Winter Returns

Chapter 66 "Vertical Pupils"

He subconsciously stepped down the stairs, and blankly stretched out his hand. Snowflakes danced in the wind, gently landing in his palm, the icy touch sending a shiver down his spine.

Snowing……

But why is that?
No matter how much I flap my wings, I can't change the weather, can I?

Does this mean he didn't "go back in time," but instead jumped directly to another timeline?
Parallel universes?

Zhang Shutong hurriedly pulled out his phone and searched for the weather forecast for December 6th, but the local forecast made no mention of snow at all; the search bar only showed this sentence:

"Sunny. As of 11:00 AM Beijing time, the current temperature is -2 degrees Celsius. The expected high temperature today is 3 degrees Celsius. Drink plenty of water, wear warm clothes, and be careful not to catch a cold..."

But this prompt seems eerie and chilling at this moment.

Zhang Shutong looked around blankly. The commercial street in front of him was gray and hazy. The already not-so-clean street was covered with a thin layer of snow, and dirty snow water was slowly flowing down the curb to the center of the road.

No one around him seemed to notice anything unusual. Pedestrians walked briskly with their heads down, while he stood still. For a moment, he felt as if the world was spinning. Snow water flowed to his feet, branching out like twigs, gradually wetting the soles of his shoes.

He started walking quickly through the swirling snow. Zhang Shutong's gaze was fixed on the milk tea shop, where several close friends were sheltering from the snow under the sign. They waved to him as they saw him.

"Here, here, I forgot to ask you, what flavor do you drink..."

Zhang Shutong quickly calmed his breathing and casually mentioned a flavor. Ruoping asked how his stomach was, and he deliberately said that he had caught a cold. Ruoping nodded and said that it was indeed cold today... Actually, Zhang Shutong wanted to know when the snow started.

He chatted with the others for a bit more, deliberately complaining that the weather forecast was really unreliable, as it clearly said there would be no snow today.

The weather forecast is indeed not very accurate these days, a statement that resonated with Ruoping:

"Exactly, my mom keeps spending money to subscribe to text messaging services. I've told her it's not allowed anymore. It was sunny when we got out of school, but it started raining right after we ate dinner..."

Zhang Shutong was startled again. He knew Ruoping was wrong. To be precise, the snow didn't start falling in the middle of lunch, but rather it was falling from the moment he returned eight years later, when everyone raised their hands to say "Cheers."

He then subtly inquired about the events of the previous night, and to his relief, the night of the poacher's arrest was just like any other.

Zhang Shutong summarized several changes that occurred after backtracking:

The minor conflict at the restaurant was alright; it was all my fault.

Gu Qiumian's menstrual period was caused by catching a cold due to the drop in temperature.

Of course, it all comes down to the snow.

If it were a parallel universe, the weather forecast should have changed accordingly, but it didn't, indicating that the variables are still brought about by "backtracking".

This strange snowfall left him completely baffled, so he could only silently remember it, while another thing came to mind:

Why was the time point for this regression a dinner party?

The first time it was back to Wednesday, the second time it was back to Thursday, so the third time... he certainly didn't want a third time, but according to this pattern, it would be back to Friday?

But Zhang Shutong has another guess, he still remembers the mechanism of "backtracking":

If something bad happens around you, you will return to the key point before the incident.

The key is in the last few words—

"Critical Node".

This might explain why, in the original timeline, his relationship with Gu Qiu Mian plummeted to a freezing point because of the "scarf incident," and it remained unrepaired until her death. He had no time to pay attention to either the conflicts in the commercial street or the real culprit.

So he went back to Thursday afternoon, which happened to be the monthly seating change. By a twist of fate, the two became deskmates and gradually learned more about her and her family situation. This "seat change" was the key to repairing their relationship.

What about this time?

Zhang Shutong wondered if it was related to this lunch. Had he missed some clues at the lake fish restaurant?
Not right either.

Commercial streets are an option that can be ruled out.

He recalled the clues he had brought back from eight years later, all of which pointed to Lu Qinglian. He happened to run into her on the rooftop after lunch on Thursday. At the time, he felt a bit speechless, thinking that his little home had been occupied. The two of them simply chatted for a few minutes.

This was the last time he had a longer conversation with Lu Qinglian, until the night before the time travel.

If his previous judgment was correct, and he should pay more attention to Lu Qinglian, could it be that the key moment this time is the "rooftop conversation"? What did he overlook before?
The next direction seems to be clear.

After taking the milk tea from Ruoping, Zhang Shutong glanced deeply at the man inside through the window and took a picture of him with his phone.

Next, I wanted to say goodbye to my best friends, since we all had our own things to do:
Du Kang was going to rent videotapes, Qing Yi was going to borrow books... That was how it was originally planned, but the snow changed everything. No one wanted to wander around in the snow, so the group simply rode their bicycles back to school.

After entering the school gate, Zhang Shutong apologized, abandoned his car, and hurriedly entered the teaching building. He climbed the stairs in a few steps and stopped at the end of the corridor.

The lighting here wasn't good, so he looked up at the entrance shrouded in shadow.

It's the rooftop again...

Zhang Shutong turned around almost instinctively. The afternoon sun of winter slanted into the corridor, casting shadows of the window bars on the terrazzo floor. But this time it was daytime, and there were a few students walking in the corridor. He listened to their footsteps and realized that the empty night with the old movie playing had completely disappeared. It had been buried in time along with a cold-blooded bastard.

He was momentarily lost in thought, but only for a moment. Zhang Shutong then stepped onto the stairs, bent down to check the hidden key, and sure enough, it was gone.

Pushing open the rooftop door, you're closer to the sky. In your vision, snowflakes, like dust, flutter and fall, covering the cement ground with a light white layer. A girl with a high ponytail sits alone on the edge of the rooftop, tilting her head slightly upward, gazing at the falling snow.

A few white beads landed on her silky black hair and then melted away.

The world seemed to have become lonely.

Zhang Shutong stopped in his tracks, remembering how the girl had remained almost alone on the island until the end of her life.

But there was no time for him to recall all that. The girl reflexively turned her head, saw him, and then looked away.
"Are you looking for me?"

Lu Qinglian always spoke in a calm tone.

This simple question sparked more thought in Zhang Shutong. He used to think Lu Qinglian was quite narcissistic, that he just stood there in a daze and that he was looking for her. So he shook his head and said it was nothing.

But hearing the exact same words made him ponder for a moment: why would Lu Qinglian ask such a question?
If I had chosen "it's okay" back then, what if I had done the opposite this time?

So he nodded and said that he did have something to do.

"Please tell me as soon as possible if you need anything." The girl put down her chopsticks.

Actually, Zhang Shutong hadn't figured out how to say it either. Many things involved the future, which were difficult to bring up, but he was pretty used to it, so he started with a dream:

"I had a dream last night..."

"I'm not interested in what you dream about. Is there anything else?" Lu Qinglian said coldly. "If there's nothing else, please don't disturb my meal."

"..."

Zhang Shutong was taken aback. To be honest, he really couldn't recall how he and she had spent time together during the second semester of their fourth year of junior high. Did they compete to see who could talk less?

"Actually, you wanted to talk to me about something, right?" He didn't bother to pretend anymore. "Since yesterday after school, you said you had something important to tell me, and then you went fishing with me last night. You were paying attention to me, intentionally or unintentionally, the whole time. Why?"

To everyone's surprise, the girl immediately started pretending to be clueless, asking in bewilderment:

"Zhang Shutong, do you like me?"

"No."

Why be delusional if there's nothing going on?

Zhang Shutong knew that if she answered "I'm not being presumptuous" next, she would fall into her trap. She would then be caught in an endless tug-of-war with this penguin, and in the end, she would leave in a daze, only to find that she had essentially said nothing at all.

"Stop pretending." He said helplessly, walked to the edge of the rooftop, and sat down next to Lu Qinglian at a distance. "I made a key to the rooftop, and you were the one who came to me first yesterday. I came here today to ask about this issue. Is this explanation enough?"

"Zhang Shutong, you're a bit smarter than I thought." Sure enough, she even dropped the "classmate" suffix, and her whole demeanor became more mature. "So what's the answer?"

"No comment."

"Can I interpret it this way?" Zhang Shutong suddenly asked, "You came to me not because you're a 'classmate,' but because you're a 'temple keeper'?"

In his opinion, the snake represents the Green Snake Temple, the little man represents the temple keeper, and he didn't understand the last one, the irregular and strange circle.

At least the first two images together mean—go investigate the girl in the Green Snake Temple.

He felt the question was sharp enough, and an ordinary person would be speechless, but Lu Qinglian nodded calmly:
"You can understand it this way for now."

It's as if a fool has delivered himself to their doorstep.

Zhang Shutong resisted the urge to bite the soft flesh, and he frowned:

"I don't understand what you're hiding?"

"No comment."

"Did I guess right just now?"

"You can understand that."

Zhang Shutong sighed silently.

It seems the question was phrased incorrectly.

He glanced at the aluminum lunchbox in the girl's hand and remembered that the two of them had chatted for a while about "boiled eggs" last time and got along quite well.

He thought that he had missed important clues because he had only talked about trivial things in daily life, so this time he went straight to the point, but he kept running into obstacles.

After all, I ran into her on Saturday night, and she personally said, "I need to talk to you." I can't say why I didn't see her then.

So it's because the relationship isn't right?
He was about to chat with Lu Qinglian about everyday things, so he patiently asked her what she was eating.
"Have a meal."

"You have a rather sharp tongue."

"You should say your question is silly," Lu Qinglian calmly picked up a clump of rice. "Or have you never seen rice before?"

"I mean, you ate pretty badly."

"Fortunately."

"I have some takeout food in my car, do you want some?"

"Need not."

"How about some milk tea?" Zhang Shutong simply handed it to her, "As an apology."

"An apology?" She frowned.

"I'm sorry to disturb your meal." What they really meant was leaving you on the island.

Lu Qinglian didn't touch the milk tea, which stood alone between them.

Zhang Shutong then asked if she would still go fishing in the future, and Ruoping said she would miss her.

Lu Qinglian simply shook her head.

"How about we go out for dinner together after school tonight, with these guys?"

"Thank you, but I have something else to do."

Even if he tried to make conversation, Zhang Shutong couldn't find anything else to say.

This was the first time he had encountered a girl like this; no matter what he asked her, she would refuse.

It seems difficult to find anything that interests her.

Zhang Shutong was speechless; he really didn't know how to chat with girls.

Lu Qinglian then asked:
What are you investigating?

Zhang Shutong was taken aback.

“Last night, when you heard the police officers on patrol, you reacted too strongly, including those two poachers.”

Lu Qinglian turned her head to look directly into his eyes, her gaze filled with indifference:

"Zhang Shutong, you've been rambling on and on, so why don't you answer my question first—"

What are you investigating?

"Uh……"

He suddenly felt that the girl in front of him had become familiar.

No, even calling her a young girl wouldn't be accurate. Although her appearance and age were similar, Zhang Shutong once again evoked a strong sense of déjà vu:

The beautiful woman who had been encased in a black and white photograph eight years later reappeared before him, her eyes calm and still, without the slightest emotional fluctuation.

But for some reason, it reminded Zhang Shutong of snakes. They remain motionless before hunting, but that doesn't mean they're slow-witted. Rather, they're hiding themselves, waiting for you, their prey, to make a mistake before striking and killing you.

Lu Qinglian does indeed resemble a snake; "they" are all cold-blooded animals.

Zhang Shutong knew that he had just returned last night. At that time, he hadn't thought too much about the murder case. He was on guard against the murderer, thinking it might be a policeman or a poacher, so he was on high alert.

No one had ever thought about or seen this problem before, so it would be a lie to say that he wasn't surprised. But Zhang Shutong immediately wondered what would happen if he told Lu Qinglian the whole story at this moment.

Doesn't this perfectly address the previous question? He just happened to be missing something that would interest Lu Qinglian?

Perhaps the two of them, who are both cold-blooded, reached a consensus on this point, and Lu Qinglian is very good at fighting, which might create a wonderful chemical reaction.

The future direction seems to be decided at this moment.

Just then, a snowflake landed on his eyelashes, making Zhang Shutong blink hard. He looked at Lu Qinglian's eyes again, which appeared faintly amber in the light... wait, her eyes.

Could that circle refer to an eye?

It was an irregular circle, more of an ellipse than a circle, otherwise Ruoping wouldn't have joked that it was a tortoise shell. At this moment, Zhang Shutong realized that it really did look like an eye.

The inside of the circle is empty, there is nothing inside. If it is an eye, then it is an eye with nothing inside.

Snake, little man, empty eyes.

What are these three patterns trying to convey when put together?
Zhang Shutong swallowed what he was about to say, and in the end just made a joke to Lu Qinglian:

"I'm sorry, I have no comment either."

He stood up, preparing to go back, and said to Lu Qinglian:

"Drink your milk tea."

After finishing his sentence, Zhang Shutong turned around, his smile fading. He took out his phone, found his mother's number—she was working on geological exploration on the island—and closed the rooftop door. He had a new idea for the next phase of his investigation.

The door closed, shutting out the wind and snow outside, and also shutting out a girl whose speech didn't match her age.

The stairwell became dim again. Zhang Shutong walked down the stairs, and through the door, a voice seemed to drift from another world, like a murmur, spoken to no one in particular:
"If you don't want any accidents to happen, it's best not to pry into my affairs anymore."

(End of this chapter)