Tickets for the bumper cars were twenty yuan each.
Significantly more expensive than usual, yet a long line had still formed.
It wasn't as if they hadn't played bumper cars before, but back then there were only four of them, and it was usually him paired with Ruoping or Du Kang—definitely not Qingyi, because a pairing between the two of them was too indifferent to worldly affairs; the moment they got into a car, they'd want to find a corner to stay quietly, detached from the world.
Today was different, though.
Today was Christmas.
Today, Zhang Shutong pulled open the car door, got in first, and watched Gu Qiumian settle into the driver's seat.
Qingyi and Du Kang were in one car, while Ruoping had dragged over a gal pal—the one playing the witch in the drama.
When Gu Qiumian stepped on the gas pedal, Zhang Shutong was thinking whether this actually counted as drunk driving.
The three cars started up slowly, driving into the temporary arena built with wire mesh at the same time.
Inside the arena was loud enough, with over a dozen cars dancing like a frenzy of demons, filled everywhere with screams and the friction of rubber car bodies colliding.
"How about driving a lap around the outer ring first to get familiarized?" Zhang Shutong suggested as much, turning his head only to find Autumn Rain Mianmian glaring hungrily at his best friends' car.
Zhang Shutong was startled, advising her to stay her hand.
"Alright, fine."
Gu Qiumian curled her lips uninterestingly, pointing at a red button:
"What's this?"
Without even figuring out the functions on the car, she was already impatient to go crash into people.
"Maybe a horn?" Zhang Shutong said uncertainly.
Though why would a bumper car have a horn?
Honk, honk—
Following that, a violent shake came from the rear of the car.
Du Kang released the hand pressing the horn, scratching his head as he said:
"Accident, accident! Haven't driven in too long, got rusty."
Zhang Shutong nodded dubiously, then said to Gu Qiumian:
"Looks like it's a ho—"
Zhang Shutong's body tilted suddenly. Ruoping drove her car past with a beaming smile:
"Ah, my hands got rusty too! Sorry, sorry!"
"You..."
Before he could finish his words, there was another thud, crashing straight into Zhang Shutong and making him stumble.
Qingyi said:
"Oh, it's you guys, Shutong. The sky was too dark, didn't see clearly."
Zhang Shutong looked at the LED overhead lights and said nothing.
Fortunately, the few of them were best friends. Ruoping came out to uphold justice:
"The few of us can't have infighting, unite against external foes!"
Qingyi nodded in agreement, and Du Kang patted his chest saying of course.
Tongtong and Mianmian looked at each other.
"I want revenge," she pouted and said coquettishly.
Zhang Shutong thought to himself that right now you even struggle to turn around:
"Ten years is not too late."
Gu Qiumian let out a breath, meaning she would endure for the time being.
Next, they stuck to the edge of the traffic flow. Gu Qiumian probably hadn't ridden bumper cars much in the past, let alone driven one; at the very beginning, she needed two hands just to turn the direction around.
Later, as she grew familiar, just as Autumn Rain Mianmian was about to launch her grand plan of revenge, the Gu Qiumian-Zhang Shutong vessel suffered another blow.
Ruoping ran far off, gloating.
Gu Qiumian narrowed her eyes, pulling out the bag in her lap without a word. Zhang Shutong narrowed his eyes as well, taking the bag over to hold it securely. Truly, if this could be endured, what couldn't be?
"Chase."
The bumper car accelerated abruptly.
The two crossed more than half the arena. Just as the great enmity was about to be avenged, there was another thud.
Gu Qiumian rocked back and forth.
Zhang Shutong turned his head quickly.
Honk, honk.
Du Kang sounded the horn with a mischievous smile.
"Sit tight."
The eldest young lady shook her hair and took a deep breath.
Well aware of the principle that one shouldn't leave things half-done, she paid no attention to Qingyi's provocation at all, continuing to chase in Ruoping's direction. The bumper car summoned all its strength to sprint forward. With a thud, Ruoping saw she couldn't dodge in time:
"Qiumian, I surrender, I surrender! Ah..."
Along with the young girls' scream, two cars and four people rocked until they were dizzy and disoriented.
"Humbly admit defeat," Ruoping cupped her hands toward Gu Qiumian.
Although Gu Qiumian's hair was messy, her demeanor wasn't. Just as she was about to wave her hand to signal another round, Zhang Shutong thought to himself that things were bad. Out of the corner of his eye, another car slammed over, but giving a reminder was already too late. The rear of the car shuddered; the small car was under attack from both front and back.
"Hello."
Qingyi waved his hand with a smile.
At this time, Ruoping turned her car around dashingly as well, the two cars driving off triumphantly.
Gu Qiumian felt a bit dizzy. Supporting her forehead, she sat for a good while before asking slowly:
"Did they team up?"
"I think so," Zhang Shutong said slowly as well.
"Thinking we're easy to bully?"
"I think so."
"How many minutes left?"
Bumper cars were timed as well.
"Four minutes."
Gu Qiumian drove the car straight toward the entrance.
"Do you still remember that time Teacher Song took us to learn driving?"
"Of course I remember."
Old Song said he had a great gift for driving, but Zhang Shutong still wanted to remind her: this is a bumper car, oh.
Just like Pokémon tournaments were split into Contest and League tournaments; every trade had its specialty.
"Four minutes, crash into them once each?"
Yet Gu Qiumian never doubted his driving skills, even with bumper cars.
"Four times works too."
The two neatly pushed open the car door and swapped positions.
Zhang Shutong stepped on the gas pedal.
Thirty seconds later, accompanied by a scream from Ruoping, the bugle call of counterattack was officially sounded. One minute later, Du Kang, with his hand on the horn, was directly bumped into a daze. Two minutes later, the smile on Qingyi's face froze. Three minutes later, the moment Ruoping's gal pal saw the two of them, she was scared into telling Ruoping to run quickly.
The round bumper car was like a fish in water in his hands, managing a neat escape every time it crashed into someone, like a shark roaming the deep sea—when hunting, it rarely killed with a single strike, always liking to flex its body gracefully, waiting for the next opportunity to strike.
Zhang Shutong was very discerning. Wherever Gu Qiumian's hand pointed, he would turn the car toward that direction; whenever Gu Qiumian waved her hand to greet, he would cooperate by sounding the horn in mockery. At four minutes, Zhang Shutong drove the car to the entrance again, with Gu Qiumian paying the money to renew ten minutes for his best friends.
At this moment, they were truly in complete sync. Normally, one of them didn't deign to lower herself to anyone's level, not caring about most things; the other, when free, only wanted to zone out alone, looking cold and aloof enough. Yet when gathered together, one laughed uproariously with continuous screams, while the other pursed his lips with a cold and stern expression. The two teaming up to bully anyone was truly far too easy.
From a distance, Zhang Shutong saw a short-haired back at the entrance. Bullying Ruoping was much more fun than bullying two guys. He stepped on the gas pedal with a smile, and with a thud:
"Waaaah!"
Zhang Shutong only then realized he had recognized the wrong person.
He and Gu Qiumian exchanged a glance—not preparing to flee, but rather—
This voice was so ear-familiarly recognizable.
Xu Zhiruo, who had just driven her car in, rubbed her eyes as if seeing a ghost:
"Qiumian, why are you guys here?"
Gu Qiumian first smoothed her long hair that had gone messy long ago, clearing her throat with restraint:
"He called me to play."
Hey, hey, Zhang Shutong looked at her helplessly. Who was the one going wild just now?
"No, no, no," Xu Zhiruo said in surprise, "I mean how are you two together?"
Gu Qiumian hummed:
"It's a long story, ya."
Zhang Shutong was somewhat puzzled, though. He looked carefully at Xu Zhiruo, finding that the surprise on the other party's face didn't seem feigned—although he hadn't asked in detail, Zhang Shutong had long defaulted her as one of the participants in the plan. As Gu Qiumian's best gal pal, how could she possibly not know the other party's whereabouts? The paper slip at the school gate was in high probability posted by her.
Although being fooled by an underclassman was a bit embarrassing, Zhang Shutong didn't press further in the end. Looking at it now, however, she really didn't seem to know.
So in Xu Zhiruo's eyes, what was Gu Qiumian supposed to be doing tonight?
Before Zhang Shutong could figure it out, Gu Qiumian pushed him:
"I'll accompany Zhiruo for a bit. You play first, okay?"
There was only one person in Xu Zhiruo's car.
Turns out their group had just come down after eating lunch in the mall not long ago. The numbers were odd, so the little secretary considered the big picture and rode alone.
"Okay."
Zhang Shutong nodded casually. In the time the two girls talked, he drove back into the arena.
Driving the car around randomly, he suddenly didn't know who to bump into. If it were just Zhang Shutong alone, he actually wouldn't play bumper cars at all.
Was it Qingyi, Du Kang, or Ruoping? Zhang Shutong's gaze switched back and forth among these few people.
Then, the car shuddered with a thud.
Gu Qiumian's body lurched forward abruptly as well. She raised her head, blinking her eyes innocently.
Zhang Shutong looked at her in disbelief, thinking to himself, Eldest Young Lady, I just took you to massacre all directions and you kill the donkey as soon as it's done grinding?
The number of people begging for mercy increased by one more.
They played in the bumper car arena for a full twenty minutes, laughing and screaming. By the time they got out of the car, everyone's throat was a bit hoarse.
As time approached nine o'clock, everyone waved goodbye in front of the mall.
They rode bicycles when they came, and likewise when they left. Zhang Shutong surveyed his bicycle, having not ridden it for several days, feeling a bit unfamiliar with it.
Generally speaking, however, one person riding a bike was very normal, but having someone wanting to ride along was not quite normal.
He turned his head to ask Gu Qiumian:
"How are you heading back?"
He originally thought Gu Qiumian would call the family driver to pick her up, and Zhang Shutong was preparing to leave after watching her depart. Yet she didn't mention going home at all, merely buying a bottle of water to drink from a small cart outside the market. Raising her rounded chin, she drank the water slowly, not in the least bit of a hurry.
"Going back later," she said. "Do you have anything going on tonight?"
Zhang Shutong couldn't very well say he still had homework to do at home. Just as he was about to prop up his bike, Gu Qiumian said:
"Ride the bike and let's go wander around."
Turns out she didn't want to wander around the mall.
It was too late right now, though, and dark all around; there really was nothing to wander around for. By the time he realized this, Zhang Shutong had already pedaled his bike away from the mall. They passed through the commercial street, turned out of a few small alleys, and completely escaped that scene of colorful lights.
Gu Qiumian wanted to go check out the north.
Yet she wouldn't state the destination no matter what, only instructing how to ride—like turning left at which intersection, or which small road to take. Through scattered words, Zhang Shutong deduced that she wanted to go north.
Her house was in the south, however, and the north of the island had nothing worth going to except the port. It was this late already, though, and boats leaving the island had long stopped running.
Feeling the cold night wind blow against his face, Zhang Shutong felt his problem was thinking too much, because Gu Qiumian said at this time:
"This is my first time spending Christmas on the island."
Her voice was very light, as if hiding many words. Zhang Shutong nodded, then feeling Gu Qiumian might not necessarily see his movement, gave an mm response and asked:
"Having fun?"
He naturally remembered that this was Gu Qiumian's first Christmas spent on the island, regardless of which timeline. That was why Zhang Shutong intentionally bought her a present, not just as a return gift requested by his mom. But things had gone contrary to his wishes: his present didn't make her very happy; rather, she had celebrated this holiday for herself.
Immediately after, however, Zhang Shutong realized this was a nonsensical question. She ought to be happy—if not happy, why would she be sitting on the bike wandering around? He was still accustomed to viewing Gu Qiumian with past impressions, feeling she was a lonely person, like made of glass, or like that sugar painting at the market tonight, shattering with a gentle fall onto the ground.
Yet the current her was long no longer like that.
Gu Qiumian was holding her chin and looking at the moon. Zhang Shutong wanted to say that your appearance was very beautiful, but as everyone knew, holding one's chin always required hands—she lazily propped her elbows on Zhang Shutong's back. Beautiful was very beautiful, except Zhang Shutong's back felt a bit jabbed.
Stop being vain, you looked like a little crazy person just now. Zhang Shutong originally wanted to say so. Turning his head back in amusement, he was stunned instead.
Gu Qiumian was looking into the horizon absentmindedly. Zhang Shutong read that familiar sense of loneliness from her once more. This loneliness had nothing to do with when or where she was, not changing a bit just because this was a desolate evening—just like in the past when she was surrounded by a swarm of lackeys in grand numbers, yet when she was alone, it was no different from being surrounded in the middle by a group of people.
Zhang Shutong thought with delayed realization, could it be that he bumped her too hard when playing bumper cars, and the current silence was a prelude to settling scores?
Not long ago, she rode in the same car as Xu Zhiruo. The two truly lived up to being the eldest young lady and the little secretary: when she bumped into people, Xu Zhiruo cheered on the side; when she got bumped, Xu Zhiruo comforted on the side. Before leaving, she even came over to instruct:
"Qiumian, go home early, ah."
Yet she couldn't imagine that Gu Qiumian not only didn't go home early, but had instead ridden a bicycle to the suburbs.
"Want to head back?"
Seeing her mood wasn't very high, Zhang Shutong suggested.
She shook her head, finally taking away her arms resting on his back:
"A bit further ahead, almost there."
"Why do you like playing mysterious too now?" Zhang Shutong roasted her once.
"You are so annoying," she said in a tone that wasn't that disdainful. "Dummy, do you know why I didn't spend Christmas on the island?"
"Because the island is too boring?"
"Wrong."
"Because your dad wanted to take you on vacation."
"Wrong."
"Because you didn't have many friends in the past?"
"Still wrong."
"Then why?" Zhang Shutong asked in confusion.
Actually, it could be considered a question stuffed in his heart. In the past—meaning before Ruoping used the sad fox to change Gu Qiumian's interpersonal relationships—Zhang Shutong had always thought she was isolated, having no friends on the island so simply going off-island to play. On this timeline, however, the chocolate incident clearly no longer existed, yet it remained like this.
Clearly many things had been changed, yet every time during this period from Christmas to New Year's Day, Gu Qiumian went off-island on vacation every year, like an unshakable foundation that even time couldn't wash away.
What's more, Gu Qiumian was a person who liked lively atmospheres, as could be seen from the setup for this Christmas. Vacationing was naturally good, but she was alone too; hard to say which side was more interesting.
"Think about it, who goes on vacation for Christmas? It's not like I'm abroad."
Zhang Shutong had thought wealthy families were just like that.
"So it wasn't going on vacation?"
Zhang Shutong seemed to understand.
"It was going on vacation."
Zhang Shutong completely didn't understand.