Winter Time Rendering

’Who was that? Or was it a group of people?’

Not until the faint scent of smoke drifted into Zhang Shutong’s nostrils.

He looked back and saw Song, no longer caring who was around, sulking in his seat and smoking. The cigarette was nearly burnt to the filter before he forced a smile and waved Zhang Shutong over.

"What are you frowning for? You’re just a kid. With adults around, you don’t need to worry about this stuff. Alright, your curiosity’s been satisfied. Go on back to class."

Zhang Shutong didn’t budge.

"What was his mother’s deal?"

"When the cat’s away, the mice will play." Song Nanshan scoffed. "She’s just acting up because Gu Qiuyan’s dad has been out of town for a few days. If he were standing right here, I doubt she’d dare to even squeak."

Now that he mentioned it, Zhang Shutong realized he had never actually seen Father Gu. His only encounter was probably hearing the man’s voice back when he was in school. His impression was that he sounded surprisingly refined.

"What about the commercial street?" Zhang Shutong asked.

"They’re probably negotiating the demolition again. This time, Gu Qiuyan’s dad set the price low, and some people aren’t happy about it. But if they don’t agree now, the price will only get lower in the future, so it’s stirred up a lot of anger." At this, Song Nanshan spread his hands. "But you and I are both from out of town. We don’t have any close local ties, so I don’t know the finer details."

Song, on the contrary, grew talkative.

"Come on, don’t just stand here stewing. I’ll take you out to eat. What do you want for lunch?"

He was actually suggesting his student skip class.

But Zhang Shutong shook his head and refused. He had a ton of things to investigate. He was in no mood to go out for a meal.

"You’re quite the chivalrous protector, you know. I can see the girl is deeply moved."

In reality, Gu Qiuyan had already stopped by once before Li Yipeng’s mother arrived.

But Zhang Shutong didn’t want to engage with the topic.

"You have to be more proactive," Song said, getting into it and starting to play life coach. "Otherwise, with one of you giving the cold shoulder and not talking, and the other one putting on a straight face and not being honest... Let me tell you, I’ve seen plenty of cases like this, and none of them end well..."

Zhang Shutong waved dismissively and turned to leave. Just as he reached the door, he heard Song Nanshan’s voice turn unexpectedly solemn.

"Shutong, don’t leave right after school this afternoon. I have something important to discuss with you."

"Important?" Zhang Shutong turned back, puzzled.

"It’s about time you knew." Song lit another cigarette, sighing as he rubbed his stubble. "But the time isn’t right just yet."

...

「After school that afternoon.」

"Not going to the base today?"

"Song said he needs to see me about something. You guys go on ahead."

"Alright then. We’ll plan the weekend activities in the QQ group."

Zhang Shutong said goodbye to his buddies.

It was only then that he realized tomorrow was Saturday. After traveling back, he had barely been in school for two days, and now he was about to face the first weekend of his student days.

Ruoping suddenly leaned in close.

"Don’t forget about that thing."

"What?"

’Here we go again...’ This was Zhang Shutong’s most hated part of time travel: the memory loss. He truly couldn’t remember what his self from eight years ago had promised.

"Du Kang’s birthday! It’s next Monday. Don’t forget, the three of us need to prepare something. He acts like he doesn’t care, but he’s secretly paying attention..."

Zhang Shutong nodded in sudden understanding. ’Right, that does sound familiar.’

He remembered talking with Du Kang at the funeral. The reason Du Kang remembered the date of Gu Qiuyan’s death so precisely was because it fell on his birthday.

He said it was no problem and watched the three of them walk away, talking and laughing.

’Time is running out.’

Zhang Shutong planned to head to the commercial street as soon as he heard what his homeroom teacher’s "important" matter was.

The only thing he couldn’t figure out was what this important matter could possibly be.

It was rare to see Song be so serious.

So instead of getting his bike, he went to the school gate.

Steam billowed from the baozi shop at the school gate, but the girl who took small bites of her food was no longer there beside it.

Zhang Shutong suddenly found that he could stomach these strange baozi. He decided to have them for dinner tonight as well.

So he waited for Song, munching on a baozi.

After waiting for a long time, a car horn suddenly honked twice. Zhang Shutong thought he was in the way and instinctively turned around, only to see a red Fox parked there. Then, the driver’s side window rolled down.

"Get in, hurry." It was Song’s stern face.

Zhang Shutong was about to say they could just talk here. The car reeked of smoke, and he really didn’t want to get in unless it was absolutely necessary, especially since he had other plans afterward.

"This isn’t the place to talk. Get in, and we’ll talk," Song Nanshan repeated.

Zhang Shutong had no choice but to walk over. ’This car looks familiar,’ he thought. Maybe he had ridden in it often in the past. Even after eight years, it felt deeply familiar.

’This had better be important.’

With that thought, he habitually reached for the front passenger seat, but Song said, "The front’s taken. Get in the back."

He grunted in acknowledgment, pulled open the back door, and ducked inside. ’Man, this car is tiny,’ he thought. He’d never noticed before, but now his knees were jammed against the front seat.

He managed to squeeze himself in, but when he looked up, he saw that the passenger seat was indeed taken.

To be precise, it was occupied by someone familiar.

A girl.

The girl shot Zhang Shutong a displeased glance, then immediately turned her head away.

Zhang Shutong suddenly remembered why the car looked so familiar. He had just seen it yesterday.

He subconsciously looked at Song. Song was looking back at them, grinning from ear to ear, all traces of solemnity gone.

"I told you it was important business. Taking a girl home is very important."