Chapter 224 - 98: "A Childhood Friend is No Match for a Newcomer" (Part 2)

Chapter 224: Chapter 98: "A Childhood Friend is No Match for a Newcomer" (Part 2)

Gu Qiuyan.

Zhang Shutong, Qingyi, Du Kang, Ruoping, Lu Qinglian.

Miss Gu was sitting to Zhang Shutong’s front-left, neither too close nor too far. Even so, she seemed to intentionally steer the conversation away from him.

Occasionally, their eyes would meet for a brief, unintentional moment, but just as quickly, she would coolly look away and bring up a new topic.

Zhang Shutong had no idea how he had upset her this time.

"Is the snow on the mountain really that deep?" Gu Qiuyan asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice. "Deep enough to dig a pit like that?"

"Totally," Du Kang replied. He was like this with everyone—a social butterfly who always talked the most in these situations. The boy struck an exaggerated pose. "Forget a pit, have you ever seen those snow caves people build abroad online? If we had enough time, we could build a whole house."

"That sounds impressive," Gu Qiuyan offered as mild praise. "I’ve never been up the mountain."

"Then you should come with us next time, Miss Gu. We’re all friends now."

Gu Qiuyan didn’t answer, and Zhang Shutong couldn’t help but chime in.

"That’s a bit of an exaggeration. There’s nowhere that deep."

"What do you mean? Don’t you remember four years ago... Oh, right, Shutong, you hadn’t transferred here yet, so you wouldn’t know. Qingyi, you remember, right?"

The four of them had only become best friends after ending up in the same class in middle school. Although the other three had grown up on the island, they claimed that before then, they had only known of each other and weren’t this close.

"Of course I do. The teacher told us someone went up the mountain for fun, got lost, and almost didn’t make it back. That was you," Qingyi said, recalling the old story.

"Er, I wasn’t lost. I found my way to the temple in the dark, didn’t I...?"

"And you have the nerve to say that? I remember the teacher even wrote about it in the winter break handbook as a warning not to go up the mountain alone to avoid danger," Ruoping exposed him mercilessly, then asked out of curiosity, "Oh, right, I forgot to ask you back then—since you went to the temple, did you happen to see Qinglian?"

"Well, I saw her..."

Upon hearing this, Du Kang, surprisingly, seemed a little shy.

"That was the moment," Qingyi whispered, leaning close to his ear. "Love at first sight."

"Really? This is the first I’m hearing about it," Zhang Shutong said with interest.

"According to him, he got lost and was on the verge of tears. He followed a light uphill and ended up at the temple entrance. That’s when he ran into Lu Qinglian, who was sweeping snow in the courtyard. She even gave him a meal," Qingyi said leisurely. "It was probably one of those classic scenarios, you know? Stumbling into some ’forbidden land,’ meeting a mysterious girl who also happens to be your classmate... You know how much Du Kang loves his action-packed shonen manga."

"Is that true, Qinglian? He’s never told me that," Ruoping said, surprised.

"I think so," Lu Qinglian said after a moment of recollection.

"What do you mean, ’I think so’?"

"I’ve met a lot of people who got lost."

"And then what?"

"And then my dad came up the mountain to find me," Du Kang said, dejected. From the sound of it, he seemed to have wanted to stay the night.

Only after he finished did he realize they had been neglecting Gu Qiuyan, who had started the topic in the first place. He quickly changed the subject. "Hey, let’s drop it, let’s drop it. Can you guys not air my dirty laundry in front of others all the time? Anyway, since everyone’s here today, I say we go skiing on the mountain tomorrow. We can take old Song’s tire with us when we go."

"I’m down for whatever," Qingyi said. "But we have stuff to do tomorrow."

"Like what?"

"How about I modify that tire and give it to you as a gift?" Qingyi suggested, struck by a sudden idea.

"Uh, let’s not."

"I think it’s a great idea," Ruoping laughed. "And everyone who heard it gets to chip in. We can all give it to you from the three of us. Saves us the trouble."

"No way," Du Kang wailed.

Ruoping spoke again.

"Actually, I’m already tired of playing today. It’s all just snow. Why don’t we go into the city tomorrow instead? Shutong?"

"I’m easy. I’ll go with whatever you arrange, as long as I’m free."

Zhang Shutong never got to make the decisions on things like this, so he just gave his usual casual reply. However, it seemed his intuition was failing him again.

He turned his head. This time, the chill came from Gu Qiuyan’s direction.

Zhang Shutong understood. The four of them had been talking for too long and had left her out.

From Gu Qiuyan’s perspective, she was the one who seemed like the outsider.

It went without saying how close he was with his best friends.

And while Lu Qinglian didn’t act particularly close to them, Ruoping called her "Qinglian" so familiarly that their relationship couldn’t be bad.

Among everyone present, he was the only one she really had some history with.

But with the two of them not speaking, she seemed unable to fit in.

’The problem is, she’s the one ignoring me.’

Zhang Shutong took the initiative to ask:

"What are your plans for the afternoon?"

"After we eat, do you guys want to go downstairs and watch a movie?" Gu Qiuyan asked at almost the exact same time.

’Okay, looks like I was overthinking things.’

’How could the young lady ever be left out?’

"There’s a downstairs? And we can watch movies?" Du Kang asked, astonished.

"A home theater? Can it play discs?" Qingyi was also interested.

"Mhm." Gu Qiuyan nodded. "What do you want to watch?"

"I’m good with anything. We’ll go with whatever Miss Gu arranges..."

Zhang Shutong had wanted to ask Lu Qinglian if she had anywhere else to be in the afternoon, but they were sitting too far apart, so he decided to just go along with Gu Qiuyan’s plan for now.

Miss Gu had once again taken control of the conversation. She loved movies, so she could chat about anything, from the big foreign action blockbusters Du Kang liked to the detective films Qingyi preferred.

She was either quiet or the center of the conversation.

As they talked, Gu Qiuyan stood up to pour water for them. She was dressed like a princess today, but she wasn’t the type of girl to put on airs. Although Zhang Shutong had never seen her pour water for her usual group of lackeys, his best friends weren’t lackeys.

She bent slightly at the waist, a pendant hanging from her long, slender, pale neck. After staring for a moment, Zhang Shutong recognized it as a four-leaf clover. Vague memories surfaced, too faded to recall clearly, leaving only a faint sense of wistfulness in his heart.

He shook his head, feeling he had underestimated Gu Qiuyan. She wasn’t a fragile girl. If it weren’t for this homicide, she would be doing just fine. She probably would have left the island after middle school graduation and, years later, might even be taking over the family business. Then she’d be a true "young lady" in every sense of the word.

She probably didn’t do this sort of thing often. Her movements were a bit clumsy, but her posture was perfect.

His friends quickly thanked her and put their cups on the coffee table. Gu Qiuyan didn’t deliberately avoid Ruoping, but Zhang Shutong expected she would avoid him.

But that didn’t happen.

Because one cup was missing from the coffee table.

Zhang Shutong then remembered he had taken his cup to the dining room when he was washing the vegetables.

’Well, now I don’t have to worry about whether I’ll get a glass of water.’

Gu Qiuyan’s own cup was unused; she hadn’t been downstairs for long. She gently pushed her cup toward the corner of the table, filled it, and then sat back down with a neutral expression, resuming her chat with his friends.

Zhang Shutong saw her pinch her fingers and wondered what it meant.

Soon, the housekeeper called them for lunch.

The group then lined up to wash their hands in the bathroom like kindergarteners. This time, Zhang Shutong didn’t need to give directions, because Gu Qiuyan had already explained the layout of the house.

Zhang Shutong was last in line. He turned on the faucet—he had washed up earlier, so a quick rinse would do. As he squeezed out some soap, the reflection of a girl in a French-cuffed shirt appeared in the mirror.

Gu Qiuyan was standing next to him. ℴℴ𝘮

She didn’t say a word, concentrating solely on washing her hands.

Zhang Shutong watched her unfasten the crystal buttons on her cuffs and carefully roll up her sleeves, revealing slender wrists. It was a beautiful but troublesome garment, but she was a girl who cared about her appearance. That much, Zhang Shutong was used to.

Then he noticed a small blister on Gu Qiuyan’s finger.

"Did you burn yourself just now?"

It seemed so. She wasn’t used to doing such things and had touched the lid of the teapot directly instead of the handle when pouring water, scalding herself. Her skin was delicate—Zhang Shutong had known that for a long time—but he didn’t expect it to blister immediately.

"Mhm," she said, her head lowered.

"You should run it under cold water."

He picked up a towel from the rack and reminded her as he dried his hands.