"...The plan has ended." Du Kang stepped out with one leg. "Seniors will take a step first."
"Don't go!" Xu Zhiruo shouted sharply. Her eyes were large to begin with, and at this moment they glared to the limit. "So all of you were playing me! Brother Blockhead, Brother Poker-Face, and Brother Sha! None of you are good people!"
"Hey, wait, why am I Brother Sha?" Du Kang raised his hand weakly.
"The Monk Sha in Journey to the West, the one who likes to say 'First Senior Brother is right, Second Senior Brother makes sense, it really is so, Master!'" Xu Zhiruo said crossly. "I kept saying they came out on a date, now how else do you guys want to quibble?"
Du Kang and Qingyi looked at each other, shutting their mouths simultaneously.
Just then, the phone rang suddenly. Du Kang felt his scalp tingle, because the first sentence Xu Zhiruo shouted was:
"Hey, Qiumian, you're arriving right away? I'm already on the second floor. Mm, currently shopping. It's too noisy here, I'll call you back in a bit..."
Looks like this underclassman still left a line.
Du Kang looked in Zhang Shutong's direction again, seeing the young girl beside him stand up.
...
"I'm going to the restroom?"
"Okay," Zhang Shutong said. "Leave the bags here, I'll help watch them."
Once Su Yunzhi walked far away, he let out a breath, leaning against the chair back with some tiredness.
The entire morning hadn't been idle for a single moment.
Checking the time, it was already... Zhang Shutong only then realized his phone wasn't in his pocket; it should be pressed under his backpack.
Pulling out the phone, the first thing entering his sight was a missed call from Du Kang. Zhang Shutong was just preparing to call back—
"Shutong!"
Zhang Shutong thought to himself, how come iPhones not only had bad signals, but even the microphone leaked sound?
Alright.
He turned his head, looking speechlessly at two familiar figures:
"How did you guys track your way here?"
Zhang Shutong's gaze passed over his two best friends, looking at Xu Zhiruo at the very back, somewhat surprised. When did the three of them get mixed together?
"Shutong, hurry up and quibble!" Du Kang pointed at the gift box at his feet.
"Quibble about what?"
"Completely and utterly exposed!" Du Kang said with heartbreaking grief. "Starting from the bus, then to the mall, we saw the entire process! I'm not criticizing you, Shutong, but you're being a bit uncool here. Giving presents shouldn't be giving this many, and on Gu Qiumian's side..."
"Wait, what are you guys wildly assuming?"
Zhang Shutong looked at the aggressively imposing little secretary, looking as if he had stolen important assets of the Mianmian Group.
"Come clean."
"Give up."
"Stop while you can."
"Woof!"
"What on earth is all this?" Zhang Shutong couldn't help holding his forehead.
"It's still in time to run now. I'll only say one sentence," Du Kang lowered his voice. "Gu Qiumian is arriving right away."
"Oh, I know that."
The atmosphere fell quiet once again.
The three looked at Zhang Shutong in complete shock, their mouths almost able to fit an egg inside.
"What's the situation? I'm completely confused... Are you saying Gu Qiumian knows you came to the mall today?"
"Yeah."
Zhang Shutong unhurriedly unscrewed a bottle of mineral water.
"And knows you two bought such a huge pile of stuff?"
"Of course."
Du Kang couldn't help looking at Xu Zhiruo.
Xu Zhiruo quietly retreated behind everyone.
"I'm almost dizzy. So what on earth are you busy with, Shutong? Acting so mysterious since early this morning?" Du Kang said in confusion.
"Uh..." Zhang Shutong confirmed repeatedly, "Do you guys really want to know?"
The three nodded at the same time.
He let out a sigh:
"Curiosity killed the cat. Forget it, don't blame me for being cruel."
Amidst everyone holding their breath, Zhang Shutong first pointed to the first gift box containing books:
"This one, full name The Abominable Bird, the previous work by the author of The Headless Demon that Qingyi read not long ago, and also a Christmas present for him."
Qingyi was stunned.
Zhang Shutong then pointed to the bag containing the music box:
"This one, for Ruoping. To be honest, I hadn't thought of what to buy, but Senior Sister Su said girls can't resist things that glow and make sounds like this."
"Then what about the bell? It can't possibly be for me, right?" Du Kang chimed in.
"For the dog."
Xu Zhiruo almost burst out laughing. The three looked at her silently, and the young girl hurriedly shrank her head.
"Come here," Zhang Shutong wasn't afraid of the small dog. He called Zorro over and scratched under its chin. "Didn't you say its fur color is too black, and you often can't find it at night? The bell was prepared for it. Oh, and this pair of gloves, is for..."
"So you and that senior sister looked like you were shopping, but were actually picking presents for the few of us?" Qingyi said with rare surprise.
"Of course. A lot of items were referenced with her help. Thanks to her."
Du Kang and Qingyi looked at each other, their faces burning hot.
"Come over and take them yourselves," Zhang Shutong rolled his eyes. "To think I even carried a backpack out today, wanting to give them to you on Christmas Day. Now great, the surprise is gone."
"That, brother, haha," Du Kang smiled awkwardly. "Actually, Qingyi and I really didn't suspect you! The two of us have always believed in you!"
Qingyi nodded hurriedly.
"Blame her for bewitching the troops," Du Kang said as he turned around, muttering, "Underclassman, oh underclassman, why were you wildly suspecting for no reason? I kept saying, this is also a part of the plan..."
Yet where behind him was there still Xu Zhiruo's figure?
"Hey, where's her person?"
"At the milk tea shop, slipped away long ago." Qingyi extended a finger pointing.
"Hey, don't run!" If not in the mall, Du Kang would definitely set the dog to chase her back, but right now, just as he ran to the entrance of the milk tea shop, the young girl had already vanished far away in a flash.
"Uh, what's wrong with her, coming here suddenly for what?" Du Kang stopped his tracks.
"Ordered four cups of milk tea for you guys, saying it's an apology." The auntie at the milk tea shop said very calmly. "Take them properly, young man."
"Fine, fine," Du Kang let out a sigh. He carried the milk tea back to the side of the bench. "Good that the misunderstanding is cleared up. So how are we eating for lunch? Go find Eldest Young Lady Gu? Or Qingyi and I treat?"
"Talk later, retreat first."
Zhang Shutong stood up instead.
"Ah?"
Du Kang's first reaction was, could it be that everything you said just now was stalling tactics to coax Xu Zhiruo?
Zhang Shutong waved at Su Yunzhi's figure walking over from the distance, turning back to say:
"Today isn't entirely shopping. She has to go back at noon. Coming this time, she wanted to see the statues of those two foxes. Let's head to the base first."
On the bus, Zhang Shutong explained what happened in the tunnel to his two best friends again.
"So that's how it was." Du Kang came to a complete realization. "You've been asking Senior Sister Su to investigate the legend of the foxes?"
"Mm. She happened to be very interested, and chose this for her mid-term club project as well. This weekend was her own proposal to come take a look." Zhang Shutong shook his phone. "It so happened I also had matters to trouble her with, so we partnered up."
"This time it really is the grand water flooding the Dragon King Temple." Du Kang sighed repeatedly.
Not long ago, he and Qingyi had already greeted the other party.
The young girl named Su Yunzhi was clearly only one year older than everyone, yet her temperament was much more mature. She was first surprised:
"It's you, the boy behind the restaurant counter that day."
Du Kang's old face flushed red as he hurriedly apologized. He had secretly taken a photo of her from behind the counter back then and was even discovered, making it quite awkward.
"I remember you too, what a coincidence." Su Yunzhi smiled at Qingyi again, teasing, "The boy who recommended the restaurant to me that day. Turns out you two are good friends, no wonder you were so enthusiastic."
Now it was Qingyi's turn to not be able to hold his face up. Being a shill wasn't scary; being discovered as a shill was what was scary.
Meeting Su Yunzhi for the second time, although smiles always hung on her face and she spoke in a soft voice, they felt the dominant control over the conversation was completely held by the young girl.
Although feeling guilty, fortunately Senior Sister Su was beautiful and kind-hearted, not minding the embarrassing blunders of two young boys, laughing it off.
"A good person," Du Kang said.
"Not simple," Qingyi said.
"She really is pretty good, right?" Du Kang wondered.
"Doesn't conflict with what I said, right?" Qingyi wondered as well.
The two looked at each other, both feeling the other was beyond saving.
In short, that was how things were. The four drank milk tea on the bus and soon arrived at the bus stop sign. Seven or eight minutes later, they walked to the "base."
In front of the abandoned large drainage tunnel, the cold wind poured back, sounding like the howling of lonely ghosts and wild spirits.
"The key?"
"Qingyi has one over there."
"Catch."
Zhang Shutong opened the door of the safe. This cabinet was originally broken, but not long ago, to guard against the man in the basement, they specifically fitted a lock.
Zhang Shutong turned sideways:
"Right here, but it's best not to take photos."
"Okay." Su Yunzhi squatted down curiously, extending a hand to poke the fox's face.
Taking advantage of the time she took to inspect the fox statue, the few on the side distributed the presents.
Zhang Shutong felt a bit distressed looking at the packaging boxes he specifically selected:
"If I knew, I wouldn't have wrapped them. Anyway, you guys will unwrap them tonight."
"Sorry, sorry! I promise not to throw the box away, definitely won't waste your effort!" Du Kang chuckled happily. He held the gift box and shook it in front of Zorro, hearing the copper bell inside jingle. "Your uncle bought it for you. Thank Uncle. When going back tonight, I'll put it on for you."
The small black dog barked twice, its tail wagging cheerfully.
"Watch your phrasing." Zhang Shutong's face turned black.
"This pair of gloves is bought for Gu Qiumian, right?" Du Kang said again. "Why stuff it to me?"
"What?"
"Isn't this bought by you for Gu Qiumian?"
"When did I say it was bought for her?"
"Wait..."
The atmosphere suddenly fell quiet, and the two fell silent for a second.
Du Kang raised his arms:
"Hold on, let me smooth this out first, brother. You came out shopping today to buy presents for the few of us. Not counting that stick of candied haws, you bought four items in total. The three of us plus Gu Qiumian makes exactly four, is that how it is?"
"No." Who knew Zhang Shutong denied it immediately.
"Then, then this is..."
"Bought for you," Zhang Shutong said strangely. "It can't be that what I bought for them were all proper presents, while I only gave you a dog bell, right? So only you have two portions."
"Although I'm very moved that you gave me two portions, Shutong," cold sweat slid down Du Kang's face again, as he pointed at the white-skirted young girl squatting in front of the safe, whispering, "I have a question that's actually been stuffed in my heart for a long time, but seeing the atmosphere wasn't quite right just now, I was embarrassed to ask. What's that... Senior Sister Su said don't let 'her' discover it, this 'her', who on earth does it refer to?"
"Gu Qiumian."
Finished.
Du Kang looked up at the sky with both eyes.
...
"Qiumian, I ran into Senior Zhang Shutong today."
In the restaurant on the third floor of the mall, two young girls sat in a booth by the window. Xu Zhiruo secretly observed Gu Qiumian's reaction.
"Mm." Gu Qiumian was casually flipping through the menu. "I know. He should be coming to pick presents for his friends."
"Then aren't you calling Senior to have a meal?"
"Brought it up once," Gu Qiumian curled her rosy lips slightly. "But this person said something like he has to leave right after buying things, being busy to no end, not even having time to eat lunch. Then whatever, don't want to bother with him."
"So, you knew he came with someone else to buy presents?" Xu Zhiruo intentionally emphasized "someone else."
"I know. What's wrong? You've been a bit off since that phone call just now?" Gu Qiumian asked strangely, then lowered her eyelids. "This shop's pudding is pretty good. Eating or not?"
"Eating, two portions!" Xu Zhiruo extended a finger generously, while her heart breathed a sigh of relief. She thought to herself that she hadn't followed along in vain; it truly was like a weight lifted off her chest, fulfilling her mission without disgrace. She gave a chuckle: "Nothing, just happened to run into them. I thought there was some story between him and that senior sister..."
"What senior sister?"
Gu Qiumian closed the menu with a snap.
What, what?
Xu Zhiruo thought to herself, my eldest young lady, didn't you know everything? Turns out you didn't know at all! Where did that posture of having everything in the palm of your hand from just now go?
She hesitated:
"Uh, it's that friend I mentioned just now. Oh, right, still from the city..."
Gu Qiumian knitted her brows:
"I know it's a friend from the city, but when did he have a senior sister? From high school?"
"How on earth did he tell you?" Xu Zhiruo finally caught the key to the question.
"Just said a friend came to the island, wanting to see the fox..." Gu Qiumian changed her phrasing. "In short, there are some matters."
"Only said these?"
"Said it's a girl he met by chance a while ago."
"Then what did you think?"
"I felt it was pretty normal." Gu Qiumian thought for a bit. "They are just collaborating on some matters, and besides, he mentioned it to me in advance. So it's the same person as what you mentioned?"
"Should be..."
"Oh." Gu Qiumian nodded, opening the menu again. "For the pudding, do you want caramel or blueberry?"
Xu Zhiruo was dazed, thinking again, Auntie, how come you have no reaction again? She tested the waters:
"Not asking?"
"They haven't known each other long anyway, too lazy to ask."
Gu Qiumian let out a hum, then waved to call the server over.
She had a smile on her face and acted properly, making Xu Zhiruo click her tongue secretly, thinking to herself that Qiumian truly lived up to being an eldest young lady; placed on herself, she would definitely not have this tolerance and confidence.
Thus Xu Zhiruo hesitated:
"There's something I don't know if I should say..."
"Say it. You're almost suffocating to death." Gu Qiumian rolled her eyes.
"Don't you think the thing itself—him picking a present for you with another girl—is very strange?"
"What present?"
Xu Zhiruo was dazed again:
"He didn't pick one for you today?"
Gu Qiumian hummed:
"They're all items in the mall. Why would he buy it again to give to me?"
Then the matter was huge.
Xu Zhiruo remembered that line of dialogue she heard, her expression turning stern:
"Qiumian, don't look at the menu first. There's a very, very important matter to tell you!"
Taking advantage of the time Gu Qiumian blinked her eyes, Xu Zhiruo had already poured it all out:
"...That senior sister of his quietly gave him something, and specifically instructed not to let you discover it!"
"What was given?"
"I saw clearly, a very long box, should be something like a necklace. The problem is I have an impression of that packaging box. The comprehensive bookstore in the city that we often go to—the limited edition hanging ornaments you often buy are packaged using that kind of box! I really didn't add fuel to the fire. Back then Senior asked, 'Is it really necessary to be this nervous?' That senior sister said, 'Of course it's necessary!'"
After finishing, she stared nervously at Gu Qiumian's expression.
Who knew in the next second, Gu Qiumian burst into laughter:
"You're making a fuss out of care," she shook her clean, white fingers. "Think about it: first, if giving a guy something, why give a necklace? Second, if quietly giving it, it should be chosen after meeting or before leaving—maybe it was long worn on the body. Who remembers it halfway through browsing the mall?"
"Seems... it really is like this?" Xu Zhiruo said bashfully. "It's my fault for speaking ill of others. Then what did that sentence mean? Wait, necklace..."
The young girl slapped her forehead:
"Could it be for you?"
...
"So it's a present you asked the senior sister to bring from the city," Du Kang felt relieved. "I thought it was some token of love."
"Where were your thoughts straying to?" Zhang Shutong said helplessly. "Things on the island, an eldest young lady like her might not necessarily fancy. I remembered she used to like going to that bookstore to buy hair accessories. Ruoping also asked me to buy one before, so I searched on the website, picked a suitable one, but when I found it, the release time was about to end, and I really couldn't free myself up, so I had no choice but to ask the senior sister to help bring it over. It's that simple."
"Mainly because what you guys said back then was very ambiguous, something about don't let it be discovered..."
"That," Zhang Shutong thought for a bit, "actually I didn't quite understand either. Maybe it meant keeping the content of the present secret, not revealing it before Christmas?"
Du Kang hesitated to speak.
...
Xu Zhiruo felt her mood was like riding a roller coaster. Lying on the table, she said tiredly:
"If I knew, I would have asked clearly. Blame me, blame me. At the time I felt it was too awkward, so I ran back first..."
What made her puzzled was that Gu Qiumian, who should have been vigilant when bringing up the senior sister, didn't have much reaction; now bringing up the present prepared for her, when she should have been happy, her face turned cold instead.
"So," Gu Qiumian said word by word, "the Christmas present he prepares to give me was picked with the help of another girl?"
"Hey, hey, Qiumian, calm down, calm down." The little secretary hurriedly advised. It's already good enough that Brother Blockhead can give you something, definitely don't count on anything else.
The cold girl stamped her small boots:
"Aiya, why do you say this person is so annoying? I'm not short of that single chain..."
"Don't be angry, don't be angry. Getting angry makes it easy to grow wrinkles!"
"Okay."
Gu Qiumian merely narrowed those eyes of hers, revealing a bright smile:
"A surprise is a surprise. Zhiruo, let's eat first. As for him...
"I'll see him on Christmas."
...
"Rest assured, it won't be discovered." The wind in the wild was very large. Suddenly, Zhang Shutong sneezed once and rubbed his nose. "I didn't leave the island at all. How could she guess what the present is?"
Unless Autumn Rain Mianmian has divine powers.
Du Kang moved his lips, and in the end merely patted Zorro's head:
"I'm almost unable to hold it in. How about you bark once?"
"Woof!"
At this time, Su Yunzhi stood up, shouting from afar:
"Junior, I've taken a good look?"
"Oh," Zhang Shutong took a glance at the time. "Preparing to leave?"
"Mm. I made an appointment with friends for tonight. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, preparing to go wild together. Need to go home to catch up on sleep."
"I'll see you off. Sorry for troubling you recently."
"No problem," Su Yunzhi said softly. "That matter you wanted to investigate, I'll ask an uncle to look into it, including your teacher's wife's teachers and classmates from back then. Maybe they know what happened, but there might not necessarily be a result, okay? Need to be mentally prepared."
"I know, thanks a lot," Zhang Shutong said seriously.
"Really didn't expect the third fox to appear so early..." The senior sister lightly tapped her lips with her finger, narrowing her eyes as she said, "Putting it this way, someone knew this secret far earlier than us."
Following that, she put her hands behind her back and smiled:
"Though I'm really a bit curious what the third fox looks like. Hope it looks a bit better."
Hearing this, Zhang Shutong thought to himself that female animals were indeed creatures of appearance. That smiling fox, the senior sister felt was too ugly, looking at it once before setting it aside; whereas that sad fox, she held it in her hands and looked at it again and again, unable to put it down, even saying it was so cute.
If it weren't for this thing being too uncanny, and Zhang Shutong having subtly hinted at it, she would probably take it home to use as an ornament.
At this moment, the senior sister placed the statue of the sad fox into the safe, standing up and stretching the beautiful curves of her body:
"Is everyone leaving together?"
"Oh, I won't go." Du Kang hurriedly said. Don't look at how this Senior Sister Su was very gentle; he really couldn't quite handle the other party. "Qingyi and I still have to go ride bikes. Shutong, let me part ways midway."
"Alright then." Zhang Shutong nodded.
Du Kang locked the safe. The function of this thing Shutong hadn't fully told Senior Sister Su, so in the other party's eyes, it was merely a statue related to the island's beliefs; but to the few of them, they had already experienced how formidable this thing was.
Therefore, he locked it several times, shaking it solemnly to confirm there were no signs of opening—
"Woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof!"
The small dog a few months old suddenly stared fixedly at the safe, four limbs flat on the ground, a wild burst of barking echoing through the wilderness.
The few were startled.
"Zorro, what are you barking wildly for? How can shaking the safe scare you?" Du Kang recovered his senses and was just about to kick it away, when a clean hand patted the top of its head first.
"What are you barking at, little guy?"
Truly living up to Senior Sister Su, revealing a gentle smile even toward a small dog.
Sure enough, Zorro let out a whimper and instantly lay flat on the ground, no longer barking.
Du Kang tilted his head and scolded with a smile:
"You little thing also judge people before serving?"
"Du Kang, come give a hand," Qingyi shouted from afar at this time. "The gift box for wrapping the books is too big. I'm afraid of damaging it. Better put it in Shutong's bag first. Help hold the backpack open..."
"Coming, coming. How about putting mine in too..." Du Kang hurriedly moved his steps.
Yet what he didn't see was that the small dog wasn't being obedient, but shivering in the cold wind.
As the wind blew over, a puddle of yellow liquid gradually spread across the cold, frozen earth.