Chapter 52: Roman Holiday (Part I)

The so-called "base" was a large drainage culvert.

It was unknown how long it had been abandoned. The other end was blocked, and the silt deposited at the bottom of the culvert had long since dried and hardened, with a few stubborn blades of grass poking through, shivering in the winter chill.

The concrete-poured walls of the culvert were covered in cracks, and in the worst areas, the surface had peeled away to reveal rusted, orange-colored reinforcing bars.

Gu Qiumian followed Zhang Shutong into the drainage culvert, curiously examining the graffiti on both interior walls.

The teenage boy crouched down in front of a safe and fumbled around for quite a while.

"You guys even have a safe?" she asked in surprise.

"Dukang picked it up."

"Then how do you know what the combination is?"

"The combination lock broke ages ago, otherwise how would we have been able to salvage it." Zhang Shutong chuckled, finally fishing a key out from a crack. "It's just an empty shell."

Only then did Gu Qiumian notice that an additional padlock had been fastened onto the safe.

The lock cylinder was somewhat stiff, and Zhang Shutong had to twist it for a good while before it finally popped open. He pulled the cabinet door open and hauled out two motorcycle helmets.

These two helmets weren't acquired through legitimate means either; one had been contributed by Qingyi, and the other was an obsolete one discarded by his own father. Tapping the surface of a helmet with his knuckles produced a sound that echoed inside the drainage culvert. It suddenly struck him that many precious things from his childhood were actually just picked-up "garbage."

A so-called childhood is really just a beautiful eggshell you construct for yourself when you haven't yet seen the larger world—one that shatters at the slightest touch.

Whose house were these things eventually carried back to?

Probably nobody wanted them; they weren't even worth the physical labor of moving them. Over the past eight years, he had long since forgotten their secret base entirely. Yet, thinking about it now, the safe had remained all this time inside this pitch-dark cavern. As long as you didn't mind that it was trash, it would quietly wait for you right here.

There were still many miscellaneous little items inside the safe: an entrenching tool, a military knife, a broken electronic watch, a few hair ties, a mobile phone data cable... Some were useless, while others might come in handy later. Anyway, this was their treasure chest.

At this moment, Gu Qiumian asked again what they were going to have for lunch, or if she should call Aunt Wu so they could go home to eat.

Zhang Shutong shook his milk tea; he wasn't particularly keen on heading back in the direction of the villa, and besides, the two of them had just finished drinking Grand Slam milk teas, which really filled you up.

When asked, Gu Qiumian admitted she wasn't hungry either, so Zhang Shutong suggested going fishing to let the young lady experience the simple joys of ordinary students.

He dug out two sets of backup fishing gear from the safe—the base could lack anything except fishing rods—and immediately began threading the line and tying the hooks.

Gu Qiumian was eager to try as well, but the difference was that she merely bent over to watch closely from the side, with no intention of doing it herself, waiting for Zhang Shutong to set it up for her.

"What about the bait?"

Gu Qiumian instantly pointed out the crucial issue, showing she clearly had a talent for fishing.

Zhang Shutong said the bait was readily available. Armed with the military shovel, he knew the damp soil by the water's edge was prime territory for earthworms to hibernate. Within a moment, he dug up a few and held them up for her to see. But Gu Qiumian let out a little shriek, jumped back a step, and glared at him, telling him to take them away immediately.

As it turned out, she was afraid of earthworms; she really was a coward.

How would she react if she knew Dukang dared to catch frogs with his bare hands?

Zhang Shutong glanced around their surroundings. They were out in the wild, the daylight had turned pale and sickly, and the wind blew in intermittent gusts, howling as it funneled into the drainage culvert.

To be honest, it was a bit creepy, but Gu Qiumian hadn't mentioned going back. It seemed that calling her a coward just now had seriously underestimated her.

Since no one else was in sight, Zhang Shutong lowered his head again and continued fussing with the bait.

The two of them hauled out their stools and finally sat down on the bank right beside the drainage culvert. He had also rummaged out two packs of compressed biscuits—quite an unexpected bonus—and tossed one to Gu Qiumian. With a mouthful of milk tea and a bite of biscuit, he started fishing.

Although the wind was a bit cold, the water a bit shallow, and there were barely any fish, Zhang Shutong felt it was thoroughly dashing and couldn't resist taking a picture to show off to Qingyi.

To his frustration, his phone failed him at the crucial moment; the sent image just kept spinning in circles, leaving only a message that he was going fishing. Damn this terrible signal.

***

"No way, in the middle of the day, he actually took Gu Qiumian fishing?" Ruoping asked in astonishment.

"It's fine, I left some compressed biscuits there from before; they won't starve," Qingyi comforted, turning sideways slightly to shake his chat history, before turning back to sit properly in the passenger seat.

"I'm not talking about the compressed biscuits, I'm talking about the fishing..."

"Isn't fishing while eating compressed biscuits deeply atmospheric? Do you expect them to eat Oreos instead?"

"What does that have to do with what they're eating?!" Ruoping said frantically. By now, she was starting to pity Gu Qiumian. "I mean, with so many places to go, who takes a girl out to fish in the wilderness on a weekend? Never mind Gu Qiumian, even I find it creepy!"

"Shutong said Gu Qiumian is quite bold and wasn't scared."

Was that because she was bold?

Just as Ruoping was about to unleash a tirade on these two blockheads, the man in the driver's seat suddenly spoke up:

"Alright, you guys pipe down. You're giving me a headache with all this noise. What do you want for lunch?"

"Hot pot?" Ruoping's attention was instantly diverted.

"I just finished eating," Dukang burped, "but I suppose I can manage a bit more."

***

"How about we go find Shutong? I still have compressed biscuits here." This was from Qingyi.

Right now, the three of them were sitting inside the little Fox car. Meng Qingyi and Ruoping had just been picked up from the shopping mall by their head teacher. Even though the phone call had claimed it was an urgent matter, once they got in the car, the teacher suddenly wasn't in a hurry anymore, asking instead if the three of them were hungry and suggesting they wander around first.

"Hot pot is out of the question, we don't have enough time." Song Nanshan glanced at his watch and shook his refusal, completely ignoring the remarks from the two boys. "Let's go to the school gate and have some rice bowls with toppings; my treat."

"So what on earth is this all about, Teacher?" Dukang grabbed the back of the seat and asked, he and Ruoping both sitting in the back row.

"Moving a few desks from the warehouse to the first-year junior high block," Song Nanshan said casually. "I originally wanted to arrange for you guys to do it on Friday, but didn't that whole business with Li Zipeng happen right then? It slipped my mind."

"You're really something else, you can even forget about that," Dukang gave a thumbs-up. "No wonder you suddenly offered to treat us; turns out you just called us here to be coolies?"

"What do you mean 'no wonder'? Do you think I rarely treat you ungrateful wretches?" Song Nanshan scolded with a smile. "You thought those meals were free? When a critical moment hits, if I don't ask you guys to step up and block bullets, who else am I going to ask?"

Ruoping rolled her eyes. "Then why only call the three of us instead of your beloved protégé? Still playing favorites, aren't you?"

The beloved protégé naturally referred to Zhang Shutong.

"Him?" Song Nanshan paused, glancing at the boy in the passenger seat. "Isn't Shutong busy fishing with Qiumian? I figured I shouldn't disturb their private time together."

The young lady feigned a gesture of supporting her forehead in exasperation. Actually, she didn't have much of an objection; she just liked to use her sharp tongue.

Anyway, today's schedule had long since descended into utter chaos. Shutong had already messaged them while they were still at the mall, saying their mission was complete and the rest of the time was free for them to arrange however they liked, telling them not to worry about him and Gu Qiumian.

She had hurriedly pressed for details on what was really going on, but Shutong only replied that there was a "big surprise" today, asking if she wanted to know right now or wait until the very last moment to unveil the grand finale and spend an unforgettable Saturday.

The young lady thought about it and chose the latter.

She had warned him strictly to be careful and not get too carried away and ruin it.

The other party had simply replied with a brief "Don't worry" and told her to enjoy the rest of the process.

But nobody ever said the "process" involved moving desks at school!

What kind of unforgettable Saturday was this?

Oh, in a sense, it certainly was unforgettable. Feng Ruoping was already numb; let these people toss things around however they pleased.

So the young lady simply propped her chin on her hand in silence and stared out the window.

Dukang was constitutionally incapable of sitting still and asked Song Nanshan how many desks needed to be moved and whether they could finish by the afternoon. Song Nanshan thought for a moment and said around a dozen or so, not many.

"You call that not many?" Dukang stared. "Making a round trip from the warehouse to the teaching building takes at least five minutes, right?"

"I didn't just call the three of you," Song Nanshan corrected himself. "There are other students I called to help."

"Teacher, you could've mentioned that earlier." Dukang breathed a sigh of relief.

"If I told you earlier, what if you rascals tried to slack off and refused to come?" Song Nanshan kept one hand on the steering wheel while using the other to ruffle Qingyi's hair. "And you, stop messing around on your phone, you'll get carsick. How are you always acting like a grown-up?"

Qingyi discontentedly pushed away the man's large hand. "I'm chatting with Shutong."

"Oh? How are things over on his end?"

"No reply. I originally wanted to let him know the rest of us are heading to the school." Qingyi looked puzzled. "Did his phone run out of battery? That shouldn't be... or is the signal bad over there?"

"He probably just hasn't seen it. That kid is probably busy trying to woo a girl," Song Nanshan consoled.

Before he could finish speaking, his phone suddenly buzzed. It was resting on the central armrest box of the car. Dukang reached out intending to hand it over, but Song Nanshan snatched it up first, glanced at it, typed a couple of characters, shoved it back into his pocket, and continued driving.

Soon, the car pulled into the school entrance, right around twelve o'clock.

The four of them had a casual lunch.

Since they were here to act as manual laborers, they naturally intended to fleece their head teacher mercilessly. Yet, the most luxurious item on the rice bowl menu was braised beef rice, leaving Dukang with no choice but to drink two uninspired bottles of soda until he was painfully bloated.

At that point, Song Nanshan told them to go up to the classroom to rest for a bit while he had a few things to take care of outside, promising to return shortly to start moving the desks.

The several of them nodded and watched as the little car drove back out of the school gates.

Bored, Dukang asked what they should do next and how things were going with Shutong.

"He still hasn't replied." Qingyi shrugged. "Anyway, the plan was all discussed beforehand; if we execute it step by step, nothing will go wrong."

"Don't you think Old Song has been acting a bit weird today?" Ruoping suddenly asked.

"What do you... *hiccup*." Dukang clutched his stomach.

"He told me on the phone that it was an urgent matter and even made me hurry out of the mall to wait for him. How come he's suddenly not in a hurry anymore, and even drove off somewhere else just now?"

"Old Song told me the same thing," Dukang recalled. "I was still at Gu Qiumian's house back then, and he suddenly showed up at the villa gates and told me to get in the car right away."

"And there's another thing that doesn't add up," Ruoping continued. "How did he know Shutong and Gu Qiumian were together? Did you tell him?"

"I didn't say anything," Dukang said, bewildered. "I thought you two told him?"

"Then how did he find out?" Ruoping turned serious as well.

***

Unfortunately, after she deduced away for a long time, waiting for someone to agree with her, the resident deduction maniac remained completely silent.

Ruoping poked Qingyi, prompting the boy to finally snap back to attention. "I was thinking about something else just now, what were you guys saying?"

Ruoping repeated herself.

"You're so silly," Qingyi sighed. "Couldn't Old Song just call Shutong himself?"

"But didn't Shutong's side have no signal?"

"Shutong hadn't reached the base yet back then; it was just a matter of timing." He felt this question was too foolish to explain further. "Alright, let's drop this. I'll take you guys to see something much more interesting."

With that, Meng Qingyi headed towards the restrooms first, reminding the other two of the matter concerning the labels on the toilet stalls.

Ruoping stood hesitatingly at the doorway, fidgeting nervously, while Dukang laughed and teased, "It's Saturday and there's nobody here, what are you afraid of? Besides, you're such a fierce woman, even if someone was in there you wouldn't..."

Consequently, Dukang's other ear was twisted as well.

The three of them bickered as they arrived in front of the stalls. Because it was Saturday, the school lights were off, and the light streamed in solely from the small, square-shaped windows, making the interior of the restroom rather dim.

Qingyi turned on his phone's flashlight and swept the beam across:

"The person who pulled this stunt still hasn't been tracked down."

Ruoping pinched her nose; it was her first time entering a men's restroom, making her somewhat nervous. "Then do you have a clue?"

Qingyi merely smiled. "Have you guys noticed that this incident is actually very similar to the arson case?"

"What do you mean?"

"They both feature a so-called mastermind behind the scenes."

Thinking he had stumbled upon some major discovery, Ruoping answered speechlessly:

"How can those two things possibly be compared? One is a prank inside the school, while the other almost burned someone's house down. To put it bluntly, one is just petty mischief, and the other is a matter of life and death. How can you link them together?"

"What if I told you the connection between these two events is extremely close—so close that one couldn't exist without the other?" Qingyi raised an eyebrow.

"How are they connected?"

Instead of answering, Qingyi pivoted:

"Now, you two think about a question, treat it as our intelligence game for this afternoon: Why did that liver-faced guy suddenly take a leave of absence on Friday?"

"Something came up at home?" Dukang didn't even bother to think.

"Wrong."

"He suddenly got scared?" Ruoping chimed in.

"Still wrong."

"Then why?"

"Because that liver-faced guy never intended to go in the first place," Qingyi asserted with certainty. "If he had genuinely wanted to go, he wouldn't have used a method that kept his identity hidden while recruiting people on the commercial street."

"Wait, what kind of motive is that?" Dukang looked disappointed.

"Don't underestimate this motive; he wanted to keep his own hands completely clean from the very beginning."

Qingyi spread his hands:

"Let me give you another hint. Shutong told me at noon that, according to those five arsonists, the six of them originally agreed to make their move on Saturday night. Because they didn't know each other's identities and feared betrayal from an accomplice, they made a pact that everyone had to be present—not a single person could be missing."

"I get it," Ruoping was somewhat sharper than Dukang. "You're saying the liver-faced guy never wanted to go in the first place, but if he didn't participate, his accomplices wouldn't agree either. Is that what you mean?"

"Spot on. So the question arises: why did those five arsonists go ahead with it even though they weren't all present?"

"I know this one!" Dukang eagerly buzzed in. "Because Li Zipeng's mother let it slip! They were afraid of alerting the authorities and having Gu Qiumian's father called back early. Once they missed that window, they didn't know how long they'd have to wait, plus the commercial street was about to be demolished anyway. So regardless of whether everyone was there or not, they gritted their teeth and went."

"Correct answer." Qingyi snapped his fingers. "The truth is just like that. The mastermind behind the scenes—meaning the liver-faced guy—used this exact method to wash his hands completely clean."

"Hold on, that doesn't make sense," Dukang puzzled. "You just said the liver-faced guy never wanted to go, but if he hadn't stumbled into the stroke of luck with Li Zipeng, wouldn't he still have been forced to bite the bullet and show up on Saturday?"

"That's precisely why I say this is the most brilliant part of the whole case," Qingyi said excitedly. "It's almost like something straight out of a book. Yes, on the surface, it looks like Li Zipeng retaliated against Gu Qiumian first, which led to his mother being summoned and accidentally leaking that someone was plotting revenge, causing the arsonists to strike early—a chain reaction piled up out of a series of accidental events. But what if I told you that you shouldn't view Li Zipeng's retaliation as a sudden emergency, but rather work backward from the result and treat it as a premeditated plot all along?"

Ruoping was stunned:

"Are you saying even Li Zipeng's mother was part of the liver-faced guy's setup?"

Qingyi did not answer the question. Instead, he took a breath as if completely intoxicated, suddenly coughed, but forced himself to continue word by word:

"Everyone, this culprit is much smarter and far more calculating than either of you or I ever imagined—exponentially so."