Winter Returns

Chapter 220 Important Things in Life (Part 2)
Zhang Shutong didn't quite understand, but that didn't stop him from turning a corner according to Gu Qiumian's instructions.

Now they are getting further and further away from populated areas, traveling under the stars and moon.

His bicycle had a speedometer mounted on the handlebars, and the small LCD screen displayed the time. Before he knew it, it was already past nine o'clock, which was not a good time. Even if her father was away on a business trip, Aunt Wu should still be worried.

Zhang Shutong told Gu Qiumian about this discovery, but she said that it was fine as long as she got home before ten o'clock.

"Does 10 o'clock have any special meaning?"

"Because the mall closes at 10 o'clock today, Aunt Wu will definitely think I'm going to play until closing time."

Zhang Shutong realized that he had underestimated Gu Qiumian. On the surface, she seemed willful and took a trip on a whim, but in reality, she had always had a plan in mind.

They were driving north of the island when they suddenly reached a certain point. Gu Qiumin called for a stop, and Zhang Shutong gripped the brakes, looking around, but there was nothing there. It was pitch black all around, and the tall grass, like undulating waves, submerged half of the car wheels.

What exactly do you want to see?

Gu Qiumian jumped off the car:

"It was nothing to begin with."

"What do you mean by 'there was nothing to begin with'?" Zhang Shutong was a little confused.

"I never said where I was going. You're just guessing."

Okay, looks like his job tonight is as a driver. In the bumper cars, and on the bicycle too.

"Shall I accompany you shopping?"

“No need.” Gu Qiumian shook her head. “I just want to find a quiet place to stay for a while. Wait for me.”

After she finished speaking, she closed her eyes, her thick eyelashes overlapping, as if she were making a wish to the moon.

Zhang Shutong watched her retreating figure, still unable to understand why Gu Qiumian had suddenly decided to have him show her around, only to find their destination was a deserted wasteland.

After a long while, Gu Qiumian quietly opened her eyes:
"All right."

They embarked on their return journey.

The final stop was naturally that villa. After riding for a short distance, Gu Qiumian asked him if he was cold. This time, Zhang Shutong understood what she meant and said that since he had brought her out, he would take her back.

That's what he was thinking during the avalanche. He brought Gu Qiu Mian out of the villa that time, but she fell asleep when she got back. Although he had no choice, Zhang Shutong could be stubborn sometimes, so he stopped Gu Qiu Mian from calling the driver, determined to make amends.

"But could you go home first?"

After a long pause, Zhang Shutong asked, quite embarrassingly.

Traveling from the north to the south of the island, even though the island is small and the autumn leaves are not very heavy, it was still quite tiring.

"Hmm?" Gu Qiumian drawled, looking at his face suspiciously. "What mischief are you thinking about?"

"Where did I get that?" Zhang Shutong protested.

"Then what are you going home for?"
“Change to a motorcycle,” Zhang Shutong said innocently. “Otherwise, it will take at least half an hour to get to your house.”

It takes 20 minutes to walk this stretch of road by bus, let alone by bike.

"What do you think it is?"

Gu Qiumian froze for a moment, then desperately poked his back with her fingers.

Zhang Shutong felt a little itchy from being poked, so he put one hand behind his back to block her hand, and the bicycle continued to ride crookedly all the way to the bottom of the building in the community.

Soon after, they were all dressed in thick cotton-padded coats, ready to set off on their motorcycles.

"Let's go."

Zhang Shutong gave a reminder, then twisted the accelerator and plunged into the night.

Now he habitually looks at everything with suspicion—his motorcycle key, which his mother had confiscated in case he went out and caused trouble, was left behind this time along with the house key.

Zhang Shutong suspected that this was a prop her mother had specially left for her, but she was going to be disappointed. In the end, the motorcycle didn't do anything earth-shattering; it simply took a girl home.

Zhang Shutong came to that villa once again.

The lights were still on in the villa. Just as he was about to turn the car around, Gu Qiumian stopped him with dissatisfaction: "Come in and have a glass of water. I've already told Aunt Wu."

Zhang Shutong found it hard to refuse, and soon after, under the woman's smiling gaze, he braced himself and entered the door. The place was bright and air-conditioned, with a comfortable warm breeze blowing from the central air conditioning; everything was just as familiar.

As soon as Gu Qiumian entered the house, she immediately went to the bathroom, trying her best to maintain the image of a young lady. In fact, she had been twisting her body from time to time on the motorcycle. Life is full of foreshadowing. Zhang Shutong thought, "You looked very dashing when you drank half a bottle of mineral water in one go not long ago, but what goes around comes around."

That's just how girls are. One second they're elegantly walking in high heels, holding your hand, but the moment they step inside the house, they reveal their true colors, kicking off their heels and plopping on the sofa like a sloth. After all, home is the warmest place.

Zhang Shutong waited in the living room. He took the hot tea that Aunt Wu had brewed, and even the cup was the same one he used before. In the past, Zhang Shutong knew this place better than his own home. Now, as he looked around the spacious living room, he suddenly felt that something was not quite right.

Isn't it too familiar?
Zhang Shutong belatedly realized that if it were any other time, there would be nothing wrong with it, but today is Christmas, shouldn't Gu Qiumian have decorated her house properly?
In his imagination, there should be a fir tree several times larger than the one in the classroom being laboriously carried into the living room by bodyguards dressed in black. No, even the stern-faced bodyguards would take off their black suits and put on festive red coats like Santa Claus. Zhang Shutong had no doubt that if the young lady had that kind of personality, he would see a live deer in the yard.

But today the villa was empty, everything was exactly as it was. The housekeeper, Aunt Wu, was a meticulous woman who had kept everything in perfect order. Zhang Shutong raised her eyelids slightly and noticed that even the tissue box on the coffee table hadn't changed its position.

Zhang Shutong used to think this was a palace building, but everything is relative. It used to be prosperous, warm and bright, but today it has suddenly become deserted, even though nothing has changed.

There was no music, no Christmas tree, no festive atmosphere whatsoever. Only Aunt Wu sat on the sofa opposite, her eyes crinkling as she asked:
"Where did you two go today? Did you have fun?"

Zhang Shutong said he was quite happy; the aunt was very kind. However, for some reason, he felt interrogated and became uneasy. Zhang Shutong changed the subject:

"There wasn't much decoration for Christmas this year?"

He guessed that in the past, when Gu Qiu Mian went on vacation, there was no need to decorate the villa. Now, although she spent Christmas on the island, the power of habit is strong, so she didn't pay much attention to the house.

"Didn't Mianmian tell you?" Aunt Wu asked, somewhat surprised. "We don't celebrate Christmas at home."

"But?" Zhang Shutong was taken aback. He thought to himself, "Hey, Auntie, you must be joking. I almost thought the timeline had changed again. If we don't celebrate Christmas, what's with the Christmas tree at school? And what's with that young lady wearing an apron tonight?"

He then realized that the other person had said "at home," not "Gu Qiu Mian." "Uncle doesn't like it?" Zhang Shutong asked tentatively.

Many people of my parents' generation are not used to celebrating Western holidays.

Aunt Wu shook her head and said nothing.

Zhang Shutong didn't press the matter since no one else was asking. He and Aunt Wu didn't have much to talk about, so he just sat there with blank faces waiting for Gu Qiumian to come back. Zhang Shutong turned his head and saw a long, rectangular box on the TV cabinet. It looked very familiar; it was the Christmas present he had given to Gu Qiumian.

How did it get here?
Zhang Shutong had a question: Had Gu Qiumian gone home? Didn't she meet up with her best friends right after school? Aunt Wu explained:

"I had the family driver bring it back at noon."

Zhang Shutong nodded.

Aunt Wu added:

"It must have been given to Mianmian by other children."

Zhang Shutong thought to herself, "The other children are right here."

"But she actually brought it back..." The woman was also a little puzzled. "I remember she hasn't received a gift in many years."

Zhang Shutong was puzzled again. How could this be? This is a young lady with excellent interpersonal relationships. Would she be worried about a gift?
He could instantly find many examples to prove it, such as someone giving Lu Qinglian a lot of apples and chocolates, and Ruoping also receiving many small gifts from friends. Gu Qiumian was no weaker than them, so she should have called the driver at noon to have a car specially brought to pick up the gifts.

But the truth is, when Zhang Shutong looked at the necklace box she had given him, it was just lying there all alone.

"Is this the only one?"

“You can ask Mianmian,” Aunt Wu teased him with a smile, then added, “But even if she accepted it, it must have been given to her by that little girl named Xu Zhiruo.”

Zhang Shutong thought to herself, "My mom will come back tomorrow and find out I've changed my name."

This reminded him that even if others didn't give him anything, Xu Zhiruo should have given him something too. But Zhang Shutong thought about it carefully and realized that he didn't. He then thought of other possibilities, such as that others gave him snacks, but Gu Qiumian didn't lack these things, so she immediately shared them with the other students in the class, just like she always treated her underlings.

But he saw Gu Qiu Mian twice today. Once was at noon, when she was all alone, and once was in the evening, when she had already left the school.

Besides, someone should always send something other than snacks, like Zhang Shutong.

Zhang Shutong remembered the Christmas tree at school. Gu Qiumian had asked her classmates to hang up the gifts they had prepared. When he was looking for clues in the notes, the gifts on the tree had been almost all taken. In other words, there were neither gifts that Gu Qiumian wanted to give nor gifts that were given to Gu Qiumian.

Also, I didn't see her take any chocolates or apples.

Zhang Shutong now realizes that something is wrong:

"Uh, why? I mean, is there some hidden story?"

Aunt Wu hesitated for a moment:
Has Mianmian said anything to you these past few days?

Zhang Shutong shook his head.

"Perhaps she didn't want to talk about it, so I didn't want to say too much," Aunt Wu said with some difficulty.

Zhang Shutong also felt that she was putting the other party in a difficult position. Although she treated Gu Qiumian like a daughter, Aunt Wu was ultimately a nanny, and she had to consider her words and actions more carefully.

"Is it just the two of you tonight?" the woman asked curiously.

It seems that every woman has a gossipy heart, regardless of age.

Zhang Shutong then recounted what had happened that day, and also complained to Aunt Wu about Gu Qiumian, saying that she was a bit malicious and had accepted his gift but insisted on saying she was too busy.

"Oh, actually, I was the one who gave that gift." Zhang Shutong accidentally let it slip and now honestly admitted it.

"I see." The woman said thoughtfully. "Then she must be very satisfied."

"Actually, I'm not very satisfied either," Zhang Shutong said helplessly. At this point, it wasn't a matter of who brought it over, but rather that the box hadn't even been opened. "Look, it's just lying on the TV cabinet."

“No,” the woman said earnestly. “Since she accepted it, she won’t be dissatisfied.”

"Maybe."

Yesterday was the anniversary of her mother's death.

“Oh…” Zhang Shutong was suddenly stunned. These words were like a bomb dropped into the water, exploding in silence and catching people off guard.

"Auntie shouldn't have said anything, but if it were you, she probably wouldn't have blamed you."

Zhang Shutong didn't know what to say.

He's starting to ramble:

"The anniversary of her death... is it Auntie's?"

"Yes, it was Christmas Eve."

"But why..." Zhang Shutong's mind was in turmoil. Why couldn't she see any clues? She seemed indifferent, and hadn't shown any sadness lately.

“Mianmian is a strong-willed girl,” Aunt Wu sighed softly. “Actually, it’s not that simple. Before she came to the island, she was quite withdrawn. On this day, she stayed at home and didn’t go anywhere. She wouldn’t come downstairs even when called for dinner. She would only show up at night with her eyes swollen from crying.”

"Oh……"

Zhang Shutong glanced subconsciously in the direction of the restroom, even nodding very gently, afraid of stirring up painful memories for her. He suddenly understood something:
"So you only leave the island every Christmas?"

"Yes. Mianmian's mother's grave is on the island. Besides, she had already been on the island for three years when she came here. So every year after paying her respects at the grave, President Gu would simply take her to travel around outside the island. That's right, the people around her know what's going on, but her friends don't."

The woman recalled:
"Mianmian made a lot of new friends on the island. It just so happened to be Christmas Eve, and of course her friends wanted to invite her out to play, go shopping, or have dinner. But what could she say? Actually, nothing she said would be appropriate. She couldn't just stay home and cry all day, could she? I guess that's what Mianmian was thinking. So, during her first year, she went out somewhat reluctantly. Of course, we encouraged her to go out and clear her head. She was better the second year, though your classmates probably couldn't tell. She was always happy."

"But this girl likes to keep many things to herself. Just because she doesn't say anything doesn't mean it hasn't happened. I don't know what you all think. You might think she's surrounded by a lot of people and must never have any worries, living a carefree life. But..."

Aunt Wu suddenly said:
"Making a lot of friends comes at a price."

(End of this chapter)