"Mmm, I know. I'm with Lu Qinglian. I'll explain in the car. Please thank Uncle for me..."
Zhang Shutong hung up the phone and rushed out of the room.
In the time it took to say those few words, Lu Qinglian had also gotten dressed. She followed closely behind. Both of them had long legs and walked quickly. It was nearing noon, and the sound of cooking could not yet be heard. The quiet stairwell was broken by two sets of footsteps.
The stairs were neither wide nor narrow, wide enough for two people to pass at the same time. Zhang Shutong deliberately left the side with the handrail for Lu Qinglian, while he took three steps at a time, descending one floor in a flash.
"Hey, Little Zhang, no class today? Going fishing again?"
He had just rushed to the corner when he ran into an auntie carrying a vegetable basket. He vaguely remembered that she lived on the third floor and was a half-colleague of his parents. Zhang Shutong had long forgotten her name, and just as he was about to say a quick hello, he caught a glimpse of fluttering dark hair from the corner of his eye.
Zhang Shutong subconsciously turned his head. It turned out that Lu Qinglian had also rushed to his side in a single stride. The girl held onto the handrail, leaning on it for support, and then pushed off with her toes—
Zhang Shutong was stunned, and the auntie was also stunned:
"This girl is..."
Before she could finish her sentence, the girl in the green robe had almost slid down the stairs along the handrail.
Time seemed to freeze.
Her long hair fluttered, and her eyes were as calm as an ancient well.
When the auntie met her gaze, she was so stunned that she couldn't speak.
By the time she came back to her senses, Lu Qinglian had already passed her without a word. The girl landed on one foot, her posture steady, her movements sharp, and her demeanor elegant.
Zhang Shutong could only apologize to the auntie and quickly went down the stairs as well.
Lu Qinglian seemed to have been waiting for him. As soon as they stepped out of the stairwell, a cold wind rushed at them. In the midst of the vast white snow, the two of them started walking at almost the same time.
"You almost scared her vegetable basket off..."
"Where to?" The girl just glanced at him, her green robe rustling behind her.
"The telephone pole to the left of the community gate. They're on the way, so they should be there now."
"Okay."
"Is your ankle okay?"
"I can manage."
Looking at Lu Qinglian's steps, which were getting faster and faster, Zhang Shutong could only call out to her, saying that a minute wouldn't make a difference. The other person, however, frowned, seemingly annoyed by his dawdling.
Zhang Shutong had always thought that he was the type of person who would forget everything else when it came to a serious matter. He didn't expect to meet someone who was even more exaggerated than him.
They soon left the residential compound. An SUV was already parked next to the telephone pole.
The passenger window was rolled down, and Ruoping's eyes widened:
"Qinglian, why are you with him?"
"Hey, hey, we're the best friends. Shouldn't it be 'Shutong, why are you with her'?"
Lu Qinglian's relationship with Ruoping was quite good. She greeted her, and at this time, she was no longer in a hurry. Although she had been walking in front of Zhang Shutong just a moment ago, she now stepped aside, motioning for him to get in the car first.
"You're going to..."
He stopped halfway through his sentence, regretting not having conspired with Lu Qinglian beforehand. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain why she had come out of his house.
But it was too late to say anything now. Zhang Shutong opened the car door and saw the faces of Qingyi and Du kang.
"What a coincidence, Shutong." Qingyi was also a mischievous boy.
Du kang was just laughing foolishly. Zhang Shutong thought, "Please stop laughing. You already have a baby face. The more you laugh, the more you look like a child." His hope seemed to be dimming.
There was no point in saying more. He squeezed into the car. Lu Qinglian also followed him in. The car door closed with a bang. Zhang Shutong first looked at the man in the driver's seat.
The man had a mighty physique and broad shoulders. Even though he was wearing a sweater, the obvious muscles on his arms were visible. Although he was driving a large SUV, he looked like he was squeezed into a small box, with his shoulders hunched.
They say a tiger father has no dog daughter. A man who could have raised a heroine like Ruoping was naturally not simple.
Zhang Shutong remembered that he was a retired gymnast from the provincial team. He had come to their school to be a physical education teacher a couple of years ago. Now, he had been transferred to the town, and he had wanted Ruoping to transfer with him, but the girl had adamantly refused to leave the three of them, so he had to give up.
The man's features were well-defined. He must have been quite handsome when he was young. It was just that his mouth was a little big, a trait that Ruoping had inherited.
A P.E. teacher in this day and age had to be able to command a presence, so the man looked very serious and rarely smiled. In reality, he was a complete doting father.
Zhang Shutong wasn't estranged. He quickly greeted and thanked him. The four friends were all very close with each other's parents.
The man also grinned:
"Little Zhang, I was wondering why I didn't see you just now. So it turns out you were with a girl..."
Before he could finish, Ruoping gently nudged him with her elbow.
Zhang Shutong knew she was afraid that Du kang would misunderstand. The man closed his mouth, but he looked at him strangely in the rearview mirror and then turned to look at his daughter, saying with a chuckle:
"You kids chat. Your uncle won't say anything random."
"Wait, he doesn't think Ruoping is jealous, does he?"
Zhang Shutong felt a slight headache.
"Tell me the truth, what did you do today?"
Heroine Feng turned her head.
"Yeah, Shutong, why did you make us dig that pit? It was so mysterious. Qingyi said you were going to catch a wild boar. Is that true? Did you catch it?"
A wild boar...
There were indeed wild boars on the mountain in the earlier years.
Zhang Shutong secretly glanced at the "wild boar."
Lu Qinglian didn't say anything. She looked out the window as if everything had nothing to do with her.
"No... I accidentally slipped at the edge of the pit and almost fell in," he said, rolling up his sleeve. There were some bruises on his arm. "See?"
"Hit by a wild boar?" Qingyi pretended to be confused.
"I said I fell on my own." Zhang Shutong glared at him, motioning for him not to talk nonsense.
"Really? Then why didn't you come to find us?" Ruoping was suspicious.
Zhang Shutong forced himself to say:
"My clothes got all wet, so I went home to change. I called my mom to pick me up."
"Then why are you with Qinglian?"
"We happened to run into each other at the foot of the mountain," Zhang Shutong said, thinking on his feet. "At that convenience store. I went to buy water, and she was buying hot dogs. She was going to feed the fox. Do you remember the fox? The one we ran into the last time we saw the poachers..."
The more Zhang Shutong spoke, the smoother it became. He was about to give a detailed account of the girl's relationship with the fox, but then:
"He's lying."
A voice suddenly sounded from his side. Lu Qinglian spoke calmly.
The car immediately fell silent.
Several pairs of eyes focused on the girl in the green robe.
"Uh..." Zhang Shutong was stunned. He didn't understand why she was causing trouble at this time.
"He's lying to you. Don't believe him." Lu Qinglian repeated indifferently.
"Aha! I knew something felt off. I just knew you were lying. You made us dig a pit, and after we dug it, you told us to hurry and leave. And why did you say you were busy when Qingyi called you just now, but now you suddenly have time?"
Ruoping questioned:
"Qinglian, you tell us. I don't believe him."
Lu Qinglian didn't speak immediately. Instead, she turned and glanced at Zhang Shutong. Zhang Shutong once again saw that faint, playful smile on her lips.
"Classmate Zhang Shutong, can I tell the truth?"
Only Zhang Shutong knew the hidden meaning of that sentence, but to others, she sounded like she was being coerced by him, and her words were full of vulnerability.
"He's even threatening you?" Ruoping was surprised. Zhang Shutong's crime was now worse.
"Classmate Lu, please feel free to speak. With us here, this kid wouldn't dare to do anything." Du kang also chimed in.
"Is it okay?" The girl tilted her head and looked at him.
Zhang Shutong no longer believed in the relationship forged by a kick.
He sighed in defeat and simply closed his eyes to rest, thinking that it was time to tell them anyway. Some things had to be revealed to his friends sooner or later.
And once he revealed it, she would no longer have any leverage over him.
Zhang Shutong gave up on trying to save face. The others saw this and stopped paying attention to him, all staring at Lu Qinglian, hoping to hear some shocking secret from her. In the next second, the girl opened her red lips:
"The truth is, classmate Zhang Shutong fell into that pit."
"Uh... what do you mean?"
"He was trapped in that pit and couldn't get out by himself. I happened to pass by and saved him. So he invited me to his house for a cup of hot water."
Lu Qinglian ignored the disappointed looks from everyone and said indifferently:
"But he thought it was embarrassing and didn't want to tell you, so he told a lie."
"Is that all?" Du kang was confused, and at the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"What do you think, classmate Zhang Shutong?" Lu Qinglian asked again with a meaningful tone.
Classmate Zhang Shutong quickly nodded.
"Wait, but that doesn't explain why he made us dig a pit!" Ruoping was still suspicious.
"I don't know about that." Lu Qinglian said.
"Okay, Pingping, don't keep twisting your body like that. It's not safe." The man in the driver's seat reminded her at the right time.
Ruoping couldn't get anything else out of them, so she turned back reluctantly.
The interrogation finally came to an end. Everyone was very disappointed with the final "truth" and went back to their own things. Ruoping put on her headphones to listen to music. The remaining four were squeezed in the back row. The seating arrangement from left to right was Du kang, Qingyi, Zhang Shutong, and Lu Qinglian.
Qingyi and Du kang were discussing this week's Zhiyin Manhua, but Du kang was a little distracted. He was probably regretting sitting on the far left.
Zhang Shutong glanced at them, then looked at Lu Qinglian, and mouthed a phrase in an annoyed tone:
"What are you doing now?"
"A warning." Lu Qinglian also mouthed back.
"What did I do now?"
"Don't casually expose other people's private matters."
"Private matters?"
Zhang Shutong was puzzled.
He hadn't even mentioned her sprained ankle.
"The fox." Who knew she would say coldly. "I don't care who you lie to, but you shouldn't use my private matters as an excuse."
She seemed worried that she was speaking too quickly for him to understand. After a while, she added:
"This is the third reminder. My relationship with you is not good enough for this."
Zhang Shutong opened his mouth:
"Uh... I'll be careful next time."
Lu Qinglian casually nodded and turned her face back to look at the scenery that was rapidly retreating outside the window.
She always sat with a straight posture, her hands on her knees, like a well-behaved traveler. Everyone she met along the way was a passerby.
Zhang Shutong looked at her for a few moments and then looked away.
Okay, so liking foxes was also a forbidden topic.
Life is all about learning from your mistakes.
After her waist, physical contact, and feet, a new taboo was added.
They were still far from the winding mountain road. He was sitting in the back of the SUV. Sometimes, when they drove on a rough road, their bodies would sway from side to side.
He closed his eyes to rest for a while, knowing that this matter could not be hidden from his friends no matter what.
Even if he could find an excuse for the pit and Lu Qinglian;
The next step was to go to the villa. When he and Lu Qinglian got out of the car, it would lead to even more suspicion.
As long as he told one lie, countless more lies would be waiting for him.
This cycle was endless, and there seemed to be no end in sight. Zhang Shutong felt tired because of this.
If he were still that lone wolf from back then, he could keep everything to himself. But as the truth was revealed little by little, he found that he was becoming more and more overwhelmed.
Human strength has its limits. In the castle case, he could tell no one. In the arson case, he could reveal the secret afterward. He could keep the Zhou family father and son in suspense... But now it was different.
Since the real murderer had surfaced;
It was time to lay all his cards on the table.
He first typed out the things he needed to explain in his phone's notes but found that Lu Qinglian was staring at his screen.
"Are you going to tell them?" she asked indifferently.