Chapter 51: Help! |
"Well? Keep going!" Ruoping urged anxiously.
"That man, or rather the suspect, is the husband of the woman from the milk tea shop on Commercial Street. Got it?"
"No... no way." Even Ruoping, slow as she was, understood now, stammering a bit. "You're saying that auntie's family are the culprits?"
She was a regular at the milk tea shop and found this hard to accept for a moment.
"The woman herself probably doesn't know."
"But that doesn't make sense. If he hates Gu Qiumian's family so much, why would that uncle go work at the supermarket?"
"We got one thing wrong."
Qingyi analyzed:
"It was Shutong who just told me—he'd also gotten it wrong before. We shouldn't tie his reason for going to the supermarket to personal likes and dislikes. His purpose was only one thing: gathering intelligence.
As he spoke, Qingyi also held up three fingers:
"School, the villa, and her family's shopping center.
"At school you can find out about her condition—her mood, where she's planning to go. The villa is similar, but you can't just casually insert yourself into those two places. Only the shopping center allows you to apply as an employee. But note, this place isn't for confirming Gu Qiumian's own situation, but her father's movements."
Ruoping asked:
"So that man came to work here to gather intelligence on Gu Qiumian's family?"
"Pretty much, and he applied several months ago, which shows it was premeditated."
"Wait, didn't you say it was his first day at work?"
"Idiot," Qingyi sighed, palm to his forehead. "His wife twisted her ankle, so he took a few days off to help at the milk tea shop. Today he came back to work—that's the first day."
"Oh, oh, then why did he still come this morning?"
"Think about it. Let's assume he's the mastermind. He definitely knows about the arson case and knows her dad isn't home, but doesn't know when her dad will return. So tell me, at this point, besides asking Gu Qiumian herself, what's the fastest way to get information?"
"Her family's shopping center?"
Qingyi nodded:
"Exactly, or more precisely, the management under her father—meaning the shopping center's manager, someone who has direct contact with Boss Gu.
"Following this logic further, to get the manager's attention, the suspect would definitely spread news about the arson case around, maybe even stage it himself—first spreading rumors, then deliberately reporting to the manager that some rumor spread this morning. If you were the manager, what would you do?"
Qingyi directly provided the answer:
"You can't just watch your subordinates gossip about the boss's affairs, right? Wouldn't you also release some information to calm people down?
"That explains everything, doesn't it? The suspect had to come to work this morning for this exact purpose—to confirm when Boss Gu would return to the island, so he could determine the right timing to strike."
As they talked, they'd already walked out of the supermarket. Amid the beeping of the scanners, Ruoping nodded blankly, feeling that Qingyi's deduction flowed smoothly, impeccable in a way, yet something seemed off.
It wasn't until he smiled mysteriously while typing on his phone that she finally reacted:
"I know what's wrong now. You're clearly deciding he's the culprit first, then working backward to deduce the motive. That's not rigorous at all!"
"Well, you're right about that," Qingyi looked up. "I also thought it wasn't very reliable, but Shutong deliberately left a cliffhanger earlier. Who knew he'd stumble onto something—lucky bastard actually discovered a key clue."
"What?"
"Let me tell you," the boy's perpetually deadpan face showed an excited smile. "This case is really interesting. I didn't think before that we could string all the clues together..."
He didn't finish before Ruoping glared at him:
"What are you getting excited about? Shouldn't we hurry and find where the culprit went?"
The girl worriedly sent Zhang Shutong a message.
Because just now at the deli counter...
She'd only seen the hanging pig liver, but not the meat cleaver.
...
The bicycle traveled through the winter suburbs. Looking out, everything was desolate.
Zhang Shutong leisurely pedaled the bike. Qingyi's bicycle seemed specially modified—the brakes were particularly sensitive. Every light touch in the urban area became a sudden stop. When Gu Qiumian said he did it on purpose, she was really wronging him.
Now it was finally better. Reaching the suburbs where not a soul could be seen, this lackey leisurely rode while the young miss leisurely sipped her milk tea from behind.
As she sipped, Gu Qiumian asked him again where those friends of his had gone, her tone somewhat worried.
It seemed she'd guessed something too.
Zhang Shutong said it was fine, perfectly safe.
But as soon as the words left his mouth, as if to slap him in the face, his phone suddenly rang.
It was Du Kang calling.
The group had agreed beforehand—no calls unless necessary. If there was a call, it meant an emergency situation.
Zhang Shutong stopped the bike and sighed, pressing the answer button.
Sure enough, the first thing he heard was Du Kang shouting urgently:
"Help!"
...
"Where did Du Kang go?" Ruoping finally reacted. "Since you've already identified the culprit, why send him to Gu Qiumian's villa? Don't tell me..."
At this point, her expression showed worry:
"That man didn't actually follow those two, but went straight to the villa?"
The girl had just heard a bunch of deductions and her mind was working faster now. She suddenly thought of many things:
She'd always assumed the man left the deli to follow Zhang Shutong and Gu Qiumian.
But she suddenly realized that no matter where they went, the two couldn't leave the urban area. That being the case, it seemed hard to make a move anywhere;
Surely he couldn't kidnap someone in the middle of a crowd. There was only one possibility—
Find a deserted place;
And it had to be somewhere Gu Qiumian would inevitably pass through.
Only one place satisfied both conditions:
The road back to the Gu family villa.
That place they called the "castle"—Ruoping knew it well. Few pedestrians ever appeared there. It was practically a natural crime scene;
Then she thought of the possibility that worried her most:
What if Gu Qiumian didn't encounter the culprit, but Du Kang encountered him first?
Her heart grew anxious. She quickly voiced her speculation, preparing to emphasize it further, but Qingyi just nodded nonchalantly:
"There is that possibility. In a sense, the culprit's movements are uncertain, making him hard to catch. But," the boy waved his chat records, "Shutong and I already considered this, so..."
"I'm talking about Du Kang! No, I need to call him right away..."
Qingyi just smiled gleefully:
"Him? Don't worry, our birthday boy won't come to any harm."
...
"Help!" Du Kang shouted.
Zhang Shutong moved the phone away from his ear a bit:
"So you really did get caught?"
"You screwed me over, Shutong! You said it'd be fine!"
"Sorry, sorry, I'll call for backup right away."
Zhang Shutong smiled, then handed the phone to Gu Qiumian.
She'd been tense hearing the cry for help over the phone, but seeing his smile, her expression turned blank.
"Help save someone?" Zhang Shutong requested the young miss take action.
"You're always causing trouble," she didn't rush to take the phone but asked irritably, "First explain what's going on. What do you mean by asking me to help save someone? What mess have you two gotten into now!"
"Who told you to be the young miss? This favor has to come from you." Zhang Shutong added, "I mean, he accidentally broke the last two flowerpots at your house."
"Huh?"
"Yeah, so, uh, my condolences."
Zhang Shutong consoled her, since Autumn Rain Lingering's eyes were already wide.
...
"What?" Ruoping was dumbfounded. "You're saying Du Kang didn't go there to stake out the culprit, but to cause trouble?"
"Yup." Qingyi found her shocked reactions especially entertaining.
"What for?"
"Well, it's a long story." Qingyi stroked his chin, saying with regret, "I originally proposed an absolutely brilliant idea, but unfortunately Shutong vetoed it."
"What idea?"
"Since we're constantly suspecting this person and that person without finding the real culprit, why not strike first—let's just kidnap Gu Qiumian ourselves."
"Get lost!"
"Actually it was to test their family's housekeeper's attitude." His idea rejected again, Qingyi seemed hurt and lost interest in keeping her in suspense. "Didn't I mention before? We suspected Gu Qiumian's housekeeper had a problem—that dead dog incident."
"I know, just keep going!"
"But it's hard to confirm whether the housekeeper really didn't see it or pretended not to see it. Since that's the case, Shutong said, let's use the process of elimination. Don't waste brain cells thinking about this and that—the housekeeper's identity, who she has grudges with, etc. Just go test it directly."
"So?"
"So we sent Du Kang over to snoop around. He went right at mealtime when the housekeeper was cooking. From the kitchen you can see the backyard. Um..."
At this point Qingyi checked the time:
"I figure the results should be in by now."
...
The result was naturally that he got caught.
In Zhang Shutong's memory, Auntie Wu the housekeeper should be a woman of quiet temperament, but now she seemed like a completely different person.
Even without speakerphone, he could hear her stern voice barely suppressing anger through the receiver.
And Gu Qiumian first stared blankly with a strange expression, then went aside to make a call and explain, rather bemused:
"Really, Auntie Wu, that person is my friend. Don't give him a hard time, he didn't do it on purpose..."
"My dad said to tell him about anything suspicious? Oh, Auntie Wu, I'm not lying. I'm really fine here. That person really is my friend. He was just... just playing a prank, no ill intent. Just pretend you didn't see it..."
When Gu Qiumian acted cute, truly no one could resist. The woman's tone on the other end softened.
Hearing this, Zhang Shutong breathed a sigh of relief. Actually he didn't mean to give Gu Qiumian a "surprise";
The original plan was to have Du Kang act as a suspicious person, lurking outside the window for a bit;
Then proceed based on the housekeeper's reaction.
The best outcome would be arousing the housekeeper's suspicion, being questioned a few times, then explaining clearly and riding off.
But perhaps the housekeeper was too focused on cooking, or perhaps she was nearsighted—she just didn't notice.
With no other choice, they had to do something "suspicious" yet "attention-grabbing."
With those five arsonists as precedent, Zhang Shutong naturally thought of smashing flowerpots.
He'd noticed yesterday there were still two intact pots in the backyard.
Using two flowerpots to test someone—quite a bargain. He figured Gu Qiumian wouldn't care about that much.
However:
"What, not just those two in the backyard, but he also smashed the one I was growing in the front yard?" Gu Qiumian suddenly paused.
Zhang Shutong was also stunned. He remembered telling Du Kang to just smash the ones in the backyard. How did this guy overachieve?
But he didn't need to puzzle over it anymore.
Because Gu Qiumian had already handed the phone over:
"Your handiwork!"
She silently opened and closed her red lips, grinding her teeth as she prepared to settle accounts.
Zhang Shutong quickly dodged aside.
...
"Oh, Du Kang messaged back." Qingyi suddenly looked at his phone screen and smiled.
Ruoping also saw it, because this time he posted in the group chat. Through the phone screen were photos of the flowerpots' remains and the boy's bright red ears.
With a caption:
Got my ears pulled (crying emoji)
Ruoping also laughed, sending a voice message:
"How did you manage to get caught just smashing flowerpots? Should've run after smashing them."
"Couldn't help it," Du Kang was also helpless. "When I smashed those two in back, she'd just left the kitchen. So I ran to the front yard and smashed another one. Didn't expect she'd come out to throw away trash right then and caught me. Besides, I didn't do anything bad—running would've made me look more suspicious. Better to explain. Turns out their housekeeper is fierce, grabbed me and gave me a good scolding."
Qingyi interjected:
"So what are you doing now?"
"Gu Qiumian explained for me, so in the end it was fine. That auntie let me come inside for something to eat, so I followed her in."
"You really make yourself at home after causing trouble." Ruoping laughed and cursed.
But Du Kang protested:
"I'm telling you, I rode all the way from home to here. Froze my ass off. Besides, isn't this all for Gu Qiumian? What's wrong with coming in to sit? Gotta go, gonna try the young miss's family's cooking."
After saying that he disappeared, truly shameless.
"So we can rule out the housekeeper now?" Ruoping put down her phone and asked.
"Yup, no problem."
Ruoping asked again:
"So you suspected from the start that the housekeeper was the missing sixth arsonist? Then didn't Du Kang make the trip for nothing? You guys just identified the real culprit right after he finished testing?"
"Not exactly." Qingyi explained. "The housekeeper has nothing to do with the arson case. Think about it—this involves people from Commercial Street. She's an out-of-town housekeeper who doesn't know the local situation and is a live-in who rarely goes out. How could she arrange those five people without anyone knowing while keeping herself hidden?"
"So the housekeeper and Commercial Street are actually two separate things, but you did suspect she was the culprit?"
"Right, because initially we hadn't discovered that pig liver seller, so we could only prepare multiple contingencies. In Shutong's words, we're conveniently ruling out one suspect, then we can narrow our targets."
Qingyi paused, then said:
"Actually it wasn't purely testing the housekeeper. Like you said before, what if the culprit was really stupid? What if he headed straight to Gu Qiumian's villa without confirming anything? So having Du Kang go over also had that consideration—worst case, if something seemed wrong, he'd just ride away."
"So now these issues can all be ruled out?"
"Right."
"Then once we catch the pig liver man we're done?" Ruoping also grew excited. Heaven knows when she changed the term from "uncle" to "pig liver man."
This time Qingyi shook his head:
"Also not quite."
"Why?"
"Because we've only ruled things out. Actually, there's still one person we haven't identified."
"What do you mean? You're saying there are two people?" Ruoping was startled.
"Shutong suspects it's a conspiracy."
"Really? How did another person pop up?"
"Shutong only suspects it, hasn't confirmed."
"Then what do we do next?"
Qingyi said:
"Didn't I just say? In a sense we still can't confirm the pig liver man's movements. He might have followed Shutong and them, or he might not have followed—just ran straight to wait on the road back to Gu Qiumian's house. With such a wide activity range, it's hard to catch him."
"So?"
"So, next comes the fourth phase of 'Operation: Goddess of Fate Controlling the Young Miss's Future.'"
Qingyi held his hands in front of him as if gripping a fishing rod, announcing passionately:
"With the commander-in-chief absent, I'll explain the main objective of phase four on his behalf. Next we'll use the pig liver man's accomplice to completely restrict his movements. This type of behavior we generally call—"
But before Uchiha Qingyi could finish, his phone rang again. The boy glanced at the screen. The atmosphere was abruptly interrupted as he said regretfully:
"Never mind, let Shutong say it himself. After all, he arranged this entire operation from start to finish. A man shouldn't steal his comrade's spotlight."
So Ruoping hurriedly looked at the group chat of four.
There appeared a picture taken by the water's edge.
New Peach for Old Charm:
"Starting fishing. Phone's almost dead, don't disturb."
So that's what kind of "fishing" it was.
"You two chunibyo really are in sync."
Ruoping looked at it and rolled her eyes, but then the more she looked, the more familiar that body of water seemed. Eyes wide in shock, she said:
"Did his brain short-circuit? Why are just the two of them running to the 'Base'? There's no one around—who deliberately uses themselves as bait like that?"
"Wrong, quite the opposite. It's precisely to shake off the culprit. Otherwise why call it fishing?"
Ruoping said helplessly:
"You guys sure are carefree. I think he won't catch any fish and will get hooked himself instead."
...
Du Kang had already eaten three bowls of noodles.
Nothing was more blissful than eating a bowl of duck soup noodles when your body was frozen through in the harsh winter.
The rich broth, chewy noodles, then sprinkled with a handful of scallions—gold, white, and green, each in their proper place. Amid the faint steam, the aroma was intoxicating, making Du Kang feel this trip wasn't wasted. He planned to tell Shutong to call him again next time there was this kind of job.
He was quite happy, but the woman sitting across from him sighed:
"Child, why aren't you staying home on such a cold day? What are you doing running here to smash flowerpots?"
Du Kang could only laugh awkwardly. He couldn't very well say he was ordered to do it, nor that he actually suspected Auntie, so he could only apologize repeatedly and focus on eating his noodles.
"You're... Qiumian's classmate?" The housekeeper seemed to have something she wanted to say.
Du Kang nodded.
"I heard she doesn't have many friends in her class. Since you're her friend, you must get along well normally, alright? Consider it Auntie asking this favor of you?"
Her words were sincere, but Du Kang inexplicably wanted to laugh, thinking: Auntie, the person you should be asking this favor of isn't me—it's someone else entirely.
But from what Ruoping said, her conflict with Gu Qiumian seemed resolved. He himself had no grudge with this young miss either, so naturally he nodded in agreement.
Auntie Wu finally smiled:
"Then I can relax a bit. Is it enough? If not, let me get you another bowl?"
"No need, Auntie, it's plenty..." Du Kang tilted his head back to drink the last of the noodle soup. "I need to leave soon. Thanks for the hospitality, Auntie."
Since he'd come out, staying home would be boring anyway, so he planned to meet up with Qingyi and Ruoping.
After all, Shutong said he didn't need him for what came next, just do as he pleased.
Du Kang grinned, casually wiped his mouth, was reminded by the housekeeper to be careful, then ran to the entrance to change shoes. As he said goodbye to her and opened the door, the doorbell suddenly rang.
The security equipment in the villa was electronic. Looking at the display screen, he saw an unexpectedly familiar face.
—Song Nanshan.
Or rather, their homeroom teacher.
In front of the camera, the man had his head down, having just hung up a call. His expression wasn't visible.
Wait, what's Old Song doing here?
Du Kang looked puzzled. He wasn't good with these newfangled gadgets, so he could only wait for the housekeeper to open the door. Just as he was about to explain who this was, he saw the housekeeper press a button, as if the two already knew each other.
"I've met your teacher before." The woman didn't forget to explain.
"Oh..."
Only then did Du Kang belatedly nod. Since they knew each other, he must be here to see Gu Qiumian about something—nothing to do with him.
He couldn't say whether being seen by his homeroom teacher at another female student's house was a good or bad thing... As he pondered this, his phone rang.
The man's voice came through:
"You're at Gu Qiumian's house, right? Hurry up and get ready, come with me. I need you guys urgently."
"How'd you know I was here, teacher?" Du Kang asked in surprise.
"I just got off the phone with Qingyi and the others. Anyway, come out first."
"Oh, okay..."
He was a bit flustered, unable to figure out the homeroom teacher's intent while also having to say goodbye to the housekeeper, then getting into the small car in front of the villa in bewilderment.
"Picking up a student." The man rolled down the window and smiled at the housekeeper as explanation, then released the handbrake as the Focus slowly pulled away.
"Teacher, my bike's still here." Du Kang called out urgently.
"It'll be fine. Pick it up another day." The man glanced at the rearview mirror. "The housekeeper put it away for you."
"Oh..." Du Kang asked again belatedly, "What are we actually doing? So mysterious?"
"Going to school to help me with something. You'll find out soon."
"Are we picking up Qingyi and them now?"
The man lit a cigarette and nodded without speaking, as if something was on his mind.
"That's not right, Old Song," Du Kang suddenly slapped his thigh, realizing. "With me, Qingyi, and Ruoping that's three people. Then there's Shutong and Gu Qiumian—that's two more. Your little car can't fit everyone."
Only after saying this did he realize he'd accidentally called out the teacher's nickname. Normally the man would get angry and say he was being disrespectful, but this time he seemed not to have heard.
Song Nanshan suddenly smiled. In the rearview mirror you could see his exposed teeth, and between them the cigarette glowing with embers:
"Who said I was going to pick up those two? It'll fit just fine."