Winter Returns

Chapter 128 "Wild Dog" Storyline (Part 2) (Bonus Chapter, Please Vote!)

"Why did you suddenly ask about that night?" Ruoping was taken aback.

“It’s been eight years, hasn’t it? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten everything from these past eight years,” Du Kang said.

Zhang Shutong nodded weakly.

"Where would you like to begin listening?" Du Kang asked again.

"What do you mean?"

"The main problem was that the night was so long. Do you remember? We had lunch, then Lao Song got into a car accident, and we went to the city one after the other. Then, Shutong, you went back to the hospital for your injection..."

"I remember this; it was after we broke up downstairs at the hospital."

"Oh, then Ruoping has to tell me. I was in the city that night."

Ruoping cupped her face and recalled:
"You were buried by the avalanche, but Qinglian found you. She used your phone to call me, and I called my dad to drive you to the hospital. Do you remember any of this?"

really.

It was Lu Qinglian who discovered herself.

He then frowned. But if it was Ruoping's father who saved him, what about the long-haired woman? Wasn't she buried right next to him?

Does that mean they failed to catch the other party?
"Is it just me and Lu Qinglian here?"

Zhang Shutong pressed for further details.

"To be precise, it's just you."

"Just me?"

“Yes, my dad took us to the villa before. Luckily, he remembered the way. When he got there, he found you lying in the snow all by yourself. He didn’t even bother to look for Qinglian. He rushed to the hospital.”

I see. Zhang Shutong seemed to have guessed why Lu Qinglian wasn't there.

I guess he went to deal with that long-haired woman.

"and then?"

“Then…where should I even begin?” Ruoping sighed. “The rest is complicated. Do you know how long you were unconscious back then?”

Before Zhang Shutong could answer, Ruoping said:

"Next Mon."

"Two whole days?"

“It really was Monday. Wasn’t that Du Kang’s birthday? Everyone was probably too busy to celebrate and went to the hospital to be with you, which is why I remember it so clearly. Qingyi and I were there. Qingyi said to contact your parents first, so your aunt and uncle rushed back from the city early the next morning and took you to another hospital. A few of us went with them. Do you remember our junior high school homeroom teacher, Ms. Song? You two stayed in the city hospital for a week.”

Zhang Shutong found it inexplicably dramatic that he and Lao Song had become fellow patients?

Ruoping then said:

"Oh right, since you mentioned Gu Qiumian, let me tell you about her. You secretly brought her out, right? I think you were going to take her back before dawn to avoid her family finding out. But when she woke up, she found you being resuscitated. Because she was worried about you, she stayed at the hospital. I remember... it was almost morning when she called her dad. A lot of people came, including her bodyguards and her nanny, discussing whether to transfer her to another hospital. Her dad also scolded her, he was quite angry. Anyway, it was chaotic, a real mess. We went to sleep when we knew you were out of danger, and when we woke up we found you had already left the island."

Zhang Shutong could imagine how chaotic the scene was, with all sorts of people mixed together.

He reviewed Ruoping's words and it seemed that there were no major problems. The only issue that hadn't been resolved was that Gu Qiumian hadn't been sent back in advance.
And then it made Mr. Gu unhappy? That makes sense, that's for sure. Any family would be angry if their daughter ran off with some rascal in the middle of the night.

"She didn't get into any more trouble after that, right?" Zhang Shutong asked again to confirm.

"No, what could possibly happen?" Ruoping asked curiously, "Why did you suddenly think of asking this?"

“That’s right.” Du Kang chimed in, raising an eyebrow. “The first thing Shu Tong asked me after waking up was whether Gu Qiu Mian was dead or not. I thought to myself, you two didn’t have any grudges before. I was almost dumbfounded by that question. Dude, could you ask me a little more tactfully next time?”

Zhang Shutong ignored Du Kang's teasing; he was simply relieved that Gu Qiumian was alright.

The thought that this girl's life would finally not end at sixteen, but would continue into a new life, a new life that would be much longer than before—sixteen years, twenty-six years, thirty-six years… Of course, it's too early to say these things now; only eight years have passed since the early morning of the 9th.

But since it's eight years, it means Gu Qiumian is 24 years old this year, and Zhang Shutong suddenly wants to see what she looks like at 24.

"You've been in contact with Gu Qiumian again?" Ruoping asked unexpectedly.

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't mentioned her to us in a long time."

Zhang Shutong nodded belatedly, not understanding what Ruoping was trying to say.

Could it be that the two of them had some unpleasantness? That shouldn't be the case. He couldn't think of any other way to offend Gu Qiu Mian, unless he ran away on the day of the avalanche and made a mess of himself, which in her eyes was equivalent to breaking his promise and causing her to be discovered by her father for running away at night. Zhang Shutong's head started to ache again as he thought about it.

"Then why did you do it in the first place?" Ruoping took his silence as a tacit agreement. "You should have just agreed to her when you were in your fourth year of junior high."

"Promise what?" Zhang Shutong was taken aback.

“You’ve forgotten everything…” Ruoping lowered her eyes. “She suddenly transferred to the provincial capital in the second semester of her fourth year of junior high. We wanted you to go with her to help her with her medical treatment, but you refused no matter what. You didn’t tell us what happened in the end. All we know is that her whole family moved to the provincial capital.”

Zhang Shutong almost doubted that he had misheard:

"Help me see a doctor. What kind of illness?"

"Of course, it's all the illnesses you have now."

Isn't it just a fever? What other illness could it be?

But just as he was about to ask, he coughed violently again, this time his left ribs aching slightly. Ruoping said softly:

"Your cough is a result of the avalanche. The doctor told you to keep warm and not to run around, but you didn't listen. A week later, you went out again and have now developed these aftereffects."

Zhang Shutong was about to say that he was really reckless, ignoring the doctor's advice and developing such a troublesome illness, no wonder he started coughing on the boat, when Ruoping kept talking:

"Then there's your left hand, which was also left after the avalanche years ago. It's a fracture, and even after all this time, it still hurts on rainy days."

"The lower left rib is fractured. It happened during the winter break of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year."

"It was also during winter break, and the tendon ruptured."

"Nervous breakdown, motion sickness, and seasickness can all be considered minor ailments."

"And then there's that most troublesome illness." Ruoping frowned. "Don't think I'm being long-winded, but did you take your medicine today?"

"What medicine?" Zhang Shutong asked instinctively.

"The medication for your anxiety was prescribed by Qingyi through someone abroad. Did you take it or not?"

Anxiety disorder...

When did I get this illness? Isn't this a mental illness?
Just as he thought of this, he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, his heart skipped a beat, and even breathing became difficult. Zhang Shutong bent over, almost suffocating. Everything in front of him was spinning, even the surrounding sounds seemed distorted. Then, with a bang, Ruoping knocked over her water glass as she stood up. She said anxiously:

"How come it's relapsed again? He was fine when I called him this morning... Du Kang, quickly check if he has any medicine in his pocket!"

"Oh, okay..."

Ruoping shouted again:

"Waiter, bring me a plastic bag, quick!"

Then the woman hugged his head and gently comforted him:

"Take a deep breath, take a deep breath, don't be anxious, it's not a big deal."

She took the plastic bag from the waiter and put it over his mouth. Zhang Shutong could only notice the bag deflate and then swell, then deflate again, repeating this several times before he finally recovered.

how so……

He lay back in the chair, thinking listlessly.

"When did this happen? And is it... another aftereffect of an avalanche?"

“You went to the temple once, and this is what happened to you after you came back,” Du Kang explained.

Green Snake Temple?
"Is it summer vacation again?" he asked hastily, not caring about the flaws in his words.

"No, it was during the first semester of the fourth year of junior high, just before winter break, and your health started to deteriorate. We asked you, but you wouldn't tell us..."

winter?

Regardless of why I went to the temple again, shouldn't I have obtained the ability to rewind during the temple festival during my junior high summer vacation?

Just as Zhang Shutong was about to ask for more details, Ruoping deliberately changed the subject:

"Okay, okay, let's not talk about that. Let's talk about recent things. Please, I'm begging you, don't keep those worries on your mind all the time."

Zhang Shutong could only nod.

Ruoping kicked Dukang:
How's business lately?

Du Kang then realized:

"Oh, me? I'm still the same as always. One less table won't make me starve, one more table won't make me rich. I'm just waiting for you guys to come and support me."

Zhang Shutong then asked why they didn't eat at Ruoping's restaurant today, and Ruoping explained to him:

"You've forgotten about this too, haven't you? Du Kang opened a barbecue restaurant in the city, a small two-story building rented outside the Second Ring Road. At the time, we all thought the location was a bit out of the way, but he liked the rooftop, where he could drink beer and get together in the summer. Do you remember that?"

Zhang Shutong shook his head.

“Then let me tell you about it,” Ruoping said with a smile. “This matter is also related to Gu Qiumian. We went to her house as guests, and Du Kang came back saying that he had really broadened his horizons this time. He said that he could not stay on the island forever, so he ran away to make his own way in the world. At that time, he had a big falling out with his family, but after all these years, he finally made a name for himself. Now he’s about to open his second shop, which is a bar. With some renovations, he can also sell barbecue.”

"Hey, I was just a kid and didn't know any better. Why bring it up?" Du Kang said embarrassedly.

"Oh, that's amazing."

Zhang Shutong forced a smile, but in his heart he was very happy for Du Kang.

"And you?" he asked Ruoping again.

"I'm still the same as always, sigh. I go to get off work and come home. I have a parrot, and every week my mom keeps urging me to go home for blind dates. It's so annoying. My parrot is almost learning what my mom says. I don't even want to keep it anymore."

"You don't know, Shutong, Ruoping is a dentist now. I've been to their private clinic. It's a high-end membership clinic, and it's ridiculously expensive to get a tooth pulled."

"So what if it's expensive? I'm just an employee, it's not going to end up in my pocket anyway." She pressed one side of her face against the table, kicking her high heels, finally looking like a young girl again. "What I'm most worried about right now is how to find a boyfriend quickly. I didn't dare tell my mom when I came back this time. If she knew, she would definitely come all the way here."

“Me too,” Du Kang nodded repeatedly. “My mom keeps talking about having a grandson. She said the restaurants on the island should just close down and let me take the kids there. Qingyi is not much different. We talked on the phone last week. He said his boss wanted to set him up with his daughter. She’s a returnee from overseas, a real rich and beautiful woman. But guess what?”

"There's more to this than that? Tell me quickly," Ruoping urged.

"Qingyi said that woman can't even tell the difference between Ultraman and Kamen Rider, that's absolutely unacceptable." Du Kang burst into laughter after saying that.

Zhang Shutong wanted to laugh too; how could this guy still be such a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur)?

"Where's your girlfriend? Why don't you bring her back to meet us?" Ruoping asked Du Kang again.

"It's not the right time yet. We'll ask you guys to check it out when it comes time."

"No, so you won't be jealous of me again."

“Let’s eat. We’ve known each other for years, from junior high to high school, while she’s only known each other for a few years.”

The two chatted and laughed, but Zhang Shutong realized that something was wrong.

When did Du Kang get a girlfriend?

Wasn't he secretly in love with Lu Qinglian all along?

However, now is not the time to talk about girlfriends. He almost got led astray. He felt a little better and then remembered the question from earlier.

Why did I develop anxiety disorder after going to a temple?

Perhaps this is the key to this timeline.

Du Kang said he went alone and they didn't know what happened. If that's the case, the only person who might know is "her." "Does anyone still have Lu Qinglian's contact information?"

He interjected.

But the harmonious atmosphere that had been there not long ago suddenly froze.

The two turned around at the same time.

After a long silence, Ruoping spoke in a complex tone:

"Shutong, we...we're here today to attend her funeral."

Zhang Shutong suddenly covered her mouth.

Damn it, here we go again.

The familiar heart palpitations returned, followed by a sharp burning sensation from stomach acid rushing into his esophagus. This time, Zhang Shutong finally couldn't hold it in and quickly vomited into the trash can, but only bile came out. Du Kang stood up and patted his back. Zhang Shutong was breathing heavily, still unable to believe the news.

Lu Qinglian is dead again?

Why did she die?

Wasn't that long-haired woman dealt with?
And why did they die on the same day, eight years later?
The trash can was a mess. Just a moment ago, the restaurant was peaceful, with elegant guzheng music playing and the faint aroma of food lingering in the air. But now, all that remained was the sour smell of vomit. Several tables of guests turned their heads at the same time, and the waiters ran over.

Zhang Shutong had no time to pay attention to them; he only felt that his heart was also in turmoil.

Because his first thought wasn't about Lu Qinglian's cause of death.

But -

I can never go back!

This means that the other party's death is a fait accompli.

So what exactly has he been doing all these years?
If the reason for leaving Lu Qinglian on the island in the Cold-Blooded Line was to return to the past, what about this time?

He slumped back into his chair, and then Ruoping spoke:

"You've even forgotten this? Then what have you been doing all these years?"

Zhang Shutong didn't know why he was doing this.

The last time, I brought three tattoos because I was looking for clues about the killer.

But what about this time?

Gu Qiumian had clearly already been rescued.

What is he still looking for?
Could this be a way to save Lu Qinglian?

But he did manage to do more than nothing.

Zhang Shutong was a little choked up when he heard Ruoping's voice. He was at a loss. Could it be that she had done the same bastard thing as last time and hurt someone?

Before Zhang Shutong could speak, he noticed that Ruoping's eyes didn't reveal anger, but rather reluctance:

"Then...then what have you been doing all these years, getting yourself into this half-dead state? Now you don't remember anything, and it's one thing that you haven't told us, but if you don't even remember yourself, then all these years, all these years..."

As she spoke, her voice became slightly nasal. Du Kang pulled out a tissue and handed it to her, quickly comforting her:

“Good thing, isn’t this a good thing? Since he has forgotten everything, it’s like starting over. Listen to me, Shutong, you’ll move to my place tomorrow. I’ll take you to see a doctor first, and we’ll talk about other things after you’re better.”

Zhang Shutong opened his mouth, then closed it again.

The waiter has already brought the dishes over.

Du Kang quickly tried to smooth things over:

"Alright, alright, let's eat first, we'll talk after we eat..."

But no one was the first to pick up their chopsticks.

……

It was already 1 p.m. after lunch.

Ruoping took a taxi, and the three of them went to the funeral together.

Zhang Shutong sat silently in the back seat. He finally understood why they were eating in the mall today: he had arrived at the island two hours earlier than usual.

Du Kang helped him out of the taxi, and Zhang Shutong was able to confirm just how bad his health had become.

"Frail and delicate" is not an exaggeration.

Now he stares blankly at the sky, suddenly unsure of what to do next.

Should we put a white envelope in front of Lu Qinglian's portrait, and then try our luck in the restricted area that night?
Ideally, we could go back eight years, but what if we can't?
He no longer has the strength to even walk to the restricted area alone.

Zhang Shutong discovered a ridiculous fact: he could no longer even lean against the railing of the lakeside road alone for a while, as he used to, because the wind was too strong outside, and his head would hurt when he was exposed to the wind.

Zhang Shutong eventually entered the funeral home step by step. The disturbing funeral music was like a whisper. He saw the woman sealed in the black and white photograph again in front of the mourning hall.

With Du Kang and Ruoping's help, he bowed three times, wanting to say something, but not knowing what to say.

Finally, Zhang Shutong's gaze fell on a small stone tablet.

"It looks like her tombstone. The islanders pooled their money to buy it. It shouldn't be placed here, but there's nowhere else to put it, so we'll just make do for now."

A tombstone.

Zhang Shutong stared at the tombstone, lost in thought for a long time.

This is her tombstone.

Where is his own tombstone?
Or is it really true that it just keeps running until it rots?

"I'll go to the outer hall for a while," Zhang Shutong said in a low voice.

"Then find a chair and sit down first. Ruoping and I will give you our gifts and then come find you. After that, we'll go back..."

With Du Kang's words in mind, Zhang Shutong walked through the funeral procession and sat down in a corner.

He took out his phone again and looked at it, then opened the hidden photo album, hoping to find some clues like before, but this time there was nothing.

Zhang Shutong recalled Lao Song's words again. Lao Song said that after four years on the island, one should leave something behind. So, what has he left behind in these eight years?

Could it be the archway at the port?
A pretty good joke.

He ran his fingers through his hair and finally figured out what was wrong.

Where did Lao Song go?
Didn't he always go to funerals?

Just as Zhang Shutong was about to ask Ruoping for an explanation, a fragrant breeze suddenly wafted past him:
"Zhang Shutong? You're Zhang Shutong, right? Wow, senior, you've gotten so thin!"

"why you?"

Zhang Shutong looked up in surprise.

It turned out to be that secretary, Gu Qiu Mian's best friend, I think her name was Zhi Ruo...

But what was she doing at Lu Qinglian's funeral? Wasn't she a junior student a year below them?

The young secretary, now dressed in a tailored suit, smiled, revealing her prominent canine teeth.
"President Gu has been looking for you many times over the years, but he has never been able to find you. You have finally shown up."

President Gu...

That's a lot of information.

Putting aside how she got involved with Gu's father, what Gu's father wanted to see her about, and what she meant by not showing up all these years.

"What does he want from me?"

The secretary added:
"Who knows? Maybe she has something she wants to tell you. She doesn't know where you went, so she asks people to come back and look for you. Sometimes she drives here herself, but it seems like you haven't come back since you graduated from junior high school."

"I haven't been back for the past eight years?"

Zhang Shutong was surprised again.

He thought that although his version of himself in this timeline was barely surviving, he would eventually return to the island to visit.

"Probably. Mr. Gu even contacted your former homeroom teacher, but it seems like you've vanished into thin air all these years. He also contacted your classmates, but they don't know where you are either," she muttered. "I didn't expect to have such an unexpected gain this time. I originally came to help seal a white envelope, but I'll just make a call back now..."

Wait a minute, Zhang Shutong thought she had a good relationship with her best friends and that they had been together all these years, but from what she said, it turned out that she had actually disappeared for a while and no one knew where she was.

Zhang Shutong didn't know why Gu's father was looking for him so many times.

But none of that matters anymore.

Because he suddenly realized a terrifying fact.

My senior told me that she killed Gu Qiumian to stop the development of the island.

Since this rewind, he has been concerned about whether Gu Qiu Mian is dead or not, but now he realizes that although the girl's fate has been changed, the island's development process has still been interrupted!
The island's so-called transformation is nothing more than the ferry adding a cabin, the port adding an archway, and the shopping mall adding a cinema floor, but these things may have been planned long ago.

What happened to the resort, the five-star hotel, and the shopping plaza that my mom showed me on the planning map?
None at all.

A casual remark by Du Kang resurfaced in my mind.

"They're all just for show, nothing to look at..."

Yes, these changes were all just for show; the island's development remained interrupted, and Lu Qinglian still passed away eight years later.

At that moment, an impatient thought arose in his mind.

Zhang Shutong wanted to find Ruoping and ask her clearly what he had done all these years, what he had brought back, why he hadn't returned to the island in eight years, and why Gu's father wanted to move the whole family to the provincial capital. But just as he stood up with effort, he slumped back into his chair.

It wasn't because my body was too weak to even walk.

But -

Backtrack!

It's triggered!
The world before him began to tremble, turning black and white like a photographic negative. In the final moment, all he could see was his secretary's hand holding the phone, a lingering look of surprise in her eyes. The next second, his consciousness went blank, leaving only a familiar voice in his ears:

"Hey, wake up, Shutong, wake up..."

Zhang Shutong's eyelids felt incredibly heavy, and his consciousness seemed shrouded in a thick fog. He wanted to say that he was so tired, so very tired. Both the avalanche and everything he had just experienced made him want to fall into a deep sleep. But a voice inside him told him to wake up quickly. He didn't know if this still counted as "running." If he fell asleep, he would miss something very important and then face decay... He still had to keep running, he thought to himself with a self-deprecating smile, and then used the last bit of strength to break through the thick fog.

Zhang Shutong suddenly opened his eyes.

Before he could even see his surroundings clearly, he was enveloped by a deep weariness.

My chest hurts, my arms hurt, my whole body hurts...

Where is this?

Zhang Shutong raised his head with difficulty.

I saw a calendar hanging on the mottled white wall.

Sunday, August 9th.

Four o'clock.

"You're finally awake, Shutong! Someone come quick, Shutong's awake!"

The winter night was pitch black, and Ruoping, still a young girl, shouted with swollen eyes.

(End of this chapter)