Winter Returns

Chapter 206 Truth or Dare (Part )
Lu Qinglian pondered:

"Next time it's my turn, let him answer that question."

“That won’t work,” Ruoping shook her head. “Our original intention was to have everyone answer questions. To add to that, drawing from the slips of paper won’t work either. I didn’t prepare many slips of paper, so we have to think of them on the spot. Oh, they have to be something that can be done on the spot.”

As she spoke, she nodded reservedly to Zhang Shutong and smiled, as if to say, "See, am I good to you?"

What should we call this?

The schadenfreude in her eyes was almost overflowing!

Zhang Shutong was caught off guard, but he quickly regained his composure.

"What do you think?"

Lu Qinglian asked, as if she were seeking his opinion.

"Ten push-ups?"

Lu Qinglian raised her chin, but before she could speak—

"Wait a minute, he was talking about what happened on Sunday, but the problem is, he's been lying recently, hasn't he?"

Gu Qiumian suddenly said:

"Then I'll expose him too."

"What? What?" Ruoping's eyes sparkled with gossip.

"He only told me the whole story about the fox at noon, keeping it from me for several days. Doesn't that count as lying?"

“Absolutely.” Ruoping snapped her fingers.

“Then here’s the question: Gu Qiumian’s words are even closer than what happened last night,” Qingyi suddenly appeared out of nowhere, “In that case, does Lu Qinglian’s exposure still count?”

Zhang Shutong thought to himself, "He truly is a good buddy."
"Not counting."

He replied without hesitation.

What a joke! Five people came to expose him once, and now he's playing Truth or Dare? This should be renamed "Zhang Shutong's Adventures".

"What does Qinglian think?" Ruoping blinked.

"Ten push-ups."

A soft yet undeniable voice rang out.

Ruoping sympathetically shrugged:

"Let Qiu Mian add another one."

Zhang Shutong winked at Gu Qiumian, begging her not to make things too difficult for him, her henchman.

Gu Qiu Mian narrowed her eyes at him, revealing the same dangerous expression she had shown at noon. She snorted coldly, and before Zhang Shutong could figure out what she meant, Gu Qiu Mian calmly spoke:
"Push-ups, eleven in total."

Zhang Shutong breathed a sigh of relief.

Twenty-one push-ups are nothing.

As expected of a young lady, she even does one more push-up than others... Zhang Shutong thought to himself as he found an empty spot to lie down, and soon he returned to his seat, panting.

"Come again."

Ruoping picked up her ballpoint pen again.

The pen stopped in front of Lu Qinglian.

What is your favorite animal?

"fox."

Zhang Shutong almost doubted that he had misheard.

Is this problem comparable to the two I just encountered?

He wanted to say there was definitely something fishy going on, but Ruoping twirled her pen again, the tip pointing at Gu Qiumian:

What's your nickname?

Gu Qiumian paused:

"Autumn Mian".

"Ahem," Qiu Mian's voice was crisp and clear. She said, "Oh dear, oh dear, I seem to remember saying something to Zhang Shutong at noon?"

She deliberately emphasized the words "Tongtong".

Zhang Shutong stopped talking when he saw this.

The autumn rain is relentless and dark!
Ruoping remained silent, only smiling knowingly:
"Now it's Qingyi's turn."

When was the last time you wet the bed?

Qingyi was taken aback:
"What kind of question is this? Who even remembers..."

"Just tell me if you can answer it or not."

Qingyi was quite decisive and grabbed the paper ball with the dare.

"Personally feed the person on your right a cookie."

Qingyi glanced at Du Kang, who also had a blank expression, with a stoic look on his face.

Ten seconds later, Qingyi threw away the packaging bag in despair, and Dukang wiped the cookie crumbs from his mouth in equal despair.

Everyone was laughing hysterically.

Zhang Shutong couldn't resist either. Just then, his phone rang; it was a QQ message.

“There’s something fishy going on. She marked the note, and there’s something wrong with the pen.”

Zhang Shutong had barely glanced at it when Ruoping shouted:

"No collusion allowed!"

Zhang Shutong put away his phone and exchanged a glance with Qingyi.

The game continues.

It's Gu Qiumian again.

What is your most unforgettable Christmas gift?

Zhang Shutong was just becoming curious when Gu Qiumian said:

"big Adventure."

"Is there anything I can't say?" he wondered, puzzled.

But this time, Gu Qiu Mian glanced at the note and then looked at him instead.

what?
"Have your deskmate help you do ten sit-ups."

Next to Gu Qiu Mian—the desks were rectangular, and after being pushed together, only two people could sit on each side. Qingyi and Dukang sat at one table, Ruoping and Lu Qinglian sat at another, and as the last two to enter, they naturally sat at the same table.

"Come."

Gu Qiu Mian has always been—according to herself—a cold and aloof beauty.

"Hold on tighter."

She spoke, as if she were a princess.

Her black hair and skirt were scattered on the desk. Zhang Shutong pressed down on Gu Qiumian's calf, wanting to laugh but not daring to. After all, Gu Qiumian was very aloof and rarely smiled. Gu Qiumian let out a soft hum, then used her slender waist to suddenly stand up.

The girl who had been lying on the desk suddenly appeared in front of him. Her skin was delicate and white. She was so close to him that Zhang Shutong met her eyes. Before he could see her clearly, Gu Qiumian's face tilted back again. Every time they met, they would make eye contact. Zhang Shutong thought that she was really good at physical strength, stronger than the average girl... Then, there was a bang.

Both of them covered their foreheads at the same time.

Why are you always sticking forward like that!

"You're moving too much..."

Fortunately, the impact wasn't too serious.

It came mainly because it caught everyone off guard.

As the iceberg melted, Gu Qiumian gasped for breath and said, "It's your fault."

Zhang Shutong could only say, "It's my fault, it's my fault," and he turned around:
"Maybe we should just stop, we've already made seven." "Then let's stop here." Ruoping suppressed a laugh and pressed the pause button. "Come on, we're about to run out of slips of paper, let's finish this quickly."

Now Zhang Shutong regrets playing this game. Wouldn't it be better to use this time to study?
Who made the pen tip stop in front of him again?

"How are you going to spend Christmas, and with whom?"

"you."

Zhang Shutong also planned to make things quick.

"No, you can only give one name."

"It's hard to part with."

"You're cheating!"

Zhang Shutong wasn't really going back on his word. He had asked Gu Qiumian to help pick up and drop off Ruoping from school and promised to treat her to dinner, tentatively setting it for dinner first. He would definitely spend lunch with a few close friends.

Zhang Shutong knew that Ruoping had ill intentions from the beginning, so he grabbed a crumpled piece of paper.

"You select someone by spinning a pen and have them call your parents using your phone, but you're not allowed to speak the entire time."

Ruoping read it aloud, then she twirled her pen, the tip stopping in front of Lu Qinglian.

Zhang Shutong's eyelids twitched.

"My parents are working overtime."

Zhang Shutong refused without even thinking.

“I almost forgot,” Ruoping slapped her forehead, “Then you can draw another one.”

Zhang Shutong unfolded another crumpled piece of paper, on which was written:

“Select a person by spinning a pen and show them the first photo in the recycle bin.”

Zhang Shutong checked again.

He remembered taking photos of foxes in the tunnel on Sunday, but he deleted several because he couldn't find the right angle, so one of the photos in the recycle bin should be...

Zhang Shutong suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

—A selfie with Lu Qinglian.

They went straight after the man in front of the old house, forgetting to completely erase the photo.

Looking at Ruoping again, she blinked innocently:

"So what is it? Wait, Shutong, it can't be..."

Of course, it wasn't anything shady, but Lu Qinglian suddenly realized something. She turned her head and looked thoughtfully at the ceiling, as if talking to herself:

“Return, collect, station”.

Zhang Shutong handed over the phone with a chill running down his spine.

Lu Qinglian lowered her eyes and then looked away.

"So what is it?"

Ruoping asked curiously.

“These are photos of the fox I took in the tunnel last night,” she said casually.

"Oh."

No one noticed anything unusual.

Zhang Shutong felt his body hair radar working again. He looked towards Lu Qinglian's location, but she wasn't looking at him.

"Qingyi, it's you again!" Ruoping announced.

"Wait a minute, why wasn't I mentioned the whole time?" Du Kang belatedly wondered.

The question is:
When was the last time someone confessed their feelings to you?

"yesterday."

He said calmly and composedly.

"what?"

Not only Ruoping, but even Du Kang was astonished and opened his mouth wide.

"When did this happen? Damn, how come I didn't know..."

“It’s fake,” Zhang Shutong said casually. “I’ll expose it.”

"Yes, that's right, it's fake." Qingyi nodded, and under the increasingly puzzled gazes of the crowd, he asked again, "What are the requirements?"

“Draw a turtle on the back of your hand.”

"it is good."

Qingyi reached out and picked up the ballpoint pen from the table.

"Wait a minute..."

Ruoping instinctively cried out.

"what?"

Qingyi lowered his eyes and drew a circle on the back of his hand. He made a few strokes:

"Oh, out of ink, let's get a new one."

He casually took a pen from his pocket, finished drawing, and then placed it back on the table.

"continue."

"that……"

Ruoping panicked.

"I'll take the turn."

Zhang Shutong took the pen, and the two of them didn't give Ruoping any room to interrupt. Then, the pen stopped in front of Lu Qinglian.

He withdrew his hand with some regret. He had originally intended to turn to face Ruoping, but he still hadn't quite controlled the force.

However, this was enough to disrupt Ruoping's plans.

Lu Qinglian then picked up a piece of paper:
Aside from ordinary physical contact, what is your most intimate gesture with someone of the opposite sex?

There was no sound for a while.

Everyone instinctively held their breath.

This is indeed the most impactful question since the start of the game.

Besides, the object of his affections is Lu Qinglian.

Ruoping was also surprised.

It was a strange coincidence.

Zhang Shutong suddenly realized that he had felt Ruoping had ill intentions from the beginning, but he never expected that she was targeting him. And since last night, when her friend called and asked, "Are you and Zhang Shutong together?" her gossipy soul had started to burn.

Zhang Shutong felt inexplicably both amused and exasperated.

Looking at Lu Qinglian again, her expression remained unchanged. She parted her pink lips slightly:

"big Adventure."

This answer was expected by everyone. After all, Lu Qinglian didn't even have a single close friend, so how could she possibly engage in intimate behavior with a member of the opposite sex?

Before anyone could react, Lu Qinglian picked up a slip of paper that read:

"What gifts do you want for Christmas? How do you plan to spend it? What are your plans? Please write them down."

An unusual silence fell over the room as everyone waited for Lu Qinglian's answer. Only Zhang Shutong noticed that Lu Qinglian frowned. This was the first time Zhang Shutong had read an expression of frustration on her face. Indeed, she could have answered "no" to the truth, but Lu Qinglian's subconscious reaction was to take a risk.

Before Zhang Shutong could reach a conclusion, footsteps echoed down the corridor.

It turns out that Class 4 had disbanded.

(End of this chapter)