The advantage of this woman is that she is very polite.
"It's nothing," Zhang Shutong said casually as he followed her. "If you think about it, you got hurt because of that pit. It's what you deserve."
The two of them entered the house. He boiled a kettle of water and had Lu Qinglian sit on the sofa while he went to the TV cabinet and opened a drawer.
If he remembered correctly... there should be some.
He squatted down and quickly found something, throwing it backward:
"Catch."
Zhang Shutong turned his head and saw Lu Qinglian subconsciously catch the small bottle with both hands, and he added:
"Safflower oil. You know how to rub it, right? You apply it on your foot to promote blood circulation and reduce swelling."
Lu Qinglian nodded.
Zhang Shutong also returned to the sofa, thinking that not long ago, this place was a scene of a tense confrontation. Now, the girl was injured, and she was slightly bending over, taking off her shoes and socks.
Of course, he was not in a better state. By the way, can safflower oil cure a kick?
Zhang Shutong thought to himself. Should he put some on his chest later?
Then he saw Lu Qinglian unscrew the cap, pour a little oil, and was about to rub it on her foot. He quickly stopped her:
"Wait."
"What's wrong?" She tilted her head.
"What's wrong?"
Zhang Shutong thought to himself.
"You can't just rub it on. At least soak your feet in hot water first. What do you think I boiled the water for?"
"Where did that very mature and terrifying demeanor of yours on the mountain go? Can you please not make me worry so much?"
He stood up and tested the temperature of the kettle's surface with his hand. It was just right, but a little hot to the touch.
Zhang Shutong was not a very meticulous person. He couldn't be bothered to boil the water and then mix it with cold water little by little. He just took a foot basin from the bathroom, poured the water into it, and placed it in front of Lu Qinglian.
"Make do with this."
Lu Qinglian said thank you again.
"I thought with your skills, you'd be used to using this kind of stuff." He opened his phone and scrolled through messages.
"I rarely use it."
"Then have you ever soaked in a medicinal bath, like in martial arts novels?" Zhang Shutong wasn't sure if she had ever read those kinds of books.
"There's no such thing." Lu Qinglian's tone was a little helpless.
Zhang Shutong found that her current state was quite enjoyable. She was slightly narrowing her peach blossom-like eyes.
It was the kind of expression she would show when she ate something she thought was delicious—like Oreos or sour apples.
"I just thought of a question." Zhang Shutong said. "I used to think Gu Qiumian's death was a form of revenge, and that someone wanted to stop her father from developing the island. Why else would they target her? But now it seems it's not that simple. Let's assume that the person who looks just like you is the murderer. Is there any other reason? You know what I mean, like something more supernatural?"
"As far as I know, no."
"How much do you know?"
"A little more than you think."
"You're cuter when you're soaking your feet and not talking."
"You'd better not be so frivolous."
Zhang Shutong was choked.
He wasn't a smooth talker, but the other party was indeed very serious. Some things needed to be thought about before saying... Wait, was she really serious?
"It just occurred to me that you said a few times before, 'Am I bothering you,' or 'Are you in a bad mood,' and that's not being frivolous?"
"Do you have a towel?"
Lu Qinglian asked instead.
"I'll get you some paper towels."
Zhang Shutong won a round and felt relieved.
Back to the main topic, since Lu Qinglian had ruled out one possibility, he would have to deal with this question himself.
From the results, the development of the island did stop.
From the information eight years later, the police reports also mentioned that someone wanted to stop the development of the island.
But Lu Qinglian didn't know the other party's background, which was a headache. Was there something else hidden?
At this time, his phone rang. Zhang Shutong came back to his senses. It was a call from Qingyi:
"How is it? Did she fall in?"
"It's a long story."
"Shutong, you didn't get caught and beaten up by her, did you?" Qingyi said strangely.
"Uh... Where are you guys now?"
"That's also a long story. We played for a while and just came down the mountain. The other two are waiting for a ride. Ruoping's dad is arriving soon," Qingyi explained. "As for me... Oh, it's so expensive. Why is a bottle of water two dollars? I'm at the convenience store buying water... I'm out now. I just asked that black-hearted auntie. She said two students just came down the mountain not long ago, so I called to see how you're doing."
"It's fine. The misunderstanding has been cleared up..." Zhang Shutong glanced at Lu Qinglian and saw that she was also looking at him with a blank expression. "I've realized my mistake."
The girl looked away and continued to soak her feet with her eyes narrowed, like a lazy cat.
"You really are..." Qingyi couldn't help but laugh. "This is the first time I've seen a girl you're afraid of."
"You'd be afraid too if you got kicked."
Zhang Shutong complained in his mind.
"Anyway, she's on our side now."
"Then let's have lunch together to celebrate?"
"Probably no time."
"Then the three of us will go and eat."
"Okay, contact me if anything happens."
Zhang Shutong hung up the phone.
"So you didn't hide it from them." Lu Qinglian finally said.
"Only Qingyi. Ruoping is too troublesome. You know, she already thinks of you as her best friend. If she knew I dug a pit and could have gotten buried myself, as for Du kang, well, his situation is..."
Zhang Shutong couldn't explain it, so he just left it at that.
"Oh, that kid who likes me." Lu Qinglian thought for a moment.
Zhang Shutong's eyelid twitched:
"What do you mean 'kid'?"
At least you used to pretend and call him "Classmate Du kang."
"I feel like anyone who's very childish is a 'kid.'"
"Are you really sixteen?"
"Of course."
"Then you're quite mature."
"You're too childish."
Zhang Shutong mourned for Du kang in his heart and watched Lu Qinglian wipe her feet, then said:
"You can soak them a little longer. We're not in a hurry."
"You still don't understand the urgency of this matter to me."
"What do you mean?"
"For you, it's about stopping your deskmate's death. There are other ways to achieve that result."
Lu Qinglian lowered her eyes. She was very thrifty and didn't grab a handful of paper towels. She only used one at a time and would only get a new one when it was completely soaked:
"But for me, assuming the content of your dream is true, if I don't take this opportunity to find the other person, it means that there will always be another me on this island. I'm not interested in a person who is exactly like me. I'm even a little disgusted. Can you understand what I'm saying?"
"You're right." Zhang Shutong thought about it. It was indeed true. He sighed again. "But it's not that I'm not in a hurry. It's just that I don't have any more clues. We don't even know where to look for her. If there's still no progress, my plan is to take Gu Qiumian off the island and hide for a while."
"If that's the case, I'll wait near the villa."
"We'll talk about it when the time comes."
"Mmm."
Zhang Shutong saw her rubbing the safflower oil on. The pungent smell of the medicine filled the air. Her ankle was indeed a little swollen. Because her skin was fair, the swollen area was very noticeable.
This time, Lu Qinglian was smarter. She first carefully read the instructions on the back of the bottle and then gently massaged the swollen area, three times counter-clockwise and three times clockwise. She was very meticulous. Soon, her feet were slightly oily.
Until:
"Please don't keep staring at my feet." She turned her face, frowning, her eyes slightly cold.
"Oh, sorry..."
Zhang Shutong turned his head. He had been in a daze. He didn't even notice until she said something.
"I'll go and find you a pair of my old shoes. What's your shoe size?"
"I measured it last year. It should be twenty-three centimeters."
This answer left Zhang Shutong a little confused. He thought, "What a strange unit of measurement. Don't people usually use shoe sizes?" Then he thought again. She probably hadn't bought many pairs of proper shoes. There were still some places on the island that made shoes by hand. She might have had them custom-made. Of course, it wasn't for sentimental reasons. It was just because it was cheap.
Zhang Shutong didn't know what to say. With such thick snow, she had actually gone out in a pair of cloth shoes. He was wearing a pair of hiking boots with waterproof fabric. He had no problems walking and jumping around. Lu Qinglian's shoes were probably soaked. From going down the mountain to the restricted area and back home, she must have endured it all the way.
"What are you thinking of now?" Who knew that Lu Qinglian would say indifferently, "My sneakers got wet last night, so I changed into another pair today. That's all."
Zhang Shutong didn't reply. He just searched on his phone. Her shoe size was probably 36.
Zhang Shutong had a rough idea now. He could find a pair of shoes from his first year of middle school. His mom had always kept his old shoes. Although Zhang Shutong didn't know why she kept them, she always felt it was a waste to throw them away, so she just piled them up in shoe boxes on the balcony. Now they finally had a use.
He also converted his own shoe size using the formula, a size 40, which was about 25 centimeters.
25 centimeters.
Wait.
Zhang Shutong suddenly stopped his movements. He had thought of something.
He stared blankly at Lu Qinglian's feet. The other person was sixteen years old this year, a sixteen-year-old girl, and her feet were smaller than his, only about two centimeters shorter.
"Zhang Shutong, you're really..." Lu Qinglian sighed hopelessly at him and simply hooked the water basin with her foot, hiding her feet behind it.
"Wait, I think I know where to look for her now!"
His heart suddenly skipped a beat. He knew something was wrong.
Zhang Shutong quickly found Old Song's number and dialed it.
At the same time, what appeared in his mind were the footprints he had seen at the entrance of the winding mountain road today.
At that time, he didn't have a clear concept of shoe sizes. The footprint was smaller than his, but he had thought that a size 38 or 39 would be about right. A person's foot length is related to their height. He was already tall among his peers, and their generation was generally a little taller. It was 2012 now. Many people in their thirties and forties were shorter than him.
But it was only now, when he was about to find shoes, that he realized that a difference of two centimeters in foot length could mean a difference of four full shoe sizes!
How big were those footprints?
They were probably around a size 35 or 36.
So were those footprints really from the car repair shop owner?
This discovery made Zhang Shutong stand up. Lu Qinglian also realized that something was wrong. He saw her quickly put on her wet shoes and socks. The safflower oil hadn't even seeped into her skin, and her socks were also stained red. She stood up nonchalantly, ready to act at any time:
"What's wrong?"
"I saw a string of footprints today at the entrance where you picked me up..." Before Zhang Shutong could finish explaining, the call was connected. He simply put it on speakerphone.
"Hello, hello, Shutong, how are things on your end?"
Zhang Shutong quickly asked Old Song if he knew that car repair shop owner and how tall the other person was?
"A little shorter than me, around one-seventy-eight meters?"
Zhang Shutong's heart sank:
"Then, teacher, what's your shoe size?"
"43?"
If that was the case, didn't it mean that the other person's shoe size had to be at least a 40 or more?
So those footprints were not from the car repair shop owner at all. They were from another person all along...
And someone else had also been near the villa today!
Where was she now?
Zhang Shutong shivered. He quickly told Old Song the whole story. The other party was also stunned:
"Really? I even went out into the courtyard to smoke two cigarettes this morning. I didn't find anyone. According to you, it was a woman?"
Then there was a sound of someone getting up from the sofa:
"Then you two wait. I'm going to go out and take a look now..."
"You'd better not." Lu Qinglian suddenly spoke, her tone serious.
"Uh... Qinglian?" Old Song was stunned again. "No, did I hear that right? It sounded like Qinglian's voice just now. Where are you, kid? Are you two together?"
"It's a long story. I'll explain later." Zhang Shutong just said. He quickly changed his shoes. "You and Gu Qiumian should not leave the villa for now. We're rushing over there right now. Remember, don't go out and look. That person is very likely the murderer."
At a critical moment, he would not hide anything. It would be troublesome if Old Song didn't believe him and messed things up.
"Wait, wait, what murderer? What do you mean you two are rushing over here? You're confusing me?"
"Anyway, the other person is very dangerous." Zhang Shutong just emphasized. "We'll talk when we meet. Lu Qinglian and I are on our way to the villa now."
"But even if it's dangerous, you two aren't safe, are you?"
Zhang Shutong simply handed the phone to Lu Qinglian. The girl also spoke immediately:
"He'll be fine with me here."
"What do you mean..."
"It means..."
Zhang Shutong didn't have time to listen to the two of them explain. He immediately went to the balcony to find his old shoes and also grabbed a pair of unopened socks. When he returned to the living room, the other party had already hung up.
"Did you finish explaining?"
"Yes."
"Then change your shoes first. Don't be reckless."
Zhang Shutong frowned and calculated the time in his mind. It would take at least half an hour to get from here to the bus station and then to the winding mountain road. He also had to consider the two factors of Lu Qinglian's slow pace and waiting for the bus, so the time would only be longer.
He hadn't expected it to be so tight. He had thought it didn't matter if he went to the villa a little earlier or later, but now he wasn't sure where the figure from the restricted area was. If she just went for a walk in the morning, it would be fine, but what if she went back...
Zhang Shutong got goosebumps.
The heavy snow had changed a lot of things. It might even have changed the timing of the other party's move.
All he could do was tell Old Song not to open the door easily and then get there as quickly as possible.
But the problem was this "as quickly as possible."
Zhang Shutong opened his contact list.
His mom had probably already gotten on the ferry by now.
He thought for a moment and could only ask for other help.
So Zhang Shutong directly dialed Ruoping's number.
"What's wrong with you now?"
"Do me a favor." Zhang Shutong pushed open the anti-theft door. "I need your dad to come and pick me up."