Winter Returns

Chapter 222 The Library is Where We Met
Wu Shengyu sat by the library window, holding a collection of modern poems and reading.

He was the class monitor of Class 1 and also the person in charge of the New Year's Day program. Class 1's program was a modern poetry recitation, and compared with other classes, the time allotted for one poem was too short.

Therefore, there are two songs.

One of the songs has already been chosen and is currently in rehearsals; the other song is yet to be determined.

He was the class monitor and desperately wanted his class's program to be unique and stand out in the whole school. In fact, all the class monitors were secretly putting in their best efforts, just waiting to compete on the day of the gala. But poetry recitation was an old-fashioned thing, and all the hard work was just to raise it from a negative score to a zero score.

Nowadays, the phrase "facing the sea, with spring flowers blooming" is not a particularly novel expression. He liked Xu Zhimo's love poems very much, but unfortunately, his homeroom teacher did not.

From any perspective, this is a thankless and arduous job, but these past few days, whenever he has free time, he still sits in the library, punctual and in his seat. It's not that he has a deep love for this job, but rather that Wu Shengyu's gaze has been constantly drawn to a young girl.

The girl named Lu Qinglian is the class's academic representative, the top student in the grade, the temple keeper on the island, and the object of countless people's dreams and secret crushes... She has too many titles, but these titles are not worth mentioning compared to her. It is Lu Qinglian who has made these titles, not the titles themselves.

Wu Shengyu looked up with each page he turned, his thoughts turning like the pages of the book.

The library is the best place for boys and girls to meet.

This was the fourth day that he had "coincidentally" met Lu Qinglian.

One time was during lunch break, one time was after school, and another time was during physical education class.

This is the fourth time, including today. The library was quiet, the air conditioner was blowing warm air, and the leaves of the green ivy on the table were trembling. He turned to a page of a poem praising youth and felt that the youthful atmosphere here was incomparably romantic.

Why would someone come here? Is it to read a book, or does they have some other purpose?
These past few days they've been running into each other by chance. They'd never seen Lu Qinglian on ordinary days, but somehow they'd started bumping into each other at the library.

This was a girl as aloof as ice and snow; she wore a high ponytail and maintained an upright posture even while reading.

They didn't usually interact much in class, but it was precisely her indifferent attitude towards everything that attracted him. Lu Qinglian wouldn't discuss nail polish colors or which milk tea shop was good like other girls her age, she wouldn't chat endlessly on QQ, and she certainly wouldn't cheer for him when he was playing on the court. Compared to Lu Qinglian, those girls were too easy to understand. When he was sweating profusely, many girls would send him flirtatious glances, but Wu Shengyu ignored them completely.

At this moment, Lu Qinglian casually lifted a corner of the book, and when his gaze fell on her, he could no longer hear the ticking of the clock, and time seemed to stand still.

Unfortunately, Wu Shengyu's time continued to move forward. He encountered Lu Qinglian three times, but none of them lasted until the end. During lunch break, he went back to the classroom to maintain discipline; during PE class, he was called away by his good friend to play basketball; and after school, he had to go back to the classroom to rehearse a program.

Just as he didn't know why Lu Qinglian came here, he also didn't know when the girl left.

The phone rang.

It's news from someone in the class.

"Class monitor, haven't we chosen a poem yet? We've already rehearsed it three times. Oh right, come and see how it goes. The students are all clamoring to go home, and I can't keep them in line any longer."

Wu Shengyu sighed and reluctantly put down the collection of modern poems in his hand. Before leaving, he walked to the air conditioner and, as always, turned up the temperature by two degrees. Lu Qinglian was only wearing a thin school uniform jacket. She might be cold or not, but he still hoped that she would notice his thoughtful little gesture.

However, little effect has been achieved.

But they weren't in a hurry; they knew they'd have another chance to "bump into" each other.

Wu Shengyu's heart leaped with joy in an instant, but when he turned around, he was stunned because the girl who was reading the book made a move for the first time.

Lu Qinglian looked over here.

She glanced at it briefly before looking away, lost in thought.

Then Lu Qinglian stood up and gently pushed the chair back to its original position. After she returned the book she was holding to the bookshelf, Wu Shengyu finally saw the title of the book—

It wasn't a book, but a map of the city.

Why is she looking at a map? Maybe Lu really likes geography? But before Wu Shengyu could think any further, Lu Qinglian had already started walking towards him.

She still exuded an aura that kept strangers at bay, making people feel that she was only meant to be admired from afar. Wu Shengyu had thought so before, but when Lu Qinglian took the initiative to approach him for the first time, his heart skipped a beat:
"Please make way," Lu Qinglian said calmly.

"Oh……"

Wu Shengyu quickly stepped aside, her heart pounding. What was she going to say to me? How should I answer? How about we discuss this year's class program together...?

Lu Qinglian walked to his side, and then—

The girl gently unplugged the universal charger from the wall socket where the standing air conditioner was plugged in.

Yes, it is a universal charger, a small clip-like item. The charger is flashing a green light, indicating that the battery inside is fully charged.

Lu Qinglian took out a small wallet from her school uniform pocket. It was more like a hand-sewn cloth bag than a wallet. The bag was quite worn. She carefully put the multi-purpose charger into the bag and then put the bag into her school uniform pocket.

But why not just stuff the universal charger into her pocket? Why go through all that trouble? Wait, wait, wait, this isn't the time to worry about that. Wu Shengyu's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. She actually came here to charge her phone?

Speaking of why she has a cell phone, he had tried to subtly ask other girls for their QQ numbers before, but the answer was always, "Lu Qinglian, she doesn't have a cell phone at all." So what's going on?

Lu Qinglian had already turned and left, just like the poem he had just read. She waved her sleeve and took nothing with her... no, she only took the charger.

Wu Shengyu stared blankly at the empty socket, a ridiculous guess suddenly popping into his head:

It turns out he had encountered a universal charger four times.

……

"Good evening, Lu Qinglian."

Zhang Shutong jogged to the library entrance.

“Zhang Shutong, although this is a bit of a meddlesome question,” Lu Qinglian said with a headache, “why are you always running?”

"Exercise." Zhang Shutong thought for a moment. "My physical strength seems to have improved recently."

"Nobody is interested in that kind of question."

Okay, okay, she really is a woman with very little curiosity. Zhang Shutong changed from running to walking and walked alongside her toward the school gate.

"Fully charged?"

"It's almost full."

“Actually, I also like removable batteries,” Zhang Shutong said nostalgically, “unlike the one I’m using now, which has a small battery that can’t be removed…”

Lu Qinglian walked beside him, as if listening to him speak, or perhaps blocking out the noise around her. After a long while, she spoke:

Are there any other places to charge your devices on campus?

It seems it was indeed the latter.

"If you think the classroom is too noisy lately, then you'll have to go to the office. But wouldn't the library be better? It's quiet, and you can even enjoy the air conditioning."

"It's gotten noisier lately too."

"Are there many people?"

"Some people will deliberately create some commotion."

Zhang Shutong nodded: "However, an office might not be suitable either."

Their homeroom teacher simply can't stand students using cell phones at school, so it's hard to say whether Lu Qinglian has that privilege.

It's really inconvenient that there are no electrical outlets in the temple.

“I remember they gave you a spare battery back then,” Zhang Shutong asked. “Should I take it home and charge it for you?”

"Thank you."

"But don't forget to pay the electricity bill."

"Okay." She suddenly nodded her chin. "How much do you want?"

"Uh, stop, just kidding," Zhang Shutong surrendered. "Let's change the subject."

Did that paper reveal anything?

"No, I only know it's paper from a long time ago." Zhang Shutong shrugged. "When I found it yesterday, the light was too dim, so I didn't think about it carefully. When I got home, I found that the paper itself was yellowed and damp. I don't know how long it had been in the bottle. It definitely couldn't have been aged for a prank. By the way, is there actually a treasure on the island?"

“There’s no such thing.” Lu Qinglian pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Does the map actually cover the entire island?" Zhang Shutong asked again.

"I just looked at the map, but the shapes don't match."

“If it really is an island,” Zhang Shutong suddenly thought, “maybe there really is something buried on the island. In the beginning, the temple keeper’s duty was to guard that thing, but so much time has passed that even you yourselves don’t know anymore.”

“Zhang Shutong,” Lu Qinglian sighed softly, “if you were six years old this year, I could talk to you about the treasure, but you are already sixteen.”

"Yes, yes," Zhang Shutong thought to himself, "isn't it better than a 160-year-old?"

Of course, he could only say these words to himself.

Zhang Shutong took out another slip of paper and waved it in front of Lu Qinglian:

"I got the address, it's right here, let's go take a look."

That was the address of the woman named Yun's parents. She was originally from the island, but went to high school outside the island and was admitted to a university in the province. Although Lao Song and his teacher's wife dated during their university years, they didn't attend the same university. Lao Song speculated that the photo of her holding the fox must have been taken before they met.

Since the woman passed away, her parents have moved away from the island, perhaps to avoid being reminded of her by familiar sights. Even Old Song doesn't know where they went.

In the end, it was Officer Xiong from the police station who found it through Zhang Shutong's help.

Since no further clues about the fox could be found for the time being, they could only pin their hopes on her home. After their daughter's accident, the two elderly people left the island. Back then, their family lived in a residential area in the north. Later, they sold the house in the residential area, leaving only an old house.

The current residence is located in a village on the western edge of the island. The island is not entirely urbanized and still retains a small part of the villages. Some of the specialties of Yanlong Island, such as ducks, rice, fish and shrimp, are produced by these farmers.

However, that village was quite remote, and even Zhang Shutong and his close friends rarely went there. The landmark building there, which they named "Remnant Bridge," was the entrance to the island back then, and it had been abandoned for many years, which had also caused its development to lag behind.

The village is located on the other side of the "broken bridge," and from the map, it looks like an isolated islet connected to a small island.

I'm afraid the house will be empty now that the people have left.

Not to mention the house where Yun lived when she went to university, even that old house is long gone. At best, it only has some relics left behind.

Zhang Shutong recalled the contents of the photo again: it showed Yun, still a young girl, hugging a fox statue, with only one ear visible. Two words were written on the back of the photo—

"end."

He still didn't know what the fox's abilities were. If the other party had simply hidden the statue back then, there would have been no way to find it. Just like Du Kang, the Weaver Girl, who could think of hiding the statue in the doghouse, it was probably impossible to find it even if he racked his brains, except for luck.

As the sun set, they rode their bicycles to the village.

The old-fashioned tile-roofed houses, with their tiles arranged like scales, are visible from afar. Smoke rises from the red brick chimneys, and the sounds of chickens and dogs can be heard.

There was no village entrance, only a few houses along the lake. Since it was near water, the paths were mostly muddy. Zhang Shutong parked the car and muttered to himself:

"Number 13... By the way, is there a house number here?"

Looking up, Zhang Shutong saw a jumble of wires hanging in the air. Each room had a distribution box on its wall, and right below the box, he found a rusty iron plate.

"11...then just go down to the next two buildings."

They stopped in front of a courtyard, which was indeed dilapidated. The iron gate was tightly shut, and the couplets on the gate were still there, some grayish-white from wind and sun, and others turned into pulp stuck to the iron gate. Zhang Shutong knocked on the door:

"anyone there?"

There was no response for a long time.

“There shouldn’t be any left,” Zhang Shutong looked around. “The problem now is how to get in.”

He looked at Xiaolu.

Xiao Lu casually instructed:
"This is a good opportunity to verify the results of my running."

"It's not at the level of flying over rooftops and scaling walls yet."

Lu Qinglian ignored him. She walked around the courtyard and finally stopped in front of a low wall not far from the iron gate.

"It should be the outer wall of the chicken coop, which leads to the yard."

Zhang Shutong smelled chicken droppings. He was about to say that he remembered there was a chicken coop in the temple when he suddenly realized something was wrong:

"Why does it smell like chicken poop?"

Shouldn't this place have been abandoned for a long time?
Who lives there now?
He stood on tiptoe, and inside the overgrown courtyard wall, there wasn't a single living creature, let alone a chicken.

At that moment, with a creak, Zhang Shutong immediately turned around, and the tightly closed iron gate suddenly opened.

An old woman's face peeked out from under the door.

The woman's hair was completely white, her eyes were cloudy, and her eye bags drooped. Zhang Shutong was startled. He recognized her as "Yun's" mother; he had seen a photo of her at Officer Xiong's place. He never imagined that in just four years, she would age so drastically.

You should know that the other person is actually only in her fifties, but now she looks like a seventy-year-old woman.

What he didn't expect was that, according to Lao Song and Officer Xiong's intelligence, Yun's parents should have moved away many years ago, so when did they return to the island?

The old woman stared at them intently. Zhang Shutong didn't have time to think about anything else. He greeted them and quickly explained his purpose:

“Excuse me, we are Professor Song’s students, Professor Song Nanshan,” Zhang Shutong said, handing over the photo. “We’d like to ask you about some things from back then, what do you think…”

Suddenly, a glint of light flashed in the woman's eyes. After hearing the three words "Song Nanshan," her expression turned terrifying. Then, the iron gate slammed shut.

Zhang Shutong was left standing there, stunned, outside the door.

(End of this chapter)