Chapter 28: Gathering Clouds of Suspicion

"So, what time do they actually close?" Du Kang, ever the loyal best friend, actually played along and gave him some face.

"Uh..." Zhang Shutong was momentarily stunned. In truth, he didn't know; he just thought the line sounded cool. "It's still open at 8:30, anyway."

At this point, Qingyi had already figured it out: "So you went out and bought a new scarf last night to swap with Gu Qiumian's?"

He nodded in sudden realization. "No wonder I saw you coming out last during the long break. You were waiting for her to leave, right?"

He picked up the scarf from the floor to examine it. Sure enough, it was different from the one draped over the back of the chair. The one in his hand was brand new—it even looked a bit more expensive than the original.

"Not bad, you even fooled the two of us." Du Kang punched Zhang Shutong on the shoulder, a mix of excitement at witnessing the truth and a hint of playful resentment. "But I have to say, man, that wasn't very cool of you. We traveled all this way with you, after all."

Zhang Shutong thought to himself that when a guy does a good deed without seeking fame, fortune, or romance, all that’s left is to play it cool. He had always been like this; otherwise, why would he come up here to confront this guy—what was his name again? Was he just posturing?

Of course, these thoughts were mostly jokes. The main reason he brought the other two along was his cautious nature; he always preferred to play it safe.

He offered a smiling apology, then mimicked Qingyi’s deep, serious tone: "Just a man’s friendship, that's all."

Qingyi gave a thumbs-up, and Zhang Shutong returned the gesture. Only Du Kang habitually looked around for Ruoping; she was the only one who could keep their teenage angst in check. Unfortunately, the girl hadn't come today. "Sigh, do whatever you want. You scared the hell out of me earlier, but as long as the result is good, it’s fine."

Just then, the sounds from outside the window grew closer. Du Kang glanced over; quite a few students were already entering the teaching building. He was the type who rarely dwelled on things—the earlier resentment vanished, replaced by a sudden grin as he raised his eyebrows at Zhang Shutong.

"Hey, since you put it that way, I've got a great idea. It’ll definitely be more dramatic than just playing it cool."

The kid always had a string of mischievous plans. "How about, before Gu Qiumian comes back, we hide her scarf? Think about it—when she gets to the classroom and sees us here, she’s bound to ask what happened. We tell her we used the scarf as bait to catch the culprit. She’ll definitely be upset. And just when she’s about to burst into tears, you pull out the real one and totally blow her mind..."

"Stop. Just give it a rest."

Zhang Shutong rubbed his temples, unable to listen any longer. He subconsciously looked for Ruoping, wishing she would knock some sense into this guy, but she wasn't there.

No wonder this kid didn't have a girlfriend even eight years later. Zhang Shutong wanted to be thoroughly disdainful, but then he remembered he was single at that age too. The pot shouldn't call the kettle black. He felt a wave of melancholy and let it drop.

"I’m serious," Du Kang persisted. "I read online that if a man can stir up a woman's emotions, over time, he’ll leave a mark on her heart... that’s why they say 'bad boys finish first'."

That was such an ancient, cheesy romance trope that Zhang Shutong laughed. "Why don't you try that on Lu Qinglian?"

"Uh, let's skip that..." The kid was all talk and no action. "But seriously, even if you don't scare her on purpose, if you tell her the whole story later, won't she be incredibly touched?"

Zhang Shutong hadn't really thought about that. Ultimately, he didn't do this to make Gu Qiumian feel touched.

To put it flippantly: they were all supposed to be partners in crime, and there are rules to the game. You don't target the boss's daughter—that's how you get yourself killed.

To put it seriously: her words from yesterday had moved him, and when the opportunity arose, he just helped her catch the "perpetrator."

So, Zhang Shutong said dismissively, "Oh, speaking of which, I forgot to tell you two: don't go adding your own flair to the story. Just say the three of us noticed something was wrong, that's enough."

"Doing good deeds without leaving a name? What are you after, then?"

"What am I after? How do I put this..."

He thought for a moment and, for once, spoke quite seriously: "Let me give you an example. Back when you were struggling and no one was there to help, but now that you're a bit stronger, you see someone in a similar spot and it reminds you of your past self, so..."

As he spoke, Zhang Shutong asked curiously why Qingyi was typing on his phone. Qingyi replied that such a cool line had to be recorded immediately to be used later. Zhang Shutong wasn't sure if he should feel honored or ashamed to be quoted by him.

He corrected himself: "So I really don't feel like I did much. If there's anyone to thank, it's her. Otherwise, she wouldn't have created today's opportunity."

"In a sense, that's true," Qingyi nodded. "If she hadn't been so nonchalant, the guy wouldn't have come back today. Without that piece, we never would have caught him."

Qingyi then asked, "But I've had a question since we were on the stairs. Catching him is one thing, and the other doubts are mostly cleared up, but how do you explain the name on the bathroom partition?"

As soon as he said this, the boy on the floor reacted as if he had grabbed a lifeline: "It wasn't me!"

The three of them looked at him as if he were an idiot.

"Li Yipeng, I said we have it on camera. What’s the point of denying it now?" Du Kang said, amused.

Zhang Shutong glanced at him. After Qingyi’s reminder, he realized the guy looked familiar. He seemed to be their former classmate, someone with average popularity who was a bit flighty, much like Du Kang. But Du Kang had a good temper and didn't mind being teased, so everyone was used to him.

This Li Yipeng, however, was lenient with himself and strict with others. His family ran a small business, and he was relatively well-off, often showing off his phone, watch, and MP3 player.

Since all the kids on the island knew each other, they usually didn't bother making a fuss, but he had kicked a steel plate when he messed with Gu Qiumian.

Everyone knew Gu Qiumian had a habit of sharing snacks with her desk-mate. It was innocent on her part, but others took it the wrong way. He got carried away, thinking Gu Qiumian was interested in him, and went so far as to tell her a dirty joke, replacing the protagonist with her.

Gu Qiumian had coldly smashed his pencil case. When he tried to save face by retorting, he was promptly transferred to another class.

Looking back, Zhang Shutong didn't know what to say. He thought about how much grudge one could hold over something that happened so long ago. Besides, the guy didn't have the guts to admit his wrongdoing. Sitting on the floor now, likely terrified by the influence of Gu Qiumian's father, he was a total wreck.

"You're saying you didn't break the castle?" Qingyi was actually in the mood to chat with him.

"No..."

"Why waste breath on him? The scarf alone is enough to convict him," Du Kang said, glaring at him. "You guess whether Gu Qiumian cares more about the castle or the scarf. If you lie again, the consequences will be much worse."

"It was me..."

"There, that's settled."

To everyone's surprise, the boy cried out in a breakdown, "I mean it wasn't just me! There was someone else, really!"

"Then tell us who it is!"

"I don't know..."

"Then you think the three of us are idiots? Oh, caught red-handed, so now you suddenly have an accomplice? Are you going to say you were forced into it? Putting aside whether this accomplice even exists, you don't even know who it is? Even criminals need to provide useful information for a reduced sentence."

"I'm not lying... The bathroom! Yes, the bathroom!" The boy was truly panicked. "You just said there was Gu Qiumian's name in the bathroom, right? This Monday, I had diarrhea and ran out during class. Just as I locked the door..."

"And you saw her name on the partition? Please don't tell me that counts as an accomplice."

"No, I wrote the name! Listen to me, there really was someone else. I was in the bathroom when a note was slid under the door. It said he and I both had a grudge against Gu Qiumian, and if I wanted revenge..."

"This isn't the place to talk." Zhang Shutong interrupted, having heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He pulled the boy up. "You guys go to the office first."

...

After sending Du Kang and Qingyi to the office with the boy, Zhang Shutong waited in the corridor for Song Nanshan to return.

The next period was English, but given the situation, Old Song definitely wouldn't be in the mood for class; he would have to deal with Li Yipeng's matter first.

Judging by the boy's words, there was a mastermind behind this. Even if it was just incitement, the emergence of another person made the whole thing more complicated.

Zhang Shutong pondered one question: What was the root cause of this incident?

If it was a major change caused by his own time-loop, he counted: becoming desk-mates with Gu Qiumian, writing their three names on scratch paper that was projected, and Lu Qinglian coming along to catch the poacher.

Let's look closer. Take becoming desk-mates as an example. Zhang Shutong hadn't ruled out Zhou Ziheng's suspicion: maybe he had a crush on Gu Qiumian, but because he didn't become her desk-mate, his love turned to hate... well, that was a bit childish, but it was a possibility.

But here was the problem: Li Yipeng said he received the note on Monday, but they hadn't swapped seats by then, had they?

It was impossible to say that this boy named Zhou Ziheng had already planned this—if he continued to be her desk-mate, he'd stop, but if he didn't, he'd take revenge... that wasn't deduction; it wasn't even a theory.

And why wouldn't he take revenge on her new desk-mate instead of her?

Taking a step back, even if he were that calculated, why tell Gu Qiumian?

So, Zhang Shutong finally dismissed Zhou Ziheng; he couldn't find a reasonable motive.

Who was this mastermind? Did it have anything to do with the murder case? And what happened between Monday and Thursday that prevented this bomb from going off in the past?

Zhang Shutong had no leads.

As students began to flood the corridor, he leaned against a pillar, frowning as he watched them pass. A completely unrelated thought popped into his head: Why were all these people involved desk-mates with Gu Qiumian?

Of course, that was useless to study. Zhang Shutong just had a strange feeling, then realized: why else, but because they were close to the young lady.

If you weren't close, you didn't get snacks, you didn't even get to talk, and if there was no contact, how could you have any connection to her?

He sincerely felt that Gu Qiumian would be better off with a girl as a desk-mate; it would save a lot of trouble. But she didn't have any friends in class.

Zhang Shutong wouldn't go so far as to try to help her make friends, but he recalled his interactions with her over the past few days, each one overturning his original impression.

He used to think she was just a haughty rich girl who threw money around. The only similarity was that they had both transferred from the provincial capital, though he didn't know why she always treated him like a traitor.

Later, because of the scarf incident, he discovered her cold side.

Then, by chance, they became desk-mates, and perhaps she thought he was trying to "make up," so her attitude softened.

In the morning, when her father dropped her off and told her to be happy, he heard her nickname.

During morning reading, he saw how she interacted with the girls around her—decisive and surrounded like a star.

Then the castle was smashed, and he saw her mixed reactions—distressed on one hand, indifferent on the other. At the restaurant, she was cold but still helped him out of a bind.

Finally, the dialogue after school yesterday revealed her stubborn side.

If there was anything else, it was her making faces at the glass and laughing at herself.

When she returned to the classroom later and found they had caught the person, what expression would she have? Joy? The satisfaction of vengeance?

But what if she heard there was a mastermind?

Zhang Shutong didn't know. If he treated Gu Qiumian as a subject to study, he probably couldn't figure her out in a lifetime.

For instance, he had thought she was a lonely girl who rarely smiled, but she overturned that impression again.

Gu Qiumian was walking up the stairs with the three girls from that morning's reading, laughing and chatting all the way.

Though she wasn't laughing hysterically, it was a bright, sunny smile he had never seen before.

The girl was slightly out of breath, fanning her face with one hand as if it were hot. She was wearing a dark sweater that made her skin look even fairer.

Gu Qiumian accidentally glanced over and met Zhang Shutong’s eyes. Her beautiful, expressive eyes blinked, and she was about to glare slightly. With the hallway so noisy and countless people passing by her, in that moment, she looked like a little deer emerging from a deep tunnel, staring at him with wide, round eyes.

Zhang Shutong blinked back.

That didn't seem right, did it?

Weren't you scrolling through your phone nonchalantly yesterday? How did your sense of humor get so low today?

Before he could say anything, Gu Qiumian’s little secretary jumped over and waved: "Hey, handsome, look over here, look over here... Wow, he really looked over. Qiumian, look, his eyes are so fierce!"

Zhang Shutong simply looked away, thinking, *Fierce? I'm just confused by the three of you.*

This place wasn't a good spot to linger.

Since the classmates were returning, he prepared to find Old Song, but Gu Qiumian didn't ignore him this time; she walked over.

"Zhang... Shutong?" The girl intentionally stiffened her face, but a smile could still be seen at the corner of her lips. Gu Qiumian snorted, "What are you standing here staring at?"

Zhang Shutong didn't know why she always liked to call him that, but he could tell she was in a good mood. "You know already?"

Zhang Shutong suspected Du Kang had already leaked the news.

"Know what?"

"Too many people here. We'll talk later."

"Tch."

The little secretary chimed in, "What kind of secret code are you two using? Such great chemistry? Are the three of us in the way?"

Gu Qiumian gave her a look of annoyance. "He's just the type who likes to play it cool, always being all mysterious."

"But he's only mysterious to you. Look, he doesn't even talk to us..."

That was absolutely false.

Zhang Shutong ignored the girls and said to Gu Qiumian, "It's nothing, just that yesterday I saw you..."

"Why do you keep bringing that up?" Gu Qiumian wrinkled her nose, seemingly unwilling to be reminded of her dark past. "Who can stay angry forever? What if I get old?"

Zhang Shutong said he was just surprised. Gu Qiumian pouted and ignored him, then threw back, "Then you can just stand outside and be surprised. Bye." The sunny girl said goodbye to her friends and turned into the classroom.

Zhang Shutong thought to himself that they would probably meet in the office in a few minutes. He looked forward to her surprised expression.

He should go find the head teacher, but then Qingyi trotted over.

"We pretty much finished questioning Li Yipeng. We finally know why he wanted revenge after so long. It's actually more serious than we thought," Qingyi said, his face heavy. "It's not just about him and Gu Qiumian; it's also about conflicts at home..."

"At home?" Zhang Shutong caught the keyword.

"Yes, remember? His family runs a shop on the commercial street..."