The main entrance to the school warehouse was an old-fashioned iron door, leaving a sliver of a gap above the concrete floor. Zhang Shutong caught sight of one end of a slip of paper at the joint.
Another slip of paper.
It was definitely a slip of paper, carefully cut just like the one stuck to the chocolate not long ago, rather than trash accidentally blown over by the wind.
He knitted his brows slightly.
Zhang Shutong picked up the slip of paper.
"Sorry ah, I'm too nervous. Can we change places and talk in Class 2's classroom in Ninth Grade?"
A prank?
Zhang Shutong flipped the paper slip to the back again, confirming that only this single sentence was written on it.
"Anyone there?"
Zhang Shutong directly reached out his hand and knocked on the warehouse door.
The iron door clanged loudly. He waited a moment, but only an echo responded across the playground.
Zhang Shutong pulled out his phone and shone it through the gap in the iron door; the inside was pitch-black.
He thought for a bit. It looked as if the other party had arrived at the warehouse early, whether for a confession or something else, only to change their mind in the process of waiting.
—If that were truly the case, Zhang Shutong would turn around and head home without a second thought.
Even if he was very free tonight, he had no time to play a game of hide-and-seek with the other party.
Looking closely at the edges of the paper slip, however, Zhang Shutong could tell they were smooth cuts left by a paper cutter, rather than torn off a notebook at hand.
Who would carry around a stack of neatly cut paper slips while waiting for someone?
There was only one answer.
Perhaps that person had never come to the warehouse at all.
The other party had placed the second slip of paper here long ago.
Zhang Shutong couldn't help glancing back at the teaching building. When coming downstairs just now, he hadn't noticed whether anyone was still inside Class 2.
Looking up from downstairs at this moment, the lights were off in the windows.
Why Class 2, though?
Whatever—be it a prank or something else, there ought to be a result this time—
He immediately made a judgment.
Zhang Shutong turned back into the teaching building, walking up the steps one by one, watching the students brushing past him along the way.
Passing the corner of the stairs, he stepped up to the fourth floor in a few strides.
It was quiet enough here to hear a pin drop.
The dark night was about to strike, and the setting sun was about to fade away. His shadow was dragged out long in the empty, deserted hallway.
Zhang Shutong pushed open Class 2's front door with a clack, his fingers meeting a familiar tactile sensation on the light switch.
Yet another slip of paper.
"The words I want to tell you are hidden inside the Christmas tree."
Zhang Shutong raised his head to look at the fir tree against the back wall of the classroom.
This morning it had been dressed up in gay blossoms, yet now it presented a lonely appearance. The gifts hanging on the tree were almost all taken away—a trick Gu Qiumian had come up with, where she had classmates hang gifts on the branches with the names of the people they wished to give them to written on them, turning it into a game filled with tacit understanding and hope.
Perhaps someone had prepared a gift for him as well, yet he hadn't come over to take it the entire day?
Being in Class 1, Zhang Shutong hadn't considered the matter of this Christmas tree at all.
He flipped the slip of paper to the back.
"—When the stars flicker."
A sentence without head or tail.
Did it mean having to wait until dusk fell and the stars rose?
Zhang Shutong subconsciously looked toward that star-shaped light at the top of the Christmas tree, however.
Now that the people had all left and the trunk was empty, it naturally went dark as well.
He casually pulled a chair over, stepped onto it in a few strides, turned on the flashlight, and searched carefully, but there was nothing at the top of the tree.
Zhang Shutong returned to the ground. Four or five gifts were still hanging on the branches. He glanced at the name cards on them, but all were names he didn't recognize. Looks like what the other party wanted him to search for wasn't a left-behind gift.
What was it then?
When the stars flicker...
His gaze rested on the outlet on the back wall of the classroom.
That star-shaped light, as well as the light strips wrapped around the entire tree—to make them glow with light, power needed to be connected.
Zhang Shutong found the wound-up electrical wire from among the branches. Sure enough, a slip of paper was stuck at the plug:
"Go to the school gate."
On the back:
"A past event buried in dust."
Zhang Shutong gained a slight bit of interest.
Even if it were a prank, at least it wasn't too clumsy a game.
He simply slung his backpack properly on his back and zipped his coat all the way to the top. By the time Zhang Shutong rushed to the school gate, he was thinking about where this time's clue was hidden, only to suddenly spot a familiar back.
"Wait a moment."
The figure's movements froze, pretending not to hear, and continued stepping forward.
"Tomorrow I'll tell Teacher Xu about your coming to Ninth Grade to give chocolates," Zhang Shutong said expressionlessly.
"Wow, Senior!" Xu Zhiruo turned her head to squeeze out a smile. "Meeting again?"
"We'll meet tomorrow too—in the office." Zhang Shutong had recently learned the method of threatening people from Lu Qinglian.
"Hey, what kind of skill is bullying an underclassman!" She leaned over pitifully. "No way ah, that really won't do..."
Zhang Shutong thought to himself that it was more like she was bullying him.
Might as well not mention this matter. By now, he had pretty much figured out why Gu Qiumian didn't have a good face.
He waved the paper slip, "Your mischief?"
"Ah, what?"
Zhang Shutong looked at her fixedly for a few seconds, only to see Xu Zhiruo blink her eyes in confusion and ask again:
"What are you doing here?"
Only the young girl was present at the school gate.
"I'm waiting for a car."
"Waiting for a car?"
"Mm, gathering at a restaurant in a bit—the one we went to last time. Originally the number of people was booked, but then someone else said they wanted to go. Qiumian's family car couldn't fit everyone, so I volunteered to stay behind," Xu Zhiruo blew small breaths into her palms. "Freezing me to death."
"The paper slip matter has nothing to do with you?"
"What paper slip? Right, Senior, I haven't asked you why you left so late..." Before finishing her sentence, she suddenly shut her mouth in embarrassment. "That, really sorry about that matter, Senior."
Xu Zhiruo lowered her head dejectedly:
"I'm sorry."
"Where is she now?"
"Left first after school."
Zhang Shutong nodded with little expression:
"Alright, not blaming you. Go have fun with your classmates."
In the night, that black sedan of Gu Qiumian's family could already be seen driving near.
"I..."
Xu Zhiruo still wanted to say something, but Zhang Shutong had already waved his hand. Pulling open the car door, she shouted from afar, "Merry Christmas!"
Zhang Shutong watched the car leave quietly.
He tore off a strip of tape from the school's motorized retractable gate. Beneath the tape was stuck a slip of paper.
Zhang Shutong lowered his head:
"Who is the person who gives you chocolate every Christmas?"
He shook his head. So the so-called past event buried in dust referred to this.
On the back:
"Next stop—Around the World in Eighty Days."
This time it still didn't state explicitly where the paper slip was.
Zhang Shutong treated it as a brain teaser.
If he remembered correctly, Around the World in Eighty Days was a book title written by French novelist Jules Verne, whose most famous work was Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
Eighty days, around the world.
Zhang Shutong rushed to the bus stop sign without stopping for a moment.
There was only one bus line on the island, its route happening to circle the island—in a sense, this book title was chosen quite perfectly. Pity the transit points were nowhere near as many as eighty stops, but eight stops were certainly there.
Zhang Shutong happened to prepare to take the bus home tonight as well. His home was in the east; if starting from the school, eight stops later should land him right at the western part of the island.
Time arrived at six o'clock in the evening.
Today there weren't many people on the bus either. He found a window seat, following the bus as it traversed the urban area. After school, teenage boys and girls could be seen distributed across every corner of the island.
It was his first time discovering there were this many students in the school.
Time to think carefully. Zhang Shutong closed his eyes, suddenly feeling himself foolish to the core. In truth, he had zero interest in who gave the chocolate. In normal times, he would never run around for a few silly paper slips pretending to be mysterious, but who told today to be very boring to begin with?
From the high bus window, he saw a few passing students holding candied haws and strolling the streets—his underclassmen. The underclassmen naturally had their own good friends and best friends, just like their past selves, having nothing to do yet happy just gathering together.
Through the glass, Zhang Shutong couldn't hear the voices opposite, though they were surely discussing tonight's destination. Yeah, passing the time either way; everyone was no different.
He counted in his head how many stops had passed. Actually, every time he encountered this kind of number problem, he would have a doubt—getting off after eight stops—did the starting station count in or not?
Zhang Shutong got off at the eighth stop. The setting sun fell onto the massive lake surface; at this moment, the rippling water seemed to swallow the sun. Looking from afar, the whole world was dyed a dim orange, like a burned-out torch stand.
Now he had arrived at the western suburbs of the island.
This place was very close to the "forbidden zone." Zhang Shutong hadn't been here for a long time. As a gust of cold wind blew past, his casual mood drained away by half.
If he was merely running in circles at school, at worst he could treat it as an annoying prank. Now, however, his field of vision was desolate; at least on the surface, this place had no connection to the content on the paper slip.
He looked around, finding no trace of other people by the light of dusk. Thinking for a moment, Zhang Shutong reached his hand toward the back of the bus stop sign.
Sure enough, another slip of paper.
"Walk ten steps east, twenty steps north. The final answer is hidden inside."
Zhang Shutong first looked out at the general direction, which happened to be a tall patch of reeds wrangling in the cold wind.
He hesitated for a moment, not walking over immediately. Judging by the worst-case scenario, if the other party was merely ambushing him, there was no need to find such a lame excuse, let alone hide in the reeds the whole time—meaning Zhang Shutong felt cold on their behalf.
Theoretically, there was no danger.
Theory was only theory, however.
Zhang Shutong leaned against the bus stop sign and dialed a phone number.
"What?" After a few seconds, Lu Qinglian's pleasant voice sounded.
"Is it convenient?" Zhang Shutong didn't forget to observe the surroundings. "Have a matter to ask of you."
"Classmate Zhang Shutong, before asking someone for help, you had better state what matter it is first."
"It's like this..." Zhang Shutong briefly recounted his encounter after school. "At first I thought it was a prank, but evolving to this point, I even suspect whether the other party is a student."
"Actually such a boring reason," she thought for a moment.
"Yeah, a very boring prank."
"No, I mean you," Lu Qinglian said softly. "Running off to the suburbs over a paper slip suspected of being a confession—if feeling lonely, I actually recommend you go home and do homework."
Right now it wasn't a problem of doing homework or not. Zhang Shutong looked at the reeds not far away:
"If you have time, want to come take a look?"
"How are you right now?" Lu Qinglian interrupted.
"Nothing, pretty good..."
"Anyone around?" Looks like she wasn't asking how his mood was.
"No."
"Any danger?"
"None either."
"Any discoveries in the reeds?"
"Haven't had time to look yet."
Finally, Lu Qinglian let out a sigh:
"So, you made a phone call to me when nothing has happened?"
"Pretty much."
"Looks like you really are very lonely."
Zhang Shutong had no choice but to say:
"I just feel it's better to be careful."
"If you were truly careful, you shouldn't have gotten on the bus. Besides, leaving now isn't too late either."
"What if an important clue is missed?"
Not to blame Zhang Shutong for thinking so: he didn't dare leave the explicit points of suspicion behind and walk away, yet worried about an unexpected turn he couldn't handle alone. He pulled his old trick:
"Classmate Lu Qinglian, for the sake of us still collaborating, how about..."
"Are you saying that to help you find a girl with a crush on you, I need to walk down from the mountain now and go to the forbidden zone to find you?" Lu Qinglian said calmly. "Classmate Zhang Shutong, even collaboration doesn't include such boring minor matters. You should learn to handle some things alone. Besides, these matters can be discussed tomorrow. Reminding you by the way, at this hour, only one bus line is left."
Zhang Shutong was choked.
He only heard Lu Qinglian say straightforwardly again:
"Go home."
With that, she hung up the phone.
He looked at his phone and let out a sigh, admitting that Lu Qinglian was right. Everyone had their own things to do; it was impossible to revolve around him all day long. Besides, how could one call someone for help the moment something happened? He wasn't like this in the past.
Zhang Shutong rubbed his face frozen stiff by the wind. In the end, one had to rely on oneself. He confirmed once more that no one was around, even picking up a stone from the ground.
Zhang Shutong slowly approached that patch of reeds, throwing the stone in first. He waited two seconds, and the only response to him was the rustling sound of the reeds. No longer hesitating, Zhang Shutong shone his flashlight and stepped forward.
The bus stop sign was located on the main road, while the reeds were right next to the lake shore, a height difference existing between the main road and the lake shore. Zhang Shutong took a few steps down the dirt slope, quickly discovering a piece of paper from the edge of the reeds.
This time, however, it wasn't a paper slip, but a sheet of ordinary A4 paper, covered over the dirt just like that, with a stone pressing on top. Zhang Shutong didn't bend down rashly; he first used the toe of his shoe to kick the stone away. As the wind blew over, a corner of the A4 paper was lifted up, and Zhang Shutong scooped it into his hand.
"That person who gave you chocolate..."
Only that single sentence was written on the whole sheet of white paper. Conditioned by reflex, Zhang Shutong turned his head back, deeply afraid that "It's me" was written on the back, and then a figure would unexpectedly appear behind him. None of these imaginations occurred, however. He flipped the white paper over—
"Actually I don't know either."
Zhang Shutong opened his mouth in astonishment, for a time not knowing whether to laugh or get angry, his mood truly complex enough. He uttered a rare curse word, although he could roughly guess what the outcome would be—since it was a prank, how could he really expect the other party to drop some explosive news?
Looking from another angle, if someone had truly gone through the trouble of drawing him away from the school just to drop a bombshell message, that would be what truly made one's blood run cold.
Before seeing the content on that paper, he had even thought a fox statue was hidden here.
Now, however, the game was over.
He should have breathed a sigh of relief, tossed this game behind his mind, and heeded Lu Qinglian's advice to hurry home. When Zhang Shutong snapped back to reality, however, he found that the white paper in his hand had been crumpled into a ball at some point, falling lightly onto the ground.
He bent down to pick it up. At this moment, a gust of wind blew past, and the paper ball rolled into the reeds with a gurgle. Zhang Shutong thought to himself how even a gust of wind had to go against him. He naturally couldn't chase inside, merely pulling out all the paper slips in his pocket, then quietly tearing them up, crumpling them into balls, and tossing them one by one into the reeds.
When reaching the last paper slip, it was precisely the one torn off from behind the bus stop sign.
Written above was:
"...The final answer is hidden inside."
His Adam's apple rolled once before realizing his heart took a sudden leap.
Inside...
Perhaps it meant that the white paper he saw was actually not the "final" answer?
Zhang Shutong simply parted the reeds. Holding his phone, he shone the light all the way through, almost getting tripped before discovering anything. Zhang Shutong squatted down: turns out a wine bottle was stuck upside down in the ground. If not distinguishing carefully, one would treat it as the bare root of a reed in the night.
On the lake shore of the suburbs, this kind of item wasn't common.
What's more, the wine bottle wasn't thrown on the ground casually, but stuck straight in the dirt. Rather than saying someone littered trash, its existence was more like a landmark.
Zhang Shutong pulled the wine bottle out. The bottle body was green glass material, the packaging paper on it long torn away. He inverted the wine bottle and looked at the bottle mouth, where a stopper was plugged.
Zhang Shutong went to remove the stopper, but the top of the stopper was almost level with the bottle mouth, plugged unusually tight. Zhang Shutong tinkered for a long time without getting it off. He found a stone, smashed it hard, and the wine bottle shattered at the sound.
Among the glass fragments across the ground, Zhang Shutong carefully pinched out a paper scroll.
Another piece of paper...
Better not say walk ten steps forward again, he thought, because walking ten steps forward would genuinely walk into the lake.
He identified the content on the paper scroll under the flashlight beam, but this time there was no handwriting, only a doodle.
It looked like a pattern casually drawn by a child: an irregular circle, with a black ink dot on the left side of the circle.
Zhang Shutong turned it over and over to inspect, looking at the ground and then at the paper scroll in his hand. A shattered wine bottle and a strange doodle seemed to be the final harvest of this game.
Following that came even more confusion. What did it mean? A treasure map rewarding himself? But who on earth knew where this was, and following this development, even if a treasure chest were truly dug up, another piece of paper would be placed inside the treasure chest.
When Zhang Shutong raised his head, the figure of the setting sun had completely hidden away.
The hum of an engine operating came from behind; the last bus was about to pull up, and he should go back as well.
December 25th, the night of Christmas arrived just like that.
Zhang Shutong subconsciously turned around. The lights in the urban area could be seen from afar, while he stood alone in a patch of wasteland.
Suddenly he felt his spirit dampened. Thinking about this prank further was meaningless. Whether who the other party was on earth, or what they wanted him to see, the reasons behind might be important or might not be. Since he had already gotten the final "answer," just as Lu Qinglian said, leave the remaining matters to think about tomorrow.
He didn't want to think about any extra matters right now.
Zhang Shutong held his backpack, surveying everything on the island from inside the bus window. The surroundings were very dark, showing nothing much anyway, but what else could be done besides looking randomly?
He closed his eyes preparing to rest a bit, but his stomach suddenly growled with hunger. Zhang Shutong only then remembered he hadn't eaten yet. Mom and Dad had gone off-island for Christmas, leaving him alone at home again.
This meant dinner had to be solved by himself.
Yet Zhang Shutong wasn't good at cooking. If he got off the bus halfway to eat, the remaining road would rely on his two feet to walk back.
He had walked enough road today, though; Zhang Shutong didn't quite want to walk. Right now he only wanted to stay lazily on the air-conditioned bus, riding all the way to his doorstep. Although no one was in the house, the heating was on, with water and electricity; whether boiling an egg or cooking a bowl of noodles, it was very convenient.
The phone in his pocket vibrated suddenly. He hurriedly pulled it out, only to find it was a call from Mom:
"Hello, Tongtong! Hello, can you hear me?" Mom's side was very noisy, sounding like a restaurant.
"Can hear you."
"We're queueing for a table at the restaurant entrance! You have no idea how many people are in the mall today. Your dad and I have been waiting for an hour. Your dad went to buy water, leaving me to wait alone—waiting and waiting, ah, starving to death!" Mom muttered unhappily. "How are things on your side? Did you give the gifts out?"
Zhang Shutong was stunned for a moment:
"...Pretty much gave them out."
Mom didn't catch the underlying meaning in his words, saying cheerfully:
"That's good then! Prepared for so long, were they surprised?"
Guess so. A fright counts as a surprise too, Zhang Shutong thought to himself.
"Eaten yet?"
Thank goodness they still remembered they had a son like him:
"Not yet, just about to eat," Zhang Shutong answered absentmindedly.
"Where are you guys preparing to eat tonight?"
"Haven't decided yet."
It truly wasn't decided yet; Zhang Shutong was struggling over whether to eat fine noodles or instant noodles as well.
"Your side is pretty noisy too. In a mall?"
Actually it was the bus's voice broadcast.
Zhang Shutong was fake busy, while Mom was real busy:
"My side is about to turn upside down with noise too! Just saw a pair of students about your age, walking hand in hand shopping. Suddenly wanted to ask how things are on your side..."
His father's voice seemed to be heard on the other end of the line, and then Mom ran off to talk to him, not forgetting to instruct before leaving:
"Have fun! Hold hands if you want!"
The phone call was hung up in a hurry.
Zhang Shutong looked at the empty seat beside him, shaking hands with it in virtual space to show friendliness.
He originally wanted to watch the night view outside the window for a while longer, but another message popped in.
The senior sister asked:
"How is it, was the necklace given out?"
"Given out at noon."
"Good as long as it went smoothly." Su Yunzhi could be seen smiling through the screen. "I suddenly remembered that necklace was bought by swiping a membership card, but you don't have one. What if it's discovered to be wrong? It wouldn't be good if it's misunderstood as a gift I helped pick."
Zhang Shutong typed a string of words, thought for a bit, and deleted them in the end.
No wonder the senior sister instructed him "don't let it be discovered." Zhang Shutong hadn't understood the meaning of that sentence back then; by the time he understood, it was already the night of Christmas Day.
Another message came from the senior sister's side:
"Playing outside with friends, won't chat for now, bye."
Zhang Shutong replied with a bye-bye.
Suddenly he seemed to get busy, phone calls and QQ messages coming one after another. When raising his head, the main gate of the residential area had already appeared before his eyes.
Zhang Shutong hopped off the bus. The heat accumulated on his body was taken away by the cold wind in a split second—just like how the phone that kept ringing not long ago suddenly went quiet. Everything was merely an illusion.
He strolled toward home, feeling the world was truly vast. Inside the island or outside the island, everyone spent tonight very livelily; even those not that lively had their own things to do.
He always felt his own matters weren't finished yet, so in a moment of hot-headedness, he rushed out of the classroom for a paper slip of wicked humor.
Forget it, he thought to himself, it was time to end it. The gifts were given out anyway: the four for his best friends were last weekend, Gu Qiumian's was at noon today, and Lu Qinglian's, although she made no concession from start to finish, at least accepted his Christmas Eve apple, so it should count as given out too.
Although there were constant unexpected twists on the way to giving out these Christmas presents, they were given out in the end, without much deviation from his initial expectation.
This was the Christmas of 2012, memorable to the core, returning home full twenty minutes later than usual. He raised his head to look in the direction of home: the living room window was dark. He knew that pushing open the house door shortly after, what met him would be a clear, cold living room.
Zhang Shutong had long grown accustomed to it as well.
He stood downstairs for a while, pulled out the house keys, and didn't bother to wake the sound-activated lights, slowly heading upstairs in the dark.
Zhang Shutong inserted the key into the keyhole and pushed open the house door.
Gu Qiumian, wearing an apron, turned her face as if sensing something, subconsciously looking into his eyes.
She was holding an iron tray in her hands, inside which seemed to be a freshly baked pie, emanating curling wisps of hot steam.
Amidst the curling wisps of hot steam, someone said:
"Where did you trick Shutong off to? Originally letting him return ten-plus minutes late was enough, how come it's twenty minutes and he's still not back?"
"Could he have missed the bus..."
"I kept saying shouldn't trick him this far away..."
"Wait, wait, wait, the door opened—"
In the bright living room ah, he pushed open the house door from the clear, cold darkness, seeing four smiling faces. How did they have his house keys, though? The light dazzled his eyes so much he couldn't open them.
He only heard enthusiastic cheers beside his ears:
"Merry Christmas!"