Winter Returns

Chapter 137: Snapshots from Between Classes

Chapter 137: Snapshots from Between Classes
Youth might be watching a group of boys and girls doing exercises from behind the playground.

“Lu Qinglian is the leader of the exercises,” Qingyi suddenly said. “Have you ever seen her doing the exercises in a green robe?”

“It seems not…” Zhang Shutong recalled.

Passing through the throng of people, one could quickly spot a figure in a red and white tracksuit. The girl had her hair tied in a high ponytail. Under the still-bright winter sun, while others were slightly out of breath, with fine beads of sweat on their foreheads and rosy cheeks, Lu Qinglian's face was like a flawless piece of porcelain. She was already very fair, and now it reflected a cold light under the sun.

Her high ponytail rose and fell with her movements, which were neither too fast nor too slow, and were so perfect that they could be recorded as teaching material. She never went overboard, nor was she too restrained; she was always right on the beat.

The two engaged in a pointless conversation, then proceeded to tour the campus like leaders.

For example, Du Kang is the leader of Class 3, and you can also find Ruoping, who is jumping around happily.

Zhang Shutong subconsciously looked into the class's line, but didn't see the figure wearing the red scarf. There were quite a few girls with medium-length hair. Zhang Shutong wanted to look for the hair ornament, but there were also many people wearing headwear, so she simply gave up.

The so-called youth of youth is when everyone else is doing exercises, but you get caught by the PE teacher.

"What are you two wandering around for?" The PE teacher was about the same size as that Officer Xiong.

“He is a patient,” Qingyi said calmly, pointing.

“He’s a caregiver.” Zhang Shutong remained calm.

"Sick students, go back to the classroom." The PE teacher glared at them, blew his whistle, and ran off to catch the students who were playing around.

The two went to stand on the steps of the teaching building.

"Sigh, your hand injury is a bit troublesome," Qingyi sighed. "I don't know when we can go fishing again, and Auntie won't let you run around."

"I estimate in a few more days? The doctor told me to come back for a follow-up check-up next week."

"Don't go out too much for the next few days."

“Okay.” Zhang Shutong nodded. “But just in case, I’d like to confirm again: I was rescued from an avalanche, right?”

"Uh, why are you suddenly bringing this up? Of course."

"Did I take Gu Qiumian out of the house that night?"

"correct."

"We encountered poachers while fishing on Wednesday? Zhou Ziheng was caught on Thursday? And classes were canceled on Friday because of snow?"

Is there something wrong with this?

"No, I was just asking."

Zhang Shutong asked a few more questions about Gu Qiumian, such as whether the scarf incident still existed, and whether the findings matched her memory.

He breathed a sigh of relief; to be honest, Qingyi's behavior made him a little suspicious.

Zhang Shutong returned to the classroom before the broadcast gymnastics ended, having completed his day's drive. He propped his face up on the desk—not because he liked doing that, but because with one arm hanging down in front of him, he couldn't lie down properly.

He took out his phone and started typing with one hand.

The autumn rain is continuous:

"Did you go to do exercises?"

New peachwood charms, old charms:

"I'm in the classroom."

QQ doesn't have a "typing" function, and Zhang Shutong knew that she typed slowly. Sometimes, when she didn't reply, it wasn't because she didn't have something to say, but because she was typing on the screen.

That said, he used to laugh at Qiu Yu Mianmian's one-finger Zen, but now he's not much better himself.

"I clearly didn't see you."

"When?"

"Inter-school exercises".

"Did you go downstairs to find me?"

A moment later, a new message arrived:

"Who needs to talk to you? I just happened to be going to the office and glanced into the classroom." A few seconds later, "I'm not talking to you anymore. Don't forget at noon."

Zhang Shutong replied, "Okay."

He has a lunch appointment to attend at noon.

Miss Gu is hosting.

She seems to have a bit of a spending habit. She's been feeling really bored these past few days, and as soon as the house was a little less watchful, she started planning to go out to eat and treat everyone.

The location is that shopping mall.

Neither her father nor she herself would allow her to go out near the commercial street anymore.

However, Gu Qiu Mian herself didn't care. She almost never bought anything there. When she went there occasionally, it was only to treat her henchmen to a meal.

However, besides myself, I also had a few close friends with me this time.
Zhang Shutong noticed that he was quite busy now. He had lunch with Gu Qiumian at noon and looked for notes with Lu Qinglian in the afternoon. Even though he had returned to the student life he had been missing for a long time, he was still spinning around like a top.

He went to the restroom during a break from class, and as he passed by Class 2, he heard a group of girls laughing softly inside.

Looking through the back door, Gu Qiumian, who had recently said "I'm not going to chat anymore," was chatting with several girls.

She was still in her old seat—the one by the window. She sat in the same spot whether she was in Class 1 or Class 2. The only explanation is that Miss Gu has a special fondness for this seat.

She was surrounded by several girls like a star, and she was the one who led the conversation. Zhang Shutong thought he would see that little secretary. Eight years later, she had become the head secretary, which left a deep impression on him. But in reality, they were all unfamiliar faces, or rather, classmates from the new Class 2.

Zhang Shutong was completely convinced.

She was able to become friends with her new classmates in less than two days after arriving in the new class. It must have been a real shame for the young lady to stay in their class before. It seems that the idea that she deliberately isolated everyone is true.

Zhang Shutong didn't look any further. He continued walking forward and bumped into Du Kang.

Du Kang's words were mumbled indistinctly:

"I was just about to go find your Shutong. Your class teacher Xu is really scary. She hasn't let anyone go for half the morning. By the way, has Wu Shengyu been giving you any trouble? If he has, let me know."

He grinned, revealing black teeth.

Zhang Shutong was taken aback and hurriedly asked what was going on. How come you've only been gone for a few classes and it's like you've been to Africa... Wait, Africans have white teeth too.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out he was eating a piece of Dove chocolate.

"Is it raining chocolates today?" Zhang Shutong thought to himself.

"Don't tell me this was also posted by Gu Qiumian?"

He was just making a casual remark, but to his surprise, Du Kang actually nodded.

"Yes, she said her dad got the goods from the mall, so she can eat whatever she wants."

Zhang Shutong was taken aback again. But that wasn't the point. The point was:

"Aren't you in Class 3?"

Zhang Shutong had a strange feeling. Why hadn't he come to school for several days? There was a subtle sense of unease surrounding him.

“Oh, it’s all thanks to Ruoping,” Du Kang said.

Zhang Shutong vaguely remembered that in the shopping mall, her mother gave Gu Qiumian a chocolate bar, which she broke in half and gave to Ruoping. "In ancient times, there was a story of releasing military power over a cup of wine; today, Dove chocolate can resolve past grievances?" It even rhymed quite well. Zhang Shutong's craving for chocolate was truly strong.

He waved goodbye, and jokingly remarked, "You guys are so heartless, you didn't even leave me a single note." His task for the morning was still to review.

During the break between the third and fourth periods, Ruoping came to visit another class and found Zhang Shutong doing his homework as soon as she entered the classroom.

Squad Leader Feng returned home in triumph, quite the spectacle. She sat down in Lu Qinglian's spot and leaned over:

"Wow, so diligent?"

"I'm busy, don't bother me," Zhang Shutong replied dismissively.

Ruoping asked him how his hand was, and Zhang Shutong said it was recovering well.

"Who's your new deskmate? Maybe I know him?"

"Of course you know her, Lu Qinglian."

"Lu Qinglian? Why are you sitting with Qinglian?"

"It was arranged by the homeroom teacher."

"Let's interview you. What are your thoughts?"

Ruoping made a fist and held it to his mouth, but Zhang Shutong knew she was just being mischievous and turned his head away.

Ruoping pretended to ruffle his hair, but Zhang Shutong now had a get-out-of-jail-free card, so he raised his arm, and Ruoping gritted her teeth and endured it.

"From now on, we'll only be able to chat during breaks." Ruoping said with a bitter face. It seemed that these were the words she really wanted to say. Girls are always sensitive about these things. "Why did you have to separate us into classes? Now we can't even take graduation photos together."

"That's true." Zhang Shutong thought belatedly. No matter how the future changed, they were always in the same photo. "But we can take a photo of each other separately, it doesn't matter."

"How can it not matter? There's still the yearbook, it's a commemoration, a commemoration, you know? And Old Song is gone too." Although Ruoping became the class monitor, she wasn't as excited as one might expect. The girl slumped listlessly on the table, "Suddenly I feel so bored."

"It's alright, you still have Du Kang (a type of ancient Chinese medicine)."

"Get lost, only you have Du Kang (a legendary Chinese medicine)."

"Speaking of which, how did you become the class monitor?" Zhang Shutong asked curiously. This was not like Ruoping's personality; she had never cared about class matters before.

"I was suddenly surrounded and given the imperial robes, so I'll just treat it as a game."

"By the way, I have something to ask you," Zhang Shutong said again.

"what happened?"

"Do you remember when you gave Gu Qiu Mian a bag of gold coin chocolates in the first year of junior high school?"

Ruoping was stunned for a moment:
"Why are you asking this suddenly?"

"I chatted with Qingyi today, and he said that Gu Qiumian gave a bag of chocolates to Class Two."

"Oh, what's wrong?"

"Is that true?"

"Yes, I have."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shutong was completely relieved.

He thought to himself, "Qingyi, you can be unreliable too. You've made me suspicious."

As they were talking, Lu Qinglian returned. She must have gone out to get water, because she was carrying a transparent plastic water cup that was covered in scratches and had a cartoon bear pattern printed on it. I once heard a saying that you could tell a girl's personality by the style of her cup.

fake.

Ruoping started chattering away as soon as she saw Lu Qinglian:
"Want to go to the mall for lunch together? It's very crowded."

Zhang Shutong thought to himself, "It would have been better if you hadn't said that. Now that you've said it, she definitely won't go." As expected, Lu Qinglian shook her head and refused.

Ruoping wasn't the type to pester, and everyone thought she was finally leaving, but before she went, she asked a completely unrelated question:
"By the way, Qinglian, are there foxes on the mountain?"

Lu Qinglian turned to look at Zhang Shutong.

Zhang Shutong responded with an innocent look:

"I did not say."

She wouldn't bother revealing that she fed the fox.

Lu Qinglian then withdrew her gaze:
"what happened?"

“A friend said he saw a fox, and I just wanted to ask him about it. I think I’ve heard before that there are foxes in the mountains.”

"It happens occasionally."

"So it really is true. Bye-bye..."

The fourth period is for self-study.

Just as the school bell rang, Zhang Shutong finished half of a math test. Gu Qiumian sent him a message asking him to wait at the school gate. He had just put his phone away when his homeroom teacher called him out.

Zhang Shutong reluctantly went into the office and came out again a short while later. He was too lazy to recall the specifics of their conversation, but it was nothing more than a reprimand, telling him not to be impetuous and to calm down.

I wonder if it's because of the conversation I had with Lu Qinglian this morning.

He was dragged along for a while, and when he returned to the classroom, he saw Lu Qinglian writing something at her seat.

Still doing practice problems? Zhang Shutong thought to himself, "You're really dedicated to your studies." He went back to his desk, picked up his coat, and then realized that the girl was grading the dictation from the morning reading session.

This is probably one of the duties of the class monitor.

This matter was actually somewhat unexpected for Zhang Shutong.

I thought Lu Qinglian would refuse the position outright. After all, she was the type to avoid trouble and didn't intend to establish a good girl image in front of the teacher. Just like when she refused to count the votes for the new class monitor, she should have simply shaken her head, which might have made the teacher lose face. But she really accepted it without any objection.

She can be a bit contradictory at times. For example, she recently sprained her ankle. It's hard to say whether she's just used to enduring it or if she's just emotionally detached and therefore indifferent to certain things.

"I'm leaving now," Zhang Shutong said, preparing to leave.

“Zhang Shutong, do you have the key?” Lu Qinglian asked, looking up.

"It wasn't given to you; it was given to you when we were selecting class officers."

"I meant the key to the rooftop. The door was locked, and I just went there."

How dare you say that? That was clearly a key I made.

Zhang Shutong knew that she had a habit of eating lunch alone on the rooftop:

"Isn't it in the floor tiles of the second-to-last staircase?"

“It was taken away.” Lu Qinglian frowned.

"Took it away?"

Zhang Shutong repeated.

This is a key he has kept hidden for several years; apart from Lu Qinglian, no one else should know about it.

Could it be that there's someone hiding on the rooftop, using it as a base?