Winter Returns

Chapter 178 I’m full

"Oh, that laughing fox? I wasn't feeling too sick when I told him about it this morning." Mom got interested too. "Does Qinglian like it too? It's just a cheap little thing anyway, why don't you put it on your desk as a decoration? I'll have Shutong take it to school for you tomorrow?"

"Tonight then," Zhang Shutong interjected. "Just give us the office keys."

"It's already seven o'clock..." Mom glanced at her watch, exasperated. "You let them finish their meal and sit down to rest, and then you rushed out again!"

This is not my own idea.

Just as Zhang Shutong was about to take the blame, Lu Qinglian said:
"Thank you for your help, it's what I wanted to see."

"Okay..." Mom hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "You two have some fruit first, I'll go change my clothes, and then we'll drive there."

Zhang Shutong, however, did not plan to bring his mother:
"The two of us can go."

My mother turned pale again.

She looked herself over carefully, but said nothing. Instead, she turned and went to the balcony.

"Can you help me get something? I can't reach it..."

Zhang Shutong knew this meant they wanted to speak to him privately.

"Tongtong, have you suddenly become enlightened lately?" Mom asked as if she were seeing her for the first time.

"We have serious business to attend to," Zhang Shutong said. "We're both very interested in that fox, so let's treat it as an archaeological dig."

"How come you..." Mom was clearly reluctant, "it's only been a short while since the cast on your arm was removed?"

“I’ll definitely be careful, but,” Zhang Shutong observed his mother’s expression, “isn’t our home a bit far from the company…”

"Then I'll drive you there."

“It’s too much trouble.”

"If you have something to say, just say it."

"Could you give me my dad's motorcycle keys?"

"Dream on," Mom retorted immediately. "Alright, alright, come help me find something."

It turns out they really were looking for something.

At the far end of his balcony was a small storage room, its shelves piled high with things. Zhang Shutong tiptoed to pick up a box, but before he could open it, his mother said:

"Stop looking, I've already washed that girl's shoes."

"Oh." Zhang Shutong then remembered that Lu Qinglian's shoes and socks had been in his house ever since he sprained his ankle.

"Why is it so heavy?" Zhang Shutong weighed the box in his hand.

"They found it so quickly? Let's take a look."

Mom crossed her arms and said proudly.

When Zhang Shutong opened it, in addition to Lu Qinglian's original cloth shoes, there was also a brand new pair of cotton boots.

Needless to say, Mom must have bought them according to the size of cloth shoes.

"When did this happen?"

"I bought this at the mall today. I think Qinglian would look very cute in it."

Zhang Shutong was a little troubled. He thought that Lu Qinglian was different from ordinary girls. In fact, she had mentioned to him more than once that she was not willing to keep accepting other people's kindness.

Moreover, what did they say when I topped up my phone credit? If I accepted this, I could easily refuse anything else. I never expected to dig a hole for my mom.

He told his mother about these things, and she was also a little troubled:
"What should I do? I wanted to surprise her, and a pair of shoes isn't that expensive, is it? I was also thinking of buying her a coat..."

"Why don't you go and tell her to thank me for saving me last time or something?" Zhang Shutong suggested casually, as he had always had a lot of confidence in his mother's emotional intelligence.

Mom thought for a moment, then reached out and took the box back.

"I won't deliver it for now."

She made a decision quickly.

"what happened?"

“You don’t understand.” His mother just rolled her eyes at him. “Your old sneakers are still wearable, and you’ll have a chance to wear them sooner or later.”

Zhang Shutong thought her mother's move was brilliant, and then asked her why she didn't mention the avalanche to Lu Qinglian, wondering if it would make their family seem ungrateful.

But Mom said:

“Say it, why don’t you say it? But who brings up this kind of thing right away? Do you really think your mother is stupid? You made the atmosphere so heavy from the start. Can’t people have a happy meal? People will definitely not come next time.”

She added disdainfully, "You should learn more from your dad in the future. He wasn't like this back then... Alright, let's go, don't keep them waiting."

"The office key," Zhang Shutong reminded her from behind.

"Did you find that rock carving underground?" Mom suddenly asked.

“Yes,” Zhang Shutong thought she had some clue and hurriedly asked, “What’s the connection with the statue?”

"The connection is that you, you brat, never give me a moment's peace." Mom glared at him. "Where else could the scene be if it's so dark? Where have you been exploring this time?"

"Anyway, it's not in the middle of nowhere, so there's no danger."

His mother gave him a deep look but said nothing.

She didn't insist that Lu Qinglian stay at home for tea, but instead packed up the fruit and escorted the two of them downstairs, just like last time.

Zhang Shutong went to get his bike because his mother wanted to speak with Lu Qinglian alone and wanted him to discreetly stay away. Zhang Shutong could only shrug. When he pushed the bike downstairs, he heard the woman whisper:

"...Qinglian, Auntie is always grateful to you. I am his mother, and I don't know what to say at this moment. I originally wanted to take some things to the temple to visit you, but he absolutely refused to let me go. This child has been stubborn since he was little. Once he has made up his mind, even I can't change it. Don't be fooled by how tall he is now; he was a crybaby when he was little..."

Before Zhang Shutong could even feel moved, his eyelids twitched:
"mom!"

"Shut up!"

Mom said angrily.

"I'm not going to say anything more, or I'll sound like a nagging old woman," Mom muttered, then whispered to Lu Qinglian:

"It was a bit selfish of me... but I'll have to trouble you to put in more effort in the future."

Zhang Shutong couldn't help but speak again, but her mother raised her hand:

"then."

She had just hurriedly wrapped herself in a trench coat and gone downstairs. Now, she took something out of her pocket and tossed it aside, her long, wavy hair tossing with it, looking rather dashing.

The key traced an arc in mid-air, and Zhang Shutong instinctively reached out his hand. It was a bunch of keys; he knew they were office keys.

It wasn't just the office key; there was another one that Zhang Shutong recognized all too well—it was from his motorcycle.

He was stunned for a moment, and wanted to ask his mother why she had changed her mind again.

"Be careful on the road."

The woman waved and went upstairs.

He didn't even turn his head.

……

"Do you think my mom has figured out what we're up to?"

The motorcycle was sputtering loudly a moment ago, but then it went silent. Zhang Shutong pulled out the key and took off his helmet.

“Maybe.” Lu Qinglian also took off her helmet and tossed her long hair.

Zhang Shutong belatedly realized that she was indeed her mother; some people could tell the truth from the falsehood just by a feeling, no matter how many lies you told.

“You shouldn’t have said those things to her.” Zhang Shutong was referring to the anxiety disorder, “which made her suspicious and paranoid.”

He subconsciously spoke with a hint of helplessness, and Lu Qinglian naturally didn't respond.

They are now outside the office.

Although it's called an office, it's actually a research institute-style building, next to a construction site.

There's a security booth at the entrance of the research institute. The noise of the motorcycle startled the old man guarding the booth, who came out and shone a flashlight inside:
"Oh, Xiaotong."

Zhang Shutong covered his eyes:

"We're here to pick up a sample. Sorry to disturb your rest."

He used to bring his mother many things.

The two entered the gate smoothly. The interior of the research institute was pitch black. Although it was a newly built building, it was paved with granite floors that looked very old. He followed his memory and found the third room in the corridor.

This is a single office. As soon as you enter, you can see the desk. Zhang Shutong glanced at it and found something about the size of a beverage bottle. It might be the fox statue, but his mother's desk was too messy to be sure.

He then fumbled for the light switch and clicked it.

The fox was smiling at them.

Zhang Shutong's heart skipped a beat.

The fox was on the table, facing the door. He couldn't help but complain about his mother's perverse sense of humor. Was it something she would do to scare people, or did she find it creepy herself?
A grinning fox, a quiet room, the darkening night, stark white lights... it was indeed eerie.

They came to the table and examined the statue for a moment.

It's impossible to tell the species. To be honest, analyzing the fox's species is quite strange. It's a statue only slightly shorter than a forearm, made of some kind of stone.
"Can you see anything?"

Zhang Shutong picked up the fox and checked the base; it was also unmarked.

"The size is just right." Lu Qinglian compared it to the photo.

"Looking at this thing... it doesn't look like a protected beast at all."

He thought it was more like an evil god.

But that's strange. If it really is some kind of evil god, then the legend of the green snake should be the story of the green snake suppressing the evil god and protecting the island...

The thought resurfaced in Zhang Shutong's mind, and he asked again:
Was there any record of this in the temple before?

"If I had it, I would have told you long ago."

"You've also kept five foxes, right..." Zhang Shutong asked cautiously, "What do you think of this number?"

“It was a coincidence,” Lu Qinglian said. “I encountered them when they were very young.”

That makes sense. Zhang Shutong then recalled that on the night the poachers were apprehended, the police did indeed find the carcasses of several other foxes.

But the number still felt strange to him.

Zhang Shutong didn't feel anything about the deaths of those foxes at first, but later he realized what it meant for Lu Qinglian.

He changed the subject and said:

"It went more smoothly than expected... I mean, I even thought that the fox had been stolen when we arrived."

“You really should get a good night’s sleep.” Lu Qinglian had already picked up the statue. “Let’s go.”

"If we put it back, can we understand that as returning it to its original place?"

Lu Qinglian nodded her chin.

"If they were to be put back in their original places, then why were they separated in the first place?" Zhang Shutong frowned, then relaxed. "Never mind, thinking about this now is a bit of worrying unnecessarily, after all, it's only one..."

At 7:30 p.m., they parked their car in front of the hospital.

Lu Qinglian continued walking in front, with Zhang Shutong following behind her, studying the statue. It had been buried underground for so long that its surface was covered with a layer of soil.

Zhang Shutong sniffed it; it smelled earthy, but nothing else.

Lu Qinglian had already reached the side of the tunnel. Zhang Shutong put the statue on the ground and went over to lend a hand.

Just then, my phone rang. It was Qingyi calling:

"Hey, Shutong, where are you right now?"

"What's wrong?" Zhang Shutong asked, holding the phone between her cheek and face.

"We're downstairs at Ruoping's house, but no one's home. Are you two together?" Du Kang's voice came through the receiver again.

"No." Zhang Shutong was a little confused. "What do you mean, 'no one's here'?"

"I brought Qingyi to find her, but her house was brightly lit, and no one answered the door when I knocked..."

"Is her car downstairs?" Zhang Shutong suddenly wondered.

"She drove off. I hope she didn't have any accidents at home. Maybe she went to eat in the shopping street? She forgot to turn off the lights, but it's already seven o'clock..." Qingyi said, puzzled. "Sigh, I should have come earlier. I'll hang up now and try calling her again."

Zhang Shutong then realized that he hadn't called Ruoping to apologize.

He glanced at the fox beside him, sighed, and began typing a message on his phone as he followed Lu Qinglian underground.

When I pressed the send button, the chat bubble kept spinning.

There is no signal underground.

When she looked up again, Lu Qinglian's figure had already disappeared at the crossroads.

Zhang Shutong put away his phone and quickened his pace.

Lu Qinglian walked ahead with a flashlight, while he lagged a few steps behind, looking around.

The sound of their footsteps echoed in the tunnel.

He'd been through this tunnel several times before, so there was nothing to be afraid of, but bringing a strange fox statue down there sent chills down his spine.

Although he knew it was nighttime and the wind was blowing into the tunnel entrance, he could hear a whooshing sound.

Speechless all the way.

A few minutes later, Lu Qinglian stopped in front of the platform.

Zhang Shutong thought she was going to give him the flashlight so he could free his hands to climb in, but she turned to the side.

That means I should go first.

"You go in first," she said calmly. "I'll show you the way."

Zhang Shutong didn't think much of it. When he stood up from the cave and turned around, the flashlight beam was only slightly lower, and Lu Qinglian was still standing in the same spot without moving.

Aren't you coming in?

"One statue is enough for you to go inside."

Zhang Shutong nodded. To be honest, he didn't have much hope that anything unusual would happen. He just wanted to put an end to a busy day and get a good night's sleep when he got home.

He glanced at the rock wall again. The statues should be placed in an order. The grinning fox was the third one on the rock wall, which meant that he only needed to put it in the third pit.

He couldn't help but turn back and glance at Lu Qinglian again.

The girl was simply staring intently at the statue in his hand, completely unlike what she had claimed to be so uninterested.

Zhang Shutong paused for a moment.

seem……

Something doesn't feel right.

You know, Lu Qinglian was always the first one to come down, the first to walk down the tunnel and the first to climb onto the platform. But this time, she didn't say anything and just stood calmly outside the platform.

And they refused to take another step forward.

"...You really aren't coming in?" Zhang Shutong asked again to confirm.

"Don't tell me you're that timid." She remained unmoved.

An unbelievable guess popped into my head—

"You wouldn't..." His gaze fell on Lu Qinglian's lower abdomen, and he asked curiously, "You're too full to move, aren't you?"

The beam of the flashlight instantly shone into his eyes.

This was a super high-powered flashlight. Zhang Shutong felt a sudden white light before his eyes and quickly shielded his eyes with his hand.
"Hey--"

The flashlight relentlessly followed his face until Zhang Shutong had completely turned around before it was put down.

"You'd better hurry up," Lu Qinglian said coldly.

"Just trying to lighten the mood, sorry, sorry."

Zhang Shutong muttered to himself that he did have a bad feeling just now, but he felt much better now.

Well, school starts tomorrow, so it's better to let her in early. Next, I need to take Lu Qinglian home to end this busy day. I'll take a picture of Su Yunzhi and ask her if she has any other clues.

Thinking these thoughts, the two exchanged a glance, and Zhang Shutong aimed the fox statue at the third pit and placed it down directly.

Quiet.

Quiet.

Still quiet.

"It seems not..."

Zhang Shutong breathed a sigh of relief, but halfway through his sentence, his heart skipped a beat.

The world before his eyes began to tremble violently, as if mountains were collapsing and the earth were splitting open. A familiar sensation washed over him, but Zhang Shutong knew it wasn't an earthquake, but rather—

Backtrack!

It's triggered!
……

"Dear passengers, welcome aboard this train. This train is traveling from Landao Station to Ji'an South Station. Please take your belongings and prepare to disembark..."

Zhang Shutong suddenly opened his eyes, and the chill surrounding him made him shudder.

He raised his head blankly, but what lay before him was no longer the narrow, dark passage, but...

The train carriages?
But the biggest problem isn't there.

Zhang Shutong looked at his arms and felt a chill run down his spine.

The chill comes from the air conditioning in the high-speed train carriages.

It is summer.

He instinctively glanced at the time on the train's screen:

2017 8 Month 6 Day.

This is……

Five years later?
Where am I going next?

Before he could figure out why, the train door suddenly opened. The train had already pulled into the station, and a wave of heat washed over him. People began to push forward behind him. Zhang Shutong paused, remembering the key words he had just heard:

Ji'an South Station.

This is the name of the city.

So he's heading to the city now?

Thinking of this, Zhang Shutong quickly took a step and followed the flow of people off the train. People came and went on the platform, and unfamiliar faces came into view. The sweltering heat of August made people dizzy.

He didn't bother finding a shady spot; only one question remained in his mind—

Why not eight years later?
Why did he return to the city five years later? In the original timeline, he shouldn't have ever come back.

First, find someone, yes, first, find someone to ask.

Zhang Shutong immediately opened QQ, but damn it, he didn't have QQ installed on his phone. He scrolled through several pages to confirm this. He then opened his contacts, and suddenly a WeChat message popped up at the top of the screen—

"Have you gotten off the bus? My dad has already cooked dinner at home."

Who is this?

The nickname belongs to a complete stranger.

He opened the message, his fingers paused on the keyboard for a few seconds, then went back to the chat list and ultimately did not reply.

I might as well ask my mom. I'm still a student, she should know something.

Zhang Shutong was about to exit WeChat when his gaze fell on a name, and he paused for a moment.

The contact person's notes are:
"Blue carp".

(End of this chapter)