She can dream about even this?
Zhang Shutong also felt he had been a bit of a jinx.
However, he quickly realized that Gu Qiumian hadn't merely had a similar dream because of his words. An incredible suspicion formed in his mind:
"Then, did you dream about that gold coin chocolate?"
"Of course I remember it."
Gu Qiumian spoke without a second thought:
"That minor spat冯若萍 and I had back in our first year, right? She didn't accept my chocolate the next day, so we had a little fall-out, leading to everything you talked about—right or wrong?"
Zhang Shutong stood dazed, thinking to himself that this was no mere dream. The memories from that timeline had resurfaced without missing a single detail. He had often used the excuse of having dreamed about something to claim he foresaw an event, but to think such a magical dream actually existed...
He subconsciously sized up Gu Qiumian. Her cheeks were flushed red from the cold wind, and she was glaring at his face relentlessly.
Zhang Shutong nodded.
Contrary to expectations, Gu Qiumian didn't look surprised upon seeing this. Instead, she gritted her white teeth tightly:
"And then after school that day, I ran into you doing duty in the classroom when I went back, right? I wanted to give the chocolate to you to eat, right? But how did you decline it again? Right or wrong?!"
"..."
A fair, clean finger was about to poke right onto his forehead.
Zhang Shutong shrank his shoulders, regretting for the first time why he had been so persistent over a single piece of chocolate.
Besides, eldest young lady, shouldn't you be more concerned about the past being altered? Why is the first thing on your mind settling scores with me?
Zhang Shutong had no choice but to shift the subject:
"The things you dreamed about really did happen. Do you remember what I told you at your house that day about that fox statue... Well, each of them has a slightly special ability. The sad one's ability is to change the past."
"So what exactly did it change?"
"The chocolate incident you just mentioned."
Gu Qiumian opened her eyes wide:
"Only that?"
She seemed thoroughly incredulous that such an incredible ability had been used on such a trivial matter.
"Yeah. I thought it was unbelievable at first too, like a butterfly effect..."
Zhang Shutong recounted the entire beginning and end of the matter to her—from how Ruoping discovered the fox and accidentally made a wish, to how he noticed these anomalies through the smiling fox's prophecy.
"She didn't do it on purpose either," Zhang Shutong helped clarify. Even though the change was positive, having it affect oneself without a word wasn't something everyone would accept. He observed Gu Qiumian's expression carefully. "Besides, even if you wanted to change it back, I'm afraid there's no way. That fox can only be used once; right now, it's just a piece of stone."
Gu Qiumian, however, didn't seem to care much about this point:
"When did you find out?"
"After we swapped classes."
"I knew it," Gu Qiumian said crossly. "No wonder you acted a bit strange after that. Did you think I was like a completely different person from then on?"
"Not really..." Well, maybe a little. From then on, the eldest young lady gained an extra identity: Monitor Gu. Her surroundings became very lively while his side was extremely busy. It hadn't escalated to feeling like strangers, but there was a subtle barrier.
"Then why didn't you tell me back then... Forget it, pretend I didn't ask. Hell would freeze over before you voluntarily said anything!" Gu Qiumian's chest heaved with anger. "So what you're doing right now is searching for the fox? And staying on guard against that man?"
"Mm..." Zhang Shutong confirmed first, then couldn't help asking, "What else did you dream about? Only the things right after the chocolate incident?"
"Yeah, I told you it was a nightmare. I don't even want to bring it up. No, I need to calm down first..."
Gu Qiumian stood up as she spoke. It was clear her mood was complicated; she leaned straight against the rock wall near the drainage tunnel, arms crossed, muttering under her breath:
"It was actually real..."
"You can completely treat it as just a dream." Zhang Shutong was also worried she might find it hard to accept.
"I can't," she supported her forehead. "Even though I dreamed it, it feels like I experienced it firsthand. Even the details... Let me put it this way: just like when I ran into you doing duty after school that day, I can remember every detail clearly—down to the black plastic bag holding the chocolate in my hands, how I asked you back then, and how you rejected me. You had a cold face at the time, refusing to say a single word more, right or wrong?"
How could Zhang Shutong dare keep a cold face now? Even the muscles on his face were a bit stiff from being blown by the wind.
Zhang Shutong tried hard to rub his face, but Gu Qiumian couldn't help bursting into laughter.
"Che."
Following that, she tried hard to smooth down the corners of her lips and rolled her eyes at him:
"Let me ask you, who else knows about this matter?"
Is she planning to silence everyone?
"Just a few of them," Zhang Shutong said. "Though they weren't eyewitnesses; they only heard me mention it once. Except for Ruoping, who knows about it relatively clearly."
"Keep it secret," the eldest young lady said coldly. She indeed didn't want her embarrassing past exposed. "Forget about the ones who already know, but no one is allowed to talk about it in the future!"
Zhang Shutong made repeated guarantees.
"But the contents of my dream are too sparse. I have no idea how those few years went," Gu Qiumian grumbled again. "For instance, the last Christmas or the last New Year's Day—do you know?"
"I remember the impact wasn't that big," Zhang Shutong recalled. "It's just that there's a group of friends around now, and naturally a group of people missing. On past New Year's Days, you probably always went on vacation with your dad."
It wasn't just last year; Gu Qiumian had been like that for the past few years as well. While others were spending the winter, she was beautifully soaking up the sun on the beach—domestic or overseas, she went out to play either way.
"As for the rest..." Zhang Shutong thought for a moment. "We weren't very familiar back then, and I didn't look into it carefully either."
The eldest young lady, however, caught the key phrase:
"Are you saying my relationship with you was almost the same as it is now?"
"Mm. Except the chocolate incident vanished, nothing else changed at all."
"Then don't tell me. Hearing it will only ruin my mood."
She adopted an attitude of instantly losing interest.
Zhang Shutong didn't want to elaborate either, because most of those were memories that weren't very pleasant. She was someone who loved lively atmospheres; even if she took a vacation, she should have picked winter break. Who would pick New Year's Day? She would quietly slip away right when the festive mood was thickest, returning only after it had mostly faded, then heading back to her seat by the window. If her surroundings were truly lively, how could she suddenly vanish for a period of time, no matter how exciting the outside world was?
As Zhang Shutong fell silent, Gu Qiumian also stopped talking along with him. She raised her face, looking at the gloomy daylight, who knew what she was thinking. Silence spread across the wilderness, with only the howling wind. Zhang Shutong secretly checked his phone, really wanting to say that if they didn't go eat now, they'd run out of time.
But Gu Qiumian refused to bring it up.
He was someone who preferred zoning out, so he also raised his head to look at the sky. Yet before he knew how much time had passed, even the sky faded from view.
His vision was replaced by a pretty oval face.
Gu Qiumian had walked up in front of him at some point:
"I thought about it just now. They definitely weren't very pleasant memories, right?"
Zhang Shutong nodded.
"So that's why you didn't tell me back then?"
Zhang Shutong nodded again.
"Then I still want to know."
"Knowing will only ruin your mood," Zhang Shutong had no choice but to repeat her famous line.
"Knowing might ruin my mood, but not knowing will make me regret it—like a fool. I'm not that kind of heartless person."
She sat down again, hugging her knees, muttering softly:
"Otherwise, we'll become people from two different worlds."
"It's not that serious, right?" Zhang Shutong said. "Only a certain node in the past was altered. It shouldn't be as severe as being two different worlds?"
Gu Qiumian asked instead:
"Ever since you came back from playing in the city that day, you've been busy looking for the fox?"
"Mm."
"I can roughly guess. Just like before, solving everything by yourself?" She thought for a moment. "And then the people around you were startled by you, thinking you're so smart and incredible, boasting about flawless calculations and all that?"
"Not really." Zhang Shutong felt a bit embarrassed by her praise, thinking to himself that he had just lost track of the guy once.
Gu Qiumian, however, suddenly messed up his hair:
"But I really think you're a bit dumb."
Zhang Shutong dodged her hand, a bit speechless. So it wasn't praise after all—it was praising him first just to pull him down. But if she wanted to scold him, fine, why use that kind of tone?
"Yes, yes... I'm the dumbest."
Zhang Shutong rolled his eyes where she couldn't see.
"You're just the type who likes to keep promised things in your heart. When others forget, you keep remembering. When others use one portion of energy, you use two. When others stop while the going is good, you refuse to let go even if it kills you. So they all think you're very impressive and smart, but I don't think so."
Gu Qiumian turned her face over and said seriously:
"You're really quite dumb, Tongtong."
Her flying eyes were dark and bright. Zhang Shutong couldn't read what kind of emotion was contained within them; he merely avoided Gu Qiumian's gaze out of habit:
"Hey, scolding is fine, but don't call me by my childhood nickname..."
"Tongtong really is your childhood nickname?" She suddenly smiled, speaking in a surprised tone.
"Yeah... It's not hard to guess," Zhang Shutong muttered. "Besides, it's not like you didn't call me that during the hospital stay back then."
"But when I asked you if it was back then, you didn't speak. I thought I misheard."
"No, actually my childhood nickname is Mianmian."
"Calling you Mianmian, calling you Mianmian!" Gu Qiumian's ears turned red. "I've endured you, you bad person, for a long time! Why were you laughing when I mentioned the bleating sheep voice in the classroom at noon?"
Sidetracked like this by her, Zhang Shutong's mood relaxed considerably:
"Do you love drawing sheep the most?"
"Right." Gu Qiumian asked instead, "What about the timeline before it was changed?"
"Loved drawing them too."
"Looking at it this way, not much has changed after all."
"Not much changed to begin with."
"Then you still have to tell me."
"There's so much, how could I finish? It's almost time for class now, do you want to grab something to eat?"
"Then tell me slowly. In the future, whenever I want to listen, tell me. Just treat it as a secret between you and me. Also, let me tell you one more thing," Gu Qiumian stood up, her hands behind her back, standing on tiptoes to gaze into the distance. "For the past few Christmases and New Year's Days, I went out for them too. It wasn't just on that unchanged timeline. You definitely didn't ask around, did you?"
"But that day when decorating the Christmas tree, didn't you say your family sends one every year?"
"Preparing a Christmas tree is preparing a Christmas tree, but I usually fly away on Christmas Eve."
"Oh..."
Looking at it this way, there really isn't much difference.
"But this year, I don't plan to go anywhere," she said. "From Christmas to New Year's Day, I won't go anywhere. It'll be my first time spending the holidays on the island."
Before Zhang Shutong could react, she patted her skirt:
"I'm suddenly hungry. I want to eat."
"You just said you weren't hungry... What do you want to eat?"
"Haven't decided," she said flatly. "You think about it. Think more in the future."
Zhang Shutong felt a bit troubled. When it came to food, he was originally a casual person. When two casual people met, they often ended up agonizing for a long time.
"There's a newly opened noodle shop?"
"Works."
Zhang Shutong stepped over the sparse withered grass with the soles of his shoes, suddenly forgetting what the two of them had originally come here for. It seemed they hadn't done anything at all, just said a few words, and then foolishly drank a few mouthfuls of the northwest wind.
He simply rode the bike like he did not long ago, with Gu Qiumian sitting on the rear seat as the two slowly rode toward the downtown area again.
On the way, Gu Qiumian asked:
"You hadn't finished talking just now. How are you going to find that man?"
"He'll probably come to the school."
"Right, how about I ask my dad to help you check the mall's surveillance?"
"Yesterday, besides that brown hat, a face mask was also found."
"Is that so." Gu Qiumian thought again. "Then I can ask my family's driver to help out—keep an eye out outside the school gates? But with so many people, and he threw away the hat... Do you remember any other features?"
"It's probably very difficult. If it's during class hours, not only is it hard for us to find him, but it's also hard for him to find us. So the only time he can come is actually after school."
After saying this, Zhang Shutong explained:
"Though there's no need to worry about him being around right now. The students' time at noon is too tight. That man just wants to find the fox; there's no need to follow us for every little thing."
"However," Zhang Shutong said thoughtfully, "when school lets out, having your family's driver help at the school gate really could work. Let me think about what to do..."
They soon arrived at the noodle shop. Zhang Shutong raised his hand to order two bowls of noodles. Eating out with Gu Qiumian came without the hassle of splitting the bill—
Zhang Shutong treated.
The eldest young lady was very generous to her lackeys, constantly treating them to meals, yet she was exceedingly stingy toward him, this specific lackey.
Two bowls of noodles weren't enough. She was a carnivore, so Zhang Shutong added a duck leg, staring at the owner until he fished out one without any feathers.
Of course, this detail couldn't be seen by Gu Qiumian. She probably didn't know that the feathers on duck legs couldn't be plucked entirely clean.
The noodle shop was newly opened, so it was naturally clean and bright; otherwise, Zhang Shutong wouldn't have brought her here. For Gu Qiumian, the food didn't have to be lavish, and the taste could be passable, but it had to be clean.
As he talked about past events, their two bowls of noodles were soon served:
"I can't finish mine, giving you some."
Gu Qiumian naturally picked up a chopstickful of noodles.
"Oh..."
Zhang Shutong belatedly watched them about to land into his bowl, only for them to suddenly draw an arc in midair.
Turns out Gu Qiumian had changed her mind:
"I didn't see clearly in my dream. Do you want to try one more time?"
"What?"
"When giving you the chocolate back then! You rejected it, and it felt pretty fun. I want to see you be a bit cold and detached." She rested her chin in her hands and said.
"What do you mean by cold and detached?" Zhang Shutong had always felt he had nothing to do with being cold and detached.
"Don't speak."
Zhang Shutong swallowed "how to do it" back into his stomach.
"No need to intentionally make an expression either... Mm, alright."
She nodded in satisfaction, picking up the noodles again:
"Are you eating or not?"
Zhang Shutong looked at her helplessly. Just as the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, Gu Qiumian glared at him demonstratively.
Across the steaming noodle bowl, Zhang Shutong felt as if he saw the scene in the classroom that day—a girl with red eyes ran into the classroom, asking him if he wanted to eat chocolate, while he at the time felt he couldn't put romance before friendship, so he shook his head and rejected her coldly.
Then the girl threw the chocolate forcefully into the trash can, leaving the classroom without looking back. Even to this day, Zhang Shutong didn't understand why she had been so angry.
And now, she spoke the exact same words as back then, but with a bright smile hanging on her face. Gu Qiumian sat facing away from the noodle shop's entrance; a bit of light shone in from the thick door curtain, carrying floating dust and swaying shadows, as if yesterday was recurring.
The heavy smell of cooking oil drifted at the tip of his nose, with the faint fragrance on her body hidden within it. When he noticed this, he was opening the lid of the chili sauce jar, and long-sealed memories unlocked along with it. Zhang Shutong's thoughts returned to that afternoon. Did the self back then notice the girl with the faint fragrance on her body? None of this could be traced anymore. Zhang Shutong didn't know why she wanted to do this, whether it was to find back some familiar feelings, yet he felt that the subtle barrier between the two had suddenly vanished. No matter when, she was Gu Qiumian, and she would always be Gu Qiumian.
"Not eating."
So Zhang Shutong smiled in his heart, but his mouth coldly spat out two words, playing along with her nonsense.
Who knew—
"Hey, how come you're really not eating!"
Autumn Rain Mianmian was truly furious now.
...
"I'll definitely eat next time."
"You still want a next time?"
"Didn't you tell me to try again?"
"I was giving you another chance!"
"Right..."
"Not listening to sorry either!"
...
In the blink of an eye, it was time for school to let out.
Zhang Shutong pulled out his backpack and retrieved the smiling fox statue.