Winter Returns

Chapter 113 A Sudden Turn of Events (Part 1)

"Qiu Mian, which song do you want to sing? I'll pick one for you."

The girl named Xu Zhiruo turned her head.

If Zhang Shutong were here, he would recognize her as the short-haired girl who often followed Gu Qiumian, whom he jokingly called "Little Secretary".

The lights in the theater flickered, and the remaining two girls clapped their hands to cheer them on. Xu Zhiruo was a little smug, and she struck a pose with the microphone in her hand. But then, a sharp buzzing sound came from the speakers. She quickly straightened the microphone and stuck out her tongue.

"You guys sing." Xu Zhiruo casually handed the microphone to a girl, then turned and went to the sofa, where a girl with medium-length hair and an oval face was sitting. The girl was wearing a plaid sweater in red and black today, going for a bright and lovely style, but her mood was not so bright. On the contrary, she had very few expressions, only clapping symbolically when changing songs, with the absolute demeanor of a young lady.

"What's wrong? Are you in a bad mood?" Xu Zhiruo moved closer to Gu Qiumian and playfully shook her arm.

The new song has been selected; it's a rock song, with powerful drumbeats that seem to drown out the two singers' voices.

"Why would I call you guys over if I was in a bad mood?" Gu Qiumian let her grab her arm and gently pushed the other's forehead. "Just stop worrying about me and take care of yourself first."

In reality, they are best friends with an extremely close relationship. In public, they act like superiors and subordinates, but this is mostly for show. Of course, sometimes when Gu Qiu Mian is in a really bad mood, Xu Zhi Ruo is willing to accommodate her and act as her little secretary, running around and observing her moods. If Zhang Shu Tong were here, she would be shocked. But that's just how complicated and unpredictable female relationships are.

"Who made Qiu Mian angry again? Tell me, and I'll tell Uncle." She was like a little puppy.

"Nobody's here, just ask less questions," Gu Qiumian said irritably.

"How can that be? We agreed that I'd be your secretary when you become the boss, so you should take good care of me." She joked, "Besides, you've been looking at your phone the whole time. Are you chatting with some guy? Who is it? Did they get Qiu Mian's QQ number?"

"Classmate." Gu Qiumian didn't even look up. "You're so gossipy. We're talking about something else. Serious business. Did you see those bodyguards upstairs? There's been some family business going on at home these past few days."

Xu Zhiruo didn't believe it at first, but Gu Qiumian showed her the phone directly, without any intention of hiding anything. The girl quickly looked through a few chat records and was greatly disappointed.

Forget about any ambiguous words, they didn't even chat about anything casually. She stubbornly scrolled to the top of the chat history, only to find it was full of dry, uninteresting chatter.

An ID named "New Peach Charm Old Talisman" asked:
"How about it?"

Another user with the ID "Autumn Rain" replied:
"do not worry."

Either the latter will say, "I'm fine here," while the former will say, "Be careful."

"This is such a wooden thing," Xu Zhiruo thought. "Hey, big brother, is this how you talk to a girl?"
Just because she said it's nothing, you actually believed it?

If she were truly alright, she wouldn't have just replied with "I'm fine."

She picked up the fruit tea on the coffee table and took a sip. The coffee table was made of precious mahogany and was of top quality, but Xu Zhiruo felt that it was not as good as this gentleman's.

"The boys in our school?" Xu Zhiruo asked again.

"Ah."

What grade are you in?

"classmate."

"I've never heard of you knowing any guys before," Xu Zhiruo murmured. "The thought of being kept in the dark for four years breaks my heart."

"Go ahead and get heartbroken." Gu Qiumian rolled her eyes. "You're only in your final year of junior high. Have I been keeping this from you since elementary school?"

"When did you two meet?" she asked with a grin.

"Wednesday."

Which Wednesday?

“Of course, it’s this Wednesday,” Gu Qiumian said casually.

Xu Zhiruo counted on her fingers and exclaimed in surprise, "Only four days?"

She now realizes she underestimated that guy; if they've known each other for four years and he's still chatting like that, he's definitely a blockhead.

But after only four days of knowing each other, we've already started talking about such heavy topics as "your safety" in every sentence. Hey, where did you come from?
"I suddenly realized, could it be your deskmate? I even talked to him. I heard from others that he was the one who helped with the building blocks on Thursday?"

Gu Qiumian hummed in agreement again.

"Unsolicited kindness is always suspicious; be careful!"

"What am I worried about?" Gu Qiumian asked curiously.

"Although I admit he's handsome, we've only known each other for four days. In short, don't believe everything he says. Is it possible he's exaggerating? Is it possible he's trying to get attention? Is it possible he's playing hard to get? But, when I saw him during my morning reading that day, I felt something was off between you two."

"Who's acting strange?"

"How should I put it, it's like... you've known each other for a long time? It's like you've known him for a long time, and he's known you for a long time. Anyway, if you didn't tell me beforehand, I would never guess that you've only known each other for four days."

Gu Qiumian didn't answer, but asked instead:
"Stop talking about me, what about you? Has the guy who likes you said yes?"

"That guy from the next class, he's so annoying." Xu Zhiruo threw herself onto the sofa. "I've already told him I don't have any feelings for him, but he keeps bothering me. He asked my deskmate to deliver greeting cards to me and buy me breakfast... Ugh, I've told him countless times that I don't want it anymore, but he still won't let go. Can you lend me two of the big sister's little brothers? I can't handle things on my own."

"What do you mean by 'big sister'? That sounds awful."

"Then it's Miss?"

"And you're not allowed to shout either."

“Anyway, I’m most afraid of people who are persistent and clingy.” Xu Zhiruo showed her tiger teeth defiantly. “Like your deskmate, he keeps asking if you’re okay. You’ve already said no, but can’t he tell? He still keeps asking. It’s so annoying.”

"But you told me last week that you were a little touched," Gu Qiumian asked. She was referring to the boy who had a crush on her.

"I am a little touched. After all, he is very considerate. He knows what I like to eat, what books I like to read, and whose songs I like to listen to. Although he may not know me very well, he is at least willing to do the bare minimum. He will even go out to buy milk tea during breaks. I used to think this kind of thing was a bit funny. Who would be short of a cup of milk tea? But when it actually happens to you and others cheer you up, it is quite touching."

"So what?" Gu Qiumian waited quietly for the turning point.

"So it's best not to agree on a whim, only to find out later that I don't actually have feelings for him, and then quickly reject him. What do you think?"

Xu Zhiruo then said:
"So Qiu Mian, you need to think this through. If he keeps pestering you, you should be on guard and not act impulsively."

Gu Qiu Mian blinked:
"It's not what you think. He wasn't pestering me. He was just worried about me. Don't wrong him."

"Shouldn't you be happier, with such a handsome suitor?"

Gu Qiumian shook her head and remained silent.

"Hey, do you want to take a picture? I just found a photo editing app, it's really useful, you can take selfies, but it's only available in the Apple App Store. Can I borrow your phone again?" Knowing that the other person didn't know much about these things, she fiddled with it herself, moving closer to Gu Qiu Mian. "Look at the camera, smile..."

The shutter is pressed, and the image is frozen.

"Qiu Mian, you're going for a cool and aloof look today," Xu Zhiruo said, nodding her head. "How about I add a cuter filter for you?"

Gu Qiumian responded absentmindedly.

The girl quickly finished fiddling with it, opened the photo album, and asked, "What do you think of this?" Gu Qiumian nodded.

"What about this?"

She scrolled through the photos one by one. Even though they were identical, they took on several different styles in her hands: bright and lovely, anime-style, bluesy with a touch of melancholy... until a boy's face unexpectedly appeared in front of them.

"This is……"

Xu Zhiruo was taken aback and recognized that this was Gu Qiumian's deskmate. The background seemed to be inside a car, with a snowy night outside.

She knew she was wrong again. Their relationship was much deeper, or rather, much more complicated than she had thought. It wasn't a case of one chasing the other; they had clearly eloped in the same car!

"Wow, you eloped! He even dared to drive you out for fun..."

Gu Qiu Mian was also stunned when she saw the photo. She knew it was taken that night during her driving lesson. After a moment of silence, the girl reached out and tapped the screen:

"Didn't you see there's someone sitting in the passenger seat?"

Xu Zhiruo looked closely and could vaguely make out the outline of a man, but that left her completely confused:

"What are they doing here? It looks kind of scary."

Through the windshield, the candle-like headlights cast a warm yellow hue on the road. The night was pitch black, and snow was falling all around. A flash of light illuminated the car, turning it into a blinding white. The boy's turning motion was captured in the frame, and the other person's expression was one of surprise and helplessness. It was clearly taken secretly by the owner of the phone.

"My homeroom teacher was in the passenger seat. As I just mentioned, he had some things to take care of these past few days, so he drove there that night."

Xu Zhiruo thought to herself, "Qiu Mian, you're kidding me. What important matter would require a minor to drive? If there's anything going on, shouldn't it be the teacher driving?"
Even if it were something important, why would you take a picture? Why would he look at you? You must have been smiling happily back then, not with this expression now.

Gu Qiu Mian was unwilling to say more. She asked several times what their relationship was, and Gu Qiu Mian said they were just ordinary classmates. When she said this, she was drinking water and moistening her lips, so her mood was unreadable.

Xu Zhiruo knew she had finally touched on the crux of the problem, and she slapped her thigh:
"I understand, you're hesitating!"

"Hesitate?" Gu Qiumian paused, holding the cup.

"You don't actually want to sing with us here, do you? Your heart is elsewhere, but you're too scared to go. You've backed down!"

"who……"

Gu Qiu Mian was about to explain when a song finished, and the two remaining girls, chatting and laughing, went to the sofa, panting.
"Zhiruo, what are you saying to Qiumian? It's just the two of us singing now. Ah, I'm so tired..."

Xu Zhiruo thought to herself, "I'm trying to comfort our Miss Mianmian. After asking her for so long, I've finally gotten to the point. Don't bother me, you two little girls, as I'm giving you some motivational advice."

But Gu Qiu Mian had already stood up, and she put down the empty crystal glass in her hand:

"I'll request one too."

She picked up the microphone and bent down in front of the song selection station.

"What's wrong with Qiu Mian? She keeps looking at her phone on the sofa all day..."

"Alright, alright, let's listen to her sing. Qiu Mian sings much better than us."

They quieted down, ready to applaud and cheer, but when the intro started, they realized it wasn't her usual style; the girl in front of the screen was humming a tune softly.

She also had a silver pendant hanging from the end of her hair today, but she was singing a quiet song, so it didn't sway with her movements.

……

"Do you remember your teacher telling you that you used to have a girlfriend?"

Old Song smoked too much, and his voice became a little hoarse.

"After I broke up with her, I felt sorry for her and was heartbroken. I was depressed for a while and often drove around the island. At that time, the people around me didn't understand. My parents, who are old, were worried about me and would take a boat to see me every week. They didn't care about weekends and would come whenever they were free. At first, they didn't know the way and didn't want to tell me in advance, so they would come quietly. Once, I was teaching a class and I turned around and saw them on the playground, carrying a basket of eggs and a slaughtered chicken... At that time, I had just started teaching and didn't even know all the students' parents yet, but my own parents came first."

"Then when I got back to my dorm, they started to persuade me as soon as they came in. They said, 'Nanshan, you can't go on like this. You have to get out of this.' Not only did they persuade me, but my former principal from my old workplace also called me, as well as my former colleagues and students. They all told me to be strong and to tell them if I had any difficulties. Why do you have to act like you're in self-exile?"

"I explained it to them one by one. I was about twenty-three or twenty-four years old at the time, a very awkward age. I was an adult, but I felt no different from a kid who had just graduated from college. But you have to start taking responsibility for your life, so you can't not answer the phone just because you're sad. But how can I give a reason? My girlfriend broke up with me? I just couldn't bring myself to say it."

Zhang Shutong knew that the word here should be "passed away" rather than "broken up".

"Looking back now, many people care about me, but few understand me, including my parents. So, I think I understand how you feel. Don't think you're making a fuss. Let me tell you, this is nothing. I made a lot more trouble than you back then."

Old Song chuckled and said:
"I remember the day I was practicing driving, someone asked me how I knew the roads around here so well. It's just because I drive a lot. I've been to every corner of the island. You know, our island isn't that big, but the most I've ever driven in a year was 20,000 kilometers. To put that into perspective, a lap around the island is less than 20 kilometers. And there are many places a car can't even reach. You can do a simple calculation, count how many laps I drive on average a day. Let me show you something—"

As Old Song spoke, he led him to the front of the car, opened the glove box on the passenger side, and a box full of cards fell out—quite a spectacle. Zhang Shutong picked them up and saw that they were gas discount cards. Each card only reduced the price by three yuan.

There are no gas stations on the island, so he has to go to the city every time. Heaven knows how many times he has had to refuel.

Old Song looked at the empty glove box and felt a little lonely. He stuffed the cards back one by one, and finally snapped the box shut.
"It's just idle talk. If you insist that I say something more, then I'll just say one more thing. In the four years I've spent on the island, I've come to understand a principle: life is actually a process of giving yourself an explanation. If you're not satisfied with that explanation, then no one can persuade you otherwise."

Zhang Shutong nodded silently, agreeing with what he said.

He was also asking himself what he was still holding on to. As long as Gu Qiumian was alive, he could breathe a sigh of relief. But many fragments of memories wouldn't let him off easily. There was the regret of hearing about Gu Qiumian's death when he was a student, and the shock of seeing the hidden photo album in that nail salon eight years later.

There's something that's been on your mind for years, something you don't consciously try to recall, but once it appears in your mind, you'll rack your brains trying to figure out if it's right or wrong, or if there's a better way... You try everything, but to no avail. Actually, what you want isn't right or wrong, or the result, but rather to feel regret for something that can't be undone.

But Song Nanshan is someone for whom nothing can be salvaged.

Some things are not as trivial as the other party makes them out to be. A few days ago, he overheard through the police station door that the man came to teach on the island because his girlfriend was a local. Her funeral was held on the island, and the woman stayed there forever. The man also stayed on the island because of this. The ability that he had always wanted to get rid of might be the very thing that teachers dream of.

Zhang Shutong still had a gas card in his hand, which he handed to Lao Song, but Lao Song said it didn't matter.
"This thing gives you a three-dollar discount each time you fill up your gas tank, and you can only use one card per fill-up. You get three more cards after you fill up, so you can never use them all."

"Then why keep it?"

Zhang Shutong felt that her question was really crazy, but at this moment she just wanted to ask.

"Four years, Shutong," the man said softly. "You must have left something behind in four years. You were taught by your teacher from the first year of junior high school, which is proof and trace in a sense. But you are about to graduate. You will leave in half a year. What will be left for me then? Actually, only these things."

Zhang Shutong seemed to understand but not quite, and felt inexplicably melancholy, but Old Song suddenly smiled:

"That's what artsy people say. Why did you take it seriously? Actually, the teacher is just too lazy to clean up. He just throws the gas in after he fills up the tank."

He lowered his voice as he spoke:
"Actually, it's not just gas cards. Sometimes you can find those kinds of advertisements in car windows, you know? I just threw them in there too. Luckily, you two didn't see them, otherwise my reputation would be ruined. I'm telling you in advance, don't misunderstand, I'm a chaste teacher. If you dare to tell anyone, you can forget about being Qiu Mian's deskmate. I'll separate you two next week."

Zhang Shutong's sadness vanished completely.

Old Song chuckled and called him and Lu Qinglian to get out of the car, saying that the three of them should go upstairs and wait, as it would be warmer inside.

As he passed by the motorcycle, the man even patted the handlebars: "Hey, it's a Honda. I used to have one too, but I sold it. Is this your dad's?"

Zhang Shutong nodded. He took out a mask he had bought from the hospital from the car, but as soon as he put it on, Lao Song snapped a picture of it.

"I have a habit of taking a picture when I see a car I like; it's pretty cool."

(End of this chapter)