Winter Returns

Chapter 68 The Most Troublesome Timeline
The first class in the afternoon is math.

The snow is still falling.

Zhang Shutong took a glass of water and returned to his seat.

It's heartbreaking to think that, as graduation approached, their class didn't even get a water dispenser and had to queue up in the hot water room in the corridor.

That's how it is in small towns. If it weren't for Gu Qiu Mian's father donating a plastic playground, it would be hard to find a place to play ball in the winter.

He glanced to the side and saw that Lu Qinglian had returned sometime earlier; she had probably been sitting on the rooftop for the entire afternoon.

Zhang Shutong's attitude towards her is now somewhat complicated. In the past, when he received the news of her death, he thought she was a very aloof background character. When he was fishing, he found her to be a bit naive, but when she ate Oreos, she acted like a young girl. He pieced together these images and believed that this was the real Lu Qinglian. However, the clues eight years later overturned all these impressions. To be honest, Zhang Shutong felt that she was in some danger now.

He was somewhat influenced by his experiences eight years later, which created a filter on his personality from the start, but this wasn't a good thing.

Ruoping said that he turned his back on her and dumped Lu Qinglian;
He himself believed that even if they weren't a couple, he did use some methods to keep her on the island.

The relationship between the perpetrator and the victim is obvious.

But Zhang Shutong wondered if something was missing—

For example, Lu Qinglian's own thoughts.

Is it truly a willing and uncomplaining act?
One thing is strange: Ruoping and the others didn't mention Lu Qinglian's reaction at all.

In the original timeline, I had a brief chat with Du Kang outside the funeral home. He mentioned that Lu Qinglian had been busy repairing the sculptures in the temple and sometimes went down the mountain to the school to spend time with the children.

He called himself until the day before he died.

What was she trying to say at that time?
Could it be that in the cold-blooded storyline, the phone call disappeared because he "betrayed" her?
And that line on the rooftop:

"If you don't want any accidents to happen, it's best not to pry into my affairs anymore."

This was a veiled reminder, or perhaps a dismissal. He wouldn't give up because of it, but he wasn't planning to talk to his mother again until he returned her call.

Zhang Shutong can once again prove that the feng shui of his position is really bad.

But classes must continue.

It was snowing outside, and he only had a bicycle, making it difficult to go out and investigate.

It seems like he's been hitching rides in other people's cars lately—Old Song's, Qingyi's, Ruoping's. Zhang Shutong originally thought that learning to drive was useless for someone like him, but now he realizes the importance of transportation—anyway, no one on the island checks for unlicensed driving, so how about he practiced in Old Song's Focus?
When he's idle, he starts overthinking again.

Needing something to do, Zhang Shutong took out his monthly exam paper. He only looked at the last few questions of each type; his memory was a bit hazy, and it would take some time to catch up with the fourth-year students. This made a strange thought pop into his head—

They all agreed to go to high school together, but what if the other three all get accepted, and I'm the only one who fails?
Okay, just kidding. He might not get back to his previous ranking, but this junior high school knowledge is child's play for him. Of course, he still needs to listen carefully in class.

It's recess now, and the winter afternoon has a lazy atmosphere. The air is a bit stuffy. According to the class rules, after the afternoon nap, the students by the window should open the window for ventilation. Since it's raining, she naturally won't move. She's currently squinting and daydreaming. According to Zhang Shutong's observation over the past few days, she can usually stay there until the bell rings for the first class.

Besides, she couldn't be exposed to the cold wind today, so it was fine if the window wasn't open. The air around them wasn't too stuffy, and he gradually got used to the fragrance.

One of them was looking at the exam paper, while the other was lost in thought. He had already developed a way to multitask back in high school, saving the world without neglecting his studies.

Zhang Shutong looked at his previous answers, analyzed the question, and scribbled on them as he pondered, glancing at Gu Qiumian as he did so.

She took the warmed milk from the radiator; she was quite clever.

Having figured out this problem, Zhang Shutong moved on to the next one, glancing at Gu Qiumian once more.

Okay, this path is cleared. Next one.

Take another look.

However, this time it was discovered.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" she said coldly.

Zhang Shutong hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

He meant that he wasn't actually looking at you, but rather at the scarf you were draped over the chair.

While pondering the math problem, he suddenly thought he could borrow the scarf, tie it around his face, and then take a picture in a dimly lit place to compare it with the murderer's appearance.

That way, it would prove that I wasn't wrong, and that the murderer was indeed wearing a scarf.

Zhang Shutong then pointed to the scarf:
“I’m looking at it.”

"boring."

She turned her face away.

Zhang Shutong was too embarrassed to say he wanted to use your scarf for experiments, but he was happy to. The problem was that Gu Qiumian was unwilling.

"Do you remember when your scarf was stepped on once?" Zhang Shutong asked again.

This incident brought their relationship to a freezing point. It happened after a PE class when Gu Qiu Mian found that her beloved scarf had been stepped on. Zhou Ziheng said that he had seen it, and Gu Qiu Mian came over to confront him, feeling very disappointed and angry. He was somewhat in the wrong because he seemed to have touched it with the tip of his shoe, so he was speechless when questioned.

Then Gu Qiu Mian became more and more upset as she spoke, and kept questioning him. At that time, he was more responsive to gentle persuasion than force. When he got annoyed, he retorted with all his words, which made her cry. With red eyes, she left the classroom without looking back.

Finally, she even threatened, "I've gone to tell my dad..."

Of course, she never told her dad.

But after that incident, their relationship changed from "traitor" to one of indifference. She stopped glaring at him and completely ignored him. Of course, Zhang Shutong herself was also holding her breath at the time, so ignoring him was better, until the end of her life.

Therefore, Zhang Shutong thought it best to clear up this misunderstanding as soon as possible.

As expected, Gu Qiu Mian's expression turned even colder upon hearing this:
Why are you bringing this up?

"I think I know who it is."

"Who?"

“I think,” he paused, “it’s very likely your former deskmate, so be careful.”

“Okay…” Qiu Yumian nodded subconsciously in belief, then opened her eyes in surprise.

She was biting on the straw when the milk in the straw paused for a moment, then receded, and the straw returned to its transparent state.

But then he seemed to feel that it would be embarrassing to just believe it, and all the tears he had made would have been for nothing, so he glared at her and tried to make conversation:
"He even said it was you."

Zhang Shutong didn't understand what she meant, which meant she didn't believe her?

Oh, that does seem a bit suspicious.

You know, Zhou Ziheng also betrayed her in the same way back then. Now she's the one who snitched. From Gu Qiumian's perspective, it's almost like the two of them are slandering each other. So Zhang Shutong wanted to ask her strangely: Do you believe him or me?
But then he realized that this timeline wasn't very credible, so he swallowed his words and changed his tune:
"Just a reminder, do as you please."

In short, as long as you stop suspecting me of having ulterior motives regarding that scarf.

Zhang Shutong thought to himself that he had talked quite a bit with Gu Qiumian last time, but it seemed that the two of them had never discussed the "scarf incident".

He was so busy that he forgot to clarify the suspicions against him.

Gu Qiu Mian found it strange. She didn't say whether she believed her explanation back then, whether she always regarded her as a suspect, or something else.
"So?" Gu Qiumian asked, staring straight ahead without looking at anyone.

What, so?
Zhang Shutong thought for a moment and felt that she needed some evidence; she couldn't possibly believe him without reason. Unfortunately, he couldn't produce any at the moment.
"No evidence, take it as a snack."

"I know..." She didn't know what she wanted to say, but suddenly frowned, bit her lip, and leaned down.

Zhang Shutong then shut up on his own.

The matter passed by without a clear resolution, leaving Zhang Shutong somewhat speechless. It was the first time he had tried to clarify the previous misunderstanding, but the other party simply didn't believe him. Since that was the case, he decided not to get involved any further, as it wouldn't affect his future actions anyway. The school bell rang, and the math teacher came to explain the problems. He understood the questions on the test paper to a certain extent, but he wasn't yet at a level where he could go up and explain them. Fortunately, he had always been a quiet person, so the teacher didn't call on him.

Zhang Shutong listened to the lesson absentmindedly, while looking at the snow outside the window.

Gu Qiumian was suffering terribly from her period, and her usually beautiful and bright eyes had lost their sparkle. Moreover, she was in a bad mood today. Zhang Shutong remembered that it was today that the two met at the steamed bun shop after school. She took a small bite of the bun, her face cold.

Zhang Shutong didn't understand at the time whether she was in a good or bad mood.

If it's not bad, why the cold face?
If it's not good, why would you be in the mood to go to a restaurant and eat snacks?

Then the girl said something he would never forget:
"Because that would lead to defeat."

Actually, she was in a bad mood, but this somewhat weak girl actually had a very strong side. The reason she acted indifferent instead of reacting in other ways was simply because doing so would allow the "revengeful ones" to succeed.

Of course, even the strongest girl can't withstand physical pain.

She was defeated again today.

Back then, Zhang Shutong could still help her find the culprit who smashed the building blocks, but how could he help with this?
Moreover, he was preoccupied with his own thoughts. Looking at the snow falling outside the window, Zhang Shutong's brows furrowed little by little.

The snow is falling heavier.

The red synthetic track was once again covered in white, and Zhang Shutong's head began to throb. Only he knew what this meant—

All previous plans will be disrupted.

The reason we were able to find Li Yipeng was thanks to everyone going out to do exercises the next day.

Judging from this, tomorrow's long break will definitely be indoors.

Li Yipeng is relatively easy to handle;

What about the arsonist?
The five men committed the crime on a rainy night. The rain covered their tracks, and they vanished without a trace in their van. However, given the intensity of the snowfall and the possibility that it might continue until evening, two possibilities emerge:

First, proceed as usual, but pouring gasoline may not be effective; other methods may be used instead.

Secondly, the snow won't have melted by tomorrow night, and it will be too easy for wheels to leave tracks, so they will continue to lie in wait.

Zhang Shutong wasn't bothered by the Zhou family's situation, because once the arsonist was caught, Zhou Ziheng's father would definitely be apprehended.

He carefully recalled the events of that night, separated Lao Song and Gu Qiumian, left the girl in the villa, called the police in advance, and went to the commercial street to look for the van.

But now he's unsure if the van will come, and what measures he should take.

He knew who the murderer was on the commercial street, and thought that this time the investigation would be much easier, and that he could catch them by following the clues. But this snow completely disrupted Zhang Shutong's plans.

This leads to the second question:

Is it still necessary to time the "castle incident" to occur?
Theoretically, he could take a gamble, but he clearly had a day to prepare. Was he supposed to do nothing and gamble on "weather" and "people's hearts"?
These two things are almost the most unpredictable.

This is also inconsistent with Zhang Shutong's style of doing things.

He then made a judgment:
If we think about it the other way around, and directly find Li Yipeng, and then find Zhou Ziheng through him, can we follow this line to dig out his father?
His father was arrested first, but the five arsonists wouldn't have escaped either; the order of events wasn't that different.

It was the first period of the afternoon, and his time at school was about to end. After much deliberation, he finally decided to abandon the "Li Yipeng's mother" as the trigger and instead focus his attention directly on the Zhou family father and son.

However, this also requires some operation, and it cannot be done alone.

First, they must trick Li Yipeng into revealing the truth, then make the matter attract the attention of Song Nanshan and even the school leaders, shifting the focus from within the school to outside, with the ultimate goal of getting the police involved. Only under this dual pressure will it be possible to directly investigate Zhou Ziheng's father.

Zhang Shutong wasn't one to hesitate, especially when he turned his gaze away from the window and noticed Gu Qiumian's pale face.

This matter must be dealt with quickly so that he has enough energy to investigate the real culprit.

Therefore, as soon as the bell rang, Zhang Shutong left the classroom directly.

This time, instead of calling up his close friends, he went straight to Li Yipeng's classroom, which was in Class 3 of the fourth grade. Zhang Shutong casually asked a student to call him out.

Li Yipeng was quite confused:
"What's wrong?"

The two had been in the same class before, so they weren't complete strangers. Zhang Shutong simply frowned and told him that this wasn't the place to talk, and to come with him first.

He seemed quite intimidating even when he was expressionless. The other party was reluctant, but eventually agreed.

The two walked through the corridor frequented by students.

Zhang Shutong originally intended to lead him directly to the office, but he had already confirmed when he left the classroom that there was more than one teacher in the office. Zhang Shutong's next method was a bit ruthless, so it was better to have fewer people.

He led Li Yipeng toward the rooftop, but of course they didn't go straight up there, otherwise just climbing up would take up half of the break time.

They stopped in the stairwell on the rooftop. It was quiet there, and although there was a hot water room next door, it wasn't close.

Zhang Shutong knows Li Yipeng well. He's clever, but he panics when faced with big problems. So there's no need to be on high alert. A few words are enough to break down his psychological defenses and launch the next step.

"Were you the one who smashed the castle blocks?"

So he turned around and asked casually.

"...What do you mean? What castle blocks?" Sure enough, the other person was stunned for a while before quickly shaking their head. "I don't understand what you're saying."

"Really? Then I'll repeat it again, a castle made of Lego bricks."

Li Yipeng deliberately pretended to be impatient:
"Alright, alright, what's with all this building blocks stuff? Are you crazy? Talking nonsense. If there's nothing else, I'm going home now. I thought it was something serious, just this..."

“Are you sure you don’t understand? It’s normal for others not to understand,” Zhang Shutong suddenly laughed. “But do I need to remind you that you were originally in Class 1?”

Li Yipeng was about to take a step when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

The first line of psychological defense has been breached.

"Hey, you mean Gu Qiumian's toy?" the boy forced a smile. "Of course I know about it, but you're saying it got smashed? When did that happen?"

"Alright, hurry up and recognize them, save time," Zhang Shutong said impatiently. "I have something else to tell you."

"What makes you think you can frame me?" The kid panicked completely. "If you're so capable, show me the evidence! Did you film me or something? Without CCTV footage, what are you talking about!"

“The name on the toilet partition,” Zhang Shutong suddenly said.

The other party was taken aback again.

"I'm the one who handed you that note. I planned the whole revenge operation. Do you think I knew who smashed the castle?"

This is the effect he wanted.

Sure enough, Li Yipeng breathed a sigh of relief, his tone became less anxious, and his hands stopped trembling. It wasn't like old friends meeting each other with tears in their eyes; it was more like meeting a kindred spirit. They were about to put their arms around each other affectionately. Zhang Shutong shook off his hand, bit the soft flesh in her mouth, but in order to get more information out of him, she had to play the "accomplice" for a while.

"you……"

He was about to speak when Li Yipeng confessed completely, after which he could turn his back on him. But this wasn't to scare the other party; rather, he wanted to use the pretext of "reducing the sentence" to set up a trap for him and expose Zhou Ziheng.

However, at that moment, a loud crash came from outside as a water glass fell to the ground, which sounded particularly jarring in the quiet stairwell. The two of them immediately fell silent.

Zhang Shutong peeked out and was stunned, because a girl was staring blankly at him. The water cup in her hand had fallen to the ground; perhaps she had come to get hot water.

She's on her period today, which already makes her uncomfortable and puts her in a bad mood; it's a vulnerable time for her.

Therefore, Gu Qiumian was filled with disbelief at this moment, and her eyes were already red.

(End of this chapter)