"Come with me later."
The girl's eyes immediately looked up, and she even stopped cutting her meat patty. Despite this, she said slowly and unwillingly, "Why would I go out with you?"
"I'm inviting you to go to the mall."
Who knew that Gu Qiumian would take a bite of the fried egg and suddenly couldn't help but laugh: "Are you stupid?"
The first time he invited a girl out after the regression, even though it was far from a date, he was called stupid, which made Zhang Shutong bite the soft flesh in his mouth.
He then heard Gu Qiumian say crisply: "That mall is my family's. What do you mean you're inviting me?"
"Then I'm just hitching a ride with you?"
She huffed when she heard that: "Who else is going?"
"Qingyi, Ruoping, plus the two of us, that makes four in total."
"I don't get along with her." She said this, but didn't say whether she was going or not.
"So you don't want to go?"
However, Gu Qiumian didn't reply. She quickly stuffed the last bit of food into her mouth in two or three bites, puffed out her cheeks, and then ran off in her slippers, her heels clicking, to the elevator. It wasn't until the elevator door closed that her voice floated out from inside: "Wait for me to change my clothes. I'll be right out..."
See? Her low blood sugar was cured.
The reason Zhang Shutong asked her to go out was very simple—he was afraid something would happen to her if she stayed alone. The people Gu's father sent wouldn't arrive until tomorrow at the earliest. Now her dog was gone, and the villa's location was so secluded, so it wasn't very safe.
Theoretically, the arsonists had already been caught last night. Theoretically, these criminals acted earlier than in the original timeline. Theoretically, the threat against Gu Qiumian had been almost completely eliminated.
But Zhang Shutong didn't need to stick to theory. Her bodyguards would be back tomorrow. Since that was the case, the effort he had put in so far wasn't small, so there was no reason to relax at the last minute.
But there was one question he couldn't figure out: Since Teacher Song and the nanny were there in the last timeline, why didn't they report her missing until Tuesday, December 11th, a day after she disappeared? Before the regression, Zhang Shutong hadn't thought about this question in detail, only thinking that the parents weren't very concerned. But now, it seemed there was another hidden reason.
The only explanation he could think of was that reporting it meant they had to go through official procedures, but Gu Jianhong might have had some unspoken difficulty and didn't want the authorities to get involved too early.
There were still too few clues. If he could, he really wanted to grab Du Kang from eight years later and ask him more questions.
At this moment, Song Nanshan came over and asked curiously: "What are you two up to now?"
Zhang Shutong explained the main points. Teacher Song was still reliable at crucial moments, and it was best to get his attention.
But who knew that the point of focus for the other person was completely off: "You've finally got a clue, kid." The homeroom teacher was greatly relieved. It seemed that his repeated rejections last night made him think that Zhang Shutong saw Gu Qiumian as a plague and was avoiding her at all costs. In reality, it wasn't that serious. Unless there was a special purpose, Zhang Shutong rarely did things that looked deliberate at first glance.
Teacher Song then said that this was right. Feelings need to be cultivated slowly. Love at first sight is nonsense. Zhang Shutong had heard this before. He said that "love at first sight" was just a fancy way of saying "lust," but he had no intention of cultivating feelings with Gu Qiumian. Therefore, he found Teacher Song too noisy and went to the sofa to scroll on his phone. The Angry Birds that Ruoping played was quite good, so he also downloaded it and waited for Gu Qiumian to come down.
After all, she said she would be ready right away.
But the fact proved that Zhang Shutong should not have trusted Miss Gu's words. He had already cleared a dozen levels. The birds were marching triumphantly towards the pig's den, but there was no sign of the girl.
So Zhang Shutong found Gu Qiumian's QQ—he had added it last night and also saved her phone number—her profile picture was a cartoon drawing that looked like a cloud and a sheep, which was cuter than the grimace on the glass. Her ID was Qiu Yu Mian Mian.
"Xin Tao Jiu Fu" asked "Qiu Yu Mian Mian": "Not ready yet?"
"Almost."
Zhang Shutong double-tapped the home button and went back to the front lines to continue fighting the pigs.
Choosing an online name was a skill in those days. It was roughly divided into the "Flashy," the "English," and the "Literary" styles. He used to belong to the latter. Shutong, Shutong, by all accounts, Zhang Shutong should have had an unbreakable connection with the tung tree in his life. But actually, his name was not originally "Shu Tong," (桐) but "Shu Tong" (曈). And it wasn't the "tong" from "pupil," but from Wang Anshi's poem, "Thousands of doors and tens of thousands of households, the sun shines brightly, always replacing old charms with new peach wood," meaning the bright and warm appearance of the sunrise.
But it was raining on the day he was born, which was destined to cast a shadow over this name. The clerk who registered his household registration wrote his name incorrectly, and thus Shu Tong (曈) became Shu Tong (桐). So every time someone asked him what his name meant, saying it sounded so elegant, Zhang Shutong didn't know how to answer.
But his mother was a broad-minded woman and didn't care. Instead, she felt that the clerk's small mistake had caused a magical chemical reaction in her son's name. No matter what it meant, as long as it was literary enough, the name was kept. Zhang Shutong was unwilling at first, but his mother coaxed him, saying, "Silly son, isn't '桐' easier to write than '曈'? You'll know when your teacher punishes you to copy your name." Zhang Shutong once again mistakenly trusted his mother's words. Since childhood, he had not been able to deal with his mother. However, since he started school, Zhang Shutong had been a good student. The only places he had to write his name were on homework and test papers. He was tricked again.
In short, when he chose his online name, he looked through the Book of Odes and was not very satisfied with the sentences related to "桐," so he went back to the original source and took "replacing old charms with new peach wood" from the next line, thinking it was very profound. But after all these years, no one understood what he meant.
On the other hand, Gu Qiumian's name, Qiu Yu Mian Mian, was straightforward and easy to understand. It was expected that Mr. Gu thought his daughter would be a gentle and lingering person when she was born. It sounded like a melancholic and quiet girl, carrying a beautiful meaning, but Miss Gu, like him, ended up growing crooked.
Zhang Shutong once again overestimated Qiu Yu Mian Mian's trustworthiness. His phone was about to overheat, but the elevator still hadn't come down. Zhang Shutong asked again if she was ready. This time, Gu Qiumian sent a voice message directly, "Oh, don't rush me! I smeared my lip gloss..."
"Then hurry up."
No new messages came from the chat box.
Zhang Shutong had a bad feeling—he didn't understand Gu Qiumian, but he pretty much understood his mom. If a woman lingered in her room before going out, there were only two possibilities: she was either putting on makeup or trying on clothes.
Finally, the elevator started to descend. The lighting of the villa was still very good. On the misty winter morning, the air outside was cold, but the sunlight impartially shone on the cabin made of steel and glass. The cabin door, with its cold metallic luster, slowly opened. Before he could see Gu Qiumian's figure, her voice floated out: "How do you think this outfit looks?"
She was wearing a suede velvet dress, a green one, like a small pine tree standing in winter.
The girl twirled in place. The accumulated snow on the pine tree was shaken off, and she showed off her figure in the bright sunlight. Zhang Shutong also noticed that she had deliberately put on lip gloss today, which she didn't do at school. Her pink lips shone with a moist glow in the light, making them look even softer.
The somewhat cold outfit and the somewhat vibrant lips didn't clash. Zhang Shutong objectively commented: "Looks good."
"What 'looks good'? Be more specific." Gu Qiumian was dissatisfied.
Zhang Shutong looked at Teacher Song. Teacher Song would definitely be good at praising girls, but Song Nanshan acted as if he didn't see him, standing there with his hands in his pockets, grinning.
"I think everything looks good." Zhang Shutong had no choice but to say.
"Then should I wear a dress or pants?"
"As long as you're not cold, it's up to you." Zhang Shutong genuinely felt that on a day like this, you had to wear a coat when you went out, so what was the point of dressing up so nicely underneath?
"Then I'll go up and try something else..."
"Cough cough, Qiumian, this dress looks good enough." Song Nanshan finally cleared his throat. It seemed he also couldn't stand the young lady trying on clothes over and over again. "We have things to do later."
Gu Qiumian finally went to change her shoes. She didn't have to go upstairs to do so. While yelling, "Aunt Wu, Aunt Wu, where are my boots? Did you take them to be maintained?" and then, "Okay... I'll wear sneakers today," she picked up her bag from the sofa, rummaged through it, and muttered to herself about what she had forgotten to pack.
"You can just bring your phone, actually." Zhang Shutong's thinking was very postmodern.
Miss Gu frowned and stared at him without saying a word.
"You don't usually carry a bag when you go out either, do you?"
Okay, this time, she just glared at him.
Zhang Shutong stopped talking and lowered his head to play on his phone. He had been fighting with the pigs since Gu Qiumian came down, multitasking. He finally let go of the slingshot on the screen. It was the last bird, but his hand trembled, and the little bird squawked as it hit the concrete fortress, leaving behind only four words—"Failed the level."
He played for a long time only to get a bad ending. He stood up with some regret, ready to put on his shoes.
...
The morning air was always cool and humid. Gu Qiumian lowered the car window and waved goodbye to her nanny, Aunt Wu.
The woman smiled and asked her what she wanted to eat tonight and if she should prepare it. The girl thought for a moment and said that she would let her know later, that she would contact her in advance, and that something simple was fine. She said it had been a long time since she had eaten Aunt Wu's pies and that she was a little greedy for them.
When she said this, she had a genuine smile on her face.
Then the car started. The Focus slowly drove on the hazy road. Zhang Shutong glanced at her: "You have a good relationship with that auntie?"
Both of them were now sitting in the back seat. In school, they were deskmates, and in the car, they were still deskmates—the fabric seat in the front was wet. He had gotten into the car last night without taking off his raincoat, and if he pressed it with his hand, it was full of water.
Gu Qiumian took up a small amount of space and sat behind Teacher Song. She rolled up the window. She had been smiling just a moment ago, but when she looked at Zhang Shutong, she didn't have a pleasant expression, huffing: "Of course. Aunt Wu has been with my family since I was in middle school."
Zhang Shutong nodded.
They drove in silence, or rather, the girl next to him wasn't interested in talking to him. She would sometimes chat with Song Nanshan, and Zhang Shutong was happy with the quiet.
He looked at the scenery outside the window rapidly passing by. Gu Qiumian's villa was on the south side of the small island. He hadn't been here often before, and after eight years, there weren't many familiar things on the way.
The only thing worth mentioning was the funeral home, the one where the funeral was held eight years later. But now, there wasn't even a trace of it, just a barren piece of land with a huge chimney standing on it. A wisp of smoke rose into the sky, gradually blending in and disappearing without a trace. Maybe it was because it had just rained. The sky was as clear as a washed slate today. Zhang Shutong followed that wisp of smoke, and soon he couldn't find the source.
The car entered the city. It was indeed a weekend. There were more people on the road. The small car turned left and right and finally stopped in front of the three-story mall.
Teacher Song took the car out of gear in a dashing manner. "I'm going to the police station first. I'll contact you when I'm done. Have fun, you two." Then he started in second gear and zoomed away.
Only the boy and the girl were left in the small empty space.
But soon, even that empty space was crowded. The flow of people in front of the mall was like a swarm. There were men, women, old people, and children, but most of them were students of a similar age.
Zhang Shutong looked around with a little curiosity. There were carts selling grilled sausages and grilled bird eggs, and vendors selling toy balloons, usually with cartoon characters on them, filled with hydrogen gas. Countless strings were held in their hands, and the balloons were squeezed together in the air, colorful.
Gu Qiumian instinctively moved closer to Zhang Shutong.
Zhang Shutong then smiled and asked if she wanted to buy a balloon. The girl rolled her eyes and said, "Aren't you going to contact your friends to see if they've arrived?"
She wasn't shy. It was normal to be a little timid when being introduced to a new group of people, but Gu Qiumian exuded an aura of pride and seemed out of place in the crowd.
Zhang Shutong then asked her strangely, "Why are you more impatient than I am?"
She instead puffed out her chest and said, "What, am I supposed to be afraid of them?"
When she said this, her lips were sparkling, and her eyes were extremely bright, as if she had dressed up for so long just so she wouldn't lose her poise when they met.
Zhang Shutong also couldn't figure out what she was thinking. He just looked at her for a few moments and felt that there was something wrong with "Qiu Yu Mian Mian" today. A moment later, he noticed that she wasn't wearing that scarf today.
"But you don't need to contact them. It's very obvious. Look—"
After saying that, Zhang Shutong pointed to the most flashy figure in the crowd. He saw a boy wearing headphones listening to music alone: Qingyi was wearing a denim jacket today. Zhang Shutong thought it was cool, but it was so noisy around them that he and Gu Qiumian had to speak a little louder. Could he really hear the song in his headphones?
He walked up and patted his shoulder. Qingyi turned his head. He was the same as usual, always with a blank face. When he saw Zhang Shutong, he smiled and was about to say hello. However, before he could speak, the boy's gaze moved to the person behind Zhang Shutong and finally froze in astonishment.
Only Miss Gu had the ability to make Qingyi, who had a poker face, break character.
"Gu Qiumian. You already know each other, so no introductions needed."
Although Zhang Shutong felt that it was very strange for classmates to need to be introduced by him, he still calmly turned his head and said to Gu Qiumian: "Meng Qingyi, my best friend."
"Oh... oh." The surprise only lasted for a few seconds. Qingyi returned to his poker face. Du Kang would definitely not be able to do this. He casually spread his hands. "Welcome."
Gu Qiumian also nodded coolly and said hello. At this moment, she looked like a cold young lady again.
Zhang Shutong stood between the two and asked where Ruoping was and why she wasn't with him.
"Her?" Qingyi said speechlessly, "She just saw a snack she's never seen before and went to line up for it."
The three of them looked at the people coming and going in front of them and suddenly didn't know what to do.
In this kind of situation, Zhang Shutong never took the lead. In the past, the boys would all listen to Ruoping's arrangements, which was normal. But Gu Qiumian was not right. In the past, she would command her groupies when they went out, but today, she didn't say a word.
Zhang Shutong then said that they should wait inside the mall. There were too many people at the entrance. He would tell Ruoping on QQ.
There were fewer people inside the mall. As soon as they entered, there were all kinds of clothing stores, with shoe stores and nail salons on both sides. In short, it was very much in line with the style of the small island. Don't expect it to be a big commercial plaza.
Even the elevators were the kind of freight elevators without stairs or direct elevators. From this perspective, it was not as good as Gu Qiumian's house.
Zhang Shutong hadn't been here in a long time. He asked Gu Qiumian what was good to browse. Even though it was her family's mall, she said that she rarely came here herself. He could guess the rest of the words without her saying them. She probably thought there were too few things to do here.
They walked around for a while. Gu Qiumian glanced around absent-mindedly, just walking forward. It seemed that the things here were completely unappealing to her. He wondered how novel that snack Ruoping was getting was. She hadn't come back yet. At this moment, Gu Qiumian said she had to go to the bathroom. Zhang Shutong stopped and said he would wait for her here.
Then he saw Miss Gu take her bag off her shoulder and lift it up in her hand. She held it out in front of him. Zhang Shutong and she looked at each other for two seconds, and her hand also stopped in mid-air for two seconds. The girl then glared: "Hold this!"
Well, it seemed that she did have an underling with her for shopping today. She was just waiting for him here.
Zhang Shutong took the bag and watched as she walked away proudly.
"Is that what she meant?"
Qingyi was also very strange, lost in thought.
"I told you it would be hard to guess."
Zhang Shutong felt like he had found a kindred spirit.
They happened to stop in front of a toy store. The two of them looked at the Transformers models inside the display case together: "Wow, the paint on this one is good... By the way, Shutong, why did you bring her?"
"I saw that she was alone at home... But look, the mold lines are a bit obvious."
"Did you two come together?" Qingyi, however, didn't let him change the subject, and his expression became even stranger.
"...We had a driver take us." For the sake of Teacher Song's image, Zhang Shutong omitted him.
"But aren't your two houses too far apart?"
"The driver picked her up first and then picked me up."
"Then that driver is very enthusiastic."
"...Indeed."
Who knew that as soon as he said that, Qingyi would show a smug smile: "You've completely given yourself away, Shutong. Did you spend the night at Gu Qiumian's house?"
"How did you figure that out?" Zhang Shutong sniffed himself in confusion. Was he marinated by her just by staying with her for one night?
"When I asked, 'Did you two come together?' the answer could only be yes or no, but you brought up the driver, and that's not right. When you combine that with the phone call last night, it's pretty obvious."
"...Yes, but it was because of the rain."
"What exactly happened last night?" This was the good thing about mystery buffs. They cared more about the truth than gossip.
Zhang Shutong then briefly explained. Qingyi thought for a moment. "I get it. You were still worried about her, weren't you?"
"Yeah, just call me an overthinker."
"There's nothing wrong with being careful. After all, a man's..."
"Stop!"
"This is the first time I've seen you care so much about a girl." Qingyi seamlessly switched to gossip mode.
"..."
This was really hard to answer. On the surface, it was true, but the essence was a hundred thousand miles off. He was about to pretend he didn't hear him, but then he suddenly remembered a person from the past. So Zhang Shutong nodded faintly: "For now, you can think of it that way."
It was Qingyi's turn to be speechless.
The most powerful Autobot in the cabinet was, of course, Optimus Prime. The two of them studied it for a while before Qingyi spoke: "But from the way the police are handling it, the commercial street issue should be resolved. Even if they still hate her family, they have to hold it in."
"Pretty much."
"So you brought her out because you're still worried about her," Qingyi added gleefully. "Don't sigh yet. I'm one thing, but you'll have an even bigger headache when Ruoping gets here. You have to be prepared for that when you bring someone out."
Zhang Shutong was tired: "What kind of grudge do those two have?"
"That's too obscure of a question. Let's change the topic."
"What are we eating for lunch?"
"Do you think we get to decide?"
"Right."
"I found that you really do want to solve a case, Shutong."
"That's right."
"Then did you find anything during that entire night?"
Zhang Shutong didn't know if low blood sugar counted. He thought for a moment: "Actually, there's a discovery that isn't really a discovery. I found it this morning when I was washing the plates."
"What?"
"I'm not very sure now." Zhang Shutong said thoughtfully. "Let's discuss it—"
"It should be a question about physics," the mall building was now bustling with people, and the sound of their chatter was deafening. The ceiling was four or five meters high, and the LED light tubes cast pools of light on the white marble floor. "Let's assume it's night, and it's raining. Sometimes there are flashes of lightning. It's around 7 p.m. It's already dark, and we're inside the house, where the lights are very bright."
He breathed onto the toy store's glass and tapped it with his knuckles: "This is the window."
Then he pointed to the cabinet across from him: "This is the lawn outside."
"I get it. You're talking about Gu Qiumian's house. Go on."
Finally, Zhang Shutong pointed to the powerful Optimus Prime, but he realized that he was holding Gu Qiumian's bag in that hand, so he switched hands: "Now, imagine that it's a dead dog. Tell me, if this dog is lying motionless on the lawn, should we be able to see it?"
...
After walking out of the bathroom and around a corner, they were in the mall's main hall.
A beautiful girl in a green dress stood at the entrance of the hallway. She stopped and looked left and right, her eyebrows slightly furrowed. She seemed to have forgotten the way she came.
People were coming and going in front of her. There were old people, children, men, and women. A sea of unfamiliar faces.
At this moment, the world was chaotic. The lights were dazzling, and a buzzing sound filled her ears. Some people walked with hurried steps, some were relaxed, some had happy smiles on their faces, and some had their faces completely covered: It was a woman wearing sunglasses and a mask.
She seemed to have been observing for a long time. The woman quietly walked up behind Gu Qiumian, took something out, and reached forward with one hand—
__________________________________________________
Note
新桃舊符 (xīn táo jiù fú) : New Peach Old Talisman
秋雨綿綿 (qiū yǔ mián mián) : The endless autumn rain