He subconsciously walked down the steps and stared blankly. Snowflakes danced in the wind, lightly falling into the palm of his hand. The icy touch sent a shiver through him.
It was snowing...
But why?
No matter how much he, this butterfly, flapped his wings, he couldn't change the weather, could he?
Was he not "Rewinding," but rather directly crossing into another timeline?
A parallel universe?
Zhang Shutong quickly took out his phone and searched for the weather forecast for December 6. The local forecast made no mention of snow. All it said was:
"Clear. As of 11:00 AM Beijing time, the current temperature is 2 degrees below zero. The predicted high for today is 3 degrees Celsius. Drink plenty of hot water, dress warmly, and be careful not to catch a cold..."
But this message looked strange now, and it made his skin crawl.
Zhang Shutong looked around in a daze. The commercial street looked gray and dim. A thin layer of snow covered the already unclean street. Dirty snowmelt slowly trickled along the curb and into the middle of the road.
No one around seemed to find it unusual. People walked with their heads down, hurrying along. He stood rooted to the spot, and for a moment, he felt like the world was spinning. The snowmelt flowed to his feet, branching out like tree limbs, slowly soaking the soles of his shoes.
He started walking in this flurry of snowflakes, his steps quick. Zhang Shutong's eyes were fixed on the milk tea shop. His friends were huddling under the sign to avoid the snow. They saw him and waved:
"Over here, over here. I forgot to ask you, what flavor..."
Zhang Shutong quickly calmed his breathing and nonchalantly said a flavor. Ruoping asked how his stomach was. He deliberately said he had caught a cold. Ruoping nodded and said it was indeed cold today... In reality, Zhang Shutong wanted to know when the snow started falling.
He chatted with the few of them for a few more moments, deliberately complaining that the weather forecast was unreliable. "It clearly said no snow today."
The weather forecast was indeed not very accurate back then, so this statement earned Ruoping's agreement:
"Exactly. My mom keeps paying for those text messages. I keep telling her it's not accurate. It was sunny when we left school, but it started snowing after we finished our meal..."
Zhang Shutong was startled again. He knew that Ruoping was wrong. To be precise, the snow didn't start during lunch. It started the moment he returned from eight years later, the moment they all raised their hands and said, "Cheers."
He probed about what happened last night, and to his relief, the night they caught the poachers was the same as before.
Zhang Shutong summed up the few changes that had occurred since he rewound:
The small conflict in the restaurant. This was fine because it was because of him.
Gu Qiumian's period. This was because she got cold.
And of course, it was all ultimately because of the snow.
If it was a parallel universe, the weather forecast should have changed accordingly, but it didn't. This meant that it was still a variable brought about by the "Rewind."
This bizarre snow flurry left him with no clue as to its cause. He could only silently remember it and thought of another matter:
Why was the Rewind point this dinner?
The first time was a return to Thursday. The second time was a return to Thursday. So the third time... He certainly hoped there wouldn't be a third time, but following this pattern, would it be a return to Friday?
But Zhang Shutong had another guess. He still remembered the "Rewind" mechanism:
If something bad happens around you, you will return to the key point before the event occurred.
The key was the last few words—
"Key point."
This might explain it. In the original timeline, due to the "scarf incident," his relationship with Gu Qiumian dropped to a freezing point and was never repaired before she was murdered. He never had the chance to pay attention to the conflict on the commercial street or the real culprit.
So he returned to Thursday afternoon. It was time for the once-a-month seating change. They became deskmates by chance, and he gradually learned more about her and her family's situation. And this "seating change" was the key point to repairing their relationship.
What about this time?
Zhang Shutong wondered if it had something to do with this lunch. Did he miss a clue in the Huyu restaurant?
That wasn't right either.
The commercial street was a direction that could be ruled out.
He remembered the clues he brought back from eight years later. The clues all pointed to Lu Qinglian, and he happened to run into her on the rooftop after lunch on Thursday. At the time, he just felt a bit speechless that his small hideout was occupied, and the two of them just casually chatted.
This was his last long conversation with Lu Qinglian before the night of the Rewind.
If his previous judgment was correct and he should pay more attention to Lu Qinglian next, then was this "rooftop conversation" the key point? Did he overlook something before?
The direction of his next actions seemed to be set.
He took the milk tea from Ruoping. Zhang Shutong looked deeply at the man inside through the window again and took a picture of his face with his phone.
He was about to say goodbye to his friends because they all had their own things to do:
Du Kang was going to rent a videotape, and Qingyi was going to borrow a book... That was what he remembered, but it had also been changed by the snow. No one wanted to wander around in the snow. They all just rode their bikes back to school.
When they entered the school gate, Zhang Shutong apologized, left his bike, and hurried into the classroom building. He went up the stairs a few steps and stopped at the end of the hallway.
The lighting here was not good. He looked up at the entrance covered in shadow.
The rooftop again...
Zhang Shutong subconsciously turned his head. The afternoon sun shone diagonally into the hallway, casting the shadow of the window bars on the terrazzo floor. But this time, it was daytime. There were a few students walking in the hallway. He listened to their footsteps and was sure that the empty, silent night with the old movie playing had completely disappeared. It was buried in time with a cold-blooded scumbag.
For a moment, he was a little lost, but it was only for a moment. Zhang Shutong then stepped onto the stairs and bent down to check for the hidden key, but it was gone.
He pushed open the door to the rooftop. This was a place closer to the sky. In his line of sight, dust-like snowflakes danced and fell. A layer of pale white covered the cement ground. A girl with a high ponytail was sitting alone on the edge of the rooftop. She was slightly tilting her head back, looking at the falling snow.
A few white snowflakes landed on her silky black hair and then melted away.
The world seemed to have become lonely.
Zhang Shutong stopped walking. He remembered that the girl would also be left to live a lonely life on this small island until she passed away.
But he didn't have time to reminisce so much. The girl turned her head reflexively. When she saw that it was him, she looked away again:
"Are you looking for me?"
Lu Qinglian always had a faint tone.
This simple question, however, caused Zhang Shutong to think more. Before, he thought Lu Qinglian was a bit narcissistic. He just came up here to space out for a while, so why would she assume he was looking for her? So he shook his head and said, "Nothing."
But hearing the exact same words again, he pondered for a moment. Why would Lu Qinglian ask this?
He had chosen "nothing" before. What if he did the opposite this time?
So he nodded and said, "Yes, I am."
"If you have something to say, please say it quickly," the girl said, putting down her chopsticks.
In reality, Zhang Shutong hadn't thought about what to say. Many things involved the future, and it was difficult to talk about them. But he was pretty much used to it, so he started with a dream:
"I had a dream last night..."
"I'm not interested in your dreams. Is there anything else?" Lu Qinglian was very unfriendly. "If there's nothing else, please don't disturb me while I'm eating."
"..."
Zhang Shutong was choked. To be honest, he really didn't know how he ended up hanging out with her in the second semester of junior high. Were they competing to see who could talk less?
"Actually, you're the one who needs to talk to me, right?" He couldn't be bothered to pretend anymore. He walked to the edge of the rooftop and sat down next to Lu Qinglian, but at a distance. "I was the one who got a copy of the key to the rooftop. And you were the one who came to find me yesterday. I came here today to ask you a question. Is that a good enough explanation?"
"Zhang Shutong, you're a little smarter than I thought." As expected, she didn't even add "classmate" to his name anymore. Her entire demeanor became more mature.
"So what's the answer?"
"No comment."
"Can I understand it this way?" Zhang Shutong suddenly asked. "You were looking for me not because of my 'classmate' status but because of my 'temple keeper' status?"
In his opinion, the three tattoos—the snake represented the Green Snake Temple, the figure represented the temple keeper, and the last irregular, strange circle he hadn't figured out yet.
At least the first two patterns combined meant—to investigate the girl in the Green Snake Temple.
He felt that this question was sharp enough to leave an ordinary person speechless, but Lu Qinglian just nodded faintly:
"For now, you can understand it that way."
It was as if an idiot had just walked into her trap.
Zhang Shutong resisted biting the soft part of his cheek. He frowned:
"What are you hiding?"
"No comment."
"Was I right just now?"
"You can understand it that way."
Zhang Shutong sighed silently.
It seemed that he was still asking the wrong questions.
He looked at the aluminum lunch box in the girl's hand. He remembered that the last time, the two of them had a good conversation about "boiled eggs."
He had thought that because he had only talked about daily trivialities before, he had missed important clues. So this time, he went straight to the point, but he kept running into a wall.
After all, when he met her on Saturday night, she had said herself, "I have something to tell you." Why was she suddenly saying "no comment" now?
So, was it because their relationship wasn't strong enough?
He decided to talk about mundane things with Lu Qinglian and patiently asked, "What are you eating?"
"Food."
"You're very hard to talk to."
"It's more that your questions are stupid," Lu Qinglian said calmly, picking up a clump of rice. "Or have you never seen rice before?"
"I mean, you're eating something bad."
"It's fine."
"I have some takeout in my bike basket. Do you want some?"
"No."
"How about some milk tea?" Zhang Shutong offered it to her. "It's an apology."
"An apology?" she frowned.
"For disturbing your meal." In reality, it was for leaving her on the island.
Lu Qinglian, however, didn't touch the milk tea. The milk tea stood alone between them.
Zhang Shutong then asked if she would go fishing again. "Ruoping misses you very much."
Lu Qinglian just shook her head.
"Then how about we all go eat dinner together tonight after school?"
"Thank you, but I have other things to do."
Even though he was trying to make small talk, Zhang Shutong couldn't think of anything else to say.
It was the first time he had ever met a girl like this. No matter what he asked her, she would refuse.
It seemed very difficult to find something that would interest her.
Zhang Shutong had nothing left to say. He really didn't know how to talk to girls.
At this time, Lu Qinglian asked:
"What are you investigating?"
Zhang Shutong was stunned.
"Last night, when you heard the police on patrol, your reaction was too intense. That also includes the two poachers."
Lu Qinglian turned her head and looked directly into his eyes. Her eyes were filled with indifference:
"Zhang Shutong, you've been talking nonsense this whole time, so why don't you answer my question first—
"What are you investigating?"
"Uh..."
He suddenly felt that the girl in front of him was becoming familiar.
No, even "girl" wasn't accurate. Although she had the appearance and age of a girl, Zhang Shutong once again had a strong sense of déjà vu:
The beautiful woman who was framed in a black and white photo eight years later was now in front of him. Her eyes were as calm as an ancient well, without a single ripple of emotion.
This made Zhang Shutong think of a snake. It would be motionless before striking, but that didn't mean it was slow. It was always hiding itself, waiting for you, its prey, to show a flaw before killing you with a single strike.
Lu Qinglian was indeed very much like a snake. "They" were both cold-blooded animals.
Zhang Shutong knew that when he first returned last night, he hadn't thought that the murder case was so complex. He was always on guard against the killer, thinking it was a police officer and then a poacher, so he was ready for anything.
No one had ever thought about or noticed this problem. He was surprised, of course, but Zhang Shutong immediately thought, "What if I tell Lu Qinglian the whole story now?"
Wouldn't this be a good way to solve the problem he had earlier? He was lacking something to get Lu Qinglian interested.
Maybe the two of them on the cold-blooded timeline had reached an agreement because of this. And Lu Qinglian was a very good fighter. It might create a wonderful chemical reaction.
The future seemed to be decided at this moment.
At this time, a snowflake suddenly landed on his eyelashes, making Zhang Shutong blink hard. He looked at Lu Qinglian's eyes again. They were a faint amber color in the light... Wait, her eyes.
Could that circle be referring to her eyes?
It was an irregular circle, more of an oval than a circle. Otherwise, Ruoping wouldn't have jokingly said it was a turtle shell. At this moment, Zhang Shutong realized that it really did look like an eye.
The inside of the circle was blank. There was nothing there. If it was an eye, it was a pair of eyes with nothing in them.
A snake, a person, and empty eyes.
What did these three patterns together mean?
Zhang Shutong swallowed the words he was about to say. In the end, he just made a joke to Lu Qinglian:
"I'm sorry. I have no comment either."
He stood up, ready to go back. He said to Lu Qinglian:
"Drink the milk tea."
After saying that, Zhang Shutong turned around. He put away his smile, took out his phone, and found his mom's number—she did geological exploration work on the island. He then closed the door to the rooftop. He had a new lead for his next investigation.
The door closed, separating the wind and snow outside and separating a girl who spoke in a way that didn't match her age.
The stairwell became dim again. Zhang Shutong walked down the stairs. Through the door, a voice seemed to float from another world, as if she was muttering to herself. He didn't know who she was talking to:
"If you don't want anything to happen, you'd better not investigate me again."