Winter Returns

Chapter 70 Zhang Shutong's Arrest
Zhang Shutong still hadn't returned to the classroom by the long break between the second and third periods in the afternoon.

The building block incident from the morning wasn't over yet, and Lao Song launched another major investigation in his office.

As a result, the corridor was noisy, except for all the students in Class 1 of Grade 9 who were studying on their own, supervised by the class monitor.

But this girl with glasses really lacked authority. She had already done her best to keep an eye on the students and prevent them from running away. As for the whispering among the students?
Let them be, you can't control them.

As a result, the most arrogant little group in the class has openly changed seats.

Du Kang greeted a boy with a grin and, in exchange for a carton of student milk, went to the third-to-last row by the window.

Behind him was Qingyi, who sat in the second-to-last row. In Qingyi's words, this was a strategically important location.

The person who had been crowding around Qingyi early on was none other than Ruoping.

The three decided to hold an emergency meeting.

"What's going on with Shutong? How did she manage to offend Gu Qiumian?"

"Unfortunately," Qingyi, the only one in the know, gestured for everyone to take their grief and said somberly, "Shutong has been exposed."

"Exposed?"

"He's the one who instructed Li Yipeng to smash the building blocks," Qingyi whispered.

"What?" Du Kang and Ruoping were shocked.

"Du Kang, keep your voice down, or I'll write your name down..." At this moment, the class monitor's weak voice came from the podium. She only dared to bully the weak.

"Spare me, spare me!" Du Kang turned around and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect. He had no time for banter and immediately pressed, "Explain yourself clearly, how did you get involved with Shu Tong?"

"Just kidding." Qingyi observed the two of them seriously for a while, finding it really amusing, before slowly revealing the answer. Then, he nonchalantly tilted his head, avoiding Ruoping's clutches. "Don't get excited, hey..."

He managed to dodge the demon's claws, but not its feet; the girl stomped hard on his shoe.

"Hurry up and tell me, stop keeping me in suspense." Ruoping glared at her.

Meng Qingyi handed her his phone and went to clean his sneakers. They were white, and it hurt to have them stepped on. Like his hairstyle, they were something men cherished.

After a while.

The chat history on the phone was circulated, and the emergency meeting turned into a gossip session.

“I knew they had something going on. They were the top ten best deskmates of the year, and now they're working together.” Du Kang raised an eyebrow.

"When did they become so close? They weren't talking to each other a while ago!" Ruoping exclaimed in surprise.

Du Kang patted Ruoping on the shoulder and said earnestly, "There's nothing I can do. Your Shutong has grown too big for his britches. I can't control him anymore. I advise you to let go."

"Get lost, who are you calling old?" Ruoping retorted irritably, then asked Qingyi, "So what are they doing in the office right now?"

Shutong said, 'Let's go fishing.'

What do you mean by 'or'?

"Maybe we just finished fishing last night," Qingyi said, also somewhat puzzled.

As they were talking, students went out and came back one by one in the classroom. Old Song called roll according to seating order, and soon it was Du Kang's turn. The three of them discussed it and originally wanted to go and offer their condolences as a group of relatives and friends, since they had the face of the homeroom teacher.

Qingyi stopped him, saying:
"Shutong specifically instructed that the three of us go one by one."

"Is this also part of the plan?"

"This is also part of the plan."

Ruoping was annoyed by this kind of suspenseful behavior. She waved her hand and said, "Then Dukang, you go and scout ahead." Dukang gave a perfunctory salute and said, "Yes, sir. Wait for my good news."

After saying that, he turned around and ran away.

A short while later, Du Kang returned with a sigh.

"It's over, it's all over now." He started yelling as soon as he entered the classroom, "Shutong has really been caught..."

"What happened? Tell me quickly, what did you see?" Ruoping asked anxiously.

"As soon as I went in, I saw him standing in front of the cabinet, with Lao Song and Gu Qiumian sitting next to him, their faces both colder than the last. I even heard them say that they were going to call his mother over..."

"Oh, he said he was going to switch shifts. We won't be able to see him anymore..."

"Du Kang and Feng Ruoping, you two keep your voices down," the class monitor weakly reminded him again.

Du Kang didn't know if he heard or not, he just sighed and returned to his seat.

Soon it was Ruoping's turn.

Ruoping returned shortly afterward, but instead of sighing, she was angry:

"I think Shu Tong was wronged. Gu Qiu Mian is just making baseless accusations. Just because her family is rich, and so is Lao Song. Why should we believe whatever Gu Qiu Mian says? I could say it's someone else!"

She grew angrier and angrier, and was about to go to the stage to defend Zhang Shutong when Du Kang pulled her back and whispered, "Grandma, please don't make a scene..."

"Am I in your way?" Ruoping suddenly turned around.

“You scared her…” Du Kang weakly pointed at the class monitor, who had already tidied up his textbooks and was preparing to make room for Ms. Feng.

Qingyi also ran over to persuade her. The two boys talked to her gently for a long time and finally managed to pull the sullen girl down from the podium.

The students were initially confused, but after the three of them made such a fuss, they finally understood.

It turns out that the castle incident during the morning break was suspected to have been orchestrated by Zhang Shutong.

No wonder he and Gu Qiumian didn't come back from the last class.

At this moment, someone who had been to the office whispered:

"It's probably confirmed. The teacher just wants to know if there are any eyewitnesses." These words were like a boulder thrown into a pond, splashing everywhere, and immediately sparked a flurry of discussion:
There are doubts;

Some were surprised;

Some were eager to inquire or watch the excitement.

Even more astute students have already realized this:

"I was wondering why Zhang Shutong suddenly became Gu Qiumian's deskmate. I thought they had made up. Do you guys remember the scarf incident? Gu Qiumian was just accusing someone, but now look what happened, she actually did it."

"It really is Zhang Shutong, I don't think he's that kind of person..."

"I also think Zhang Shutong was wronged..."

"Even if it is true, it's not entirely his fault. Gu Qiumian wronged an innocent person last time. If I were in his shoes, I would also want to get revenge."

It's usually girls who stand up for others like this.

Even the class monitor didn't say anything to stop it; he just symbolically tapped the podium with the blackboard eraser and then listened attentively.

Some boys wanted to offer their opinions, but Ruoping glared at them and shut them down.

The atmosphere in the classroom began to turn one-sided.

It wasn't until a boy rushed back and patted his deskmate on the shoulder—a boy with somewhat dark skin—that the incident continued.
"Keep your mouth shut when you get there, Old Song's about to explode..."

Zhou Ziheng nodded, got up, and left the classroom.

It was finally his turn.

However, at this moment, he was only puzzled:

How did it become Zhang Shutong?
If he really did it;
Where did Li Yipeng go?
Where did I go again?
It was probably during the first class in the afternoon when he heard that Gu Qiumian went to get water. He didn't know what had happened, but she suddenly ran out with red eyes. Zhang Shutong also chased after her. Everyone discussed it briefly, but how did the other person suddenly become a suspect?

But whether it was Zhang Shutong or Gu Qiumian, he only felt disgust in his heart, so after the initial doubt, he felt more schadenfreude.

Didn't Gu Qiu Mian ignore his "reminder" this morning? Now she's losing her temper and starting to bite people randomly?
And that boy named Zhang Shutong, didn't you want to be my protector this morning, bombarding me with questions? Well, karma is coming your way. You should think about how to clear yourself of suspicion first.

Thinking of this, he slowed his pace.

He was always a calm and collected person, and he knew he couldn't show his schadenfreude on his face later. As the only one who knew the inside story, he certainly knew the real ins and outs.

If I had to describe my feelings right now, it would be watching a group of people get completely fooled, all because of my little arrangement.

He sat high up, looking down, and felt nothing but a cold laugh.

Zhou Ziheng walked into the office.

He almost burst out laughing as soon as he entered. Just as Du Kang had said, a boy named Zhang Shutong was standing in front of the cabinet reflecting on his mistakes. On the other side, by the desk, the homeroom teacher was stern-faced, and Gu Qiumian was sitting next to him. To Zhou Ziheng's disappointment, the girl just had a cold face and didn't cry.

A dark cloud hung over the office.

A sense of superiority arises spontaneously.

Despite this, Gu Qiu Mian was indeed the most beautiful and dazzling girl he had ever seen. Even though she just sat there without saying a word, he subconsciously looked away and dared not look at her for long. This inexplicable inferiority made him grit his teeth.

Even though he was the one hiding behind the scenes seeking revenge, and should be considered the enemy, sometimes he wished that the other party would pay more attention to him.

Gu Qiu Mian never glanced at her.

He felt inexplicably angry. In fact, his feelings towards Gu Qiu Mian were complicated. Unlike his father, he didn't hate their family to the bone. At first, he hesitated when his father asked him to do this. Wouldn't burning down someone else's house cause any deaths? But his father said that the weather forecast said it would rain that day. It was just a profound lesson and nothing serious would happen.

lesson.

This idea gradually grew as the two became deskmates. He originally thought this way:
Gu Qiu Mian has no friends in class and is often alone. Once she becomes my deskmate, I can take advantage of her situation and we could become good friends or even have a deeper relationship. When that time comes, perhaps I won't have to do what my father says. Instead, I can persuade her myself, and then she can persuade her father. Wouldn't that be a better outcome?

However, the truth is that the girl named Gu Qiumian never looked at him seriously. Even when he went over with a smile to ask about his well-being, she would only nod perfunctorily. Sometimes she would get impatient and simply not say anything, just like the cold expression she had now... He originally didn't intend to teach her a lesson, until a deep sense of inferiority and shame enveloped him.

If she treated everyone else this way, it would be fine, but as her deskmate, Zhou Ziheng noticed that she treated that boy named Zhang Shutong differently. So, a month ago, he had already rehearsed what would happen today:
A perfect opportunity, a soiled scarf, and a vicious slander—as expected, they successfully turned the two against each other.

Since that's the case, he still has a chance; that's what he thought until yesterday.
However, for some reason, the two of them made up again!
Just yesterday!

We became deskmates!

That was the spot that should have been his.

The girl was like a delicate flower on an unreachable mountain peak; he couldn't pluck her, but crushing her petals into mud and destroying something just as beautiful was equally pleasurable.

Just thinking about this idea makes my hands tremble with excitement.

Therefore, Zhou Ziheng never felt that he had done anything wrong.

Yes, he has already made an effort.

He initially wanted to use a gentle approach.

To mediate the conflict between the two families.

But it had no effect.

But can you blame him?
It's your fault.

It's your family's fault.

You only have yourself to blame.

He took one last look at Gu Qiumian.

I've already given you a chance.

(End of this chapter)