Chapter 217 - 94: Showdown

Chapter 217: Chapter 94: Showdown

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m with Lu Qinglian. I’ll explain in the car. Thank him for me..."

Zhang Shutong hung up and rushed out the door.

In just a few moments, Lu Qinglian was also dressed and ready. She followed close behind him. Both had long legs and walked quickly. It was nearing noon, but the sounds and smells of cooking had yet to fill the air. The silence of the stairwell was broken by their two sets of footsteps.

The stairs were just wide enough for two people. Zhang Shutong deliberately gave Lu Qinglian the side with the handrail while he took the steps three at a time, descending an entire flight in an instant.

"Hey there, Xiaozhang! No class today? Going fishing again?"

He had just dashed around a landing when he unexpectedly ran into an older woman carrying a basket of vegetables. He vaguely recalled that she lived on the third floor and was something of a colleague to his parents. Zhang Shutong had long since forgotten her name. Just as he was about to offer a brief greeting, a flash of flowing dark hair caught the corner of his eye.

Zhang Shutong instinctively turned his head. Lu Qinglian had darted to his side in a single leap. The girl grabbed the railing, leaning on it for leverage before pushing off with the tips of her toes—

Zhang Shutong froze. The woman froze, too.

"This girl is..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the girl in the green robe was already sliding down the railing.

Time seemed to freeze.

Her long hair flew out behind her, her gaze as placid as a deep well.

The older woman met her eyes and was stunned into silence.

By the time the woman snapped out of it, Lu Qinglian had already silently brushed past. She landed on one foot, her posture steady, her movements deft, and her presence effortlessly cool.

Zhang Shutong could only apologize to the woman before quickly flying down the stairs himself.

Lu Qinglian appeared to be waiting for him. The moment they stepped out of the stairwell, a cold wind rushed to greet them. Amidst a sea of white snow, they both started walking at almost the same time.

"You nearly scared her into dropping her vegetable basket..."

"Where to?" The girl only glanced at him, her green robe WHOOSHING in the wind.

"The utility pole to the left of the neighborhood entrance. They were passing by and just arrived."

"Okay."

"Is your foot okay now?"

"It’ll hold up."

Seeing Lu Qinglian’s pace quicken, Zhang Shutong had to call out to her, telling her there was no need to rush. But she just frowned, seeming to find him a nuisance for dawdling.

’I always thought I was the type to drop everything for serious business,’ Zhang Shutong reflected, ’but I never expected to meet someone even more intense than me.’

They quickly left the residential complex. An SUV was already parked by the utility pole.

The front passenger window rolled down, and Ruoping’s eyes went wide.

"Qinglian, what are you doing with him?"

’Hey, hey, we’re supposed to be the best friends here. Shouldn’t the question be, "Shutong, what are you doing with her?"’

Lu Qinglian was on decent terms with Ruoping. She offered a greeting, suddenly no longer in a rush. Despite having walked ahead of Zhang Shutong just moments before, she now stepped aside, gesturing for him to get in the car first.

"Later, you should..."

He stopped mid-sentence, swallowing his words. He regretted not getting his story straight with Lu Qinglian beforehand. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why she was coming from his house.

But it was too late for that now. Zhang Shutong pulled open the car door and saw the faces of Qingyi and Du Kang.

"Fancy meeting you here, Shutong." Qingyi was a sly one.

Du Kang just chuckled foolishly. ’Please stop smiling,’ Zhang Shutong thought. ’You already have a baby face, and you look even more like a kid when you smile. Your chances are hopeless.’

There was no point in saying more. He squeezed into the car, and Lu Qinglian followed. The door shut with a THUD. Zhang Shutong’s gaze first fell on the man in the driver’s seat.

The man had an imposing build with broad shoulders. You could see the powerful muscles in his arms even through his sweater. Despite driving a large SUV, he looked like he was crammed into a tiny box, his shoulders scrunched up.

As the saying goes, a tiger does not father a dog. The man who raised a heroine like Ruoping was bound to be extraordinary.

Zhang Shutong remembered that he was a retired gymnast from the provincial team. He’d come to their school as a gym teacher two years ago but had since been transferred to a school in town. He’d wanted Ruoping to transfer with him, but she had adamantly refused, unable to bear leaving her three friends. In the end, he’d had to drop it.

The man had regular features and must have been quite handsome when he was younger. His mouth was just a bit wide, a trait Ruoping had inherited.

These days, a gym teacher needed a commanding presence to keep the students in line, so the man looked very stern and serious. In reality, he was an absolute pushover for his daughter.

Zhang Shutong didn’t act like a stranger, quickly greeting the man and thanking him. The four best friends were all well-acquainted with each other’s parents.

The man also grinned.

"Xiaozhang, I was wondering why I didn’t see you earlier. Turns out you were with a girl..."

Before he could finish, Ruoping gently nudged him with her elbow.

Zhang Shutong knew she was afraid Du Kang would get the wrong idea. The man closed his mouth, but not before giving Zhang Shutong a strange look in the rearview mirror. He then turned to his daughter and said with a chuckle,

"Alright, you kids talk amongst yourselves. I’ll keep my mouth shut."

’Wait, he doesn’t think Ruoping is jealous, does he?’

Zhang Shutong felt a headache coming on.

"Alright, fess up. What were you doing today?"

The young heroine turned around.

"Yeah, Shutong! You had the three of us dig a pit, all mysterious-like. Qingyi said you were trying to catch a wild boar. Is that true? Did you get it?"

’A wild boar...’

’There really were wild boars on the mountain, years ago.’

Zhang Shutong secretly glanced at the "wild boar."

Lu Qinglian didn’t say a word. She stared out the window as if none of this had anything to do with her.

"No... I accidentally missed my step at the edge of the pit and almost fell in." He rolled up his sleeve, revealing some bruises on his arm. "Look."

"Did a wild boar run into you?" Qingyi asked, feigning ignorance.

"I told you, I fell on my own." Zhang Shutong shot him a glare, warning him not to spout nonsense.

"Really? Then why didn’t you come find us?" Ruoping asked suspiciously.

Steeling himself, Zhang Shutong said,

"My clothes were all wet, so I went home to change. I called my mom to come pick me up."

"Then how did Qinglian end up with you?"

"I happened to run into her at the foot of the mountain." Zhang Shutong thought quickly. "At that little convenience store. I went to buy water, and she was buying sausage. She wanted to feed the fox—you guys remember the fox, right? From that time we ran into the poachers..."

The more Zhang Shutong talked, the smoother his lie became. He was just about to elaborate on the girl’s relationship with the fox, but who would have thought:

"He’s lying."

A voice suddenly spoke up from beside him. Lu Qinglian had spoken, her tone calm.

The car fell silent in an instant.

Several pairs of eyes focused on the girl in the green robe.

"Uh..." Zhang Shutong was taken aback, not understanding why she would choose this moment to stir up trouble.

"He’s deceiving you. Don’t believe him," Lu Qinglian repeated coolly.

"Aha! I knew something sounded fishy! I just knew you were lying! You made us dig a pit, and then you made us leave right after. And another thing! If you went home to change, why did you tell Qingyi you were busy when he called, but now you’re suddenly free?"

Ruoping demanded,

"Qinglian, you tell us. I don’t believe him."

But Lu Qinglian didn’t speak right away. Instead, she turned to look at Zhang Shutong, and he once again saw that faint, playful smile on her lips.

"Classmate Zhang Shutong, may I tell the truth?"

Only Zhang Shutong understood the hidden meaning behind her words. To the others, she sounded as if he had coerced her, her tone deceptively meek.

"He threatened you, too?" Ruoping asked in surprise. Another charge was added to Zhang Shutong’s list of crimes.

"Classmate Lu, just say what you want. With us here, this punk won’t dare to do anything," Du Kang chimed in.

"May I?" The girl tilted her head, looking at him.

Zhang Shutong was done with this ’friendship of a single kick’.

He sighed in resignation and simply closed his eyes to rest. ’Fine, let her talk,’ he thought. ’My best friends were bound to find out some things sooner or later anyway.’

’Besides, once it’s out in the open, she won’t have this to hold over my head anymore.’

Zhang Shutong gave up trying to salvage the situation. Seeing this, the others ignored him and stared intently at Lu Qinglian, hoping to hear some earth-shattering secret. A moment later, the girl parted her lips.

"The truth is, Classmate Zhang Shutong fell into that pit."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"He was trapped in the pit. He couldn’t get out on his own. I was passing by and helped him out. That’s why he invited me to his house for a cup of hot water."

Lu Qinglian ignored everyone’s disappointed looks and added coolly,

"But he thought it was embarrassing and didn’t want to tell you, so he made up a lie."

"That’s it?" Du Kang was baffled, but also secretly relieved.

"What do you say, Classmate Zhang Shutong?" Lu Qinglian asked again, her tone full of meaning.

Classmate Zhang Shutong nodded quickly.

"Wait, that still doesn’t explain why you dug the pit in the first place," Ruoping said, still suspicious.

"That, I don’t know," Lu Qinglian said.

"Alright, Pingping, stop twisting around like that. It’s not safe," the man in the driver’s seat reminded her at just the right moment.

Unable to get any more information, Ruoping reluctantly turned back around.

The interrogation finally came to a close. Everyone, disappointed by the ultimate "truth," returned to their own activities. Ruoping put on her headphones to listen to music. The other four were squeezed in the back row, seated from left to right in this order: Du Kang, Qingyi, Zhang Shutong, and Lu Qinglian.

Qingyi and Du Kang started discussing this week’s issue of *Zhiyin Manke*. Du Kang, however, seemed distracted, likely regretting his seat on the far left.

Zhang Shutong glanced at them, then looked at Lu Qinglian and irritably mouthed,

"What was that about?"

"A warning," Lu Qinglian mouthed back.

"What did I do now?"

"Don’t casually expose other people’s private matters."

"Private matters?"

Zhang Shutong was puzzled.

’I didn’t even mention her sprained ankle.’

"The fox," she mouthed coldly. "I don’t care who you lie to, but you shouldn’t use my affairs as an excuse."

As if worried he wouldn’t understand her mouthing, she added a moment later,

"This is the third reminder: we’re not that close."

Zhang Shutong opened his mouth.

"Uh... I’ll be more careful next time."

Lu Qinglian gave a casual nod, then turned her face away again to watch the scenery rushing by outside the window.

Her posture was always perfectly upright, her hands resting on her knees, like a well-behaved traveler for whom everything along the road was just a passing sight.

Zhang Shutong studied her for a few moments before looking away.

’Okay, so her thing with the fox is off-limits too.’

’Live and learn, I guess.’

’First her waist, then physical contact, then her foot, and now this. Another thing on the list of taboos.’

They were still far from Ring Mountain Road. He sat in the back of the SUV, and whenever they hit a rough patch of road, his body would inevitably sway from side to side.

He closed his eyes to rest for a bit, knowing that he couldn’t hide this matter from his best friends any longer, no matter what.

Even if he could find an excuse for the pit and for Lu Qinglian’s presence;

When they got to the villa next, he and Lu Qinglian getting out of the car would only raise more suspicion.

Tell one lie, and an endless stream of lies will be waiting to follow.

The cycle was endless, with no end in sight. The thought exhausted Zhang Shutong.

If he were still the lone wolf he used to be, he could have kept everything bottled up inside. But as the truth was revealed, bit by bit, he found he was increasingly out of his depth.

There’s a limit to what one person can do. During the castle case, he could afford to tell no one. With the arson case, he could reveal the truth after the fact. He could keep everyone in suspense about the Zhou family father and son... but things were different now.

Now that the real culprit had surfaced,

It was time to lay his cards on the table with everyone.

He started typing out the points he needed to explain in his phone’s notepad, only to find Lu Qinglian staring at his screen.

"Are you preparing to tell them?" she asked coolly.