Winter Returns

Chapter 136 Shield (Bonus Chapter)

Zhang Shutong subconsciously shut up.

Many people around were whispering.

He followed his homeroom teacher's gaze and saw the teacher give him a meaningful look.

I don't know why, but whenever I'm with Lu Qinglian, I always feel like the one who corrupts a good girl. For example, back in the hospital, I almost got poked on the forehead and scolded by that female doctor.

Zhang Shutong didn't want to pick a fight with a middle-aged woman, so he tore off a piece of straw paper and pushed it next to Lu Qinglian.
"Besides small animals, can people also be affectionate towards you?"

Lu Qinglian glanced at him first, then looked at him expressionlessly.

The meaning should be:

"You'd better say something that people can understand."

"It seems like noon won't work either."

Zhang Shutong, not joking, wrote again.

He then remembered that there was a lunch waiting for him, probably a celebration for his first day of school.

"Are we going to eat there?"

Lu Qinglian asked directly:

Where is the key?

"On my body."

That night he ran straight out of the dormitory without having time to put the key back in its place, and has been carrying it with him for the past few days.

Lu Qinglian extended her fair palm.

Zhang Shutong placed the key in her hand:
"I'll try to find the time."

"it is good."

"By the way, where are we in Chinese class?" Zhang Shutong asked again.

The next class is Chinese.

“Zhang Shutong, you could have asked other classmates about this.” Lu Qinglian paused, writing. “The snake catcher said…”

"You are the class monitor."

Lu Qinglian ignored him.

Meanwhile, the election on the podium is also nearing its conclusion.

Zhang Shutong took the opportunity to memorize some names, such as the class monitor being a boy named Wu Shengyu, who was tall.

For example, the girl in the front row who claimed to be Ruoping's friend is named Wei Chenchen, the discipline committee member. The two used to be in Class 2 and were old partners.

Wei Chenchen told him all this information.

Ruoping's friends generally have two characteristics: they are good conversationalists and they know how to dress themselves up.

So, even though the other person was the discipline committee member, he had a fashionable bob haircut and was a chatterbox. Sometimes he would talk to his deskmate, sometimes he would pat the seat in front of him, and sometimes he would turn around and chat with Zhang Shutong. He mostly talked about gossip from the class. Zhang Shutong couldn't refuse, so he politely agreed with a few words.

Zhang Shutong had never paid attention to what other classes were doing before, but now he knew quite a bit. For example, the new class monitor was the "class heartthrob" of Class Two, with a sunny and cheerful personality and excellent basketball skills. It seemed that boys who were good at basketball were popular everywhere.

In fact, every class has a few popular boys and girls. In the original Class 1, Lu Qinglian and Gu Qiumian were so outstanding that they overshadowed everyone else.

As for Wu Shengyu from Class Two, that name sounds familiar.

He thought about it and realized that the other party had some kind of grudge against Du Kang, but he had forgotten the reason.

Wei Chenchen's gossip stirred up more memories for him. Looking back, he had only been in school for a few days and still felt a sense of novelty towards everything around him.

Their school wasn't big, but it was small yet complete. Boss Gu had sponsored the island's education sector quite a bit. In addition to the plastic playground, he had also donated some funds, the gist of which was that as the island's construction progressed, education should also catch up.

The principal and President Gu were on the same page and readily agreed to help students develop morally, intellectually, physically, aesthetically, and practically. In fact, their school's academic performance had always been good; in terms of average scores alone, it would rank among the top in the city. However, improving academic performance was a long-term endeavor, so it was better to organize more extracurricular activities. Therefore, in addition to the teaching building and the administration building, there was also an activity building.

For example, the library was built right next to the activity building.

For example, the activity building also has an entire floor of activity classrooms and an auditorium.

The activity room was naturally where club activities were held. Zhang Shutong belatedly realized that there were quite a few clubs in their junior high school. However, last week was exam week, so all activities were suspended. Of course, club activities didn't have to be held every day, which wasn't very practical in China, so they were changed to every Tuesday and Thursday.

Zhang Shutong is in the debate club.

He had debated with many scholars in competitions many times—of course, that was impossible. He chose the debate club to save trouble. Anyway, no one thought he was a talkative person, and no one expected him to speak. Zhang Shutong would usually find a corner, sit down, and do his homework or read a comic book. As soon as the school bell rang, he would pick up his schoolbag and head straight to the lake.

The lecture hall on the first floor is used to host various large-scale events.

For example, graduation ceremonies, New Year's Eve parties, and student council elections.

In some places, it's called an auditorium, but on this small island, there's no such fancy name. It's simpler to just call it a lecture hall. Logically, a lecture hall can't hold all the students in the school, but there are only a few of them, so it's just enough.

Zhang Shutong rarely recalled how the annual New Year's Eve party was held. Usually, it was organized by class, with each class putting on a performance. The reason why Zhang Shutong had a deep impression of it was because two famous students from Class One had never participated in the party.

Lu Qinglian would return to the temple every New Year.

As for Gu Qiumian, it seems that she spent every New Year's Day with her father on the island during her three years of junior high school. She would often ask for several days off at a time. I remember there were some rumors that one year, as soon as the young lady got out of school, she got on the bus and flew straight to Sanya. While others were freezing, she was enjoying the sun.

I vaguely remember that Class 1 would be very listless at this time of year. Even though these big events are the time for everyone to show off, who could they perform with if the two girls weren't around? Old Song was quite open-minded. He would approve any program that wasn't too outrageous. One year, we performed in a play that was terrifying—the terrifying part was that Qingyi wrote the script and Ruoping directed it.

Zhang Shutong still remembers that year when he and Du Kang went off the island to borrow equipment. The two of them carried big bags and small bags, took a taxi, and then took a boat all the way. Old Song was waiting for them at the port. After picking them up, they went straight to a hot pot restaurant on the commercial street. White steam rose from the hot pot, blurring everyone's faces. Zhang Shutong couldn't remember the scene clearly, but he could remember the taste of the hot pot.

The student council had a very low profile, so much so that Zhang Shutong had very little impression of it. Its main tasks were to patrol each grade to check discipline and hygiene, check for late arrivals in the morning, and write a speech for the flag-raising ceremony every Monday, such as reflections on certain national events, model essays, or results of some competitions or exams.

There seemed to be other campus activities as well. Don't assume that a small place is boring; on the contrary, the smaller the place, the more diverse the activities. Zhang Shutong vaguely remembered that sometimes they would organize trips out of the island to visit museums in the city, and there were also some unique activities. In the second or third year of junior high, the class had a snowball fight. Zhang Shutong always regretted that the school had never held a fishing competition.

Thinking about it this way, student life isn't so boring. Human memory isn't reliable; sometimes it automatically erases or embellishes parts of things. Zhang Shutong used to be a wild child, so he doesn't have many memories of school life, but his memories of life outside of school are very vivid.

Now he sat next to the radiator in the classroom, watching the simple class committee election come to an end. The homeroom teacher asked everyone to write down a slip of paper to vote, Wu Shengyu was in charge of counting the votes, and he left the classroom.

With six minutes left before class, which was Chinese, he took advantage of the break to open his textbook.

Chinese language skills depend on daily accumulation and memorization, and fortunately Zhang Shutong has both. After thinking about it, he decided to start by memorizing classical Chinese texts, which are almost always on the test.

It's now fashionable to have your deskmate randomly check your memorization.

This is a trivial matter that shouldn't bother Lu Qinglian. He looked at his textbook, his lips barely moving, but Wei Chenchen in the front row seized the opportunity to speak:
"Hey, what happened to your hand? Did you really slip and fall while riding your bike in the snow?"

Zhang Shutong wondered why she would ask this question if she was Ruoping's friend.

"more or less."

Wei Chenchen also said:
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not making fun of you. I think guys who can ride motorcycles are pretty cool. Some people say you fell because you were trying to help someone, but the person in question is right behind me, so I just wanted to ask."

"Both are correct." Zhang Shutong silently recited the text in his mind, multitasking, "But it wasn't me who acted bravely, it was Xue who acted bravely."

"Huh?" Wei Chenchen's eyes widened. She took a couple of seconds to react, and then, without knowing what she had understood, she giggled and said, "Ruoping said you're boring, but I think you're quite humorous."

She felt it was almost cooked and asked:

"Were you and the group leader your deskmates before? I heard that your class used to arrange seating by grades."

This is not the same as that.

Zhang Shutong said no, it was just the front and back positions.

"You two are really top students," the little girl said admiringly. "No wonder you're always in the top two of your grade."

Zhang Shutong was a little confused about her intentions before, but now it seems like she's a fan of a celebrity.
"I'll be troubling you all from now on!"

Zhang Shutong glanced at Lu Qinglian. Lu Qinglian had a great advantage: although she liked quiet, as long as you were clearly talking to her and the words were polite, she would always reply instead of ignoring you.

Of course, the so-called response was nothing more than a lukewarm nod.

Zhang Shutong nodded as well.

He tore off the draft paper. Now the position to be elected was the arts and culture committee member, or rather, there were other positions that people would compete for. The remaining positions, such as the sports committee member and the life committee member, only had one person raising their hand.

Zhang Shutong simply abstained from the vote; he hadn't even met all the people involved, so he decided to give up.

Lu Qinglian also chose to abstain, even more directly than herself. Zhang Shutong at least wrote two words; she didn't even tear up the note. Then Zhang Shutong opened her Chinese textbook to continue reviewing, at which point the class monitor on the stage said:

"Lu, could you help me count the votes?"

Zhang Shutong couldn't help but raise his eyes.

He remembered.

What grudge did this person have against Du Kang?

Turns out she was a love rival.

It seems they had fought over this before, and the four of them were inseparable. Du Kang couldn't just stand by and watch someone fight. The kids on the island either didn't fight or fought in gangs, so one-on-one situations were rare. Of course, the other side also called over a bunch of brothers, and in the end, he and Qingyi both ended up in the fight.

While Zhang Shutong was still recalling how the fight started and whether he won, Lu Qinglian raised her face and said calmly:

"I'm busy."

"It will only take you two minutes." The class monitor held up two fingers. He was tall and handsome, after all, the class heartthrob. At this moment, he showed a sunny smile, just right, and businesslike. "You are the academic representative, so I think we should get to know each other first, so that we can cooperate better in the future."

Zhang Shutong was simply thinking that they had been in the same class for more than three years, so everyone in their class, whether they secretly liked Lu Qinglian or not, knew after more than three years that they had no hope. She was the type that could only be admired from afar. But now that they had changed classes, a group of students from other classes were starting to get restless.

Classical Chinese is very important.

But such a scene is rarely encountered.

Zhang Shutong put down his textbook, somewhat curious about how Lu Qinglian would respond.

Should we simply ignore it?
Or was he unable to refuse and went on stage to help?
"Zhang Shutong, have you memorized the text?" she asked calmly.

Please, you're all injured, can you stop using me as a shield? Zhang Shutong couldn't continue watching the show, but he didn't show any weakness on his face:
"Alright, shall we begin now?"

Lu Qinglian took the textbook.

The class monitor's smile froze for a moment, then he casually smoothed things over:

"It was my oversight. Teacher Xu just said that everyone should take Lu as a role model. Chenchen, can you help me out?"

Wei Chenchen responded and ran onto the stage.

Zhang Shutong withdrew his gaze and said helplessly:
"Give me back my textbook. Are you really planning to do a spot check?"

Lu Qinglian's small lips curved into a slight smile:

"I am the class monitor."

……

Time quickly came to the long break between classes.

Thanks to Team Leader Lu, Zhang Shutong made rapid progress in just one morning.

During the long break, students were supposed to go outside to do exercises, but because of his arm injury, the homeroom teacher kindly allowed him to stay in the classroom to study.

He waited until the classroom was completely empty, then slowly went down the stairs, where, sure enough, someone was waiting for him at the corner.

Qingyi had his hands in his pockets, holding an English dictionary in one hand.

The simple morning exercises are no challenge for him; he'll skip them if he wants.

"You've arrived." Qingyi put away the dictionary.

—I have lost my way on the path of life.

Zhang Shutong couldn't bring himself to say something so childish, so he simply said, "I'm here."

How was your first day of school?

"Fortunately, the new homeroom teacher has a lot of rules."

The two of them talked as they walked.

Zhang Shutong knew why Ruoping and Dukang weren't there.

As the saying goes, a scholar should be viewed with new eyes after three days of separation. Ruoping has now become the class monitor. She is popular and can command a large following. In addition, Du Kang helped her garner votes among the boys, and she defeated her opponents with overwhelming force.

Du Kang was the sports committee member.

Anyway, they've become very busy, leaving only Zhang Shutong and Meng Qingyi behind.

However, both of them are energy-saving advocates and will never take on trouble themselves if they can avoid it.

“Your homeroom teacher seems to be someone we know,” Qingyi said.

"what happened?"

"Does Gu Qiumian have a best friend?" Qingyi recalled. "I saw her today, a girl with short hair. She came to visit other classes early this morning, and your homeroom teacher caught her when she was leaving. I was wondering if I was being a bit too nosy, but then that girl called her 'auntie'."

Zhang Shutong hadn't expected this connection. "The girl you mentioned should be named Xu Zhiruo."

"Du Kang has been a bit unhappy these past few days."

"what happened again?"

"Didn't Lu Qinglian transfer to your class? And what about the former class monitor of Class 2? Have you forgotten about the fight he had with that guy? He was a love rival."

Zhang Shutong may not have snacks, but she has gossip to eat.

"Tell me how the fight started?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the snacks arrived.

"Eat?"

Qingyi took out a piece of chocolate.

"Where did it come from?"

"Gu Qiumian distributed them to the whole class," Qingyi said with a smile. "Now our old classmates are all envious of us."

Zhang Shutong took the chocolate, temporarily putting Wu Shengyu out of his mind. Not to mention Shengyu, even a Saiyan burning his cosmos would have to take a backseat.

“I’m envious too,” Zhang Shutong joked.

"Well, it's too late for you to say that. You used to refuse snacks when people offered them to you."

Zhang Shutong thought to himself, "How long ago is this 'from before'?"

And why don't I want it now? I eat it every day.

Zhang Shutong then asked:
What do your classmates think of her?

"The young lady has always been quite popular."

"That's alright, I didn't have many friends in our class before," Zhang Shutong said. "I hope I can make some in Class Two."

"Hey, hey, your demands are too harsh. It's not enough. In your words, the whole class is her lackey, which is enough. Not everyone has to be her friend. You're just worrying too much."

Zhang Shutong said that concern leads to confusion, and that you're the one exaggerating. There's no one in our class who has her henchmen. We're all deliberately distancing ourselves from her. Although it's hard to say who's distancing themselves from whom, like with Ruoping that time, they had a long argument over a bag of gold coin chocolates.

Qingyi stopped in his tracks and asked curiously:

"What gold coin chocolate?"

Zhang Shutong hadn't eaten that kind of chocolate in a long time, so what could he say? He could only explain to him:

"You forgot, it was one of those chocolates made with cocoa butter substitutes. Ruoping kindly offered it to her, but she said she wouldn't eat it because the taste of cocoa butter substitutes was too bad. Ruoping's pride shattered instantly."

"Is that so..." Qingyi shrugged, "But it does seem like something only a young lady like you would do."

As they spoke, they walked out of the teaching building.

The music for the morning exercises rang out from afar, and the two men looked like leaders inspecting the campus.

Zhang Shutong could spot Lu Qinglian at a glance, but he wondered to himself when Qingyi's memory had become so bad.

(End of this chapter)