Winter Returns

Chapter 216 Christmas, Christmas! (Part 1)

When Zhang Shutong ran to the door of Class 1, he found that everyone in the grade was gathered in Class 2.

It turned out that everyone had crowded over to see the Christmas tree that Gu Qiumian had brought.

After all, it is unique in the entire school.

The Christmas tree is adorned with a dazzling array of gifts today.

"Wow, it feels exactly the same as the ones in the mall..." someone exclaimed. They were referring to the star-shaped light on the treetop.

"I put that up myself; it took a lot of effort," Zhang Shutong added to himself.

He glanced into Class Two from the periphery of the crowd but didn't see Gu Qiu Mian. These past few days, Zhang Shutong had been running to school, leaving very early, often a little earlier than Gu Qiu Mian.

Zhang Shutong turned around and went back to the classroom.

Today he found Lu Qinglian in the pile of chocolates.

"But there are really too many," Zhang Shutong thought to herself. Yesterday, the influence of the apples was only on her desk, but today they seem to be spreading to her entire desk.

Zhang Shutong has never quite understood when the custom of Christmas chocolates was introduced to China; it seems to have become popular overnight.

He had no idea that giving chocolates was a popular practice at school.

"morning."

He nodded to Lu Qinglian.

"For you."

Lu Qinglian was reading a book when she heard this and tapped her desk with her long, slender fingers.

"For me?" Zhang Shutong almost doubted that he had heard correctly.

"It was like this before I came here."

Most of them were Dove chocolate bars, with a few scattered gift boxes and even a few gold coin chocolates, now scattered on the desks, dazzling the eye.

Zhang Shutong's mind was also a bit confused. Had something like this ever happened at Christmas before?

He had received chocolates from strangers before at Christmas, but they were usually found unexpectedly in his desk drawer when he was packing his schoolbag at school, and he never knew who had given them to him.

He would usually share the food with a few close friends, while silently thanking one or more unknown classmates in his heart.

Today, Zhang Shutong decided to imitate Lu Qinglian's actions. He gathered the chocolates in his arms and piled them all on the podium. Sure enough, the podium was already covered with a pile of unclaimed chocolates.

"Zhang Shutong, you are so heartless."

Someone was wiping the blackboard and making a joke.

It was the girl in the seat in front of me, the discipline committee member, Wei Chenchen.

"I didn't expect there to be so many."

“You’re quite the celebrity at school now, that’s normal,” Wei Chenchen said. “You were too low-key before, so not many people noticed that there was such a person in our class. Recently, you caught poachers, there was an avalanche, and you even changed classes recently. You and Lu received the most chocolates.”

Zhang Shutong nodded in realization.

"Maybe the one I sent is in there too," the girl said with a sidelong glance. "What a waste of money."

"Merry Christmas," Zhang Shutong said with a smile.

Many things have changed now.

Zhang Shutong is also adapting to these changes. For example, he had never given anyone a gift on Christmas Day before, but now he has. Or, he had never eaten imported chocolate on this day before, but he did today.

"Senior," a girl said politely, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

Xu Zhiruo placed a box of chocolates in front of him:
"Don't misunderstand, it was delivered on behalf of someone else."

As expected of a young lady from a wealthy family, Zhang Shutong thought to herself, even having a secretary to deliver chocolates for her. Zhang Shutong noticed that she was carrying a large plastic bag, which must have contained quite a lot of chocolates.

Zhang Shutong tore open a piece of chocolate and put it in his mouth. The slightly bitter taste spread on his tongue. He stuffed the rest into his pocket because he had a lunch gathering. His schedule was really full today. After lunch, he had to go to class. In the afternoon, he had a monthly English test. After school, he had to rush to the restaurant with the young lady and wouldn't get home until very late.

By the way, is it necessary to reciprocate after receiving chocolates?

After a while, Zhang Shutong rubbed his face. The environment really has a big impact on people; he had actually started to think about this kind of thing.

The school bell rang at noon, and after most of the students had left, Zhang Shutong carried a bag to the entrance of Class 2.

It was rare to hear any chorus today, because Gu Qiumian was very busy. She was going to lunch with a group of people. Everyone usually has their own circle of friends. For example, Zhang Shutong also made plans with her best friends for lunch—they had already gone to the restaurant ahead of her.

When I saw her, Gu Qiumian was talking to Xu Zhiruo with her arms crossed:

"Everyone's been arranged?"

"Alright, that's exactly one table. I checked this morning, exactly eighteen people, no more, no less, but..." the secretary hesitated for a moment, "I counted one extra person. Is he coming?"

The girl secretly pointed her finger at Zhang Shutong, who was standing at the door.

Gu Qiumian then shifted her gaze.

"He..."

Despite her busy schedule, Gu Qiumian met with Zhang Shutong.

"You go first."

After speaking to Xu Zhiruo, she asked from afar:
"Is the chocolate delicious?"

Zhang Shutong nodded, about to say a few words about the chocolate from that morning, when Gu Qiumian suddenly reached out her hand:

"What about mine?"

Zhang Shutong thought to herself that something was off. Shouldn't she blink and ask her what was wrong?
Unfortunately, by the time she realized something was wrong, it was too late; Xu Zhiruo had already slipped away.

When she left, she made sure to close the door behind her. Only the two of them remained in the classroom. The heating was on, and she wasn't wearing a coat, just a plaid wool cardigan over her white shirt. The midday sun shone on her beautiful face, making it impossible to look away.

The girl in front of him had snow-white skin and rosy lips. A strand of her long hair fell into her arm. Gu Qiu Mian leaned against the window, and the sunlight made her body silhouette warmer than ever before, but there was not much warmth in her bright eyes.

Zhang Shutong thought to himself that this was really bad; his intuition was always very accurate.
"...I forgot to buy it."

It's more accurate to say that he simply didn't have the concept of giving chocolates as gifts.

However, Zhang Shutong was quite confident today. He hid the box containing the necklace behind his back and asked:
Are you free tonight?

"what?"

I'd like to invite you to dinner.

"Who are they?" she asked crisply.

"Just the two of us."

"What to eat?"

"You choose."

What if you don't have enough money?

"I took out all my New Year's money."

She never said whether she would go or not, as if Zhang Shutong had only passed the first hurdle:
"Zhiruo just asked if you're going to lunch."

"I'll postpone it; I have plans with my friends."

"Then what do you want from me?"

"A gift." Zhang Shutong knew it was time to say those two words, and surprisingly felt a little nervous. He handed the plastic bag to Gu Qiumian, but couldn't say anything more. "Um... Merry Christmas."

Zhang Shutong stared into Gu Qiumian's eyes, waiting for her reaction.

She finally broke into a smile:

"You bought it for me?"

"Of course."

"What is it?"

"Surprise, see for yourself."

Despite his nonchalant tone, Zhang Shutong was forced to think that something was definitely not right. Shouldn't Qiu Yumian have snatched the plastic bag to take a closer look? Why was she still holding back with her arms crossed?

Zhang Shutong wondered if she thought it was just an ordinary little item, since he was only carrying a red plastic bag. Feeling that it had a festive feel, Zhang Shutong took out the long, rectangular box:

“The necklace, the one you used to always buy from that bookstore, I think…” he said carefully, “you’ll like it.”

Gu Qiumian snatched the box away without saying a word:
"The one in the city?"

"Hmm." "When did you leave the island?" she asked with a smile. "How come I didn't notice?"

"I prepared it secretly." Zhang Shutong thought, "There's no way you'd find out."

"The box is quite nice."

"As long as you like it..."

"Why is there a long hair on it?"

Gu Qiumian suddenly narrowed her eyes.

Zhang Shutong was stunned. He wondered where the hair came from, especially long hair. He'd kept the necklace in his desk drawer the day he got it from his senior. Could his mother have secretly taken it out to look at it? But that didn't make sense; she never entered his room without permission…

"How could this be?" Zhang Shutong swallowed hard. "Is it your hair?"

"Oh, maybe I'm seeing things." Gu Qiumian examined the box.

Zhang Shutong breathed a sigh of relief:
"You can open it and take a look; the style should be to your liking..."

"There seems to be a perfume scent too?" She suddenly wrinkled her nose.

"..."

Zhang Shutong opened his eyes. He wasn't very sensitive to smells, but he could still tell if someone was wearing perfume.

"Have it?"

"This is a limited edition." But Gu Qiu Mian had already ended the topic.

Zhang Shutong nodded. Of course, it had to be a limited edition. To put it bluntly, the money spent on her gift alone was equivalent to that of the other five. Zhang Shutong was overwhelmed with choices, and in the end, she really didn't know what would satisfy her, so she had no choice but to buy the most expensive one.

A price that hovers around the limit of his wallet, a bookstore she likes to go to, and a four-leaf clover design that she likes—after much consideration, he figured that these three things combined would be enough to satisfy even the most picky young lady.

But right now, they've really suffered a setback.

"I seem to remember that limited edition items require a special membership card to purchase," Gu Qiumian asked疑惑地, "Do you still have that store's membership card?"

"without……"

"Ok?"

"I mean, actually a friend brought it over for me..."

"friend?"

"It's the friend I told you about the other day..."

"How could Ke Zhiruo tell me that you called her 'senior sister'?"

Alarm bells rang in Zhang Shutong's mind as he finally realized the problem. Even he couldn't help but grit his teeth, thinking to himself, "Junior, are you not going to let your senior get away with this?"

"She is indeed a year ahead of me..."

"So you asked someone to help you buy a gift?" She still liked to use interjections, her face smiling, but with a dangerous aura about her.

“She happened to be on the island that day,” Zhang Shutong instinctively defended herself.

"By the way, what did you just ask me?"

"Take it apart and take a look..."

"The first question after we meet."

"Oh, are you free tonight?"

"No time."

She decisively lowered her arm.

A fragrant breeze brushed past her, and Gu Qiumian had already left.

Zhang Shutong snapped out of her daze and hurriedly called out, "Are you really not going to dinner tonight?" Gu Qiumian replied that she already had plans, and her figure disappeared from the doorway in an instant.

Zhang Shutong froze for two seconds, standing in the empty classroom. The sunlight was dazzling. He raised his hand to shield his eyes, feeling that he had messed up something again.

Zhang Shutong could never figure out Gu Qiumian's thoughts.

Ruoping called to say they had already ordered the food and asked him to hurry over. He sighed, quickly left the classroom, and when he reached the corner of the stairs, Zhang Shutong slapped his forehead and went back into the classroom to put on his coat.

When he jogged to the restaurant, everyone was already seated around the table. Ruoping was whispering to Lu Qinglian, Qingyi was muttering to himself about the lines of the play, and Du Kang rushed in from outside like a gust of wind, carrying two large bottles of drinks.

"It's a holiday today, let's have some baijiu (Chinese liquor)," Ruoping said heartily.

Sprite was poured into everyone's glasses, and soon the dishes were served. This restaurant was recommended by Ruoping a long time ago, but Zhang Shutong felt that the food tasted just average.

They toasted each other, and as they sat down, Ruoping, resting her chin on her hand, asked:

Are you free tonight?

Zhang Shutong instinctively wanted to decline, but then he remembered that he was actually free again that evening. His schedule was supposed to be very full. He had even thought that after dinner, Gu Qiumian would definitely drag him to the mall to wander around. It was the liveliest place, with all sorts of activities. He would have to carry her bags while he played around, and he would probably be exhausted by the end of the night. Zhang Shutong had long been rested and prepared, but now he suddenly had free time.

He was about to ask the others if they wanted to go shopping at the mall together, but Du Kang was the first to raise his hand:

"Let me make this clear first, I can't do it. There are too many people today, and I need to stay at the restaurant tonight to help out."

"I can't either," Qingyi shook her head. "My family is having a family gathering, and my parents said that tonight is the only time I can't go out."

"Actually, I'm not free either," Ruoping said at this point. "I made plans to go shopping with some friends, so I just told you in advance."

There's no need to elaborate on Lu Qinglian's situation.

It turns out everyone had plans for the evening.

So they ate their meal with great enthusiasm, not for the brief reunion and farewell, but to celebrate the even busier evening ahead.

The afternoon passed quickly, and the school bell finally rang. The students around him scattered in a flurry. Zhang Shutong stretched and was about to get up when a clear, crisp voice rang in his ear:

"Zhang Shutong, can you do me a favor?"

"what happened?"

"Come with me to the office and bring back the monthly test papers."

Zhang Shutong nodded and left the classroom with Lu Qinglian.

The results of the monthly test have been released. Zhang Shutong actually got a grammar question wrong, ranking low in the rankings. It was a really silly mistake that he shouldn't have made.

In the bustling corridor, everyone looked excited, even the students on duty were playing around with brooms and erasers, except for two people.

Lu Qinglian said calmly:

Looks like you're having a bad day.

Zhang Shutong glanced at the ceiling, understood the unspoken meaning, but wasn't in the mood to say anything more, only responding with a murmur.

They carried the homework back to the teacher's desk, where all the chocolates had been taken.

Zhang Shutong was a little slower today, unlike before when she would tidy up everything before school ended.

Therefore, when Lu Qinglian left the classroom with the crowd, he returned to his desk and continued packing his schoolbag.

He was the only one left in the classroom. Since he had no plans for Christmas Eve, Zhang Shutong suddenly thought that going home to do his homework wouldn't be bad.

He pulled out his workbook, and a chocolate bar fell to the ground with a thud.

Zhang Shutong bent down and picked it up. There was a note stuck to the chocolate. Zhang Shutong thought it was a confession, but after glancing at it, he paused.

"Merry Christmas. Please come to the warehouse after school. I have something very important to tell you. Please make sure you do."

He was puzzled. Putting aside what he wanted to talk about, when did this chocolate appear? It couldn't have slipped through the net this morning, because he had tidied his desk during his morning reading. So, when was it placed there, and by whom?
Zhang Shutong looked up. The surroundings were empty. The sky had darkened. Through the window, he could see students chasing each other in the campus below.

"Please," he thought idly as he picked up his schoolbag. "What era are we living in? Why are they still doing this? Can't they just say what they mean?"

Zhang Shutong turned off the lights, and in the pitch black, he quickly left the teaching building and headed towards the warehouse.

For the sake of the chocolate, and since I have nothing else to do tonight, I might as well go and take a look; it's only polite of me.

Zhang Shutong walked to the warehouse. There was no one around. He slung his backpack over his shoulder with one hand, picked up his phone with the other, glanced at it, and then put it back in his pocket.

If it's a confession of love, then just reject it cleanly and decisively.

He was only prepared to wait three minutes. If no one arrived after three minutes, he would leave without looking back, no matter who it was.

Time ticked by in the night, and Zhang Shutong suddenly frowned, not because the person he was waiting for hadn't arrived yet.

But just now, when he inadvertently looked down and stared at his toes, he found another note in front of the warehouse door.

(End of this chapter)