Winter Returns

Chapter 49 Let's go see a movie together (Seeking monthly votes)

They are now in the drinks section.

The shelves were filled with a dazzling array of goods, and under the spotlight, colorful aluminum cans were displayed in front of Gu Qiu Mian.

She'd been staring at the cocktails for a while, and a few minutes ago she asked if I wanted to buy a few to drink with my friends at lunchtime.

She seemed to be an expert in this area. Zhang Shutong asked her if she often drank alcohol, such as when she went to karaoke with her group of friends. She said it was okay, and she would drink a little sometimes when she was in a good mood.

Zhang Shutong had never seen her slightly tipsy before, but he definitely wouldn't see it today, because the plans had changed.

"So?" Gu Qiumian asked.

Zhang Shutong suspected that Gu Qiumian had seen through his attempt to show off, so he actually cooperated by asking, "If only she wouldn't be secretly laughing."

He put his phone away.
"So now it's just the two of us left."

"Where are they both?"

"They are both on standby at any time."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a secret," Zhang Shutong said with a smile.

Gu Qiu Mian glared at him again and said, "You can't stand not keeping people in suspense!"
Zhang Shutong couldn't explain it, since the operation was named "Operation Goddess of Destiny, which controls the future of the young lady."

This operation aims not only to protect the young lady's life, but also to protect her feelings.

Both are indispensable; if either one is not done, Zhang Shutong considers it not a success.

Gu Qiumian tossed her hair and left. Zhang Shutong followed, pushing a cart, and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Didn't you say it was just the two of us left?"

"so?"

Zhang Shutong still couldn't connect that statement with turning around and leaving.

"So from now on, listen to my instructions."

As she spoke, she walked forward without looking back, her hands behind her back, taking small, easy steps.

Zhang Shutong felt that she had suddenly become like a tiger, enduring and enduring the prey in front of her until the prey's companions scattered and only she remained. Finally, the tiger grinned, revealing its fangs and a triumphant smile.

This is a man-eating tiger; it's truly terrifying.

If you don't want to be eaten, you can only push the cart and follow her closely, but the wheels of the cart are stuck somewhere, making a creaking sound, and it takes some effort to get it on track.

But with Gu Qiumian walking ahead, he had time to look at his phone. Now his iPhone's battery was down to 35%. Zhang Shutong turned on power saving mode. He couldn't charge his phone at Gu Qiumian's house last night. Although he didn't use his phone much, he couldn't resist playing Angry Birds for a while this morning and even got a bad result.

He had intended to clean up the background processes as usual, but it's said that iOS has a unique tombstone mechanism, which is suitable for lazy people.

Zhang Shutong didn't understand the specific principles, but he knew that reality wasn't a game, the murderer wasn't a fool, and apart from the unique mechanism in the mobile phone system, he didn't want to see anyone's tombstone actually appear in front of him.

Old Song had just come out of the police station when the other party on the phone said, "We're still missing one 'murderer'."

This arson was a meticulously planned operation. Just as Li's mother said, those people's entire families did rely on the shops on the commercial street for their livelihood. They were anxious and afraid of being betrayed, so they even secretly recruited their men.

Through some special means of communication, people who are interested are first identified within a certain range. Then, in a small dark room, a piece of paper is written with the time and place, and whoever is willing to go puts their fingerprint on the paper.

There were originally six people, but one was missing last night when things came to it.

No one knows who the absent person is.

Zhang Shutong explained the matter to his close friends.

Qingyi is the most perceptive:

"Who started this whole thing?"

"The investigation is over; it wasn't those five people."

"So it's the one who didn't come?"

"That's right, the real mastermind."

"Was he deliberately trying to use those five people as a shield while he had other plans?"

"Maybe."

“That sounds dangerous. Why don’t we just call the police?” Ruoping interjected.

"We already didn't have enough police force, and now there are five more arsonists. We can't count on them," Qingyi explained.

"Then I think we can just go to the police station and stay there now until Gu Qiumian's family comes back. We can have Du Kang bring us lunch at noon. I want to eat your rice noodles."

Ruoping's suggestion was more prudent, but it was rejected by all three boys.

"no!"

"You three, don't suddenly get carried away!" Ruoping snapped.

"It's not that the higher-ups are in charge; the only time they might be able to find the mastermind behind this is today. If they want to make a move, they can only do so when no one is home at Gu Qiu Mian's house," Zhang Shutong explained.

"My family doesn't make rice noodles anymore," Du Kang explained.

"Completely wrong." Qingyi declared decisively. "Could any of you please take a closer look at my battle name?"

"What do you mean?" the three asked at the same time.

Qingyi sent a voice message directly:
"Operation against the Goddess of Destiny who controls the young lady's future—meaning, you can ignore the words 'young lady,' 'future,' and 'goddess of destiny,' the key is the operation!"

"so?"

"Since it's a mission, there's never a mission where a girl has to spend a whole day in a police station. That would be very unromantic."

Qingyi said calmly.

At this moment, he seemed to have been possessed by Lao Song, his voice strong and resonant.

Handsome!
Zhang Shutong rarely agreed with this.

"Therefore, everyone, from this moment on, there are three objectives for the entire operation—"

Zhang Shutong typed rapidly, not caring about his childishness; what mattered most now was his momentum:

"First, identify who's behind this; second, gather evidence; as for the third..."

—Beep beep beep.

Zhang Shutong paused, stopped pointing, and looked up to find that he had followed Gu Qiumian to the supermarket checkout counter.

She said she was going to browse the clothing stores on the third floor next. Zhang Shutong complained that she was tired, but she said, "Didn't you just promise me that you would listen to my arrangements today?"

Did you agree to her request?
The continuous autumn rain has resorted to "cheating"!
Zhang Shutong skipped this round!

"Are you sure you want this much stuff?" Zhang Shutong looked at the pile of snacks and felt that this would really hold back the goddess of fate.

"Then let's leave it at the service desk for now." The young lady was unaware of the group's operation, and even if she knew, she wouldn't care; she was currently engaged in a frenzied shopping spree.

"Yes, yes, as you command."

All I could do was sigh. I glanced down at my phone; I hadn't finished the third objective, but someone had taken over for me.
"What's there to be shy about? It's just being Gu Qiu Mian's protector, what else could it be?" Ruoping said disdainfully. "That's why he said he would follow his orders. He can't get away from his work, so he can only give orders through his phone."

"So that's why the plan changed!" Du Kang suddenly realized, his enthusiasm for this kind of thing was no less than anyone else's. "So now our task is to find that person?"

Zhang Shutong gave a thumbs up, then tagged Du Kang:

"Are you free now, birthday celebrant?"

"Whatever your orders," Du Kang readily agreed.

"I need to ask you to go out for me."

"It was expected."

"It's very cold outside."

"I'll wear something thicker."

"The road is also very long."

"Is that all the trouble?"

"Then you should ride your bike to Gu Qiumian's house first."

"Forehead……"

It's 10:33 now. Zhang Shutong glanced at the time and encouraged her:
Keep riding!

Then there was no more news from Du Kang; he probably went to change his clothes.

Qingyi followed up with a question:

"What about Ruoping and me?"

"Stand by for now. Await my message."

"receive."

"I'm really fed up with you guys. If you haven't thought it through, you haven't thought it through. Can you please stop making the words 'just browsing' sound like you're on a mission?"

...She was right.

In just a few words, the phone's battery dropped by one percent, and Zhang Shutong put the phone away.

The snacks were packed into two large bags, one for him and one for Gu Qiumian. The two stored the items and took the elevator to the third floor.

As Zhang Shutong slowly ascended, holding onto the handrail, a huge banner hung down from the ceiling, presumably announcing the upcoming opening of a certain store.

There were balloons floating in the air in front of the banner, as if it were a celebration to wish them a successful operation. In the lively and cheerful atmosphere, Zhang Shutong asked Gu Qiumian, "Why doesn't your dad open a movie theater?"

She thought for a moment and said that her father had mentioned it briefly. It would be built next year, but there wasn't much to see there since it was very small.

“If we’re going to go, let’s go to the city.” The girl took out her phone again and swiped the screen with a slender finger. She tapped around until the two of them reached the entrance on the third floor before looking up, almost losing her footing: “Hmm, let me see… I searched this week, but there weren’t any good ones.”

You're really planning to go?
Zhang Shutong worriedly thought that he was grateful for the island's underdeveloped commercial infrastructure; otherwise, his schedule today would definitely be packed.

In the morning, she went shopping with big bags and small bags; at noon, she ate at a high-end restaurant that even a rich young lady would like; in the evening, she watched a movie with a big bucket of popcorn... But that's not all. After the movie, she'll probably find a park where she can see the moon and sit on a bench for a while.

Zhang Shutong felt a headache coming on just thinking about that scene, so he said it was fine since there were no good movies, and they could just wander around the island. But Gu Qiumian was thinking about something else. She was walking ahead of Zhang Shutong when she suddenly turned around and said:
"Let's wait until next week..."

She always liked to plan things out, whether it was going out of the island with her henchmen or not. This time was no exception. What was scary was that she kept talking and talking, and her conversation gradually overlapped with Zhang Shutong's planned itinerary. She talked about which street had the most new clothes and bags, which restaurants were good, which KTVs had a nice atmosphere, and which movie theaters had soft seats... But before she could finish, Zhang Shutong didn't know how to answer.

I wonder if she ever had such thoughts in the original timeline, at this moment. Maybe she did, because she had just said that morning that she wanted to watch a movie at home.

Zhang Shutong once asked her if she played games, but she was a complete tech idiot and had no idea what they were. She couldn't possibly understand them, let alone Angry Birds; even Talking Tom was a novelty to her. Just now, while shopping at the supermarket, Zhang Shutong taught her how to download one, and she held it in her hand, talking to the silly cat, laughing uncontrollably. She insisted that Zhang Shutong listen to it, and sometimes his speechless comment would provide new material, leaving the two of them and the cat completely dumbfounded.

This shows that she is definitely a novice when it comes to games. Gu Qiumian said that she usually likes to watch movies. Although her family has a special home theater, it is still not as big as the one in the movie theater. No matter how rich a family is, they can't outrun time. This means that no matter how rich she is, the movies playing in her home theater are always old movies that have been played countless times in front of her.

Zhang Shutong had already been to that movie theater. It was no longer the mysterious place that he and his best friends used to call a "castle." He had spent the night in that castle last night and it was quite an eye-opener. But when he actually went there, he realized that no matter how luxurious or large the so-called underground movie theater was, it was just an empty space built with cement and steel bars.

So he could imagine that in the countless days before, in the dimly lit space, images flashed across the screen, the progress bar scrolled halfway, and a girl wrapped in a burgundy bathrobe curled up on the sofa, watching for a while before lowering her head, tapping her phone with her finger, and making plans to go to the city with her friends for the weekend.

That was a weekend that could never be reached. Zhang Shutong didn't know what she was thinking or what wish she made at that time... When she looked up, Gu Qiumian was holding up her phone and talking to Talking Tom again.

She asked crisply, "How about we go to the movies next week?" The silly cat replied in a similarly goofy way, "How about we go to the movies next week?"

There's nothing good or bad about it.

Zhang Shutong suddenly felt irritated, thinking, "Why plan something so far in the future? So far in the future that you've never even seen it."

But there wasn't much to see right in front of them either. The clothes were outdated, and while the shopping malls in the city were already selling spring clothes, this place was still having a winter clearance sale. Gu Qiu Mian put away her phone and sometimes asked him if a hat looked good or if a scarf was fashionable. In Zhang Shutong's eyes, they all made her look old, but she was still happy to do so.

Finally, they stopped at a shop selling small accessories.

Zhang Shutong shook his head, thanking his mother for the inspiration. He planned to buy a mask and hat here for his next move.

"This is so ugly, you try it on." Gu Qiumian handed him a pink Mickey Mouse baseball cap.

Deja vu.

Thanks to Mickey Mouse, his mood suddenly lightened a little. Gu Qiu Mian didn't know, but Zhang Shutong was very familiar with this thing. It was that damn baseball cap again. He had heard that Disney's legal team was extremely domineering. Why didn't they sue this store to shut it down?

"Why should I try it if it's ugly?" Zhang Shutong was reluctant.

"I want to see." Gu Qiu Mian was even more domineering than Disney's legal department. She laughed as she took out her phone, ready to take a picture.

"Put your phone down."

“I won’t take pictures if you put it on,” she threatened.

Zhang Shutong reluctantly put on the hat, feeling as if she were reliving the terrifying years under her mother's control... Wait, why am I wearing it? I clearly didn't agree to it.

He quickly took off his hat, but Gu Qiu Mian had already had her fill of eye candy. She nodded her chin and said with satisfaction:
"Just as I expected."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at the Mickey Mouse pattern on the hat. Even though it's a knock-off, doesn't it look just like the real thing? And you look so silly wearing it..." She really has a low threshold for laughter.

Zhang Shutong reflected on it and felt that even a henchman had an obligation to correct the young lady from her wrong path and couldn't always spoil her.

He had already pulled out his phone. Unlike Gu Qiumian, who was a complete tech idiot, Zhang Shutong knew where the iPhone's camera shortcut was. He quickly put his hat on Gu Qiumian's head and pressed the shutter button.

With a click, her astonished expression was frozen in the photo frame.

"That's really stupid." Zhang Shutong glanced at the screen and pursed his lips.

The continuous autumn rain immediately went mad.

After paying, Zhang Shutong ran away. He had long legs and walked quickly, but he felt like he was walking on pins and needles the whole way.

It's time to take the next step.

Zhang Shutong took out his phone and sent a second message in the group.

Actually, I made a mistake yesterday. The bonus chapter for monthly tickets was 900, but I calculated it as 1000. If each ticket is worth one chapter, then it should be five chapters. But I accidentally said ten chapters.

But there's no way around it, since it's already been said, so I'll just have to pay back 10 chapters.

So I'm asking for votes!
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(End of this chapter)