Winter Time Rendering

...

"Song has done me dirty," Du Kang said, clutching his head in agony.

When they got to the warehouse, they discovered it wasn’t just a dozen desks—it was several dozen. And that didn’t even include the chairs, which basically doubled the number.

At first, he tried to show off, insisting on carrying a whole desk and chair set at once. But then Qingyi pulled him aside, and he realized, ’It’s not like my family owns the school. Why am I working so hard?’

So, from just after one in the afternoon to five o’clock now—four hours—they still had a third of the chairs left to move.

Song had probably noticed they were slacking off, but he didn’t rush them. He seemed to have something on his mind today, constantly frowning and glancing at his phone from time to time.

But whatever was bothering him, Du Kang felt it was no excuse to grab students for manual labor.

Of course, their teacher wasn’t completely heartless. He had said he’d find more help, and during his trip out that afternoon, he had actually managed to drag back another student.

They all knew each other and could see the misery in one another’s eyes. Even though they didn’t normally talk in class and might have even had some minor conflicts in the past, today they were comrades in arms. So, with a single smile, they let bygones be bygones.

Du Kang, being the easygoing type, took the initiative. "Hey man, how’d you end up here too?" The other guy sighed, shrugged, and said, "The teacher asked around, but everyone else was busy. I was the only one free, so here I am. We’re all in the same miserable boat, I guess."

Du Kang didn’t have the heart to tell him that the three of them had at least gotten a free meal out of it. This guy hadn’t even gotten that. He’d really gotten the short end of the stick.

He, Ruoping, Qingyi, and Shutong were a fairly well-known group in the ninth grade. The other students in their class knew they were always stuck together, so the new guy teased, "How come it’s just the three of you today?"

Du Kang glanced at him, not sure how to explain, and said with a strange expression:

"He’s on a date with a girl."

"Who?"

Du Kang didn’t say anything else, not wanting to attract any more jealousy for his best buddy.

The five of them worked like that until just past five. Song wiped the sweat from his forehead, rolled up his sleeves, and said wearily:

"Alright, that’s enough for today. We’re done."

With that, the man clapped his hands to gather everyone and said with a hearty laugh:

"What does everyone want to eat? We’re having a big meal tonight."

"What about the chairs? There are still ten left," Qingyi reminded him, nearly getting his foot stomped on by Ruoping. He was acting just like one of those kids who raises their hand at the end of the day and shouts, "Teacher, you forgot to give us homework!"

"Let’s just leave them," Song Nanshan repeated. "It’s almost five-thirty. You’ve been at it all afternoon. This isn’t how I meant to work you. Let’s go, let’s go. Why are you all so eager to keep working?"

"For real?" Qingyi asked, puzzled. "We’re just leaving?"

Even Du Kang wanted to kick him. ’Even if you’re dying to solve the case of the broken bathroom stall, you don’t have to be *this* enthusiastic, do you?’ he thought.

"What I mean is," the boy said, dodging to the side, "you’re not going to just call us back tomorrow, are you, sir? If so, we might as well finish it all in one go."

The other three all breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, they had been worried about that too.

"Of course not," Song Nanshan said with a laugh. "I’ve already found someone else. You don’t have to worry about it. They’ll come and do it tonight."

"Who?"

"Shutong and Qiumian, of course."

"For real?" Ruoping was the first to speak up. "But isn’t his phone dead? He still hasn’t replied to the message I sent him this afternoon."

As she spoke, the girl tried to give Du Kang a meaningful look. She had a feeling Song was acting very strange today.

"Why would I lie to you?" Song Nanshan said, spreading his hands. "I called him this afternoon when I went out to get our helper. They were still out and about. The call didn’t go through—must have been no signal where they were."

Song Nanshan continued with a laugh:

"Just now, when I went to the restroom, he happened to call me back. He said he and Qiumian had just finished fishing and caught a whole basketful. They were wondering how they were going to carry it all back.

"So I said, ’You little punk, sounds like you’re having a pretty cushy day—fishing, hanging out with a girl. Do you have any idea how miserable your teacher and your friends are?’ I asked him what he was doing tonight. He said he hadn’t decided. So I said, ’Well, I’ve decided for you. Get your butt back here and get to work!’

"Then he reluctantly said that after they finished dinner, around seven-something, he and Qiumian would come over to move the chairs."

Ruoping still wasn’t entirely convinced.

"Somehow I feel like, with Shutong’s personality, there’s no way he’d come back for that."

Song Nanshan raised his eyebrows.

"Ah, that’s where you’re wrong. I gave the kid an idea. I said, ’You two are just going to be hanging out tonight anyway, and there’s no movie theater on the island. Why not come to the classroom and watch a movie on the projector? It’s better than just wandering around, and it’ll have a great atmosphere.’"

"And he agreed to that?" Ruoping was stunned.

"He did. Then he told me his phone was dying and he had to turn it off. Like I don’t know what he’s thinking," Song said, half-angry, half-amused. "He’s just afraid we’ll be third wheels. Alright, why are you all so worried about their business? Let’s go, let’s go. I’m going to the school gate to buy some water. Ruoping, you come with me."

"As for the rest of you, go to the restroom if you need to. Don’t dawdle. We’re getting in the car as soon as we’re back."

Song Nanshan made the arrangements with a wave of his hand, pushing Ruoping along as he spoke:

"I just discovered a great farm-to-table restaurant. We’ll eat there tonight..."

"Isn’t that on the far west side? That’s got to be a 20-minute drive, right?"

"What do you care how far it is? It’s not like you’re paying. As long as the food’s good, that’s all that matters..."

"But..."

"No buts."

Ruoping took one last look at Qingyi, only to find the three boys gossiping, completely oblivious that anything was amiss.

...

December 8, 2012. Saturday, 5:55 PM.