Chapter 24: Walls Have Ears

The landlady hurriedly put on a forced smile, saying that her partner was the only one working today and couldn't keep up, promising to go and urge the kitchen again.

Du Kang put down his chopsticks and was about to look over, but Ruoping stopped him. "Just eat your meal. Why are you getting worked up over those kids?"

Du Kang exhaled in annoyance. "That kid is rushing them, but why does he keep dragging us into it? He really thinks that just because he’s hanging around Gu Qiumian, no one dares to say a word. If I were back at school... forget it." He bit into a pork rib and muttered, "We're all classmates."

"Classmates?" Ruoping sneered. "We may think of her as a classmate, but she might not necessarily see us the same way."

Zhang Shutong couldn't tell if she was trying to douse the flames or fan them.

"I think your 'good guy' act was all for nothing, Shutong. Look at her, she’s perfectly fine and has the mood to come out for a meal."

Zhang Shutong understood what she meant. Although Ruoping herself never greeted Gu Qiumian when they crossed paths, she felt a bit of fire because Zhang Shutong had done Gu Qiumian a small favor during the long break, only to be met with that kind of attitude in return.

Zhang Shutong wanted to say that his being a "good guy" really had nothing to do with Gu Qiumian herself. If one were to analyze it, it was more about clearing obstacles for his own future. The murderer still needed to be found, and that hadn't stopped him from coming out to eat. However, he knew if he told them that, he’d just be pestered about what those "obstacles" were. He had already heard enough about the "mission of a man" and really didn't want to start a conversation about "the obstacles of a man." So, he simply fished out a piece of rib for each of them.

"Eat while it's hot. It's my treat today."

"Unsolicited generosity," Ruoping said, though she began nibbling on her rib.

"No need, let's keep it like before," Qingyi also refused.

"Brother, you should have said so earlier! If you had, I would’ve ordered two more dishes!" Du Kang was the most shameless of the lot.

"Just consider it giving me a chance," Zhang Shutong said with a smile. "Besides, all three of you owe me a KFC meal anyway."

The reason he suddenly wanted to treat them was simple: for him, this was the first time they had all eaten together in eight years. During those eight years, he had been the first to lose contact. Although there were reasons for it, he couldn't help but feel he had let his best friends down.

It must have been their second year of high school. They had wanted to come to the provincial capital to visit him, but he had already stopped going out much and gave them a blunt refusal. He couldn't even remember exactly what he had said. He only remembered that, from then on, everyone spoke less. That group chat with the cringey name went from being filled with endless chatter until midnight to having no one surface for weeks, eventually getting buried at the very bottom of his message list.

One day, Zhang Shutong had suddenly wanted to see what they used to talk about—it was a small group of only four people, after all—what kind of interesting things could they have been talking about for so long? But by then, he had changed his phone, and the chat history was lost.

Luckily, he hadn't listened to Qingyi's idea to name it "Dragon’s Nest" or given them weird titles. Otherwise, one day, the corpses of the four dragons would be buried underground along with their little nest; remembering that name would be quite sad.

Zhang Shutong picked up a few more bites of food. He had always been a man of few words, so the others couldn't tell how his mood had shifted. The meal was eaten slowly, and by the end, they were bored, picking at sugar cubes on the plates.

Gu Qiumian’s table, however, remained lively. Men and women were laughing together; someone was purposely acting like a fool, while the protagonist of the table was still typing on her phone with one finger, occasionally looking up.

Zhang Shutong noticed that the boys and girls behaved differently. The girls were genuinely trying to strike up conversations, but the boys seemed to be trying to win her attention; every time Gu Qiumian swept a glance in any direction, the person in that direction would look even more smug.

It seemed that being a "trainer" was also an exhausting job.

Regardless of Miss Gu and her sidekicks, it was time for his group to wrap things up. Zhang Shutong told the others he was going to the restroom.

Passing by Gu Qiumian’s table, she was just raising her cup. A small amount of yogurt remained, the glass rim passing her nose, level with her beautiful eyes. Their gazes met inadvertently for a brief moment, before Gu Qiumian indifferently lowered her eyes to look only at the yogurt in the cup.

*Hm, definitely not close.* Zhang Shutong thought.

That was Gu Qiumian’s own declaration—passed to her via a "little secretary" during morning study. He didn't know if the secretary had fully grasped the spirit of the message, but he certainly had.

Zhang Shutong couldn't find the restroom at first and almost wandered into a private room, so he took a lap around the restaurant. He noticed that the landlady was the only one out front, and the person cooking in the back was likely the boss. It was strange—for a restaurant of this size, it was clearly a husband-and-wife operation that was struggling to keep up, yet there were no waitstaff.

It could only be said that business was too poor. Throughout the entire lunch hour, they had only served two tables. This restaurant was considered famous on the street, yet it hadn't been spared.

But then he realized that while there were few orders, there were quite a few customers. Of course, that didn't include the four of them; Gu Qiumian’s spending alone could equal several tables, not to mention the private room that had been booked. However, he had noticed earlier that although it was well past the lunch hour, the people in the private room had yet to arrive.

Zhang Shutong pushed open the restroom door. It was surprisingly close to the kitchen. He remembered Du Kang once saying that the shops on this street originally didn't have restrooms, and people had to run to the public toilets on the street. It was fine for other businesses, but it was a hassle for restaurants. So, the owners had gradually renovated, and in this fish restaurant, the kitchen was a rectangle, with a corner crudely partitioned off to serve as a restroom.

There was no separation for men and women, and not even real walls; it was just enclosed with plywood. When things got busy, you could hear the sizzling and popping of stir-frying next door...

He didn't really want to recall the suffocating situation, but just then, he could hear the landlady urging the kitchen:

"Not ready yet? That table is already complaining!"

"Let them wait," a man with a rough voice replied—the boss, swearing. "Damn it, I was wondering why we only had one table at noon..."

"...You won't let them into the private room, and you're purposely dragging your feet on the food... a sale is a sale, no matter who it is..."

*What did that mean?* Zhang Shutong was about to wash his hands, but he paused. Was there more to the private room situation? And the food—he had assumed the landlady was just being attentive because they were regulars.

Just then, his QQ buzzed. Zhang Shutong quickly silenced his phone and looked down. It was a message from Ruoping asking what kind of milk tea he wanted so she could go buy it. Zhang Shutong replied "pearl milk tea" and told her to go wander around with the others, saying he had an upset stomach and would catch up with them after settling the bill.

Ruoping replied, saying how could she let him pay?

Zhang Shutong thought to himself that he had wanted to treat them earlier, but now he couldn't let them come back—he wanted to take this chance to listen a bit more, and if Ruoping and the others asked for the bill, the landlady would have to run out.

He sent a grinning emoji, saying he’d make sure to bleed them dry when they went to KFC on the weekend. Hearing that, Ruoping didn't insist anymore and dropped it.

He was still worried it wouldn't be enough, so he sent a message to Qingyi, who was the most reliable and didn't need much explaining. Zhang Shutong told him to take the others and go, saying he had something to take care of. Qingyi replied with an "OK" gesture without asking questions.

After doing all this, Zhang Shutong quietly leaned against the partition to listen.

The landlady was nagging, "Why are you making things difficult for yourself when it comes to money..."

The man retorted angrily, "It's that bastard who’s making things difficult for me!"

"...If I smooth things over for you, you really start getting cocky, don't you? I’m telling you, Old Mo, just keep your mouth shut after cursing a few times. You must absolutely not get involved in that matter..."

"When did I get involved..."

"Not getting involved is the right thing to do. We’re just ordinary folks..."

*What matter?* The demolition compensation?

Zhang Shutong was frowning when he heard someone outside the restroom shout, "Bill!"

"Coming, coming!" the landlady replied, hurrying out.

Zhang Shutong slammed his hand against the sink. He thought, *why does the thing I fear most always happen?* He had managed to persuade Ruoping, but he had forgotten about that other table. Since he couldn't get more information, he stepped out of the restroom with a sigh.

Back at the table, he saw that most of the fish strips were left. He asked for a bag to pack them up. It wasn't like there was a "clean plate campaign" back then, and Zhang Shutong wasn't particularly frugal; he just wanted to take them back for dinner.

At the front desk, the boy who had shouted for the bill finally arrived. He realized it was the same guy who had been at odds with Du Kang. He must have been from a lower grade; otherwise, he wouldn't have called Gu Qiumian "Sister Gu." He pondered the title, finding it rather humorous.

Come to think of it, hadn't their table's food not arrived yet? Why were they in such a hurry to pay? He saw the boy casually flipping through a stack of hundred-yuan bills, and could only conclude that the "young miss" had her own style.

The boy was also a restless type, grinning as he told the landlady, "We’re settling our bill first. You have the money now, so stop worrying and hurry up with the food."

"How could I? It’s just that we’re really too busy..." the landlady explained.

On the surface, it looked like this group was being difficult, but the reality was the opposite. Zhang Shutong didn't know what to say, so he patiently waited for the landlady to calculate the bill.

A glance told him the meal cost over a hundred. It really wasn't cheap. *Why was a Nutri-Express still five yuan?* He was still thinking about what he had overheard. He was already distracted when the boy started shouting again about why his bill wasn't being calculated first, making a racket.

Zhang Shutong just wanted to leave. He subconsciously frowned, took out his phone, and asked, "Where's the payment code?"

"What code?" the landlady looked blank.

The collection code—he wanted to use a different term, but he looked around for a blue and green QR code and couldn't find one. He looked at his phone screen; it didn't even have Alipay installed, let alone any codes.

It was 2012.

Zhang Shutong wasn't sure if he had enough cash on him. It had to be enough.

He emptied all his pockets. A fifty-yuan note made him breathe a sigh of relief, followed by two tens and a twenty... He had to hold the plastic bag in one hand while searching for money, and he didn't have enough hands.

The landlady noticed something was wrong and forced a smile, saying, "Don't worry, don't worry, take your time." The boy somehow moved closer and asked with forced familiarity, "Hey, buddy, are you Sister Gu’s classmate?"

Zhang Shutong nodded absentmindedly. *The small change doesn't seem to be enough...* He even took out the coins he’d received from his breakfast pancake.

Ninety-five, ninety-six... one hundred and one. It stopped at that number and wouldn't go any higher.

*You've got to be kidding.* It was the first time he’d treated people to a meal since he returned to the past, and he didn't have enough money. It was a bit embarrassing. Zhang Shutong bit the inside of his cheek.

"So, what's your relationship with her?" the boy continued.

"Average..." Zhang Shutong looked up at the landlady. "Can you round it down?"

The landlady’s smile couldn't be maintained. "Kid, your total is 125. I could round off those five yuan for you, but you..."

Zhang Shutong prepared himself to make a humiliating call to someone. Just then, the boy patted him on the shoulder.

"So you're not close. No wonder I haven't heard of you. I was actually going to ask a favor—if she has any trouble in class, keep an eye out for her. But you're being stumped by a single meal. Sigh, forget it, forget it. I'll pay it. After all, you're Sister Gu’s classmate. We're all friends now."

Saying this, he heroically pulled out a twenty-yuan note and slapped it on the counter.

"No need," Zhang Shutong said with a frown.

It wasn't about the money or saving face. He could tell if the guy was genuinely trying to help or had ulterior motives. At worst, he could have Du Kang ride back to deliver the money. He told the landlady, "I'll call a classmate; please wait a moment."

"I told you, I’ll just pay it for you. Why are you being so stubborn, buddy? You really don't need my help? If so, I'm really not going to bother."

Zhang Shutong was truly getting annoyed. Why was this kid like a fighting cock, chirping and chirping, as if he had to win something against him? He couldn't be bothered to deal with him. He found Du Kang’s number and dialed, waiting for it to connect.

"Alright then, make your call. It's not that I want to make things difficult for you, kid. It's a small business; otherwise, I’d really be losing money..."

"Just ignore him and settle ours first. If you can't even scrape together twenty yuan, why are you eating at a restaurant..."

The noise was constant. The boy was laughing, the landlady was laughing, but the smiles had different meanings. On the other end of the line, a sweet female voice came through: *I'm sorry, the user you are calling is busy...*

Zhang Shutong turned to go somewhere else.

But a fair hand reached out from the side of his shoulder, its owner raising her fingers, and several red banknotes drifted lightly onto the counter, causing the laughter to falter for an instant.

"What twenty?"

A calm girl's voice sounded behind him:

"I’ll cover his bill."