Winter Returns

Chapter 84 Heavy Snow
The alarm clock rang on time.

He woke up in the soft, large bed.

The room was dimly lit. Zhang Shutong opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling for a while.

A dreamless night.

He actually started to get used to the bed.

The villa was equipped with a fresh air system, but even so, the air was still a bit stuffy after a night's sleep. He squinted at the window; the curtains were really thick, blocking out all the light.

If I could, I'd really like to take a nap.

But the fact is that it's not possible. If the only advantage of staying at home is not having to get up early, then he is a student now and has to go to the classroom for morning reading later.

Zhang Shutong got out of bed barefoot, feeling the soft carpet beneath her feet. She then yanked open the curtains, and the sunlight streaming in from the sky made her eyes sting.

The vast snowscape unfolded before his eyes in the morning, the white snow covering everything in silence. Zhang Shutong subconsciously lowered his eyes, and only after a while did he continue to look out.

It feels so close...

His mind was a bit of a mess.

To be precise, it felt like I was standing a little lower, very close to the ground.

The guest room was on the second floor. He thought that the white expanse made it hard to judge distances, but after looking closely for a while, Zhang Shutong realized that it wasn't an illusion, but rather that the snow was too high.

He instantly regained his senses.

How long has this snow lasted?
He pushed open the window, and a chill crept into the collar of his pajamas. Zhang Shutong shivered and peeked out.

He was looking for a landmark and eventually settled on the villa's fence.

About a quarter of the height was buried in snow.

"real or fake……"

Zhang Shutong murmured.

Today is January 2012, 12.

This Friday was completely different.

I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

He turned on the light, quickly got himself ready, and it was 6:40. Old Song had said he didn't need to get up too early, so he had set his alarm a little later last night.

There was some kind of incense burning in the corridor. Zhang Shutong looked towards Gu Qiumian's bedroom, but the door was closed, so she probably hadn't gotten up yet.

Wait, are you still asleep?
The heavy snowfall in the early morning made him unsure.

Zhang Shutong wondered strangely if it was possible that he had been kidnapped again, just like he had been in the early hours of Sunday morning.

In the previous timeline, did the bodyguard and nanny assume that the young lady was sleeping in her room, only to find that she was missing when they went upstairs at noon and still hadn't woken up?
So Zhang Shutong stopped walking towards the elevator, went to Gu Qiumian's door, and knocked.

dong dong dong.

Zhang Shutong counted silently in his mind, and after a while, a sticky sound came from inside:

"Hmm...hmm? Who is it..."

The person making the voice mumbled incoherently, clearly not fully awake.

Knowing that she had low blood sugar, Zhang Shutong stopped bothering her.

It's good that the person is still inside.

He went downstairs, but no one was in the living room; neither Old Song nor the nanny were there.

Did I get up too early?
Zhang Shutong had intended to stay alone on the sofa for a while, but he sniffed and smelled the aroma of grease.

I went to the dining table and saw a few fried eggs on it.

Where did that person go?
Zhang Shutong wandered around for a while. This was the downside of a big house; who knew which room someone was hiding in? He saw Lao Song's car keys on the coffee table. He went to the balcony and then spotted two figures in the yard.

The two were shoveling snow.

It's fine if they don't notice, but once they do, they'll feel bad if they don't help.

As the saying goes, melting snow is colder than falling snow. His coat was a bit thin, and he was prepared to freeze. But as soon as he stepped outside, he didn't expect his foot to sink into the snow, which was piled up too thickly. He couldn't walk fast and could only move forward in a swaggering manner.

Old Song turned around upon hearing the sound and waved first:
"Shutong, don't come out yet. I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear?"

He said this, but his tone was not serious.

So Zhang Shutong didn't take it seriously, and instead pulled his shoes out of the snow while answering:
"Then let it be bad..."

"The snow was so heavy that I almost couldn't even open the side door when I got up today. The dog was almost trapped in its kennel."

"What's the good news?"

"Let's go back and change our boots, then we can do some work," Old Song said with a smile.

The nanny hurriedly said no, but Old Song waved his hand:
“He’s all grown up now, not a little kid anymore. Besides, it would be a hassle for you to prepare breakfast. We can just eat outside.”

Then he turned his head and said:

"Shutong, ask your aunt to go back and find you some clothes. Let's shovel the snow, otherwise it will all freeze by tonight."

Zhang Shutong had no objection.

It has nothing to do with who is the guest and who is the host; it's simply that the nanny is quite old.

He stopped and listened to the two of them try to refuse each other for a few more moments. The nanny finally gave in and, as she walked back, said apologetically:
"Thank you so much, child. It's so kind of you and the teacher to go through all this trouble so early in the morning..."

No need to thank me, Auntie. It's what I should do.

Zhang Shutong thought to himself with amusement.

The aunt surnamed Wu didn't rush to find him equipment, but instead poured him a glass of warm water to drink, which Zhang Shutong found very kind.

The aunt took out another down jacket from the closet.

The down jacket was black and short. He remarked that this was indeed a wealthy family; not only were there spare slippers and pajamas, but there was even a guest jacket. However, after putting it on, he realized that the down jacket was too short, even revealing half of his waist, and there was a faint, familiar fragrance.

"This belongs to Gu Qiumian?"

Zhang Shutong was taken aback.

"These are Mianmian's clothes. She doesn't wear them anymore, so I've kept them for her," the nanny said apologetically. "Aren't they a bit small? I specifically looked for the largest size. Maybe you should go out, Auntie."

Okay, as expected, there are no so-called "guest" down jackets.

He immediately realized that only one man usually lived here, so Boss Gu probably didn't lack clothes. But since the other party didn't agree, the nanny didn't dare to make the decision on her own and could only give him one of Gu Qiu Mian's discarded clothes.

Zhang Shutong shook his head and said no, as long as it keeps you warm, it's fine. He wouldn't be so fussy as to complain about someone's old clothes. It's just that the smell on the down jacket is faint, as if Gu Qiumian is always around him, which is very strange.

The master and apprentice met outside the door. Old Song assigned him a task, which was to clear the area outside the two doors and shovel a passage. As for the other places, he could only blame the fact that the yard was too big and he didn't have the time.

He continued working, and as they swept, they reached the front yard. Old Song suddenly said:
"Shutong, is this the snake you mentioned yesterday?"

The man was holding a stick-like object in his hand.

Zhang Shutong looked over and nodded.

"It's a bit scary," Old Song muttered. "I was shoveling when I noticed something hard underneath. When I picked it up, I thought it was a twig. Do you think we should feed this to the dog?"

Let's not.

Zhang Shutong dissuaded him, saying, "This time the dog wasn't poisoned, but you might feed it to death."

"Never mind then." Old Song threw the snake stick out of the fence with force. "Let's throw it further away. Come and help me sweep the snow under the fence gate. Once we're done, we're done."

The gate opened inwards, and if the flooded part wasn't cleared out, they couldn't even push the gate open. Soon they dug a pit in front of the gate, and piled snow around the edge of the pit.

The two put away their shovels, wiped their sweat, and on the way back, Old Song suggested building a snowman, showing his childlike spirit.

"What do you mean 'still a childlike heart'? You're so clueless," Old Song sighed. "It's not for me, it's for the girl. I did that when I was chasing girls. Let me tell you, nothing is more romantic than that. Imagine if you were that girl, it had snowed all night, and when you got up in the morning and ran to the window, you would see a snowman below. Wouldn't you be incredibly touched? I guarantee you would run down without hesitation."

Zhang Shutong turned his head to look around. The area was a wilderness, and he didn't feel anything touching. It was more like it was eerily strange.

However, he understood what Lao Song meant.

This is the front yard. Looking up, you can see right through Gu Qiu Mian's bedroom window. Presumably, when she wakes up and looks down, she can see what's happening here.

The curtains were closed at this time.

Zhang Shutong seemed to be deep in thought.

"Don't just think about it, take action," Old Song encouraged.

"No, I was thinking about something else," Zhang Shutong replied dismissively, and walked into the house first.

He just ruled out another guess.

I went to Gu Qiumian's room last night to check if she could see what was happening outside the door.

The answer is yes.

Then there's the question of how likely it is that Gu Qiumian will run away on her own initiative.

Not long ago, Zhang Shutong was thinking that it wasn't necessarily because she ran into the restricted area. What the murderer did was very simple: since she couldn't climb over the fence, all they had to do was let her run out of the fence's protection.

Take the snowman that Lao Song mentioned, for example. If you wave a flashlight outside the fence to attract her attention, and then do something else when she comes to the window, of course you can't actually build a snowman. Instead, you can show her something else to lure her out the door and then kidnap her. That seems like a viable method.

But this theory has now been ruled out, because she sleeps with the curtains drawn.

Zhang Shutong sighed and returned to the living room, still puzzled. The nanny had already prepared hot tea, and the sizzling sound of hot oil wafted from the kitchen.

He poured himself a glass of water, intending to sit down and catch his breath, but then noticed he was still wearing that down jacket. He needed to take it off quickly to avoid being laughed at later.

Zhang Shutong took out his phone and glanced at it. It was a little past seven o'clock, and the phone still had more than 30% battery left. He asked the nanny for a charger, not expecting much, but surprisingly, she actually had one.

Although he and Gu Qiumian both use Apple products, the charging ports for the iPhone 4 and 5 are different. He forgot to ask yesterday, but it turns out that Miss Gu is a loyal Apple user who changes her phone every time a new model comes out, accumulating quite a few chargers.

He felt a little more at ease after charging his phone. Coincidentally, just as he rubbed his stiff face and sat down on the sofa, the elevator doors opened.

Gu Qiumian walked out dressed exquisitely. She never wore the same clothes twice. Today, she wore a black turtleneck sweater, her snow-white chin tucked into the collar, making her look very aloof.

Zhang Shutong greeted her first, but she only glanced at him and didn't reply.

"I don't want to care about you."

Although she didn't say it, her eyes were full of that meaning.

Is this low blood sugar or menstruation?

Zhang Shutong can no longer tell the difference.

For a moment, he even wondered if it was because of the so-called "snowman," but that didn't make sense either, because judging from the time, she hadn't opened the curtains at all. So Old Song was still unreliable. What snowman and all that touching stuff, she just wasn't planning on looking outside.

She sat down on the sofa, picked up the water glass, and Zhang Shutong wanted to say that it was mine, but she took a sip, squinted her eyes, and seemed to think that the water temperature was just right and was very satisfied.

That's perfect. I've already poured myself in.

Until Old Song returned, he said to the two of them:
"Now we have bad news and good news. Which would you like to hear first?"

Zhang Shutong paused, almost doubting that he had gone back in time.

“Bad.” That’s Zhang Shutong’s habit.

“Okay,” Miss Gu replied.

They exchanged a glance, and Zhang Shutong indicated that it didn't matter.

"Then I'll announce the good news first."

Old Song cleared his throat:
"I just received a notice that the snow is too heavy and schools are closed today."

"And what's the bad news?" Zhang Shutong asked immediately.

(End of this chapter)