Winter Returns

Chapter 180 Gap
A few minutes later, he sat in the air-conditioned car and watched Ruoping drive the car out of the high-speed rail station.

Zhang Shutong never expected that the person who came to pick him up would be Ruoping.

"Seatbelt," Ruoping said.

“Okay…” Zhang Shutong glanced at her; sitting in the driver’s seat, her demeanor was somewhere between a young girl and an adult woman.

She wore light makeup, with thick eyebrows, a straight nose, and full lips with clear lip lines, giving her a heroic and dashing beauty.

Zhang Shutong couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

Zhang Shutong thought to herself, "She's never been gentle at all; she's always been a fiery and impulsive person. How come she's suddenly become so quiet?"

He was still somewhat unaccustomed to it, just like the female knight-errant he had met in the martial arts world before, suddenly... well, Zhang Shutong couldn't quite put his finger on it.

If you calculate the time, Ruoping is also a sophomore in college, but she has not only learned to drive, but she is also much more mature than before.

"Why aren't you replying to my messages?" the woman asked.

Her tone didn't sound angry; it was more like idle chatter.

"I accidentally turned it on silent."

"I can tolerate you keeping the phone on silent when you sleep, but you keep it on even when you're in the car. I can't stand it," Ruoping sighed.

Only when she said those words did Zhang Shutong find a sense of familiarity in her.

Du Kang is better in comparison; he always has a carefree smile on his face whenever he comes.

"What would you like to eat? I'll take you to buy some."

Zhang Shutong said that it would be fine to eat at home.

The woman glanced at him sideways through her sunglasses:
"Smoke if you want."

Zhang Shutong shook his head and said he didn't smoke; he didn't have any cigarettes in his pocket.

"How about some candy?" She took two pieces of bubble gum out of the armrest box.

"Okay." Zhang Shutong has been practicing blowing bubbles recently.

When the bubble popped for the third time, he still couldn't help but ask:
"We're going to..."

He only said the first two words, then waited quietly for the rest.

"Let's go to the island now," Ruoping said casually. "Or do you have something else to do?"

"No."

Zhang Shutong was even more puzzled. He had thought that Ruoping's family had moved to the city, but if they were still on the island, why would they come all the way to pick him up?

Could it be that……

"Is it impolite for me to go to see my uncle and aunt empty-handed?"

"Oh, when did you suddenly realize this?" Ruoping chuckled. "No need for that. I just need your help this time, so don't ask me to buy you a gift."

Not long ago, Zhang Shutong had already checked the chat history, and the fact was as he thought: the two were not in a romantic relationship. Now that it had been confirmed again, Zhang Shutong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But he still couldn't figure out what he was going back to the island for.

A few days ago, I received a WeChat call on my phone; I guess we were talking on the phone.

Could it be some kind of situation where they pretend to be a boyfriend to go on blind dates?

Zhang Shutong broke out in a cold sweat again.

He remembered Ruoping on the Wild Dog website saying that her mother was pressuring her to get married.

But Zhang Shutong thought again that Ruoping was only a sophomore in college this year, and even the most anxious parents wouldn't pressure her to get married at this age.

"Why don't you ask Du Kang and Qing Yi for help? You're always trying to order me around," Zhang Shutong complained deliberately.

"You know perfectly well why you're asking. Do you want me to praise you? You're the most capable and reliable, okay?" Ruoping raised an eyebrow. "Who told you to be free during summer vacation?"

Zhang Shutong sighed inwardly. He planned to ask Qingyi about it later.

In short, as long as they are not complete strangers who suddenly appear out of nowhere.

Seeing Ruoping made Zhang Shutong relax a bit. He thought about it and divided the current problems into three categories:

First, why does backtracking occur?

Zhang Shutong's current guess is that it's caused by the fox statue.

Second, why five years from now?

unknown.

Third, regarding his previous recollections, he generally summarized them as having missed a crucial clue, which led him to a less-than-ideal future. But what about this time?
Everyone seems to be doing well. Gu Qiumian went on vacation, Lu Qinglian helped out at the temple and even got to use a cell phone, and the other close friends each had their own things to do.

Just then, Ruoping turned on the radio, and a rock song started playing, with rapid drumbeats, "Look over there."

She suddenly stretched out her finger.

Zhang Shutong turned his head and saw that they had entered a fast road, which must have been newly built in recent years. The road from the station to the port was unobstructed.

Walking along the road, you can see the vast lake in the distance.

The roadside trees rushed past in front of him. Zhang Shutong was lost in thought for a long time. It seemed that he had stayed in winter for too long and had almost forgotten what summer was like. At this moment, the sun shone brightly for thousands of miles, the sky was so blue that it looked like it had been washed, and a lazy wind pushed the thin clouds.

The sky is high and vast, casting its light onto the lake below and turning the water blue.

They seemed to be traveling in a place where there was no sky or earth.

Ruoping tossed him another bottle of chilled cola. It had been bought before she picked him up from the station; fine water droplets clung to the bottle as Zhang Shutong unscrewed the cap.

The air conditioning was cool, the car was going fast, the sound of bubble gum popping echoed, and the drumbeats of rock music and the bubbles of cola surged together in people's hearts. It was a tender moment.

The car soon arrived at the port, and as before, we stepped on the gas and drove onto the ferry.

"I'm going downstairs for a walk." Ruoping pulled the handbrake and tossed the keys into his arms.

Zhang Shutong saw her go to the railing. The woman stretched out her fist and yawned. The wind blew, and her red dress looked like a burning flame.

Zhang Shutong drank his cola while dialing Qingyi's number.

However, the call did not go through.

He glanced at the screen helplessly and typed Du Kang's name again.

"What's up, buddy?" Du Kang's voice had become hoarse. "Did you get off the bus? Is it hot in the city?"

"Just boarded the ship." Zhang Shutong thought to herself, "How do you know my itinerary so well? It's quite hot." "Have you seen Ruoping yet? How is she?"

"Pretty good."

"Then I can rest assured." Du Kang said with a sigh of relief.

"Uh..." Zhang Shutong paused, "What do you mean?"

"Nothing much, just asking how she is since I haven't seen her in a long time," Du Kang said. "If you have time, could you check on Zorro and feed him a sausage?"

Zhang Shutong almost forgot about the dog.

"it is good."

"Of course, you should finish taking care of Ruoping's family first. I remember she has a lot of stuff at home, it's two floors, so you'll probably be busy until tonight. Thanks for your hard work, Shutong."

Zhang Shutong swallowed back his claim that "I was hit on the head on the high-speed train and that's why I lost my memory."

His mind suddenly became a little confused.

So you came back to help Ruoping move?
"What are you doing right now?" Zhang Shutong seemed to have grasped something. "Eating?"

"No, I just finished here..."

"When are you coming back?"

"Maybe in September? Of course, I won't be able to come back if I'm too busy."

"It's been so long since we've seen each other, I feel a bit bad about that," Zhang Shutong said. "You didn't even come for something as important as moving. Or should I give you my phone number and you can talk to Ruoping yourself?"

Du Kang remained silent for a while:
"Never mind... You and Qingyi might be able to talk to her, but I really don't right now. I'll hang up now, I have something to do here."

With a beep, Zhang Shutong frowned as he looked at the screen.

he knows--

The question I wanted to ask finally came to light.

"Aren't you hot in the car?" Ruoping opened the car door and leaned down to ask.

"I just called Du Kang," Zhang Shutong said, observing her expression.

"Oh."

Ruoping nodded without saying anything.

Zhang Shutong got out of the car with her, and the two came to the guardrail together. Zhang Shutong looked at his arm and noticed that his skin was darker than before.

Looking at Ruoping again, she took off her sunglasses and stared blankly at the lake, not saying a word.

The lake breeze tousled her short hair.

"You two are arguing again?" Zhang Shutong asked, also looking at the lake.

"No, what's the point of arguing with him?" Ruoping smiled. "He wouldn't dare to talk back to me."

“I know you’re the boss.” Zhang Shutong shrugged. “But the past… well, I mean, the past is the past, don’t dwell on it too much.”

"Hmm." Ruoping changed the subject, "Do you remember that time when we went off the island and Gu Qiumian's bag went missing?"

"what happened?"

"I think it's right here," she pointed to the ground. "We took a group photo."

Why did you bring this up?

"Do you still have yours?" Ruoping asked. "I lost the photo when I changed my phone."

"I..." Zhang Shutong had intended to show it to her, but then realized that she had changed her phone too. "I'll look for it later."

"Never mind, it's fine if it's not there." She tucked her short hair behind her ear and pursed her lips. "Let bygones be bygones."

Zhang Shutong thought to himself, "This is too sad."

He hesitated for a moment:
"That kid Du Kang is a bit immature..."

“I know, he’s the dumbest of the four of us.” Ruoping smiled, seemingly remembering something. “He’s dumb, you’re a blockhead, and Qingyi is expressionless.”

"Don't get hurt in the process," Zhang Shutong said helplessly. "I mean, don't take it to heart. Well, even if you can't be lovers, you can still be friends, right?"

Zhang Shutong simply spoke his mind. No wonder the QQ account was gone; the small group of four people was probably gone too. He didn't know whether to feel melancholy or be amused and frustrated; in short, his feelings were extremely complicated.

It turns out the problem lies here.

As the saying goes, "a rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its burrow," and that's certainly true.

But he had no experience in comforting people, so he could only recall what his mother had said before, and if he felt it made sense, he would just give it to her as a source of inspiration.

"Of course, things can't go back to the way they were before right away. I'll call him again later and invite Qingyi along, so the four of us can sit together..."

"Zhang Shutong," Ruoping said in astonishment before she could finish, "Are you out of your mind? When did I start dating him?"

Zhang Shutong was also taken aback.

……

From then on, Ruoping gave him a cold shoulder, so Zhang Shutong had no choice but to shut up and obediently get into the car. Soon after, the ferry docked, and the car drove through the familiar streets. He looked at the scenery along the way, which was no different from before, and even less prosperous than the Wild Dog Line. He vaguely felt that the problem lay in the relationship between his close friends, but why would it affect the development of the island?

Before he could figure it out, the car arrived at Ruoping's building.

"Come lend a hand," Ruoping said irritably.

Zhang Shutong helped unload a case of liquor from the trunk. It turned out she had already bought the goods, but she remembered that Ruoping's father didn't like to drink...

Of course, even in the original timeline, he hadn't been in contact with his best friends for a long time after graduating from junior high school, and he didn't even know how they were doing, let alone their parents.

Zhang Shutong followed Ruoping upstairs.

It was a self-built house, not a residential complex. The walls were somewhat mottled, which inexplicably reminded Zhang Shutong of that old house.

Actually, he had just visited not long ago, and there hadn't been much change. The couplets on the door frame were from last year and had faded, covered with a thin layer of dust.

"Dad, Shutong and I are back..." Ruoping knocked on the door.

Soon the back door opened, and a man with stubble smiled:

"Come in, come in quickly, dinner will be ready soon. Shutong, I'm sorry to trouble you today."

(End of this chapter)