Zhang Shutong put away his phone. He would deal with his mother later. The most urgent thing right now was the conflict between the two girls.
—Ruoping could be a little temperamental at times, but she always knew the difference between a major and a minor issue. He just needed to explain the Gu family's situation, and it would be fine. What he was worried about was Gu Qiumian. He couldn't even guess what she was going to say. This was a genuine young lady. It was impossible for her to take the initiative to reconcile. It was very likely that she would say in an overbearing tone: "Why can't I be here?" Or, more bluntly: "My family owns this mall, shouldn't you be the one to leave?"
Zhang Shutong was sure that Ruoping would turn around and leave. That would really ruin things.
He had to extinguish the fuse before it was lit. But as soon as Zhang Shutong took a step, the two girls said in unison: "Don't say anything!"
Then they looked away and stared into each other's eyes.
Then Zhang Shutong saw Gu Qiumian walk in front of him. She opened her pink lips, and what came out was not some overbearing words, but... "I'll hold it." Only these four light words, and they were spoken to Zhang Shutong.
Zhang Shutong then looked down at his hand. He was holding a bag—the one she had forced into his hand before she went to the bathroom. Zhang Shutong had forgotten about it himself. Gu Qiumian took the bag from his hand nonchalantly and slung it back over her arm. Then she calmly brushed her hair, even though it wasn't messy at all, and a composed aura suddenly emanated from her.
There was no other communication besides this.
But just these four words seemed to have decided the outcome. It was as if that bag was a very important prop, and whoever could get it would win.
Ruoping's gaze was still on that bag. She hadn't noticed it just now. The girl blinked, then looked at Zhang Shutong in shock and silently opened her mouth: So fast? Judging from her mouth shape, it should have been these words.
Then Ruoping sighed. She had always been the leader among the group, a woman of her word. But this time, it was as if her little brother was suddenly making a fuss about marrying a certain girl. Even though their gang had been at odds with this girl's family for a long time, the two of them had already made a clean break. Could they really be forced to separate?
She could only swallow her anger and admit defeat: "Welcome." Ruoping squeezed the words out from between her teeth.
—This was the confrontation between women. Zhang Shutong was amazed.
But he knew Gu Qiumian had cheated—that bag was not proof of some kind of relationship. It was just that her hands were empty when she went to the bathroom. But Ruoping had no idea about the cause and effect. In her eyes, it probably meant that their relationship had reached a level where he would carry her bag for her, and she had made up a whole story in her mind.
Zhang Shutong wanted to say that he would have carried the bag for her if she went to the bathroom too, but in a way, this solution was good, so he willingly got tied to Gu Qiumian's war chariot and pretended not to see it.
What a brilliant tactic.
Who said Gu Qiumian was stupid?
Zhang Shutong complained that Teacher Song's judgment was terrible. This girl was not stupid at all. But what happened next was unexpected. Gu Qiumian walked over to Ruoping. He thought she was going to give a winner's speech, but Miss Gu put the chocolate her mother had given her into Ruoping's hand and said softly: "I was wrong about what happened before. Let's eat it together."
Only then did Zhang Shutong remember that the reason the two of them had a falling out was because of a bag of chocolates.
They were only thirteen or fourteen back then, in their first or second year of middle school. Ruoping took the initiative to bring a bag of chocolate coins and shared them with Gu Qiumian. Unfortunately, Gu Qiumian wasn't impressed and politely declined. Of course, it wasn't that she looked down on people. She simply didn't like cocoa butter substitute chocolate. On the contrary, she even took the initiative to bring a bunch of high-end chocolates the next day. Maybe she had the idea of making friends, but she could distinguish between different kinds of chocolate but couldn't guess what was on other people's minds, which backfired and hurt Ruoping a lot.
The result was that a group of people treated Gu Qiumian like she didn't exist. She also felt bad about it, but how could a young lady take that kind of treatment? After school, she ran to the back of the classroom with red-rimmed eyes and threw all the chocolates away.
Her cold war with Ruoping had continued for all these years.
But why did Gu Qiumian suddenly change her mind? Leaving aside who was right or wrong, Zhang Shutong didn't think she would take the initiative to apologize to someone, but in fact, he didn't hear a hint of reluctance in her tone. It sounded like she wanted to make up.
Ruoping was also a little surprised. She responded to kindness but not to toughness. She was so flustered that her face was a little red. She also apologized in a low voice and took the initiative to open the chocolate and break it in half.
Zhang Shutong watched the two of them make up with relief, but Ruoping glared at him: "Why are you acting like nothing happened? Do you think this has nothing to do with you?"
"How is it my fault now?" Zhang Shutong was confused.
"It was a conflict between me and Qiumian, but why did you have to show off and help her out? When she offered you the chocolate, you should have just eaten it. Was I the one who told you not to?"
Hearing this, Zhang Shutong remembered. It was his turn to be on duty after school that day. Gu Qiumian didn't just throw the chocolates away. She first asked him if he wanted some. He felt he couldn't "prioritize beauty over friendship," so he shook his head and refused.
Zhang Shutong knew that she wasn't really blaming him. She was just a little embarrassed and was taking it out on him to help her new friend. He could see that she had already started calling her "Qiumian." The leader of the group, of course, would take it out on the little brother first.
Zhang Shutong was happy to be the scapegoat, and he also felt that his emotional intelligence back then was a little low, which only intensified the conflict. So he smiled, nodded, and apologized, giving Ruoping an out.
The atmosphere became relaxed. The four of them agreed to go to the supermarket inside the mall next.
Ruoping was quite sensible. After eating the chocolate, she went to chat with Qingyi. Before she left, she glanced at him. Zhang Shutong knew that she was saying that things were fine between her and Gu Qiumian, but she still had to "discuss" some things with him.
The two of them walked in front. Zhang Shutong and Gu Qiumian walked behind. Zhang Shutong gave a thumbs up to Qiu Yu Mian Mian in admiration, but Miss Gu just rolled her eyes: "Do you think I wanted to admit I was wrong?"
"Then what was that for?"
Unfortunately, there was no more to the story.
Gu Qiumian then said angrily, "I still have a score to settle with you. Why didn't you take my chocolate back then?"
Zhang Shutong could only apologize. But she seemed to just be complaining and didn't really mean it. She quickly found a new point of interest: "Your mother is so young."
"She's alright."
"Then was my attitude toward Auntie just now not very good?"
"It's fine. She's a very big-hearted person." Zhang Shutong said casually.
"Oh, you're so..." She stomped her foot and huffed, "But your mother told me all about your childhood."
"What did she tell you?" Zhang Shutong was surprised.
"That you can't cook."
"That's fine. What else?"
"That you're a crybaby."
"That's not true." Zhang Shutong said with a dark face. "Did she say anything else?"
He was very worried that his mother had accidentally let something slip—to use Qingyi's words, a secret that a man must protect—his nickname. Even his best friends didn't know about this. After he started middle school, he had an agreement with his mother that she would either call him "son" or his name.
It wasn't that he was ashamed of the nickname "Tongtong." It was that he knew if they found out, they would dare to call him "Tongtong," especially Ruoping. He suddenly understood how Mianmian herself felt back then.
Zhang Shutong really wanted to know. He asked what else they talked about, but Gu Qiumian imitated his usual tone and said with a cold face: "It's a secret."
"What's there to keep a secret about?"
"Because you always say that when I ask you questions."
Zhang Shutong thought to himself, "Is that the same thing? I keep secrets to find a murderer. What are you keeping a secret for?"
They soon reached the supermarket entrance. Zhang Shutong casually grabbed a shopping cart and pushed it. The wheels of the shopping cart rumbled on the small tiles. It was crowded today, and in the blink of an eye, Qingyi and Ruoping had disappeared.
"What did you guys come to buy today?" Gu Qiumian asked curiously.
"Just to pick out some snacks as a gift. It mainly depends on what Du Kang likes."
He looked around, and the first thing that came into view were the promotional items: laundry detergent, milk, and so on. Speaking of which, Zhang Shutong had thought his mother had come to buy things, but he hadn't seen anything in her hands.
Speaking of which, his mother had another brilliant tactic—She took the snack from Ruoping's hand not because she was really hungry, but because she saw that there were three of them, and it would be awkward to split them between four people.
He felt that his mother had an incredibly sharp mind. He also wondered if all women would become so shrewd, just like Gu Qiumian's performance just now, her tactics were also excellent. Zhang Shutong quickly shook his head, realizing that he had been so influenced by Teacher Song recently that he was also talking about women all the time. It was better to just focus on shopping at the supermarket.
Zhang Shutong didn't usually shop at big supermarkets. When he did, he was only responsible for pushing the cart. In the past, his mother would be in front. Then it was Ruoping. But today, it was another woman.
Gu Qiumian pulled the cart and walked to one side. When Zhang Shutong was a little slow, she wasn't happy. So he simply pushed the cart with one hand and typed with the other. It was with Qingyi. It seemed the other person was also a little bored.
They were still talking about the nanny.
"I just explained it to Ruoping. She said she was inexplicably unhappy with you, but you know that Ruoping can always tell what's important. She said she'll definitely help if anything happens."
"That's good. Just be mentally prepared."
"Got it, got it. That's why we deliberately gave you two some alone time."
"I don't mean that kind of mental preparation. I'm talking about the case."
"You're still going to investigate?"
"Maybe. I might have to be busy today."
"You can ask Gu Qiumian if her nanny is from the island or not."
"I heard her accent." Zhang Shutong replied. "She's not from the local area. But this way of thinking is a bit wrong."
"How so?"
"Trying to analyze her motive is too difficult. We can't find out about her origin, who she has a grudge against, or what caused it. All we can do is be on guard, or use the process of elimination."
Just as he was about to give a long speech, Qiu Yu Mian Mian kept asking him if he wanted to eat this or that. It was like a light rain in his ears. Zhang Shutong looked up and found that they had already reached the snack section.
Now, one of them was pushing the cart, and the other was walking beside it. Based on Zhang Shutong's limited understanding of women, they were always inspired to buy things by the dazzling shelves.
Gu Qiumian picked up a tube of potato chips and turned around to ask: "Do you want to eat this?"
It was actually Pringles. He felt like he hadn't seen this in years. Zhang Shutong just shook his head. "Du Kang doesn't like the ones in tubes."
"Who asked about him?" Gu Qiumian wrinkled her nose. "I'm asking you."
"I'm fine with anything."
"Why are you so 'fine with anything'?" Gu Qiumian threw the potato chips into the cart and took a bag of milk cookies. "How about this?"
"It's not good."
"You just said you liked sweet things." She said in dissatisfaction, putting the cookies back on the shelf. It seemed she wasn't asking him as an excuse to get them for herself; she really wanted to know what he liked.
Zhang Shutong was thinking about when he had said he liked sweet things.
Oh, he seemed to have said it. It was on the first day they were deskmates. He borrowed her test paper, and she gave him a bag of savory cheese crackers. He asked if he could get a sweet one instead, and she said she didn't bring any.
He didn't expect her to remember that all this time.
Zhang Shutong then said, "Don't ask me. See if there's anything you like." But Miss Gu said, "My family has plenty. I'm just enjoying the fun of shopping." Then she took a card out of her bag: "I even brought my card. You can't just let me not spend money."
Zhang Shutong said, "You're so strange. Why are you trying to buy me things?"
Gu Qiumian said, "You're the one who's strange. Why don't you want me to buy things for you?"
"Wait, how did this turn into buying things for me?"
"I told you I don't like owing people favors. You have to take it even if you don't want to. How about I take you to the third floor? There seems to be a men's clothing store there?"
"...Let's just buy some food."
Today's script was truly strange. He had asked her out because she was alone at home, but how had it turned into a young lady taking him shopping?
He lowered his head and continued to text Qingyi. But Gu Qiumian glared at him and said, "Oh, why are you so busy?" When she said "oh," it was very funny. Her tone was unwilling but also soft, and you might have thought she was being coquettish if you didn't know any better.
Zhang Shutong couldn't stand this. He put away his phone and followed her. After a few times of asking, Gu Qiumian gave up on him and changed her strategy. So most of the time, she would just ask one word: "Eat?"
And Zhang Shutong could only nod or shake his head. She would then either put it back on the shelf or throw it into the shopping cart.
Soon, the shopping cart was full, and Gu Qiumian also quickly came across the first thing she wanted to eat. She actually stood in front of a bag of spicy strips and blinked. It seemed that a young lady had never encountered this kind of commoner food.
"If you want to eat it, just grab it."
"I can't eat spicy food these days."
"Oh." Zhang Shutong understood.
While she was still debating, Zhang Shutong took out his phone to reply to a message.
"I think you should just tell her dad about the nanny. Do you have her dad's contact information?" This was from Qingyi.
"If I still can't rule her out, I'll find a way to tell him."
"What do you mean?"
"She has a good relationship with the nanny." Zhang Shutong knew that her mother had passed away, and maybe that auntie was one of the few people who could give her a mother's affection. "But once you tell her dad, no matter if the nanny is suspicious or not, she can no longer be by Gu Qiumian's side. So I want to try to rule her out myself first."
"You're starting to go soft."
Was he?
Zhang Shutong looked up and happened to hear Gu Qiumian ask very seriously, "Do they have non-spicy strips?"
"Are you stupid?" he said helplessly.
"You're the one who's stupid." She glared. "You can't even tell I'm joking."
He was sorry that he had no sense of humor.
"Don't let your guard down." Zhang Shutong continued to type. "The person I'm most worried about right now isn't the nanny. It's someone else."
"Who?"
"I just feel like there's someone else."
"That's a bit of an exaggeration."
While typing, Zhang Shutong walked to the deli section and saw Gu Qiumian picking up a large piece of braised pork liver and putting it in the shopping cart. He also subconsciously repeated: "That's a bit of an exaggeration, isn't it?"
Why would she buy such a big piece of pork liver?
"I want to eat it, and I'll share some with you." Zhang Shutong thought about that image: the two of them each gnawing on a piece of pork liver. It was a beautiful image indeed.
"You said you can't cook, didn't you?" Gu Qiumian explained unwillingly.
Without waiting for Zhang Shutong to understand, she moved on to the next area. She walked with her hands behind her back, occasionally tiptoeing. Her skirt fluttered, and her feet seemed to be tapping to a cheerful rhythm. Zhang Shutong quickly pushed the cart to catch up. Miss Gu then pointed to some cocktails: "Do you want to drink this?"
"You can't drink."
"Hmph."
At this moment, his phone vibrated: "Besides setting things on fire, are they also going to kill someone?" Qingyi teased.
You're right. Zhang Shutong replied: "So I'm waiting for a phone call now."
"From who?"
"From the police station. The statement should be ready soon. I'll take different actions based on the results."
"Then I suddenly have an idea."
Qingyi's idea was quite long. Zhang Shutong waited for a long time without a reply. If Gu Qiumian saw him, she would get upset again. Zhang Shutong quickly put away his phone.
Sometimes even he felt that his current experience was surreal. You're wandering around a supermarket with a beautiful girl. She's ferociously collecting snacks, and just thinking about how you're going to carry them all back is a headache... But you can't refuse, because she's buying them for you.
Maybe this is a scene that he'll remember years later. You're 16, pushing a shopping cart with this genuine young lady, walking through every area of the supermarket. She has a super VIP card that can max out the supermarket's POS machine, and she's struggling with whether she can eat spicy strips... Although the supermarket isn't big, and they're not in the city's commercial district, the surroundings are noisy and crowded, the shopping cart's wheels are a bit stuck, and a light above their heads flickers.
Sometimes he would forget that it was a cold winter outside, with no flowers or trees, but as long as she smiled, the youthful atmosphere here would be overflowing.
But at the same time, they were in great danger. From the side, the girl's small nose was turned up, and her eyelashes were fluttering. She must be in a very good mood, but he knew that her young life would end in a few days.
At this moment, he remembered Teacher Song's words again, roughly saying that the beautiful girl had drawn a grimace on the car window last night, which meant she was in a good mood.
Just a few days ago, when the castle was smashed, she had a cold expression, and a group of people tried to cheer her up, but she didn't even smile.
But now she was excitedly jumping in front of the shelves, occasionally looking back—to check if he was chatting with someone else; if he was, she would complain and say "oh, oh, oh"... which was a handful; if he wasn't, she would go over to her little underling. Zhang Shutong watched her run from in front of him to behind him, from his left to his right, holding all kinds of food, not knowing what she was busy with.
But the girl who stood in front of the bun stall and said with a calm and stubborn expression, "If I eat it, I'll be defeated," seemed to have gone far away.
Although there was no glass for her to mess with right now, Zhang Shutong felt that she must be in a very good mood. He was also willing to go along with her.
It was an underling's duty to protect the young lady. Time would keep flowing. After they get through this weekend, he, the underling, should retire and go back home.
But he could never let his guard down until the very last moment.
Zhang Shutong finally got a call from Song Nanshan. He picked up his phone, spoke quickly for two sentences, and his eyebrows furrowed little by little. As he thought, it was exactly what he had suspected.
There was someone else involved.
His phone buzzed again, and Qingyi's idea finally came: "We can kidnap Gu Qiumian and test her nanny's reaction."
"..."
Zhang Shutong sent a series of ellipses in the midst of his busyness.
He finally hung up the phone—just before Gu Qiumian turned her head.
Zhang Shutong sighed. He leaned on the shopping cart, his hand resting on his face, looking at the hair tie swinging in the girl's hair: "The plan has changed."
At the same time, he sent this message to the small group chat of four.
"What plan?" Du Kang suddenly appeared.
A plan is a plan. It's a very awesome thing. I can't explain it either.
Zhang Shutong thought this, and he didn't know how to answer. A girl had just told him that he had no sense of humor, but he was not lacking in chuunibyou tendencies: "The Operation of the Goddess of Fate?"
"I think it's more like The Operation of Pursuing the Young Lady." Ruoping mocked.
"That works too. A name is just a name."
"I think it should be called 'The Operation of the Goddess of Fate in Charge of Miss Gu's Future.'" Qingyi combined the two.
"Then that's it." His nine-key keyboard was moving quickly. "Sorry, everyone. I have to occupy your rest time now."
"What's going on?" Only the birthday boy was still clueless.
"What's going on is—" He was about to type out a very cool sentence, but unfortunately, Gu Qiumian was also asking: "What do you mean? Aren't you buying a gift for your classmate?"
She was the one who was the most protected.
"It means that I don't like owing people favors either." Zhang Shutong pointed to the things filling the shopping cart.
So, in other words. No matter what, this weekend;
You're not going to die—