Winter Time Rendering

’But once this little hideout is discovered, it’s not much of a hideout anymore. Still, I’m about to graduate anyway. I’ll just treat this as my last time here. It’s time to pass the rooftop key on to an underclassman, so there’s a successor.’

So he tried pushing the door. The wind howled outside, pressing against the door panel. He forced it open a crack, and a wave of cold air instantly rushed in. Zhang Shutong could finally see the back of the other "cave dweller"—

It wasn’t a male underclassman, nor a female underclassman, but a very familiar girl.

Even though she wasn’t wearing her green robe today, the high ponytail on the back of her head was still distinctive. It hung quietly down her back, just as the girl herself sat perfectly straight.

Lu Qinglian turned at the sound, tilting her head.

"Are you looking for me?"

Her tone was as casual as if a guest had arrived at her home. Without waiting for Zhang Shutong’s reaction, she turned away again.

"What are you doing here?" Zhang Shutong asked, puzzled.

"Eating lunch."

Only then did Zhang Shutong notice the old-fashioned aluminum lunchbox the girl was holding. She used her chopsticks to pick up a small clump of rice, bringing it unhurriedly to her equally small lips. She ate with a quiet elegance.

"I’m eating. If you need something, please be quick about it."

After swallowing the food in her mouth, she repeated coolly.

’She’s like a homeowner who opens the door to find a salesman, her expression instantly chilling as she tells them not to disturb her during dinner.’

The difference was that Lu Qinglian was too polite to give anyone the cold shoulder. Her tone was flat, amounting to a polite refusal at most. But that polite refusal was the biggest problem—

’What’s with this attitude, acting like she’s the host and I’m the guest?’

Zhang Shutong suspected she hadn’t understood him. He wasn’t asking *what* she was doing, but *why* she was doing it *here*.

"You eat your lunch on the rooftop?" ’Somehow, that seems even dumber than fishing up here.’

"I like to be alone when I eat."

"No wonder I’ve never seen you at any of the restaurants off campus."

Zhang Shutong said thoughtfully, then sat down a short distance away from Lu Qinglian, side-by-side, watching the students scattered below walk past.

’It was fine when I was up here alone. No one ever looked up, so I was never spotted.’

’But now there are two of us. I wonder if we’re more conspicuous now.’

’But if we’re conspicuous, we’re conspicuous. I like being alone, but having Lu Qinglian come up for a meal now and then isn’t a big deal. She’s quiet, anyway. I’ll just consider her a guest visiting my base. It’s not like it’ll stop me from drinking my milk tea.’

Zhang Shutong didn’t mind, but Lu Qinglian clearly did. She swallowed another mouthful of food and frowned.

"Are you here for something?"

"Nope. Just spacing out."

"If you have something to say, please get to the point. Don’t beat around the bush." She set down her chopsticks decisively.

"...Why do you assume I’m here to see you?"

"I’m the only one who ever comes up here. So I don’t particularly like being disturbed while I eat."

"Wait a minute," Zhang Shutong said, his hand freezing as he was about to poke the straw into his drink. "What do you mean, *you’re* the only one who comes here?"

’Wasn’t it enough that you stole my fishing rod yesterday? Now you want to take over my hideout, too?’

Zhang Shutong felt a headache coming on.

"Lu Qinglian, haven’t you noticed this door is usually locked?"

"Zhang Shutong, haven’t *you* noticed the door isn’t locked today?"

’This girl was actually mimicking him, right down to his tone. She seemed to think he was an idiot.’ After saying her piece, she even added:

"Because I’m the one who opened it."

’Of course I know you opened it. The problem is, *I’m* the one who had the key made.’

Before he could speak, Lu Qinglian, apparently feeling she hadn’t made her point strongly enough, delivered what she thought was the final blow:

"Two years ago, back in eighth grade, I found where the key was hidden."

’Why does this feel like a couple fighting over assets during a divorce?’ he thought. ’The husband says, "I made the down payment on the car!" and the wife says, "But I’m the one who paid off the loan..."’

Zhang Shutong’s mouth twitched. ’Of course it was eighth grade,’ he thought. ’It’d be a miracle if it were any other time, because that’s when I had the key made.’ He finally understood where Lu Qinglian’s standoffish attitude came from.

But something else surprised him even more—

’My so-called secret hideout was completely infiltrated from the very start?’

’And neither of us ever realized the other was here?’

"You usually come up here for lunch?"

"Pretty much."

’No wonder.’

Unlike her, Zhang Shutong wasn’t always alone; he ate lunch with his best friends, so he never came to the rooftop during the day.

"Actually, I’m the one who had the key made..."

"No, I’m the one who found it." Lu Qinglian shook her head gently. ’This girl isn’t just an airhead, she’s impossibly stubborn.’

"I really did have it made."

"Proof?"

"Why do you think it was hidden under the third tile?"

"I’m a Temple Priestess."

"A Temple Priestess can divine where a key is hidden?" Zhang Shutong was stunned.

"You could interpret it that way," Lu Qinglian said nonchalantly.

’I was being sarcastic just now,’ Zhang Shutong wanted to say. ’Did you really not get that?’

’And there’s that familiar phrase again...’

But then he remembered the subtle curve of her lips for a split second last night when he was taking her back up the mountain, and he suddenly realized something:

’First, whenever she says, "You could interpret it that way," it definitely means she was lying in her previous statement.’

’Second, this girl has never been an airhead; she just pretends to be one. If you actually believe what she says, you’re just getting played.’

"Stop pretending," Zhang Shutong said, exasperated. "You just tricked me yesterday."

"You’re a little smarter than I thought, Zhang Shutong."

Just as he expected. The moment he called her out, she dropped the act and returned to her usual cool demeanor. It was as if she’d suddenly matured, even dropping the formal suffix from his name.

"But, to correct you, it wasn’t just yesterday."

Zhang Shutong couldn’t be bothered to ask what other days she meant; it was just another trap. No matter what he guessed, her answer would inevitably be, "For now, you can understand it that way." At last, Zhang Shutong understood the subtext of that phrase. It really meant: ’You’re not quite smart enough yet. Keep trying.’