Winter Returns

Chapter 29 Flower Protector

Qingyi quickly explained it once, and Zhang Shutong soon understood the cause and effect.

It turns out that Li Yipeng's family owns a supermarket on the commercial street, and the supermarket is quite large. I heard that they also opened a branch in the city. In recent years, they have also bought a house, so they are considered "wealthy" on the island.

Zhang Shutong knew that this kind of supermarket mainly made money from cigarettes and alcohol and had a fixed customer base, so they should have been living a pretty good life. But in recent years, Gu's father built a shopping mall, and the business overlapped so much that his family was squeezed out the most.
His business was affected, and Li Yipeng heard a lot of bad things about the Gu family from a young age. Now, with old and new grudges combined, he did something stupid to take revenge on her.

Zhang Shutong recalled what he had seen at lunchtime, "Does it ultimately come down to conflicts outside of school?"

"Yes, otherwise it wouldn't have taken so long."

"What about the name of the toilet?" Zhang Shutong asked again.

"It's also related to the commercial street. According to him, the person who passed the note was in a similar situation to his family, or even worse. The three of them relied on that shop for their livelihood."

Why go into so much detail?

"To increase credibility, we told him that if he wanted to get revenge on Gu Qiumian, he should write her name on the partition as a secret code between the two of them."

Zhang Shutong asked curiously:

"Was Li Yipeng really used as a pawn?"

“The other party said that Li Yipeng used to be in the same class as Gu Qiumian, so he knows her better and knows how to be more ruthless.” Qingyi also rolled her eyes. “And Li Yipeng, well, you know, he used to like to show off, and he even felt a special sense of mission.”

"However, there is one thing that differs from our judgment."

Qingyi added:

"Although they initially intended to target the scarf, the castle wasn't just a side effect. Including that A4 paper, these were all intentional. They were actually trying to hint at Gu Qiu Mian's family's shopping mall, like a kind of criminal declaration."

"declaration?"

“Yeah, otherwise how could Li Yipeng deal with him? The other party said they had other revenge plans. The castle and scarf were just the beginning, to let Gu Qiu Mian know that it was her family’s shopping mall that offended them.”

Zhang Shutong was about to say something when Song Nanshan walked over, cheerfully asking, "What did you guys do when you ran off during exercise? Did you want to do chores again?" Unfortunately, his good mood only lasted a moment. As soon as Zhang Shutong opened his mouth, Old Song's face immediately darkened.

……

Even after the bell rang for the fourth period, Song Nanshan still hadn't shown up in class.

He remained in his office and summoned Li Yipeng's parents directly.

Zhang Shutong was standing in the corner of the office, with Li Yipeng beside him. Du Kang and Qingyi had already gone back to work. He asked to stay and listen. Lao Song didn't object, but he wasn't in the mood to say much.

The problem lies with that "mastermind".

Zhang Shutong understood. If he were Lao Song, he would also be overwhelmed. He had just dealt with one girl when another one popped up. Even if Gu Qiu Mian's family was not ordinary, it would still be enough to give the homeroom teacher a hard time.

Not to mention the family conflicts involved.

Old Song was furious when he heard this, and kicked him in the butt, saying, "If you dared to do it and take responsibility, I would respect you. But now you're making up a bunch of excuses. What kind of revenge is this? Do you even think you're justified? You try again and again when it doesn't work the first time, and you even wrote 'Go to hell' on an A4 paper. How old are you? I think you're just pure evil!"
He was so angry that he started to speak recklessly, saying, "What does it matter to others if your family business is not doing well? Why are you making trouble for a little girl here? Why don't you go and confront her father directly?"

Old Song's temper was indeed frightening. He was over 1.8 meters tall and had a burly build. When he roared, even the office cabinet doors trembled slightly. Li Yipeng, this boy, was also a typical spoiled child at home. He usually liked to show off, but when faced with a real problem, he was completely at a loss and was yelled at by him until he cried.

It's truly speechless to see a teenage boy with stubble growing on his chin wiping away tears in the office.

It was clear that Song Nanshan was really holding back. He opened the office window, lit a cigarette, and decided to just call the other party's parents over and take them home to discipline them.

It was probably near the end of the third period when Li's mother arrived late.

The woman was tall and thin, carrying a very elegant-looking leather bag. She had lipstick on her thin lips, and the powder was applied rather thickly, but it couldn't hide the wrinkles on her face, making her look somewhat out of place.

Song Nanshan, still suppressing his anger, recounted the whole story, but his words betrayed his dissatisfaction.

Li Yipeng complained that his parents shouldn't have discussed business matters with him. Even if it was Li Yipeng's own decision, a student whose mind is not fully mature could certainly have been influenced by his parents to do such a thing.

Zhang Shutong recalled a wise saying that Lao Song had once said. Not long after the start of the semester, he told the class, "Although I haven't met your parents yet, I can roughly tell what they look like from your behavior."

This statement is still accurate today. The woman didn't listen to what Lao Song was saying at all. Instead, as soon as she saw her son crying, she quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe his tears and kept asking him questions.

Old Song cleared his throat and said in a deep voice:
“Li Yipeng’s mother, I hope you parents will pay more attention to this…”

Before he could finish speaking, the woman impatiently interrupted him:

“Teacher Song, isn’t this just a little quarrel between kids? I asked you what happened on the phone just now, and you insisted on waiting until I got here to talk about it. I thought something had happened to Pengpeng at school.”

Zhang Shutong noticed that the veins on Lao Song's temples were throbbing, but he still patiently handed over the photo on the A4 sheet. The woman glanced at it and then looked away.

“I know my child well. He’s just a bit impulsive. He might talk a lot, but he didn’t actually do anything in the end.”

After saying that, she continued to comfort Li Yipeng, saying, "Don't cry, don't cry. If you don't want to go to class today, we'll leave at noon and come back next Monday."

"What do you mean you didn't do anything in the end!" Old Song slammed his hand on the table, his voice rising in anger. "If this is your attitude as a parent, then I have nothing more to say. Just call Gu Qiu Mian's father over!"

Zhang Shutong witnessed the whole process and knew that Song Nanshan had shown leniency. Instead of contacting Gu Qiumian's father first, he called Li Yipeng's parents to discuss a plan and try to minimize the impact of the matter.

It's not that he sympathized with Li Yipeng; rather, it's out of professional ethics that he didn't want the other party to end up in a bad situation.

Last time, he was transferred to another class just because I told a dirty joke; this time it will only be worse.

So, if Lao Song just wants to be a hands-off parent, the simplest way is to call both sets of parents over and let them confront each other. That would actually make things easier for him—after all, Li Yipeng isn't in their class, so theoretically it has nothing to do with Lao Song.

But now, Li's mother's indifferent attitude led Song Nanshan to bring up Gu's father, which can be seen as a veiled warning.

I thought it should have started to work, but the woman paused for a moment:
"Who?"

Then he let out a cold laugh:
"Gu Qiu Mian? Is that the one whose father owns a shopping mall? Oh, Teacher Song, no wonder you were in such a hurry. So you're threatening us on behalf of the big boss."

"Oh, so Yipeng was transferred to another class last time because of her, right? What else does her family want this time? Should they just expel her? We can tolerate things when business is bad, but to act so arrogantly at school, do they really think the school is their private property?"

Zhang Shutong frowned upon hearing this, realizing that it wasn't quite what he had expected.

The class transfer incident happened too long ago, and he didn't care about it at the time. His impression was that an ordinary student had offended Gu Qiu Mian, and because the girl's family had a lot of influence, the matter caused quite a stir.
So at first, the woman didn't take it seriously. He thought she was just spoiling him too much and didn't realize that his son had offended Gu Qiu Mian again. But once he understood the truth, even if the woman wasn't scared or worried, she should have realized the seriousness of the matter.
But now it seems that's not the case. Instead of backing down, the woman is seething with anger and is starting to demand an explanation.

Song Nanshan barely suppressed his anger:

“Li Yipeng’s mother, I want to ask you what you take the school’s rules and regulations for? It’s your son who has been harassing that girl. What does that have to do with whether he’s the boss or not? I would have said the same thing if it were any other student today.”

"As a teacher, I have no say in what business you have outside of school. What I'm talking to you about now is this child's character!"

The woman said in a strange voice:
"What do you mean by character issues? What's wrong with Yipeng's character? He just knocked over a small toy house. Oh right, you just said that someone instructed my Yipeng to do it. I think it's that Gu who has character issues. Why don't you think about why everyone is against her?"

"Don't try to reason with me!" Song Nanshan slammed his hand on the table, his eyes wide. "I'll say it again: if you don't want to reason, then go talk to Gu Qiumian's father directly."

The woman, however, didn't seem to care and said:

"Who are you trying to scare, Teacher Song? Do you really think her father's business trip is some kind of secret? There are plenty of people who know about it in secret. Why don't you call him over to talk to me? The problem is, can you even call him over?"

"Are you still thinking of saying that her dad is away on a business trip and isn't not coming back? Fine, we'll talk about it then."

The woman, having reached this point, seemed less anxious and even took the time to smooth her hair.
"The key is whether he'll still be in the mood to talk to me then. My family doesn't care. At worst, we can just transfer Yipeng to another school. My family doesn't rely on that small supermarket for our livelihood."

Song Nanshan frowned and said:
"I told you, I don't care whether you have food or not, don't bring this up..."

"If you don't care, plenty of others will," the woman sneered. "Teacher Song, it's fine if you stand up for her, but her father has angered everyone. Don't end up getting yourself into trouble instead of currying favor with the big boss. Let me give you one last piece of advice." The woman raised an eyebrow gloatingly.
"Isn't Boss Gu forcing us to starve? My family doesn't rely on the small supermarket on the street for food, but some people depend entirely on the shops on the street for their livelihood. Today, he's made such a fuss over his daughter's small house. I think there's something even bigger to come..."

Before she could finish speaking, Song Nanshan stood up abruptly, knocking over the teacup on the table with a bang. His face was no longer filled with anger, but utterly cold, as he spoke, word by word:

"What do you mean?"

The woman was startled, but she still forced herself to say, "We'll see."

Then, with one hand slinging her bag over her shoulder, she grabbed Li Yipeng's hand and they walked away.

Only after the woman's figure had disappeared into the distance and Zhang Shutong helped close the door did Song Nanshan slam his fist on the table and throw himself onto his office chair.

Neither the master nor his apprentice were in the mood to talk; one was bursting with pent-up frustration, while the other was pondering the meaning behind the woman's words.

Who is that person? Or is it a group of people?

Until a faint wisp of smoke drifted into Zhang Shutong's nostrils.

He turned around and saw that Old Song, oblivious to the presence of others, was silently smoking in his seat until the cigarette butt was almost falling out, before forcing a smile and waving to Zhang Shutong.
"Why are you frowning? You're just a little kid. There are adults around, so it's none of your business to worry about these things. Alright, your curiosity has been satisfied. Go back to class."

Zhang Shutong remained unmoved:
What does his mother mean?

"When the tiger is away, the monkey becomes king." Song Nanshan sneered. "It's just because Gu Qiumian's father has been away for a few days. If he were really standing here in person, I wonder if he would dare to utter a single fart."

Now that you mention it, Zhang Shutong realized she had never actually seen Gu's father. The only connection she had with him was hearing his voice when she was in school, and she remembered him as having a rather refined and scholarly air.

"What about the commercial street?" Zhang Shutong inquired again.

"It's probably because they've been talking about demolition again recently. This time, Gu Qiumian's dad lowered the price, and some people are unwilling. But if they don't agree now, it will only go down lower in the future, so it has angered many people." Song Nanshan shrugged as he said this. "But you and I are both from out of town, and we don't have any close ties here, so I don't know much more."

Old Song, on the contrary, started talking:
"Come on, don't stay here sulking. I'll take you to eat. What do you want for lunch?"

He then said he was going to lead the students to skip school.

Zhang Shutong shook his head and refused. He had a lot of things to investigate and was not in the mood to go out for dinner.

"You're a very good protector of the flower. I think the girl is very touched."

In fact, Gu Qiumian had already visited once before Li Yipeng's mother arrived.

But Zhang Shutong didn't want to get involved in this topic.

“You need to take the initiative,” Old Song said, getting all excited and starting to act like a life coach. “Otherwise, one of you will be cold and silent, and the other will be stern and not frank. Let me tell you, I’ve seen plenty of examples like this, and none of them have ended well…”

Zhang Shutong waved and was about to leave when he heard Song Nanshan suddenly say solemnly:
"Shutong, don't leave after school this afternoon. I have something important to discuss with you."

"Important business?" Zhang Shutong turned around, puzzled.

"It's time you knew." Old Song lit another cigarette, sighing as he stroked his stubble. "But it's not the right time yet."

……

Time flew by and it was afternoon, after school.

"Not going to the base today?"

"Old Song said he needs to see me, you guys go ahead."

"Okay, let's discuss the weekend activities in the QQ group."

Zhang Shutong said goodbye to several close friends.

He then realized that tomorrow was Saturday, and after only two days of school, he would be welcoming his first weekend as a student.

Ruoping suddenly leaned closer:
Don't forget that.

"what?"

Here we go again… Zhang Shutong’s most hated amnesia moment. He really can’t remember what he promised eight years ago.

"It's Du Kang's birthday next Monday, don't forget. The three of us need to make some preparations. He won't say it outright, but he's secretly keeping an eye on things..."

Zhang Shutong nodded in realization; it seemed that was indeed the case.

I remember talking to Du Kang at the funeral. The reason he remembered Gu Qiu Mian's death date so accurately was because it happened to be his own birthday.

He said it was no problem, and watched the three of them walk away chatting and laughing.

Time is running out.

Zhang Shutong planned to go to the commercial street after listening to the "important" things her homeroom teacher said.

What puzzled him, however, was what exactly that important matter was.

It's rare to see Lao Song so serious.

So he didn't ride his bike, but came to the school gate instead.

The steamed buns at the school gate were steaming, but the girl who used to eat so delicately was no longer there.

Zhang Shutong suddenly found himself able to accept these strange steamed buns, and he planned to have dinner here that night as well.

He then waited for Old Song to come over while he was eating his steamed bun.

After waiting for a while, two horns suddenly sounded. Zhang Shutong thought he was blocking the road and instinctively turned around, only to see a red Ford Focus parked there. Then the driver's side window rolled down:
"Hurry up and get on the bus." Old Song's serious face was revealed.

Zhang Shutong originally wanted to say that they could just talk here, as the smell of smoke in his car was too strong, and he really didn't want to go up unless it was something important, especially since he had other things to do later.

“This isn’t the place to talk. Let’s go up here,” Song Nanshan repeated.

Zhang Shutong had no choice but to walk over. He felt that the car looked familiar, perhaps because he had ridden in it many times before. Even after eight years, he still felt a strong sense of familiarity.

It's best if it's something serious.

Thinking this, he habitually reached for the passenger seat, but Lao Song said there was no space upstairs and told him to go to the back.

He responded, opened the car door, and leaned down. To be honest, this car is really small. I never realized it before, but now I find that my knees are touching the front seat.

After finally squeezing myself in, I looked up and realized there was no room in the passenger seat.

To be precise, it was someone who looked familiar sitting there.

The person was a girl.

The girl glanced at Zhang Shutong with obvious displeasure, then turned her head away.

Zhang Shutong suddenly remembered why the car looked familiar; he had seen it just yesterday.

He glanced at Old Song instinctively, and Old Song was also looking at them, grinning broadly, showing no trace of seriousness whatsoever.
"I said I have important business to attend to; taking the girl home is crucial."

(End of this chapter)