Winter Returns

Chapter 34 The Storm Is Brewing (5th Update, Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Old Song's insightful remarks continue:
"So they're easily satisfied, or rather, they were originally shrewd, but then they got carried away and didn't care about anything else. So whether you have money or not, whether you're successful or not, it's all irrelevant..."

Zhang Shutong wanted to say that Gu Qiumian definitely didn't care whether others had money or not, as long as she had her own, that was enough. But Lao Song was clearly talking about his own ex-girlfriend. Zhang Shutong was quite curious about his romantic history and didn't mind listening.

“My girlfriend and I were like that. When we met, we weren’t much older than you guys, maybe seventeen or eighteen, or eighteen or nineteen. Back then, we were so poor that we could only afford one ticket to see a movie. I would let her run in first, and a few minutes after the movie started, I would offer a cigarette to the doorman, change into a security guard’s uniform, and sneak in. Guess how we drank our beverages? Even Jianlibao was considered a luxury. Back then, they sold bulk malted milk powder. I would bring a thermos from home and drink from the bottle, while she would drink from the lid. We could even finish a whole cup while drinking. Do you think they didn’t feel embarrassed? But they were willing to do it.”

Old Song kept talking about women, and Zhang Shutong suddenly felt that he looked familiar. He realized that he was similar to Qingyi, except that guy kept talking about men. Maybe one day Qingyi will accidentally grow up to be like Old Song.

"That's why I said you have to pursue girls. If you don't pursue them, how will they understand your feelings? Besides, it's a lot of innate. If you like them, you like them; if you don't, you don't. Once the first impression is set, no matter how hard you try later, you can't change it."

Old Song seemed to be getting into his story, so he lit another cigarette and teased the frog on the center console as he talked. He hummed smugly, "You all think I'm incredibly slovenly now, but let me tell you the truth, I used to be a dashing and handsome guy. I had a superstar-like slicked-back hairstyle, my shoes were polished to a shine, and I rode my motorcycle to the dance hall with my beloved girl sitting on the back. Every time I got off, she would straighten my hair if it got messy. Was she that gentle? No, actually, she was extremely proud, so I was kept very close to her back then. But now I've gone back to my old ways."

Zhang Shutong listened with great interest at first, but when she saw that Lao Song was wearing a wrinkled white shirt with his arms covered in hair, she realized that he was a down-on-his-luck man. It seemed that he and his ex-girlfriend had ultimately lost to life. Even a silly girl can become a shrewd woman one day.

But if they kept talking like this, they would end up talking late into the night. Although the surroundings were still quite romantic, raindrops fell on the metal roof of the car, making a crisp sound. A cigarette butt with a glowing ember lit up in the darkness, and a faint wisp of smoke drifted by before being washed away by the rain.

But now was clearly not the time for a heart-to-heart talk, so Zhang Shutong decided to deliberately provoke him.

Where is your teacher's wife now?

Zhang Shutong asked a question in a very naive way, and casually flicked the frog with his hand. Bulbasaur grinned and gave a silent sneer to the man in the driver's seat. Squirtle and Pikachu could not achieve this effect. In a sense, it was really the right choice to buy it.

But when it smiled, Song Nanshan's smile froze on his face.

The cigarette butt was tossed listlessly on the ground and then went out. Song Nanshan silently rolled up the car window.

Zhang Shutong felt apologetic. He said, "I'll buy some beer after I'm done with this. We'll sit down and chat, and I'll listen to you brag all night." Then he fastened his seatbelt and waited for Lao Song to light the fire.

However, the car didn't start. Song Nanshan just stared at the frog for a long while before saying:

"She passed away."

Zhang Shutong's hand, which was fastening his seatbelt, froze on the spot. He wanted to laugh and say, "Old Song, can you be a little more open-minded? Don't gossip about other girls just because you broke up. It's so unbecoming of you..." But he knew that was impossible. In the darkness, he saw the man's expressionless, resolute face, and the voice he spoke was devoid of emotion:

"The day I bought this frog, I didn't take her home that night. She got hit by a car. When I found out the next day... you can probably understand."

"So I'm telling you, don't let go of something when you have the ability to hold onto it, or you'll regret it someday."

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but couldn't say anything. He simply wrung out the radio, the silver panel of which was already chipped. Inside, the disc that Gu Qiu Mian had picked out was still playing. The two of them had been talking for who knows how long, so long that the song had been playing on repeat. It was Ru Yan back then, and it was still Ru Yan now.

Amidst the crisp raindrops, Zhang Shutong clearly heard the lyrics:
When I was seven years old, I caught that cicada;
I thought I could catch summer;
At the age of seventeen;

I kissed his cheek;
He thought he could be with her forever... They listened to a summer song on a rainy winter night.

"Damn it, what kind of rubbish is that? You'd be lucky to catch a cicada and catch summer." Old Song chuckled, then turned off the radio, started the car, and the engine, old as it was, gave a sudden jolt, just like an old Bulbasaur trembling. The man flicked the frog listlessly. "She's gone, leaving only you, this ugly thing, to keep me company."

But the frog seemed to be deliberately messing with him, always stubbornly returning to its original state after a few shakes. Zhang Shutong looked at the yellow-eyed, bootleg Bulbasaur and wondered how many years it had been alone here. From the first year of junior high to the fourth year, it must have been at least four years, or even longer.
The car's interior was cracked and torn, yet it remained the newest and most vibrant item, even more so than the man sitting beside him. But Song Nanshan didn't rush to leave; instead, he suddenly said:

"Shutong, actually, what I wanted to tell you wasn't these things."

"It's not appropriate for me to tell you this, it's someone else's family matter. Normally, as a teacher, I would say this is unethical, but I think you should know. When I called Qiu Mian's father at noon, I heard a woman talking next to me, calling him 'darling.'"

"Who do you think that is? What do you think his father went off to do after leaving the island? Do you think Gu Qiu Mian knows anything about it?"

His questions came like a barrage of bullets, and even the raindrops couldn't drown out the silence within Fox.

Then Song Nanshan lit a cigarette, breaking the silence:

"Qiu Mian's mother passed away a long time ago."

Smoke gradually filled the carriage. Zhang Shutong suddenly realized why she had never seen the rainbow cotton candy under the Ferris wheel. He turned to look at the window. The ghost face on it had faded. Zhang Shutong wiped the ghost face away. It was still pitch black outside, and he couldn't see anything.

Yes, they are now on a small island, and this is the most remote place on the entire island. Perhaps the four-story detached villas are brightly lit, but if you look out through the glass, you will never see the huge, luminous outline of the Ferris wheel.

It must be very lonely.

……

"Alright, you know everything you need to know. You can handle things on your own from now on."

Song Nanshan shook his head and opened the car door:

"I'm going downstairs to use the restroom. Wait a moment, we'll go to the shopping street after we finish eating. Your teacher will accompany you young people to play the hero and rescue the damsel in distress..."

Zhang Shutong sat there silently, simply nodding to indicate that he had heard.

But to everyone's surprise, Song Nanshan returned much later, his expression serious.

"I just went to her backyard and it looks like something really happened..."

It's a total of 10,000 words. Don't say I haven't updated enough, I'm begging for monthly votes!

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(End of this chapter)