Winter Returns

What did Zhang Shutong see in Chapter 51?
What would you like to drink?

Zhang Shutong asked Gu Qiumian.

"They even have Hong Kong-style milk tea?"

She turned her head from the back of the line and saw the price list in the store, as if it were her first time here.

"Yes, but I advise you not to have too high expectations."

Zhang Shutong knew that Yuanyang milk tea was a mixture of milk tea and coffee, a style that originated in tea restaurants. More upscale places would also add condensed milk, but that was absolutely impossible in a small shop like this.

The so-called "Yuenyeung" is probably a product of mixing Yuanyang-flavored milk tea powder with hot water. Gu Qiumian lost interest after hearing this and said that she could order anything, just not strawberry flavor, because she couldn't stand that.

Zhang Shutong nodded, telling her to stroll around the street, but not to go too far, and to go queue up by herself—there were some things she needed to ask, and it wasn't appropriate for her to hear them.

There were six people in front of him, and he estimated that he would have to wait for several minutes. He recalled the information provided by Ruoping.

—This “Come a Cup” milk tea shop is not a husband-and-wife business, but strangely enough, the husband and wife have taken turns helping out here.

According to Ruoping, the women used to be the ones doing all the work, but suddenly one day, about a week ago, it was the women's husband who took over. The milk tea they had at the Lake Fish Restaurant that time was made by that man.

And today, she has become a woman.

Zhang Shutong then made three inferences:
First, it's definitely not the norm for the couple to take turns helping out. Either they can support the whole family and both of them work in the shop, or one of them has another job.

Therefore, that "one-week" rotation period was probably because something happened at home.

The second deduction is based on the woman's age; she is in her forties, about the same age as Gu Qiumian's nanny. It is estimated that her child is the same age as her, in middle school, which is a time when expenses are high.
He then observed the woman's clothing: two dirty arm sleeves and a faded apron. He also noticed the cell phone on the counter, a keypad phone, which matched his guess that she was of modest means.

As for the third one, it's more of a doubt than a deduction;
In his view, the "murderer's" shop must have been on the verge of collapse, which is why he took such a risk. However, this milk tea shop seemed to be doing good business, and it was one of the few places on the street with long queues.

But whether it's speculation or doubt, the answer will soon be revealed; just wait patiently.

Besides waiting for milk tea, he was also waiting for Du Kang's reply.

Not long ago, the other party sent a message saying that they could see the outline of the Gu family villa in the distance, and that they should have arrived by now.

Sure enough, a notification popped up on his phone the next second, indicating that Du Kang had safely arrived at the "castle" and even took a picture.

The scene in the photo is similar to what I saw in the morning: a field, but with less fog.

Zhang Shutong glanced at the time; it was a little past eleven o'clock, just in time to make lunch.

“Alright.” He then made more arrangements, “...but you must be careful, and if you notice anything amiss, ride away.”

Du Kang replied with an "OK" emoji, indicating that he would wait for his good news.

There were five people left in the group in front of him.

I chatted with Du Kang for about three minutes, and the milk tea in this shop is made from instant powder, which can be made by simply adding hot water. Even if you give me a little more time, one minute is enough to make a cup.

Zhang Shutong's observation of the woman's operating procedures overturned his previous assumptions—

The reason for the long queues wasn't because business was particularly good;
The problem is that women are not very skilled at operating the equipment. Even with the simplest milk tea powder, they often can't find the right flavor and often have to search for a long time.

When it was finally Zhang Shutong's turn, he ordered the two most troublesome dishes to make, filling them with pudding, pearls, and Oreos, and used the time to chat with her.

Zhang Shutong began by saying, "Auntie, it's been so long since I've seen you."

The woman was quite kind; upon hearing this, she beamed and said, "That's quite a coincidence. It's my first day back; my boyfriend has been here before."

She opened a jar and complained, "Look at him, he's just making things worse. He hasn't done any work for more than a few days, and he's just made a mess of everything. I can't even tell which one is which anymore."

After chatting for a bit more, Zhang Shutong learned that she had sprained her ankle a few days ago and couldn't stand for long, so she asked her husband to help her temporarily.

"Then Uncle can finally rest for a few days." Zhang Shutong deliberately tried to get information out of him.

"No way, he went back to work as soon as I arrived today."

"work?"

"It's not exactly a respectable job," the woman said with a disdainful shrug. "Look, it's in that shopping mall."

That shopping mall naturally belongs to Gu Qiumian's family.

Zhang Shutong identified the following keywords:
"Really? I just came back from there."

“You students all like to go there now, you just run to whichever side is more exciting.”

"No, I didn't go out of my way to buy milk tea," Zhang Shutong forced a smile despite feeling nauseous. "Auntie's milk tea is the best; you can't buy it in the mall."

Anyway, he only said nice things, and the woman echoed him, saying, "That's right, that's right. What's so good about shopping malls? Let me tell you, the things they sell there are exactly the same as what we have on the street. Like those clothes, they're all from the same place, but as soon as they're on the rack, they immediately become tens of dollars more expensive. It's a dishonest business."

As soon as the topic of shopping malls came up, the other person's smile disappeared, and their tone became rather unfriendly.

Zhang Shutong knew his chance had come, so he casually asked if she had heard about what happened last night—it wouldn't be a secret for long anyway, the news would spread.

The woman sighed upon hearing this, her tone somewhat complicated. She said, "This news spread pretty quickly, but you didn't know, did you? Those people are from our commercial street. They were arrested by the police. It's true that everyone dislikes Boss Gu's family, but doing something like this is a bit too much."

His expression didn't seem feigned.

Zhang Shutong observed carefully for a moment and concluded that the woman belonged to the second group.

Like the owner of the lake fish restaurant, I'm annoying, but not to the point of a complete falling out.

Honestly, once we get to this point, we can basically rule out the bubble tea shop. It's not like the murderer didn't seek revenge and instead went to work for Mr. Gu in the mall; in the eyes of extremists, that would be tantamount to surrendering.

But Zhang Shutong finally found a suitable target, and to be on the safe side, he still made a final confirmation:

"Then why does your uncle still go to work at the mall?"

“I don’t know what he’s thinking. I’ve advised him so many times. He can’t go anywhere to make a living, but he insists on going there and having to put up with other people’s attitudes every day. What can I do if he won’t listen?”

The woman was adding pearls when she finished speaking and threw the iron spoon onto the table, making a crisp clinking sound.

"Uncle, don't you get annoyed by family-oriented people?" Zhang Shutong asked, feigning surprise.

“How can I not be annoyed? He’s practically cursing the heavens, especially when he’s had a few drinks. He’s guaranteed to unleash a torrent of abuse, and he even gets my son involved. I’ve told him not to follow his dad’s example, but he won’t listen.”

The woman put her hands on her hips and muttered curses:
"That damned thing, since we can't control him, let him be."

It seems that every middle-aged woman has a habit of scolding her own children, but her own mother is an exception.

But while the woman said this, she didn't seem to take it much seriously. It was as if cursing the Gu family was a divine right, and it would be abnormal not to curse them, or if they wouldn't resort to violence, which would be considered magnanimous.

This reminded Zhang Shutong of Li Yipeng; it's hard to say that a child growing up in such an environment wouldn't be affected.

Now there's only one question left: Is the woman's husband the mastermind behind the "six missing one" situation that he's looking for?
From any perspective, it seems a bit forced.

Zhang Shutong holds a pessimistic view.

Unless the man is lying to his family about going to "work" at the mall and then doing something else.

But that still doesn't explain why he went to work at the mall, and we can't conclude from that that he had ulterior motives.

Or there's another possibility: the culprit from the original timeline canceled their weekend operation because the arson happened earlier than planned and they were afraid of being caught.

But as I told Qingyi before, their abilities are limited, and if they try to figure out the murderer's situation, there are just too many possibilities.

The operation might be canceled if they are made an example of someone, or if drinking too much cold water in the morning causes diarrhea. It's also possible that the other side never intended to make a move today...

Therefore, speculating on "possibilities" is meaningless.

Instead, use reverse thinking—

No matter how many possibilities exist, Zhang Shutong's task is to eliminate them all, leaving only one:
That means the murderer will definitely make his move today, Saturday, December 8th.

Perhaps the target was drawn first and then the arrow was shot, but without the target, it would be difficult to carry out any investigation.

Otherwise, we'll just stay in the same place.

He had a general idea of ​​what was going on, but he was a little annoyed. He had already taken out his phone and was ready to continue discussing the store with Ruoping.
Meanwhile, the milk tea I ordered was almost ready. It was filled with pudding and pearls, with only Oreo crumbs left to be added.

Then the woman turned around and called out:

"Stop playing on the computer and get Mom the Oreos—"

Her husband had gone out, so the person she was talking to could only be the "son" she had just mentioned. The woman urged him several times before there was any movement from the storeroom behind her.

A curtain hung in the storeroom, and the other person reached out from behind the curtain and handed a large bucket of Oreos to my mother.

Zhang Shutong's gaze shifted from the other person's hand to the large Oreo container, as if lost in thought.

It turned out to be like this...

All the clues are now coming together.

Maybe I really do have a connection with Oreos.

"Where does your uncle work in the mall?" he suddenly asked. "I might run into him again."

"He's inside the supermarket, there's a delicatessen there."

As they spoke, the woman finished the final step. She placed the milk tea under the sealing machine and smiled.
"Next time you want to eat pig's head or pig's ears, just go to him there and say you want a milk tea shop, and ask him to cut you extra."

"Thank you, Auntie."

Zhang Shutong also smiled.

Next, there's only one thing left to confirm.

The operation has officially entered its third phase.

……

"What did Shutong say?" Feng Ruoping asked, noticing Qingyi staring intently at her phone. A second ago, another message had come through.

The two had just stepped out of the mall and were discussing where to go. Qingyi's bicycle was gone, and their own was too small—a typical women's bicycle that was a bit cramped for two people—so they wandered aimlessly around the neighborhood.

It was because Shu Tong's instructions to them were "to stand by for now."

She thought somewhat helplessly, "waiting for orders for the time being" probably meant that she couldn't go anywhere for the time being.

The girl was a little tired. She had come to shop happily today, but how did she end up just wandering around the streets?
Before her was a desolate scene, with people coming and going. Even if Shu Tong was very clever, she felt it was impossible to find the so-called "murderer" in this vast sea of ​​people.

It would have been better to listen to her from the beginning and go to the police station.

You can't say that they're more capable than the police.

Just as this thought crossed my mind, things seemed to take a new turn.

Suddenly, Qingyi turned off his phone.
"We need to go back."

"Don't tell me who forgot something..." Feng Ruoping said weakly.

Or is it related to his previous comment in the group chat, "The operation has entered the second phase"? Boys are always so cryptic and childish.

“No, we need to find a place in the supermarket.” The boy frowned. “Do you remember the deli counter?”

"The cooked food stall... it should be in the north, right?" Feng Ruoping asked curiously. "So why is there a cooked food stall again? Didn't he say before that he found a suspicious shop on the commercial street? How's the investigation going?"

"We've got a lead," Qingyi said briefly. "Let's go there first, let's hurry..."

"He's fine, he went on a date by himself, leaving us all alone..." Before she could finish speaking, she noticed that Qingyi had already turned and run out. The girl could only stomp her foot in annoyance and quickly follow, "Slow down, I'm not wearing sneakers today!"

……

"Is your housekeeper nearsighted?" Zhang Shutong asked casually as he handed Gu Qiumian a cup of Grand Slam milk tea.

"It seems a little serious?" Gu Qiumian asked uncertainly. "She has a pair of glasses, but she doesn't wear them often, so I don't know how serious it is."

Zhang Shutong nodded.

That makes sense.

He sent Du Kang another message on his phone.

"I might need your help later." The two of them walked towards the bicycle with their milk tea in hand. Zhang Shutong patted the back seat. "Now I'll take you somewhere."

……

"They're gone?" Meng Qingyi asked breathlessly. "Did they just leave? Did they go to the restroom?"

The area behind the cooked food window was empty except for pig livers hanging on hooks.

Next to the window was a scallion pancake stall, where a plump woman wearing a white apron stood.

The plump woman was kneading dough. She wiped the flour off her face with her little finger and shouted without looking up:

"No, he said there was a sudden emergency at home and he left on his first day of work. Why don't you two take a walk around and come back? The manager will arrange for someone else to come over in a bit."

Meng Qingyi recalled what Shu Tong had told him and asked again:
"Was there anything unusual about his appearance today?"

The woman couldn't help but laugh:

"You two kids are playing a detective game, just like my youngest son, who's always reading that Tiger Team adventure book."

Then he waved his hand and urged them on:

"Go away, I'm busy right now. If you want to play, go somewhere else."

"It's Adventure Tiger..."

"Stop arguing." Ruoping pushed Qingyi away with disdain, first sweetly calling her "Auntie," then saying she would cut five yuan worth of fried dough cakes. While the woman was busy, she started talking about her youngest son, such as how old he was this year and what grade he should be in... When the woman said third grade, Qingyi's face instantly darkened.

In short, once the woman started talking, she pushed Qingyi forward, signaling her to ask whatever she wanted to say.

The woman then said, both amused and exasperated, "Girl, you don't need to go to so much trouble. It's just that Auntie really doesn't know how to explain what 'abnormal' means."

As she said this, she subconsciously recalled:

"Nothing's different. We just chat about everyday things while we're working. They mentioned that the boss's house burned down yesterday and asked if we knew about it."

"and then?"

"Who would know about something this big? I thought he was lying, but then the manager suddenly called us out for a meeting this morning and said that no matter what we heard, we shouldn't spread it around. The boss will send someone back today..."

"morning?"

"Around ten o'clock."

"Isn't that what we came here before?" Ruoping interjected.

"That makes sense now." Qingyi suddenly realized, "No wonder he came to work today, it turns out it was because of this news."

"What do you mean?"

"This isn't the place to talk. Let's talk as we walk."

It was lunchtime, and the two hadn't exchanged more than a few words when other customers arrived. However, the young man seemed to have gotten the information he wanted, and he called Ruoping and left.

"We can basically confirm who it is now." Qingyi typed as he walked, then suddenly exclaimed, "It's like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse."

"You're the one who's blind."

“I wasn’t talking about us. I was talking about that guy. In a way, he’s pretty lucky. Now he doesn’t have to worry about who it is.”

"Try keeping me in suspense again!" Ruoping reached out her devilish hand.

"Shu Tong just told me that he and Gu Qiu Mian came here to buy pig liver."

"and then?"

“Then it was just like what I just heard,” Qingyi shrugged. “As soon as they left, the man selling pig liver left with them.”

There will be another update at midnight; no matter how late it is, it will be considered an extra update for the 4th.

Writing the main storyline is a bit mentally taxing, so I'm asking for your monthly votes!

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(End of this chapter)