Winter Returns

Chapter 202 Lingering Anger

Zhang Shutong yawned and sat lazily on his desk.

Wednesday, December 19th, marks the end of 2012.

Directly in front of her was the back wall of the classroom, where Lu Qinglian was holding a piece of chalk and sketching a few lines on the blackboard.

"Crooked."

Zhang Shutong said, resting his chin on his hand.

She didn't say anything upon hearing this, but simply picked up the blackboard eraser and wiped away the crooked lines. Then she turned her head as if to ask a question.

"can."

Zhang Shutong said.

Lu Qinglian continued writing from where the line ended.

It must be said that she learns things very quickly. Earlier, Zhang Shutong saw her borrow a book on blackboard bulletins from the library and study it for only one morning during a break between classes, and she was able to start using it immediately.

Aside from being a little clumsy at first, smooth and graceful lines quickly emerged from her hand, creating a cute, chibi-style deer.

This is certainly an important part of the Christmas blackboard bulletin.

Surprisingly, she liked this cute art style, which reminded Zhang Shutong of her teddy bear water bottle.

"pink."

Lu Qinglian said without turning her head.

Zhang Shutong took a pink piece of chalk from beside him and handed it to her.

Lu Qinglian wasn't going to waste too much time on such a trivial matter. In her own words, it was just a blackboard bulletin, which could be done in one afternoon.

Of course, this is assuming someone is there to help.

Zhang Shutong, as Lu Xuewei's deskmate and the second-highest student in the grade, was honored to become her partner.

Weird.

Instead of wasting time, you might as well go ride a motorcycle.

He glanced at the back door of the classroom. Turning a corner from there would lead to Class Two. If Zhang Shutong could be split in two, his other half should be in Class Two right now.

"Come help."

A message popped up on QQ. Zhang Shutong jumped off his desk in a panic:
"Wait a moment, I'll be right back."

Then he ran to Class 2 classroom. Class 2 was much more lively than Class 1. More than a dozen girls were crowded in the front row of the classroom. The multimedia projector was on, and there was accompaniment music playing. As he arrived, Gu Qiumian pressed the pause button on the podium.

In the silence, many eyes turned to him, but only for a moment. It wasn't because the girls were maintaining good discipline during rehearsal, but rather—

The students in Class Two were already used to Zhang Shutong's arrival.

"How to help?"

"Help me press the accompaniment button," Gu Qiumian moved to a camera, which had a tripod under it and the lens was pointed at the choir members. "And this, record it before each choir performance."

Zhang Shutong nodded repeatedly, seeing the grand spectacle that Class Two had put on for this New Year's Eve party, and for a moment he didn't know whether to feel envious or fortunate.

Yes, it's the New Year's Eve party. Each class will put on an activity. Before, Zhang Shutong always felt that the only recent holiday was Christmas. But as the days quietly slipped into the latter half of December, before Christmas was over, New Year's Day arrived.

They are only six days apart, making them easy to celebrate together.

For example, the performance by Class Two was a chorus. The song was chosen by the girls together. It was a Christmas song, and Gu Qiumian was the lead singer. Zhang Shutong had always known that she sang well, but this time she also took on the role of rehearsal. She handled all the professional tasks, such as arranging the vocal parts and weaving the melodies. As a pianist, she may not be a music expert, but she certainly has a good understanding of vocal music.

If the school had provided her with musical instruments, she would have definitely given a piano solo. However, Gu Qiu Mian opted for a less demanding option: changing the class activity to a chorus. This saved her time and energy, and it still looked quite presentable as a performance.

When Zhang Shutong saw Gu Qiumian give him an OK sign, he first pressed the record button, then clicked on the accompaniment file with the mouse. As the melody started, the girls' clear and lively voices echoed throughout the afternoon classroom.

Zhang Shutong always felt that one shouldn't expect too much from this kind of choral performance. Student activities should be about having fun, and Gu Qiumian obviously thought so too. However, despite her going easy on her, the first few lines were okay, but as the song progressed, it became a disaster.

"stop."

Gu Qiumian held up one finger.

Zhang Shutong pressed the pause button.

Gu Qiumian sighed and turned around:

"Didn't we do throat exercises last night? How come you've almost forgotten everything after just one day? You, you, you, and you! I told you not to use nasal sounds if you can't use them properly, it's okay. Now you sound like you have a cold, the low notes are always rushing, and the harmony rhythm is off... Finally, pay attention to stabilizing your breath and try not to make that sheep-like sound..."

Zhang Shutong burst out laughing.

A pair of beautiful eyes glared at him, and he quickly suppressed his laughter.

"Sorry, sorry," Zhang Shutong thought to herself. "Although I know what a sheep-like voice means, it sounds like a sheep's voice to me whenever you speak."

"Alright, let's take a break and do it one last time." Gu Qiumian clapped her hands. "You've already made tremendous progress, but for this last junior high school party, we still need to do our best. I'll send the recording to everyone tonight."

As Zhang Shutong listened to them sing on the stage, she sometimes thought it was strange that such words came from Gu Qiumian's mouth. Perhaps there was a difference between how she saw Gu Qiumian and how others saw her? Anyway, she couldn't say these words, because if she did, she would feel like she was talking badly about her.

Okay, that's all for now.

Zhang Shutong snapped out of his daze and pressed the pause button again.

Since this was the last rehearsal, it meant he wouldn't be needed anymore. While Gu Qiumian was reviewing the drills, Zhang Shutong peeked out from behind Class 1:

"Just call me if you need any help."

"It's all done." Amidst a flurry of dust, Lu Qinglian gently clapped her hands.

"There's still a large empty space in the bottom left corner."

Zhang Shutong reminded him.

"Leave it for others to write messages for."

What an ingenious and lazy way to do this! Zhang Shutong was about to express his admiration to Xiao Lu when he heard that Class Two's rehearsal had ended and countless footsteps were leaving the classroom.

"I'm leaving."

Zhang Shutong gave a greeting and hurried off.

In Class Two's classroom, Gu Qiumian was sitting on her desk, swinging her slender legs back and forth.

"Was it relatively smooth?"

"It's not going smoothly at all!" The confident and capable girl had disappeared. She pouted, "Every night I finally manage to get things in order, but then I revert to my old ways the next day. I can't even tell them directly; I can only try to appease them. It's so hard..."

Zhang Shutong couldn't help either, so he could only listen to her complain for a while, and after thinking for a moment, he said:

"There are still more than ten days until New Year's Day, so we should be able to make it."

She pulled a lipstick from her pocket and started applying it, looking quite pleased with herself.
"My mouth is dry from talking so much, sigh, let's keep trying."

"Let's go out to eat now. What would you like to eat?"

Gu Qiumian's expression suddenly turned fierce:
"Don't change the subject!"

She had read Zhang Shutong's mind. Well, well, he had known all along that there was a hurdle waiting for him.

The incident began this morning when he received a call from Gu Qiumian while brushing his teeth. She asked if he was hiding something from her. Zhang Shutong was initially taken aback and asked, "Which thing are you referring to?"

She said, "You know perfectly well what men fear most from women." Zhang Shutong knew some things better than Gu Qiumian. Some things were deliberately kept from her, some she wouldn't believe if she told them, and some she wanted to tell but hadn't found the opportunity.

In short, Zhang Shutong had promised Gu Qiumian that he would no longer hide it from her, but he undoubtedly broke his promise.

Zhang Shutong felt a little guilty. At this moment, Miss Gu snorted coldly, "I'll settle the score with you at noon."

Zhang Shutong reluctantly went to school, but Gu Qiumian didn't mention it at all that morning. After school, she was busy with rehearsals. Zhang Shutong thought she had forgotten, but it turned out she was waiting for him here.

"Should you say it yourself or should I say it?" She crossed her arms.

Zhang Shutong genuinely didn't know which matter she was referring to.

He thought about it, and considered what he had done recently that Gu Qiu Mian could still find out about...

Zhang Shutong thought of that quirky junior.

“I went to your shopping mall yesterday,” he said tentatively.

"Oh, this? Well, let's talk about it together." Gu Qiumian squinted her eyes.

"Xu Zhiruo told you?"

"Ah."

Did she tell you that I was shopping with a girl with short hair?

"Ah."

"Actually, she was mistaken." Zhang Shutong breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself, "So that's what it was. That person wasn't Ruoping, it was Lu Qinglian."

He knew that Gu Qiumian and Ruoping had a complicated relationship...

Wait a minute, Zhang Shutong suddenly realized that the gold coin chocolate thing in this timeline had been changed, hadn't it?

"Who?" Gu Qiumian suddenly stopped squinting and blinked.

“Lu Qinglian.” Zhang Shutong blinked as well.

The relentless, torrential autumn rain left me somewhat bewildered.

"What are you two doing together?" she asked suspiciously.

“That’s how it is,” Zhang Shutong explained. “Weren’t we talking about looking for the man who stole the fox? Lu Qinglian is very good at fighting, so we had her wear a wig and pretend to be Ruoping.”

"So you caught him?"

"It was so close." He sighed and recounted what had happened last night.

Do your friends know about this?

Gu Qiumian asked again.

“I know,” Zhang Shutong said casually. “It was Du Kang and Qingyi who brought me the statue yesterday…”

Oh.

That’s what it meant.

Zhang Shutong suddenly understood.

There is still one person who doesn't know.

He looked at Gu Qiumian cautiously, but Gu Qiumian stared at him expressionlessly, making it impossible to tell whether she was angry or had calmed down.

“Since we’re busy with important business, I won’t settle this score with you for now,” she raised her eyebrows again, “but you clearly called me in, but then you didn’t tell me anything. What did you promise me before?”

"actually……"

"I won't listen to your sophistry!"

"hug……"

"You won't listen to my apology!"

"Then what do you want to hear?"

I'm not listening to you!

She seemed to be sulking; she jumped off the table and moved quickly.

Zhang Shutong had no choice but to hurry up and catch up, asking Gu Qiumian what she wanted to eat for lunch.

"You choose."

"Rice bowl with toppings?"

"Too oily!"

"Rice noodles?"

"Too greasy!"

Sweet and sour pork?

"Too sweet!"

Zhang Shutong knew things were getting serious. Qiu Yumian could actually resist the temptation of sweet and sour pork, but he wasn't good at coaxing girls, so he just silently followed along when he couldn't think of anything to say.

As soon as Zhang Shutong pushed the car out and the two walked out of the school gate, the campus was already empty. He wanted to ask where her car was, but Gu Qiumian sat in the back seat without saying a word.

She was wearing a dress today, so she was sitting sideways, and one arm was wrapped around his waist. Zhang Shutong's pedaling motion froze, and she slapped him lightly.
"Too shaky!"

Zhang Shutong slowed down, but the bicycle still wobbled out of the campus. He looked back and forth:

"So what do you want to eat? You have to eat, right?"

"I'm not hungry." This time her tone wasn't as angry. "Take me for a walk."

Zhang Shutong interpreted her words as her wanting to clear her head. There was no need to go to the city, but other places... He thought about it and decided that the desolate wilderness was not suitable either, so he rode his bike towards the base.

This was the second time he had taken Gu Qiumian on this road, but it was the first time for Gu Qiumian.

A cold wind blew on his face, and he felt that Gu Qiu Mian had almost calmed down. He asked again:

"It's not that I deliberately kept this from you, but I just didn't have time to tell you."

"So you'll tell me when you're done?" Her lips were translucent, but her words were icy cold. "You'll only call if you need my help again, right?"

"That's not quite right," Zhang Shutong said, his tone softening.

They quickly rode to the base. Zhang Shutong stopped his bike in front of the large drainage hole, took out two small stools from the safe, offered one to the young lady first, and sat on the other himself. But it has to be said that going to the suburbs to get some fresh air in the middle of the day instead of eating was a very silly thing to do.

“Sometimes I might feel there’s danger,” Zhang Shutong said softly.

He didn't know why he subconsciously wanted to keep things from Gu Qiu Mian. Was it because he felt she didn't need to know so much? Or was it that knowing less would make her happier?

Many things can be determined by first impressions.

Zhang Shutong had "known" Gu Qiumian for a long time, but their first real acquaintance was after they became deskmates in the retrospective. At that time, they had experienced the castle incident, the arson incident, and a series of retaliatory acts in the commercial street. They were surrounded by crises and even suspected their nanny, Aunt Wu. But Gu Qiumian seemed even more indifferent than Zhang Shutong. At that time, she stubbornly said:

"If that happens, we will be defeated."

This is probably the importance of first impressions. At that time, Gu Qiumian was a lonely, isolated girl who was indifferent to most things. She didn't have many friends in class, and even though she had a bunch of followers, she couldn't confide in them. Only when she sat in her usual seat and occasionally drew funny faces on the glass would she give a slight smile.

Even Zhang Shutong himself didn't realize that a seed had been planted in his heart: he felt it was good that she could live a carefree life. If she were in any danger, his job was to eliminate those dangers, not to solemnly tell her.

But if he had met the class monitor of Class 2, a girl who is very popular, things might have been different.

But there are no "what ifs" in life.

This time, Gu Qiumian didn't respond, but instead asked:
"After that avalanche, did you feel like I suddenly became a stranger?"

"What?" Zhang Shutong was taken aback. He thought to himself, "No, there isn't. Oh, except for that time you suddenly straightened your hair, which startled me."

"Alright, listen to me." Gu Qiumian glared at her. "Now I can tell you, I had a nightmare last night."

"...Are you okay?"

"You said the day before yesterday that I wasn't popular, had no friends in class, and was isolated, is that right?"

Zhang Shutong nodded hesitantly.

"So you're such a jinx! You kept talking nonsense, and I had a nightmare right after you said it!" She immediately became unhappy. "It's all your fault! It's all your fault!"

Gu Qiumian clenched her fist and punched him, like hail hitting a person. It felt a little, but it was light and airy. Zhang Shutong was sitting on a small stool, and for a moment the stool beneath him was like a small boat swaying, unable to support itself.

Gu Qiumian banged on the door for a while, and when she had calmed down, she tucked her messy long hair behind her ears and looked like an elegant and dignified young lady, but then she suddenly became serious.

"So tell me now..."

Gu Qiumian stared into his eyes:

Was this dream real?

(End of this chapter)