Perhaps it was because of the rain, but some shops closed early today.
The commercial street was oriented north-south, and they parked their car at the northern entrance.
The atmosphere along the way went from the tension of discovering a clue, to the excitement of deducing the minivan, and gradually calmed down again. The two occasionally chatted, talking about school matters, laughing and joking, but both knew that this was just a way to relieve their anxiety.
So when the car drove into the city, the surrounding light gradually brightened, but the small car seemed to be driving into a deeper darkness.
Teacher Song lit cigarettes one after another, but rarely smoked them, just holding them in his hand. At this time, he didn't care if the ashes would fall on his lap. He would cough and sigh with frustration.
Zhang Shutong sometimes lowered the window a little, but the cold wind that poured in prompted him to roll it back up. The air conditioner sent the smoke throughout the car, and everything in front of them became hazy. It was in the almost stagnant air of the car that the two of them fell silent at the same time.
Occasionally, he would think of more details, and he would discuss a few sentences with Song Nanshan, which added up to only a few words, but the clues were too few to be conclusive.
Everyone knew that the biggest problem they were about to face was coming up.
The two of them almost scrambled to get out of the car. Teacher Song told him to put up his umbrella and took the lead to run into the rain.
Zhang Shutong opened the car door, and as soon as his feet landed, a few splashes of water flew up.
He followed closely behind the other person, not in the mood to open the umbrella in his hand. Strolling with an umbrella in the rain was a leisurely thing, but if you were running, the umbrella surface would be lifted, and the handle would shake, only becoming a burden that held you back.
According to the plan they had just discussed, the two would split up. Song Nanshan would look for the minivan, and he would first go to the Nanhuyu Restaurant. It was a two-pronged approach.
The time was approaching eight o'clock.
He ran past one shop after another, occasionally looking at the cars on both sides. The rain blurred his vision and also put a filter on the light sources on both sides—
The streetlights were a dim yellow, and the shop signs were always lit up with colorful lights. It was deep winter, and the dust between heaven and earth seemed to be frozen. Compared to the heavy rain in the summer, the air seemed much cleaner.
The air, light, and rain mixed together, and finally kneaded the scene in front of him into a misty appearance.
Zhang Shutong ran through the fine drizzle. His body, which had just warmed up in the hot air of the air conditioner, instantly became cold. His shoes and pant legs were almost completely soaked. He sometimes thought of what Teacher Song had said: it might be a good thing if you can like someone so much that you're not even afraid of the cold.
On the way, Song Nanshan kept telling him not to be impulsive. The two of them were not police officers, and they had no name to act under. All they could do was ask around.
Even if they successfully found the minivan and then found the murderer along with the minivan, they could only use some small tricks, which was no different from dancing with handcuffs.
For example, bluffing the other person a few times. If they admitted it, that would be best. He could secretly record it on his phone and hand it over to the police.
But if they refused to admit it, there weren't many options. It would be nothing more than giving them a few warnings, remembering their appearance and identity, and telling Gu Qiumian to be more careful.
Zhang Shutong had expected this. This was almost the most difficult situation he had encountered since the regression—
It was not like that time in the reed field, where the other party's intention was clear, and they had already done something evil. The few of them could stop them on the spot, and a more aggressive approach wouldn't be a problem.
Nor was it like catching the student who smashed the castle, where he had deduced the time and place in advance, and all he had to do was wait.
Moreover, it was likely that more than one person had poisoned the dog.
Zhang Shutong remembered what Li's mother had said. The worst-case scenario he could think of was finding a shop along the minivan, where there was a lit room on the second floor. He would either listen outside the door or rush in to check, and then find four or five men sitting inside.
The next development would be neither a battle of wits nor a physical fight. He would be completely helpless.
There was a philosophical question: if a person will commit a crime in the future, is he innocent in the past? Zhang Shutong thought this question was very boring. The situation was urgent, and he could choose "guilty" without hesitation, but it would be best if the other party was really guilty.
What this meant was, the person who poisoned the dog and the murderer who killed Gu Qiumian were preferably the same person.
But even if that was confirmed, the difficulty was not in convicting someone, but in how to stop, limit, or avoid it.
It was like a ball of yarn with thorns, dangerous and messy. Everything made it impossible to start.
For example, the Nanhuyu Restaurant in front of him was also closed. On the iron-gray roller door were splashes of water.
A large raindrop fell in front of his eyes, exploding on the ground, and of course, splashing on his face.
Zhang Shutong sighed silently.
On the way, he had thought about asking over the phone first, although the effect was not as good as in person—but this problem was no longer an issue after he tried, because the phone was always unreachable.
Now the only remaining path was also blocked.
His phone did not vibrate, which meant that Teacher Song also had no luck.
He turned and ran back to the clothing store. He had just become familiar with the owner last night, so maybe he could get something.
The owner of the clothing store was an older woman. She was very happy to see him, thinking he was coming to patronize her business again. Yesterday, Zhang Shutong had bought a scarf in the store. He originally thought that as bait, it didn't need to be too expensive, but the solid red scarf was always in the mid-to-high price range, so he had to pay for it himself.
Now he casually picked up two raincoats and asked the question he was most concerned about. Although he had to be a little subtle, it basically boiled down to this—what exactly was "that incident" that the owner of the Nanhuyu Restaurant mentioned; and who were the people involved in this incident.
The owner knew nothing.
But in return for patronizing her business for two consecutive days, Zhang Shutong got another piece of information from her. Many people knew about the castle smashing incident.
He was surprised at first, but then he figured out the reason: Li Yipeng and his mother returned to the commercial street in the afternoon.
Li's father was usually off the island, and only Li's mother was in charge of the supermarket on the street.
So when the two left school at noon, Li's mother brought her son to the supermarket.
That woman was originally a flamboyant person, not to mention the target was Gu Qiumian. Not only did she not think it was a scandal, but she also cursed and publicized it. The merchants and neighbors on the entire commercial street were similar. When they were free, many people were willing to come and watch the excitement. Li's mother's goal had even been achieved, and some people also joined her in the shared hatred. The news of Li Yipeng's revenge on Gu Qiumian at school spread like this.
The clue Zhang Shutong got from this was nothing more than who cursed the most fiercely among the people who were there at the time.
Now, the people on the commercial street could be divided into three factions:
One faction was the clothing store owner. She might have some resentment towards Gu's father's shopping mall, but it only stayed at the level of resentment. The other party was older, and her husband and son both had jobs, so it was not impossible to take a demolition fee and go home to retire.
One faction was the Li Yipeng family and the couple from the Nanhuyu Restaurant. They had a lot of resentment towards the Gu family, to the point where they were accustomed to cursing them behind their backs, but for various reasons, they didn't want to completely fall out with them and only stayed at the level of "enemies."
The last faction was the group that poisoned the dog, or the murderers, as Teacher Song said. Their lives had been pushed to a dead end. They had gone from "enemies" to taking action directly, crossing over to the step of "revenge," to fight to the death.
The good news was that the last faction was, after all, a minority.
The bad news was that no one, not even the merchants on this street, knew who the other party was. They were hiding underwater. This kind of thing would easily leak out if they weren't careful. No one would go around saying that they wanted to take revenge on Gu Jianhong's entire family. They would usually just pretend to be part of the second faction.
Zhang Shutong thanked her and turned around to go back into the rain.
The raincoat wrapped his whole body. His nasal cavity was filled with the smell of cheap plastic. He thought he would feel better wearing the raincoat, but in fact, his whole body was already soaked, and the plastic sheet clung to his body. The rain hit him, and the cold became even more intense.
Zhang Shutong wiped the water from his face and was about to go meet up with Teacher Song.
At this moment, his phone suddenly rang.