Winter Time Rendering

Chapter 129: Chapter 54: Roman Holiday (Part 2)

"So he decided to risk it all today?"

"Not necessarily, but the chances he’d make a move were high. Of course, the biggest variable was you. Who told you to crave pork liver? And he just happened to see you."

Gu Qiuyan shot him another glare. She drew a new picture on the glass—not a sheep or a funny face this time, but a pig’s head, a silent protest.

Zhang Shutong didn’t know why she would describe herself that way.

"But it’s a good thing he saw you. In his eyes, it was like the heavens, the earth, and the people all aligned. That’s why I had Qingyi go back and confirm it. When we left, he left too. That’s when I knew he was definitely going to make his move."

"And then?"

Zhang Shutong said that what happened next wasn’t really worth talking about. The most interesting part was the culprit’s plan from beginning to end. ’This person is much more formidable than I imagined.’

"You remember Li Yipeng’s mom, right? He was even the one who put her up to that."

"Even that?" Gu Qiuyan was surprised.

"’Put her up to it’ isn’t exactly accurate. Didn’t I just say he has an accomplice? It was done through that accomplice. To learn about you, there were only three places to start: the mall, the villa, and the school. He couldn’t get into the villa, he himself was at the mall, so that only left the school."

Gu Qiuyan was truly the best audience. No matter what Zhang Shutong said, she listened with rapt attention, nodding in agreement.

"So, let’s deduce this from the beginning," Zhang Shutong said, drawing a line on the glass. "At the very start, someone knocked over your building blocks, right? And because the blocks were knocked over, Li Yipeng was exposed. And then his mom showed up, right? His mom let something slip, which caused the arsonist to act prematurely. It looks like a series of unexpected accidents, but in reality..."

He let out a soft sigh.

"Once you start deducing from the beginning, you get it all wrong."

He erased the line he had drawn on the glass.

"You have to look at this case backward."

"The most crucial point is one thing. If you can figure it out, everything will become clear—why that person didn’t show up last night."

"Think about it. Since he was the ringleader, it can’t be that he suddenly got scared, right? That doesn’t fit his profile. So, was there an emergency? That’s not right either. It’s too ridiculous."

Zhang Shutong cracked a joke. "Do you think it’s possible he drank some cold water and suddenly got diarrhea?"

But Gu Qiuyan just shoved him. "Hey! How can you be like that? Hurry up and tell me!"

"I told you, he never planned on coming from the start. To the other five, what happened with Li Yipeng’s mom was an accident. But for him, and him alone, it was a pre-arranged... provocation."

Zhang Shutong then began explaining things backward, starting from the incident with Li Yipeng—the scarf, the castle, the name on the bathroom stall... The more Gu Qiuyan listened, the more stunned she became, eventually patting her chest with some lingering fear. She was really getting into it.

Zhang Shutong then asked, "Have you ever read Sherlock Holmes?"

She said of course she had.

Zhang Shutong continued, "Then do you know ’The Final Problem’? It’s about Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty having a life-and-death struggle by a waterfall, and in the end, they both fall into the river and perish together."

Gu Qiuyan grew anxious. "What are you trying to say? Didn’t you say everything was fine? What’s all this about perishing together?"

"It’s just an example. What I mean is, while I may not be Sherlock Holmes, this guy is no Moriarty either."

He said casually,

"What that means is, it doesn’t matter if he sells pork liver or duck liver. Who cares what kind of liver he sells? I’ve already seen right through what he’s thinking."

"Then what *is* important?" Gu Qiuyan asked again. She was pretty good at getting to the heart of the matter.

’Right, what *is* important?’

He had only said that offhandedly to show that the culprit wasn’t very dangerous and that she shouldn’t worry too much.

Normally, a tricky question like that would have left Zhang Shutong speechless.

But he felt that watching *Roman Holiday* tonight hadn’t been a waste. As the henchman, you might not be able to take the young miss to the most glamorous malls, treat her to the best food, or find the most fun things to do... whether you’re shabby or extravagant, there’s one thing you absolutely must be able to do.

You have to make her smile.

A so-called princess is just a silly girl who’s been sweet-talked into a daze.

Question—

If you knew in advance that an event was heading towards its end, and the outcome was unchangeable, what would you do?

Zhang Shutong had known all along they wouldn’t see the end of the movie tonight. After all, Gu Qiuyan had taken a nice long nap at the nail salon, which threw off their timing. But he couldn’t just come out and say it was her fault.

So now, Zhang Shutong had his answer.

He leaned in and whispered a few words in Gu Qiuyan’s ear, vaguely wondering why the area around the girl’s ear was a little hot. But that wasn’t important. What was important was that after she heard him, she stared blankly for a long moment, dumbfounded, before finally forcing out a single sentence:

"You’re so bad!"

Zhang Shutong rolled his eyes at her. ’This girl is so hard to please.’

Originally, he hadn’t planned on telling Gu Qiuyan about his preparations. That way, he could’ve deceived both the girl and the culprit, and when the truth was revealed at the last moment, two shocked people would naturally provide double the shock.

"But I like it," the young miss snickered, her eyes bright with curiosity. "So, what are you going to say next?"

"Well..."

She was asking for his lines. Zhang Shutong was indeed in a bit of a bind. As everyone knows, opening and closing lines require careful consideration, just like a Masked Rider’s transformation sequence. The most important thing for a man is, of course, to be cool. If a guy does good deeds not for fame, fortune, or romance, then he’s obviously doing it to be awesome.

He had come up with a whole set of awesome lines while he was "fishing" earlier. Although the double shock was now just a single shock, Zhang Shutong was a master of this art; one was more than enough for him to show off.

Just as he was about to speak, Gu Qiuyan jumped in.

"Do what I say. You lost the bet, so you owe me a wish."

Zhang Shutong wanted to say, ’I never owed you a wish. And besides, even if I did, shouldn’t you save it for something more important? Do you really want to use it just to ’tamper’ with my grand entrance lines, Young Miss?’

He said no. Gu Qiuyan said yes.

Zhang Shutong thought she was being unreasonable, but then Gu Qiuyan played her trump card. "If you don’t listen to me, I’ll tell your mom about you writing my name on scratch paper. I know her now, you know..." Zhang Shutong truly hadn’t expected his own mother and a piece of scratch paper to ambush him like this. He sighed.

"So what do you think I should say?"

"I want to hear something humorous," Gu Qiuyan said, blinking her lively and beautiful eyes.

"I don’t have a humorous bone in my body," he said, feeling that a cool, indifferent style suited him better. He tried to bargain, "How about something cool? Or maybe we can be serious?"

But she refused. "No, no, I want to hear something fun. Lean in, I’ll teach you what to say..."

Zhang Shutong bit the inside of his cheek and took out the flashlight he had prepared earlier.

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