Chapter 86: Like Thorns Against His Back |
Looking again, that trace of a smile had already vanished in an instant.
Lu Qinglian merely nodded at him, returning to her expressionless demeanor:
"Good morning, Zhang Shutong."
As if it were just a chance morning encounter.
But Zhang Shutong felt every muscle in his body tense up. Sitting behind him wasn't just a sixteen-year-old girl—Zhang Shutong had seen her kick a poacher flying with a single strike. He knew what terrifying power lay hidden within that body. He even forgot to fasten his seatbelt, the dashboard warning beeping persistently. Zhang Shutong seemed oblivious to it, instinctively clenching his jaw as he watched the figure behind the driver's seat with utmost vigilance.
Don't be fooled by how she just sat there quietly—she was like a hunting snake. They lurked behind their prey, their bodies normally soft and flexible, but now taut as a drawn bow, coiled and ready to strike. Just then the car jolted, and Zhang Shutong saw Lu Qinglian reach out her hand, seemingly intentional yet casual, lightly resting it on the driver's seat headrest. His pupils contracted—that position, if she extended her arm just a bit more, she could reach the driver's neck...
What exactly was she here for?
How did she find their family car?
If she suddenly attacked, how could he stop her?
But that wouldn't work either...
Lu Qinglian's hand remained on the headrest. Zhang Shutong didn't doubt for a second that no matter how quickly he reacted, she would move against his mom in the next moment, absolutely faster than both of them.
So what should he do?
Hide his suspicions first and avoid conflict with her?
Lu Qinglian had warned him more than once not to probe into her affairs. As long as he didn't cross that red line, did that mean he'd be safe?
But if that was the case, what exactly was she here for today?
A show of force?
No matter what, he needed to separate her from his mom first.
Anxiety and unease surged from his heart, then were suppressed by his self-control.
Various strategies flashed through his mind, until the back of his head was flicked—not too hard, not too soft:
"Someone's greeting you, what are you spacing out for?"
Zhang Shutong came back to himself, looking at his mom, doing his best to control his expression and tone:
"How did she... why is she in the car?"
"I went to school this morning and found no one in the classroom."
A faint voice came from behind.
"What do you mean?"
Zhang Shutong whipped his head around again, looking at Lu Qinglian.
But his mom took over:
"Aren't you guys off from classes? The teacher sent a text notification early this morning, but Xiao Lu doesn't have a phone, so she only found out about the closure when she got to school."
"So?"
His mom said carelessly:
"The rest isn't hard to guess. We were passing by your school on our way here. I saw Xiao Lu at the school gate, still wearing her temple keeper's clothes. She looked kind of familiar, so I stopped to ask. Turns out she really is your classmate. I saw the snow was so heavy and she was just standing there alone, her face white from the cold, so I gave her a ride."
His mom's tone was quite animated:
"Otherwise why do you think we were delayed a bit? I originally wanted to surprise you, but Tong... Shutong, what's with that reaction?"
As she spoke, she even waved her hand in front of his eyes playfully.
Zhang Shutong confirmed with a glance—his mom probably wasn't being threatened. She was telling the truth:
"How do you know her?"
He asked, surprised.
"Which parent in your class doesn't know Xiao Lu? Every parent-teacher conference, the first person the teacher praises is her. Your mom may have only seen photos, but I recognized her at a glance."
His mom showed off quite proudly.
As if recognizing his classmate was some incredible feat.
Right—Zhang Shutong knew she especially loved picking up pretty girls from the street. She'd done this when he was little, and still did now, especially with his classmates. Last time when he and Gu Qiumian went to the mall, they'd nearly been "caught" by her. And this time, his own mom had set her sights on Lu Qinglian?
Thinking of this, Zhang Shutong's expression couldn't help but turn strange. He really wanted to tell his dear mother: Do you know what kind of dangerous person you've picked up? It's like casting a fishing line into a small pond, but what bit the hook was a man-eating shark. This isn't the kind of straight-A student, good girl you think she is, but a woman whose entire being was shrouded in mystery, whose allegiance he still couldn't determine, and who was precociously mature beyond belief.
But from the current situation, he really had been overthinking. He'd thought the frozen snake was something like a messenger informing her, and though he didn't understand the mechanism, it wasn't impossible that she'd followed the snake to find their family car and then tracked them here. But now it seemed this really was just a chance encounter.
Even so, Zhang Shutong didn't let his guard down, because Lu Qinglian's hand resting on the headrest had never loosened. He exhaled a breath of stale air, fastened his seatbelt, and rubbed his stiff face:
"So where are you going? Back up the mountain?"
Zhang Shutong asked again, staring at the rearview mirror.
"You're planning to go home and change clothes." But Lu Qinglian didn't answer the question directly, instead saying flatly.
But her meaning was obvious—
Zhang Shutong frowned slightly, making excuses:
"I'm meeting friends to hang out later. I don't want to take up your time—we can drop you off somewhere nearby."
But as soon as the words left his mouth, his mom flicked him again:
"Who leaves someone halfway? I'll take you back."
"Thank you, Auntie." Lu Qinglian replied politely.
His mom said with a smile that it was no trouble.
She certainly had good social skills, but all the pressure fell on Zhang Shutong.
His mom stirred up trouble gleefully:
"By the way, I just found out you two switched seats on Wednesday. Xiao Lu sits right in front of you. Why did you write her name on a piece of paper?"
Zhang Shutong turned his head in shock. How did she even know about that?
Lu Qinglian seemed to guess his thoughts:
"Auntie asked me about some things you do at school—the interesting ones. That was the only thing I could think of for now."
"A man should dare to act and take responsibility." His mother raised her fist to cheer him on, actually on the verge of laughing herself silly. "Thanks to Xiao Lu, I really had no idea you were so bold..."
Wait wait wait, when did it become "Xiao Lu"?
Zhang Shutong only just noticed the form of address was completely wrong.
Zhang Shutong had never inherited his mom's social skills and couldn't understand how the two of them had gotten so familiar after just a short time in the car together. Shouldn't Lu Qinglian be saying "you can understand it that way for now"?
But the atmosphere really was strange. The car rocked and swayed along the snowy surface. Turning his face, he could see snow spray flying along the wheel hubs. The woman laughed like blooming flowers, the girl in the back seat remained calm, while he sat silently in the passenger seat. It really did have a certain harmonious warmth to it—anyone who didn't know better might think they were a family on a winter trip.
But Zhang Shutong didn't let his guard down because of this, didn't really treat the "chance encounter" at the school gate as a coincidental event.
Lu Qinglian was a person with extremely strong "purpose."
Even if his mom had kindly offered her a ride on her own initiative, under circumstances where there was no "reason" whatsoever, she would never have agreed.
Lu Qinglian wasn't someone who liked joining in the fun or who would easily accept help from others.
But then...
What was the reason?
Was it last night's encounter in the Forbidden Zone?
Or was it related to Gu Qiumian?
And there was that playful smile when she got in the car.
What made Zhang Shutong feel worst was that smile.
A sense of powerlessness, as if no matter what he did, he couldn't escape her control.
He thought for a moment, found Song Nanshan's QQ, and fired off three messages in succession:
"Is it possible Lu Qinglian would go to school today? I ran into her. What would she normally do in this kind of situation?"
"Yeah." Old Song replied instantly. "Oh no, now that you mention it, I just remembered—she doesn't have a phone at home. Did she run to school only to find out classes were cancelled today?"
"Pretty much."
Zhang Shutong replied and turned off his phone.
He glanced at Lu Qinglian in the rearview mirror again and discovered she was also looking at him.
But after being discovered, she didn't look away. Instead, she observed him calmly. Meeting those ancient-well-like eyes made a chill rise in his heart.
"You're looking for me about something?" Zhang Shutong probed.
"Be careful." Lu Qinglian said flatly.
Careful of what?
The thought had barely formed when his body suddenly lurched forward.
The car braked sharply. His mom let out a cry at the same time. Zhang Shutong braced both hands against the dashboard, his chest yanked painfully by the seatbelt. Looking closely, he saw a bicycle had suddenly fallen over ahead.
His mom had been following it slowly and reacted in time, stopping firmly at a long distance away. It turned out to be safe after all, but it still gave Zhang Shutong a fright.
Lu Qinglian's words, the bicycle falling, then the car's emergency stop—these three things happened almost simultaneously, everything coinciding perfectly and naturally, as if that "be careful" was just reminding him to sit tight.
But Zhang Shutong knew it wasn't. Though his attention had been on Lu Qinglian just now, his peripheral vision had also been watching the road ahead. He could confirm that when she said "be careful," that bicycle was still riding normally on the road.
Was that warning really about the bicycle, or some other reminder?
A new question arose. Just then, his mom said the person who fell was someone she knew and she needed to get out to check. The car door closed, leaving only two people in the small space.
"What did you mean by that just now?" Zhang Shutong asked after the woman walked away.
"The snow on the road today is very thick." Lu Qinglian suddenly brought up an unrelated topic.
"What exactly are you trying to say?" He frowned.
"Zhang Shutong, did you find any frozen snakes in the snow today?"
"You..."
As expected!
She really did know about the snake. Zhang Shutong was about to lay everything out in the open when Lu Qinglian didn't give him a chance to interrupt, immediately adding:
"But a frozen snake doesn't mean it's dead. It'll revive once the temperature rises. What I mean is—"
She showed that playful smile again, so faint it was barely perceptible:
"You should be careful not to get bitten."
Hearing this, Zhang Shutong quickly pulled the car door open. But coincidentally, his mom returned at that exact moment, explaining as she did:
"It's a friend of mine. She was wearing thick clothes, so she's fine. But it would look bad if I didn't go ask..."
Zhang Shutong's heart sank again.
The timing was perfect once more.
He'd completely fallen into her rhythm.
When his mom got out of the car just now, it had actually been a good opportunity to escape danger. The reason he hadn't immediately gotten out was that "be careful" had sparked more speculation—he wanted to use the opportunity to probe her stance.
However, the meaning of those words was exactly opposite to what he understood. Far from a warning, it could even be considered a threat of sorts. So upon hearing it, he'd moved to exit the car. Even if it was awkward, he was prepared to get his mom away first. But Lu Qinglian seemed to have calculated the rhythm of their conversation perfectly. Just as her words ended, his mom happened to pull open the car door:
"What were you two just talking about?"
"That snake." Lu Qinglian said meaningfully.
"Oh, that frozen snake. Too bad I threw it away at the time," his mom said, looking at him curiously. "Should I have brought it for your friends? Qingyi and Du Kang might have been interested?"
Zhang Shutong was stunned again:
"You told her about this too?"
"Just chatting. Xiao Lu said she also encountered one coming down the mountain today. I told her not to be afraid, that kind of snake isn't poisonous."
...Would she really be afraid of snakes?
In other words, would she really encounter a frozen snake in the mountains and share it as an interesting anecdote?
As the temple keeper of the Green Snake Temple.
Zhang Shutong could only remain silent.
The car started up and soon entered the city district. The road surface became smoother, and Lu Qinglian finally moved her hand away, placing it on her lap as she turned to look out the window without speaking.
But Zhang Shutong felt like thorns against his back.
She wasn't planning to explain her intentions.
More and more questions swirled in his mind—like the snake, like the Forbidden Zone, like her purpose. But every time he wanted to speak up, Zhang Shutong forcibly swallowed his words back down.
She had chosen a perfect entry point.
He was now hesitating even over the simplest questions.
The journey passed in silence—specifically referring to Lu Qinglian. Only his mom occasionally asked him a few things, and Zhang Shutong answered absentmindedly. He took the chance to text his mom, telling her to be more cautious and not so carefree, but his mom was driving and didn't look at her phone at all. Zhang Shutong had no choice but to wait patiently. Once they got home, he could create an opportunity to be alone with her.
His fingers unconsciously tapped the car door armrest as time passed bit by bit. He sent another message to his homeroom teacher, asking him to check if there were any other snakes in the courtyard.
After doing all this, Zhang Shutong put his phone on silent. He glanced at the rearview mirror again. Though he knew it would be difficult for her to glimpse what was on the screen from there, Zhang Shutong still felt a faint discomfort.
He then thought about it from Lu Qinglian's perspective—what intelligence had she gathered so far?
He'd gone to the villa.
The homeroom teacher was also at the villa.
The mountain road was almost completely blocked.
Gu Qiumian's father had left the island and hadn't returned yet.
Oh right, there was also yesterday's discussion in the classroom about the Commercial Street dispute—he'd sent those people in.
Whether witnessed personally or revealed by his mom, this should be the intelligence she already possessed.
What could she do with this intelligence, and what could he use it for in return?
He pondered this question without speaking further, until the car stopped below their apartment building.
And these things could only be discussed once they got home.
The excuse would be going upstairs to change clothes.
So he asked his mom where she'd put his heavy coat. Actually, Zhang Shutong didn't have a heavy coat at all. He just prayed that his mom, who could usually read his thoughts, would catch on quickly.
But just then, Lu Qinglian, who had been silent for so long, suddenly asked:
"May I come upstairs for a cup of hot water?"
Her expression was bland.