Winter Time Rendering

Du Kang appeared out of nowhere and, without a second thought, started backing him up. That’s just the kind of person he was—he’d always side with his friends, right or wrong.

Qingyi, his face an emotionless mask, didn’t say a word either. His dead, fish-like eyes were surprisingly intimidating. The two of them went and stood next to Zhou Ziheng, looking for all the world like a pair of bullies.

This was the only thing that gave Zhang Shutong a headache. He didn’t care what Zhou Ziheng said, whether it was out of grievance or just to vent. Although he could detect the hidden malice, his current concerns had nothing to do with him; he couldn’t care less if the guy was called Zhao Ziheng or Li Ziheng.

It was Du Kang and his friend boxing Zhou Ziheng in like this that would easily escalate the situation, so he waved his hand, signaling that he didn’t need their help.

Just as expected, Zhou Ziheng stormed out the door. Du Kang watched his retreating back and cursed.

"Shutong, haven’t you noticed? That guy only looks honest. What he said just now was pure malice, meant to put you on the spot..."

Of course, Zhang Shutong could tell. But saying nothing was the best response. ’What’s the alternative? Beat him up? Confront him face-to-face?’ He himself didn’t feel much, but his two best friends were pissed off on his behalf, and he couldn’t avoid having to spend some time calming them down.

Zhang Shutong suddenly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He repeatedly assured them he was fine. The three of them went to the bathroom together. In the third stall, they found Gu Qiuyan’s name. He took a photo with his phone and even compared it to the handwriting on the A4 paper, but it yielded no clues.

Right now, there was only one thing Zhang Shutong wanted to confirm—

’Is this act of revenge connected to the murder case?’

’And why did this happen after the rewind, when it never happened before? What was the trigger?’

While he was mulling over these serious matters, Du Kang sidled up with a sly grin. "Bro, so you really do have a thing for Gu Qiuyan. This is a classic damsel-in-distress situation. No matter what, Qingyi and I have got to help you."

Qingyi nodded gravely and began to proclaim that a man’s mission was to... Zhang Shutong quickly shut the two of them up. ’I just hope the class bell rings soon and takes them away,’ he prayed.

As if the heavens had heard his plea, the bell rang at that very moment. His two friends waved, still not having had their fill of the conversation. Zhang Shutong lingered in the bathroom for another moment before returning to his seat. To his surprise, Gu Qiuyan was there too.

’He had expected the girl to fly into a rage at the front of the class, just like when her scarf was stepped on, and demand to know who did it.’

’Or go straight to the homeroom teacher to complain. That would make things serious. If it were just the castle being smashed, that would be one thing. The ’culprit,’ if caught, could probably get away with saying it was an accident. But with the addition of those two words, ’go die,’ this was no longer a simple school conflict.’

But Gu Qiuyan neither flew into a rage nor went to complain. She wasn’t even red-eyed like last time. Instead, she sat at her desk with a cold expression, arranging her materials for the next class as if she were still immersed in the dull, mundane routine of school life.

She looked just about the same as when she was chatting with her girlfriends during morning reading.

’Or had no one told her at all?’

With this in mind, Zhang Shutong glanced again at the plastic bag on the bookshelf. ’Even if no one told her, she was bound to notice that a whole castle of building blocks was gone.’

Only then did he realize the teacher wasn’t at the podium. Everyone around was whispering about what had just happened, including some gossip. The class president had called for quiet several times to no avail.

’Zhang Shutong actually wanted to ask Gu Qiuyan directly if she had any leads, like if she’d had a conflict with anyone recently... Perhaps he could deduce something from that.’

’But even he could tell that would be highly inappropriate. He had to consider the feelings of the person involved, and besides, Gu Qiuyan wasn’t an easy person to talk to in the first place.’

Just as he was thinking of a more tactful approach, he saw Song Nanshan walk in with a grim expression.

He strode in so fast he seemed to create a breeze, then slammed the door shut. Everyone jumped, and the room fell silent in an instant.

"Forget about class! If you can’t even be a decent human being, what’s the point of being in school!"

Zhang Shutong could tell that his homeroom teacher was genuinely furious.

’He had a faint idea why. It wasn’t because of any pressure from Gu Qiuyan’s family background, but because one of his own students was capable of something like this, which was a huge disappointment to him.’

Then, Song Nanshan called out three names: Gu Qiuyan, Zhang Shutong, and Zhou Ziheng.

’Maybe word of what happened between him and Zhou Ziheng during the break had reached Song Nanshan’s ears.’

"All of you, study on your own for now. Class president, go to the podium and keep an eye on things. I’ll be in my office. If I hear anyone talking, they can get out of the classroom too!"

He barked out another order with a stern face, then called the three of them out of the classroom. Zhang Shutong made a point to observe Gu Qiuyan’s reaction. The girl stood up and walked out of the room with an air of indifference. Though many eyes were on her, she looked at no one and said not a single word throughout the process.

Once in the office, Song Nanshan asked Zhang Shutong for his side of the story first. He gave a brief explanation—there really wasn’t much to say. Zhou Ziheng’s so-called clue was just the name on the stall partition.

Song Nanshan asked them a few more questions before softening his tone and turning to Gu Qiuyan.

"Qiumian, how about this? I promise I’ll find out who did this, and I absolutely won’t let them get away with it. But you shouldn’t let yourself get too upset. I’ll contact your father right now..."

But Gu Qiuyan just shook her head coolly.

"No need. He’s out of town, and I’m fine."

"Have you had a falling out with anyone these past few days... I mean, do you have any suspects?"

"No."

"This morning, when Zhou Ziheng told you..."

"A person like that is only capable of doing things like this," Gu Qiuyan interrupted, her expression blank. "Teacher Song, I told you I’m fine. I have dozens of toys like that at home. It’s nothing to be concerned about."

"What about the A4 paper?" This was what troubled Song Nanshan the most, and he didn’t even know how to bring it up. "You might not have seen it, but on it..."

"I don’t know what was written on it either."

Gu Qiuyan continued in a detached tone:

"It can’t have been anything good, so why should I go looking for trouble? You don’t need to tell me."

"But last time..."

"I know, but the two situations aren’t comparable."

’Zhang Shutong guessed that the ’last time’ Song Nanshan mentioned was the scarf incident. He thought back and recalled that during the argument, Gu Qiuyan had said the scarf was from her mom... He hadn’t caught the rest of the sentence before he interrupted her.’

’Zhang Shutong then saw Song Nanshan let out a sigh of relief. Putting himself in the teacher’s shoes, the homeroom teacher didn’t know about the murder that would happen in a few days. It would be difficult for him to connect the words ’go die’ on the paper with an actual death; he would only see it as a nasty act of revenge.’

’And since Gu Qiuyan wasn’t very agitated right now, it would be a bit easier for him, as the teacher, to handle the situation. A bit, of course.’

"Zhang Shutong, you come over here too. Since it’s come to this, we might as well clear the air today."

Song Nanshan hadn’t forgotten his role as peacemaker. He gestured to him and said to Gu Qiuyan:

"I know you two have had conflicts before, and we never found the right opportunity to resolve them. Now that you’re deskmates, you need to get along. Do you hear me? I’m talking to you, Zhang Shutong!"

After speaking, Song Nanshan glared daggers at him, as if scolding him for being so clueless. There was no point for Zhang Shutong to be stubborn about something like this, so he was about to speak, but he noticed that Gu Qiuyan acted as if she hadn’t heard a thing.

It was as if she hadn’t heard Song Nanshan’s speech at all. She just stared at the homeroom teacher’s face, not even glancing at Zhang Shutong.

"Teacher, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going."

Without waiting for Song Nanshan’s reply, she turned and left. Song Nanshan was a bit helpless, but he still had to go back to the class to find the culprit, so he just waved his hand, signaling for him and Zhou Ziheng to go back.

’There’s just one thing you didn’t account for,’ Zhang Shutong thought. ’Not only is the scarf incident from last time not over, but I also pissed her off again this morning because of Ruoping. With new grievances piled on top of old ones, how could she possibly be nice to me?’

But now wasn’t the time to say that. Zhang Shutong left the office, only to find that Gu Qiuyan hadn’t gone in the direction of the classroom at all. Instead, she was standing at the top of the stairs.

She had her back to him when he suddenly heard the girl’s calm voice.

"Were you the one who picked up my building blocks just now?"

Zhang Shutong grunted in affirmation, a little unsure of her intentions. He was waiting for her to continue, but instead, he heard the CLACK-CLACK of boots on the stairs.

She was already walking down the stairs. She hadn’t responded, making him wonder if she’d even heard his answer.

He then returned to the classroom. The entire next period was spent amidst Song Nanshan’s furious questioning, but it led nowhere.

By the time school let out for lunch, Zhang Shutong still hadn’t seen Gu Qiuyan return.