Chapter 216 - 93: The Clue is the Foot, Lu Qinglian’s (Part 2)

Chapter 216: Chapter 93: The Clue is the Foot, Lu Qinglian’s (Part 2)

"You’re the one who’s being naive."

Zhang Shutong offered a moment of silent sympathy for Du Kang in his head. Watching Lu Qinglian dry her feet, he added, "You could have soaked them a little longer, you know. We’re not in that much of a rush."

"You still don’t understand how urgent this is for me."

"How so?"

"For you, this is about stopping your deskmate from dying. There are other ways to achieve that."

Lu Qinglian lowered her gaze. She was quite frugal, not grabbing a bunch of tissues to wipe her feet haphazardly. Instead, she used one at a time, only pulling a new one after the previous one was soaked beyond use.

"But for me, assuming your dream is real, if we don’t use this chance to find her, it means there will always be another me on this island. I’m not interested in someone who’s just like me. In fact, it’s kind of disgusting. Do you understand what I’m saying?"

"Fair enough." Zhang Shutong thought about it and realized she was right. He sighed again. "But it’s not that I’m not in a hurry, it’s just that we have no more leads. We don’t even know where to look for her. If we don’t make any progress, my plan is to take Gu Qiuyan off the island to hide for a while."

"If that happens, I’ll wait near the villa."

"We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Okay."

Zhang Shutong then watched her apply some safflower oil. The pungent medicinal scent filled the air. Her ankle was indeed a little swollen, and the redness stood out against her pale skin.

This time, Lu Qinglian was smarter. She first read the instructions on the back of the bottle carefully, then began massaging the swollen area in a practiced manner—three circles counterclockwise, three circles clockwise, meticulously. Soon, a light sheen of oil covered her foot.

"Do you mind not staring at my foot?" she said, turning her head. Her brow was furrowed and her eyes were cold.

"Oh, sorry..."

Zhang Shutong looked away. He had been spacing out and hadn’t even realized he was staring until she said something.

"I’ll find you a pair of my old shoes. What size do you wear?"

"I measured last year. It should be twenty-three centimeters."

The answer left Zhang Shutong a little dumbfounded. ’What a weird unit of measurement,’ he thought. ’Doesn’t everyone use shoe sizes?’ Then another thought occurred to him: she probably hadn’t bought many pairs of proper shoes before. There were still a few places on the island that made shoes by hand; she might have gotten them custom-made. Not for sentimental reasons, of course, but simply because it was cheaper.

Zhang Shutong was at a loss for words. She had actually gone out in cloth shoes in such thick snow. He himself was wearing waterproof hiking boots and had been perfectly fine jumping around. Lu Qinglian’s shoes must have been soaked through long ago. From coming down the mountain to going to the restricted zone and then back home, she must have been enduring it the whole way.

"What are you imagining now?" Lu Qinglian said flatly, as if reading his mind. "My sneakers got wet last night, so I wore a different pair today. That’s all."

Zhang Shutong didn’t reply. He just did a quick search on his phone. Her size was about a 36.

With that, Zhang Shutong had a good idea of what to do. A pair of his shoes from seventh grade should fit. His mom had always kept his old shoes. Although Zhang Shutong had no idea why, she always felt it was a waste to throw them away, so she kept them in shoeboxes stacked on the balcony. Now, they could finally be put to use.

He also converted his own size out of curiosity. Size 40 was about 25 centimeters.

centimeters.

Wait.

Zhang Shutong suddenly froze as he was getting up, having just thought of something.

He stared blankly at Lu Qinglian’s feet. She was sixteen this year. A sixteen-year-old girl whose feet were smaller than his, by only about two centimeters.

"Zhang Shutong, you’re really..." Lu Qinglian sighed, exasperated with him. She hooked the nearby basin with her toe and pulled it in front of her, hiding her feet behind it.

"Wait, I think I know where to find her!"

His heart hammered. ’This is bad,’ he thought.

Zhang Shutong quickly found Song’s number and dialed.

At the same time, the image of the footprints he had seen at the entrance to Ring Mountain Road flashed through his mind.

At the time, he hadn’t had a clear concept of shoe sizes. The footprints were smaller than his own, but he had assumed they were around a size 38 or 39. A person’s foot length is linked to their height, and he was already considered tall for his age. His generation was generally taller, too. It was 2012, and many people in their thirties and forties were shorter than him.

But it wasn’t until just now, when he was about to get the shoes, that he realized a two-centimeter difference in foot length could mean a difference of four whole shoe sizes!

How big were those footprints, then?

Probably only a size 35 or 36.

So, were the footprints he saw really the auto shop owner’s?

This realization made Zhang Shutong jump to his feet. Lu Qinglian also sensed that something was wrong. She quickly put her wet socks and shoes back on. The safflower oil hadn’t fully absorbed into her skin yet and it stained her socks red, but she stood up without a care, ready for action.

"What is it?"

"I saw a set of footprints today, right at the entrance where you guys picked me up..." Before Zhang Shutong could finish explaining, the call connected, and he put it on speakerphone.

"Hello? Shutong? How are things on your end?"

Zhang Shutong quickly asked Song if he knew the auto shop owner and how tall he was.

"A little shorter than me, I think? Around five-ten?"

Zhang Shutong’s heart sank.

"Then what shoe size do you wear, sir?"

"A 43?"

If that was the case, didn’t that mean the owner’s shoe size had to be at least a 40?

So those footprints didn’t belong to the auto shop owner at all. It had been someone else from the very beginning...

Someone else had been near the villa today!

Where was she now?

A chill ran down Zhang Shutong’s spine. He quickly explained the whole situation to Song, who was also stunned.

"Really? I went out to the yard for a couple of smokes this morning and didn’t see anyone. And you’re saying it was a woman?"

Then came the sound of someone getting up from a sofa.

"Hold on, I’ll go outside and take a look right now..."

"I wouldn’t do that," Lu Qinglian suddenly cut in, her tone serious.

"Uh... Qinglian?" Song was taken aback again. "Wait, I didn’t mishear that, did I? Why did it sound like I just heard Qinglian’s voice? Kid, where on earth are you? Are you two together?"

"It’s a long story. I’ll explain later," Zhang Shutong said as he quickly put on his shoes. "For now, you and Gu Qiuyan stay inside the villa. We’re heading over right now. Remember, don’t go looking for anyone. That person is very likely the killer."

This was a critical moment, no time to be coy. If Song misunderstood and didn’t take it seriously, they’d be in big trouble.

"Wait, wait, what’s this about a killer? What do you mean you two are rushing over here? You’re confusing the hell out of me."

"Just know that this person is dangerous," Zhang Shutong emphasized. "We’ll talk when we see you. Lu Qinglian and I are on our way to the villa now."

"But if it’s really that dangerous, then you two aren’t safe either, are you?"

Zhang Shutong simply passed the phone to Lu Qinglian, and she spoke up:

"He won’t be in any danger with me here."

"What’s that supposed to mean..."

"It means..."

Zhang Shutong didn’t have time to listen to them explain. He immediately went to the balcony to find the old shoes, grabbed a new pair of socks, and by the time he returned to the living room, she had already hung up.

"Finished explaining?"

"Yeah."

"Then change your shoes first. Don’t try to be tough."

Zhang Shutong frowned, calculating the time in his head. It would take at least half an hour to get from here to the bus stop, and then to Ring Mountain Road. Factoring in Lu Qinglian walking slowly and waiting for the bus, it would only take longer.

He hadn’t expected things to be this tight. He’d figured it didn’t matter if they got to the villa a little earlier or later. But now, he wasn’t sure where the figure from the restricted zone was. It would be one thing if they had just taken a stroll there in the morning, but if they had gone back...

Goosebumps rose on Zhang Shutong’s skin.

The heavy snow had changed many things, maybe even the killer’s timeline.

All he could do was tell Song not to open the door for anyone and get there as fast as possible.

But the problem was that "as fast as possible."

Zhang Shutong opened his contacts.

His mom had probably already boarded the ferry by now.

He thought for a moment. He’d have to call in a favor.

So, Zhang Shutong dialed Ruoping’s number directly.

"Now what’s wrong?"

"I need a favor." Zhang Shutong pushed open the security door. "I need to ask your dad to come pick me up."