The so-called "base" was a large drainage tunnel.
It had been abandoned for who knows how long, and one end was blocked. The sedimented mud inside had long since dried and hardened, and a few wild weeds stubbornly sprouted from it, shivering in the winter cold.
The cement-poured body of the tunnel was covered in cracks. In the most severe places, the concrete had peeled off, revealing rusty orange rebar.
Gu Qiumian followed Zhang Shutong into the drainage tunnel, curiously looking at the graffiti on both sides of the inner wall.
The young man crouched down in front of a safe and fumbled with it for a long time.
"You have a safe?" she asked in surprise.
"Du Kang found it."
"Then how do you know the password?"
"The lock was already broken, or else we wouldn't have found it." Zhang Shutong smiled and finally pulled a key out of a crack. "It's just a shell."
Gu Qiumian then realized that an extra padlock had been put on the safe.
The lock cylinder was a bit stiff. Zhang Shutong had to twist it for a while before it opened. He pulled the door open and took out two motorcycle helmets.
These two helmets also didn't come from a legitimate source. One was contributed by Qingyi, and the other was an old one that his dad had thrown away. He tapped the surface of the helmet with his knuckles, and the sound echoed in the drainage tunnel. He suddenly realized that many of the valuable things from his childhood were "garbage" that he had found.
So-called childhood is actually a beautiful shell that you construct for yourself because you haven't seen a bigger world, and it shatters with a single touch.
Who took these things home in the end?
Probably no one wanted them. They weren't even worth the effort of carrying. In the past eight years, he had completely forgotten about their secret base. He thought that the safe had been left in this dark tunnel all along. As long as you didn't mind that it was garbage, it would silently wait for you here.
There were many other miscellaneous small objects in the safe: a military shovel, a combat knife, a broken digital watch, a few hair ties, a phone data cable... Some were useless, while some might be useful later. Anyway, this was their treasure box.
At this time, Gu Qiumian asked what they were going to eat for lunch, or if she should call Aunt Wu and go home to eat.
Zhang Shutong shook his head. He didn't want to go in the direction of the villa, and they had just drunk a big cup of milk tea, which was very filling.
After asking, he found out that Gu Qiumian wasn't hungry either. Zhang Shutong then suggested they go fishing, to let the young miss experience the fun of being an ordinary student like them.
He took out two sets of spare fishing gear from the safe—they could be missing anything else at the base, but not fishing rods. He then started threading the line and tying the hook.
Gu Qiumian was also eager to try, but the difference was that she just bent down to watch from the side and had no intention of doing it herself, waiting for Zhang Shutong to set it up for her.
"What about the bait?"
Gu Qiumian pointed out the key issue in one go, showing that she had a lot of talent for fishing.
Zhang Shutong said that there was ready-made bait. He used a military shovel. The moist soil by the water was a good place for earthworms to hibernate. In a little while, he had dug out a few of them. Zhang Shutong held them up for her to see, but Gu Qiumian immediately jumped back and stared at him, telling him to quickly take them away.
It turned out that she was afraid of earthworms. She was so timid.
What would she think if she knew that Du Kang dared to catch frogs with his bare hands?
Zhang Shutong looked around. They were in the wilderness. The light turned pale, and the wind blew in gusts, making a whooshing sound as it went into the drainage tunnel.
To be honest, it was a little creepy, but Gu Qiumian didn't say she wanted to go back. It seemed that he had underestimated her when he said she was timid just now.
Since he didn't see anyone, Zhang Shutong lowered his head and continued to fiddle with the fishing bait.
The two of them took out stools and finally sat down on the bank next to the drainage tunnel. He had also found two bags of compressed biscuits, which was a nice surprise. He threw one bag to Gu Qiumian and started fishing, eating a bite of milk tea and a bite of biscuit.
Although the wind was a bit cold, the water was a bit shallow, and there weren't many fish, Zhang Shutong felt that this was very cool. He couldn't resist taking a photo to show off to Qingyi.
But who would have known that the phone would fail at a crucial moment? The picture he sent was still circling, and all that was left was a message saying he was going fishing. The signal here was terrible.
"No, in the middle of the day, he actually took Gu Qiumian fishing?" Ruoping said in surprise.
"It's fine. I have some compressed biscuits I left behind. They won't go hungry." Qingyi said comfortingly. He turned sideways, showed her the chat history, and then sat back properly in the passenger seat.
"I'm not talking about the compressed biscuits. I'm talking about the fishing..."
"Isn't it very artistic to eat compressed biscuits while fishing? Do you want to eat Oreos instead?"
"What does it have to do with what you eat?" Ruoping said, exasperated. She was starting to feel sorry for Gu Qiumian now. "I mean, there are so many places to go. Who would take a girl to go fishing in the wild on the weekend? Forget about Gu Qiumian, I feel creeped out!"
"Shutong said that Gu Qiumian is very brave and wasn't scared."
Was it because she was brave?
Just as Ruoping was about to scold the two of them for being so clueless, the man in the driver's seat suddenly spoke:
"Alright, you guys calm down. You're making my head hurt. What do you want to eat for lunch?"
"Hot pot?" Ruoping's attention was immediately diverted.
"I just finished eating." Du Kang burped. "But I can eat a little more."
"Why don't we go find Shutong? I still have compressed biscuits." This was Qingyi.
The three of them were now in the Focus car. Meng Qingyi and Ruoping had just been picked up from the mall by their homeroom teacher. On the phone, he had said it was urgent, but after they got in the car, he was no longer in a hurry and asked them if they were hungry and wanted to go for a stroll first.
"No hot pot. We don't have enough time." Song Nanshan looked at his watch and refused. As for what the two boys said, he pretended not to hear. "Let's go eat a rice bowl with toppings at the school gate. My treat."
"So what's the urgent matter, Teacher?" Du Kang asked, grabbing the seat. He and Ruoping were in the back row.
"Help me move a few desks from the warehouse to the first-year classrooms," Song Nanshan said casually. "I originally wanted to arrange for you guys to go on Friday, but I forgot because of the Li Yipeng incident."
"You're amazing. You can even forget something like this." Du Kang gave a thumbs-up. "No wonder you suddenly wanted to treat us. You called us to do some manual labor?"
"What do you mean 'no wonder'? Do you think I don't treat you ingrates enough on a regular basis?" Song Nanshan laughed and scolded. "You think those meals are free? Who else would I ask to take the hit for me at a crucial moment?"
Ruoping, however, rolled her eyes: "Then why did you only call the three of us and not your favorite student? This is still favoritism."
His favorite student was naturally Zhang Shutong.
"Him," Song Nanshan paused and glanced at the young man in the passenger seat. "Shutong is fishing with Qiumian, isn't he? I figured I shouldn't interrupt their alone time."
The girl pretended to sigh, but she didn't have much of a problem with it. She just didn't want to lose the verbal battle.
Anyway, today's arrangements had long been a mess. Shutong had already replied to them from the mall, saying that their mission was complete and they could arrange their own time and not worry about him and Gu Qiumian.
She hurriedly asked what was going on, but Shutong said that there was a "big surprise" today. "Do you want to know now, or do you want to wait until the last moment to reveal the secret and have an unforgettable Saturday?"
The girl thought about it and chose the latter.
She also told him to be careful and not get carried away and mess things up.
The other party replied briefly, telling her not to worry and to enjoy the rest of the process.
But no one said that the "process" was going to the school to move desks, right?
What kind of unforgettable Saturday was this?
Oh, in a way, it was indeed unforgettable. Feng Ruoping was already numb and let them mess around.
So the girl simply rested her face in her hand and looked out the window without saying a word.
Du Kang was a restless person and asked Song Nanshan how many desks they were going to move and if they could finish in the afternoon. Song Nanshan thought for a moment and said, "About ten. Not many."
"You call that not many?" Du Kang's eyes widened. "It takes at least five minutes to run from the warehouse to the classroom building, right?"
"I didn't only call the three of you," Song Nanshan corrected himself. "There are other students I called to help."
"You should have said so earlier, Teacher." Du Kang breathed a sigh of relief.
"What if I told you earlier and you guys backed out?" Song Nanshan held the steering wheel with one hand and ruffled Qingyi's hair with the other. "And you, stop playing on your phone. You'll get car sick. Why are you always acting like an adult?"
Qingyi pushed the man's hand away in dissatisfaction. "I'm chatting with Shutong."
"Oh, how's he doing?"
"He hasn't replied. I was going to tell him that we're at school." Qingyi was puzzled. "Is his phone dead? That shouldn't be the case. Is the signal bad over there?"
"He probably just didn't see it. That kid is probably busy with his girl." Song Nanshan said comfortingly.
But before he could finish, his phone suddenly vibrated. The phone was on the center console. Du Kang was about to hand it to him, but he took it first, glanced at it, typed two words, and put it back in his pocket, continuing to drive.
Soon, the small car drove into the school gate. It was almost twelve o'clock.
The four of them had lunch together.
Since they were helping with manual labor, they naturally wanted to rip off their homeroom teacher. But the most luxurious thing at the rice bowl place was the braised beef rice. Du Kang, being unambitious, drank two bottles of soda and was so full he felt uncomfortable.
At this time, Song Nanshan told them to go to the classroom to rest for a while, as he had something else to do outside. He would be back soon to start moving the desks.
The few of them nodded and watched the small car drive out of the school gate again.
Du Kang then asked boredly what they should do next and what was going on with Shutong.
"He still hasn't replied." Qingyi shrugged. "Anyway, we planned everything before, so nothing can go wrong if we just follow the plan."
"Don't you think Mr. Song is a bit strange today?" Ruoping suddenly asked.
"What's wrong... burp," Du Kang said, holding his stomach.
"He told me on the phone that it was urgent and told me to hurry out of the mall to wait for him. Why isn't he in a hurry now, and why did he go out again?"
"Mr. Song said the same thing to me," Du Kang recalled. "I was at Gu Qiumian's place at the time. He suddenly showed up at the villa entrance and told me to get in the car."
"There's another thing that's not right," Ruoping added. "How did he know that Shutong and Gu Qiumian were together? Did you tell him?"
"I didn't either." Du Kang was confused. "I thought one of you told him?"
"Then how did he know?" Ruoping also became serious.
It was a pity that after she deduced for a long time, she waited for someone to agree with her, but the deduction maniac was silent.
Ruoping pushed Qingyi. The young man then came to his senses. "I was thinking about something else. What did you say?"
Ruoping repeated what she had said.
"Dumb," Qingyi sighed. "Can't Mr. Song just call Shutong himself?"
"But Shutong has no signal over there?"
"Shutong hadn't reached the base at that time. It was a matter of timing." He felt that this question was too stupid to explain. "Alright, don't focus on this. I'll take you to see something more interesting."
Saying that, Meng Qingyi led them to the bathroom. The two of them then remembered the names on the bathroom stalls.
Ruoping was still hesitant at the door. Du Kang said jokingly, "No one's here on Saturday, what are you afraid of? Besides, you're a tough girl. You're not afraid of anyone..."
So, Du Kang's other ear was also twisted.
The three of them came to the stalls, arguing and laughing. The lights in the school weren't on on Saturday, so the light came in from the small square windows, and the bathroom was a bit dim.
Qingyi shone his phone's flashlight on it:
"We still have no clue about the person who did this."
Ruoping pinched her nose. She was a bit nervous about being in a men's bathroom for the first time. "So you have a lead?"
Qingyi just smiled. "Have you two noticed that this matter is actually very similar to the arson case?"
"What do you mean?"
"They both have a so-called mastermind."
Ruoping thought he had made an important discovery and said speechlessly:
"There's no comparison between these two things. One is a revenge plot at school, and the other is trying to burn someone's house down. To put it bluntly, one is a small-time prank, and the other is a matter of life and death. How can they be linked together?"
"But what if the link between these two things is very close, or even indispensable?" Qingyi raised his eyebrows.
"How are they linked?"
Qingyi, however, changed the subject:
"Now you two, think about a question, just for a mental game this afternoon. Please tell me—why did the pig liver man suddenly not show up on Friday?"
"Something happened at home?" Du Kang didn't even think about it.
"Wrong."
"He suddenly got scared?" Ruoping interjected.
"Still wrong."
"Then why?"
"Because the pig liver man never intended to go from the beginning," Qingyi said with certainty. "If he really wanted to go, he wouldn't have used a method of not revealing his identity to gather people on the commercial street."
"Wait, what kind of motive is that?" Du Kang was a little disappointed.
"Don't underestimate this motive. He wanted to completely exonerate himself from the beginning."
Qingyi spread his hands:
"Another hint: Shutong told me at noon that according to the five arsonists, the six of them had originally agreed to act on Saturday night. Since they didn't know who each other was, they were afraid of being betrayed by their companions, so they agreed that all six had to be there."
"I get it," Ruoping was smarter than Du Kang. "Are you saying that the pig liver man never intended to go from the beginning, but if he didn't, his companions wouldn't have agreed? Is that what you mean?"
"Exactly. The question is, why did the five arsonists still go without all of them being there?"
"I know this!" Du Kang answered. "Because Li Yipeng's mom let it slip! They were afraid of spooking the enemy and causing Gu Qiumian's dad to come back early. If they missed this opportunity, they didn't know when the next one would be, and the commercial street was about to be demolished, so they just went, regardless of whether everyone was there or not."
"Correct answer." Qingyi snapped his fingers. "That's exactly what happened. The mastermind, or the pig liver man, used this method to completely exonerate himself."
"But that's not right," Du Kang said in confusion. "You just said that the pig liver man never intended to go from the beginning. But if he hadn't had the lucky chance of running into Li Yipeng, wouldn't he still have to go on Saturday?"
"That's why I said this is the most brilliant part of the case." Qingyi said excitedly. "It's almost like what I read in books. That's right. On the surface, it was Li Yipeng seeking revenge on Gu Qiumian first, which led to his mother being called and letting it slip that someone was planning revenge. Then the arsonists acted ahead of time. You could say it was a chain reaction caused by a series of unexpected events, but what if I told you not to see Li Yipeng's revenge as a sudden event, but to work backward from the result and see it as something that was premeditated?"
Ruoping was stunned:
"Are you saying that even Li Yipeng's mom was part of the pig liver man's plan?"
Qingyi didn't answer the question. Instead, he took a breath with a look of intoxication and suddenly started to cough, but he still forced himself to say word by word:
"Everyone, this culprit is much, much smarter and more cunning than you or I could ever imagine."