Winter Returns

Chapter 200 All acquaintances
"Uh..." Zhang Shutong was a little confused, "What?"

“A classmate of mine just went shopping at the mall and said she saw us pushing our shopping carts from afar, and she even saw you feeding me something…”

“She’s mistaken,” Zhang Shutong clarified. “I was the one who handed her the item.”

"But weren't you going to find that man?" Ruoping lowered her voice. "Why are you eating in the mall?"

"It's a long story," Zhang Shutong explained the current situation to her.

"So he's been following you the whole time? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Not for now," Zhang Shutong advised her. "I'll contact you if anything comes up."

"Then be very careful." Ruoping knew it wasn't appropriate to say too much at this time.

"it is good."

Zhang Shutong put away the phone.

He kept his eyes on the brown hat, but the man had pulled the brim down so low that he couldn't see the other person's face. Zhang Shutong calculated the time in his mind. There were only a little over ten minutes before Qingyi arrived. He took a deep breath and went upstairs with Lu Qinglian.

There is a Santa Claus statue at the elevator entrance on the second floor.

Zhang Shutong casually introduced:

"This floor sells clothes, the third floor has a wider variety of things, like restaurants and home appliances..."

It was only then that he realized something.

This might be Lu Qinglian's first time "shopping" here, but it's not her first time visiting this mall.

"I almost forgot you were here," Zhang Shutong said.

The last time Lao Song invited a few people to eat here, before the meal, he and Lu Qinglian watched TV for a while at the appliance store across from the restaurant.

But I had a fever at the time, and the trip was rushed, like a business transaction, so many details have become blurry.

Since that's the case, there's nothing more to introduce. Zhang Shutong stopped acting as a tour guide and walked towards the back of the elevator. The elevator here is an old-fashioned escalator without steps. It can also be used to transport goods when necessary. The upper and lower passages are not staggered but side by side.

He saw shop assistants wearing Santa hats soliciting customers outside, a stark contrast to the previous lifeless atmosphere. In fact, not long ago, the supermarket had set up a special area on the first floor to sell apples, Fuji apples, and other similar products, with packaging boxes costing extra. If the timing hadn't been so bad, he might have bought a few.

While passing by a jewelry store, Zhang Shutong saw a hat—not the brown one, of course, but a pink baseball cap with a Mickey Mouse pattern on it.

It turns out that so much time has passed.

He instinctively took out his phone and snapped a picture.

"Something's up?" Lu Qinglian asked from the side.

"No." Zhang Shutong occasionally thinks about Christmas presents.

He glanced at the time again, and the two strolled around the second floor before turning around and taking the elevator.

“I remember there was an emergency exit on the south side of the third floor,” Zhang Shutong recalled. “From there you could go up to the mall’s rooftop, but I don’t know if it was open or not.”

If it opens up, that will be their final destination on this trip.

He went directly to the south side of the third floor and checked the door to the emergency exit:

"can."

Zhang Shutong gently closed the fire door.

He whispered something to Lu Qinglian, and the two turned and walked downstairs.

Passing by the appliance store, I saw television programs playing through the glass windows—a common tactic to attract customers. Last time, the program was about avalanche emergency measures; this time, it was a Christmas special.
"Do you remember last time..."

"do not remember."

Zhang Shutong didn't know why, but whenever avalanches were mentioned, she would give him a cold look.

But it doesn’t matter.

A new message came through my phone: Qingyi has arrived at the mall.

Zhang Shutong didn't plan to wander around anymore, and since he couldn't reveal Qingyi's presence, he didn't take the escalator again, but instead headed towards the sightseeing elevator in the center of the mall.

He wanted to shake off that man for a while.

The elevator doors opened quickly with a ding, and the two entered. Zhang Shutong searched for the man's figure through the glass exterior of the elevator car while pressing the button.

The moment the elevator doors closed, he gave Lu Qinglian a wink:

"I saw it, it's still on the second floor..."

"Ah."

Lu Qinglian simply asked:

How are you going to meet?

"Oh, I made an appointment with him at..."

Before he could finish speaking, someone outside the elevator suddenly shouted:
"Wait, wait a minute!"

Before Zhang Shutong could turn around, a kind passenger in the same group pressed the elevator button for him.

But Zhang Shutong only felt his eyelid twitch.

Who else could that voice belong to but Xu Zhiruo?

Zhang Shutong never expected to run into an acquaintance here.

Actually, it wouldn't be so bad if it were just an acquaintance, a younger female student. Although she was talkative and easy to deal with, the person accompanying Xu Zhiruo made him feel uneasy.

She was a middle-aged woman with gray hair and wearing glasses.

Their new homeroom teacher, Xu Aiping.

"You little rascal, stop yelling. There's more than one elevator."

Right now, she's habitually lecturing.

Upon closer inspection, besides Xu Zhiruo and her aunt, there were three other adults with them. Considering their location, Zhang Shutong roughly understood what was going on.

He happened to run into his homeroom teacher's family dinner.

It was a little past seven o'clock, just after dinner.

The group was walking towards the elevator when Zhang Shutong looked at the control panel. An older woman was holding him down, and the elevator doors were firmly held open.

He thought to himself, "Oh no, this is really bad." It's not a big deal to run into a teacher outside; it's just a matter of saying hello. But what if the homeroom teacher sees him with Lu Qinglian?
What if he and Lu Qinglian, who was wearing a wig, were seen by their homeroom teacher in the elevator as they walked down the third floor, which was full of restaurants?
Zhang Shutong froze. Tonight, he not only had to deal with a man, but perhaps also a woman.

Looking at Lu Qinglian again, it has to be said that her curiosity is really lacking. The commotion caused by Xu Zhiruo made Zhang Shutong turn his head subconsciously, but she kept her back to the elevator door, observing the movements on the second floor.

Perhaps that man had disappeared again. Just as Lu Qinglian was about to turn around, Zhang Shutong grabbed her arm.

"do not move."

"Zhang Shutong, you'd better not be so easily startled..."

Lu Qinglian said unhappily, but stopped turning around.

"head teacher."

Zhang Shutong whispered.

Lu Qinglian frowned slightly. It seemed even she was having a headache.

Putting aside the fact that they'd be caught and labeled as having a puppy love relationship, given this homeroom teacher's personality, there's absolutely no way they'd be allowed to leave tonight.

"I'll handle this, you don't need to show your face."

Zhang Shutong only had time to finish that sentence before Teacher Xu and her family entered the elevator.

There were already four people in the elevator, and now five more have entered, making it instantly crowded. The two were forced to move to a corner. It would have been better if they could have switched places, but Lu Qinglian had been in front of him the whole time. Just as he was about to turn around, Zhang Shutong stopped him, and now the two were pressed together.

Lu Qinglian's delicate face was right in front of him.

Both of them lowered their eyes, because the homeroom teacher's aura was different. As soon as they entered the elevator, she looked around and seemed to have an imposing presence. Even the voices around them became quieter. Zhang Shutong was too lazy to be clever and take the initiative to greet her, as if that would clear him of suspicion. He only knew that it was better to avoid trouble at this time.

Zhang Shutong wanted to take out his phone to pretend he was busy, but the elevator was so crowded that it was difficult to even stretch out his arm, let alone take out his phone.

He had no choice but to lower his head, and what he saw when he looked down was Lu Qinglian's pert nose and small pink lips. Zhang Shutong had to move his gaze upwards a little. He had never been grateful that this shopping mall was so small; the distance between the three floors was less than half a minute. As long as he could hold on a little longer...

"Hey, senior!"

In an instant, countless eyes turned to him.

Zhang Shutong's eye twitched. He thought to himself, "Your senior has never had any grudges against you. At most, he just gave you the nickname 'little secretary.' Why do you have to mess with your senior?"

Could it be that he's been punished for calling people by that nickname too much? It seems Gu Qiu Mian told him yesterday not to call him that, but this lowly henchman didn't listen to the young lady, and he really is getting his comeuppance.

"Stop shouting, what kind of behavior is that for a girl?" After hearing Teacher Xu's reprimand, Xu Zhiruo quickly stuck out her tongue and pretended to be dead.

But she fell silent, and her aunt cast a scrutinizing glance at her, "Oh..."

The woman's voice trailed off, and Zhang Shutong had never felt time stretch out so slowly.

"Xiao Zhang."

The homeroom teacher finally finished speaking.

Zhang Shutong greeted him and said that she saw him with his family and hadn't wanted to disturb him.

The homeroom teacher nodded:
"Out for dinner? Where are your parents? Why are you alone?"

As expected of a teacher, she started with three questions.

As she spoke, Teacher Xu glanced around again, her gaze finally settling on Lu Qinglian's retreating figure.

No, it's just me.

"is it?"

The homeroom teacher adjusted his glasses, his expression suggestive:
"You came out with your classmates?"

"I made plans with a classmate."

Before the homeroom teacher could frown, Zhang Shutong said "Excuse me" to the person in front of him again, then laboriously took out his phone from his pocket and directly opened the voice message sent by Qingyi, which was from not long ago when he told him that he was almost there.

"I'll be there soon, I'll come up and wander around for a bit first."

"Go home and study as soon as you're done. Don't wander around outside." The homeroom teacher finally looked away.

It seems she didn't really want to chat with me, but just happened to ask me a few questions out of habit.

Zhang Shutong breathed a sigh of relief. He looked down again and saw that Lu Qinglian's face was still expressionless. Her eyes were lowered, and she looked indifferent, but the slight turn of her face revealed that she was not in a good mood. Just then, the elevator arrived at its stop, and Zhang Shutong looked up instantly.

But it's on the second floor!

Another group of people squeezed in.

In the crowd, someone lost their footing and the crowd lurched toward the corner. Zhang Shutong was fine in the corner, but the homeroom teacher also swayed. He watched as the homeroom teacher swayed and instinctively reached out to support Lu Qinglian on the back.

Lu Qinglian also fell down, and Zhang Shutong instinctively hugged her, then immediately let go.

"I'm so sorry, young lady, there were so many people just now. I hope I didn't hurt you..."

Ms. Xu added apologetically, but Zhang Shutong would rather she be impolite. His heart pounded again. Lu Qinglian, of course, couldn't respond. Fortunately, before the homeroom teacher could notice anything amiss, a commotion erupted around them:
"Don't push! Let me get off first!"

"Stop pushing! Stop pushing! There's no space left..."

The elevator doors closed and plummeted to the first floor. The only change was that it was even more crowded than before. Zhang Shutong had no choice but to hold his breath, since they were already too close. When he looked down, he could see Lu Qinglian's fine eyelashes.

I always thought she had very long legs and was very tall, but when I got closer, I realized that she only reached my chin and wasn't as tall as I had imagined.

Finally, the elevator doors opened.

The crowd dispersed like a swarm of bees.

Before leaving, the homeroom teacher greeted him, and Zhang Shutong quickly replied that he never imagined taking an elevator could be so agonizing.

After finally seeing these powerful figures off, Xu Zhiruo suddenly turned around and winked at him before leaving.

Zhang Shutong's heart skipped a beat. Was this another problem arising after one crisis had just subsided?
"I'm leaving now, senior."

The girl waved and nimbly leaped out of the elevator.

Zhang Shutong couldn't guess what she meant, but still breathed a sigh of relief. However, a fair hand appeared in front of her, seemingly to block the airflow.

"how's it going?"

Lu Qinglian asked calmly.

"They've already left..."

Zhang Shutong glanced at it again and whispered:
"But we're still not far from the elevator doors."

Lu Qinglian turned her face away, gazing indifferently in a certain direction, her tone slightly cold:
"Don't talk to me in the face."

As she parted her pink lips slightly, a warm breath sprayed onto her cheek. Their eyes met for a moment, then quickly looked away. Zhang Shutong turned her face away as well. Once the crowd in front of them had mostly dispersed, they quickly exited the elevator.

Sweat beaded on Zhang Shutong's forehead. He wiped his temples and suddenly found himself speechless. This was probably Lu Qinglian's first time riding the observation elevator, and it had left her with a... very unpleasant experience.

"Luckily, I was wearing a wig," Zhang Shutong sighed.

"He's coming down." However, Lu Qinglian had already glanced at the second floor.

Her tone was indifferent, as if the little incident had never happened, and that the two of them had only been trying to lure that man over from the beginning.

“Perfect,” Zhang Shutong said softly.

He led Lu Qinglian toward the supermarket entrance, where there was a Santa Claus statue with a red Santa hat and a white beard, looking kind and gentle.

Zhang Shutong pulled a small ticket out of Santa Claus's beard.

He walked slowly to the locker, then swiped the receipt on the infrared spotlight. With a bang, a locker door opened.

A black plastic bag appeared in front of me.

Zhang Shutong held the contents of the plastic bag in his hand:
"gone."

"You deliberately let him see it?" Lu Qinglian asked.

"Pretty much." Zhang Shutong nodded. "We can't hide it even if we want to, if he thinks it's better if we keep the fox hidden in the locker."

Zhang Shutong walked straight to the escalator. Qingyi and the others hadn't left yet. He typed on his phone, telling them to keep watch outside the mall and be aware of a man wearing a brown hat.

(End of this chapter)