Chapter 364 - 159: The Lonely Watcher (Part 2)

Chapter 364: Chapter 159: The Lonely Watcher (Part 2)

"What... is this supposed to mean?"

"A cell phone. A flip phone, to be specific. It’s a bit outdated, but it’ll do. I had a reward from the police station that I never collected from that poacher incident. You were the one who actually dealt with them in the end, so it should have gone to you. I’m just passing it on."

"Are you deliberately changing the subject?" Lu Qinglian’s expression betrayed no emotion as she asked calmly, "Of course I know this is a cell phone box. What I mean is—"

She shook the box in her hand.

"What is this supposed to mean?"

"It means that even though it’s just a flip phone, you can at least make calls or chat on QQ. I’ll give you Song’s and Ruoping’s numbers later."

With that, Zhang Shutong started walking.

’She called me once eight years from now, and I had her saved as "Lu Qinglian" in my phone. That must mean we exchanged numbers before graduating middle school.’ Zhang Shutong’s memory of the event, however, was a bit fuzzy.

He didn’t know how Lu Qinglian had gotten a phone back then. ’But if she did have one, that must mean...’

"You might not have many people you’re close to, but I figured you still might need one."

Lu Qinglian said nothing. She lowered her gaze to the box in her hand, lost in thought.

’Please don’t tell me she’s about to coolly reject it,’ Zhang Shutong thought, a headache forming. ’But if she does, there’s nothing I can do.’ He averted his gaze, watching the pedestrians come and go at the harbor.

"Just take it. The police station bought them in bulk, and this one was left over, so I brought it. I already tore off the serial number on the outside, so it’s no use trying to return it."

"Zhang Shutong, you haven’t changed at all. You’re just like you were when you lent me those gloves."

"The gloves... oh, right." Zhang Shutong recalled that day—the first day after he’d returned to the past. He had run into her coming back from sweeping snow at the temple and had given her a pair of tactical fishing gloves because he’d noticed her hands were chapped from the cold. "You don’t have to thank me for that. It was nothing, I’d almost forgotten about it."

"No, I mean you’ve always been like an awkward child." Lu Qinglian looked up and smiled faintly.

It was the first time Zhang Shutong had ever seen such a pure smile from her. The corners of her pink lips curved up, but it wasn’t her usual subtle arc. This was a simple, genuine smile, like ripples spreading across a lake.

"It would be nice if you could phrase that a little more pleasantly," Zhang Shutong said, exasperated. "What do you mean, ’an awkward child’?"

"Am I wrong?"

That wisp of a smile immediately morphed into a teasing one, making Zhang Shutong wonder if he’d imagined the previous one. ’This woman is incapable of a normal smile.’

"Hiding a phone box in your jacket for half an hour, only to take it out at the very last second—isn’t that exactly what an awkward child would do?"

Lu Qinglian added crisply,

"I would have suggested you just take it home. You could have hidden it much better there."

Zhang Shutong pretended he hadn’t heard her.

The two of them walked along the lakeshore, pushing their bikes.

"Did something delay you on your way back from the hospital?"

"No," she said, instantly denying it. "What are you getting at?"

"I mean, you were a little later than I expected. Once you have a phone, it’ll be easier to get in touch."

Lu Qinglian glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, placed the box in her bicycle’s basket, and then got on.

’That wasn’t actually what he’d meant to say.’ All along the way, his mind had been on something else; he’d honestly forgotten about the phone. He had calculated that it took seven or eight minutes to walk from the dorm to the old house, and riding a bike back would be even faster.

Let’s say fifteen minutes, tops. But Lu Qinglian had taken twenty.

Zhang Shutong felt he understood her reasonably well. She only did what was necessary and never wasted time. Plus, she had long legs; his seven-to-eight-minute estimate was based on his own pace, so she should have been even faster. She was also a woman with far less curiosity than a cat. And yet, she had still been five minutes late on this short trip.

Zhang Shutong found himself wondering what she had done during those five minutes. ’Maybe I’m just overthinking it. She didn’t have a flashlight, and walking back in the pitch-dark would naturally slow anyone down. Or maybe...’

’She just stood in front of that woman’s photograph for five minutes.’

"Lu Qinglian."

"What?"

"Actually, what I wanted to say was," Zhang Shutong said earnestly, "you really are cuter when you smile... Hey!"

Before he could finish, Lu Qinglian shot him a look, then decisively pushed down on her pedals. With wheels spinning, the girl on her bicycle sped away.

The afternoon harbor was neither crowded nor empty. It was a fairly ordinary day in December. Sunlight streamed from the horizon in countless fine threads, weaving a dense net over the land. If not for the strong wind, it would have actually felt warm.

The hem of her coat fluttered in the wind, leaving Zhang Shutong standing there wide-eyed.

’So, in other words, that woman took the phone, got on her bike, and just ditched me—the injured guy—and took off?’

Zhang Shutong stood stunned for two seconds before raising his one good arm.

"Lu Qinglian? Lu Qinglian!"

...

Yawning, Zhang Shutong slammed his hand down on the alarm clock. He shuffled in his slippers to the bathroom and stared at the dark circles under his eyes in the mirror. Turning on the tap, he didn’t rush to wash his face, simply sticking his toothbrush in his mouth.

「December 15th. 10:00 AM on a Saturday.」

The cold water on his fingertips jolted him awake. Zhang Shutong examined his left arm in the mirror—it was as good as new. He’d gone to the hospital yesterday to have the cast removed, finally breaking his long-held seal.

You never appreciate something until it’s gone. Just as he decided to brush his teeth with his newly-freed left hand, another hand reached out from behind him and twisted the faucet handle to the hot water side.

"Use warm water, Tongtong."

His mom, wearing a face mask, drifted away.

"Don’t forget to pick me up a bottle of toner from Watsons today."

"Suuure—"

Zhang Shutong replied in a long drawl.

He wasn’t one to dawdle, so he quickly finished washing up. After drying his face, he caught sight of his perpetually untamable black hair in the mirror and instinctively wet his hands to smooth it down.

A fragrant scent suddenly wafted into his nose, and Zhang Shutong sneezed.

His mom stood beside him, shaking a small bottle with sparkling eyes.

"Let’s put on some cologne! I’ll go find some hair wax for you. You should look extra handsome today. I mean, my boy, you’re handsome even without trying, but you are going out with a girl, after all."

’It’s not a date, why do I need to get all dressed up...’

The thought had barely crossed Zhang Shutong’s mind when his mother reached out with her "demonic claws" and completely tousled his hair.

"Come on, let me wet it a little and style it properly with the blow-dryer..."

By the time she was finally done fussing over his hair, twenty minutes had passed, and he was now covered in an unfamiliar cologne.

He pulled open his closet, his eyes scanning rows of black clothes. After a moment’s hesitation, Zhang Shutong grabbed a beige T-shirt and a pair of jeans.

Just then, his phone rang. He hit the answer button, and a bright, clear voice came through the receiver.

"Are you downstairs yet? I’m already here! Come on, hurry up!"

"I..."

But before he could get a word out, she hung up.

Zhang Shutong put his phone away and turned to see his mom peeking out from her bedroom doorway. She silently mouthed a phrase at him:

"Go get ’em, son!"

Today’s mission: accompany the trainer as her Pokémon to challenge the city’s largest shopping mall.

Winning wouldn’t earn him a badge, but it would get him a meal.

In truth, they had arranged this long before he’d even gotten out of the hospital.

"I’m heading out."

Zhang Shutong grabbed his wallet and opened the security door to his apartment.

The day had only just begun, but she had already planned nearly all of it.