When they came out of the rice bowl restaurant, it was around 6:20 PM.
Zhang Shutong had always been casual about eating. He ordered the shredded pork with green peppers. As expected, Gu Qiumian ordered the sweet and sour pork.
He couldn't imagine what sweet and sour sauce poured over rice would taste like.
Their appetites were surprisingly similar—this was another surprising thing. She had said she felt terrible from being too full in the afternoon, but she actually added an extra chicken leg during dinner. Of course, she left some rice, but she ate all the meat.
Zhang Shutong had a sudden feeling that such a high-spirited girl must be a meat-eater.
"Let's go watch a movie," he suggested.
Gu Qiumian was carefully wiping her lips. "Where's the movie theater?"
"The school."
"You want to watch it on the projector?"
"Yes."
Zhang Shutong felt that he had really wronged this young miss today. He was not a very competent sidekick. She had followed him to eat a lunch that wasn't really lunch, fished for half an afternoon, slept in a nail salon, and even the most important dinner was solved with a rice bowl with toppings.
The sweet and sour pork was not made well either. The outer shell was no longer crispy and was soft after being coated in the sauce.
Zhang Shutong didn't know much about romance, but he subconsciously felt that on this remote island with no nightlife, no KTV, no bars, and no movie theaters, the Saturday holiday should end in a better way.
Only then would it be complete.
So he led Gu Qiumian towards the school, but Gu Qiumian still wanted to buy some food on the way. How could you watch a movie without popcorn and soda?
Zhang Shutong really wanted to say, first, there's no place selling popcorn near our school; second, you're really treating this like a movie theater; third, didn't you just finish eating?
He analyzed these three questions from a rational point of view, but if the young miss listened to his analysis, she wouldn't be a young miss. Or rather, if a sidekick could offer advice, he should be a strategist.
Gu Qiumian said it would be more atmospheric that way. The school's facilities were already shabby enough, so why couldn't she make up for it from other places?
Okay, he actually felt that she had a point.
But there really was no place selling popcorn near the school. He looked at his phone, which was about to die, and advised Gu Qiumian not to waste her energy, but she said she could definitely find some. "Want to make a bet?"
Zhang Shutong was not a person who liked to bet, except for when he was sure to win, so he nodded nonchalantly and accepted the bet.
Then Gu Qiumian never mentioned buying anything again.
At that time, he was still wondering, was she trying to lose to him on purpose?
They entered the school. There was no security guard at night. The electric gate could be pushed to the side, and a person could squeeze through.
Gu Qiumian easily walked through the gate, but she didn't go to the classroom. Instead, she went straight to the library.
Zhang Shutong watched in a daze as she found a hidden backup energy source—a large pile of snacks—from a locked cabinet in the library.
"Who doesn't have a base?" she hummed.
Zhang Shutong was one step behind and lost.
On the way back to the classroom building, she kept chanting, "You lost. Don't forget you owe me a wish."
Zhang Shutong couldn't remember owing anyone a wish, so he just pretended not to hear her.
The classroom door was also not locked, which wasn't strange. He told Gu Qiumian to sit down, and he went to adjust the projector. The computer was very slow and was still running on an XP system. He clicked on a folder, and inside were some very old movies. Teacher Song had downloaded them in advance, telling them to watch more foreign blockbusters to practice their sense of language.
Zhang Shutong found a movie called "Godzilla" and couldn't figure out for a long time how listening to this lizard roar could train his sense of language. Was it "Godzilla language"? Or was it that the homeroom teacher wanted to watch it himself?
He asked Gu Qiumian if this was okay, but Gu Qiumian refused no matter what. She had just eaten and had regained her energy, and her bright, beautiful eyes started to glare again.
It was a pity that the classroom lights were off, so Zhang Shutong couldn't see her expression very clearly.
He thought, "Of course, girls are usually not interested in monster movies." So he picked a few more artistic ones. First, he asked, "Is 'Gone with the Wind' okay?"
"Too long. It's four hours."
"How about 'Forrest Gump'?"
"No, who wants to watch a fool."
"'Titanic'?"
"Can you stop picking tragedies?"
Then Zhang Shutong was at his wit's end.
The young miss complained that he was useless and went up herself. She walked to the projector, and the faint light from the computer screen reflected on her face, making her eyes sparkle:
"This one!"
In just one second, the young miss pointed her finger and made the final decision.
Zhang Shutong took a closer look, and it was actually "Roman Holiday":
"Isn't this also a tragedy?"
He hadn't seen it, but he had learned about the plot summary when he was a translator. It was about a real princess and her sidekick who met in a single day.
The male protagonist was a poor reporter who accidentally found the princess sleeping on a bench and kindly took her home, thinking she was just an ordinary girl.
But after he found out her identity, in order to get an exclusive scoop and make a fortune, he pretended to run into her again and became the princess's tour guide, or rather, her sidekick, with a hidden agenda.
The two of them strolled through Rome for a whole day. The two people who had never met before developed feelings for each other. The ending was also classic: lovers would eventually part. How could a poor boy be with a real princess?
So at the end of the film, the runaway princess returned to her palace, and the male protagonist stood in the audience as a reporter, attending a press conference with a large group of his colleagues.
But at this time, the sidekick knew that the girl in front of him was no longer the little girl who needed his company, but a real princess.
In the end, he returned the secretly taken photos and slowly walked out of the palace, but he never waited for the princess to stop him.
Zhang Shutong hadn't seen this movie, but he was generally familiar with it. He reminded Gu Qiumian that the ending would not be very good, but Gu Qiumian just rolled her eyes and said, "This is the one."
The two of them returned to their seats and waited for the movie to start. He originally wanted to choose a seat near the front, but Gu Qiumian insisted on returning to her seat by the window and even pulled Zhang Shutong to sit next to her. Zhang Shutong was very confused. Usually, it was fine, but since no one else was here tonight, wasn't the middle the best viewing spot? Why did she have to return to the original spot?
But his identity now was a sidekick. The second purpose of the Goddess of Fate who controls the young miss's destiny is to protect her mood, and he had to follow her wishes for today only.
The main feature began quickly.
The pace of old movies was usually slow, and it was sometimes difficult to concentrate. Zhang Shutong would sometimes look out the window and feel that this was an unreal experience.
He had never thought that he would spend this night like this. They were in a silent classroom at night, with the lights off. The projector shot out a colorful beam of light, shining on the screen.
But their school's equipment was really bad. Even though he was mentally prepared, Zhang Shutong didn't expect the film to be so blurry. He thought, "Of course. It's hard to see the slides clearly on a sunny day, so how can it be compared to a real movie theater, not to mention the audio-visual room in the villa?" He had been so confident when he said he would take her to watch a "movie," but now he felt a little hot in the face.
He turned his head and saw that the girl next to him was quietly lying on the desk, staring at the screen without blinking.
She really loved watching movies.
Zhang Shutong was a little impressed with this hobby. He himself found it a bit difficult to get into this kind of old movie. "Roman Holiday" was released in 1953. It was now 2012. If you do the math, it had already passed its 59th birthday, older than their parents.
But a classic is a classic. He rested his chin on his hand and watched nonchalantly, noticing that the filming locations in the movie were the real city of Rome: the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Mouth of Truth, the Castel Sant'Angelo... Even though the projector's picture quality was terrible, you could still feel the ubiquitous romance and elegance through the black-and-white screen.
In comparison, his itinerary today was so crude that it made him feel ashamed:
A large supermarket that dared to call itself a mall with only three floors, a clothing store on the third floor selling old-fashioned clothes, a desolate commercial street and instant milk tea, a creepy wilderness and compressed biscuits... Even the vehicles couldn't be compared. The princess in the movie rode a beautiful small motorcycle, while the two of them rode bicycles that made their butts hurt from the bumps. In comparison, he was a truly incompetent sidekick compared to the male protagonist in the movie.
Maybe this was a subtle warning from the young miss? Zhang Shutong thought jokingly. He felt that his thoughts were a bit cluttered, but Gu Qiumian was watching very seriously from beginning to end and didn't say a word.
After about ten minutes, the two protagonists went to the Mouth of Truth—which was actually a wall with a bas-relief of Poseidon. The legend says that if you put your hand in, a liar's hand would be eaten.
The princess felt a little guilty because she had concealed her identity from the sidekick. In fact, the male protagonist also lied. He had known for a long time that the girl was a princess and was acting as a sidekick with a hidden agenda.
Zhang Shutong then thought, "Fortunately, there's no such annoying place on the island." In a way, he also lied today. He had kept this secret from this girl for a day, accompanying her everywhere. Even though he tried his best, he still wasn't sure if he had succeeded, but she never asked.
Just like the princess in the movie, maybe most girls know that fairy tales are fake, but they are willing to believe that they are real.
You weave a dream for her, and even if it looks full of flaws, as long as you don't deliberately break it, she will willingly jump into it.
Zhang Shutong felt that he had heard similar words somewhere. After thinking about it, it was Teacher Song who said it. On that rainy night, they were in the Focus car, and the man, who was a master at chasing girls, said with a confident face:
"Do you think they don't know? Wrong. They are willing."
And the reason?
It's because they are silly.
Zhang Shutong couldn't help but glance at Gu Qiumian, secretly wondering if she was silly or not, when he heard the girl suddenly ask:
"Do you think they will end up together?"
The good thing about watching a movie here was that you could discuss it freely without worrying about disturbing others:
"Didn't you know the ending?"
"But I want to hear what you have to say."
Before he could speak, Gu Qiumian said again:
"Think about it before you say it."
"No, they won't," Zhang Shutong thought carefully.
"Is it because a princess and a poor boy can't be together?" Although she herself was a young miss, she said unhappily, "You're so realistic."
"It's not about being realistic."
Zhang Shutong turned his head. At this time, the movie scene changed, and the two were dancing at a ball, each wearing a false mask:
"Because neither of them is pure. Look, one is a princess but doesn't say so, and the other wants to exchange a scoop for fame and fortune."
"What if there's a reason she couldn't say it?" she asked, staring at the screen. "What if the princess told the reporter that she was a princess, and he had other ideas? She didn't know his attitude. In fact... she didn't want to be disappointed."
Zhang Shutong was a bit silent when he heard this. He wanted to say, "If she doesn't say it, who would know?" But wasn't this a story of a missed opportunity?
In fact, both protagonists knew that this day would end sooner or later.
This Oscar-winning film was actually about one thing from beginning to end:
If you know that something will inevitably come to an end and the result cannot be changed, what would you do?
If they hadn't spent this day together, they wouldn't have had the idea of being honest with each other.
But it was because they spent this day together that they used all their most valuable time on it, and by the time they wanted to be honest, it was already too late. At that time, the princess had already returned to her palace, and the short "Roman Holiday" was over.
The sidekick was no longer a sidekick. He returned to his position and was still the poor reporter.
Zhang Shutong was impressed by "Roman Holiday," but he was not sure if it was Gu Qiumian's brilliance or the movie's brilliance. The former could find a movie with a thought-provoking plot in one second, while the latter had spanned fifty-nine years. It told you:
Maybe some things are wrong when you say them, but some things, if you don't say them, you'll never have the chance to again.
"So I have something I want to tell you..." Gu Qiumian said in a low voice.
Zhang Shutong nodded, indicating that he was listening, but she didn't say anything else. After a moment, she said, "Let's wait until the movie is over..."
"Okay."
Zhang Shutong didn't rush her.
He took out his phone and looked at it again. It was a little after seven o'clock. The duration of a movie was usually around two hours. It wasn't even halfway through yet.
At this time, the iPhone had only one percent battery left. He confirmed the time one last time and then turned off his phone, putting aside all the cluttered thoughts and quietly watching the movie.
Time passed by, and on this quiet night, a figure appeared on the empty field below the classroom building.
Zhang Shutong saw that figure.
This movie was never finished.
And this was something he had known for a long time.
So Zhang Shutong gently pushed Gu Qiumian and told her to look down.
It was completely dark outside now. A few small buildings in the distance had their lights on. Further away was the black mountain. The night was also slowly seeping into the classroom. Everything was enveloped in it. The girl in the dark asked:
"Is that him?"
"Yes, that's him."
At this time, she was a smart girl again. She didn't panic and ask who it was, but directly guessed the culprit who had planned the whole case.
"We waited for him all day?"
"Pretty much."
But Zhang Shutong thought to himself, "Actually, waiting for him was just a side note. The main thing was that I didn't want you to die today, so I took you out for a stroll."
Zhang Shutong had planned to say this—before he had seen "Roman Holiday"—but now he realized that his tour guide skills were really not up to par.
"Will something happen to you?"
Gu Qiumian asked worriedly.
Her eyes had originally reflected the black-and-white film, but when she turned her head to ask seriously, in the faint light, they had changed to something else.
The two looked at each other, and Zhang Shutong told her that he could guarantee that nothing would happen.
"No danger, just a scare?"
"Not even a scare."
"You're being mysterious again..."
Zhang Shutong led her out of the classroom. Their steps were unhurried. He was too lazy to turn off the projector, so he just let it continue playing. They could hear the dialogue of the male and female protagonists in the hallway. Maybe it was playing a soft-paced scene right now, where the princess and the male protagonist were talking and laughing softly. Their conversations were clear, and there was a certain surging emotion hidden in their gentleness. They were the epitome of a gentleman and a lady, like a slowly flowing hidden river.
There were no sound-activated lights overhead, so they walked down this long, dark hallway, as if being slowly pushed forward by the hidden river.
So Zhang Shutong was not in a hurry. He brought Gu Qiumian to the hallway, stopped in front of a window, looked at the figure downstairs, breathed on the glass, and drew a ghost face. "Look, the sheep is here."
But he really didn't have a sense of humor. The girl wasn't amused and instead wrinkled her nose. "You're the one who looks like a ghost face!"
But then she couldn't help but ask:
"Can you tell me now? I want to know."
Zhang Shutong nodded. It was pointless to keep it from her now. They had one last bit of time, and this was what it was for.
So he simply started from the beginning, from the anomaly he noticed while washing the dishes in the morning to the arsonist who was suddenly absent.
"...I asked Du Kang to ride his bike to your house because I was worried that the person would go there and wait."
"...We went to the commercial street to find the mastermind."
"...Qingyi and Ruoping went back to the supermarket to confirm the suspect, the man who sold cooked food."
"No wonder you suddenly said the plan had changed and you bought masks and hats..." Gu Qiumian quickly connected the dots.
"But how did you suspect Aunt Wu and even smash my flowers?" She pouted. "Whatever, I forgive you."
"You're only forgiving me now?"
"I want to hear your deduction. Hurry up and tell me. If you don't, I won't forgive you!"
Zhang Shutong pointed at the window:
"Do you know why he didn't come last night?"
"Why?"
"He wanted to exonerate himself. Think about it. He called everyone else together, but when it was time to do it, he was the only one who didn't go. This way, he can..." It would be too rude to use the word "revenge," so Zhang Shutong changed it. "This way, he can do something bad without having to worry about the police or your dad finding out. He's always hiding in the background, fanning the flames. Isn't he evil?"
"Evil!"
"But being evil is useless. His rhythm was completely disrupted starting last night because he didn't expect one thing." Zhang Shutong pointed at the small black figure downstairs. The person was about to enter the classroom building. "The five arsonists were sent away by me before they could even do anything."
"So he's taking a risk today?"
"Not necessarily, but there's a higher chance he wants to take action. Of course, the biggest variable is you. It's your fault for wanting to eat pig liver and getting seen by him."
Gu Qiumian glared at him again. She drew a new pattern on the glass. This time it wasn't a sheep or a ghost face. It was a pig head, silently protesting.
Zhang Shutong didn't know why she would describe herself like that:
"But thanks to him seeing it, in his eyes, it was the perfect time and place. So I had Qingyi go back and confirm it. When we left, he left too. At that time, I knew he was going to make a move."
"And then?"
Zhang Shutong said that there wasn't much to say about what happened next. The most interesting part was his entire plan from beginning to end. "This person is much more formidable than I thought."
"Do you remember Li Yipeng's mom? He even instructed her to do that."
"Even that?" Gu Qiumian was surprised.
"It's not accurate to say 'instructed.' Didn't I just say that he also has an accomplice? He did this through that accomplice. In order to get to you, he can only start from three places: the mall, the villa, and the school. He can't get into the villa. He's at the mall himself, so he can only start from the school."
Gu Qiumian was the best listener. No matter what Zhang Shutong said, she listened with bated breath and nodded in agreement.
"Now let's work from the beginning," Zhang Shutong drew a line on the glass. "At the very beginning, didn't someone smash your building blocks? Wasn't it because the building blocks were smashed that Li Yipeng was exposed? Then didn't his mother come? His mother let it slip, which led to the arsonists acting ahead of time. It looks like a series of accidents, but in fact..."
He sighed softly:
"If you start from the beginning, you get it all wrong."
He then erased the line on the glass:
"You have to look at this backward."
"The most crucial point is one thing. If you can figure it out, everything will become clear—why that person didn't come last night.
"Think about it. Since he was the one who initiated it, he couldn't have just gotten scared, right? That doesn't fit his image. Did something urgent happen? That's not right either. It's too ridiculous."
Zhang Shutong made a joke. "Do you think it's possible that he suddenly got diarrhea from drinking cold water?"
Gu Qiumian pushed him. "Oh, why are you like this? Hurry up and tell me, hurry up!"
"I told you, he never intended to come from the beginning. To the other five, Li Yipeng's mom's matter was a variable, but to him, it was a pre-arranged... provocation."
Zhang Shutong then started to explain from Li Yipeng's matter again, the scarf, the castle, the names on the bathroom stalls... Gu Qiumian became more and more surprised as she listened. In the end, she patted her chest in fear. She was really into the story.
Zhang Shutong then asked her if she had read "Sherlock Holmes."
She said, "Of course."
Zhang Shutong then said, "Then do you know about 'The Final Problem'? It's about Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty having a fight to the death at a waterfall. In the end, both of them fall into the river and die together."
Gu Qiumian then asked anxiously, "What are you trying to say? You said nothing would happen. What do you mean 'die together'?"
"It's just an example. I'm saying that even though I'm not Sherlock Holmes, this person is not Moriarty either."
He said casually:
"What I mean is, it doesn't matter if he sells pig liver or duck liver. Who cares what liver he sells? I've already figured out what he's thinking."
"Then what's important?" Gu Qiumian asked again. She was good at getting to the point.
"Yes, what is important?"
He had just said that casually to show that the culprit wasn't very dangerous and that she shouldn't worry too much.
If it were a normal day, Zhang Shutong would have been stumped by this tricky question.
But he felt that watching "Roman Holiday" tonight was not for nothing. As a sidekick, you might not be able to take the young miss to the most prosperous mall, eat the best food, or play the most interesting things... Whether it was shabby or luxurious, there was one thing you had to do.
And that was to make the other person smile.
A so-called princess is just a silly girl who is being sweet-talked.
Question—
If you already know that an event will come to an end and the result cannot be changed, what would you do?
Zhang Shutong had known for a long time that they wouldn't be able to finish the movie tonight. It was Gu Qiumian's fault for taking a nice nap at the nail salon and wasting time, but he couldn't just say that.
So Zhang Shutong now had an answer.
He whispered a few words into Gu Qiumian's ear. He was wondering why the area around the girl's ear was a bit hot, but that wasn't the point. The point was that after she heard it, she was stunned for a long time before she finally said:
"You're so bad!"
Zhang Shutong rolled his eyes at her. He felt that this person was really hard to please.
He had originally not planned to tell Gu Qiumian about his preparations. This way, he would be fooling both the girl and the culprit. When he revealed the truth at the last minute, the two of them being surprised together would be double the surprise.
"But I like it." The young miss snickered and asked with sparkling eyes, "So what are you going to say next?"
"Well..."
She was asking about his lines. Zhang Shutong was indeed a bit troubled. As everyone knows, the lines for an entrance and an ending need to be carefully considered. It was like when a Kamen Rider transforms. The most important thing for a man is to be cool. A man who does good things not for fame, not for profit, and not for women, of course, does it to be cool.
He had thought of a set of cool lines while fishing. Although there was only one surprise left now, Zhang Shutong was an expert at this. One surprise would not prevent him from being cool.
So he was about to speak, but Gu Qiumian answered for him:
"Listen to me. You lost the bet and you owe me a wish."
Zhang Shutong wanted to say that he had never owed her a wish. Besides, if he really did, shouldn't he use it for something more important? "Young miss, do you really want to 'change' my entrance lines just like that?"
He said no. Gu Qiumian said yes.
Zhang Shutong felt that she was cheating. At this time, Gu Qiumian brought out her trump card and said, "If you don't listen to me, I'll tell Auntie that you wrote my name on a scrap of paper. Anyway, I know her now..." Zhang Shutong really didn't expect that his mom and a scrap of paper would ambush him here. He sighed:
"Then what do you think I should say?"
"I want to hear something humorous," Gu Qiumian said, blinking her bright and beautiful eyes.
"I don't have a sense of humor," he said. He felt that he was more suited for a cold style and tried to bargain. "How about something cool, or something serious?"
But she said unwillingly, "No, no. I just want to hear something funny. Put your ear closer, and I'll teach you what to say..."
Zhang Shutong bit the soft part of his cheek and took out the flashlight he had prepared a long time ago.