had just rained, the sky was clear and blue today. Zhang Shutong followed the wisp of smoke, but soon could not find its source.

The car has entered the city.

As expected of the weekend, there were more people on the road. The car zigzagged and finally stopped in front of the three-story shopping mall entrance.

Old Song casually shifted into neutral, saying, "I'll go to the police station first, and I'll contact you when I'm done. You two have fun." Then he started in second gear and sped away in a flash.

Only the boy and girl remained in the small open space.

But even that little bit of open space was quickly taken up – the area in front of the mall was teeming with people, men, women, the elderly and children, but most of them were students of similar age.

Zhang Shutong looked around with a hint of curiosity. There were carts selling grilled sausages and bird eggs, as well as vendors selling toy balloons, usually with various cartoon characters on them. They were filled with hydrogen gas and held by countless strings, with the colorful balloons crowded in mid-air.

Gu Qiu Mian subconsciously moved closer to Zhang Shutong, who then smiled and asked, "Do you want to buy balloons?"

The girl rolled her eyes and said, "Why don't you contact your friends and see if they're coming?"

She wasn't shy at all. Normally, it's common to be a little shy in situations where you're introduced to another group of people, but Gu Qiu Mian exuded an aura of pride that made her stand out from the crowd.

Zhang Shutong asked curiously, "Why are you even more impatient than me?"
Instead, she puffed out her chest and said, "What? Do you think I'm afraid of them?"

As she spoke, her lips were glistening, and her eyes sparkled, as if she had spent so much time getting ready just to make a good impression on the meeting.

Zhang Shutong couldn't figure out what she was thinking either. He glanced at her a few times and felt that something was off about "Autumn Rain" today. After a moment, he noticed that she wasn't wearing her scarf today.

"But you don't need to contact them, they're very noticeable, look—"

After speaking, Zhang Shutong pointed to the most flamboyant figure in the crowd, a young man wearing headphones listening to music alone.
Qingyi wore a denim jacket today, which Zhang Shutong thought was cool, but with the surroundings so noisy, he had to deliberately raise his voice when talking to Gu Qiumian. Could he really hear what song was playing in his headphones?
He walked up and patted him on the shoulder. Qingyi turned around and saw that he was still the same as before, always with a blank face. He smiled and was about to greet Zhang Shutong, but before he could say anything, the boy's gaze shifted to behind Zhang Shutong and finally settled on surprise.

Only Miss Gu could break Qingyi's composure, which was usually expressionless.

"Gu Qiu Mian, we already know each other, so I won't introduce her."

Although Zhang Shutong found it strange that she had to introduce her classmates, she calmly turned around and said to Gu Qiumian:
"Meng Qingyi, my best friend."

"Oh...oh." The surprise lasted only a few seconds before Qingyi regained his poker face. Du Kang could never do that. He casually waved his hand and said, "Welcome."

Gu Qiu Mian nodded calmly and greeted her. At this moment, she was acting like a cold and aloof young lady again.

Zhang Shutong stood between the two and asked Ruoping, "Where's Ruoping? Why isn't she with you?"

"Her?" Qingyi said speechlessly, "She saw a snack she'd never seen before and went to queue up for it."

The three of them stared at the flow of people coming and going, and suddenly didn't know what to do.

Zhang Shutong never makes decisions on occasions like this. In the past, the boys would all listen to Ruoping's arrangements, which was normal. But Gu Qiumian was acting strangely. In the past, she would always give orders when going out with the gang, but today she didn't say a word.

Zhang Shutong then suggested waiting inside the mall, as there were too many people at the entrance. I told Ruoping this on QQ.

There were fewer people in the mall. As soon as you enter, there are various clothing stores, and on both sides are shoe stores and nail salons. In short, it is very much in line with the style of the island. Don't expect it to be like a big commercial plaza.

Even the elevator is the kind without steps, a freight elevator, and there's no vertical elevator. In this respect, it's not as good as Gu Qiumian's house.

Zhang Shutong hadn't been here in a long time, so he asked Gu Qiumian what was worth shopping for. Even though it was her family's shopping mall, she said she rarely came here either. You can guess what she was going to say next; she probably felt she didn't have enough time to explore.

They strolled around casually for a while. Gu Qiu Mian glanced at everything inattentively and just kept walking forward. It seemed that nothing here caught her eye.

I wonder how novel Ruoping's snack is. She hasn't returned yet. At this moment, Gu Qiumian said she needed to go to the restroom, so Zhang Shutong stopped and said he would wait for her there.

Then Zhang Shutong saw Miss Gu lift her handbag and hold it out in front of her. They stared at each other for two seconds, and Miss Gu's hand also paused in mid-air for two seconds before the girl's eyes widened.
"Take it!"

Well, it seems she wasn't without her henchmen to go shopping with today; they were waiting here all along.

Zhang Shutong took the bag and watched her walk away triumphantly.

"Is that what you mean?"

Qingyi was also strange, seemingly lost in thought.

"I told you it would be hard to guess."

Zhang Shutong felt as if he had found a kindred spirit.

They happened to stop in front of a toy store, and the two of them looked at the Transformers models inside through the window:
"Wow, this paint job is pretty good... By the way, Shutong, why did you bring her along?"

"She's home alone... but look, the mold line is a bit noticeable."

"Did you two come together?" Qingyi ignored his attempt to change the subject, her gaze becoming even stranger.

"...A driver will take you there." To protect Lao Song's image, Zhang Shutong omitted him.

"But aren't your homes too far apart?"

"The driver picked her up first and then picked me up."

"That driver is quite helpful."

"……really."

But as soon as the words left his mouth, Qingyi revealed a triumphant smile:

"You've been completely exposed, Shutong. Did you stay at Gu Qiumian's house last night?"

"How did you find out?" Zhang Shutong sniffed himself in confusion. Had he been "marinated" by Gu Qiumian after spending a night with her?

“When I asked, ‘Did you two come together?’ the only answers were yes or no, but you brought up the driver, which is not right. Considering the phone call last night, it’s obvious.”

"...Yes, but that's because it was raining."

"What exactly happened last night?" That's the good thing about being a mystery fanatic—they're more interested in gossip than the truth.

Zhang Shutong gave a brief explanation, and Qingyi thought for a moment, "I understand. Actually, you're still worried about her, aren't you?"

"Well, I guess you can just think I'm worrying unnecessarily."

"It's never wrong to be careful, after all, it's a man's..."

"Stop!"

"This is the first time I've seen you care about a girl so much." Qingyi seamlessly switched to gossip mode.

"..."

This was a difficult question to answer. On the surface, it seemed so, but in essence, it was completely different. He was about to pretend he hadn't heard when he suddenly remembered an old friend. So Zhang Shutong nodded faintly.

"You can understand it this way for now."

When it was Qingyi's turn, he had nothing to say.

The most imposing Autobot in the cabinet was naturally Optimus Prime. The two stared at it for a while before Qingyi spoke:

"But judging from the police's handling of the matter, the matter on the commercial street should be considered resolved. Even if you hate her family, you have to put up with it."

"more or less."

“So you brought her out because you care about her,” Qingyi added gloatingly. “Don’t sigh yet. I’m lucky. You’ll have a bigger headache when Ruoping comes. You have to be prepared for this when you bring someone out.”

Zhang Shutong is exhausted:

"What grudge do you think those two have against each other?"

"This question is too obscure; let's try another one."

"What's for lunch?"

Do you think it's up to us to make the decision?

"Too."

"I've noticed that you seem genuinely interested in solving the case, Shutong."

"now it's right."

"What did you discover throughout the entire night?"

Zhang Shutong wasn't sure if low blood sugar counted, so he thought about it:
"Actually, there was a discovery that wasn't really a discovery, which happened this morning while I was washing the dishes."

"what?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself," Zhang Shutong said thoughtfully. "It's a good opportunity to discuss this—"

"I should say I have a physics question to ask," the mall was bustling with people and noise, the ceiling above was four or five meters high, and LED tubes shone bright spots on the white marble floor. "Let's say it's nighttime, it's raining, there's lightning sometimes, around seven o'clock, it's already dark, and we're in a house with bright lights."

He breathed on the toy store window and tapped it with his knuckles:
"This is a window."

Then he pointed to the cabinet opposite:

"This is the lawn outside."

"I understand, you mean Gu Qiumian's family, right? Go on."

Finally, Zhang Shutong pointed to the incomparably powerful Optimus Prime, only to find that it was carrying Gu Qiumian's bag in one hand, so he switched to the other:
"Now imagine it as a dead dog."

"Tell me, if this dog is lying on the lawn and doesn't move, should we see it?"

……

After exiting the restroom and turning down a corridor, you'll reach the mall's lobby.

A pretty girl in a light blue dress stood at the entrance of the passageway. She stopped and looked around, her brows furrowed slightly, as if she had forgotten how she came to be.

People came and went in front of me—old people, children, men, and women, all unfamiliar faces, a surging crowd.

At this moment, the world is in chaos. The lights are dazzling, and there is a buzzing in our ears. Some people are walking hurriedly, some are relaxed, some have happy smiles on their faces, and some have completely covered their faces.
It was a woman wearing sunglasses and a mask.

She seemed to have been observing for a long time. The woman quietly walked behind Gu Qiu Mian, took out something, and reached forward with one hand to grab it—

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(End of this chapter)