Winter Returns

Chapter 160 The Watcher's Loneliness (Part 2) (Bonus Chapter, Please Vote!)
The two met during a poaching case and a commercial street case, respectively, and were the two highest-ranking officers in the police station.

The other person greeted him with a warm smile, and the burly man even rubbed his hands together eagerly.

"You're here! Why did it take you so long? What case is it this time?"

Zhang Shutong blew the second bubble.

Shortly after, in the office.

"Xiao Zhang, is there any gift you'd like? I mentioned it to your teacher, Ms. Song, before, saying you can pick whatever you like. Don't be shy with your uncles. This is a gift from your uncles on behalf of the police station on our island," Officer Wang said with a smile.

"Gifts are all superficial; this young man is just too modest." Officer Xiong glared with his large, round eyes. "Although there's still no result regarding the avalanche incident, how can we let such a good young man feel disheartened? Old Wang, have your men arrange for a banner to be sent to the school tomorrow, and hold a flag-raising ceremony to properly commend him!"

“The flag-raising ceremony isn’t until Monday.” Zhang Shutong, sitting on one side of the conference table, felt embarrassed to continue blowing bubbles. He glanced at the clock on the wall and finally found a chance to interject, “Actually, there’s more important business to discuss this time…”

"oh!?"

Hey, it's really weird that two big men said "Oh~" in unison...

It took ten minutes at the police station.

Regarding the question of who built the dormitory building, it wasn't the police's responsibility, but the two officers confidently took it upon themselves to inquire about it for him.

As for the latter, there is no record of Lu Qinglian's mother's death.

The two women said that matters within the temple were generally handled internally, an answer Zhang Shutong had anticipated.

He then told the other party about the shadowy figure on the rooftop, which was considered as filing a case.

As Zhang Shutong walked back to the dormitory building, he saw a Land Rover parked downstairs.

Old Song no longer has a car, so it's impossible for him to drag his ailing body and carry a bunch of luggage to the port. Therefore, this matter was already arranged at the hot pot restaurant, and Gu Qiu Mian took care of it all. Her family's driver will take Old Song all the way to the station.

Zhang Shutong was about to go upstairs when his phone suddenly rang. He pressed the answer button, and Lao Song's stern voice came through the receiver:
"Shutong, what a coincidence, you just asked me if I had any unusual behavior, and here it is."

He lowered his voice:
"It seems like everything in my room has been moved out."

Zhang Shutong thought to himself that it was really scary. His mentor's IQ seemed to be declining sharply. This was terrible. So he quietly went upstairs and patted Lao Song on the shoulder who was hiding outside the door—or better yet, let it go.

Zhang Shutong regretfully withdrew her hand, realizing that men are actually not very brave.

It's hard on him to drive around in the middle of the night every day for so many years to look for people.

"You and Qinglian cleaned this up for me?" A few minutes later, Old Song looked around the room and clicked his tongue in amazement. "I told you two there was nothing going on between you."

Wait, wait, are these two sentences related in any way?

Zhang Shutong reluctantly helped him carry the bags, and Old Song asked again:

"Why haven't I seen Qinglian?"

"They should have arrived by now, but they must have been delayed on the way."

"Shall we go pick her up?"

"She came by bicycle."

"When did Qinglian get a car?" Old Song exclaimed in surprise.

"Mine." Zhang Shutong tried to blow bubbles, but it was chewing gum, and with a snap, it ended in failure again.

Before leaving, Old Song checked his luggage one last time, then belatedly pointed to the bed and asked:

"Why did you lift it up?"

"Won't it get dusty if we just put it on the ground?" Zhang Shutong thought for a moment.

"You've got some good intentions, buddy. Keep it up." Old Song winked. "But I was wondering what you guys were up to while I was in the hospital. You asked me several times if I'd heard anything downstairs. I figured nobody lived down there. Or did you find something? Also, I can't drive you around anymore. If anything happens before I leave, just tell me. Don't think it's too much trouble..."

"Lu Qinglian is back." Zhang Shutong pointed to the door.

"oh oh……"

There's no need to worry about whether you need to ride back after dropping someone off, because the driver easily stuffed the bicycle into the trunk of the Land Rover.

The three got into the car. It would take some time to drive from here to the port. Old Song couldn't stop talking. Along the way, he kept giving instructions to Qing Lian and Zhang Shutong. Zhang Shutong occasionally looked out the window at the scenery. The sky was bleak, and there were no clouds in the sky.

Around 2 PM, the car arrived at the port.

Old Song's train ticket was for 4 PM. Zhang Shutong realized that he had barely given himself a moment to catch his breath because his mother's surgery was the next afternoon.

After talking to a bunch of students in the library for so long, he was almost completely exhausted.

The boats leaving the island usually run every 20 minutes. They arrived just in time, and with almost no time to hesitate, they parted ways after their meeting.

Zhang Shutong pushed open the car door.

The man named Song Nanshan used to be a skilled driver, but now he is strapped into the passenger seat with a seatbelt.

Old Song turned around from the passenger seat, wanting to pat him on the shoulder like before, but he couldn't do it. Zhang Shutong had no choice but to lean closer.

"You two should contact me often when you have time..."

But before he could finish speaking, the man glanced at Lu Qinglian and changed his words:
"I might be coming back next semester, so it's only two months at most. Why are you two so serious? Alright, alright, go back to class. Drive carefully, men shouldn't be so fussy. Let's go!"

Zhang Shutong was a little puzzled as to why he was still smiling so brightly when they parted.

The whistle still sounded.

He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately didn't reveal what happened in the basement.

Take care.

Lu Qinglian also briefly said goodbye to Song Nanshan.

The two got out of the car. That's how farewells are; once someone waves first, it's hard to stop.

While they were talking, the driver hadn't even put the car in park; he had been keeping his foot on the brake. Now, hearing the car door slam shut, the car accelerated and sped onto the deck.

Zhang Shutong held onto the handlebars of his bicycle, watching the car get further and further away from him.

He rode a bicycle today, but he couldn't do the launch start.

The passageway between the ferry and the port was closed by staff, and he should have turned around, but then someone called out from behind:
"Shutong!"

Zhang Shutong turned around.

It turned out that Song Nanshan had hurriedly lowered the window:
"If he doesn't get in the top two next time, I'll hold you responsible! Qinglian, you too, keep an eye on him! You all better take good care of yourselves—"

His voice, like the smoke that once drifted away, gradually faded into the wind.

Zhang Shutong stood on the shore for a long time until the ferry had completely left the lake.

He wasn't the only one standing silently.

Lu Qinglian's long hair and green robe danced in the wind as she gazed at the light blue lake, lost in thought for a long time.

Sunlight reflected in her amber eyes. Zhang Shutong had noticed before that she sometimes liked to stare at the sky outside. If you didn't call her, her eyes would reflect the changes in sunlight throughout the day, from the sun to the moon. The celestial bodies changed, but she remained the same.

"It's time to go," Zhang Shutong told her.

Lu Qinglian took the handlebars.

"However, I estimate it will be very difficult to get into the top two this time, and it will be more troublesome in the future."

“Zhang Shutong,” she said, her mood clearly not good, “I remember telling you that your tone was a bit harsh, and it would be best if you didn’t…”

Before she could finish speaking, Lu Qinglian frowned.

Zhang Shutong took out chewing gum from his pocket:
"Want to eat it? But you can't swallow this."

Lu Qinglian said expressionlessly:

"So you mean that in the twenty minutes I was gone, you went out and bought chewing gum just because of one sentence?"

"No, I've wanted to eat this for a long time." Zhang Shutong continued her challenge of blowing bubbles with chewing gum.

"Childish," she commented mercilessly.

"I've been wanting to eat this for a long time, especially that day when it was raining..."

"boarding."

Zhang Shutong didn't rush to get into the car, but pointed to the lake, making a pointed remark:
"Although he said this morning that he wanted to draw a perfect conclusion, I think you can treat it as a comma, we will meet again someday, and we can keep in touch during these two months."

"You're quieter when you're anxious," Lu Qinglian said calmly. "Or have you told another lie and can only use similar words to cover up your guilty conscience?"

Some things lose their meaning when said too bluntly.

But these words were like a small knife stabbing Zhang Shutong; they didn't hurt much, but they silenced him.

“Maybe a little. I always feel that doing things that you think are for the good of others is not really a good thing. He should have the right to know, and the rest is his own decision. But you also heard that his mother has cataracts and is having surgery tomorrow. He will have to take care of her while he is sick for the next few days.”

After a while, he said again:

"Actually, I went to the police station again, but those questions still had no answers. Maybe I should try to get answers from Lao Song."

"So you regret it?" Lu Qinglian stared at the lake without turning her head. "Anyway, the boat has already sailed away, there's no turning back now," Zhang Shutong said calmly. "From now on, only you and I know the full story of this matter."

“I only know that you deserved that disease,” Lu Qinglian sighed softly. “Zhang Shutong, you speak so righteously, have you already forgotten what happened last week? Even a woodlice knows to seek advantage and avoid harm.”

“I’ve known for a long time that keeping a secret comes at a price, unlike simply putting a valuable item in a drawer and locking it. I’ve also known for a long time that living a more indifferent and carefree life is actually easier than locking a cabinet; being an observer is enough.”

Zhang Shutong turned around:

"But there are some things we can't stand idly by."

By this time, the ferry had shrunk to a barely visible black dot.

Like other ferries, it was one of countless black dots on the vast lake, sailing majestically toward the opposite shore.

Lu Qinglian turned her head and met his gaze.

"Could you please stop blowing on that candy?" she said coldly. "It's too noisy."

With a pop, the bubble broke, and Zhang Shutong wrapped the chewing gum in paper.

"Make whatever decision you want," Lu Qinglian said, shifting her gaze. "If you've already thought it through."

"There's no such thing as a pre-planned plan. It's just that one thing after another forces you to make a decision. There will be more troublesome things to come, like those vast boats on the lake. If you haven't made this much preparation, it's better to stand aside and watch."

Zhang Shutong let out a shallow breath:
"Of course, I also hope to take a break sometimes. Lu Qinglian, do you sometimes feel lonely?"

"If it's useless, you'd better think about it before you speak."

"I can't help it, I still have some human feelings, and sometimes I can't help but doubt my own decisions. Who is as cold as you?"

As soon as Zhang Shutong finished speaking, he met a dangerous gaze. His goosebumps went off again, reminding him of something. He pulled a square cardboard box from his pocket and slapped it into her hand.
"Here, it's for you."

"What does it mean?"

"The phone, to give you a quick explanation, is a flip phone. It's a bit outdated, but it's still usable. I have an unclaimed reward from the police station. In the poacher incident, you were actually the one who dealt with them in the end, so it should have been given to you. I was just passing it on."

"Are you deliberately changing the subject?" Lu Qinglian's face showed no emotion whatsoever. She simply relaxed her furrowed brows and calmly asked, "Of course I know this is a phone box. I mean—"

She shook the cardboard box in her hand:
"What does it mean?"

"What I mean is, even though it's a flip phone, at least you can make a call and chat on QQ. I'll give you Lao Song and Ruoping's numbers later."

After Zhang Shutong finished speaking, he started walking.

Since she had called him eight years later and he still had "Lu Qinglian" saved in his contacts, it meant that the two had exchanged phone numbers before graduating from junior high school, although Zhang Shutong only had a vague recollection of this.

He didn't know how Lu Qinglian got her phone back then, but he felt that since she had it, it meant:

"Although you don't know many people, I think you might have this need."

Lu Qinglian didn't speak upon hearing this. She lowered her eyes, looking at the cardboard box in her hand, lost in thought.

Zhang Shutong felt a headache coming on. He thought she wouldn't just give him a curt rejection the next second, but if that happened, there was nothing he could do. He shifted his gaze to the pedestrians coming and going at the harbor:
"Take it. It was originally purchased by the police station, and there were some left over, so I brought them. I tore off the outer code beforehand, so it's no use for you to return it."

“Zhang Shutong, you’re still the same as before, exactly the same as when you lent me your gloves.”

“The gloves… Oh, that thing,” Zhang Shutong remembered that it was the first day after the time travel when he ran into her coming back from shoveling snow at the temple. She handed him a pair of tactical gloves for fishing, which he had lent her because he saw that her hands were frostbitten. “Actually, there’s no need to thank me. It was just a small favor, and I had almost forgotten about it.”

“No, I mean you’ve always acted like an awkward child.” Lu Qinglian looked up and smiled gently.

This was the first time Zhang Shutong had ever seen her smile so purely. The corners of her pink lips were slightly upturned, but it wasn't a subtle curve; it was just a simple smile, like ripples on a lake.

“It would be better if you could say it a little nicer,” Zhang Shutong said helplessly. “What do you mean by ‘awkward child’?”

"Isn't it?"

That smile quickly turned into a playful one, making Zhang Shutong wonder if he had just misread it; this woman never smiled properly.
"Isn't it childish to hide a phone box in your clothes for thirty minutes and only take it out at the very end?"

Lu Qinglian added crisply:
"Actually, I would suggest you take it home directly, that way you can hide it better."

Zhang Shutong pretended not to hear.

The two of them pushed the cart along the lakeshore.

"Was something delayed on your way back from the hospital?"

“No,” she immediately denied. “What are you trying to say?”

"I mean, you're a little later than I expected. Having a cell phone now will make it easier to stay in touch."

Lu Qinglian glanced at him sideways, put the packaging box in the bicycle basket, and then rode off.

Actually, that wasn't what Zhang Shutong wanted to say. He had been thinking about something else the whole way. As for his phone, he had genuinely forgotten about it. He had calculated that it would take seven or eight minutes to walk from the dormitory to the old house, so riding his bike back from there would be much faster.

It should have taken at most fifteen minutes, but Lu Qinglian took twenty minutes.

Zhang Shutong knew her fairly well. She always did only what was necessary and wouldn't waste time on the road. She also had long legs. The seven or eight minutes she had traveled was based on her own speed. If Lu Qinglian had come, it would have been even shorter. She was also a woman whose curiosity was far less than that of a cat. Even so, she was still five minutes late on this short journey.

Zhang Shutong occasionally wondered what she had done in those five minutes. Perhaps she was just overthinking it, because she didn't have a flashlight on the way back, and walking in complete darkness would inevitably slow her down. Or perhaps—

She only stood in front of the woman's photo for five minutes.

"Student Lu Qinglian."

"what?"

"Actually, what I wanted to say," Zhang Shutong said sincerely, "you are definitely cuter when you smile... Hey!"

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Qinglian glanced at him, then decisively stepped off the pedal, the wheels rolled, and the girl and the bicycle sped away.

The port was neither crowded nor deserted in the afternoon. It was a fairly ordinary day in December. The sunlight on the horizon was like countless thin threads, weaving a dense net across the land. If it weren't for the strong wind, it would actually be quite warm.

Her clothes fluttered in the wind, leaving Zhang Shutong standing there with her eyes wide open.

In other words, this woman took the phone, got on her bike, and abandoned her, the patient, and drove off?
Zhang Shutong paused for two seconds, then raised his still-mobile arm:
"Lu Qinglian? Lu Qinglian!"

……

Zhang Shutong yawned and pressed the alarm clock. He walked to the bathroom in his slippers, looked at his dark circles in the mirror, turned on the tap, and didn't rush to wash his face. He just put the toothbrush in his mouth.

It was 12 a.m. on Saturday, December 15th.

The touch of cold water on his fingertips invigorated him. Zhang Shutong looked at his perfectly healed left arm in the mirror. He had gone to the hospital yesterday to have the cast removed, finally breaking the seal that had bound him for so long.

The loss and recovery made it all the more precious. Just as he decided to brush his teeth with his left hand, a hand reached out from behind and turned the faucet to the right.

"Use hot water, Tongtong."

My mom walked away, looking blissful, with a face mask on.

"Don't forget to bring me a bottle of toner from Watsons today."

"it is good--"

Zhang Shutong answered in a drawn-out tone.

He was never one to dawdle, and when he said he was going to wash up, he simply did so. Soon, Zhang Shutong dried his face with a towel, and seeing his untamed black hair in the mirror, he subconsciously wet it and smoothed it out.

Then a very fragrant smell entered his nostrils, and Zhang Shutong sneezed.

My mom was shaking a small bottle, her eyes shining as she stood nearby.
"Put on some perfume, and I'll go find you some hair wax. Dress up nicely today. Although I think you look handsome even without dressing up, you're going out with a girl after all."

Why dress up so nicely when it's not a date...?

The moment Zhang Shutong had this thought, his mother reached out her devilish hands and completely messed up his hair.

"Here, let me wet it a little and use a hairdryer to comb your hair properly..."

After finally getting my hair done and smelling an unfamiliar perfume, twenty minutes had passed.

He opened the wardrobe, and a series of black clothes came into view. Zhang Shutong hesitated for a moment, then finally picked up a beige sweater and put on a pair of jeans.

Just then, the phone rang. He pressed the answer button, and a crisp voice came from the other end:
"Have you come downstairs yet? I'm already here, hey, hurry up!"

"I……"

Before I could finish speaking, the call was disconnected.

Zhang Shutong put away her phone, turned around, and saw her mother peeking in from the bedroom doorway. She silently mouthed something:

"Keep it up, son!"

Today's mission is to accompany your Pokémon trainer in a challenge at the city's largest shopping mall.

You don't get a badge for winning, but you get to eat.

This was actually something that had been arranged long before I was discharged from the hospital.

"gone."

Zhang Shutong grabbed his wallet and opened his security door.

Although the day had only just begun, it was already almost entirely filled with her schedule.

(End of this chapter)