Chapter 340 - 147: Part 2

Chapter 340: Chapter 147: Part 2

Zhang Shutong fell silent. Ever since the avalanche, he felt it was nice enough just to be by her side quietly, without saying a word. Besides, he wasn’t much of a talker anyway. Rain pattered on the ground below, seeping into the gray concrete and turning it black.

The dim light reflected her face in the glass, and Zhang Shutong would glance at it from time to time. He didn’t know what she was thinking; he could never guess what was on her mind. He only knew she was always in a good mood when she was drawing funny faces.

Since they were in different classes now, they had come out from the front door of one classroom and the back door of another. They stood there idly, watching the rain outside until the straws in their mouths made a slurping sound, and until the school bell rang.

"I’m heading off," the young lady said, wiping the condensation from the glass and stretching her arms in satisfaction.

"See you," her lackey replied, crushing the empty milk carton flat before taking it back to class.

The long break between classes was thirty minutes.

That meant he and Gu Qiuyan had stood there together, unconsciously watching the rain for a full thirty minutes.

...

Fourth period was study hall.

The teachers had gone to a meeting.

The new class president sat at the teacher’s desk. The only sound in the room was the SCRATCHING of pen tips across paper.

Zhang Shutong continued grinding through his math problems. His phone, stashed in his desk compartment, vibrated once, meaning someone had tagged him in the group chat.

When it came to a fixation on fishing, Zhang Shutong was completely outmatched.

It was normal for them to discuss after-school activities in the group chat every day, but he never expected the other three to still be debating where to go fishing on a rainy day. When he finally picked up his phone to look, he saw it wasn’t about fishing after all. Ruoping had snagged a stack of coupons.

"A friend of my mom’s opened a shop. It’s Wednesday, they’re having a special. You guys wanna go?"

Her hand, nails perfectly manicured, was tucked into the sleeve of her sweater, clutching a few coupons. They had a picture of a fried chicken sandwich on them from a place called "Kendeji." It was a really good deal—the combo meals that usually sold for 12 yuan were all half off, and they even threw in an extra order of chicken nuggets.

After finishing the last major problem, Zhang Shutong signed up to join.

He was forced to skip fishing because of his injury, but not going for fried chicken? That would mean there was something fundamentally wrong with him.

He had pretty much finished all his homework for the evening, gradually getting back into his old rhythm. Back in middle school, he had almost never done homework at home, always finishing it at school.

Du Kang typed, "Please treat us, high roller!" "High roller" was a popular slang term these days. Then he asked:

"How are we getting there?"

"Let’s bike. My dad just asked if I needed a ride, but I saw the rain wasn’t too heavy, so I told him not to bother."

"What about Shutong?"

"I can give him a ride," Qingyi popped up.

Zhang Shutong first sent the picture to his mom, adding a line of text:

"Have dinner plans tonight. Don’t wait up."

Then he typed in the group chat:

"But I need to pick something up from the hospital. I forgot earlier."

"Then we’ll go together. I checked the weather forecast, it’s not supposed to rain too hard." Ruoping’s typing speed was equal to three Gu Qiumians. ’Zhang Shutong had no idea why he’d come up with that kind of comparison.’ "Ask Qinglian if she wants to go."

Too lazy to write another note, Zhang Shutong just showed his phone screen to Lu Qinglian.

"Some students need to stop whispering to each other."

The class president coughed, channeling the will of their homeroom teacher.

Lu Qinglian shook her head.

Zhang Shutong went back to his homework.

When the dismissal bell rang, he waited for his friends to gather in the classroom.

Zhang Shutong propped his face up with a hand, lazily watching Lu Qinglian tidy her desk. She almost never took homework home either, so she always traveled light to and from school.

Zhang Shutong looked downstairs again. Although their group didn’t need their parents to pick them up, there was always a crowd of adults holding umbrellas flooding onto campus. In the distance, by the school gate, Zhang Shutong even spotted a Volkswagen—the same one he’d ridden in at lunchtime.

It was Gu Qiuyan’s family car.

She was relatively low-key about school, only ever taking a sedan.

Before long, Ruoping poked her head in:

"Let’s go. Don’t forget your umbrella."

Zhang Shutong followed her out of the classroom, only then remembering that Lu Qinglian hadn’t brought an umbrella. But she was long gone by now. He recalled there was a spare one in the teachers’ office; she always told Song when she borrowed it, so she had probably gone there this time, too.

"Can you come upstairs with me to get something in a bit?" Zhang Shutong asked.

"Sure. Is it heavy?"

"Not heavy." ’I’m going to give that little nurse a scare,’ Zhang Shutong thought.

Qingyi and Du Kang followed behind them. The two of them happened to be on cleaning duty today. Students were divided into two factions: those who brought umbrellas and those who didn’t. The latter group usually kept a spare at school. Both of them belonged to the latter group, each holding a black umbrella and tapping it slowly against the ground.

Guys could be pretty rough around the edges, but they tended to be surprisingly particular about certain things. ’For example, who didn’t own a large, black, long-handled umbrella?’

It could be used as a scabbard for a rapier, a gentleman’s cane, and, when necessary, it could completely shield a girl from the rain. Just as Zhang Shutong was wondering where his own cool, oversized umbrella had gone, someone bumped into him.

The hallway was crowded, but not to the point of being shoulder-to-shoulder. Besides, he and Ruoping were standing still, waiting for Qingyi and the others to catch up. To be precise, the other person had run into him. And, just his luck, they’d slammed right into his left arm, which was hanging in a sling. Zhang Shutong hissed in pain and looked up to see a tall man brushing past him.

The man had a full beard and was dressed in a black suit. He looked less like he was picking someone up from school and more like he was attending a funeral.

"Watch where you’re going! Didn’t you see his arm is injured?" Ruoping said, annoyed.

Hearing this, the man glanced back at them but didn’t say a word. The whites of his eyes were prominent, his gaze listless. He just shot them an indifferent look before turning back around and continuing on his way. Ruoping instantly flared up, but Zhang Shutong patted her arm.