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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Two Hundred: Is There Such a Move?
When Zhang Qiu arrived at the bar, there were only a few staff members sitting in the lobby. They greeted Zhang Qiu listlessly. After staying up all night, everyone was tired and looking forward to going home to rest at ten o'clock, when the next shift would come in. Zhang Qiu asked the nearest server, "Where are Rui Rui and Yang Yu?"
The server pointed to the second floor, "Sister Rui is upstairs."
"Is Biao Ge here?"
"He's not here."
"Got it, thanks."
Zhang Qiu took a few steps up the stairs and knocked on the door before entering. He immediately heard Yang Yu's voice calling out, "Come in!" Zhang Qiu pushed the door open to find Yang Yu leaning on the sofa smoking, while Rui Rui was fiddling with her phone. Both turned to look at Zhang Qiu. Zhang Qiu raised the plastic bag in his hand and smiled, "So, are you hungry?"
Seeing that Zhang Qiu had food, Rui Rui's eyes lit up as she jumped up from her seat to take the buns from him. Zhang Qiu noticed the dark circles under Yang Yu's and Rui Rui's eyes and chuckled, asking, "Did you not sleep all night?"
Rui Rui pinched a bun and took a bite, smiling, "I'm fine; I napped for a bit. But your brother here didn't sleep at all."
"Eat something. I'll keep an eye on things; you go get some sleep," Zhang Qiu said as he sat down next to Yang Yu, taking the cigarette Yang Yu offered him and putting it in his mouth without lighting it.
Yang Yu asked, "Still not smoking?"
"Nope."
Yang Yu nodded; last time at the police station entrance, Zhang Qiu, who never smoked, had asked him for a cigarette.
Zhang Qiu said, "After breakfast, you take Brothers back to sleep; I'll watch over things here."
"No need, Brother Qiu." Yang Yu swallowed a bite of bun. "I've already arranged shifts for Brothers into three groups—one comes over while another rests."
"And what about you?"
Yang Yu grinned widely, "Me? I'll just sleep here. I really don't want to go home; it's so annoying with all the nagging."
Zhang Qiu laughed, "Can you rest well here? You should go home; trust me."
"Brother Qiu, you've let him go home, so he should just go back and rest."
Zhang Qiu glanced at Rui Rui, who stuck out her tongue. "Sorry about last night. She... isn't angry, right?"
Zhang Qiu shook his head.
"Oh, Brother Qiu, what's going on?" Yang Yu asked curiously.
"If you don't eat, I'll take it away!" Zhang Qiu reached for a bun, but Yang Yu stopped him, saying repeatedly, "I'll eat, I'll eat, no more questions." After taking a few bites, he muttered, "Sigh, I didn't sleep all night and now they want to take my buns away. Sigh..."
Zhang Qiu laughed. "No need to take them away, just eat. You've worked hard and deserve some comfort."
Rui Rui ate three buns before stopping. She took a tissue to wipe the grease off her mouth and pulled out her makeup bag to touch up. Finally, she smiled at Zhang Qiu. "Can you play me another song? I didn't get enough last night."
"Sure," Zhang Qiu agreed happily. To his surprise, Rui Rui pulled out a guitar from behind the sofa. Zhang Qiu looked at her in astonishment and exclaimed, "You had this planned all along!"
Zhang Qiu took the guitar and played "No More Hesitation." The song had a lively rhythm and inspiring lyrics that felt full of energy. Last time, Zhang Qiu wanted to sing this song but ended up singing a sorrowful tune called "Who Accompanies Me on My Journey" due to the sadness in the air.
After finishing the song, Rui Rui shouted that she wanted to hear more. Zhang Qiu set the guitar down for next time. Once Yang Yu finished his buns and let out a satisfied burp, Zhang Qiu urged him to go home. However, no matter how much Zhang Qiu persuaded him, Yang Yu refused to leave. Rui Rui suggested finding a lounge for Yang Yu to rest in, which he agreed to.
Once Yang Yu was settled in, Zhang Qiu said to Rui Rui, "You should rest too. When business hours start, I'll wake you up."
"I slept enough last night; I'm fine."
"Look at those dark circles under your eyes; you look like a panda."
"Really?" Rui Rui hurried over to the sofa to grab a mirror. As she bent down, her white waist was revealed, and Zhang Qiu noticed a tattoo of a rose on her skin. Rui Rui screamed, "Ah! I really do have dark circles! Boo hoo!"
"I'm curious; you guys come in for shifts every other day, but I feel like I've rarely seen you take a break," Zhang Qiu recalled that since he first came here, Rui Rui had been at the front desk without taking a single day off.
Rui Rui smiled helplessly. "I work hard to make money, plus I rarely go back even though I rent an apartment."
"Why not?"
"Because of loneliness." Rui Rui's eyes were somewhat melancholic as she tossed her golden wavy hair, shaking off the emptiness in her heart. She looked at Zhang Qiu again and smiled, "You still can't understand."
Zhang Qiu nodded affirmatively; he indeed did not understand.
Under Zhang Qiu's insistence, Rui Rui chose to take a nap. Of course, the decision was likely prompted more by her dark circles than by Zhang Qiu. Rui Rui lay down on the black leather sofa in the office. Zhang Qiu walked over to turn on the exhaust fan, clearing out the pungent smoke lingering in the room, and adjusted the air conditioning a few degrees higher.
Rui Rui lay on her side on the sofa and quickly fell asleep. Her golden wavy hair fell over her cheeks, covering her entire head. Due to her position, her already alluring figure appeared even more pronounced. Zhang Qiu shifted his gaze away, his mind drifting to Jiang Xue. Compared to Rui Rui, Jiang Xue's skin was fairer and smoother; more importantly, he loved Jiang Xue.
Before ten o'clock, Zhang Qiu woke the sleeping Rui Rui. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and tousled her messy hair, asking, "Is it time already?"
Zhang Qiu's expression was serious. "Not yet, but I have something to do; I need to go back to school."
"Okay." Rui Rui hummed lightly, still in a daze. Suddenly, she grabbed Zhang Qiu's arm and asked, "What happened?"
"Just a personal matter."
Zhang Qiu didn't know how to answer that question since he himself was still unclear about it. Before leaving, he hesitated for a moment but decided to wake Yang Yu. Upon hearing Zhang Qiu's words, Yang Yu laughed heartily, "See? Good thing I didn't leave!" Zhang Qiu smiled and left White Day Fire alone, heading towards Beiluan No. 1 High School.
The call came from Director Zhao. On the phone, Director Zhao said, "Zhang Qiu, hurry back to school. Your punishment has been reconsidered by the school and has been revoked."
Zhang Qiu was confused; revoked? How could that be? He had just fought Lu Bin at the bar; surely his sports project would be canceled as well. How could the school not only refrain from punishing him severely but also revoke his punishment and allow him to return?
Director Zhao was unaware of Zhang Qiu's inner turmoil and repeatedly emphasized that he should return to school as soon as possible. The words of Principal Wu echoed in Zhang Qiu's mind: either disband the Hall Society or don't come back.
Zhang Qiu replied seriously, "Director, I can't go back."
"What!" Director Zhao exclaimed in surprise. "Zhang Qiu, are you out of your mind? You committed such a serious offense, and now that your punishment is lifted and you're allowed to return to school, you still refuse? Who does that?" Director Zhao reiterated: "Zhang Qiu, don't throw a tantrum. This decision was made after thorough consideration by the school and also took into account the opinions of your classmates. Democracy is something our school can achieve."
Zhang Qiu was too lazy to listen to Director Zhao's lengthy speech filled with nonsense and directly asked, "Director Zhao, if I go back, will I have to stand on stage on Monday and publicly announce the disbandment of the club?"
Director Zhao on the other end suddenly fell silent and did not respond for a long time. Zhang Qiu shook his head with a smile and said, "Thank you, Director; I can't go back."
"Wait!" Just as Zhang Qiu was about to hang up, Director Zhao urgently stopped him again. "You can rest assured; this issue can be discussed. But right now, you must come back to school."
Zhang Qiu thought carefully about the agreement. After receiving a positive response from Director Zhao, he let out a long sigh of relief, but Zhang Qiu fell into deep contemplation. Why was the school suddenly asking him to return? From Director Zhao's tone, he seemed quite anxious. Could it be another class suspension? That couldn't be possible; they had just resolved the recent turmoil. Zhang Qiu was puzzled, but a phone call from Jiang Xue brought clarity.
“Zhang Qiu, hurry back to school.”
Jiang Xue's voice was even more urgent than Director Zhao's. Zhang Qiu felt a sinking feeling and quickly asked, “Xue'er, what happened? Are you okay?”
“I'm fine, really, I'm fine. Everyone else is okay too.” Jiang Xue hurried to clarify, fearing that Zhang Qiu might think something was wrong. “It's the exchange group from America that I mentioned to you yesterday; I'm in charge of the Reception.”
“Right, you did mention it.” Zhang Qiu was confused. It seemed that both Director Zhao and Jiang Xue were urgently looking for him because of this American exchange group, but what did it have to do with him?
Jiang Xue's next explanation left Zhang Qiu enlightened yet shocked. “The leader of this exchange group, Lucia, has a jade pendant that looks exactly like the one around your neck. When I told her about it, she was equally surprised and insisted on meeting you. Afterwards, she went directly to Director Zhao, who then contacted the principal. I estimate you'll be getting a call to return soon.”
“I've already received it.” Though Zhang Qiu remained calm on the surface, waves of emotion surged within him. Whether or not he returned to school no longer mattered; what mattered was that there was indeed someone in the world with an identical jade pendant to his white tiger one. If he had previously dismissed the rumors about the white tiger as mere myth, he now had to take them seriously. Even if it wasn't as mystical as rumored, it indicated that something significant was likely about to happen.
The second heir of the jade pendant had appeared; where would the third one be? Could a great disaster truly occur? Would it be related to the Mayan prophecy of 2012 or something else entirely? Zhang Qiu's mind spiraled into chaos.
“Hey, Zhang Qiu, are you still listening…”
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