Winter Returns

Chapter 42 "Traitor"

Strangely enough, as soon as Lao Song left, they fell silent, like a television set that had gone black.

After a while, Gu Qiumian asked if he wanted to take him to visit her home, and Zhang Shutong nodded in agreement.

So he followed behind the girl; both of them were wrapped in bathrobes, one white and one red, which looked rather strange.

It's normal for a host to show guests around the house, but what if a host wearing a bathrobe brings guests wearing bathrobes?

He walked along the path she usually walked, his steps light and his mood relaxed. He saw the huge color TV in the living room, the artwork in the cabinet, and the dried flowers in the vase. All these things made Zhang Shutong feel that they were far removed from her own life.

Sometimes he would wonder what the henchmen would say if Miss Gu brought them to visit. They would probably frantically flatter him, so Zhang Shutong would chime in with a few words, offering only the nicest compliments.

To everyone's surprise, Gu Qiu Mian was dissatisfied:

"Could you please stop mimicking human speech?"

"Did it mimic your speech?" Zhang Shutong asked, puzzled.

"I didn't say you should copy me. I told you not to deliberately imitate others. I didn't take you around because I wanted to hear you flatter me," the girl said angrily.

"You're not happy even when I praise you?"

"You might as well just talk like you normally do."

"I remember you saying that I'm usually quite annoying when I talk."

"It's even more annoying now!"

Just then, Zhang Shutong saw a set of twelve zodiac animal figurines. He pointed to the sheep in the set and nodded, "Oh, baa."

"What did you just say?" Mianmian asked incredulously, her eyes wide open.

“Isn’t that a sheep? Baa baa.” Zhang Shutong teased her.

So the sheep turned into a tiger, gritting its teeth and wanting to swallow Zhang Shutong whole.

Gu Qiu Mian glared at him twice, then simply ignored him and walked straight ahead.

There is an elevator in the center of the villa.

They went underground first.

There's only one basement level, which is the home theater.

A row of large sofas, a huge screen opposite, speakers on both sides, and a coffee table in the middle with an ashtray and several microphones on it. It seems that this is where Gu Qiumian and her girlfriends sing.

"You like to sing?"

"It's alright, it's just that sometimes it gets boring on the island."

"Sometimes it really is quite boring." Since they were both from the provincial capital, Zhang Shutong decided to confide in her for a while. "We can't even get KFC."

"You mean food? That's alright."

"Is there a nanny?"

"No, I had my dad's driver buy them."

Zhang Shutong thought to herself, "As expected of a young lady, she added that the KFC meal probably wouldn't even cover your round-trip travel expenses."

Gu Qiu Mian retorted, "Who said I bought KFC? Why do you always only recognize KFC?"

"That's McDonald's?"

"It should at least be Pizza Hut," Miss Gu sighed, rubbing her forehead.

She added that if there weren't even a proper Western restaurant in the city, she wouldn't even order Pizza Hut. But it's convenient; sometimes when there are a lot of people singing, a few pizzas and a few bottles of soda are enough to solve a meal.

Zhang Shutong couldn't explain why he considered Pizza Hut a gourmet meal, but Gu Qiumian only regarded it as fast food.

"What kind of pizza do you like?" Gu Qiumian suddenly asked a strange question.

"The one with sausage and ketchup," Zhang Shutong said, forgetting the name, "I think it was American Supreme?"

"And what about me?" she asked again.

Zhang Shutong thought for a second before confirming that he hadn't misheard.

But how would she know what she liked to eat? She'd never been to any restaurant with her. If Du Kang were here, he'd chuckle and say, "You'll know once you treat me to a meal," but Zhang Shutong couldn't bring herself to say something like that.
"What do you mean?"

"It's meaningless." Gu Qiumian pouted, put her hands behind her back, and remained silent.

Her face nestled against the soft collar of her pajamas. Zhang Shutong watched her back and thought of the girl singing in the movie theater, the music sometimes soothing and sometimes lively, the pendant that was always tied to the end of her hair bouncing.

Of course, Gu Qiu Mian is without makeup now—Zhang Shutong has never seen her with makeup on—meaning she is not wearing a scarf or hair accessories, and she has tied up her hair, which she usually wears loose.

They were just going to wander around underground; there was no way they were going to sing. Besides, Gu Qiu Mian had inexplicably lost her interest in talking. Zhang Shutong glanced around a few times and then followed Gu Qiu Mian upstairs.

It smelled wonderful the whole way.

They took the elevator directly to the second floor.

This floor was extremely quiet. The entire floor was covered with wool carpet, and there were flower stands in the corridor. The elevator doors behind them were closing, and even the slightest noise was amplified. At this moment, Gu Qiu Mian whispered, "I thought you were doing this tonight because..."

She stopped talking after saying that.

"what did you just say?"

"It's nothing," Gu Qiumian changed the subject. "Where are you going tomorrow?"

"Let's go out and hang out with some friends. It's my best friend's birthday."

The girl said "Oh" again and led him to the guest room.

The nanny had already made the bed, and the room was styled like a hotel. Gu Qiu Mian told her to let her know if she needed anything now, as she was going to sleep soon.

Zhang Shutong said definitively that there was nothing there. He was the kind of person who could sleep at night as long as he had a pillow and a blanket. Although he was particular about his bed, wasn't this Gu Qiumian's house?

Gu Qiu Mian nodded and said goodnight to him. Zhang Shutong walked her to the door, and just as the door was about to close, she suddenly turned her back and said:
"Remember, it's the one with fruit."

Zhang Shutong was taken aback for a moment, then realized she was talking about pizza, and chuckled:

"Are you really going to let me treat you to a meal?"

"Who's like you, only thinking about food?" Gu Qiumian said irritably. "You don't need to treat me, I'm just telling you to remember this."

Zhang Shutong nodded.

This is actually quite easy to remember. The one with fruit is probably the Hawaiian pizza with pineapple slices, half a bite. He recently discovered that Gu Qiu Mian really likes to eat half-bite things, like sweet and sour pork, and steamed buns from street vendors.

But what does it mean to remember a fruit pizza? Zhang Shutong couldn't think of anything other than treating someone to a meal.

So what happens next?

There was no follow-up.

"You'd better really remember that." After throwing down another ambiguous remark, Gu Qiu Mian closed the door.

Zhang Shutong remained alone in the room.

He habitually analyzed the girl's meaning. Perhaps she meant that if they had the chance to go out to eat together someday, it would be best to be observant when ordering food, just like Miss Gu's little secretary, who knew her tastes perfectly.

Is this training me to become a secretary?

But Zhang Shutong only intended to be a henchman, and even that was only temporary. He would resign voluntarily after his term expired, without asking for any compensation, and he would never cling to anyone.

Anyway, he could never figure out Gu Qiu Mian's thoughts. She asked him to write it down, which wasn't a big deal, so he did, regardless of whether he would need it or not.

Now he stood before the bedroom window.

He couldn't see any stars tonight, and after looking around for a while, he realized that this place was right in front of the backyard. When he was standing outside the fence and looking up, this was the guest room he saw.

The rain gradually stopped.

After looking around for a while, Zhang Shutong drew the three-layered floor-to-ceiling curtains and collapsed onto the bed.

Staring blankly at the ceiling, and thinking about all the things to do tomorrow, I really felt a bit tired.

Unfortunately, the magic that Lao Song talked about didn't work on him at all.

He hadn't felt anything when he was talking to Gu Qiumian, but now that he was in bed, his eyelids were drooping. So he turned off the light, covered himself with the blanket, and, as was his habit before going to sleep, reviewed what had happened that day.

After a moment, he closed his eyes, hoping for a peaceful night.

It's late at night on December 7th. Perhaps when I open my eyes again, it will be the morning of the 8th.

There were only three days left until Gu Qiumian's original death date.

……

When the girl in the burgundy bathrobe returned to the room, the bedroom window was open.

Not long ago, she saw the Ford Focus in front of the gate from here and rushed downstairs.

She didn't turn on the light, but silently closed the window, walked to her desk, and turned on the nightlight.

There are no stars tonight. The dust of the world seems to have been washed away by this cold rain. The night light in front of me is like a still firefly, casting a warm glow that outlines the entire room.

The girl rested her face in her hands in the dim light, lost in thought.

She always liked this atmosphere; the light was dim, yet she didn't feel insecure. She was just daydreaming in this dim and quiet little space.

Those beautiful, bright eyes were fixed on a photo frame on the table, containing a group photo.

The photo has faded somewhat; time has left irreversible marks on it.

Finally, she stretched out her finger and flicked it hard at a child with a cold face in the picture frame.

The picture frame fell over with a thud, and the girl named Gu Qiumian muttered:
"traitor……"

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(End of this chapter)