Winter Returns

Chapter 55 Roman Holiday (Part 2)

It was around 6:20 pm when I left the restaurant.

Zhang Shutong always ate casually. He ordered shredded pork with green peppers, and sure enough, Gu Qiumian ordered sweet and sour pork.

He couldn't imagine what it would taste like to have sweet and sour sauce poured over rice.

The two of them actually ate about the same amount of food—which was another surprising thing. She had said in the afternoon that she was so full that she felt uncomfortable, but she actually added an extra chicken leg to her meal. Of course, she left the rice, but ate all the meat.

Zhang Shutong inexplicably felt that such a flamboyant girl must be a carnivore.

"Let's go see a movie," he suggested.

Gu Qiumian carefully wiped her lips. "Where are the movies?"

"School."

"You want to watch it on the projector?"

"Ah."

Zhang Shutong felt that he had really wronged this young lady that day. He was not a very good henchman. He had a lunch that was not really lunch with her, fished for half an afternoon, took a nap at a nail salon, and even the most important dinner was eaten at a rice bowl restaurant.

The sweet and sour pork was also poorly made; the outer crust was no longer crispy, and it became soft and mushy after being coated in sauce.

Zhang Shutong wasn't very romantic, but he subconsciously felt that on this remote island, with no nightlife, no karaoke bars, no cinemas, Saturday's holiday should end in a better way.

Only in this way can it be considered complete.

So he led Gu Qiumian toward the school. However, Gu Qiumian wanted to buy some food on the way. How could she watch a movie without popcorn and soda?

Zhang Shutong really wanted to say: First, there are no popcorn vendors near our school. Second, did you really think you were going to the movies? Third, didn't you just finish eating?

He analyzed these three issues from a rational perspective, but if the young lady listened to his analysis, she wouldn't be a young lady anymore; or rather, if a henchman could offer advice, he should be a strategist.

Gu Qiumian said that would create a better atmosphere. The school's facilities are already dilapidated enough, so why can't I fix them from other places?
Well, he actually thought it made sense.

There really weren't any popcorn vendors near the school. He glanced at his phone, which was about to shut down, and advised Gu Qiu Mian not to waste her energy. But she insisted that she could definitely find some and asked if he wanted to make a bet.

Zhang Shutong wasn't much of a gambler, except for bets he was sure to win, so he nodded indifferently and accepted the bet.

Then Gu Qiumian never mentioned buying anything again.

At that time, he wondered if she was deliberately trying to lose to him.

They entered the school, and at night there were no security guards. The electric gate could be pushed aside so that a person could squeeze in.

Gu Qiumian easily passed through the gate, but instead of going to the classroom, she headed straight for the library.

Zhang Shutong stared blankly as she pulled out a backup hidden energy source from a locked cabinet in the library—a huge pile of snacks.

"Who doesn't have a base?" she scoffed.

Zhang Shutong was one move off target and lost.

On the way back to the teaching building, she kept saying, "You lost. Don't forget you owe me a wish."

Zhang Shutong didn't remember owing anyone a wish, so he simply pretended not to hear it.

The classroom door wasn't locked, which wasn't surprising. He told Gu Qiumian to sit down and went to adjust the projector. The computer was lagging, still running XP. He opened a folder containing some old movies that Lao Song had downloaded in advance so they could watch more foreign blockbusters to improve their language skills.

Zhang Shutong found a Godzilla movie, but couldn't figure out how to develop a feel for the language by listening to this lizard's roar. Was it Godzilla language? Or was it just that the homeroom teacher wanted to watch it?

He asked Gu Qiu Mian if she wanted to watch this, but Gu Qiu Mian refused. She had just finished eating and regained her strength, and she started to glare at him with her bright and beautiful eyes again.

Unfortunately, the classroom lights were off, so Zhang Shutong couldn't quite see her eyes clearly.

That makes sense, since girls are usually not interested in monster movies, so he picked a few more artsy ones and first asked if "Gone with the Wind" would be okay.

"It's too long, it will take four hours."

"What about Forrest Gump?"

"No, who would think I'm an idiot?"

"Titanic, right?"

"Can you please stop picking tragedies all the time?"

Zhang Shutong was at a loss.

The young lady, finding him useless, took matters into her own hands. She walked to the projector, the faint light from the computer screen reflecting on her face, making her eyes sparkle.

"this!"

In just one second, the young lady pointed a finger and made the final decision.

Upon closer inspection, Zhang Shutong realized it was "Roman Holiday":
"This seems to be a tragedy as well?"

He hadn't seen it, but he knew the plot outline from his previous translation work. It was about a real princess and her henchman who met in a single day.

The male protagonist is a poor young reporter who accidentally finds a princess sleeping on a bench. He initially thinks she is an ordinary girl and kindly takes her home.

After learning her identity, in order to get an exclusive scoop on the princess and make a fortune, he pretended to run into her again and, with ulterior motives, became the princess's guide, or rather, her henchman.

The two spent the entire day strolling through Rome, and feelings developed between them, despite having never met before. The ending was classic: lovers are destined to part ways, and how could a poor boy possibly be with a real princess?

So the film ends with the runaway princess returning to her palace, and the male protagonist, as a reporter, standing in the audience with a large group of colleagues attending a meet-and-greet.

But at this moment, the henchman realized that the girl in front of him was no longer the little girl who needed his company, but a real princess.

Finally, he returned the secretly taken photos and slowly walked out of the palace, but the princess never called him back.

Zhang Shutong hadn't seen the movie, but he was generally familiar with it. He reminded Gu Qiumian that the ending wouldn't be good, but Gu Qiumian rolled her eyes and said that this was the one.

The two returned to their seats to wait for the movie to start—he originally wanted to choose a seat near the front, but Gu Qiu Mian insisted on returning to her own window seat and dragged Zhang Shutong to sit next to her. Zhang Shutong was very puzzled. It would be fine normally, but tonight there was no one else around, so wasn't the middle the best viewing spot? Why did she have to go back to her original seat?

But his current identity is that of a henchman. The second principle of the future young lady's destiny goddess is to protect her feelings, and he must go along with her wishes for today.

The main feature began soon after.

Old movies are usually slow-paced, which can sometimes make it hard to concentrate. Zhang Shutong sometimes looks out the window and even he finds it surreal.

He never imagined that this night would be spent like this. They were in a quiet classroom late at night, with the lights off, and a projector shone a colorful beam of light onto the screen.

But the equipment at their school was really terrible. Even though he had prepared himself mentally, Zhang Shutong didn't expect the film to be so blurry. Come to think of it, it was difficult to even see the slides clearly on a sunny day, let alone compare to a real movie theater, not to mention the audio-visual room in the basement of the villa. He had previously vowed to go see a "movie", but now he felt a little embarrassed.

Turning my head, I saw the girl next to me quietly lying on the desk, staring intently at the screen.

She really loves watching movies.

Zhang Shutong admires this hobby, but he himself finds it hard to watch these old movies. "Roman Holiday" was released in 1953, and now it's 2012. If you do the math, it's already 59 years old, older than their parents.

But a classic is a classic indeed. He rested his chin on his hand and watched casually, noticing that the filming locations were the real city of Rome: the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Mouth of Truth, Castel Sant'Angelo... Even though the projector's picture quality was terrible, he could still feel the omnipresent romance and elegance through the black and white screen.

Compared to that, my own itinerary today was so simple that I felt ashamed.
A large supermarket that dares to call itself a shopping mall with only three floors, a clothing store on the third floor selling old-fashioned clothes, a desolate commercial street with instant milk tea, an eerily quiet wilderness with compressed biscuits... Even the vehicles are inferior. At least the princess in the movie rides a beautiful little motorcycle, while the two of them are riding bicycles that make their butts hurt. Compared to the protagonists in the movie, they are really incompetent as henchmen.

Perhaps this was a subtle warning from the young lady? Zhang Shutong thought jokingly. He felt that his mind was a bit cluttered, but Gu Qiumian watched very carefully from beginning to end without saying a word.

After about ten minutes, the two protagonists went to the Mouth of Truth—which is actually a wall with a relief of Poseidon, the god of the sea. Legend has it that if you put your hand in it, the hand of a liar will be eaten.

The princess felt a little guilty because she had concealed her identity from the henchman. In fact, the male protagonist had also lied; he had known all along that the girl was a princess and that he was acting as a henchman for ulterior motives.

Zhang Shutong thought again that it was fortunate that there was no such annoying place on the island. In a sense, he had also lied today. He had kept it from the girl all day and accompanied her around. Although he had tried his best, he was not sure if he had kept it from her at all. But she never asked.

Like princesses in movies, most girls may know that fairy tales are fake, but they are willing to believe that they are real.

You've woven a dream for her, and even if it seems full of flaws, as long as you don't expose it, she'll willingly jump in.

Zhang Shutong felt like she'd heard similar words somewhere before. After thinking about it carefully, she realized it was Old Song who had said it. That rainy night, they were in the Ford Focus, and the man, a master at pursuing girls, had confidently said:
"You think they don't know? Wrong, they're willing."

The reason?
It's because they're stupid.

Zhang Shutong couldn't help but glance at Gu Qiumian, wondering to himself whether she was really stupid or not, when the girl suddenly asked:
Do you think they'll end up together?

The advantage of watching movies here is that you can discuss things freely without worrying about disturbing others.
"Don't you already know the ending?"

But I want to hear you say it.

Before he could speak, Gu Qiumian continued:
"Think it through before you speak."

"No way." Zhang Shutong thought about it carefully.

"Because a princess and a poor boy can't be together?" she said sullenly, despite being a young lady herself. "You're so materialistic."

"It's not reality."

Zhang Shutong turned his head, and at that moment the movie scene changed, and the two were dancing at a ball, but each was wearing a mask of hypocrisy:

"Because neither of them is very pure. You see, one of them is clearly a princess but doesn't say it, while the other wants to use scandals to gain fame and fortune."

"What if there's a reason she can't tell?" she asked, staring at the screen. "If the princess tells a reporter that she's actually a princess, what if the reporter has other ideas? She doesn't know his attitude either. Actually... she just doesn't want to be disappointed."

Zhang Shutong fell silent upon hearing this. She wanted to say that if she didn't tell, who would know? But wasn't this just a story of unexpected twists of fate?

In fact, both protagonists knew that this day would eventually come to an end.

This Oscar-winning film is actually about one thing from beginning to end:

If you know that something is bound to come to an end, and the outcome cannot be changed, what would you do?
If they hadn't spent that day together, they wouldn't have had the idea of ​​confessing to each other.

But it was during this day that they spent all their precious time together, and by the time they wanted to confess, it was too late. The princess had already returned to her palace, and their short Roman holiday was over.

The henchman was no longer a henchman; he returned to his post and became that poor reporter again.

Zhang Shutong was captivated by Roman Holiday, but he wasn't sure whether it was Gu Qiumian's skill or the film itself that was superior. The former could find a thought-provoking movie in a second, while the latter spanned fifty-nine years, telling you:

Perhaps some words are wrong once spoken, but some words, if left unsaid, will never have a chance to be spoken again.

"So there's something I want to tell you..." Gu Qiumian said in a low voice.

Zhang Shutong nodded to indicate that she was listening, but then fell silent for a moment before saying, "Let's wait until the movie is over..."

"Ah."

Zhang Shutong didn't rush her.

He checked his phone again; it was a little past seven. Movies usually last around two hours, and he wasn't even halfway through. His iPhone had only one percent battery left. He checked the time one last time, then simply turned off his phone, clearing his mind of all distractions, and quietly watched the movie.

Time passed second by second, and on this quiet night, a figure appeared on the empty playground below the teaching building.

Zhang Shutong spotted the figure.

I never finished watching the movie.

And this was something he already knew.

……

So Zhang Shutong gently nudged Gu Qiumian, prompting her to look down.

It was completely dark. A few small buildings in the distance were lit, and further away were the black mountains. The night gradually seeped into the classroom, enveloping everything. In the darkness, the girl asked:
"It must be him."

"Well, that's him."

At this moment, she acted like a smart girl again. Instead of panicking and asking who it was, she directly guessed the murderer who had planned the whole case.

"We've been waiting for him all day?"

"more or less."

Zhang Shutong thought to himself, "Waiting for you was just a side thing. The main reason is that I don't want you to die today, so I'm taking you out for a stroll."

Zhang Shutong had intended to say this—before seeing Roman Holiday—but now he realized he was a terrible tour guide.

Will you get into trouble?

Gu Qiumian asked with concern.

Her eyes, which had been reflecting the black and white film, turned to ask a serious question, but in the dim light, they reflected something else entirely.

The two looked at each other, and Zhang Shutong told her that he could guarantee that nothing would happen.

"A close call?"

"Not at all surprised."

"You're keeping us in suspense again..."

Zhang Shutong pulled her out of the classroom. Their steps were unhurried. They were too lazy to turn off the projector, so they just left it playing. They could hear the dialogue between the male and female protagonists in the corridor. Perhaps it was playing a slow-paced segment right now. The princess and the male protagonist were chatting and laughing softly. Their speech was clear, and their gentleness concealed a certain surging emotion. They were the epitome of a gentleman and a lady, like a slowly flowing underground river.

Without motion-activated lights overhead, they walked along this dark and narrow corridor, as if being slowly propelled forward by an underground river.

So Zhang Shutong wasn't in a particular hurry. He led Gu Qiumian to the corridor, stopped in front of a glass door, looked at the figure downstairs, breathed on it, and casually drew a funny face. "Look, the sheep is here."

But he really had no sense of humor. Instead of laughing, the girl wrinkled her nose and said, "You're the one who looks like a ghost!"

But then she couldn't help but ask:

"Now you can tell me, I want to know."

Zhang Shutong nodded. There was no point in hiding it from her anymore; they had a little time left, which they used to do this.

……

So he simply started his story along the timeline, from the unusual thing he noticed while washing the dishes in the morning to the arsonist who suddenly disappeared.

"...I sent Du Kang to your house on his bicycle because I was worried that the man would just run there and stand guard."

"...We went to the commercial street to find the mastermind behind it all."

"...Qingyi and Ruoping returned to the supermarket to confirm the suspicion of the man who sold cooked food."

“No wonder he suddenly said the plans had changed and even bought masks and hats…” Gu Qiumian quickly connected these things.

"But how could you doubt Aunt Wu and even smash the flowers I was growing?" She pouted as she spoke. "Fine, I forgive you."

"You're only forgiving me now?"

"I want to hear your reasoning. Tell me now, or I won't forgive you!"

Zhang Shutong then pointed to the window:

Do you know why he didn't come last night?

"why?"

"He just wanted to distance himself from the situation. Think about it, he called everyone else together, but when it came down to it, he was the only one who didn't go. That way, he could..." Now, using "revenge" was too jarring, so Zhang Shutong changed his words, "He could do bad things without being afraid of being discovered by the police or your dad. He could stay hidden behind the scenes, stirring things up. Isn't that wicked?"

"bad!"

“But it’s no use being bad. His rhythm has been completely disrupted since last night because he didn’t expect something.” Zhang Shutong pointed to the small dark figure downstairs, who was about to enter the teaching building: “I sent those five arsonists in before they could even make a move.”

"So that's why he took such a risk today?"

"Not necessarily, but more likely to want to take action. Of course, the biggest variable is you, because you wanted to eat pig liver and he happened to see it."

Gu Qiu Mian glared at him again. She drew a new pattern on the glass, this time not a sheep or a ghost face, but a pig's head, silently protesting.

Zhang Shutong didn't know why she described herself that way:
"But thankfully he saw it. In his eyes, it was like the perfect combination of timing, location, and people. So I sent Qingyi back to confirm. When we left, he followed us. At that moment, I knew he was going to make his move."

"and then?"

Zhang Shutong then said that there was nothing much to say about what happened next; what was most interesting was his entire plan from beginning to end. This person was much more capable than I had imagined.

"You still remember Li Yipeng's mother, right? Even this matter was instigated by him."

"Even this matter?" Gu Qiumian asked in surprise.

"It's not accurate to say he instructed him. As I just said, he had an accomplice. This was done through that accomplice. To find out about you, you have to start from three places: the shopping mall, the villa, and the school. He can't get into the villa, and he's in the shopping mall himself, so the only place to start is the school."

Gu Qiumian was truly the best listener. No matter what Zhang Shutong said, she held her breath and nodded in agreement.

“Now let’s start from the beginning,” Zhang Shutong drew a line on the glass. “At the very beginning, didn’t someone smash your building blocks? Was it because the building blocks were smashed that Li Yipeng was exposed? Then his mother came; his mother let slip that the arsonist acted prematurely. It seems like one accident after another happened, but in fact…”

He sighed softly:
"If you start from scratch, everything will be wrong."

He then crossed out the line on the glass:

"This matter needs to be viewed from the opposite perspective."

"The most crucial point is one thing; if you can figure it out, everything will become clear—why that person didn't come last night."

“Think about it, since he’s the one who took the lead, he can’t just suddenly get scared, right? That doesn’t fit his image. So, he must have something urgent to do? But that doesn’t work either, that’s too ridiculous.”

Zhang Shutong joked, "Do you think it's possible that he suddenly got diarrhea after drinking cold water?"

Gu Qiumian pushed him, "Hey, why are you like this? Tell me, tell me!"
“I told you, he never intended to come from the beginning. For the other five people, Li Yipeng’s mother’s situation was an unexpected event, but for him, it was a pre-arranged… provocation.”

Zhang Shutong then started explaining back from Li Yipeng's story, mentioning the scarf, the castle, the name on the toilet partition... Gu Qiumian became more and more surprised as she listened, and finally patted her chest with some lingering fear, realizing she had really gotten into the role.

Zhang Shutong asked, "Have you ever read Sherlock Holmes?"
She said of course she had seen it.

Zhang Shutong then asked, "Do you know about the 'Last Case'? It tells the story of Holmes and Moriarty engaging in a fierce battle by a waterfall, ultimately falling into the river and perishing together."

Gu Qiu Mian then anxiously asked, "What exactly do you want to say? Didn't you say everything was fine? What do you mean by 'let's die together'?"
"Just to give an example, I mean I'm not Sherlock Holmes, but this person isn't Moriarty either."

He casually remarked:

"What he means is that it doesn't matter whether he sells pig liver or duck liver. Who cares what kind of liver he sells? I've already figured out what he's thinking."

"Then what's important?" Gu Qiumian asked again, she was quite good at grasping the key points.

Yes, so what's important?

He just said that casually to show that the murderer wasn't very dangerous, so you shouldn't take it too seriously.

Normally, Zhang Shutong would have been stumped by this tricky question.

But he felt that watching Roman Holiday tonight was definitely worthwhile. As a henchman, you can't take the young lady to the most bustling shopping malls, eat the best food, or play the most interesting games... Whether it's shabby or luxurious, there's one thing you absolutely can't do.

That means you must make the other person smile.

The so-called princess was just a silly girl who was easily fooled.

Question-

If you foresaw the end of an event and the outcome was unchangeable, what would you do?
Zhang Shutong already knew that the movie wouldn't end tonight, since Gu Qiumian had taken a nice nap at the nail salon, which delayed things, but he couldn't directly say that it was Gu's fault.

So Zhang Shutong now has the answer.

He whispered a few words in Gu Qiu Mian's ear, wondering why the area around the girl's ear felt a little hot, but that wasn't the point. The point was that she stared blankly for a long time after hearing it before finally managing to stammer out:
"You are so bad!"

Zhang Shutong rolled her eyes at her, thinking that this person was really difficult to please.

He hadn't originally intended to tell Gu Qiu Mian about his preparations. The fact that the girl was being lied to by both sides, and that the truth was revealed at the last moment, meant that both of them would be shocked.

"But I like it." The young lady chuckled, then asked curiously, her eyes sparkling, "So what are you going to say next?"

"Well..."

She was asking herself about her lines. Zhang Shutong was indeed having a hard time. As everyone knows, the lines for the entrance and the end need to be carefully considered. Just like Kamen Rider's transformation, the most important thing for a man is to look cool. If a person does good deeds without seeking fame, fortune, or sex, of course he wants to look cool.

While he was fishing, he came up with a cool line. Although only one of the two shocking lines remained, Zhang Shutong was well-versed in this art, and even one line wouldn't stop him from showing off.

Just as he was about to speak, Gu Qiumian interrupted him, saying:
"Listen to me, you lost the bet and owe me a wish."

Zhang Shutong wanted to say that he had never owed her a wish, and besides, if he really owed her one, it shouldn't be used for something more important. Miss, is that what you think, that's because you "tampered with" my entrance lines?

He said no, but Gu Qiumian said yes.

Zhang Shutong thought she was being unreasonable, but then Gu Qiumian pulled out her trump card, saying, "If you don't listen, I'll tell Auntie about you writing my name on the scrap paper. Anyway, I know her now..." Zhang Shutong really didn't expect his mother and the scrap paper to have such a trick up their sleeve. He sighed.
"So what do you think we should say?"

"I want to hear something humorous," Gu Qiumian said, blinking her bright and beautiful eyes.

"I'm not exactly known for my sense of humor," he said, feeling that he was better suited to a cool and aloof style, and tried to negotiate, "How about something more handsome, or something more serious?"

But she reluctantly said, "No, no, I want to hear something fun. Come closer, I'll teach you how to say it..."

Zhang Shutong bit into the soft meat in his mouth and took out the flashlight he had prepared beforehand.

(End of this chapter)