Winter Returns

Chapter 23 Unrequited Love for Yogurt and a Man's Mission
Gu Qiumian walked in from outside. Du Kang was stunned when he saw this. He wanted to say something, but Ruoping had already turned her head away quickly. The temperature around him seemed to drop. He opened his mouth, but then pretended not to see anything and continued drinking his milk.

Gu Qiu Mian remained the same as always, arrogant and disdainful of everyone. The young lady's expression was very cold, but her underlings were extremely arrogant.

Du Kang's reaction was probably interpreted by the boy as him giving in, and the boy even raised his eyebrows at Du Kang in a defiant manner, as if to say, "See? Isn't my boss even more powerful? What's the big deal about me just going to the flagpole to give a speech?"

Du Kang's teeth itched with envy.
I wanted to rush up and yell at you, "Are you blind? Don't you even look who the four of us are? We're your boss's classmates!"
It's one thing for classmates to be disrespectful, but what's even more concerning is that the other party misjudged one thing—

The person sitting across from me is truly remarkable. He is the young lady's deskmate. Back then, he went head-to-head with Gu Qiu Mian and held his own. He even angered her. When did it become your turn to provoke me?

It's like the flood washed away the Dragon King's temple... No, even if we don't respect the monk, we should respect the Buddha... That doesn't seem right either.

In short, this matter cannot be discussed. If it is discussed, it will appear that they are trying to climb the social ladder. If Miss Gu sees them and greets them, that would be fine. It would be best if she could smile kindly. That would be the perfect scenario for playing dumb to deceive others, which would be a slap in the face to that boy.

However, Gu Qiu Mian neither greeted them nor smiled. Instead, she acted as if she didn't see them at all. She didn't say anything, but stood behind a group of henchmen with her arms crossed, watching them take orders.

"Spare ribs or braised pork?"

"Of course we want them all! Don't forget the sweet and sour pork; Qiu Mian loves that the most..."

"Would you like some cold dishes?"

"It's so cold, please don't..."

"Two fish, one steamed and one braised?"

"Let's order a big fish and cook it four ways, we can't finish two..."

As they talked, one impressive dish after another was presented, highlighting the disparity between the two groups.

They only dared to come here after a long and difficult celebration; but Gu Qiu Mian treated the restaurant like her own canteen.

But Du Kang soon felt better. A girl walked out of the crowd, patted the boy on the head, and whispered a few words in his ear.

She held a certain authority among the group, and the boy scoffed in annoyance, then fell silent.

Du Kang, feeling refreshed, poured himself another cup of nutritional drink, downed it in one gulp, and Qingyi asked curiously:
What illness are you having?

"It's nothing. A junior student recognized me and helped me get revenge."

Du Kang said calmly.

"You can get drunk from drinking nutritional drinks?" Ruoping didn't look behind her, but she didn't believe it at all.

"Who blew that? I'll show you!"

Qingyi and Ruoping ignored him, but Zhang Shutong turned around with great interest, wanting to see which of Du Kang's fans was. As a result, he followed Du Kang's finger and found that the other person looked familiar. After thinking for a moment, he realized that it was the girl who was biting her lip next to Gu Qiumian in the morning.

"Is she really his fan?" Ruoping actually wanted to see, but felt that turning around would make her lose face in front of Gu Qiumian.

"It's a done deal."

Zhang Shutong gave a definitive answer, but in his heart he thought, "I can't say for sure."

The other three pretended not to see Gu Qiumian and her group, but he had no qualms. He was just wondering why Gu Qiumian was still interested in going out to eat. Could it be that she was gathering her underlings to help find someone?

But after watching for a while, he couldn't figure out what was going on. Miss Gu was at the very back of the crowd, and he could only see her profile. Zhang Shutong thought this was in line with the rules of Pokémon battles; you can't have the trainers standing at the front.

The girl biting her lip looks a lot like Gu Qiu Mian's assistant, or rather, her secretary. She's lecturing someone, and it's that boy again:

"Don't do anything reckless. Those people at that table are all Qiu Mian's classmates. Have some sense."

The boy touched his nose:

"Sister Gu didn't say anything, so they're definitely not close. Besides, she doesn't know anyone well in her class, so it doesn't matter..."

"Why do you care if they're familiar with each other or not? Let me tell you, did you see that guy sitting outside? Actually..." The secretary hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she didn't say it. "Never mind, just remember not to cause trouble."

"Oh, I remember now, that person isn't the one you told me about before... the classmate who had a crush on Sister Gu? Hey, you know what, he's not as ugly as you described?"

"It wasn't just one person; it was just changed. I saw it this morning."

When she said that, for some reason, the boy suddenly got excited.
Originally, he and Du Kang were having a petty squabble, typical of teenage boys. It's perfectly normal; sometimes you get annoyed if someone gets too close to you in the bathroom. But this time, the boy seemed to be on steroids, saying dismissively:
"Then I have to help her vent her anger. Everyone in her class is so stupid, they just need to be taught a lesson."

"Alright, I know what you're up to. You're even helping to vent your anger. I think you just want to be your classmate. You're all acting like roosters. Don't forget what's going on with Zhao Yang. If you still want to play here, you'd better keep your thoughts to yourself."

"Okay, okay, I know, I know."

"You'd better know."

After saying this, the girl gestured for everyone to sit down and talk, saying that there was no need to crowd around in the hall.
The people around seemed to have gotten used to following the secretary's instructions, and while taking off their coats, they obediently walked towards the private room;
At this moment, the proprietress apologized and stood in front of everyone, her smile a little stiff, saying, "I just forgot that the private room has been booked. I'm so sorry. How about we share a table in the main hall?"
"Are you kidding me? My food was almost ready and you're telling me the private room is sold out? Are you playing me for a fool?" The same boy from before retorted dramatically.

Immediately, someone around him started complaining, and the hall became noisy. The secretary, however, only paid attention to Gu Qiu Mian's expression. Seeing the girl casually say "okay," he gestured to the people around him and told the landlady that sharing a table was fine, but the food should be prepared quickly.

The fish restaurant finally quieted down.

Then she saw a few boys run out to buy drinks and asked Gu Qiu Mian what she wanted to drink. Gu Qiu Mian replied that she wanted yogurt. The boys said they would complete the task. Just as they were about to run away, the secretary pulled them back and gave them a lecture.
Zhang Shutong observed the strange ecosystem within this small circle. He remembered that Gu Qiumian used to arrange these things, although she didn't say much, just raised her chin. But today she was in a bad mood, so her "secretary" took over.

Qingyi suddenly lowered his voice:
"Shutong, I'll bet you, something's about to happen."

"how?"

"Have you noticed that we're drinking the last four bottles of Nutritional Express?"

He rested his hands on his chin and said mysteriously:
"Didn't Gu Qiumian just say she wanted yogurt? Based on my experience, those people will definitely say they couldn't find yogurt when they come back, but Gu Qiumian insisted on having yogurt, so the people at that table started looking for yogurt, and finally saw the Nutritional Express on our table, and then..."

"Excuse me, what exactly is your basis for saying 'based on your experience'?"

"A novel."

"...Did her underlings say something like, 'If you know what's good for you, hand over the nutritional supplements'?"

"Of course, but we definitely don't want to," Gu Qiu Mian suddenly stood up, hissing...

Qingyi clutched his head; it turned out he'd been given a sharp rap on the head by Ruoping.

"Can you guys stop being so childish?"

Ruoping was truly speechless.

After she finished speaking, she saw the three boys tacitly hide the energy drink behind the table leg. The girl was shocked.

Are you serious?

Zhang Shutong just laughed; he simply thought it was funny.

Qingyi and Dukang also thought it was fun; otherwise, what would they talk about? It's just that the yogurt didn't meet everyone's expectations, but they actually bought it anyway.

A short while later, the boys ran into the store carrying large bottles of drinks: large tubs of Coca-Cola, orange juice with pulp, mango juice... The three of them then listlessly brought out a bottle of Nutri-Express.

The main hall of the fish restaurant is roughly laid out like this:

Zhang Shutong and her three best friends sat in the corner at a small table, while Gu Qiumian and her henchmen had four square tables put together, with her occupying one side of the table by herself.
Zhang Shutong and his group ordered four dishes; Gu Qiumian and her group ordered more than a dozen.

Their cups only had half a glass of milk left, and they had to drink it sparingly, otherwise there wouldn't be any left when the food came. Meanwhile, boys were pouring drinks around the table, and colorful glasses filled the table. Only when they got to Gu Qiu Mian did they not give her a chance to fawn over her.

In front of Miss Gu was a one-liter carton of yogurt, the cardboard box so tall it almost covered half her face, exuding an air of dominance;

Gu Qiumian poured the yogurt into a cup herself, took a small sip, and then asked the people next to her to share it, saying that she couldn't drink it all by herself and that this was enough, showing an attitude of "only taking a sip from a vast ocean".

Zhang Shutong felt that she should be happier than she was now. She had plenty of yogurt, plenty of food and drinks, was surrounded by best friends, had a bunch of younger brothers, had a rich father, and was good-looking... Thinking about it, it seemed that she had never really smiled, except when she was drawing funny faces in front of the glass by herself, and she would laugh at herself when her drawings were too ugly.

Zhang Shutong looked away, only to find Du Kang and Qingyi winking at him:
"How about we take Shutong to offer him a toast later and say he's being inconsiderate, and thank you for your guidance, Miss?"

"What are you three talking about behind my back?" Ruoping asked suspiciously.

"Of course it's a man's..."

Apologize to the man right now!

Zhang Shutong couldn't take it anymore and kicked Qingyi under the table;
Fortunately, the first dish served was the braised pork ribs he had ordered. This kind of meat dish is usually stewed in advance. If a guest wants to eat it, you just need to heat it up in the pot, sprinkle some cilantro, and it's ready to serve.

He quickly urged the group to eat ribs. Regardless of how extravagant Gu Qiumian's side was, for them, pooling their saved pocket money and ordering a favorite dish each was a unique kind of happiness.
If you're short on cash, you eat a simple meal; if you have more money, you eat something nice. In the future, we'll call this "going Dutch" (AA system), which might sound a bit stingy. But in reality, people who can pool their money to eat like this are either complete strangers or have an extremely good relationship. On the contrary, people who are only half-acquainted are more likely to consider saving face, financial conditions, or friendships, and then someone else will pay for the meal. It's far from being this simple.

Zhang Shutong quite likes this casual feeling.

One dish after another was served, and they all tasted familiar. He initially thought it was just a filter of memory, but after a few bites, he realized that the taste was really good.
I didn't even notice if that restaurant was still there eight years later... But what can I do? I can't possibly go back and eat there now.

But then a little incident suddenly occurred—

It turned out that when the proprietress brought out the last dish of shredded mandarin fish, the boy who had initially argued with Du Kang suddenly pointed a finger and shouted:

"Don't just cater to them. They've only ordered a few dishes. How long have we been sitting here?"

(End of this chapter)