Zhang Shutong knew it was not appropriate to visit with such a large group of people.
Fortunately, the young lady was very gracious, although her tone was not very friendly:
"Didn't you go hiking?" she asked coldly.
"I'm back now."
"Oh, you didn't eat on the mountain?"
"There was nothing to eat on the mountain, so I came back..."
Then she said with a headache and disgust:
"You're so troublesome... where are you now?"
"We're downstairs from your house, we've been standing for a while."
Zhang Shutong glanced at the second floor, and by all accounts she should have been able to see him.
"I'm in the basement."
No wonder.
He could hear some small background noises on the other end of the phone.
Soon the background noises disappeared, and Gu Qiumian's voice was neither cold nor warm:
"Why didn't you let me know in advance that you were bringing people? Then wait... I'll go up now."
He could hear the sound of slippers slapping, and then it suddenly stopped:
"I'll let Aunt Wu... no, she's cooking, I'll tell you the password, you guys come in first, I'm hanging up."
Gu Qiumian gave a string of numbers. Zhang Shutong walked to the gate, which he had studied many times. He entered the password, and the iron gate opened in response.
However, after Gu Qiumian was taken care of, a disagreement arose among the best friends.
The only dissenting vote was cast by Ruoping.
"Are we still going in?" The girl was a little reluctant. Although she told her father that she was here as a guest.
"Let's go in and stay for a while, otherwise we'll have to walk down, and Old Song is also here, there are no outsiders." Du Kang was very familiar with the situation.
"Who said there were no outsiders." Ruoping glared at him, "Only Shutong needs to go in, they didn't actively invite us, let's go back."
Zhang Shutong knew that she and Gu Qiumian still had some minor unresolved conflicts. This time he was more careful and persuaded her a few times, saying that they were here to do something serious, and there was no need to lose their momentum, and they were not initiative lowering their heads to show her goodwill, right?
The girl reluctantly agreed.
Du Kang and Qingyi didn't care much. The two of them had long heard of the young lady's villa. Instead of being guests, they came with the mentality of visiting.
Lu Qinglian was always a transparent person in such a large crowd. She would listen to whatever was said unless it was a serious matter.
Zhang Shutong led the four people into the villa in a grand manner.
Old Song opened the door.
The teacher and students looked at each other for a while, and finally Ruoping was the first to sigh:
"Are we going to school or are we suspended from school? We've all met, is there any difference from usual?"
Old Song's expression was also awkward. Meeting other students at another student's house, and a whole group of them at once, the key was that he was not in charge of this villa and could not arrange anything, so he could only say:
"Come in, all of you, all of you. Didn't you say you were on that road just now? If you had said you had arrived earlier, I would have gone out to pick you up."
"No, we went to the wasteland behind to look for people, and we didn't think of calling the teacher."
The nanny also rushed over after hearing the news.
"This is Auntie from Qiumian's family, you can call her Aunt Wu." Old Song introduced.
The few of them greeted her, and the adults and children exchanged a few pleasantries. The nanny went to get them some water.
Old Song finally had time to pull Zhang Shutong aside.
"What are you doing, you kid?" The man lowered his voice, "Didn't you tell me on the phone how dangerous it was? Why did you bring them all up?"
"It's a long story." Zhang Shutong also had a headache, "I feel like a tour guide now, there is strength in numbers, so I brought them all. I came in Ruoping's car."
"Then did you find them?"
"No." Zhang Shutong sighed, "They should have gone back, but the problem now is that I don't know who she is."
"It would be weird if you knew."
Old Song also sighed:
"Shutong, count how many things you've done recently, from yesterday, Zhou Zihang, the police station, and then at night, you made me drive around with you, and then this morning, you insisted on running down the mountain, and then you came back a little while later. And what's with Qinglian, she didn't tell me clearly on the phone... I'm not scolding you, I just feel like I'm dreaming. The world has changed when I woke up. What's going on?"
Zhang Shutong repeated the words he said in the car to Old Song.
"You guys didn't tell Qiumian about such a big thing?"
"I was about to tell her, where is she?"
"When you left this morning, didn't she go upstairs? Maybe she went back to sleep for a while, and then a little while later she told me she was going to the basement to watch a movie.
"By the way, didn't you say it wasn't safe for her to stay on the second floor alone? I also told her, but she went to the basement and I thought it would be safe. Even if the murderer could climb walls, they couldn't dig holes, right? Plus you said you were coming soon, so I didn't call her. Just now, before I opened the door for you, she went to the second floor again. I wanted to call her, but you knocked on the door..."
At this point, Old Song slapped his head:
"Oh, my mind is also a mess. You called her, right? That's how you got in. I guess she thinks there are so many people and she needs to change her clothes and tidy up.
"Then take some time to tell her about this. I'll take them to sit down first..."
After saying that, Old Song turned around and greeted the few people to sit on the sofa, took on his school-like demeanor, and presided over the order, asking them one by one if they were cold and what they did in the morning...
The three best friends were a little restrained as soon as they entered the door, probably because they felt the villa was very grand, similar to Zhang Shutong's reaction at the time, but seeing that Gu Qiumian was not there, and Old Song also consciously guided the conversation, they relaxed.
The nanny came over again to ask them what they wanted to eat:
"Qiumian just called. She's a little busy right now and will be down soon. You guys can sit and wait, watch TV if you want, or walk around, don't be shy, and tell me if you have any dietary restrictions."
"You can cook whatever you want, we're bothering you again, you really don't need to make too many dishes..." This time Old Song answered directly for them.
Finally, the group was settled.
The sofa in the villa was big enough to seat all six of them without feeling crowded.
"She disappeared under these circumstances?" Lu Qinglian was also looking around the villa.
"Yes." Zhang Shutong nodded.
The two were sitting in the corner of the sofa, whispering while Old Song was asking questions.
"Besides the password, what else can open that iron gate?" Lu Qinglian asked again.
"Face and fingerprint recognition." Zhang Shutong explained the working principle to her. She nodded after hearing it and kept silent.
Zhang Shutong held the hot water and enjoyed a rare moment of peace.
At this point, everyone knew about it.
He could also relax a little, and not have to be a psychopath who said things that others didn't understand.
He called Gu Qiumian again:
"We're in the living room now."
"I heard you."
"Should I come up to find you?" Zhang Shutong wanted to find a place with fewer people to explain what had happened to her.
"No." She immediately refused, "Why are you looking for me?"
"I have something I want to tell you."
"Then wait."
"Why?"
"There are too many people right now, don't come up to find me with all these people, are you very close to me?"
Zhang Shutong had been told similar things by two women today.
"And I'm busy, I don't have time to talk to you right now."
Zhang Shutong guessed that she was either trying on clothes or putting on lipstick.
With that said, Gu Qiumian didn't hang up the phone:
"Tell Aunt Wu what you want to eat."
"Auntie just came and asked, it's really okay."
"I haven't asked you why you suddenly brought people over, why didn't you go eat outside?"
"It's just time for dinner."
"Tsk."
"By the way, I have a favor to ask you." Zhang Shutong glanced at Ruoping, who was the most uncomfortable, and then left the sofa and found a quiet place.
"What?"
"You know I have a friend, Feng Ruoping..."
He was interrupted by Gu Qiumian before he could finish:
"Oh, what's wrong."
"She..." Zhang Shutong thought about it. If he brought up the old issue and said something like "you two should stop fighting," it would seem like he had low emotional intelligence and was arrogant.
He also thought, if he said "Ruoping came to help with the thing I told you about last night," although it was the truth, it seemed like he was using righteousness to pressure her, which was a bit of bullying Gu Qiumian.
It also didn't look good.
In fact, as long as he wasn't dealing with a murder case and there were no urgent matters around him, he was still very human.
He simply said concisely:
"She's also here as a guest, and so are Qingyi, Du Kang, and Lu Qinglian. You can probably guess, but I still think I should tell you."
Zhang Shutong felt that this was a correct statement.
Gu Qiumian was the host, and it was right for him to report to her.
"Oh."
"What do you mean by 'oh'?"
"You're just worried that I'll give you a cold shoulder?"
"No, I mean..."
"What do you mean?" The cold and beautiful rainy autumn mode appeared.
Zhang Shutong was stunned by the microphone, not knowing what she had misunderstood.
His thought was very simple. He just thought, what if Gu Qiumian comes down and sees Ruoping, and the two of them get into a fight again like before?
In a situation where he knew what was going on, pretending not to see it would make him seem cowardly.
That's why he took the initiative to mention it.
And this kind of thing can only be said by him, who else is suitable to say it? The other best friends or Old Song?
He had just worked on Ruoping outside the villa, and it went quite smoothly. Why was it not working with Gu Qiumian?
"I mean..."
Zhang Shutong thought it over and over:
"I'm just worried about making you angry."
The other end of the phone was silent for a moment.
The Mianmian said in an annoyed tone:
"Who's angry? Do you think I'm that petty?"
"No, I'm just worried, aren't you feeling well these past few days?"
"Hmph." Her nasal sound was very light, "Is there anything else?"
"No."
"Then you wait, I'll be down soon." She hung up the phone.
Zhang Shutong didn't know if she was angry, but he himself was relieved.
This time he didn't say the wrong thing.
Zhang Shutong knew that he had to remain neutral and not stand on Ruoping's side to actively ask Gu Qiumian to do something.
He continued to drink water and waited for Gu Qiumian on the sofa. Unexpectedly, Ruoping suddenly stood up:
"You three come over here."
"What's wrong, Ruoping?" Old Song asked first.
"It's nothing, teacher, you and Qinglian can continue to chat. I have something to talk to them about."
The three stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.
"Are you three just sitting around and chatting?"
"What else?" Du Kang was confused.
"You want to watch TV?" Qingyi was also confused.
Zhang Shutong thought to himself, 'This is bad. Could it be that everything is fine with Gu Qiumian, but something went wrong with Ruoping again? Did she feel that the other person hadn't come down for a long time, and was showing disrespect, so she couldn't stand it anymore and was ready to go home?'
Unexpectedly, Ruoping said:
"Do you really think you're guests? The four of us are just sitting here doing nothing while the auntie is busy by herself? Don't you think about how many dishes she has to cook?"
The three boys roughly understood what she meant and nodded in hindsight:
"Although my family runs a restaurant, the problem is that I'm not good at cooking. Are you, Shutong?"
"I can only boil eggs. Can you, Qingyi?"
"I can add a packet of instant noodles when boiling eggs."
"Who told you to be the chef?" Ruoping was almost speechless, "I mean to go and help. If you can't cook, you can wash vegetables, right? Don't tell me you three have never done this kind of work at home?"
"Oh, right, that's true." The three of them realized that it wasn't appropriate.
They obediently followed Ruoping to the kitchen.
"When did she become so enthusiastic?" Du Kang muttered in a low voice.
"It's not just enthusiasm." Zhang Shutong came to his senses, "She probably feels uncomfortable eating at Gu Qiumian's house already. If she just sits on the sofa and waits, she won't be able to hold her head high in the future?"
"I agree." Qingyi analyzed, "In fact, Ruoping has strong self-esteem, she doesn't want the few of us to be called freeloaders. Although it's highly likely that she's the only one who thinks this way."
But as the only girl among the best friends, and she herself wanted to help, she still needed to have her self-esteem protected. The three boys agreed to do some work together, but when they got to the kitchen, they realized that they didn't need so many people here at all.
The auntie was very touched, but she insisted on not letting them interfere, saying that she was a nanny and this was her job.
But there were too many people eating today, and the nanny was really too busy, so after a long time of refusal, she finally nodded and agreed.
But in reality, the work she gave them was only a little bit.
—to sort out a few vegetables and peel a few cloves of garlic.
The few of them divided the work. They were all good with their hands, and this little bit of work was really nothing to them.
Du Kang and Qingyi washed the vegetables, while Zhang Shutong and Ruoping peeled the garlic.
They finished the work quickly, and Ruoping sighed comfortably.
It seemed that she had finally overcome the hurdle in her heart.
Zhang Shutong saw this and smiled, thinking she was cute.
But then Ruoping put her hand under her nose and frowned:
"It just smells a little bad. I shouldn't have cut my nails two days ago."
"No problem."
Zhang Shutong could handle this.
He had been to the villa three times, so he was familiar with the way. He took Ruoping to the bathroom, turned on the brass faucet, and told her which side was hot water and which was cold water, and that the bottle was hand sanitizer. He was very meticulous.
The sink was wide enough to accommodate two people at the same time. They stood side by side in front of the glass. Ruoping was carefully rubbing her hands and was in the mood to ask:
"Wow, you seem to be very familiar with this place. How many times have you been here?"
"Her bathroom is so big, I saw it as soon as I walked in." Zhang Shutong didn't want to lie, but he could change the subject.
"Hehe." Ruoping didn't say whether she believed him or not.
"By the way, I told Gu Qiumian about it."
"About what?"
"I said the few of us came over, and I specifically mentioned that you were here too." Zhang Shutong also slowly washed his hands and was much more relaxed when talking to Ruoping.
"And then? Was she angry?" Ruoping asked with a sideways glance.
"She said she's not that petty."
"Get out, get out, are you hinting that I'm petty?" The girl laughed and scolded.
"No, I just thought this was a good opportunity. Anyway, you two don't have a big grudge, so you should stop..."
"Are you already favoring an outsider?"
Zhang Shutong felt that this was a strange thing to say.
Was he a girl who was about to get married?
He simply pretended not to hear it. To shut her up, Zhang Shutong took the initiative to look for a towel. He still remembered which one was the guest towel and helped her get it.
But Ruoping hadn't finished washing her hands yet, so he held the towel and waited by the side.
Zhang Shutong thought about it:
"Are you jealous?"
"Get lost, who likes you."
"That's not what I mean. Qingyi just told me when he was washing the vegetables that you might feel that I've been getting too close to Gu Qiumian recently, and are a little... jealous?"
"He's the smart one." Ruoping glared, "I'm going to twist his ear when I get back."
Zhang Shutong explained:
"Don't blame him. If he didn't say anything, I wouldn't have thought of it. After all, you're the only girl, and I might have overlooked your feelings. I can't think of a good example right now, but for example, if I suddenly got very close to a certain boy and became best friends, they would also be unhappy, right?"
"Alright, alright, I get it." Ruoping sighed. She shook her hands, "You're a busy person now, busy saving the world all day, so how dare a little girl like me make you worry, right? Don't have a headache anymore, I'm not clueless."
Zhang Shutong smiled and handed the towel over.
Ruoping rolled her eyes at him, "At least you have some conscience."
Zhang Shutong also breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that he had taken a big step towards being more human.
The small conflict between the two had finally... maybe not resolved, but at least improved a little.
"Don't worry, I'm not a very good person at comforting people, but in short... the four of us are definitely the best. Do you understand?"
"Really?" Ruoping muttered, "You said it."
"Yes."
Zhang Shutong took the towel, put it back on the rack, and then looked at Ruoping's face in the mirror. It was a little red. He wanted to laugh and was almost stepped on.
Some people's faces were slightly red.
Some people were relieved.
And some people had just finished getting ready and came down.
The bathroom was opposite the elevator door.
What happened next was predictable.
Someone—