"A choice between two."
Everything clicked for Zhang Shutong.
Two people had been injured, but the fox could only be used once.
So the event of Ruoping getting injured had been silently altered, while Lu Qinglian's hearing loss remained.
"You..."
Zhang Shutong moved his mouth, completely speechless for a time.
He understood where Du Kang's guilt and Ruoping's torment stemmed from now.
But Zhang Shutong still didn't understand what there was to hide about this matter from him and Qingyi. Furthermore, Du Kang was Ruoping's savior; how could they have cut ties?
"...This shouldn't be blamed on you." Zhang Shutong could only offer comfort.
"No..." Du Kang said softly.
"I mean, this is inherently a dilemma," Zhang Shutong suddenly understood his feelings; switch out anyone and it would be the same, with the girl he liked on one side and his friend on the other. "But at the very least, you altered history once, right? Everyone won't blame you. In fact, you don't need to be so..."
"No! No!" Du Kang's voice rose bit by bit.
Noticing that his emotions were getting a bit out of control, Zhang Shutong shifted the topic:
"Calm down first. Ruoping is about to return. Let me call her over in a bit, and we can clear this matter up together?"
"No need," Du Kang said, suddenly dropping low. "We haven't been in contact for a long time. Of course, it has nothing to do with her—or rather, it doesn't just have to do with her, because I didn't just let Lu Qinglian down. Have you still not thought of it?... Out of our group, I am forever the dumbest one with the slowest reactions. It's always been like that. My brain isn't as useful as yours, nor am I as calm as Qingyi. Even that fox was discovered by Ruoping first, so..."
He said:
"How could I be the only one who knows the function of the fox?"
Zhang Shutong was startled, faintly guessing something, only to hear Du Kang continue:
"You know about this fox, Qingyi knows, Ruoping knows, and Lu Qinglian knows too. But regarding who exactly the single opportunity should be given to, everyone originally agreed to discuss it further, yet I stole that fox out.
"This is the actual truth of back then. That fox wasn't usable from the very beginning; otherwise, why would there be so much agonizing? Its usability appeared suddenly one day after Lu Qinglian's ears went deaf. Shutong, you've seen that fox by now, right? Did you feel anything when you saw it back then? It's normal if you didn't. If it were still usable, you should have a feeling—that impulse to unconsciously look at it and make a wish to alter the past..."
"So to speak..."
Du Kang's voice was somewhat raspy:
"It was never a decision I could make alone. Rather, all of you were present—five people. It just so happened that the five of us knew about this matter, and everyone had been at a constant standstill. Lu Qinglian said since the fox was discovered by Ruoping, it should be given to her, but Ruoping insisted on giving it to Lu Qinglian. We simply couldn't discuss an outcome because there was reasoning regardless of who we considered. Amputation goes without saying; even though it was only the lower leg and she could walk with a prosthetic, Ruoping was only fifteen back then. You know what her personality used to be like... I forgot whether she ever smiled after that event, only remembering that she never wore a dress again.
"And Lu Qinglian's ears—the high school entrance exam was right around the corner then. How to let her leave the island to attend high school was already hard enough, and now with the deafness added on top, she would have to stay on this island for her entire life to be some broken shrine maiden. But the fox's ability appeared out of nowhere, and no one knew if it would suddenly disappear. Everyone agreed to talk about it the next day, but no matter who we chose, it was cruel, so it was exactly that night that I hid it from all of you and stole that fox out."
"We were... voting at the time?" Zhang Shutong's throat felt a bit dry.
"We weren't voting," Du Kang let out a miserable laugh. "It was far more tragic than voting. Don't forget the mechanism of that fox: to alter the past, someone needs to make a wish to it, but both of them abstained. So it wasn't a vote, but there absolutely needed to be someone to..."
Du Kang softly spat out two words:
"Execute."
"Only the three of us were left to execute. So, Shutong, tell me: who exactly was supposed to make that decision with their own hands?
"Qingyi wanted to save Ruoping, but he knew I liked Lu Qinglian, so he consistently considerately looked out for my feelings. You were agonizing even more fiercely than I was; on that timeline, you developed an illness that caused breathing difficulties, and it would flare up from time to time during that period..."
"So, Shutong," Du Kang repeated once more, "tell me: who exactly was supposed to choose one out of the two of them with their own hands?"
Zhang... Shutong fell silent.
He only heard Du Kang speak slowly:
"I let you guys down."
Following this, his speaking speed grew faster and faster:
"I let you guys down, I let everyone down, and I also let Lu Qinglian down. I was the one who altered time and space, and I was the one who kept it hidden from you all along, but I truly didn't know what to do...
"Sorry, sorry, sorry... I didn't want it to be like this either. I originally thought that as long as I hid it from you, everyone wouldn't be as conflicted and in as much pain as in the past. I also knew that the moment I saw you, my cover would blow sooner or later, so if I was called to eat, I wouldn't go; if I was called to fish, I wouldn't go; if I was called to do anything, I wouldn't go. But this kind of thing turned into reality the more I played it out. I thought keeping this secret well would always be a bit better than before, and Ruoping believed so too—could it get any worse than before? Yet everyone split up anyway."
Du Kang choked up:
"I've always been this kind of person—not smart, completely clueless as to what's best to do most of the time. That was why I stole that fox out back then, and that was why I only knew how to run away, not daring to see Ruoping, not daring to see Lu Qinglian, not daring to see you and Qingyi, and not even daring to return to the island. Today I asked you to help me feed Zorro, originally thinking that if you discovered it, I would confess everything, and if you couldn't discover it, I would hide it for a lifetime. But, but, keeping a secret is never that simple..."
He suddenly burst into a loud wail:
"Shutong, I haven't returned home in a whole year..."
Zhang Shutong clutched his phone, catching that wooden plaque out of the corner of his eye. In reality, he had been holding this wooden plaque in his hand all along, which was carved with sorry, sorry, sorry... What kind of mood must its owner have been in when carving these words?
He stared abstractedly out the window, as the twilight crept into every single corner.
It wasn't a dead end yet; there was still a possibility for change. He just wanted to tell Du Kang this, but the moment this thought surfaced in his heart, he felt a sudden, fierce tug at his heart. Cold sweat blanketed his entire body instantly as a familiar suffocating sensation rushed over, reminding him of that woman's words:
"...you won't be able to re-turn."
What was the situation? What was going on? Why couldn't he even utter a single word... Previously, he had continuously hidden his anomaly from others, but now when he wanted to speak of this matter, he discovered that he simply couldn't do it at all. It was as if he couldn't mention a single shred of anything related to the regressions. Zhang Shutong was stunned for a time.
Only when he caught the sound of a car engine did he discover that the SUV had driven beneath the building. He looked at his phone; the call had already been hung up by this time.
"Shutong! Ping'er is back, come down quickly to eat!" Ruoping's mother's voice penetrated the door panel, carrying a strand of joy. "Can you drink white liquor? I'll have your uncle pour a bit for you?"
Zhang Shutong silently composed a brief text message to Qingyi, before descending the stairs.
He felt a piercing chill across his body. It turned out that when he was making the call just now, the doors and windows had been tightly shut without the air conditioning on, and sweat had already soaked through his clothes.
He was just thinking to find Ruoping to say something when he saw the bright living room, where her mother was chasing behind her to complain:
"What took you so long just to buy groceries? I thought something happened to you."
"Don't bring it up, mom. You have no idea how long I searched just to find green peppers, it was packed to death today." Ruoping's forehead was covered in sweat. Noticing Zhang Shutong, she kicked off her shoes while asking with a smile, "Drenched in sweat like that, what did you go do?"
"Does Shutong want white liquor or beer tonight?" Ruoping's mother asked too.
Zhang Shutong felt a sense of a lifetime having passed.
It was truly lively here. Although there was no sofa in the living room, the television was still on, the air conditioning rattled with a whir, and the people in the living room talked and laughed.
"Beer, please," Zhang Shutong recalled to say only now.
"Mm, your alcohol tolerance is just as terrible as before," Ruoping evaluated.
She didn't change her clothes either, directly wearing her dress as she tied an apron, sorting through the green peppers in a few strokes, before the range hood began to roar as well.
By the time Zhang Shutong sat down at the dining table, steaming dumplings had been scooped into a plate. As he picked up his chopsticks, Ruoping brought the green pepper and shredded pork onto the table, sitting down beside him:
"Stop dazing out, are you criticizing my culinary skills?"
Just as Zhang Shutong was about to extend his chopsticks, he heard Ruoping's father laugh:
"Come, come, come, let's toast first. Firstly, to thank Shutong for busying himself all day, and secondly, to celebrate you old classmates being able to gather together for a meal. Uncle wishes your friendship remains evergreen."
He was a physical education teacher, capable of striking up an official tone when necessary.
Ruoping's mother gave him a nudge with her arm, looking as if she was blaming the man for bringing up an awkward topic. The woman raised her glass:
"Ping'er, once we move, don't forget to call those few friends of yours to the new house for a meal."
As she spoke, she flashed an eye sign at Zhang Shutong:
"Forget it, you girl don't have a plan in your heart, better let Shutong do the calling. After all, he was the leader back then too. Shutong, Auntie has settled it with you."
"What leader is he? I was the leader." Ruoping rolled her eyes, acting as if she hadn't heard the latter sentence as she followed to raise her glass. "Cheers."
This was nothing more than an ordinary home-cooked meal—the dough skins were freshly rolled, the meat filling was freshly minced, and the dumplings were freshly wrapped. They drank alcohol, so a simple meal was also eaten very slowly.
By the time the beer bottle beside Zhang Shutong's hand hit bottom, Ruoping had already poured her second glass of white liquor.
Her tolerance was truly good enough. Back then, she had slammed the table and arrogantly claimed she wanted to drink white liquor, only for it to turn into Nutri-Express. Now, she had finally swapped it out for the real deal.
He still remembered Du Kang's birthday party; she was the one who suggested whether everyone should drink some alcohol to celebrate, but in reality, it was just her own curiosity.
Then again, how could a female warrior exploring the martial world lack a good tolerance?
By the end, everyone was somewhat tipsy, leaving only Ruoping to stand up and serve food to the three of them, saying, "Dad, eat more. Mom, you eat more too. And you, such a grown person and you still need me to serve you?"
As she spoke, a chicken drumstick landed in Zhang Shutong's plate.
The second pot of dumplings was still boiling, and Ruoping frequently dropped her chopsticks mid-meal to go check on the pot.
When the meal neared its conclusion, Ruoping's mother finally couldn't hold back:
"Hey, Ping'er, let me ask you something. I was just chatting with Shutong about it tonight—how did you and Du Kang end up having a falling out back then?"