Winter Returns

Chapter 225 A Long-Forgotten Past

"Your student, do you mean she's a student of exceptional talent, or...?"

"Wasn't I clear enough? I was her homeroom teacher at the time!"

Zhang Shutong's eyelids twitched.

Teacher Song's lover is actually Teacher Xu's student?
He quickly did a mental calculation. The teacher in front of him looked to be close to fifty years old, and when Yun entered junior high school, she was only in her thirties. Moreover, Yun was a child from the island, where there was only one junior high school with four classes per grade. It was reasonable to say that she had taught Yun.

But this time, before Zhang Shutong could speak, Xu Aiping rubbed her temples and asked:

"Wait a minute, I remember Xiaoyun passed away a few years ago. What are you two investigating about her?"

"You know about this too?"

“How could I not know? The island is so small. I even went to the funeral. But I really didn’t know that Xiaoyun was Teacher Song’s boyfriend. This is really, really…” Teacher Xu suddenly sighed, “Let me calm down for a bit.”

She took off her glasses, took out a tissue and mechanically wiped them, suddenly looking tired.

Night fell. In the quiet office, not long ago, the incident happened so suddenly that they forgot to close the ventilation window when they returned. A little night breeze blew in through the crack in the window, and the airflow ruffled the middle-aged woman's white hair. Xu Aiping stared silently at the photo, as if it had stirred up a long-buried past.

Zhang Shutong thought that for anyone, the tragedy of an elderly person outliving their child is a heartbreaking topic.

“No wonder Song Nanshan came to the island at such a young age, so that’s how it is.” After a long while, she sighed and said, “I have been colleagues with Teacher Song for so many years. If I had known, I would have definitely said a few words to comfort him. But it was only after he got through this that the truth was revealed. Fate is so cruel.”

She leaned back in her chair, gently tapping the photograph with her finger:

"The same thing happened when I saw Xiaoyun. That girl is so sensible; she knew to come back to school to see me. I even asked her, as her senior, to say a few words to the kids in her class. But then I received another message..."

"Wait a minute," Zhang Shutong said in surprise, "You mean, you happened to see her the year the photos were taken?"

He thought it would be good enough to learn something about his teacher's wife's childhood from Teacher Xu, but he didn't expect that the other party would even know the origin of this photo!
"Can't you let me finish what I'm saying, kid?" Xu Aiping said, displeased.

Zhang Shutong apologized:
"I think it's just too much of a coincidence..."

“This isn’t what you said yourself. If the photo was taken seven or eight years ago, then I definitely remember it,” she recalled. “Actually, it was the winter of 2004. I remember it very clearly. Xiaoyun had just started university that year and came back to the island for winter vacation. She visited the school once.”

"Did she do anything unusual at the time?" Zhang Shutong recalled that the girl in the photo never looked at the camera, and she couldn't find the dimples that appeared when she smiled. "What was she feeling?"

“How unusual could it be? Oh, now that you mention it, I remember. Xiaoyun wasn’t in a good mood. She’s not a very quiet girl; you can tell at a glance whether she’s in a good mood or not.” Teacher Xu frowned. “But you said she took a picture on the rooftop? I really don’t remember that. After all, they just came back to have fun and were just walking around the campus.”

Zhang Shutong, however, grasped the key words and the question that had always been on his mind:

Do you remember the person who came with her?

"The person who came with her?" To everyone's surprise, Teacher Xu shook her head, and then said something astonishing: "It was a group of people!"

Zhang Shutong was shocked.

A group of people? And who was taking the photos? How many people know about the fox?
This news was completely beyond his expectations.

The first two foxes have the abilities to foresee the future and change the past, respectively. The third fox is definitely not simple either. Could it be that the special features of the statue have been leaked and someone has taken advantage of it, just like the man in the basement? Was Yun also coerced in some way back then?
He was about to speak when the homeroom teacher slammed his hand on the table:
"Let me finish. What I just said was that a group of them came back to the island for winter break. The rest of them were her college classmates, and Xiaoyun was a local from the island, so she was kind of a tour guide. As for the number of people, I just remember it was quite lively, with everyone calling her 'Teacher Xu' all the time. There must have been at least seven or eight of them. Xiaoyun and her friends arrived in the afternoon, walked around the school for a bit, and left. They didn't stay long, so I have absolutely no recollection of anything about the rooftop, taking photos, or any unusual behavior you mentioned..."

Zhang Shutong held back from speaking, when Lu Qinglian asked:

Was the door to the rooftop locked back then?

"Oh, this..." Teacher Xu paused for a moment. "It should have been locked up all these years. Oh, you want to ask them who they borrowed the key from, right?"

They both nodded at the same time.

Teacher Xu, however, was utterly heartless:
"Tell me what you two are investigating first. If there's anything wrong, hand it over to the police. Why are you two kids running away?"

That's right, why not hand it over to the police? Of course, it's because of the fox. But how could he bring that up? As Zhang Shutong was racking his brains for an excuse, a calm voice rang in his ears:

“This matter is related to the temple; my grandmother asked me to find it.”

Teacher Xu was taken aback again, and Zhang Shutong was also taken aback.

Lu Qinglian finally raised her chin, her eyebrows furrowed slightly, looking extremely troubled:

"The thing she was holding was an old object from the temple that had been lost for many years, but it was not clear in the photo."

Zhang Shutong was about to add a few words of support when the homeroom teacher glanced at the photo again.
"It seems he really is holding something, it's a..."

"statue."

Teacher Xu suddenly realized:
"No wonder the police couldn't file a case? But this statue is indeed hard to see clearly, it's not easy to find. I almost forgot about your family situation, Xiao Lu."

Zhang Shutong looked at Lu Qinglian with a strange expression, thinking to himself that she was indeed particularly effective with middle-aged and elderly women. While he was trying to figure out how to explain himself, the homeroom teacher had already filled in the blanks in her mind.

“Your grandma is the same. Why is she making you run around outside in this cold weather? No way…” Teacher Xu frowned again as she spoke. “Xiao Lu, does your temple have a phone? I really need to have a good talk with your grandma.”

Lu Qinglian remained silent and lowered her eyes again.

Teacher Xu's heart softened:
"Let me make this clear from the start: I can ask around for you, but this matter ends here, regardless of the outcome. How can you find something from a photo that's barely legible?"

She muttered to herself as she stood up:
"Let's go, the school janitor just retired a few years ago, let's go to the library and look through the phone book..."

"I also need to go!"

Who is this?
Zhang Shutong turned around and saw a little girl with a sweet, childlike voice, two pigtails, and a round face perched on the door frame.

"I want to solve cases too!" Seeing that everyone was stunned, the little girl raised her hand again to emphasize.

"Is this your daughter?" But she's so young.

"Granddaughter." Teacher Xu's stiff face suddenly softened. "Sweetie, Grandma has something to do today, we'll go home in a bit."

Zhang Shutong opened his mouth.

Okay, so Xu Zhiruo has become an aunt-in-law too.

The little girl had been listening at the door for an unknown amount of time.

"Grandma, I want to solve cases too!"

"What case are you investigating?" Teacher Xu laughed and scolded, "Has your aunt been showing you too many big-headed dolls?"

"It's Detective Conan!" she pouted in dissatisfaction.

“It’s cold outside, so you should stay in the office to avoid catching a cold,” Teacher Xu thought for a moment. “How about you play here with your older brothers and sisters?”

Zhang Shutong and Lu Qinglian both lowered their heads at the same time, while the little girl timidly hid behind her grandmother's legs.

A few minutes later, Zhang Shutong sat back in his chair, replaying what had happened back then in his mind. Lu Qinglian sat far away in the corner. Sometimes she also liked to look up and stare blankly, like a big cat, lost in thought.

Only one person had round, bright eyes.

It was Teacher Xu's granddaughter. The little girl was lying on the desk, glancing up at them every now and then, but she didn't dare to speak.

Every time Zhang Shutong looked at her, the other person would quickly bury her head in her arms.

If Ruoping were here, she could be one of them right now. If it were Du Kang, they could probably play a game of tossing her up and catching her. If it were Gu Qiu Mian, the young lady's snacks would definitely be very popular with the children.

But standing here now are Zhang Shutong, and... Lu Qinglian.

Two famously aloof individuals.

Zhang Shutong broke the silence:
"Do you want some water?" "What?" She looked up as if startled.

"Drink water," Zhang Shutong had no choice but to repeat.

"My mom said I can't drink water from strangers." The little girl blinked.

Zhang Shutong looked into her eyes. He remembered that Gu Qiumian liked to stare into his eyes when she spoke, which made people unconsciously lower their guard. Zhang Shutong had always felt that this action had a certain magic, and he decided to try it.

The two people, one big and one small, stared at each other for a second, then the other exclaimed "Wow!" and buried their heads back down.

Zhang Shutong thought expressionlessly, "The magic of the continuous autumn rain has failed."

"I know your aunt."

"So, what kind of dumplings does your aunt like to eat?"

Zhang Shutong's eyelids twitched.

"Then tell me, what time does your aunt usually go to bed?"

Zhang Shutong's face began to stiffen.

"What does the lotion my aunt uses before bed smell like? And also, what color is my aunt's phone case?"

“You can ask something else,” he suggested.

What is puppy love?

Kids these days...

"This is too complicated; it's not something you should be concerned with."

"Hmm, I also find it complicated," she said, thinking like a little adult.

Zhang Shutong felt slightly relieved, thinking to himself that he mustn't wait until Teacher Xu came back to find that his granddaughter had also been corrupted by him.

But the little girl made the final decision:
"Then why did you drag her to the rooftop to take pictures? You really are a bad guy!"

Zhang Shutong was speechless.

"I'm going to find my sister."

She jumped off the office chair and ran away quickly on her short legs. Only then did Zhang Shutong realize something: this girl was afraid of him, but not so much of Lu Qinglian. He pinched his cheek in confusion, thinking he should have smiled.

However, Zhang Shutong was sorely mistaken as to think that the older sister was someone easy to get along with.

The next moment, a slender, white finger touched the little girl's forehead, and Lu Qinglian casually pushed her away:

"be quiet."

The little girl puffed out her cheeks unhappily:
"I want to talk to my sister."

Lu Qinglian nodded her chin to indicate that she was listening.

"Is your surname Lu? I often hear Grandma talk about you and tell me to take you as a role model?"

"Yes."

No one knows which sentence she was responding to, but that's just how Lu Qinglian is.

Zhang Shutong thought the girl would come back pouting, but to her surprise, she faced the challenge head-on:

"What are you investigating? Is it the same as in the cartoons?"

"No."

"By the way, can I see that photo?"

"It was taken by Teacher Xu."

Lu Qinglian turned a page of the book, but just a few minutes ago, she clearly put the photo into the pocket of her down jacket.

"Could you tell me about the things on it? Maybe I can help you solve the case."

Lu Qinglian frowned.

Zhang Shutong found it amusing that she had finally met her match. Anyone her age would have been intimidated by her aura of unapproachability, but only a child wouldn't care about such things.

"very dangerous."

"what?"

"Some things are dangerous. You can think about them when you're older."

When will I grow up?

"When your hair grows longer than your shoulders."

The little girl turned around and touched the back of her head:
"But Mom takes me to get a haircut every month, when will my hair grow past my shoulders?"

"When you grow up," Lu Qinglian said calmly, "that's enough hints. Figure it out yourself."

The little girl really racked her brains to figure it out:
"I still don't understand."

"Once you figure it out, you can face some dangerous things."

Zhang Shutong slowly took a sip of water. The little girl was completely confused by Lu Qinglian's words, but somehow, he sensed a hint of gentleness in her response. She hadn't ignored him, hadn't made him guess the contents of the photo, and hadn't bluntly told him he didn't need to know. For a girl, being able to decide her own hairstyle signifies growing up; how can she face danger if she can't even control her own hair? He looked at Lu Qinglian's waist-length hair, wondering when she had grown it long.

"Can you tell me about growing up, sister?"

"There's nothing to say."

"That……"

Just then, her phone rang. Zhang Shutong glanced at the screen and saw that the contact name was "Su Yunzhi".

"I'm available now," the senior student replied with a message.

He told Lu Qinglian, went outside, and made a phone call.

The call was answered shortly afterward, and the senior student said in a praising tone:

"You're moving really fast over there, junior. I'm stuck again."

"Not going too smoothly?"

She sighed softly:

"I only managed to find a photo of that aunt from her university days through someone. It's in the police station's archives, and you can't take pictures of it or lend it out. I need to go and take a look. As for the fox... Oh, right, there's a funny coincidence. She was also in the photography club in university."

Zhang Shutong knew that her senior was also in the photography club:

"So, could we borrow the club's old photo album? Maybe it contains information about the statue. I think there must be more than one photo of the fox?"

"My progress is stuck here, or rather, I'm just unlucky. My cousin happens to be studying there, and she went to ask today. You guessed that the incident happened in the winter of 2004, but even in that winter, the photography club didn't keep a single photo. Instead, they have albums from the seasons before and after."

(End of this chapter)