Winter Returns

Chapter 217 Christmas, Christmas! (Part 2)

The school warehouse gate was an old-fashioned iron gate, with a small gap between it and the cement ground. Zhang Shutong saw one end of the note at the joint.

Another note.

That must be a note, just like the one that was stuck on the chocolate not long ago, carefully cut, not some trash that was accidentally blown in by the wind.

He frowned.

Zhang Shutong picked up the note.

"Sorry, I'm too nervous. Can we talk somewhere else, in the classroom of Class 2, Grade 9?"

mischief?
Zhang Shutong flipped the note over to the other side and confirmed that it only contained this one sentence.

"anyone there?"

Zhang Shutong simply reached out and knocked on the warehouse door.

The iron gate thumped loudly, and after waiting for a moment, only the echoes reverberated across the playground.

Zhang Shutong took out his phone and shone it into the gap in the iron gate; it was pitch black inside.

He thought about it and realized that it seemed as if the other person had arrived at the warehouse early, whether to confess or something else, and then changed their mind while waiting.

If that's the case, Zhang Shutong would definitely turn around and go home without hesitation.

Even if he's free tonight, he doesn't have time to play a game of hide-and-seek with the other person.

But Zhang Shutong observed the edges of the paper strip and could tell that it was a clean cut left by a paper cutter, rather than being torn off from the notebook.

Who would carry around a bunch of pre-cut strips of paper while waiting for someone?
There is only one answer.

Perhaps that person never even came to the warehouse.

The other party had already placed the second note here.

Zhang Shutong glanced at the teaching building. He hadn't noticed if anyone from Class 2 was still there when he went downstairs.

Looking down from downstairs, the lights in the windows were off.

But why is it Class Two?

Well, whether it's a prank or something else, this time there should be some resolution.

He immediately made a judgment.

Zhang Shutong turned back to the teaching building. He walked up the steps, watching the students who passed him along the way.

After turning the corner of the stairs, he took a few steps up to the fourth floor.

It's so quiet here you could hear a pin drop.

Night was approaching, the sun was about to set, and his long shadow stretched across the empty corridor.

Zhang Shutong pushed open the front door of Class Two, and with a click, his fingers touched the familiar touch of the switch.

Another note.

"The message I want to tell you is hidden inside the Christmas tree."

Zhang Shutong looked up at the fir tree on the back wall of the classroom.

It was decorated beautifully in the morning, but now it looks lonely. Almost all the gifts hanging on the tree have been taken away. It was Gu Qiu Mian's idea—she had the students hang the gifts on the branches and write the names of the people they wanted to give them to, turning it into a tacitly understood game full of hope.

Perhaps someone prepared a gift for him? But he didn't come to pick it up all day?
Zhang Shutong was in Class 1 and hadn't even considered the Christmas tree.

He turned the note over.

"—When the stars twinkle."

A meaningless sentence.

Does that mean we have to wait until dusk and the stars rise?
Zhang Shutong, however, subconsciously looked at the star-shaped light on top of the Christmas tree.

Now that everyone has left, the tree trunk is empty, and it has naturally died out.

He pulled over a chair, stood on it, turned on his flashlight, and searched carefully, but there was nothing on the treetop.

Zhang Shutong returned to the ground. There were still four or five gifts hanging on the tree branch. He glanced at the name cards on them, but none of them were names he recognized. It seemed that what the other party wanted him to find was not the lost gifts.

What is it?
When the stars twinkle...

His gaze lingered on the electrical outlet on the back wall of the classroom.

The star-shaped lamp, as well as the light strips that wrap around the entire tree, all need to be powered to light up.

Zhang Shutong found the tangled wire in the tree branch, and sure enough, there was a note stuck to the plug:
"Go to the school gate."

back:

"A long-forgotten story."

Zhang Shutong became slightly interested.

Even if it was a prank, at least it wasn't a really bad game.

He simply slung his backpack over his shoulder and zipped his jacket all the way up. When Zhang Shutong arrived at the school gate, he was pondering where the clues were hidden this time when he suddenly saw a familiar figure from behind.

"Wait a moment."

His back stiffened, he pretended not to hear, and continued marching forward.

"I'll tell Teacher Xu about your coming to deliver chocolates on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year tomorrow," Zhang Shutong said expressionlessly.

"Wow, senior!" Xu Zhiruo turned her head and forced a smile. "We meet again?"

"See you tomorrow, in the office." Zhang Shutong had recently learned how to threaten people from Lu Qinglian.

"Hey, what kind of skill is it to bully a junior girl!" She leaned closer pitifully, "No, that's really not okay..."

Zhang Shutong thought to himself, "You're the one who's bullying me."

Let's not talk about it anymore. Now that things have come to this, he's pretty much figured out why Gu Qiumian didn't have a nice expression.

He waved the note. "You're behind this?"

"Ah, what?"

Zhang Shutong stared at her for a few seconds, then saw Xu Zhiruo blink in confusion and ask:

"What are you doing here?"

There was only the girl at the school gate.

"I'm waiting for the bus."

"Waiting for the bus?"

"Yeah, we'll meet at the restaurant later, the one we went to last time. We had already booked everyone, but someone else said they wanted to come too. Qiu Mian's car couldn't fit, so I volunteered to stay," Xu Zhiruo said, breathing on her hands to warm them. "I'm freezing."

"The note has nothing to do with you?"

"What note? Oh right, senior, I haven't asked you why you left so late..." Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly shut her mouth awkwardly, "Um, I'm so sorry about that, senior."

Xu Zhiruo lowered her head in dejection:

"sorry."

"Where is she now?"

I left after school.

Zhang Shutong nodded, his expression largely unchanged.

"Alright, I'm not blaming you. Go and have fun with your classmates."

In the darkness, Gu Qiumian's black sedan could already be seen approaching.

"I……"

Xu Zhiruo wanted to say something more, but Zhang Shutong had already waved. She opened the car door and called out from afar, "Merry Christmas!"

Zhang Shutong watched the car drive away quietly.

He tore a piece of tape off the school's electric sliding gate; a piece of paper was stuck underneath it.

Zhang Shutong lowered his head:

Who gives you chocolates every Christmas?

He shook his head; so this was what he meant by the so-called "sealed-away past."

back:

"Next stop—Around the world in eighty days."

This time, the location of the note was still not explicitly stated.

Zhang Shutong treated it as a riddle.

If I remember correctly, "Around the World in Eighty Days" is the title of a book by the French novelist Jules Verne, whose most famous work is "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea".

Eighty days, around the world.

Zhang Shutong rushed toward the bus stop without stopping.

There is only one bus route on the island, which happens to circle the island. In a sense, the title of the book is just right. It's a pity that the route doesn't have as many as eighty stops, but there are still eight stops.

Zhang Shutong was also planning to take the bus home tonight. His home was on the east side, and if he started from the school, he should arrive at the western part of the island after eight stops.

It was six o'clock in the evening.

There weren't many people on the bus today. He found a window seat and watched as the bus traveled through the city. After school, he could see young boys and girls scattered in every corner of the island.

This was the first time he had ever seen so many students at the school.

It's time to think about this. Zhang Shutong closed his eyes and suddenly felt incredibly stupid. In reality, he had no interest in who sent the chocolates. Normally, he would never run around for a few seemingly mysterious but boring notes. But today was just so boring.

He saw several students passing by through the high car window, strolling around the street with candied hawthorns in their hands. These were his juniors, who, of course, also had their own good friends and buddies. Just like they used to be, they had nothing to do but get together and were happy.

Zhang Shutong couldn't hear the voices on the other side of the glass, but they must be discussing where to go tonight. Yes, it's all about killing time anyway, so everyone is pretty much the same.

He counted the number of stops in his mind. In fact, he always had a question when he encountered this kind of numerical problem - if he got off after eight stops - should he include the starting stop?
Zhang Shutong got off the train at the eighth stop. The setting sun fell on the huge lake. At this moment, the rippling water seemed to swallow the setting sun. Looking into the distance, the whole world was dyed a dim orange, like a burnt-out torch.

Now he has come to the western suburbs of the island.

This place is very close to the "restricted area." Zhang Shutong hadn't been here for a long time. A gust of cold wind blew by, and half of his originally carefree mood disappeared.

If he were just wandering around the school, he could simply treat it as an annoying prank. But now, his view was desolate, and at least on the surface, this place had no connection to the contents of the note.

He looked around and, in the dim light of dusk, found no one else. After thinking for a moment, Zhang Shutong reached behind the bus stop sign.

Sure enough, it was another note.

"Take ten steps east, then twenty steps north, and the final answer lies within."

Zhang Shutong first looked around to get a general idea of ​​the location, which turned out to be a tall clump of reeds, swaying in the cold wind.

He hesitated for a moment and did not go over immediately. Judging by the worst-case scenario, if the other party was just trying to ambush him, there was no need to make up such a lame excuse, let alone hide in the reeds. What he meant was that Zhang Shutong felt cold for him.

Theoretically, there is no danger.

But theory is just theory.

Zhang Shutong leaned against the bus stop sign and made a phone call.

"What?" A few seconds later, Lu Qinglian's melodious voice rang out.

"Is this convenient?" Zhang Shutong asked, taking in his surroundings. "There's something I'd like to ask you."

"Zhang Shutong, you'd better explain what it is before asking others for help."

“It’s like this…” Zhang Shutong briefly recounted what happened after school. “At first, I thought it was a prank, but it escalated to this point, and I even began to doubt whether the other person was a student.”

"Such a boring reason." She thought for a moment.

“Yeah, it’s a really silly prank.” “No, I was talking about you.” Lu Qinglian said calmly, “If you’re feeling lonely because of a note that looks like a confession, I would suggest you go home and do your homework.”

The issue isn't about whether or not to do homework now. Zhang Shutong looked at the reeds not far away:
"If you have time, would you like to come and take a look?"

"How are you now?" Lu Qinglian interrupted.

"Nothing's wrong, I'm fine..."

"Are there people around?" It seems the question wasn't about his mood.

"No."

"Will it be dangerous?"

"nor."

What was found in the reeds?

"I haven't had a chance to go see it yet."

Finally, Lu Qinglian sighed:
"So, you called me without anything happening?"

"more or less."

"It seems you're really lonely."

Zhang Shutong had no choice but to say:

"I just think it's better to be careful."

"If you were really careful, you shouldn't have taken the bus in the first place, and it's not too late to leave now."

"What if we miss an important clue?"

It's no wonder Zhang Shutong thought this way. He dared not leave the obvious suspicions unresolved, yet he was also worried about unforeseen circumstances that one person couldn't handle. So he resorted to his old tricks:

“Lu Qinglian, considering we’re still working together, how about…”

"You mean, in order to help you find a girl who has a crush on you, I need to come down from the mountain and go to the restricted area to find you now?" Lu Qinglian said calmly. "Zhang Shutong, even if we're cooperating, it doesn't include such trivial matters. You should learn to handle things on your own. Besides, we can talk about these things tomorrow. By the way, just so you know, there's only one bus left at this time."

Zhang Shutong choked for a moment.

Lu Qinglian then spoke directly:
"go home."

After saying that, she hung up the phone.

He looked at his phone and sighed, admitting that Lu Qinglian was right. Everyone has their own things to do and can't revolve around him all day. Besides, how could he call someone for help every time something happened? He wasn't like this before.

Zhang Shutong rubbed his face, which was frozen by the wind. In the end, one has to rely on oneself. He checked again to make sure no one was around, and even picked up a stone from the ground.

Zhang Shutong slowly approached the reeds and first threw a stone into them. He waited for two seconds, and the only response was the rustling of the reeds. Without further hesitation, Zhang Shutong turned on his flashlight and started walking.

The bus stop was located on the main road, while the reeds were right next to the lake shore. There was a difference in elevation between the main road and the lake shore. Zhang Shutong walked down the slope in a few steps and soon found a piece of paper at the edge of the reeds.

This time it wasn't a note, but an ordinary A4 sheet of paper, which was lying on the ground with a stone on top of it. Zhang Shutong didn't bend down rashly. He first kicked the stone away with the tip of his shoe. The wind blew, and a corner of the A4 sheet of paper was lifted. Zhang Shutong grabbed it in his hand.

"The person who gave you the chocolate..."

There was only one sentence written on the entire sheet of white paper. Zhang Shutong reflexively turned around, fearing that the back might say "It's me," and that a figure would suddenly appear behind him. But none of these scenarios occurred. He flipped the paper over—

"In fact, I do not know."

Zhang Shutong opened his mouth in astonishment, unsure whether to laugh or be angry. His feelings were truly complicated. He swore, something he hadn't done in a long time, even though he could roughly guess what the outcome would be—since it was a prank, how could he really expect the other party to release any bombshells?
From another perspective, it would be truly chilling if someone deliberately lured you away from school just to drop a bombshell.

Before seeing the contents of that piece of paper, he had even thought that there was a fox statue hidden there.

But the game is over now.

He should have breathed a sigh of relief, put the game out of his mind, and listened to Lu Qinglian and rushed home. But when Zhang Shutong came to his senses, he realized that the white paper in his hand had been crumpled into a ball and had floated lightly to the ground.

He bent down to pick it up, but just then a gust of wind blew by, and the paper ball rolled into the reeds. Zhang Shutong thought to himself, why is even a gust of wind picking on me? Of course, he couldn't chase after it. He just took out all the paper strips from his pocket, tore them into pieces, crumpled them into balls, and threw them into the reeds one by one.

The last piece of paper was torn from behind the bus stop sign.

It says
"...The final answer is hidden inside."

His Adam's apple bobbed as he realized his heart had suddenly skipped a beat.

in……

Perhaps it means that the blank sheet of paper one sees is not actually the "final" answer?

Zhang Shutong simply parted the reeds and shone his phone along the way. Before he could find anything, he almost tripped. Zhang Shutong squatted down and saw that there was an upside-down wine bottle stuck in the ground. If you didn't look closely, you would mistake it for the bare root of a reed in the dark.

This kind of thing is not commonly seen on the shores of lakes in the suburbs.

Moreover, the bottle wasn't just thrown on the ground; it was stuck straight in the soil. Rather than someone littering, its presence was more like a landmark.

Zhang Shutong pulled out the bottle. The bottle was made of green glass, and the wrapping paper had long been torn off. He turned the bottle upside down and looked at the mouth of the bottle, where there was a stopper.

Zhang Shutong tried to remove the cork, but the top of the cork was almost flush with the bottle opening and was extremely tight. Zhang Shutong fiddled with it for a long time but couldn't get it off. He found a stone and smashed it hard, and the bottle shattered with a crash.

Amidst the shards of glass scattered on the ground, Zhang Shutong carefully pinched out a rolled-up piece of paper.

Another piece of paper...

He thought, “Don’t say I’ll take ten more steps forward,” because taking ten more steps would mean I’d really be in the lake.

He examined the contents of the scroll under the flashlight, but this time there were no words, only graffiti.

It looks like a child's random drawing, an irregular circle with a dot of black ink on the left side of the circle.

Zhang Shutong examined the scroll from side to side, looking at the ground and then at the scroll in his hand. A broken wine bottle and a strange graffiti seemed to be the final spoils of this game.

What followed was even more confusion: What did it mean? Was it a reward for finding a treasure map? But who knew where this was? And if they actually dug up a treasure chest, there would be another piece of paper inside.

When Zhang Shutong looked up, the setting sun had completely disappeared.

The sound of an engine running came from behind him; the last bus was about to stop, and it was time for him to go back.

December 25th, Christmas Eve arrived.

Zhang Shutong subconsciously turned around and could see the city lights in the distance, while he was standing alone in a wasteland.

Suddenly, he lost interest. There was no point in thinking about the prank anymore. No matter who the other person was or what they wanted him to see, the reasons behind it might be important or not. Now that he had the final "answer," just like Lu Qinglian said, he could think about the rest tomorrow.

He doesn't want to think about anything unnecessary right now.

Zhang Shutong, carrying his schoolbag, looked around the island from the car window. It was dark all around, so he couldn't see anything. But what else could he do besides look around?
He closed his eyes to rest for a while, but his stomach suddenly started growling with hunger. Zhang Shutong then realized that he hadn't eaten yet, his parents had gone to the island for Christmas, and he was all alone at home again.

This means I'll have to take care of my own dinner.

However, Zhang Shutong is not good at cooking, so if she gets off the bus to eat halfway, she will have to walk the rest of the way back.

But Zhang Shutong had walked enough today and didn't really want to walk anymore. Now he just wanted to lazily stay on the air-conditioned bus and ride all the way to his doorstep. Although no one was home, the heating was on, and there was water and electricity, making it convenient to boil an egg or cook a bowl of noodles.

His phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket. He quickly pulled it out; it was a call from his mother.
"Hey, Tongtong, hey, can you hear me?" It's very noisy on my mom's end, like she's in a restaurant.

"can hear."

"We're queuing up at the restaurant entrance. You have no idea how crowded the mall is today. Your dad and I have been waiting for an hour. Your dad went to buy water, so I'm the only one left waiting. Waiting and waiting, ah, I'm starving!" Mom grumbled unhappily. "How was your trip? Did you give your gift?"

Zhang Shutong was stunned for a moment:
"...They've almost been sent out."

Mom didn't catch the hidden meaning in his words and excitedly said:

"That's good. Did you scare them by preparing for so long?"

"Right, being startled counts as being startled," Zhang Shutong thought to himself.

Have you eaten?

Thank goodness, they still remember they have a son:
"No, I'm about to eat."

Zhang Shutong answered absentmindedly.

Where are you planning to eat tonight?

"It's not decided yet."

Zhang Shutong was still undecided and was torn between eating dried noodles or instant noodles.

"It's pretty noisy over there too. Are you in a shopping mall?"

Actually, it's the bus's voice announcement.

Zhang Shutong is pretending to be busy; his mother is the one who's truly busy.

"It's almost turned upside down here too! I just saw a couple of students, about your age, walking hand in hand in the street, and I suddenly wanted to ask how things are going over there..."

I think I heard my dad's voice on the other end of the phone, and then my mom went to talk to him, reminding him before leaving:
Have fun, hold hands if you want!

The call was abruptly ended.

Zhang Shutong glanced at the empty seat next to him, gave it a perfunctory handshake as a gesture of goodwill.

He wanted to look at the night view outside the window for a while longer, but another message popped up.

The senior asked:
"So, has the necklace been given out yet?"

"It was sent out at noon."

"I hope it goes smoothly." You could see Su Yunzhi smiling through the screen. "I suddenly remembered that the necklace was purchased with a membership card, but you don't have one. What if it's discovered that something's not right? It wouldn't be good if people misunderstood it as a gift I helped pick out."

Zhang Shutong typed a string of words, thought about it, and then deleted it.

No wonder his senior told him "don't get caught." Zhang Shutong didn't understand what she meant at the time, and by the time he realized it, it was Christmas Eve.

My senior sent me another message:
"I'm out having fun with friends, I'll talk to you later, bye."

Zhang Shutong replied with a goodbye.

Suddenly he seemed to get busy, with phone calls and QQ messages coming in one after another. When he looked up, the gate of the residential area was already in front of him.

Zhang Shutong jumped out of the car, and the heat he had accumulated on his body was instantly carried away by the cold wind, just like a cell phone that had been ringing non-stop not long ago suddenly went silent; it was all just an illusion.

He strolled home, feeling that the world was really big. Everyone, both on and off the island, was having a lively evening. Even those who weren't having such a lively evening had their own things to do.

He felt he hadn't finished his work, so in a moment of impulsiveness, he rushed out of the classroom for a note with a wicked twist.

"Well," he thought, "it's time to end this. I've already given out the gifts. The four gifts for my best friends were given last weekend, Gu Qiu Mian's was given this afternoon, and although Lu Qing Lian didn't back down at all, she at least accepted her 'peace apple,' so I guess that counts as giving her a gift too."

Although there were many unexpected incidents along the way when delivering these Christmas gifts, they were eventually delivered, and the results were not much different from his initial expectations.

This was Christmas 2012, a memorable one. He got home a full twenty minutes later than usual. He looked up in the direction of his house and saw that the living room window was dark. He knew that soon when he opened the bedroom door, he would be greeted by a cold and deserted living room.

Zhang Shutong is already used to it.

He stood downstairs for a while, took out his house key, and, too lazy to turn on the motion-activated light, slowly went upstairs in the dark.

Zhang Shutong inserted the key into the lock and pushed open the door.

Wearing an apron, Gu Qiumian seemed to sense something and turned her face, subconsciously looking into his eyes.

She was holding an iron plate in her hand, on which seemed to be freshly baked pies, steaming hot.

In the rising steam, someone said:

"Where did you lure Shutong to? I only asked him to come back ten minutes or so, but he hasn't returned yet after twenty minutes?"

"Did he miss the bus...?"

"I knew I shouldn't have lied so far away..."

"Wait, wait, wait! The door is open—"

In the brightly lit living room, he pushed open the door from the cold darkness and saw four smiling faces. How did they get their own keys? The light was so bright he could hardly open his eyes.

All he heard was enthusiastic cheers around him:

"Merry Christmas!"

(End of this chapter)