Winter Time Rendering

Chapter 144: Chapter 60: "Tattoo" (2)

Why exactly had he returned to the island?

And who had informed him of Lu Qinglian’s death?

He had no answers to these two questions, and there was no one he could even ask. It was obvious the two people sitting across from him were also in the dark.

Du Kang sneered,

"What’s the point of playing dumb now..."

But before he could finish, Ruoping smacked him, and he shut up.

Zhang Shutong could only lower his head and sip his water. ’How did I end up like this, so despised by everyone?’ Soon, a dish was brought to the table—stir-fried shrimp. Ruoping finally spoke, picking up her chopsticks and nudging Du Kang with her arm.

"It’s your favorite. Don’t just sit there."

But Du Kang muttered under his breath,

"I told you, this place’s stir-fried shrimp can’t compare to how it used to be. It’s gone downhill, big time. Besides, if I wanted to eat this, I could just make it myself. Why waste the money..."

"So what if I wanted to?" Ruoping slapped her chopsticks down on the table.

"Alright, alright. You wanted to, so you get what you want. You’re the boss. Who would dare to go against you..."

He picked up a shrimp and chewed it a couple of times without any enthusiasm.

"Just as I thought, it’s not the same as it used to be. You try some."

"For real? It looks the same to me. Are you just being dramatic?" Skeptical, Ruoping tried a bite. A moment later, she sighed too. "I guess we’ll just write this one off as a loss. Next time, we’ll definitely..."

She stopped there, swallowing her words. Zhang Shutong understood what she meant. There wouldn’t be a next time.

He took a bite as well but couldn’t taste any difference. Of course, his taste buds might just be less sensitive. The three of them ate the shrimp in silence. The restaurant wasn’t busy today, with only a few scattered tables occupied. Soon, the second dish was served: candied sweet potatoes.

Ruoping had one bite and then set her chopsticks down.

"I should have listened to you," she said to Du Kang.

"I told you so. It’s not like I haven’t been here over the years. I know exactly what’s good and what’s bad."

The beer had been brought out long ago. The proprietress had thoughtfully opened all three bottles for them, but they sat untouched at the corner of the table.

Disgusted with the food, Ruoping gave up and poured herself a glass of beer. She poured one for Du Kang, too. Seeing this, Zhang Shutong poured a small amount for himself. The three of them gripped their glasses, but just as the bases lifted an inch off the table, they all set them back down in unison.

This wasn’t the right occasion for a "cheers."

All that was left was to drink in silence.

Classmates who hadn’t seen each other in years naturally had a lot to talk about. Soon, Ruoping’s cheeks were flushed. She was the first to bring up Qingyi to Du Kang, calling him "that heartless bastard" and saying that whenever she asked, his excuse was always "working overtime." "Why doesn’t he just work himself to death?" she grumbled. Du Kang chuckled. "That’s just how men are, always putting work first..." He trailed off and fell silent. The guy who was always going on about "being a man" was absent today. And although his understanding of manhood was quite skewed, it felt like no one present was more qualified to speak on the topic than him.

Du Kang added that Qingyi had grown out of his edgy phase. "He’s a white-collar professional working in an office now, a real elite tech guy. He came back to see his grandma once, and I invited him to go fishing, but he said he had no time. He had a flight to catch that night—flew in and out on the same day."

They started talking about other people from their class, though they deliberately avoided mentioning Lu Qinglian’s name. Some names were familiar to Zhang Shutong, but others he couldn’t recall. Suddenly, Du Kang asked, "Do you remember Li Yipeng? That son of a bitch just got out of trouble a while back."

"What happened?" Ruoping asked.

"He started dating a college student and got her pregnant," he said. "Her parents came and smashed up his family’s shop, and he ended up getting in a fistfight with his future in-laws. I was stunned when I found out..."

Ruoping had just raised her glass to her lips, and when she heard that, she laughed so hard she could barely hold it steady, smudging her lipstick.

Du Kang then asked her, "So how have you been all these years? Are you dating anyone? You should bring your boyfriend back for us to meet. We’ll help you vet him."

Ruoping kicked him under the table. "Screw you. I don’t need your damn approval."

Du Kang just grinned cheekily and pressed, "So, do you have one or not? Are you just being shy..."

The atmosphere at the table was finally starting to warm up. Ruoping was about to laugh and tell him off, when a voice suddenly cut in from across from them:

"What about Gu Qiuyan?"

Zhang Shutong finally asked.

’I’d been wondering about this ever since they started talking about their classmates. They had mentioned people whose names I couldn’t even remember, so it made no sense for Gu Qiuyan to be left out. That young lady was always a topic of conversation. Besides, her issues with Ruoping had been resolved, so it wasn’t like she was some taboo subject.’

To his surprise, the question made both of them put down their glasses, the smiles vanishing from their faces.

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Ruoping asked after a moment of silence.

Zhang Shutong forced a smile. "Nothing, I just suddenly thought of her. How is she doing now?"

That’s what he said, but inwardly he was wondering, ’Don’t tell me they had another falling out and now she’s a forbidden topic?’

’No, that couldn’t be it...’

Ruoping’s brow, however, furrowed.

"Zhang Shutong, have you had a little to drink and started losing your mind?"

He instinctively glanced at Du Kang, but Du Kang was frowning too. Zhang Shutong had no choice but to apologize. "I’ve been dealing with some things lately, and I get forgetful when I drink. Please don’t mind me if I’m not making sense. I was just curious how she was doing."

"I’m starting to have a hard time telling if you’re being sarcastic or if there’s really something wrong with your head," Ruoping’s frown deepened. "You tell me what happened."

"What?"

"We were avoiding the topic of her out of consideration for your feelings. But if you don’t even care yourself, then I guess there’s nothing left to say." She slammed her glass down on the table. "And by the way, I’ve been wanting to ask you—if you care so much about her, how come you haven’t visited her grave even once in the last eight years?"

’Her grave?’

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!