Winter Returns

Chapter 11 "Want Want Breakfast Sausage"

Lu Qinglian had never eaten Oreos, but she could tell that Zhang Shutong was playing a trick on her.

She frowned: "What I really wanted to ask is, why are they stuck together with this white stuff? Do we have to separate them when we eat them?"

Zhang Shutong was miraculously able to understand what she meant.

"They" probably refers to the two black chocolate biscuits on either side;
And the white thing... she probably meant the cream filling in the middle.

How can sandwich cookies be put together without cream? Is it through love?
In addition, Zhang Shutong discovered something: whenever Lu Qinglian frowned, it was a sign that she was about to "transform".

But could you please refrain from using such a mature and authoritative tone to ask a question that is utterly devoid of common sense?

Zhang Shutong had no choice but to patiently explain:

Eat however makes you happy.

Lu Qinglian said seriously:
“I’ve bought the same thing before, but it only contained black cookies.”

"Uh...what do you mean?"

"Literally, it means there is no white layer."

Are you sure you bought Oreos?

"Yes, blue packaging."

"Where did you buy it from?"

"The small shop at the foot of the mountain."

“Oh, there,” Zhang Shutong nodded in realization. “Then it’s not surprising. You probably bought Yue Li Yue instead.”

That small shop at the foot of the mountain is a rip-off for tourists. A bottle of Ice Dew costs 3 yuan. Not only are the products expensive, but they also sell counterfeit goods.
Once, his dad asked him to go out and buy cigarettes. He happened to be playing nearby, so he bought some on the way. His dad took a puff and then spit it out.

From then on, Zhang Shutong blocked that place.

How could you, a local, get scammed? Isn't the foot of the mountain your territory?
"You mean the goods I bought before were fake?" Lu Qinglian wasn't stupid and immediately realized what she meant.

"Yeah, don't go there again."

"So this white thing is edible?"

“Of course, that’s cream.” Zhang Shutong wasn’t sure if he needed to explain what cream was, and besides, the question was too strange. “Why do you have this misconception… I mean, why do you think it can’t be eaten?”

“I also bought a sausage from there that was smeared with chili, but it was actually just smeared on a layer of plastic.” She seemed quite bothered by it. “Does this description make sense to you?”

"I understand, I've fallen for that trick before." Zhang Shutong suddenly didn't know what to say. "So you thought the cream in the middle of the cookie was the same thing as plastic wrap?"

"Yeah, I only bought snacks twice."

It turns out that in her mind, snacks are things that need to be broken down before they can be eaten.

"Next time you'd better go to a bigger supermarket."

"It's alright, that was a long time ago."

As she spoke, Lu Qinglian was taking small bites of a cookie. Although her expression remained blank, she seemed to find the cookie delicious, and her brows relaxed as she commented:
"It's just too sweet."

"I already told you to twist it open before eating."

"Does 'twist' mean that?"

"if not?"

Zhang Shutong suddenly remembered an old joke: there was a country bumpkin who was eating Oreos for the first time. He was wiggling his butt while eating the cookies, looking at the promotional text on the label...

"You must have seen that TV commercial, it's a classic."

Lu Qinglian simply nodded without saying a word, seemingly completely absorbed in the taste of the cookies.

No wonder she could be so focused on drinking a carton of ordinary strawberry milk. Although Zhang Shutong used to love it too, from today's perspective, the artificial flavoring was so strong it was almost cloying.

But for Lu Qinglian, she had hardly ever eaten snacks, and the two times she did get them, she was tricked badly, no wonder she held a grudge.

Moreover, strawberries are not grown on the island, and there are no fresh fruit shops these days. When people talk about eating fruit, they just go to the supermarket to buy a few apples and oranges. Even the unpalatable Red Delicious apples are only available during holidays. Maybe she always thought that strawberries tasted like school milk.

Zhang Shutong is just a man of few words, but he knows when to speak up:
"Wait a minute, I'll ask Ruoping for some more."

Just as she was about to get up, Lu Qinglian shook her head; she was quite easily satisfied.
"No need, one is enough."

Zhang Shutong nodded and said nothing more.

But his silence had nothing to do with Du Kang or Lu Qinglian; it was simply his personality, and he was prone to awkward silences when chatting with others.
It's not that he's slow-witted. For example, he knows that saying "Still on a diet?" can make a girl laugh. There's also the Lu Qinglian special version, "Oh, I forgot you're a cultivator." These are all funny, but in his eyes, there's no need to say them.

In the silence, Lu Qinglian answered the question from before:

"There's no television in the temple, so I don't know what you mean by advertisements."

"Do you usually live in the temple?"

"Ah."

"..."

Okay, he felt he should say something more:
“A few of us went to the mountains to play... Isn’t there a big tree behind the temple?”

"The fringe tree won't bloom until March next year, and many people will come to see the flowers then," the girl explained.

In fact, Zhang Shutong didn't know much about the temple itself. His family was from out of town, and his parents were probably researchers. They weren't superstitious and didn't have the habit of burning incense. They even ate an extra fried dough stick when they took the high school entrance exam.

He himself had never been to the temple. He originally wanted to talk about the incident of climbing over the wall during a festival and falling down the mountain, but that happened after graduation.

"I heard there's a shelf where you can hang wishing plaques?"

"It wasn't there a few years ago. It used to be a clothes rack. One morning, a few signs appeared, and then more and more appeared."

Zhang Shutong nodded:

"It's probably popular online, and it's mostly young people and students, or people who come here specifically for tourism."

"Yeah, most of them are about so-and-so and so-and-so being together forever, which is a bit boring."

Lu Qinglian nodded her chin in agreement, her expression barely showing any emotion.

Zhang Shutong gave her a strange look: "You're even looking through other people's wishing cards?"

To everyone's surprise, she remained unfazed and said, "I am a temple keeper."

His face didn't turn red, his ears didn't turn red, and his gaze didn't move.

"You're really amazing," Zhang Shutong thought to himself.

But that's not the point. The point is that he remembered Du Kang hanging a wishing plaque at the temple. Thinking of this, Zhang Shutong felt embarrassed for the other person.

After a while, he asked again:
What does the inside of the temple look like?

"One main hall and three side halls."

"How about it?"

"There's nothing to see, it's dark with no lights on."

"Oh."

Their way of communicating was quite strange. Both of them were staring at the water in front of them. Zhang Shutong was looking at the ripples on the water, while Lu Qinglian was looking at the fish under the ripples.

They would casually ask a question whenever they felt like it, and it was usually a question-and-answer session. Sometimes the questions were difficult to form into sentences, just a few words, but we could all understand each other. Other times, the conversation would just end without any follow-up, showing a nonchalant attitude.

Zhang Shutong, however, did not feel uncomfortable:
"So, what god do you worship in your temple... excuse me, what deity do you enshrine?"

He still didn't know the answer to this question, and he didn't even have a concept of leaning towards Taoism or Buddhism, but after glancing at Lu Qinglian's silky long hair, he guessed it wasn't the latter:
"The God of Wealth, Guan Yu, or some other deity?"

But as soon as I said it, I realized that the question was a bit rude. After all, he was a temple keeper. His official position wasn't high, but it would be a big problem to ask a temple keeper which deity their temple had invited.

Lu Qinglian, however, did not care at all:

"Neither, it's a green snake."

Zhang Shutong was stunned for a moment.

"Uh, Green... Snake?" He knew the temple was called Green Snake Temple, but just like the White Horse Temple wouldn't actually have a horse enshrined in its main hall, he only assumed the temple's name was related to its origin.

Lu Qinglian nodded calmly:
"It's the kind of animal you're thinking of, a big blue snake, but it's a sculpture."

"Are you really the temple keeper?"

Zhang Shutong was somewhat surprised, thinking to himself, "How can this temple keeper use words more casually than I, an outsider?" He asked himself honestly, "I would never dare to refer to the god I worship as 'that kind of animal.'"

This time, Lu Qinglian gave him a strange look. "Didn't I say that before?"

"I thought it would be something like the Green Serpent God."

“I’m outside the temple now,” she said casually.

...She really treated herself like an employee.

“If you’re curious, you can go and have a look,” Lu Qinglian added.

Zhang Shutong thought to himself that he should forget about it. That place, and even the mountains near the temple, had been added to his list of places he would never go to in his life. Although he had gained that strange ability after falling off the mountain, it might not really be related to the mountain or the temple. But since something like "rewinding" had happened, it was hard to say that people wouldn't be a little superstitious.

This is a good opportunity to ask Lu Qinglian about it:

"What does your god do?" Since Lu Qinglian herself didn't care, he could be more casual about it too.

“Let me correct you, it’s not my home.” She frowned. “He governs everything that can be seen in the almanac, from birth to old age, sickness and death, marriage and childbirth.”

"Is it spiritual?"

“Even outside the temple, I cannot answer such questions.”

That's true, you're quite competent.

"One last question: Are there any legends about the mountain behind the temple, or is there anything buried there?"

“There’s nothing behind the temple, but I know a legend about the whole mountain.” Lu Qinglian paused for a moment, but her voice remained calm: “It is said that a long, long time ago…” There was an indescribable sense of incongruity and familiarity about it.

Zhang Shutong's eyelids twitched upon hearing this:
"Wait a minute, isn't one of the temple keeper's jobs to also act as a tour guide?"

"Sometimes, will you still listen then?"

Zhang Shutong gestured for her to speak.

After listening for a long time, I automatically filtered out some of the hype in my mind, and what I got in the end was a clichéd myth.

It was basically about the origin of the green snake in the temple, why it was called Green Snake Mountain, why there was a Green Snake Temple, how it protected the island... It's just a legend that every place has. Anyway, this snake was really awesome. Lu Qinglian spoke quite seriously, and Zhang Shutong didn't dare to say anything.

Having said everything he wanted to say, he fell silent as usual. But then Lu Qinglian asked if the others had gone fishing yesterday. Zhang Shutong asked how he knew.

The girl said, "Don't worry about that. I know what I know. I not only know you guys came fishing, but I also know you were out of commission because you lent me your gloves." Of course, Zhang Shutong translated the term "out of commission" himself.

It seems the temple keeper really does have some skills.

Zhang Shutong asked, puzzled, "So what do you want to say?"
Lu Qinglian then said, "Since you didn't catch a single one yesterday, I'll just catch a few for you today as compensation. This is the important thing I mentioned after school. What do you think?" With that, she cast her line with a flourish.

"...The version you just mentioned is not this one."

"You can understand it that way for now."

Zhang Shutong wanted to ask how long this "temporary" period would last, but then he saw Lu Qinglian point to the bucket, where five large fish were swimming happily, and ask if that was enough, and if not, she would fish again.

Zhang Shutong pursed his lips and said, "Then you go ahead and fish. I'd like to see how many you can catch today." But as soon as he finished speaking, the float bobbed up again.
This time, Lu Qinglian tried to lift the rod but couldn't budge it. It seemed the hooked creature was much bigger than before. The rod was stretched into an arc, splashing and making a commotion that attracted the attention of the others.

Zhang Shutong immediately realized what was happening and was about to go and lend a hand when Lu Qinglian suddenly asked:

Will your fishing rod break?

“It’s carbon fiber, it’s fine,” but now was not the time to worry about the fishing rod, as girls are generally not very strong. “I mean, be careful not to cut your hand…” “It’s fine as long as it doesn’t break.” The girl frowned and interrupted.

After saying that, she gripped the fishing rod with both hands, stepped back, raised her shoulders, and twisted her waist in one smooth motion, as if all the strength in her body had suddenly exploded. A fish as long as her head drew a beautiful parabola in the air and crashed heavily onto the grass behind her.

"Is this enough to cover the cost?" Lu Qinglian picked up the big fish, but didn't even look at it, and asked casually.

"enough……"

Zhang Shutong came to her senses, feeling somewhat helpless.

He touched the water splashed on his cheek. Just now, not only he, but even his close friends next to him were shocked.
Besides, who fishes like that? Usually, you play the rod first. She probably just happened to use some skill, otherwise the rod would have broken long ago. She was really lucky.

Zhang Shutong felt sorry for the fishing rod and just wanted her to stop.

"I was just joking, don't take it seriously..."

Before he could finish speaking, a clear, surprised voice suddenly came from behind him:
"Oh, a silver carp."

"what?"

They both turned their heads at the same time.

Qingyi ignored them, shining her flashlight and staring intently at the fish.

"This should be a silver carp, right? It's the first time I've ever seen one. How did you manage to catch it? And do we even have this kind of fish around here? Or is it a bighead carp? You hold onto it for now, I'll search it..."

Zhang Shutong also took a closer look, "It does look like a silver carp, with a slender body, a forward-pointing mouth, and a short tail. Silver carp are fatter than this..."

It was indeed strange to catch a silver carp in winter. Such fish should not be active in cold weather. Just as the two were curious and about to study it further, Lu Qinglian suddenly took the fish away.

"Silver carp?" she asked bluntly.

"should be……"

She was even more decisive; the girl deftly removed the hook, cast it forward, and the fish splashed happily with its tail. As the water gradually calmed, her soft voice rang out:

"I can't compensate you with silver carp."

Qingyi glanced at Zhang Shutong with a puzzled look, while Zhang Shutong shrugged.

Lu Qinglian then stopped fishing, returned the fishing rod to Zhang Shutong, and sat there alone, like someone cultivating immortality.

Zhang Shutong could hardly be said to still be in the mood for fishing. He casually cast his line, tucked the end of the fishing rod under the stool, and stood up to walk around.

He had originally intended to comfort Du Kang, as Ruoping had just pulled him aside to let him reflect on his actions, but the boy was now happily digging for frogs on the bank.

That's true. Anyway, he's been hitting walls for more than a day or two. What else could he do but have a strong ability to adjust psychologically? Or maybe he's always had a big heart. As the old saying goes: How to relieve worries? He can manage on his own.

Besides, even though he was rejected when he confessed his feelings at graduation, it didn't stop him from liking Lu Qinglian for another eight years.

Zhang Shutong simply ignored him to avoid him coming to ask more questions.

I glanced at my phone; it was 7:15. Before I knew it, almost an hour had passed.

Looking around, Qingyi was focused on fishing, while Ruoping had somehow moved closer to Lu Qinglian, and the two were chatting quietly.

"Let's leave at 7:30, don't stay out too late."

Zhang Shutong shouted at them, without waiting for a response.

It was completely dark; the moonlight was dim tonight, and the night was thick.

There were no streetlights in this place, and if you weren't using a flashlight, you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. It reminded Zhang Shutong of the zombie movies he watched when he was a child, where an old corpse might suddenly jump out of the reeds.

A breeze picked up quickly, and faint ripples appeared on the lake's surface. When the beam of the flashlight shone on it, tiny specks of dust danced in the beam.

It was pitch black all around, except for a stark white circle reflected on the water's surface. Within the circle, some grass stems could be seen drifting in the wind. Thankfully, they were just grass stems; if it were a dead fish, it would have been quite frightening in the dark atmosphere.

He wandered aimlessly along the lake, his mind a bit agitated by the idleness. He picked a reed and waved it haphazardly in his hand, sometimes looking at the ground, sometimes gazing across the lake—

The location here is roughly equivalent to the "1" and "3" positions on a clock, but unfortunately it was too dark to see anything.

I don't know how my "trap" is going, but I also think that if I successfully catch the murderer, the course of history on the island might be changed.

—There's something I forgot to mention. Since Gu Qiumian died, all construction on the island has come to a standstill. Her daughter was murdered. It seems that back then, Gu's father didn't care about profits or losses and simply left this place of sorrow.

Eight years later, when he returned to the island, he saw a rather large unfinished building on the bus, which was probably a shopping mall that was currently under construction.

This is why he transferred schools after graduating from junior high school—if his father's project were still progressing, his parents would have stayed on the island, and he would probably have gone to high school in a city outside the island with his best friends, instead of returning to the provincial capital next door.

Their family was originally from the provincial capital.

Thinking about it this way, it might even change your own life.

But thinking about that is a bit too far ahead. Let's find out the killer's whereabouts first—Zhang Shutong plans to ride his bike to check on him before school tomorrow morning.

When he came to his senses, he had almost completely stripped the reeds from his hands.

A few more minutes passed, and Zhang Shutong walked back to his fishing rod, thinking that given how frequently Lu Qinglian had been catching fish, there should be some activity by now.

Or are these fish not giving me any face?

When I shone my flashlight on it, it seemed that they really hadn't given it to me.

He picked up his fishing rod dejectedly, sat down on the bench, and found Ruoping and Lu Qinglian chatting animatedly beside him—or rather, only Ruoping was talking.

"I'm really sorry about what happened before. Actually, it wasn't entirely Du Kang's fault. I was the one who encouraged him to go. Please don't be angry..."

At this moment, she truly acted like everyone's older sister, not forgetting to explain a few things for Du Kang, taking all the blame upon herself.

Lu Qinglian shook her head and said it was nothing. Ruoping confirmed a few more times to make sure she wasn't being cold, then she relaxed and started chatting about other things with a smile.

Sometimes female friendships are just that strange. After only chatting for a few minutes, Ruoping seemed to be almost treating the other person as a best friend. And best friends should share Oreos, of course. He guessed the last part himself, but Lu Qinglian didn't want any. He didn't know if she was just shy.

Looking at the still fishing float, Zhang Shutong thought to himself that Ruoping was actually the type to respond better to gentleness than force; otherwise, she wouldn't have always disliked Gu Qiumian. He imagined how exciting it would be if the two of them were face to face and glared at each other.

Then Ruoping said from the side:

"...Then let's leave in a bit. You can come whenever you want in the future. Let me see, it's already 7:27. I'll call them."

Then she stood up, abandoning her previous gentle tone, and shouted with her hands on her hips:
"Let's go, let's go. Are you all going to stay here? Qingyi, if you pretend you can't hear me, I'll throw your earmuffs in the water." Then she looked at herself menacingly, "Shutong, what are you doing sitting there?"

"I didn't catch a single fish again today," Zhang Shutong sighed.

"I'll give you three more minutes. If you can't catch anything, so be it." After saying that, she shouted at Du Kang, "Especially you! What did I just tell you? Didn't you have something to say to Qing Lian? Come here right now!"

Wait, how did it become "Qing Lian"?

Then Zhang Shutong saw Du Kang say "Oh" and walk over with his head down. After listening to a few words, Zhang Shutong realized that Du Kang wanted to apologize, but he couldn't think of such a thing himself. It was probably Ruoping who helped him smooth things over.

Zhang Shutong is now only focused on the fishing float in the water.

In the last three minutes, he refused to believe he couldn't catch a fish.

Staring at the rippling water, I could hear the voices of several people talking.

"I will definitely be more careful in the future..." This is what Du Kang said, with a sincere attitude.

"I just said you don't need to do this." Lu Qinglian's voice carried a hint of helplessness.

"Then let's put this matter out in the open. You see, Qinglian isn't someone who's hard to talk to, understand?" This was Ruoping's crazy hint.

Zhang Shutong suddenly saw the float in the water bob.

"Okay, okay, by the way, Lu, do you like frogs? I just saw one. You can take it home and keep it as a pet. Just find a warm place..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shutong wanted to cover his face, but what he should do now was stare intently at the water, hold his breath, count to three, and then suddenly pull up the fishing rod.

"roll roll roll!"

One.

"No, what's wrong?"

"I really am... Why didn't you just say you'd send a toad?"

two.

"You know what, I actually heard frogs croaking, just when I went back to move the chairs..."

"You really heard frogs croaking? Where would frogs come from in this weather?" Qingyi joined the fray.

three!
Zhang Shutong pulled hard, splashing water everywhere. He immediately looked towards the end of the fishing rod, but what appeared in his line of sight was a... packaging bag.

His face instantly darkened. It's said that what's more frustrating than being caught in the air force is landing trash, which perfectly describes his current mood.

How did I end up fishing for a packaging bag?

To be honest, this thing is even rarer than a fish, because the group never litter after eating, and the waters are very clean. After thinking about it, it must have drifted over from the other side.

Please have some public awareness... but it still needs to be removed from the fishhook.

He sighed, shone his flashlight on himself, and blinked.

It looked like a snack packaging bag, red at the top and bottom, and transparent in the middle, with the words "Want Want Breakfast Sausage" written on it. If you looked closely, you could even see the chili oil floating in the transparent part.

At this moment, Zhang Shutong didn't know what expression to make.

Is it just too much of a coincidence?
He wondered if he had bought the same one as Lu Qinglian. He really wanted to show it to her, but he didn't know if she could remain calm or if she would frown and unleash her full fury. However, the conversation on the other end hadn't ended yet, so he decided against it.

“It was definitely a toad, I heard it very clearly…”

"What is all this nonsense?" Ruoping was also exasperated. "How did you go from apologizing to talking about frogs and then to toads? If you're so eager to go, then go now. If you're so capable, try catching one and not come back all night. If Qinglian doesn't want you, I will!"

Zhang Shutong really wanted to ask if, besides frogs and toads, you also wanted to see breakfast sausage packaging bags, because she actually had some... but for the sake of her hairstyle, it was best not to provoke that bad luck.

He packed his things, stretched, and got up to wait for the others to finish speaking.
I must ask Ruoping for a trash bag when the time comes—Zhang Shutong isn't exactly a germaphobe, but carrying a breakfast sausage bag is really disgusting, and I don't even know if the other person ate it from the mouth, plus their hands are all greasy…

He frowned, raised his right hand, and found that the chili oil inside had leaked out.

Chili oil...

drip……

His movements suddenly stopped.

"I'm telling the truth. It's right here. Just go up and walk along the dirt road for five minutes. I'll take you to see it later if you don't believe me..."

"Who's going to catch toads with you!"

Zhang Shutong moved the flashlight directly above the plastic sheet.

"I was actually going to go, but just as I was about to head over, I saw someone coming. I thought the police had arrived, which startled me, so I quickly ran back..."

"Officer, why didn't you say so sooner?"

There is a string of numbers directly above—

20121129
1129
"..."

"Because he wasn't a policeman, I hid and watched for a while. It was just a guy, heading west. I was wondering what he was doing wandering around so late at night. I didn't smell any alcohol on him, like he was crazy..."

Zhang Shutong suddenly looked up:
"Where did you think he went?"

"Uh……"

Before the words were finished, footsteps could be heard in the distance.

That was the sound of shoe soles rubbing against the dirt and stone road surface.

The group of people instinctively turned their heads.

At the edge of the line of sight, a beam of white light from a flashlight pierced the entire dirt road.

(End of this chapter)