Winter Returns

Chapter 167 "The Passerby" (Part 2)
In Du Kang's eyes, this is how Zhang Shutong returned to his seat.

"So that's how he behaved!" Du Kang complained. "I was hoping Shu Tong would step in and turn the tide, but it turns out he went to persuade Gu Qiu Mian..."

“No one can handle this kind of thing,” Ruoping instinctively retorted. “We don’t even have any information about the thief, and there’s such a commotion outside. What can we do but try to smooth things over?”

"That's not what I meant..." Du Kang scratched his head. "Gu Qiu Mian's family is so rich, they probably wouldn't care about that little bit of cash and cell phone. But the problem is, the problem is that it's frustrating. The thief just got away, didn't he?"

What's the use of feeling aggrieved?

“That makes sense,” Du Kang said helplessly. “Then let’s worry about Xia Tong. This is a difficult situation to resolve. Although he’s not responsible for the lost package, what if Gu Qiu Mian blames him…”

"Shh, listen," Qingyi suddenly said.

It turned out that Shu Tong had returned to Gu Qiu Mian's side. Du Kang quieted down and tried hard to hear what the two were saying, but it was too noisy around him, so he could only judge based on their actions and expressions.

He first saw Shu Tong lean close to Gu Qiu Mian and whisper a few words in her ear, to which Gu Qiu Mian shook her head.

Shu Tong was still not giving up and continued to persuade her. This time, Gu Qiu Mian finally hesitated for a moment and muttered a few words under her breath.

Shu Tong was probably striking while the iron was hot. First, she pointed to the crowd outside, then to Manager Wang, and finally she took out her phone and waved it in front of Gu Qiu Mian's eyes...

wrong!

Du Kang suddenly noticed that Gu Qiu Mian's eyebrows had furrowed and her face had begun to turn cold, but Shu Tong did not notice anything amiss and continued to speak softly.
By the end, Gu Qiu Mian had already coldly raised her head to look at him, but Shu Tong continued speaking as if he were blind, even nodding to himself...

Du Kang thought to himself, he probably already knew what Shu Tong was saying: "Two thousand yuan and a cell phone are nothing to you, don't bother..."

Although that's the truth, now is not the time to talk about reason!

Du Kang wondered why Shu Tong seemed to have lost all emotional intelligence after Lao Song left; she wasn't like this before. Although he didn't really want to get involved in their conversation, he knew he had to interrupt now, otherwise things would get worse. Du Kang was just about to stand up—

But it's too late!
Gu Qiumian suddenly covered her face with her hands, her shoulders trembled, then she stood up abruptly and threw her bag to the ground. The contents fell out, perhaps girls' cosmetics, small bottles and jars shattering on the floor with a crisp sound that echoed throughout the hall.

For a moment, even the crowd outside fell silent. In fact, after so much time, many people could guess that the girl who lost the bag was the one. She and the boy had been walking back and forth in the corridor, but now they had suddenly broken up.

"If you want to go back, go back by yourself! Don't take me with you! I'll find out who the thief is myself!"

Gu Qiumian coldly threw out a sentence, tossed her long hair, and turned to leave.

When she's not cold-faced, she's fine; every smile and frown is that of a bright and cheerful girl. But as soon as she turns cold, her unique aura as a young lady spreads out, making people afraid to even breathe.

"broken……"

Du Kang murmured as he lay back down in the chair.

A repeat of the scarf incident has indeed occurred again!

How did things fall apart so completely? They were fine at lunchtime. Should we blame the young lady for being moody or her best friend for being too stupid?
The thief hadn't even shown up yet, and they'd already started fighting amongst themselves.

He was about to call on his two best friends to smooth things over, but it was far from over. Gu Qiu Mian walked straight towards the manager.

Du Kang then remembered that it was the manager who asked Shu Tong to persuade her. Now, not only did she fail to persuade her, but she also revealed the manager's identity.

Then, the manager was giving instructions, and the staff blocking the door gradually loosened their grip. But at this point, the crowd stopped pushing in and waited to see what would happen.

Looking at the manager, he was already sweating profusely and sounded impatient. But when he turned around and saw Gu Qiu Mian, he seemed like a completely different person, and his waist even bent down subconsciously.

The sight of a chubby man in his thirties bowing and scraping was rather comical, his belly fat bunched up like a lifebuoy. But Du Kang didn't find it funny; on the contrary, he felt a chill run down his spine.

He suddenly understood why the manager was working so hard; it turned out that this cinema was also involved with Gu Qiu Mian's family business, and might even belong to her family!

“…Miss, we really did our best…”

"So, have you found it?" Gu Qiumian asked coldly.

"without……"

"Then keep looking." Her tone wasn't agitated; on the contrary, it was quite calm. But it was precisely this calmness that sent a shiver down the spine of the man in front of her.

"But...but there's really no other way..."

"Then let them in, and check everyone's tickets again."

"What's the use of this?" Manager Wang seemed bewildered, then quickly lowered his head. "I know, the problem is the audience outside isn't willing..."

But Gu Qiu Mian ignored these words completely. She frowned, glanced at the crowd, and said condescendingly:
"You're the manager."

"I……"

The crowd stirred slightly at her gaze, but Gu Qiu Mian had already turned her head away, too lazy to look at the man again, and simply said softly:
"If you can't find my phone, you're fired."

These words, spoken by a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl, had little power, yet they sent a shiver down the spine of the man.

Only after Gu Qiumian had walked away did the manager manage to force an awkward smile. His fat face was bunched up. He was already quite overweight, and he had been running around since entering the theater. His shirt was now soaked with sweat, but he didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

A group of staff members were still confused about what had happened, watching their manager, who had been rushing around, suddenly wilted like a frostbitten eggplant.

It's a comical round eggplant.

But no one laughed; silence spread through the crowd.

Du Kang was so surprised he couldn't close his mouth. When he was on the island, he only thought that Gu Qiu Mian was the daughter of a rich family, living in a big house and driving an expensive car. But only now did he realize the gap between himself and her.

He wasn't the only one taken aback; soon, the crowd began to whisper among themselves.

"So that's why it's such a hassle, there's some important person involved..."

"Who? The mall owner's daughter? Or some government official?"

"I don't know, this manager is quite pitiful."

"Wouldn't that have been considered a threat? It's been 12 years, and there really is a way in reality where a single sentence can cost someone their job?"

"That's because you're ignorant..."

The discussion grew louder, and the gazes of the crowd toward the man gradually became more complex, shifting from impatience to a hint of sympathy. But then the manager turned around and casually raised the megaphone.

"Please cooperate one last time," the man said with a forced smile while wiping his sweat. "The movie will start soon. To maintain order, please have your tickets checked again before entering."

He was also a man who had to bow his head for the sake of making a living.

So no one knows who moved first, silently handing the ticket to the staff and then entering the theater. An eerie silence filled the entire theater. Gu Qiu Mian sat in the center seat with her arms crossed, without saying a word.

Du Kang had already taken the opportunity to sneak up next to Zhang Shutong.

"You've completely messed this up, buddy, I don't know how to clean this up!" Someone had already found a seat, and the two of them were sitting in the corner of the first row, while Gu Qiu Mian was in the middle of the first row, quite a distance away.

Du Kang advised:

"The thief hasn't been caught yet, and Gu Qiu Mian's situation is also..."

“You can’t catch them like that.” Zhang Shutong rested his chin on his hands and thought to himself. “That manager wanted to search the front and back rows as well, but it was all in vain.”

"I know he can't hold his own anymore, but at least I can be sure he's in the front or back rows, right?"

"Basically, yes."

Du Kang breathed a sigh of relief:

"Gu Qiu Mian's anger actually had a positive effect. She calmed down the people in the front and back rows first, and then she could search them like before when the police arrived. But I don't understand why she made everyone in the room have their tickets checked. Was she venting her anger?"

“That’s not right,” Zhang Shutong interrupted. “Although the thief placed the bags in front and behind each other, it’s impossible to find them according to what you’re saying.”

"What do you mean? How do I find it?"

“Think about it,” Zhang Shutong said slowly, “from the time we found our seats to the time our bags were stolen, less than three minutes passed. What does that tell you?”

"It means...it will be quick?"

"Yes, very quickly. I put Bao Mingming under the seat, and most people wouldn't even notice. So what does 'quick' mean? It means it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision, but rather something I had planned in advance."

"Uh, I didn't quite understand..."

"In other words, look at this."

Zhang Shutong shook the white handbag, and Du Kang finally understood why his best friend hadn't moved; he was picking up things Gu Qiumian had thrown away. He sighed inwardly, "Why did you do this?" But Zhang Shutong continued:

"Can you tell how expensive this bag is?"

"I can't tell." Du Kang leaned closer to examine it. "If the leather wasn't of such good quality, I would believe you if you said you bought it from the shopping street."

"That makes sense. Not only us, but even the staff at regular handbag stores don't recognize it. Maybe only employees at luxury brands would know what it is. What does that mean?"

"That just means the thief has a very discerning eye."

“Yes.” Zhang Shutong said without hesitation, “It shows that he knows his stuff. Combined with the fact that he turned off his phone and took money before, he’s definitely a pro.”

"You mean we were being watched before we even got to the movie theater?" Du Kang suddenly realized. "When? When you and Gu Qiu Mian were shopping? Or when we were queuing to get our tickets checked?"

“It couldn’t be a ticket check,” Zhang Shutong denied. “Time is too tight. This is a professional thief. He has a plan for how to steal the item and how to escape. Stealing something so expensive can’t be a spur-of-the-moment decision.”

"That's when we should go into the mall. It'll be crowded and noisy..."

“That’s not right either.” Zhang Shutong shook his head. “There’s a very important point here.”

"what?"

"It was already past one o'clock after lunch. From the time we entered the mall to the time we met at the cinema, we only had half an hour."

Du Kang thought to himself, "Boss, just say it! I'm stupid, okay?" "Half an hour isn't enough for a thief to keep an eye on you?"

"Theoretically, it's enough, but you've forgotten one thing—"

Zhang Shutong calmly said:

"Movie theaters stop selling tickets half an hour in advance."

"Is that clear?" Zhang Shutong asked again. "In other words, it couldn't have been spotted in the mall; the other party simply didn't have the time to prepare."

"That's from the restaurant? Isn't that weird?" Du Kang was dumbfounded.

"No, that's not it. Don't forget you bought the tickets. How did the other party know where Gu Qiu Mian was going?"

"Dude, why don't I understand?"

Du Kang asked in bewilderment:
"We went straight to eat after we got off the ship, and we didn't go anywhere else in between, not shopping malls or restaurants. You can't have been following us since the island, can you?"

“What are you thinking?” Zhang Shutong was taken aback. “I mean, the other party was in the movie theater the whole time.”

"Huh?" Du Kang was also stunned.

"This is a repeat offender. He's been staking out the area for a while now. The place has been under renovation since the beginning of the month, so think about it: did we find out the security cameras weren't working when our things were stolen, or did the thief find the cameras weren't working before deciding to break in?"

Zhang Shutong simply didn't give Du Kang any time to react:

"It's clearly the latter. Once we've confirmed that, things become much simpler."

"Why does this feel even more complicated?" Du Kang glanced at the surging crowd. "Isn't it going to be even harder to find?"

Zhang Shutong waved his hand dismissively:
“I told you, this is a professional thief. He knows his stuff and has a keen eye. This kind of person doesn’t steal as a hobby; he’s here all day. Even though we’re watching the afternoon show, it doesn’t mean he won’t show up until the afternoon.”

"You mean the other party has been guarding this place since this morning?" Du Kang then thought, "Hey, right, I just heard someone say that a bag was stolen at the beginning of the month. Do you think it could be the same person?"

"Maybe."

After saying that, Zhang Shutong yawned. More and more people were entering the venue, but fortunately no one had gone to the first row yet, so they could sit for a while longer.

“Then I don’t understand,” Du Kang thought for a moment, “What do you mean by searching the people in the front and back rows is a waste of time? Doesn’t that just prove that the thief was mixed in there at the time?”

Zhang Shutong let out a breath:
"You forgot a tacit rule in the cinema industry. A cinema usually has about ten screening rooms, but to save trouble, very few cinemas check tickets at the entrance of the screening rooms. Including here, as long as you buy a ticket and enter the lobby, you can watch another movie without being detected. We almost did such an embarrassing thing back in the day."

Zhang Shutong pointed to his temple:
"Now you should understand why I said that the manager checking the seating chart is always a waste of time. He can do things in the front and back rows, but he will never 'appear' again."

He paused, then revealed the final answer:

"Because that person doesn't even exist on the seating chart."

"In other words, he didn't even have a ticket to this 007 movie, so how could his ticket be found?"

"Damn!" Du Kang suddenly realized, "That's why Gu Qiu Mian had the manager check the tickets again. Smart! And the movie hasn't been going on for very long, so no one's likely lost their tickets. That means we can determine who doesn't have a ticket..."

Du Kang instinctively clenched his fist. He had just finished speaking excitedly when he heard an even more excited voice coming from the doorway—

"stop!"

(End of this chapter)