In Du Kang's eyes, this was how Zhang Shutong returned to his seat.
"So that's how he performed!" Du Kang complained. "And here I was expecting Shutong to show off his skills and turn the tide, but it turns out he just went over to persuade Gu Qiumian..."
"No matter who you put in this situation, there's nothing they could do," Ruoping instinctively defended him. "We don't even have any information on the thief, and the crowd outside is causing such a massive ruckus. What else could he do besides trying to smooth things over?"
"That's not what I meant..." Du Kang scratched his head. "Gu Qiumian's family is so rich, she probably doesn't even care about that bit of cash and the phone. But the problem is, the problem is it leaves a rotten taste in your mouth. Doesn't the thief just get let off scot-free?"
"What's the use of you feeling aggrieved?"
"I suppose that's true," Du Kang said helplessly. "Then we should still look after Shutong. This thing is pretty hard to counsel her out of. Although the responsibility for losing the bag doesn't lie with him, if Gu Qiumian ends up blaming him..."
"Shh, listen," Qingyi said suddenly.
It turned out Shutong had already returned to Gu Qiumian's side. Du Kang quieted down, trying hard to hear what the two were saying, but the surroundings were too noisy and he couldn't hear a thing. He could only judge based on their actions and expressions—
He first saw Shutong lean close in front of Gu Qiumian, whispering a few words in a low voice, and Gu Qiumian shook her head.
Shutong didn't give up, continuing to persuade her further. This time Gu Qiumian finally hesitated a bit, muttering a few words in a low voice.
Shutong was likely striking while the iron was hot, first pointing toward the crowd outside, then pointing toward Manager Wang, and finally pulling out his own phone to wave it in front of Gu Qiumian's eyes...
Wait, no!
Du Kang suddenly discovered that Gu Qiumian's brows had already knitted, and her face was beginning to turn cold. Yet Shutong hadn't noticed anything wrong, continuing to speak in a low voice;
By the end of his words, Gu Qiumian was already staring up at him coldly, but Shutong continued to speak as if he were blind, even nodding to himself...
Du Kang yelled in his heart. He could practically guess what Shutong was saying: "It's just two thousand yuan and a phone, it's not big money to you, stop fussing..."
Although that made sense logically, now was not the time to be logical!
Du Kang thought to himself that ever since Mr. Song left, Shutong looked as if his emotional intelligence had completely vanished. Clearly he hadn't been like this in the past. Although he hadn't really wanted to involve himself in their dialogue, he knew he had to go interrupt right now; otherwise, it would only get worse and worse. Just as Du Kang was about to stand up—
However, it was already too late!
Gu Qiumian suddenly covered her face with both hands, her shoulders trembling for a brief moment, and then she abruptly stood up, fiercely slamming the bag onto the ground. The items inside scattered all over the floor—likely a girl's cosmetics, as small bottles and jars crashed onto the ground, the crisp clatter echoing through the entire lobby.
For a moment, even the crowd outside went silent for a split second. In reality, after so much time, many people could guess that the person who lost her bag was precisely this girl. Previously this girl had been walking up and down the aisle with the youth, but now they had suddenly broken into a massive fight.
"If you want to go back, go back by yourself! Don't bring me into it! I'll investigate who the thief is on my own!" Gu Qiumian threw down a sentence with a cold face. Tossing her long hair, she turned her head and walked away.
It was fine when she didn't have a cold face, as she was a bright and radiant girl in her every frown and smile, but as soon as her face froze like frost, the aura exclusive to a young miss spread out, forcing people to not even dare to breathe heavily.
"This is bad..." Du Kang murmured as he slumped back into his chair.
A carbon copy of the scarf incident had indeed arrived again!
How did they completely fall out? Hadn't they been perfectly fine during lunch at noon? Should they blame the young miss for being temperamental, or their best friend for being too stupid?
There was still no sign of the thief, yet they had split into internal strife first.
He was just about to call his two best friends to smooth things over, but this was still far from over; Gu Qiumian actually walked straight toward the manager's direction.
Only then did Du Kang remember that it was the manager who had asked Shutong to persuade her. Now look at how things turned out—not only had she not been persuaded, she had even exposed the manager.
Looking over, the manager had originally been instructing something, and the staff blocking the entrance were gradually relaxing their lines, but at this moment, the crowd instead stopped pushing inward, all waiting to watch the drama.
Looking at the manager again, he had originally been sweating profusely from anxiety, his voice carrying a trace of impatience, but the moment he turned around to see Gu Qiumian, he looked as if he had suddenly transformed into a completely different person, his waist instinctively bending down.
The submissive posture of a fat man in his thirties was truly a bit comical, the rolls of fat on his belly squeezing together like a lifebuoy, but Du Kang didn't find it funny at all; on the contrary, a chill ran down his back.
He suddenly understood why that manager was working so hard. It turned out this cinema also had ties to Gu Qiumian's family business—maybe it was theirs!
"...Miss, we really have done our best..."
"Then have you found it?" Gu Qiumian said coldly.
"No..."
"Then keep looking." Her tone wasn't agitated; on the contrary, it was exceptionally calm, but it was precisely this calmness that made the man in front of her shudder.
"B-But there really is nothing that can be done..."
"Then let the people inside out, and check everyone's tickets all over again."
"What use is that?" Manager Wang appeared dazed, but hurriedly lowered his head. "I understand. The problem is the audience outside is unwilling..."
But Gu Qiumian didn't give this sentence a shred of attention. Knitting her brows, she cast a glance at the crowd, saying from a commanding height:
"You are the manager."
"I..."
The crowd shifted a bit due to her gaze, but Gu Qiumian had already turned her head, not bothering to spare the man another glance, merely saying softly:
"If you can't find my phone, you can stop working."
These words coming from the mouth of a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl truly lacked much power, yet it was precisely such careless words that made the man shudder violently.
It wasn't until Gu Qiumian walked far away that the manager squeezed out a hideous smile, the fat on his face bunching together. He was inherently very fat and had been running back and forth since entering the theater; currently his shirt was completely soaked through with sweat, yet he didn't even dare to breathe heavily.
A bunch of staff members still didn't understand what had happened, watching their originally hurried manager suddenly turn limp like a frost-bitten eggplant.
A comical round eggplant at that.
Yet no one laughed, and silence spread through the crowd.
Du Kang's mouth hung open in surprise. Originally when they were on the island, he had only felt Gu Qiumian was the daughter of a wealthy family, living in a massive house and riding in an expensive car, but it wasn't until this exact moment that he clearly realized the disparity between himself and the other party.
He wasn't the only one stunned; subsequently, the crowd also let out quiet discussions:
"I wondered why there was such a massive fuss, it turns out there's a big shot involved..."
"Who? The daughter of the mall owner? Or some government official?"
"Don't know, this manager is pretty pitiful too."
"That should count as a threat just now, right? It's already the year 2012, can a single sentence in reality really make someone lose their livelihood?"
"That's just your lack of exposure..."
The sounds of discussion grew louder and louder, and everyone's gaze toward the man gradually turned complex, shifting from impatience to being tinged with a sliver of sympathy. But at this moment, the manager turned around, lifting his megaphone as if nothing had happened.
"Please cooperate one last time," the man said with a forced smile while wiping his sweat. "The movie will resume broadcasting shortly. For the sake of viewing order, dear audience members can enter the venue after checking your tickets again."
A man bowing his head for his livelihood.
So who knows who moved first, silently handing their ticket into the hands of the staff member before entering the venue. A bizarre silence permeated the entire auditorium, and Gu Qiumian sat in the dead center seat with her arms crossed, without a single word.
Du Kang had already taken advantage of the opportunity to secretly slip to Zhang Shutong's side.
"You've completely botched this, bro. I don't even know how to clear up the mess!"
Some people had already found their seats to sit down, while the two of them were sitting in the corner of the first row, whereas Gu Qiumian was in the middle of the first row, separated by a vast distance.
Du Kang advised:
"Right now the thief hasn't been caught, and Gu Qiumian's side is also..."
"Searching like that will completely fail to catch them," Zhang Shutong rested his chin on his hands, entering deep thought. "That manager wanting to go search the front and back rows again is destined to be a useless effort."
"I know he can't keep order over the venue anymore, but at least we can narrow it down to the front and back rows, right?"
"Basically."
Du Kang let out a sigh of relief:
"Gu Qiumian flaring up in anger has instead produced a positive effect. Stabilize the people from the front and back rows first, and once the police arrive, just conduct a body search like earlier. But I don't understand why she wants to make the entire venue check their tickets—venting her anger?"
"No," Zhang Shutong interrupted instead. "Although the thief placed the bag in the front and back rows, searching the way you described will completely fail to find them."
"What do you mean? Then how do we look for them?"
"Think about it," Zhang Shutong said slowly. "From when we found our seats back then to when the bag was stolen, less than three minutes passed in total. What does that show?"
"It shows... it was very fast?"
"Yes, it was very fast. The bag was clearly placed under the seat by me, and an average person wouldn't notice it at all. Then what does 'fast' signify? It signifies it wasn't a sudden impulse, but rather planned all along."
"Uh, I don't quite understand..."
"Let's put it another way. Look at this."
Zhang Shutong nudged that white handbag. Only then did Du Kang understand why his best friend hadn't moved earlier; it turned out he had been picking up the items Gu Qiumian had slammed down. He secretly lamented over why he went to this trouble, but Zhang Shutong continued to speak:
"Can you tell how expensive this bag is?"
"Can't tell," Du Kang leaned closer to size it up. "If it weren't for the excellent texture of the leather, I'd believe you if you said it was bought from the commercial street."
"Then that's right. Not just us, even the staff in an average bag shop wouldn't recognize it; probably only employees at luxury boutiques would know their stuff. What does this show?"
"It shows the thief has a very discerning eye."
"Yes," Zhang Shutong said without hesitation. "It shows he knows his stuff. Combining that with his actions of turning off the phone and taking the money earlier, he is absolutely an experienced professional."
"Are you saying we were targeted before we even came to the cinema?" Du Kang came to a sudden realization. "When? When you and Gu Qiumian were shopping? Or when we were queuing for ticket inspection?"
"It wouldn't be ticket inspection," Zhang Shutong denied. "The time is too tight. This is a professional thief who knows the trade; he would have planned out in advance how to get his hands on the items and how to retreat. Stealing such an expensive bag wouldn't be on a whim."
"Then it must have been when we entered the mall, with a large and mixed crowd..."
"That's not right either." Zhang Shutong shook his head. "There is a very important detail in this."
"What?"
"It was already past one o'clock after lunch. From when we entered the mall to when we met up at the cinema, only half an hour passed in the interim."
Du Kang thought to himself, Boss, just speak plainly, can I just be stupid? "Is half an hour not enough for a thief to shadow us?"
"Theoretically it's enough, but you forgot one thing—" Zhang Shutong said calmly, "The cinema stops ticket sales half an hour in advance."
"Does explaining it like this make it clear?" Zhang Shutong asked again. "Meaning it's impossible to have been targeted in the mall; the other party simply lacked the time to prepare."
"Then it must have been from the restaurant, but wouldn't that be eerie?" Du Kang was dumbfounded.
"Not either. Don't forget you guys were the ones who bought the tickets; how would the other party know where Gu Qiumian was going?"
"No, bro, why am I failing to understand?" Du Kang asked in puzzlement. "Didn't we go straight to eat after stepping off the boat? We didn't go anywhere else in between. It wasn't the mall and it wasn't the restaurant—it couldn't be that they started tracking us all the way from the island, right?"
"Where has your mind wandered off to," Zhang Shutong was startled. "I'm saying the other party has been inside the cinema all along."
"Huh?" Du Kang was also dazed.
"This is a repeat offender who had long staked out his spot. This place has been undergoing renovations since the beginning of the month. So think about it again—did we discover the security cameras weren't open because our things were stolen, or did the thief decide to strike because he discovered the security cameras weren't open?"
Zhang Shutong simply didn't give Du Kang time to react:
"Clearly it's the latter. Once this is determined, subsequent matters are much simpler."
"Why do I feel it's more complicated?" Du Kang cast a glance at the surging crowd. "Doesn't this make it harder to find?"
Zhang Shutong waved his hand carelessly:
"I said, this is a professional thief who knows his stuff and must possess sufficient eyesight. A person like this wouldn't treat stealing things as an amateur hobby, but would instead keep watch here for the entire day. Even though we are watching the afternoon show, it doesn't mean the other party only appeared in the afternoon."
"Are you saying the other party has been keeping watch here since the morning?" Du Kang followed the thought immediately. "Oh, right, I heard someone say just now that a bag was also lost at the beginning of the month. Do you think it could be the same person?"
"Perhaps." After speaking, Zhang Shutong let out a yawn. More and more people were entering the venue; fortunately, no one was walking toward the first row yet, so they could still sit for a bit longer.
"Then I don't understand," Du Kang thought about it. "What do you mean by saying searching the front and back rows is a useless effort? doesn't this exactly show that the thief was mingled among them at the time?"
Zhang Shutong let out a breath:
"You forgot a hidden rule of cinemas. A cinema often has around ten auditoriums, but for the sake of convenience, very few cinemas inspect tickets right at the auditorium entrance. Including here, as long as you buy a ticket to enter the lobby, even if you skip into another show to watch another movie, you won't be discovered. We nearly pulled this embarrassing stunt back in the day ourselves."
Zhang Shutong pointed at his temple:
"Speaking up to here, you should be able to figure it out, right? Why I said that manager checking the seating chart would always be a useless effort—he struck in the front and back rows, but he absolutely won't 'appear' again."
He paused for a moment, revealing the final answer:
"Because that person simply doesn't exist on the seating chart. In other words, he doesn't have a ticket for this show of 007 at all, so how could his ticket possibly be checked?"
"Holy crap!" Du Kang suddenly reacted. "So that's why Gu Qiumian made that manager check the tickets again. Brilliant! And the movie hasn't been playing for very long, so no one would have lost their ticket. Speaking like this, whoever doesn't have a ticket in their hand, wouldn't that confirm..."
Du Kang instinctively clenched his fist. He had just finished speaking in a single excited breath when he heard a much more excited voice ring out from the entrance—
"Stop right there!"