Winter Returns

Chapter 83 That Princess-like Girl (Part 2)

When she's truly angry, she doesn't glare or fly into a rage; instead, she remains indifferent.

Zhang Shutong apologized first. It's hard to say who was right and who was wrong in this matter, but who cares? Saying sorry is never wrong.

It's not fair to say that Gu Qiu Mian was being unreasonable. Regardless of whether she was in the mood or not, she should have gone to the movies with her. That way, everyone would be happy.

So he took the initiative to go out the door, intending to go downstairs with Gu Qiumian, but the girl didn't move, blocking him inside the doorway, and coldly said:
“I didn’t call you to watch the movie. The TV is already off, the lights are off, and Teacher Song has gone to bed. Since you’re too busy to come downstairs, can I come find you myself?”

Zhang Shutong was taken aback. The TV was off, so why did you come to find me?
No wonder she came back after only a few minutes. It turns out she didn't come up to find me halfway through the movie, but used that time to take care of things downstairs.

Zhang Shutong could only speak again, saying he was sorry for upsetting her.

“I’m here to settle accounts with you,” she said, frowning, then added, “It has nothing to do with the movie.”

The corridor fell silent again, and Zhang Shutong was still confused about what she meant.

As the old saying goes, Gu Qiu Mian has always been a girl he can't figure out. He's been a bit too proud lately, thinking that after being her lackey for so many days, he's figured out what she's thinking. But he still doesn't understand.

"Let me in first." She didn't even add any interjections at the end of her sentence, but thankfully she still had the energy to glare at him.

Zhang Shutong stepped aside and watched the girl walk into her room, but that's ambiguous. It should be said that the young lady had descended into her territory, and this was no longer Zhang Shutong's room.

The room was even more fully furnished than the hotel room, with a table and chairs and a small sofa. Zhang Shutong sat on the edge of the bed and saw her sitting upright on the sofa, tucking her hair behind her ears.

Zhang Shutong was prepared to be scolded by her, although he couldn't imagine how Gu Qiumian would scold someone. Wait, it seems she really did scold him, and she scolded him.

Regarding the scarf incident, she said:

"Disgusting!" "I hate people who do something and then don't admit it!" "Fine, since you won't admit it, aren't your parents working for my dad? I'm going to talk to my dad about it!"

And so on.

Thinking about it this way, Zhang Shutong hasn't been scolded by her in a long time, at least eight years.

"Do you think I'm easy to fool?" Gu Qiu Mian's first words were unexpected.

"No." Actually, you're quite easy to fool.

"Then look me in the eyes."

Why is it always about checking eyes...?

Zhang Shutong tilted his head and looked at her, thinking that even if he looked at her a hundred times, it would still be the same. He knew her eyes were beautiful and her eyelashes were thick, okay... He tried to lighten the mood, but Gu Qiumian said, word by word:
"Are you hiding something from me?"

"Uh……"

"You suddenly ran upstairs while we were watching the movie, making a mysterious phone call. It was the same tonight. You insisted on going for a walk in that field. On the way back, you were restless and didn't even notice your hair was soaked," Gu Qiumian said, staring into his eyes, which made Zhang Shutong subconsciously look away. But the girl persisted, "Teacher Song kept asking me in the car if I was scared. It was related to this, wasn't it?"

"This one……"

You've really misunderstood.

Zhang Shutong was somewhat amused and exasperated. The reason Lao Song asked if you were scared was because I lied and said you were frightened by the snake and couldn't sleep.

But the atmosphere is very serious now, so we can't joke around, not even with henchmen.

Gu Qiumian kept a straight face:
"It's about me, and it must be very serious, right? You've been acting strange since last night, always checking my door. I noticed it a long time ago. How long are you going to keep this from me?"

At this moment, she neither glared nor threw a tantrum; she simply made him look intently into her eyes.

Zhang Shutong was unable to speak.

"I'm angry with you right now!" the young lady emphasized again.

Zhang Shutong apologized again and again, saying that he shouldn't have acted crazy so late at night and made everyone unhappy.

To everyone's surprise, Gu Qiu Mian's tone became even colder after these words:

"Who told you it had anything to do with the movie? I didn't want to expose you, but since you won't admit it, I'll just say it directly. Are you still worried that someone wants to retaliate against me, and that's why you've been investigating?"

She made a startling statement, giving Zhang Shutong no time to react:

Am I right?

He could only nod.

But at the same time, I was even more confused.

Since you can guess that it's to protect you, why are you still angry?
Do you feel like you're meddling in other people's business?

He had just watched a Stephen Chow movie, so he quickly found a suitable adjective. Well, putting himself in someone else's shoes, if someone came to his house for such a nonsensical reason and started meddling in his affairs, Zhang Shutong wouldn't be happy either.

He simply shut up and obeyed orders.

Gu Qiumian finally widened her eyes:

"Do you still think you've hidden it well and that I'm easy to fool? Let me tell you, you're a complete idiot! A moron! A blockhead!"

This is a bit disheartening; how can you do good deeds and still get scolded?

The girl's eyelashes were trembling slightly:
"Why do you keep everything bottled up inside? Why do you try to shoulder everything alone? Aren't you tired, you idiot? You don't even have time to relax by watching a movie. Do you think I'm so worthless that you have to run around in the snow, getting soaked to the bone, just to protect me?"

Her beautiful eyebrows finally furrowed together:
"That's why I'm so angry right now, and you've made my stomach hurt!"

Zhang Shutong didn't know what to say. He felt that he wasn't as badly off as she described, and besides, he had already apologized three times. They say things shouldn't happen more than three times, and even he himself felt that it was unnecessary.

Gu Qiu Mian stared intently into his own eyes, her chest heaving beneath her robe. Zhang Shutong had to admit that he had been terribly misled by Lao Song's words. Of all the nagging the man had given him, Zhang Shutong only remembered one thing: that she was stupid, and he remembered it very clearly. But that statement was completely wrong, utterly wrong. She was a young lady from a wealthy family, but not a naive and innocent girl. She wasn't just a little girl who would wrinkle her nose and glare, nor was she an electronic idiot who forgot to turn off the flash when taking photos. She wasn't just someone with red eyes in the library; she was clearly intelligent and proud.

"Now I'll give you one more chance."

She wore a burgundy velvet nightgown, with jet-black hair and fair skin, looking like a beautiful and noble princess, high above, before issuing an unquestionable command:
Tell me, I need to know!

Zhang Shutong gave up. He sighed and made up an excuse on the spot. Since it was made up on the spot, it was obviously ridiculous, but something was better than nothing.

He forced himself to say that he had a dream. He dreamt that one rainy night, your dog was poisoned to death, and several people in a van parked in front of your house, not knowing what they wanted to do... As he spoke, Zhang Shutong couldn't continue. He felt his face getting hot. Who could believe such a fake thing? He stopped believing in dreams when he was in kindergarten.

Gu Qiu Mian got up from the sofa and sat down next to him.

She held onto the edge of the bed with both hands and asked softly:

"Is that why?"

"Just because of this." Zhang Shutong thought to himself that he should have gone home even if it meant braving the snow. "...It's absurd, but I didn't mean to lie to you."

“I believe you.” But she shook her head. “Because I also had a dream… about the place I went to tonight. I think I’ve dreamt about it before… I really have been there.”

Zhang Shutong was stunned again.

Why did Gu Qiu Mian dream about forbidden zones?
He himself said that dreams are used to cover up regression, so what was her reason?
Zhang Shutong hurriedly asked her if there were any other details, but Gu Qiumian said she couldn't remember, only that it was very cold.

He had some regrets.

Is the restricted area some kind of special place that appears in Gu Qiu Mian's dream?
Or perhaps her dreams could even transcend time and space, allowing her to dream of the scene when she was murdered?

Or perhaps it was just a misunderstanding; there are many wild places on the island, and maybe she had a sense of déjà vu when she went there that day.

A series of questions came flooding in, and Zhang Shutong subconsciously tried to discern their possibilities. He sat on the bed, clasped his hands together, rested his chin on his hand, and stared blankly at the floor.

Gu Qiu Mian leaned closer at that moment, bringing the fragrance even stronger:
"So you're still worried about other people, like that van?"

Zhang Shutong nodded, her previously cold face suddenly hardening.
"I told you you're an idiot, taking dreams to heart and running around everywhere for the sake of a dream, you idiot!"

Zhang Shutong thought to himself that she was really hard to please. It would be foolish to keep it from her, and it would be foolish not to keep it from her either. When would he be able to be a smart person again?
But Zhang Shutong wasn't in the mood for such talk. Since he had already told Gu Qiuming what he was investigating, he wanted to use this opportunity to get her attention. So he turned to the girl and said solemnly:

"Even though it's a dream, don't take it lightly. Listen to me these next few days."

Gu Qiu Mian remained silent, staring intently at her chest, her ears gradually turning red. The only sound was their close breathing. Zhang Shutong lowered his head as well; she was almost a head shorter than him, and he noticed her gaze was fixed on his collarbone. They were quite close, though it was similar when they were deskmates at school. Back then, he wore his school uniform instead of pajamas, and he felt a little uncomfortable being stared at, so he moved back a little.
"Understand?"

"What do you know? You don't understand!"

Gu Qiumian glared again:
"Idiot! Wooden head!"

After saying that, she ran off as fast as she could, almost without even putting on her slippers properly. The noble princess had become a princess in distress, utterly defeated and routed. The door slammed shut, and her voice drifted back from outside, a beat later:

"You're not allowed to hide things from me anymore!"

It took him a while to come to his senses. He scratched his messy hair and breathed a sigh of relief.

We finally got through this hurdle.

Zhang Shutong turned to look out the window. The night was pitch black, and the snow was still falling. The aloof girl from before seemed to melt away like a snowflake in his eyes. He thought to himself that Qiu Yu'er was still easy to fool.

He suddenly felt a little lighter and stood up;

Turn off the lights, get into bed, and go to sleep.

……

The snow is still falling, of course.

Under the pitch-black night sky, only one lantern illuminated the small courtyard wall.

In the stillness, with a creaking sound, the girl pushed open the courtyard gate, used her umbrella to lift the lantern, and extinguished it.

Outside the small temple called the Green Snake Temple, the last bit of light disappeared.

Darkness enveloped everything; it was vast and mysterious, making the girl's frail figure stand out even more.

The girl walked through the swirling snow, her clothes fluttering and her black hair dancing in the wind, sticking to her face.

Soon snow fell on her hair and shoulders. She glanced at the sky, frowned, and returned to the temple.

The temple was dimly lit, with a few candlesticks burning. The temple gates were wide open, letting in a backflow of wind and snow, and the temple seemed on the verge of collapse because of her arrival.

The candlelight illuminated her calm, still eyes.

Drops of water, carrying dust, soaked the bluestone ground. She casually put down her umbrella, closed the temple door, and started walking again.

Three long incense sticks burned on the altar in front of me, and wisps of white smoke drifted in the air.

She walked up to the ancient statue, carefully scraped away the wax seal on the snake's eyes with her fingernail, and looked away.

"really……"

Lu Qinglian murmured to herself, her faint and serene voice quickly fading into the smoke and dust:

"It's the second time."

This night has remained unchanged since time immemorial.

(End of this chapter)