Chapter 275 - 121: Yesterday Once More

Chapter 275: Chapter 121: Yesterday Once More

His phone was ringing.

"Sorry, I need to take this call," Zhang Shutong said apologetically.

He turned and walked out of the hospital room again, almost able to hear the nurse’s resentful thoughts:

’This is the fourth time you’ve run off. Good thing I haven’t put the needle in yet.’

But Zhang Shutong didn’t plan on running this time. He was just taking a call. He could already guess what Ruoping was going to say. The few of them had been in constant contact, and while he was getting his IV drip, the three of them would occasionally chat for a bit on QQ.

"What’s wrong?"

Gu Qiuyan stood up as well. Zhang Shutong explained, "You can sit for a bit. My friend is just asking if my cold is better. I’ll just say a few words and be right back."

He pressed the answer button as he walked toward the window in the hallway.

"Made it to the hospital?" Ruoping sounded a little sleepy, too.

"Yeah. Did Lu Qinglian leave anyway?" Zhang Shutong knew why she was calling.

After they said their goodbyes at noon, Ruoping had invited Lu Qinglian over to her house, and the two of them had stayed there until evening.

According to the original plan, Zhang Shutong was supposed to have his IV needle removed around eleven, pick up Lu Qinglian, and rush to the villa to lie in wait for the murderer. Their partnership was based on different motives, but they shared a common goal—

Zhang Shutong wanted to protect Gu Qiuyan, and Lu Qinglian wanted to find that person.

But now the situation had changed again. He had suddenly brought Gu Qiuyan out with him, so he had taken a moment at the supermarket to tell the two of them the news.

"She left. I couldn’t convince her to stay," Ruoping complained. "This is on you. You said you had something to do tonight, and she waited all this time, only for you to change the plan at the last minute."

Zhang Shutong could only say he was sorry. Who could blame him when the best-laid plans go awry?

"What’s the use of apologizing to me?" Ruoping said. "I just felt that Qinglian seemed a little... how should I put it? A little lonely. I wanted to see her off, but she said there was no need, that she was very grateful just to be able to rest at my house for the afternoon."

Hearing this, Zhang Shutong felt a pang of guilt. He had promised to help Lu Qinglian find that person—in fact, he had been the one to propose they work together. For him, she had run around for two days on a sprained ankle and had done everything she’d promised. Even though she was skeptical about the "fake Lu Qinglian" theory, she hadn’t said anything. And in the end, he was the one who broke his word first.

On his last call, he had tried to convince Lu Qinglian to leave the matter to the bodyguards, but she refused. She hadn’t said it outright in front of Ruoping, but Zhang Shutong knew that finding that person was a matter for the temple, and she was the Temple Priestess. Regardless of whether Gu Qiuyan was out or not, she would not give up.

It was just like last Saturday when Zhang Shutong was cycling home and ran into Lu Qinglian, rushing along alone in the dark, her long robes fluttering.

So, around eleven o’clock, she left Ruoping’s house and went to the vicinity of the villa by herself.

His friends’ homes were on the northern part of the island, while the villa was in the south. To walk the entire way would take over an hour.

Zhang Shutong couldn’t give her a ride either. Not only was his motorcycle out of gas, but he was also stretched too thin to even think about it.

"Did she say anything else?" Zhang Shutong asked.

"What could she say? You know Qinglian’s personality. She just gave a faint nod and said she wasn’t counting on you from the start, and that you’d just be a burden if you went anyway."

"You added that last part yourself, didn’t you?"

"You saw right through me."

Zhang Shutong pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I’ll see what I can do. I’ll try to get over there."

"Just forget it." You could practically hear Ruoping rolling her eyes through the phone. "Don’t take this the wrong way, but what could you even do if you went now? Didn’t Qingyi tell you that taking everything upon yourself is a sign of arrogance? Seriously, take a good look at your own situation, would you?"

"Okay..."

"So where are you now?" Ruoping asked again.

"Everything’s fine now. I just found a place to rest."

"Ooh, care to share what it’s like eloping with a girl?"

"What’s there to share? I’m just cold and tired. Besides, who elopes to a hospital?" Zhang Shutong said, exasperated.

He turned his head to look down the hallway. People passed by occasionally. The dark green terrazzo floor was almost black at night, looking as if it were swallowed by shadows from a distance. But for someone who had just come in from the freezing snow, it brought an immense sense of relief.

"Want to hear a bedtime joke?" Zhang Shutong was finally in the mood to crack one.

"What is it?"

"It’s only called ’eloping’ if you go to a private hospital. What I did is more like ’public-loping’."

"Ugh, not funny."

"Come on..."

Only then did Ruoping laugh.

"Sounds like you’re really okay now."

"Yeah. Go to sleep. I can handle the rest from here. It’s safe in the hospital, so don’t stay up."

In truth, he wasn’t the only one waiting all night; his friends were too. Du Kang was waiting for Song off the island, while Ruoping and Qingyi had stayed up until now.

Everyone was so tired they were yawning.

"Okay, okay," Ruoping said helplessly. "I see now I shouldn’t have stayed up this late with you. We waited all afternoon, and nothing happened. It was all a false alarm. Before Song left, he said you were being paranoid and told us to be more patient with you. Have we been patient enough?"

"More than enough."

"Alright, you sound like you can barely stand," Ruoping said, concerned. "You’ve been running around since yesterday, and now you’ve finally gotten what you wanted, I guess. Get some rest. Qingyi and I will come see you at the hospital tomorrow, but don’t expect a fruit basket."

"Wouldn’t dream of it. Good night."

The two hung up.

Zhang Shutong yawned and pulled up Qingyi’s QQ profile. He had originally wanted to borrow a vehicle from him—Qingyi had a motorcycle—but it would be too much trouble for him to deliver it this late, and Zhang Shutong couldn’t just let him walk home. So, he gave up on the idea.

Zhang Shutong thought back carefully. On Thursday, he had gone back to the villa with Song, and on Friday, he had been running around outside. That meant his own bicycle was still parked at school.