Chapter 266 - 118: Provocation

Chapter 266: Chapter 118: Provocation

Zhang Shutong wanted to say that she had already gone upstairs then, but he held his tongue, remembering he had stepped out to make a phone call. By the time he returned, she had gone up.

"Maybe it was the housekeeper..."

"What housekeeper? The housekeeper wouldn’t just lend someone clothes without permission," Xu Zhiruo fumed. "What I’m trying to say is, are you such a blockhead that you didn’t realize Qiumian was the one who got you that down jacket?"

Zhang Shutong was at a loss for words.

Because he genuinely hadn’t realized.

Or rather, it seemed impossible.

She had already gone upstairs when he left. It was Song who had picked up the down jacket from the sofa and handed it to him. He had returned the jacket to the wardrobe after clearing the snow, but at the time, he hadn’t been sure where Song had found it in the first place.

Zhang Shutong could clearly recall every detail from that morning:

For instance, Song announcing that the snow was so heavy school had been canceled, then asking if they wanted the good news or the bad news first.

For instance, Gu Qiuyan being inexplicably cold and distant that day, and the housekeeper mentioning that whenever she did something embarrassing, she’d deliberately put on a stern face the next day.

For instance, how he had promised not to hide things from her anymore, yet he had still run off to the mountains without a word.

For instance, how the new tires weren’t delivered that day, trapping them in the villa. They could have spent a leisurely, quiet morning there. The snow was thick, and the freezing cold made one shiver; even the Doberman was huddled in its doghouse to eat.

Or how he’d still called his mom for help, only to return and find Gu Qiuyan had already gone upstairs.

Or how, when he came back inside, the movie they hadn’t finished the night before was playing on the TV. But the living room was empty, a sudden chill in the air now that she was gone.

Finally, he had thrown on that down jacket and rushed out the door, focused only on hurrying away, never once looking back.

Zhang Shutong could recall every single detail with clarity, but now, strung together, they formed a picture he couldn’t comprehend. He was only just realizing that there had always been another layer of meaning hidden beneath them all.

A layer he had never once noticed.

The voice on the phone spoke again:

"Look at that photo again, the bottom-right corner!"

Zhang Shutong looked at the photo again. In the corner, there were some doodles. First, a simple string of numbers: 1207. The date. He flipped back to the photo of him practicing driving. It had a doodle, too.

December 7th, Day Three.

And;

December 6th, Day Two.

’It’s like some kind of commemoration.’

But Zhang Shutong didn’t understand what it was commemorating.

He only knew that the day he and Gu Qiuyan had become deskmates was December 5th, the first day after the regression. The day their relationship had officially broken the ice.

’But what did it mean to Gu Qiuyan?’

The only other thing he could make out was a very ugly little face doodled in the corner of the photo. It was truly hideous, a brand of hideousness Zhang Shutong was all too familiar with. The doodles, which looked like a cross between a sheep and a cloud, were the handiwork of a certain young lady when she was in a very good mood.

Whenever she was in a good mood, she would fog up a window with her breath and let her finger fly, creating a jumble of messy lines. She called them sheep, but to Zhang Shutong, they always looked more like ugly faces.

That was why Zhang Shutong always teased her for "defacing" the glass. But now, the things being "defaced" were two photos of him.

He stared at the two photos, speechless.

This was a girl who still typed with one finger. ’What was she thinking as she clumsily drew those little pictures?’

He didn’t know.

All Zhang Shutong knew was this: a girl had woken up early that day. With feelings he couldn’t begin to guess, she had pulled open the curtains to see the vast white snow, the silent, open country, and a small, dark figure upon it. She had then smiled, drawn the curtains almost closed, and fumbled for her phone. She’d snapped a photo through the crack, her body shaking with silent excitement.

This photo had been saved on her phone, completely without his knowledge. She’d added a string of numbers—what was she commemorating? And what was she feeling when she drew that silly face on her phone’s screen?

Many people are like raindrops streaking across the windowpane of your life. Some are big, some are small. They can rush down in torrents or meander in thin lines, but they all vanish in an instant.

But aren’t there others who are like the fog left behind on the glass?

The kind that obscures your vision, yet you can’t bring yourself to wipe it away?

In the end, he had still broken his promise.

He had left on his own that morning, leaving her behind in that villa. And tonight was no different.

It was a palatial building, its lights still blazing even at night. But Zhang Shutong knew it was also the most remote spot on the entire island, a place from which you could never see the brilliant glow of the city lights.

There were always countless reasons. It was too dangerous to bring her along; it was too important to tell her. The reasons were all perfectly valid...

’But what about her? What must she think, always being kept in the dark?’

He didn’t even say goodbye when he left that day.

He’d wanted to save his goodbye for another time because he hadn’t known what to say. But you don’t always get another chance.

A profound exhaustion finally washed over Zhang Shutong.

He had successfully managed to mess things up again.

Life wasn’t a case file. Even if you managed to find all the clues, they didn’t necessarily lead to the right answer.

"So, you finally get it?" the girl on the phone said coldly. "Qiumian said I was wrong about you, but surely you don’t think sending a few superficial greetings over QQ actually counts as caring, do you?"

"Anyone can do that. Plenty of guys have crushes on her—a whole bunch of them would be willing, guys who can’t even get her contact info. And besides, you’re not exactly Mr. Charming. You think you’re so witty and fun? You’re not the type who knows how to make a girl happy. You’re cold as a block of ice, you know..."

"I get it."

"What do you get?"

Zhang Shutong said in a low voice,