Chapter 40: I Owe You an Apology (A Ten-Thousand-Word Grand Chapter)

"It's only a possibility, and the worst one at that." With that, Zhang Shutong glanced at him.

Bulge lines suddenly burst out on Old Song's face:

"What the hell, what are we waiting for? Why aren't we leaving right now? Only Qiu-mian and her nanny are home at this hour, who knows what those animals might do!"

"The police are going over."

"Do you believe a word those people say? They said on the phone they'd patrol tonight, but who the hell knows how late 'tonight' is. By the time they get there, it'll all be over..."

"I mean, I've already called the police."

Zhang Shutong said suddenly.

Song Nanshan was taken aback, his hand already gripping the steering wheel dropping back down.

"What did you just say, kid?" He doubted he was experiencing auditory hallucinations.

"I said, Teacher, I've already called the police." Zhang Shutong glanced at his phone again and said calmly, "And they've already arrived."

Song Nanshan opened his mouth blankly, countless questions flashing through his mind.

You anticipated this all along?

Then why didn't you say anything?

And when on earth did you call the police, kid?

The questions were so numerous they robbed him of his ability to think normally. Under the rollercoaster of emotions, he could only ask blankly out of sheer intuition:

"When did you guess it?"

"Just thought of it."

"Then how did you call the police..."

"Drive first."

Prompted by him, Song Nanshan remembered to press the clutch. The small car almost stalled because of this, jolting forward before successfully moving on.

Zhang Shutong fastened his seatbelt, adjusted the air conditioning, and then slowly unraveled Song Nanshan's doubts:

"They made two preparations, it's true, but I also made three preparations in advance.

"The first preparation was bringing you, Teacher, to the commercial street to find the van, because I didn't expect it to be a diversion either at first."

"Then since you didn't expect it, how did you call the police?" Old Song asked, utterly bewildered.

"That brings us to the second preparation. Since the dog was poisoned, even if it wasn't discovered tonight, it would definitely be found tomorrow morning. So we couldn't rule out the possibility of them making a move tonight, and I didn't dare gamble on those odds."

"Good job!"

Song Nanshan slammed the steering wheel in excitement, finally letting out a breath. Without asking why he had kept it a secret from him, he impatiently asked:

"What about the third preparation?"

Yet Zhang Shutong acted as if he hadn't heard the question. He merely turned his face sideways, watching the rapidly receding scenery outside the window without speaking.

The young girl sitting here a few hours ago had been just as silent; now, it had become Zhang Shutong himself.

But since Zhang Shutong wasn't saying, Song Nanshan was in no mood to ask either. Right now, he just wanted to drive back to Gu Qiu-mian's house as fast as possible. Regardless of whether the police had arrived or not, he needed to verify it with his own eyes to feel at ease.

They sped all the way, faster than when they came.

When the car finally turned into the road in front of the villa, the blue and red police lights were already visible.

Song Nanshan slammed the car door shut and hurried over, only to find that all three remaining police officers on the island had come.

It looked quite lively from a distance. Song Nanshan didn't know whether to be angry or relieved. Blinking hard, suspecting he was hallucinating from the cold, he finally remembered to ask Zhang Shutong:

"Wait, didn't you say there was no police force left? How did you get all of them to come over?"

"I just caught two poachers the day before yesterday and got the station chief's number."

Zhang Shutong shook his phone:

"And I told him someone was going to burn down Gu Qiu-mian's house, so he takes my words somewhat seriously."

The station chief he mentioned was none other than the thick-accented Officer Xiong.

Even with favorable impressions built up, getting the other party to take it seriously wasn't that simple.

Extraordinary times called for extraordinary measures, so Zhang Shutong simply chose to make a false police report.

Unlike Song Nanshan, who had merely stated the facts, he told Officer Xiong directly that someone was carrying gasoline to burn down the Gu family's villa.

The reason the police believed him immediately was because on the first day after he came home from school, he had stopped by the police station and covertly hinted at it.

At the time, the police had dismissed it as a distraction tactic for fishing and hadn't believed it.

Yet later, the "electro-fisher" mentioned by Du Kang really was caught.

As a result, his credibility skyrocketed.

No matter the final outcome, Zhang Shutong chose to spend that precious credit right here.

"When did you call the police? The timeline doesn't match up either?" Old Song asked again.

"Before we left the villa."

Zhang Shutong showed him his QQ chat history:

"Of course, strictly speaking, I wasn't the one who called the police; Du Kang helped me do it."

"No wonder I kept seeing you glance at your phone. I thought you were just worried we wouldn't make it in time."

Song Nanshan suddenly understood. Then, immensely relieved, he grinned and patted Zhang Shutong's shoulder:

"Not bad, kid, you really calculated everything. Though your excuse wasn't great—when the police get there and see no gasoline, won't they think you played them? But when the time comes, just say I told you to do it, I'll take the blame."

Zhang Shutong frowned and remained silent.

Because...

He genuinely smelled a faint scent of gasoline.

On the other side, the police across the way saw the car and trotted over through the rain.

"Are you Teacher Song Nanshan?"

"That's right, the one who called the police earlier, though this time it's all thanks to my good student."

Song Nanshan smiled and pushed Zhang Shutong's shoulder.

The police officer, however, apologized and saluted Old Song:

"Teacher Song, I'm sorry. When you called the station earlier, we didn't pay enough attention, which nearly led to disaster..."

"It's fine, it's fine, you guys made it in the end anyway."

Old Song was open-minded:

"But judging by your tone, Comrade, you actually caught them?"

"Five perpetrators have been subdued." A trace of a smile appeared on the officer's face.

Hearing this, Old Song hurriedly went up to shake his hand, thanking them for their hard work, and asked with a mix of curiosity and lingering fear: What on earth were these five animals here to do?

To his surprise, the police officer gave them a strange look and said, "To pour gasoline, of course. Isn't that what your student told us when he called?"

Old Song quickly said the child didn't know any better and not to take it to heart, as it was just a way to get their attention. Before he could finish, a realization struck him:

"Wait, they really came to pour gasoline?"

The officer nodded with an even stranger expression.

Meanwhile, Zhang Shutong had already run over to the police car. The things he wanted to know had already been answered by the other two officers, leaving him unsure whether to be relieved or speechless—

The false alarm he reported had actually turned real.

The whole process hadn't been dangerous because both sides arrived almost simultaneously. The moment they stopped the car, the five culprits hadn't even had a chance to act before being subdued on the spot by the responding police.

More details were subsequently confirmed:

These five individuals were indeed merchants from the commercial street.

Sighing over the malice of human nature, he had no intention of asking for details tonight. It was simply too cold; Zhang Shutong felt that if he stayed in the rain any longer, he would catch a fever tomorrow.

Just as he was about to discuss it with Old Song, the villa door swung open.

In the dark of night, Zhang Shutong caught sight of a pair of expressive, beautiful eyes.

Which were currently filled with worry, naturally.

Gu Qiu-mian dashed out holding an umbrella.

Zhang Shutong suddenly thought that perhaps Old Song's words were true: this girl wasn't really smart. On such a freezing day with rain pouring down on the ground, she had actually run out wearing only a pair of slippers.

What followed went without saying.

Because that was supposed to be the script where the hero dusts off his clothes and leaves hidden in anonymity.

Zhang Shutong had made three sets of preparations, but the one thing he hadn't guarded against was that Miss Gu simply refused to let them leave.

Gu Qiu-mian strongly insisted that Zhang Shutong and Old Song stay for the night, take a hot shower first, take cold medicine, and immediately crawl under the covers to sleep.

A three-person vote: Gu Qiu-mian voted in favor, Song Nanshan did too. Without even consulting Zhang Shutong's opinion, he was dragged into the villa by Old Song.

"If you don't want to stay, you have to consider your teacher! I'm this old, getting completely soaked and having to drag you home—do I want my life or not? Go clean up quickly and don't let Qiu-mian's kindness go to waste..."

The nanny had already prepared two towels.

He vigorously dried his hair. With no mirror nearby, he figured it looked like a bird's nest. The indoor heating was on; he took off his coat, changed into a guest bathrobe, and padded around in slippers, looking somewhat like a big boss.

Gu Qiu-mian had gone to take a shower. She had frozen outside for quite a while, but in the four-story villa, her bedroom was on the second floor with an en-suite bathroom, so she was temporarily out of sight.

Zhang Shutong and Old Song were on the first floor. They didn't rush to shower because masculine pride told them... stripping naked the moment you entered someone else's house didn't seem quite right.

The two decided to tough it out a little longer.

Learning that they hadn't eaten yet, the nanny went to prepare some late-night snacks.

Zhang Shutong paced alone to the villa's balcony.

—He didn't even know if this counted as a balcony: a massive floor-to-ceiling window, beneath which lay a solid wood platform connecting both sides. It held several cushions, a small coffee table, and a lounge chair.

Yet despite holding quite a few items, the platform still felt vast and empty.

Hidden light strips were embedded beneath the platform, casting a warm glow that reflected off the marble floor.

Zhang Shutong stepped onto the platform and walked up to the floor-to-ceiling window, which faced the villa's backyard. Rainwater streamed in torrents down the glass, reflecting the colorful lights of the interior.

Nothing could be clearly seen outside anymore.

A small door was set beside the floor-to-ceiling window, providing access to the backyard from here.

Zhang Shutong opened the door and instinctively looked up, noticing that a corridor had been built along the floor-to-ceiling window over the artificial turf, likely meant for enjoying a good book when the weather was nice.

He stood quietly in the corridor for a moment.

Before him lay a pitch-black space, devoid of light; behind him was the warm interior, where the nanny seemed to be cooking noodles. He could hear the bubbling sound of water boiling over the rain.

He began to feel cold again, hugging his other arm as he felt his muscles tremble uncontrollably. Zhang Shutong simply gripped his phone and stood in silence amidst the darkness before him.

At that moment, Song Nanshan's voice sounded from behind:

"What profound act are you putting on out here, kid? Hurry up and go take a shower."

He turned his head. Old Song was also wearing a bathrobe, revealing only a furry patch of lower calf.

He held a mug, seemingly filled with coffee, sipping it as he spoke with supreme leisure.

"Just wanted to wait a bit longer."

"A long night with no desire to sleep," Old Song quoted quite poetically, even translating it himself into English, like reciting a Shakespearean poem.

"Still shaken?" He patted Zhang Shutong's shoulder.

"I'm fine."

"Got to hand it to you, kid, you've got a talent for looking cool. Good job tonight." Old Song took another sip of coffee, standing shoulder to shoulder with him in the corridor as they watched the light drizzle. After a long while, he spoke, "Though, as an elder and a teacher, there's something I need to tell you."

Zhang Shutong nodded to show he was listening.

Old Song suddenly turned rather solemn:

"Though your brain works better than your teacher's, able to calculate any situation and make piles of plans and preparations—two or three sets of them, way better than me, and I'm very proud of you as your teacher—but Shutong..."

Zhang Shutong suddenly recalled that during the regression day, Old Song had taught a test-taking trick in class: whenever someone added the word "but," it proved that what followed was what they truly wanted to say.

"I understand that reasoning and solving cases can get one's blood pumping, but have you ever heard the saying 'to exhaust all schemes is to exhaust one's luck'? I'm not saying you'll definitely suffer losses in the future, but you can't rely solely on calculations just because you have a good brain."

Old Song scratched his head awkwardly:

"How should I put it? We're all living, breathing people; we can't live like calculating machines. If you calculate away all that human warmth... you're so smart, you should understand what I mean."

Before Zhang Shutong could speak, Song Nanshan patted his shoulder to stop him, his voice turning somewhat heavy:

"Although things turned out safe and sound, and it was resolved smoothly—much better than your teacher just driving around blindly—I still have to say it was too risky.

"Why insist on keeping Qiu-mian at home? I know your reasons were justified, wanting to capture the criminals in one fell swoop, and you even anticipated the killers would come tonight and called the police in advance without telling me, but..."

Before he could finish, Zhang Shutong's phone suddenly rang.

Clutching his phone as if he hadn't heard, he simply said to Song Nanshan:

"Sorry."

Old Song was stunned:

"I'm not lecturing you, what good does saying sorry to me do? You can tell Qiu-mian later when she comes down. Anyway, go answer your phone first..."

With that, the man let out a huge sneeze, losing his tough demeanor as he shivered and walked away.

Zhang Shutong watched him go until he disappeared, then closed the balcony door.

And pressed answer.

It was the call he had been waiting for.

A young man's voice came through the other end:

"Sorry, sorry, I was reading earlier and muted my phone because I was afraid of being disturbed."

"That book *The Decapitator's Something*?" Zhang Shutong had the mood to chat.

"Yeah, I just finished it in one breath. Let me tell you, the biggest trick is amazing, it's just that the guy..."

"Stop right there, stop right there." Zhang Shutong pinched the bridge of his nose. "Did you find out?"

"Mn, I searched for photos from back then. It's not."

"Certain?"

"Certain. Gu Qiu-mian's dad drove an A8L, and the car you mentioned that hit and killed someone was a Passat. They both look like black sedans, but they're worlds apart—you could buy several of the latter for the former."

"Right, I only found two photos of the scene back then, and one didn't even capture the car. But since I don't know cars, I specifically asked you."

"Of course, it was a huge pain to find. I even bypassed the firewall to search, and compared them for ages before confirming." Qingyi's end sounded like he was biting on a pen as he asked, voice slurred with confusion: "Why are you looking this up anyway? Isn't a 2007 car accident too long ago? It happened near the amusement park in the city, a car driving drunk at night, let me check... Oh, it hit and killed a woman."

"Ruling out some things."

Zhang Shutong thought for a moment and replied.

"What?"

"Nothing, wanted to share with you, but who told you to check your messages so late."

"Ah, I actually got kept in suspense for once. Sounds like you had a rich experience tonight, Shutong," Qingyi envied.

"More like terrified." Zhang Shutong shrugged.

That was merely an idea that had suddenly popped into his head after seeing the poisoned dog.

In his previous life, before the murder took place and before Gu Qiu-mian's father left the island—

A teacher named Song Nanshan was entrusted with a task: to look after a girl in his class.

He was warm, responsible, and cared for his students.

Yet he remained entirely oblivious to the girl's ordeal over the weekend.

He hadn't even reported it by Monday.

Zhang Shutong didn't know what exactly had happened in this past timeline.

But just as he wanted to slice away Friday night using the salami slicing tactic—

Based on the reasoning that if Gu Qiu-mian had suffered something on Friday night, then no matter how rough Song Nanshan's personality was, he wouldn't have gone the entire weekend without making a single phone call—

He suddenly realized a problem.

Why must one make a phone call?

Or rather, why assume his standpoint?

The girlfriend of the teacher named Song Nanshan had died in a car accident.

Zhang Shutong had once searched for pictures of the crime scene in the car.

The vehicle that caused the accident was a black sedan, very similar to the one that had dropped Gu Qiu-mian off earlier that morning.

So tens of minutes ago, he had sent the picture to his best friend, asking him to compare them;

A dozen or so minutes ago, he had considered whether the dog poisoner and the murderer were the same person;

Minutes ago, he had heard people asking why he was so stubbornly keeping Gu Qiu-mian at home.

And moments ago, when asked what his "third preparation" was, he chose to remain speechless.

Even why he had asked Du Kang to call the police yet consistently refused to reveal it to the man in the driver's seat.

Zhang Shutong's inner self had never struggled for this long;

Yet now, these doubts could perhaps be effortlessly unraveled—

He had said that to make them lower their guard, the killers simply made two preparations;

While Zhang Shutong himself, despite having no clues about many issues initially, didn't let that stop him from making three preparations in advance.

The first was going to the commercial street.

The second was calling the police.

And that so-called third preparation—

Was keeping Gu Qiu-mian at the villa, completely separating her from the man.

This was the third preparation Zhang Shutong made for the worst-case scenario in his heart.

Though it ultimately wasn't needed and proved he had overthought it, that didn't stop Zhang Shutong from smiling and telling Qingyi:

"I have to blame you for this matter."

"How so?"

"If you had seen my message earlier, I wouldn't have had to run around in such a huge circle."

"Men are occasionally late, you know," Qingyi said lazily.

"Oh, and it made me wrongly accuse a good person."

"Who?"

"Classified."

Saying that aloud, Zhang Shutong spoke the person's name in his heart.

—That was the teacher he respected most throughout his entire student days.

So when the two of them were standing in the corridor talking, the other person had guessed wrong about one thing.

That "sorry" from earlier had never been meant for Gu Qiu-mian.

It was spoken specifically for him to hear.

Only, Old Song would probably never understand what it meant.

Zhang Shutong gazed a while longer at the night scenery before him.

At that moment, Qingyi reminded him over the phone:

"Don't forget to gather tomorrow morning, we need to prepare for the birthday party, don't be late. By the way, I heard from Du Kang that you called the police again. What happened to Gu Qiu-mian this time?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there for sure," Zhang Shutong said with a smile. "Qiu-mian's fine, it's just those people with a grudge against her family that we talked about today—we finally caught them."

"Your efficiency is fast enough."

"Not bad, just felt like an idiot running around doing a bunch of busywork."

"It doesn't matter if men are occasionally misunderstood, as long as the job gets done."

"Thanks to you guys, too."

"I hear you, sounds like you're outside?"

"Mn."

"Wait, you wouldn't happen to be at Gu Qiu-mian's house right now..."

Zhang Shutong's smile froze, and he promptly hung up the phone.

The rain was still falling.

The night scenery remained unchanged.

Everything grew quiet.

It was really cold outside; no one with a normal brain would linger out here. So he stretched lazily, rubbing his numb hands, and was just about to step back inside when he heard a crisp voice drop from the sky:

"Idol, what are you standing out there for? Aren't you freezing?"

Zhang Shutong was startled. He looked up;

And saw that pair of expressive, beautiful eyes belonging to Gu Qiu-mian.

She seemed to have just stepped out of the shower, a few strands of hair clinging to her cheeks, wrapped in a wine-red pajama robe.

Before them were fine threads of rain. In this cold and clean rainy night, each of them leaned halfway out, locking gazes.