Long hair…
Zhang Shutong's understanding of Gu Qiumian was neither deep nor shallow, but at the very least, he could tell that her hair had grown several centimeters longer.
What's the concept of "several centimeters"?
He had just seen Gu Qiumian in the ward three days ago. This was absolutely not the amount of hair that could grow in three days, and it would even be difficult in a month. No wonder many things were not right.
But why was this happening?
Calm down, calm down. When did her hair change?
Zhang Shutong remembered that he had seen Gu Qiumian from Class 2 during the morning break, but at that time, she was surrounded by a group of girls, and he couldn't see her hair clearly.
The laughter around him, on the contrary, gave him a sense of unfamiliarity. Zhang Shutong looked at the faces, some familiar, some unfamiliar, and a sense of chill and confusion welled up in his heart.
He was even unsure of the origin of this meal now.
He remembered that on Monday, Gu Qiumian had asked him on QQ when he would be discharged from the hospital. He said Wednesday. She then said okay and that she would treat him to a meal after he was discharged.
Zhang Shutong took out his phone and hurriedly flipped to the chat logs from a few days ago. The records hadn't changed. He looked at Sunday's. On Sunday night, she had someone send a bag of snacks and some nutritional products, telling him not to forget to get them. Before that, it was the conversation from before Sunday. She was staying at the villa. He asked her if she was okay. She said she was fine and told him to be careful and so on...
Where did it all change?
"Senior, dinner's ready. You're staring blankly…"
Finally, the little secretary pushed him. Zhang Shutong lowered his head and found that the waiter was already pushing the food cart into the private room. It turned out that these dishes had been prepared a long time ago and were just waiting for everyone to arrive to be served.
He didn't even know where to start asking—because the most significant change he had found was that Gu Qiumian's hair was a few centimeters longer, but how could he possibly investigate something like that?
Looking at Gu Qiumian again, she was wearing a gray wool coat today with a large Korean-style collar. The gray was sleek and cool, like a fashionable woman strolling down a city street.
But when she hung her coat on the hanger by the door, the white wool vest underneath was revealed, and she looked much brighter.
The weather was cold. Her fluffy outfit looked very warm just by looking at it.
The reactions of the people around them were not as exaggerated as he had imagined, such as someone suddenly appearing and saying, "Let me hang your coat." Everyone just laughed and talked while waiting for her to take her seat.
"Let's change seats."
Zhang Shutong said in a low voice. He took advantage of the fact that Xu Zhiruo hadn't sat down yet and directly took her seat.
Now he was next to Gu Qiumian. Gu Qiumian was on his left, and Xu Zhiruo was on his right. The surroundings were noisy, and no one noticed his small action.
"Hey, you…"
The little secretary was dumbfounded.
Zhang Shutong didn't have time to explain. He had a belly full of questions he wanted to ask. After thinking about it, it was best to ask the main person directly. He just waited for Gu Qiumian to hang up her coat and walk towards them. The distance between the two was about seven or eight steps, but these seven or eight steps felt so long, as if time had stopped.
So on the surface, Zhang Shutong pretended to be calm, just waiting for Gu Qiumian to get closer, sit down, and then—
"Come on, come on, everyone, move over and make some room..."
Suddenly, a boy popped up:
"Student Zhang Shutong's hand is injured. Let the class monitor move to the right so she doesn't bump into him."
This meant that his left arm was fractured, and Gu Qiumian happened to be on his left. If the two of them sat too close, it would be inconvenient for him to pick up food.
Gu Qiumian's steps paused. She seemed to think this suggestion made perfect sense.
"Okay."
She raised her delicate chin and told everyone to collectively move one seat to the right.
Then she pulled out a chair and sat down.
The girl who was just within his reach was now a whole body-width away from Zhang Shutong, making it look like he had a cold and needed to be kept away.
He was left waiting for nothing.
Zhang Shutong was almost mad with anger. He thought, "Brother, why are you messing things up at this crucial moment? You don't have to be so helpful." He looked at the other person with a hint of murderous intent, but then he was also dumbfounded.
He didn't know him at all.
But it was only right that he didn't know him. Only then did he remember that he wasn't familiar with this group of followers at all. The only one he had an impression of was that boy who looked like a fighting chicken, from that time they ate and paid at the commercial street.
"Senior, be composed, be composed!" The little secretary quickly advised.
"Who is that?" Zhang Shutong turned his head and asked. It was the first time he was going to remember a boy's name. By the way, was that Zhao Yang?
"I don't know him."
"You... don't know him?" Zhang Shutong was stunned.
How can you be a secretary if you don't even recognize all the followers?
"I really don't know him. He should be a ninth-grade senior too. I was waiting for you to introduce him to me." The little secretary said innocently, not sounding like she was joking.
Zhang Shutong suddenly grasped something from her words.
He remembered that Gu Qiumian's underlings all called her "Sister Gu." "Qiumian" was a name reserved for her close friends. But what did that boy just call her?
Class monitor!
Gu Qiumian is the class monitor now?
Zhang Shutong finally understood the root of the problem:
"Are all these people from ninth grade?"
"Yes. I was wondering, senior, why you don't even know your classmates?"
So this was not a follower party after all!
No wonder he felt that this group of people looked a bit familiar but also a bit unfamiliar. No wonder Du Kang was smiling and greeting people, and someone asked Ruoping why she didn't say she was coming... They were clearly all classmates from the same grade.
But who could he possibly know after only being back for a week?
He went over Xu Zhiruo and poked Qingyi.
"Why are all these people from our grade?" Zhang Shutong asked on purpose.
Qingyi leaned back with his head in his hands:
"Maybe this time she only invited our classmates. She's the exception." Saying this, Qingyi gestured with his eyes to Xu Zhiruo, who was stuck in the middle.
"Hey, senior, even though you're a handsome guy, don't be so hurtful, okay? You make it sound like I'm being isolated!"
The little secretary was a great comedic relief.
Zhang Shutong ignored her and asked again:
"Have you guys noticed... that Gu Qiumian is a bit different today? I mean her hair."
He was being vague, but he didn't have much hope. To his surprise, Xu Zhiruo's reaction was unexpected:
"Ah, how did you just notice?"
"I mean, her hair seems to be a few centimeters longer than before..." Zhang Shutong said, forcing himself to continue.
"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Senior, you're a bit slow," the little secretary patiently explained. "Are you thinking her hair suddenly got a little longer?"
Zhang Shutong nodded.
"It would be weird if it didn't get longer. She straightened her hair the day before yesterday. I went with her."
"Straightened?"
Zhang Shutong found it incredible. Was this some kind of magic unique to girls?
"Didn't you notice that Qiumian used to have a perm at the ends? She straightened it a few days ago. Sigh, senior, you really are something. You were in such a hurry to sit next to her, but you didn't even figure this out. I don't know what you two talk about all day long..."
Zhang Shutong once again looked at Gu Qiumian. Her hair used to be medium-length, with a slight curl at the ends, falling on her shoulders. But now, the length of her hair was a few centimeters past her shoulders. In other words, his "startling discovery" was nothing more than Young Lady Gu changing her hairstyle?
Zhang Shutong was silent.
He picked up his chopsticks and started eating.
The food was very good.
Worthy of a restaurant with luxurious private rooms.
Since it was a class gathering, there weren't many rules. There was no need to wait for Gu Qiumian to start eating. There was also no toasting or urging people to drink. The people at the table just raised their drinks and clinked them in the air symbolically. It was that boy again. He joked, "Wishing Class Monitor Gu a bright future." A few people chimed in, and everyone laughed again. Only then did everyone pick up their chopsticks.
And Zhang Shutong had already eaten from the smoked meat platter to the cured duck and then to the century egg tofu.
The conclusion was that you should never scare yourself. It turned out this was a complete misunderstanding. He had thought he had unconsciously jumped to a new timeline, but in fact, it was just a dinner party for the young lady and her new classmates. Since Gu Qiumian had suddenly become the class monitor, it was only natural to celebrate. So calling it a Pokémon party was not appropriate. It should be a banquet for her vassals.
Zhang Shutong thought back to the chat logs again and realized that he had misunderstood the meaning from the very beginning. She did say she would treat him to a meal, but this meal was not a celebration of his discharge from the hospital.
And as a "vassal," he was not even worthy enough to notice that the young lady had a slight perm before. And yet he took the seat closest to her. Zhang Shutong's face felt a bit hot, and all he could do was bury his head in his food.
The small fish were fried crispy.
The sausages were stuffed very fat.
The four-joy meatballs were very big.
It wasn't until a plate of sweet and sour pork tenderloin turned onto the table that Zhang Shutong stopped eating.
Hairstyles could change, but some people's taste would not.
Looking at Gu Qiumian again, she was a very busy person. Or rather, she was always the center of attention. The girls would directly tell her the interesting things that had happened recently. The boys would laugh loudly after chatting for a while, intentionally raising their voices and slapping their thighs.
Gu Qiumian had always been easy to make laugh. When she heard an interesting topic, she would also curve her eyes and put down her chopsticks. She had never been a very bossy person. When he met her at the lake fish restaurant, she was very cold, but in fact, it was just a moment when she was in a bad mood.
"Class monitor, your family has so many cars."
"How can they not? Have you seen how big the class monitor's house is? Three or four floors?"
"Right, right. Last time I rode my bike, it almost killed me. You don't know how long it takes to just ride to Qiumian's house. A whole mountain road!"
"I'm so jealous. I only went off the island to play with her before."
"Hey, hey, are you trying to usurp her? Saying that in front of Qiumian?"
"No, no..."
"We can't always let the class monitor pay. Next time, let's chip in..."
No matter who started the conversation, she could handle it with ease. She was super popular. Zhang Shutong subconsciously thought that people always grow. He remembered that when she first transferred, Gu Qiumian was a bit clumsy at handling social relationships and was somewhat apathetic to everyone. But in the blink of an eye, three years had passed. She was no longer the girl who would cry over a bag of chocolate.
Just then, someone said:
"Oh, right, class monitor, how was that Zhou Ziheng matter handled? I heard he went to a juvenile detention center?"
Zhang Shutong thought to himself that they were really bringing up old wounds. They were daring to enter a minefield when her mood was slightly better. They had guts.
To his surprise, Gu Qiumian just rolled her eyes:
"Don't mention him. Just thinking about it makes me sick. Anyone who mentions it again will be punished by eating pig intestines!"
Before she even finished, she couldn't help but laugh.
She was referring to a plate of stir-fried pig intestines that had just been served.
They were at a Shandong cuisine restaurant, and stir-fried pig intestines was a relatively high-end dish in Shandong cuisine. When the waiter had just served it, he had talked a lot about it, saying how many steps it took to make it, and that its color was a rich red and it was as oily and shiny as agate, and what the chef's lineage was.
Then everyone wisely turned the plate of stir-fried pig intestines to Gu Qiumian, letting her have the first bite. But Gu Qiumian just glanced at it, scrunched her nose, and said, "I don't eat this. You guys can have it first."
Some people just don't eat offal, no matter how expensive it is. And with more than a dozen people at the table, that one plate wasn't enough to go around. No one took the initiative to take a piece, so it became the "punishment" in the young lady's mouth.
So when she said this, Zhang Shutong had just swallowed the piece of pig intestines in his mouth. He felt like he had been caught in the crossfire.
It was clearly cleaned very well. There was no strange smell.
He thought to himself.
In short, this meal was a real luxury. The main dishes were indeed main dishes. There were green onion-braised sea cucumber, green onion-braised pork tendon, and steamed yellow croaker. They definitely weren't just a bunch of "heavy" dishes like braised pork knuckles or roast chicken. The next tier included braised pork with hawthorn, sweet and sour spare ribs, stir-fried pork liver, and so on. Maybe this restaurant also had bird's nest, abalone, and shark fin, but when treating classmates, she wouldn't be that ostentatious.
With nothing on his mind, Zhang Shutong ate very happily. He felt it was the best meal he had eaten since the rollback.
Someone patted their stomach and said:
"We've made the class monitor spend a lot."
"That's right. It's a shame we're so tight on time today. We'll have to rush back to school after a few bites. Although Qiumian, you're treating us because you just changed classes, we should have done this on the weekend. We'll treat you this weekend."
Someone made this invitation, but Gu Qiumian didn't answer whether she would go. Instead, she pursed her rosy lips:
"My dad has been watching me very closely these past few days. If I hadn't said I was treating my new classmates to a meal, I wouldn't have been able to get out at all."
"That's true. I've seen you getting into your car to eat after school these past few days."
Zhang Shutong also knew that she was surrounded by bodyguards recently. Besides going to school, she was either at home or on her way home. Before they entered the private room, the bodyguard who drove them had stopped in the lobby. It was no different from having a personal bodyguard.
It was estimated that Gu's father would immediately receive a report on what dishes the young lady ate for lunch, whether she was happy eating, and how many people she had invited.
So this meal was indeed hard-earned. The classmates around them were also a bit reserved at first. First, they were driven from school to the mall in a very showy way. Second, as Gu Qiumian had just said, it seemed that she had only invited her new classmates from Class 2 this time.
Zhang Shutong used to think she had no friends in ninth grade, but he found that wasn't the case. At first, everyone was intentionally observing Gu Qiumian's reaction, but after three rounds of soda, they gradually relaxed.
It was a chaotic scene all around. Some people were whispering, some were shouting across the table. Everyone had someone to talk to, maybe one person, maybe several. The noise was like a layer of camouflage. In this environment, you couldn't tell who was talking, and no one would care what you were saying. That's what gatherings were like. No one would focus on the food itself. The main point was to chat and laugh.
Zhang Shutong had no one to talk to right now. On his right was Xu Zhiruo, who was bothering Qingyi. Qingyi had a blank face and didn't seem annoyed. He would occasionally nod. On his left was Gu Qiumian, but they were too far apart, and she always had endless topics to talk about.
He picked up another piece of sea cucumber. He was very satisfied with the restaurant's skills. But someone asked, a bit dissatisfied:
"Why are you just eating?"
"Didn't you drag me here to eat?"
It was really noisy around them. Zhang Shutong couldn't help but raise his voice and continued to attack the sea cucumber. But the sea cucumber was turned away from the table.
Gu Qiumian took her hand back and propped her face up, looking at him:
"Why did you take Zhiruo's seat? I can't even talk to her."
They were a considerable distance apart. Zhang Shutong thought to himself that this was a real misunderstanding.
Gu Qiumian then asked in an accusing tone:
"Why were you staring at me when I just walked in?"
"Um... I saw you had a new coat?"
"Did you figure anything out?"
Zhang Shutong looked up and saw Gu Qiumian lifting her hair with what seemed to be intentional or unintentional movement. Her hair was as dazzling as lead powder. He had already looked at the answer key beforehand:
"You straightened your hair?"
"Hmph." She flicked her hair. "Oh, right, does your arm still hurt?"
"Didn't I tell you several times that I basically don't feel anything anymore? How did you become the class monitor?"
"The teacher nominated me directly this morning."
"Congratulations."
"What's there to congratulate about?"
"Then why did you treat so many people to a meal?"
"Of course I have to treat them since I changed classes," she said as if it were a matter of course. "Otherwise, it would make me look stingy. When are you getting your cast off?"
"It depends. Sometime this week."
"Don't forget about the weekend."
"Will your dad let you out?" Zhang Shutong picked up another piece of sea cucumber and asked in a low voice.
"He's just been watching me closely these past few days. Oh, and it's your fault for not telling the truth at that time. Now I can't go anywhere. It's all your fault!" she also whispered.
"Sorry, sorry…"
Before Zhang Shutong could finish, a voice suddenly sounded from not far away:
"Oh, right, class monitor, I suddenly remembered something interesting…"
The two of them straightened up at the same time. It was that enthusiastic person. He took out something:
"I think I found a key this morning when I was on duty. It might be for the rooftop door. Do you guys want to go play for a bit after we eat?"