Qinglian...
Lu Qinglian?!
Yes, this was five years later. Logically speaking, nothing should have happened to Lu Qinglian yet. Not only was she completely fine, but she had actually learned how to use WeChat?
Zhang Shutong tapped open her message thread again and looked at their chat history, trying to find some sort of clue. However, the messages were pitifully sparse—just the occasional voice call.
Zhang Shutong suddenly realized what this meant.
This was the Lu Qinglian of five years later. She was now twenty-one years old, not the young girl who had been standing right beside him a moment ago.
He hesitated for a second, clicked the voice call button to dial back, and instinctively held his breath.
But after two seconds, the call was hung up.
Hung up?
Zhang Shutong was dazed once more.
"Sir, please don't block the entrance..." Just then, a staff member maintaining order walked over.
"...Sorry about that." Zhang Shutong snapped back to reality, moving his legs toward the escalator.
The station was truly packed today. He forced his way out of the crowd, his mind still dwelling on the question from before.
Who exactly had sent him that WeChat message?
They were clearly here to pick him up from the station.
Since they had invited him to their house for dinner, it had to be a friend from the city.
But did he have any friends in the city?
He hadn't in the past, though it couldn't be ruled out that he had made a new one on this timeline.
Could it be...
His Senior?
Zhang Shutong's heart gave a thump.
But no matter who it was, he couldn't just linger inside the station forever, and he needed to figure out the reason behind this regression.
With this thought, he quickened his pace. Right then, his phone vibrated as the cheerful ringtone of a WeChat call rang out.
Qinglian!
She had actually called back.
And it was a video call.
Zhang Shutong quickly found a quiet corner and answered.
In the next moment, amidst a flurry of background noise, Zhang Shutong saw Lu Qinglian's face.
The twenty-one-year-old Lu Qinglian looked exactly like the woman from the black-and-white funeral photo resurrected right before his eyes. He lost his focus for a brief instant.
She still kept her long hair. Zhang Shutong looked into her almond-shaped, peach-blossom eyes, which were filled with her signature detached coldness.
Fine beads of sweat hung on Lu Qinglian's flawless face.
"What?" She knit her brows slightly, bringing the microphone close to her face in a listening posture.
"You..."
"Didn't I tell you early on that I would be very busy today?" She let out a soft sigh.
In the next second, Zhang Shutong could no longer see her.
The phone's camera flipped, and the frame filled with crowds of people walking in groups. They wore all kinds of clothing, spanning men, women, the young, and the old. The intense, blinding sunlight in the open air made it hard to keep his eyes open. Zhang Shutong narrowed his eyes, studying the crowd again. Most of the people held a bundle of incense in their hands, while others held folding fans. He also saw a massive incense burner drifting with wisps of light smoke.
A green snake made of paper-mâché was propped up on a wooden frame, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws in midair.
Was this inside the temple?
The site of a festival ritual?
Zhang Shutong realized a beat late that Lu Qinglian's long hair was loose today. Though she wore a set of green robes, they were a thin, breathable, short-styled cut, rather than the heavy cotton robes of winter.
Right, this was summer. Every year around this time, the Green Snake Temple would host a grand festival ritual. Lu Qinglian would go back to the temple to help out for several days, busying herself from morning until night.
"Talk to you when I'm free."
The call was hung up.
Zhang Shutong looked at the screen and thought it over. Had he been treated as a nuisance call?
Furthermore, what did she mean by saying she had told him early on that she would be very busy today?
Zhang Shutong first returned to the train ticket booking app on his phone, finding his student verification inside.
He was actually a university student.
Calculating the time, this was the summer break of his freshman year.
He gazed abstractly at the sky above the station. It was a flawless azure blue. The weather was naturally hot, and with a chest full of unresolved thoughts, a wave of inexplicable irritability washed over him.
Zhang Shutong continued to scroll through his chat list until he saw another familiar character.
"Mian."
Zhang Shutong figured this should be Gu Qiumian.
But why was there only a single character, "Mian"?
He dialed the call, waiting quietly for two seconds before a pair of long, shapely legs appeared on the screen.
Her toes were painted with a royal blue nail polish. From her feet to her calves and up to her thighs, her skin was completely bare, snowy white, and perfectly proportioned.
Zhang Shutong's heart gave a start. Just as he thought he had dialed the wrong number, a familiar voice rang out from the other end:
"What is it?"
Her tone carried no discernible emotion.
Zhang Shutong couldn't help but study the frame again—sand, coastline, palm trees, a sun umbrella, and a bottle of... tanning oil.
He thought to himself, Gu Qiumian, how are you on vacation right now? Then again, it was summer, so it was only normal for a young miss to be on vacation.
"Where are you right now?"
"Just arrived at the station?" Zhang Shutong said uncertainly.
"Then what are you calling me for?" She let out a cold laugh.
"I just purely wanted to give you a call..." Zhang Shutong could only say.
"Regretting it now is useless."
The moment her voice fell, she hung up the phone. She was even more decisive than Lu Qinglian, and he hadn't even caught a glimpse of her face from beginning to end.
It felt as though the two of them had just had a minor argument.
Zhang Shutong was a bit at a loss. He had already walked out of the station exit.
Outside the exit was a row of shops—convenience stores, KFC, Starbucks... The sun overhead was truly vicious. Zhang Shutong stood by the glass wall of a storefront, which was one of the few shaded spots, letting out a deep breath.
Right now, he was wearing a button-up shirt and a pair of jeans, with only his phone, ID card, and keys in his pockets—truly traveling light.
Zhang Shutong knew he had to reply to that message, otherwise he wouldn't even know where to go.
At that moment, the glass door behind him rattled slightly.
Someone was tapping gently on the glass.
He turned his head around. In a booth seat along the glass wall of the coffee shop, a young woman wearing a floral long dress was sitting there. Crossing her legs, she waved at him in pleasant surprise.
Her lips moved slightly as she said something, but separated by the glass, Zhang Shutong couldn't hear clearly. He only noticed a white bucket hat sitting beside Su Yunzhi's hand, designed in a style that was both classic and fashionable.
As expected.
Zhang Shutong's heart gave another thump.
So she was the one waiting here.
Thinking about it, in such hot weather, it was impossible for anyone to stand outside—like Zhang Shutong himself just now.
He pushed open the door to Starbucks in a few strides. The cold air pierced straight to the heart, and his Senior smiled from afar.
"What do you want to drink? My treat?"
Zhang Shutong ordered an iced Americano. The bitter, mellow liquid came into contact with his taste buds, causing him to shudder slightly from the chill.
"Sorry to bother you." Zhang Shutong prepared to play things by ear.
"Don't be so polite." His Senior fished a pack of pocket tissues out of her bag, pulling one out to hand to him. "Wipe your sweat first. You looked like you were about to faint from the heat just now."
"It is a bit hot."
"Mm, you seem to have grown taller again?" Su Yunzhi extended her hand to gesture against her forehead. "I feel like I only reach your collarbone now."
"Is that so." Zhang Shutong forced a smile.
Fine. Even though the ensuing conversation would be awkward, Zhang Shutong still needed to figure out the nature of their relationship. Although he couldn't be certain whether this was a good or a bad thing—randomly arriving five years into the future and bumping into his Senior—he couldn't just keep moving forward completely in the dark.
Zhang Shutong thought it over and asked tentatively:
"When are we leaving?"
Su Yunzhi glanced at her watch.
"In another ten minutes or so."
"I thought it was urgent."
"It's fine, really. There's always time to have a cup of coffee."
So what did this amount to? Going to meet her parents?
Zhang Shutong felt he was being a bit pathetic. He had clearly stated at the entrance of the old house that he wouldn't disturb her, yet he turned right around to be slapped in the face by the future.
"Should I buy some gifts? A souvenir?" Zhang Shutong probed further.
"Gifts? There's no need for that," Su Yunzhi said in confusion. "I told you not to be so polite. Besides, what is there worth buying here? A mug?"
That was true.
Only now did he realize that despite traveling all this way, forget about expensive gifts like alcohol or tobacco, how come he had only brought his phone and ID card?
His emotional intelligence was truly abysmally low.
"In such hot weather, sorry to trouble Uncle," Zhang Shutong said, bracing himself.
"It's fine." Su Yunzhi narrowed her eyes. "Look, that car outside is his. He hasn't left yet."
Zhang Shutong turned his head. Sure enough, the driver's side window of an SUV was currently rolled down a crack. The moment the two of them cast their gazes over, the window rolled back up.
What was the situation? Not only was he going to her house for dinner, but he also had to ride back in her dad's car?
"I originally thought we'd take a taxi..." Zhang Shutong said weakly.
"He happens to be heading the same way today."
"Leaving Uncle waiting outside isn't very good either, is it?"
"Mm... a little bit, but he said he's on leave today."
Zhang Shutong remembered that his Senior's father worked within the public security system.
But leave or no leave, even if he were retired, you couldn't just leave the man hanging outside.
"How about... we go talk in the car?"
"There's no need for that," his Senior hesitated. "He'll be heading back in a bit. Going over there will just cause extra trouble instead."
"Letting Uncle head back alone again?" Zhang Shutong was shocked. "Then are we still going to your house for dinner or not?"
"I can't very well have him come along with me, can I?" His Senior was equally shocked. "And what dinner are you talking about?"
Just then, a message suddenly popped up on his phone.
"I've been waiting for so long, how come I don't see you?"
Cold sweat began to stream down Zhang Shutong's forehead.
He seemed to realize what a massive blunder he had made.
"Are you going on a trip?"
"Otherwise?" His Senior grew even more perplexed. "Didn't I tell you on WeChat yesterday? Our timings happen to align closely, so let's meet up if we have time."
Zhang Shutong stood up.
"Have fun." He calmly waved his phone. "Apologies, the person picking me up has arrived."
"Mm, then let's find time to meet up again when we get back." His Senior waved her hand with a beaming smile.
Before he had gone more than a few steps, Zhang Shutong recalled something. He turned back to settle the bill at the counter, then stepped out of the coffee shop under Su Yunzhi's gaze. Once he confirmed that she could no longer see him, Zhang Shutong shifted from a walk to a run.
What a mess. It turned out meeting his Senior was a pure coincidence!
The WeChat message belonged to someone else entirely!
He pulled out his phone, just about to message the other party back:
"Over here! Why aren't you replying to my messages?!"
Zhang Shutong turned his head around. The newcomer was a young woman with short hair.
She wore a pair of sunglasses and a fiery red dress, looking bright and striking.
"Ruoping?"
Zhang Shutong opened his mouth.