Winter Returns

Chapter 131 The Four-Leaf Clover Pendant Will Never Fall (Part 2) (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

How do you know those two characters?

Zhang Shutong stared at Gu Qiumian as if she'd seen a ghost.

"That's what my aunt said in the hospital room at noon today."

Zhang Shutong thought to himself that his mother had let it slip, but at the time he was lying unconscious in bed and didn't have time to care about nicknames.

Gu Qiumian asked again if this was her nickname, saying it was quite cute. Zhang Shutong was a bit withdrawn and didn't really want to talk to her.

There was no such thing as transferring schools, no such thing as a butterfly flapping its wings. It was all a trap dug by Gu Qiumian. Zhang Shutong used to think that she was not stupid but rather quite smart. Now, seeing how smart she is, it's terrifying.

"Can you please stop being so childish?" Zhang Shutong said helplessly.

Upon hearing this, Gu Qiu Mian, who was like a princess, returned to her former self.

She frowned, her expression cold:

"Naive? I was just trying to comfort you because you were in the hospital. Zhang Shutong, do you really think what I just said was a lie? I still have two scores to settle with you. I'm really getting tired of talking to you."

Zhang Shutong knew what she meant. She was telling her not to keep things from her anymore, not to act like a hero, and not to risk her life running around. It made sense. In Gu Qiumian's eyes, she had come out with her last night, but then abandoned her in the middle of the night and almost lost her life. Even if it was to catch the so-called murderer, it still made her feel very complicated.

This is probably one of two accounts.

But Zhang Shutong couldn't figure out where the other debt came from.

“It would be a real loss if you didn’t inherit your father’s business,” Zhang Shutong said sincerely.

"What did you lose out on?" she asked, wrinkling her nose.

How come I always owe you two debts?

Gu Qiumian first wanted to laugh, but then she kept a straight face:
"You still have the nerve to joke around!"

"It won't happen again," Zhang Shutong could only say. "I was terrified this time too, but luckily the mountains near your house are low and the snow is thin, so I escaped unharmed."

His original intention was to admit his mistake, but Gu Qiumin was so tired of hearing "sorry" that she was sick of it, so he had to go around in circles. However, Gu Qiumin didn't laugh or continue to be angry; instead, she fell silent.

"Why do you always say such frivolous things?"

After a long while, she said softly:
"Do you know how many people were perfectly fine yesterday, but suddenly disappeared the next day?"

Zhang Shutong said, "Of course I know." He thought to himself, "That's what happened to you last time. You thought you were safe and sound when you got home, but then something happened."

Gu Qiu Mian retorted, "You clearly don't know:"

"I just want to tell you that sometimes there are no signs you expect. It might just be an ordinary evening. You had dinner together, she came to your room, kissed your forehead, and said goodnight, but you didn't say goodbye to her because you never imagined she would disappear. It really was just an ordinary evening, nothing special or memorable, with no wind or rain. But then she suddenly disappeared, and it was only much later that you found out it was the last time you saw her."

"But you have so many things you haven't told her. You always dream about her. I've heard people talk about this feeling before. For example, when you're dreaming, you don't know you're dreaming. You just think that someone who has been missing for a long time has reappeared in front of you. You feel very happy and excited and want to cry. But I know it's fake. At least it's not like that for me. Because I'm too greedy. Even if I dream about her, so what? When I wake up, everything will be the same as before. So there's no feeling of being moved in my dreams, only fear."

"Can you understand? All I feel is fear." Gu Qiumian looked up at him.

Zhang Shutong didn't know how to answer. He could roughly guess that Gu Qiumian was talking about her and her mother. In fact, everyone has a little secret hidden in their heart.

The two of them sat side by side on the edge of the bed, their eyes fixed on the floor. Zhang Shutong would occasionally glance at the hair ornament behind Gu Qiumian's ear; now it hung quietly in her hair, no longer fluttering as before. He hesitated, then nodded, intentionally changing the subject:

What did your father say?

"What do you mean, 'how to say'? He made a lot of phone calls today, probably trying to find that person. It would be strange if he left so easily," Gu Qiumian muttered. "Besides, didn't you listen to what I just said? Well, I won't say anything more."

“I listened.”

"Don't do this again."

"Ah."

Zhang Shutong initially thought Gu Qiumian was an excellent actress. He thought that her talk about transferring schools in the hallway not long ago was an act, her powerful aura in her room was an act, and even the slightly glistening eyes just now were an act. But it wasn't true. Now he handed the girl two tissues, not knowing how to persuade her. Some things don't have a second chance.

"Actually, I've already met Auntie," Zhang Shutong finally said.

“You…” Gu Qiumian was stunned.

"Do you remember that day when we were watching a movie downstairs at your house, the family photo fell down. I went upstairs to help hang it up, but Aunt Wu wouldn't let Teacher Song and me in. When she was holding up the frame, I happened to see Auntie's photo. Although most of it was blocked, it just showed part of Auntie, wearing a white gauze dress..." Zhang Shutong didn't know how to describe it. It seemed that saying anything like "young, beautiful, and gentle" was not quite appropriate. He just followed his heart and said, "Her smile was beautiful."

"Yes, your smile is beautiful." Gu Qiumian smiled gently as well.

The hospital bed faced the window, and they could see the scenery outside when they sat down. Zhang Shutong didn't look at his watch and didn't know how much time it was. Dusk had arrived, and the sky was painted with the last trace of orange-red afterglow. Perhaps because they were in a small room, the sunset they saw today was exceptionally large, almost filling the entire window.

The view was excellent, stretching far into the distance. The buildings nearby were like tofu blocks, the mountains stretched into the distance, and the lake at the horizon shimmered in the sunlight, all bathed in a vibrant orange-red hue.

Winter nights are about to fall, but it doesn't feel cold at all, as there is air conditioning and a small color TV.

he asks:

"Would you like to see another movie?"

"Wait, what did you just say?" Gu Qiumian opened her eyes wide, her rosy lips slightly parted into an "o" shape.

"Let's watch a movie. I promised you I'd watch it yesterday." Zhang Shutong said, picking up the remote and finding CCTV-6. The signal wasn't very good. "But it might not be Roman Holiday anymore."

"No, I asked you what you said in the previous sentence!" Gu Qiumian became anxious.

"I watched a movie downstairs at your place that day..." Zhang Shutong asked, puzzled.

"and then?"

"The family photo is missing."

"Next sentence!"

"I wanted to go in and help her up, but Aunt Wu wouldn't let me in..."

"So you were standing at the study door, and Aunt Wu blocked the family photo, so you only saw a small part of it," Gu Qiumian quickly finished for him, "and didn't see anything else, including me and my dad?"

"Of course, what's wrong?"

Zhang Shutong didn't know why she was reacting so strongly. Shouldn't the family photo have been brought up? Gu Qiumian didn't want others to mention her mother.
"Why didn't you say so sooner! I thought, I thought... You blockhead! Idiot! Fool!"

Her fair skin was also tinged red by the setting sun, the redness extending all the way to the tips of her ears:

"I'm leaving! The driver is still waiting for me downstairs. Do you know him well? Who wants to go to the movies with you..."

She stood up and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't open. She realized she had locked it from the inside, so she turned and glared at him.
"Bye-bye, you idiot."

Zhang Shutong felt that the avalanche must have damaged his brain, otherwise how could he not understand what Gu Qiumian was saying at all?
"What happened to you suddenly?"

"have no idea!"

As she said this, a bright smile appeared on her lips.

Zhang Shutong watched her rush out of the room, her little boots clicking on the colorful terrazzo. She walked quickly yet lightly, the silver pendant always a step behind hers, swaying in her hair but never falling off.

……

"Already found."

Lu Qinglian placed the clay sculpture on the stone bricks, straightened up, and gazed at the old woman standing at the entrance of the side hall:
"what is this?"

"Clay figurine".

“Clay figures…” Lu Qinglian murmured the two words softly, then turned her face to look at the right wall of the temple. The entire wall was covered with mottled murals, which had been around for who knows how long.

Lu Qinglian looked at the lower right corner of the mural.

The blue pigment represents the lake water.

The black pigment represents a swamp.

Green pigment represents weeds.

The pigments have long since faded, as if covered with a layer of indelible dust, but it is not difficult to discern that black and green surround the blue.

Inside, a doll with indistinct features and an endearingly clumsy appearance lay.

The doll was entirely yellowish-brown, or rather, the paint used to depict it was some kind of clay.

Lu Qinglian silently looked back.

Behind this mural is a person lying on the ground with his eyes closed, surrounded by more people whose eyes are painted in inverted triangles, perhaps representing sadness.

In the third act, a person with their eyes closed appears in the swamp.

In the fourth act, the mud doll disappeared, the person with closed eyes also disappeared, and the swamp was empty.

In the fifth act, the person with closed eyes reappears in the crowd.

The dead are resurrected.

The mural abruptly ended.

Lu Qinglian withdrew her gaze and turned to leave.

But the old woman called out to her:
"Tell me how you encountered it."

"A chance encounter."

"Go on."

"We knocked that person unconscious and, as you said, took him to the waters to the west."

"Who did it become before?"

"I do not recognize."

"Place it on the altar," the old man said in a low voice, his voice like shards of glass scraping across the stone slab.

She watched as the girl placed the clay figure before the statue of the god. The candle flame beside it flickered weakly, its light licking the clay figure's body. The clay figure had no facial features, only a blurry face, obscure and ambiguous, with a half-smile, like a child's ornament.

"Good boy."

The old woman's tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed:

“Good boy, you did even better than I thought, finding it in less than five days.”

The old woman had waist-length silver hair; she walked slowly to the girl's side, her back hunched.

“I’ve said it before, you shouldn’t forget your duty. You are the temple keeper, and besides this mountain and serving the gods, you should not have any other thoughts.”

The girl was tall, and the old woman's height barely reached her shoulder. The old woman then extended her withered, thin hand and gently patted the girl's back. With each word she spoke, her hand landed on the girl's body. Time seemed to travel back to her prime, but now she could no longer stroke the girl's hair.
Are you cold? Are you hungry?

Lu Qinglian simply shook her head, her face expressionless.

"You've worked hard these past few days."

The old woman said slowly:

“Unlike your mother, she didn’t listen to me and insisted on being with a man, clamoring to see the outside world. Luckily, she left you behind. Go visit her grave tomorrow.”

Lu Qinglian looked further inside the altar, where, in addition to candlesticks and clay figures, there were also memorial tablets.

A small wooden plaque, placed together, is the memorial tablet of the temple keeper for generations.

Lu Qingkui.

Lu Qinglan.

Lu Qingcheng.

Lu Qingying.

Lu Qing...

Lu Qinglian withdrew her gaze and said calmly:
"I'm a little tired. If there's nothing else..."

“Of course I know you’re tired,” the old woman interrupted her for the first time. “It’s been snowing these past few days, and you’ve been running around outside all the time. You’ve never taken care of yourself since you were little, coming home so late every day. I’ve seen it all. Of course you’re tired. Tell Grandma, what have you been doing these past few days?”

Although the woman's voice was harsh, it gradually softened. The two women, one old and one young, stood in front of the statue and chatted about everyday things, a rare occurrence. A faint smoke filled the temple, and time seemed to slow down. The candlelight quietly licked their faces.

"This one thing is enough to keep me busy."

"That's true." The old woman muttered to herself, "After all, it's only five days. Grandma is old and has some health problems. She's been staying in the side hall these past few days and hasn't come out at all. She's entrusted all the cooking, snow sweeping, and cleaning of the statues to you."

She paused, stopping her patting of the girl's back, and said kindly:
"Time was so tight, you had to go to school and do all those chores, so naturally you were too busy to find time. Now that this matter is finally over, so..."

Suddenly, a muffled thud sounded as her hand slammed heavily onto the girl's back.

"So Lu Qinglian! Tell me! When did His right eye break?"

At this moment, Mars is flying everywhere!
Amidst the flickering flames, Lu Qinglian let out a muffled groan, her body trembling unexpectedly. She then looked at the green snake's right eye, where a crack had appeared on the agate that had been sealed with wax.

"Do you think you've hidden it well, or do you really think I can't see it anymore?"

The aged voice was like a venomous snake flicking its tongue; she had been slowly slithering through the grass, waiting for her chance to strike.

"You're not bad, you've also started having thoughts you shouldn't be having."

The old woman stared intently at her, her cloudy eyes clouded with a haze.

“It was my fault.” Lu Qinglian lowered her eyes. “It was the afternoon of December 5th. I had just finished shoveling the snow when it suddenly crumbled.”

"Why won't you tell me?" she pressed.

"Because it's troublesome to repair, I shouldn't have covered it with wax to save time."

"To save trouble? Or to play dumb?" the old woman said grimly. "You really don't know what this means?"

“I forgot,” Lu Qinglian said softly.

"I should have told you before, and I'll say it one last time: His right eye being shattered means someone has returned from the future!"

The old woman's voice suddenly rose, and she coughed violently, yet she still insisted on finishing her sentence, uttering each word slowly and deliberately:
"You have no idea how long I've waited for this day. Find him, no matter who he is or what means you use! Bring him to the temple! Now, all you have to do is this one thing: don't let me find out you have any other intentions!"

When she raised her head again, the girl's eyes had returned to their usual calm and still state, and she softly uttered a single word:

"Yes."

(End of this chapter)