Winter Time Rendering

But after all these years, no one had ever understood what he meant by it.

It wasn’t like Gu Qiuyan’s name, which was much more straightforward. Her name, Qiumian, evoked images of a "lingering autumn rain." It was easy to understand. Zhang Shutong guessed that when Boss Gu named his daughter, he must have imagined she would have a gentle and tender personality. The name sounded like it belonged to a melancholic, quiet girl, carrying with it his fondest hopes. However, much like himself, the young Miss Gu had grown up a bit crooked.

Zhang Shutong had once again overestimated how quickly Gu Qiuyan would be ready. His phone was already getting hot, but the elevator still hadn’t come down. When Zhang Shutong messaged her again to ask if she was done, Gu Qiuyan sent a voice message. "Hey, don’t rush me! You made me smudge my lip gloss..."

"Just be quick, then."

No new messages appeared in the chat window.

Zhang Shutong had a bad feeling. ’He didn’t understand Gu Qiuyan, but he understood his own mom well enough. If a woman dallies in her room forever before going out, it can only mean one of two things: she’s either doing her makeup or trying on clothes.’

Finally, the elevator began its descent. The villa got excellent natural light. It was a winter morning shrouded in a thin mist, and the air outside was crisp and cold. The sunlight, however, seemed to play favorites, shining right on the steel-and-glass elevator car. Gleaming with a cool metallic luster, the doors slowly slid open. Before he could even see Gu Qiuyan, her voice drifted out:

"What do you think of this outfit?"

She was wearing a cyan suede dress, looking like a small pine tree standing tall in the winter.

The girl spun around, as if shaking the snow off a pine tree to reveal its form in the bright sunlight.

Zhang Shutong also noticed she had made a point of putting on lip gloss, something she never wore at school. Her pink lips glistened under the light, making them look even softer.

The somewhat understated outfit and the vibrant lips didn’t clash at all. Zhang Shutong offered his objective assessment:

"It’s nice."

"What do you mean, ’it’s nice’? Can’t you be more specific?" Gu Qiuyan retorted, clearly unsatisfied.

Zhang Shutong glanced at Song, thinking he must be good at complimenting girls. But Song Nanshan pretended not to notice, just standing there with his hands in his pockets, snickering.

"I think everything about it is nice," Zhang Shutong was forced to say.

"Then should I wear a skirt or pants?"

"As long as you’re not cold, wear whatever you want."

’Honestly,’ Zhang Shutong thought, ’in this weather, you have to wear a coat the moment you step outside anyway. What’s the point of putting so much effort into the outfit underneath?’

"Then I’ll go back up and try something else..."

"Ahem, Qiumian, that dress looks great," Song Nanshan finally interjected, clearing his throat. It seemed even he couldn’t handle the prospect of her trying on more outfits. "We’ve got places to be, you know."

Gu Qiuyan finally went to change her shoes, which thankfully didn’t require another trip upstairs. "Aunt Wu! Aunt Wu!" she called out. "Where are my boots? Did you take them to be polished? Oh, well... I’ll just wear sneakers today." As she spoke, she grabbed her bag from the sofa and rummaged through it, muttering to herself about something she might have forgotten to pack.

"All you really need is your phone," Zhang Shutong remarked, his thinking quite modern.

The young Miss Gu just frowned and stared at him without a word.

"You don’t usually carry a bag when we hang out, do you?"

’Okay, now she’s outright glaring at me.’

Zhang Shutong stopped talking and went back to his phone.

In truth, he had been multitasking ever since Gu Qiuyan came downstairs, waging war against the pig heads in his game. He released the slingshot on the screen—it was his last bird. But his hand trembled, and the little bird squawked as it crashed into the concrete fortress, leaving two large words on the screen—

LEVEL FAILED.

After all that time playing, all he got was a bad ending. He stood up with a sigh of regret and got ready to put on his shoes too.

...

The morning air was cool and heavy with moisture. Gu Qiuyan rolled down the car window and waved goodbye to the housekeeper, Aunt Wu.

The woman smiled, asking what she wanted for dinner and if she should prepare it. The girl thought for a moment. "I’ll let you know later," she said. "I’ll call you ahead of time. Something simple is fine, though. I haven’t had your pies in ages, Aunt Wu. I’m already craving them."

A genuine smile spread across her face as she spoke. The car started, and the Fox drove slowly down the misty path. Zhang Shutong glanced at her.

"You two seem close."

The two of them were sitting in the back. They were deskmates at school, and now they were seatmates in the car. The real reason, however, was that the front passenger seat was soaked. He’d gotten in the car last night without taking off his raincoat, and now water squished out with the slightest press.

Gu Qiuyan, being smaller, sat behind Song. She rolled up the window. She’d been smiling just a moment ago, but her expression soured as she looked at Zhang Shutong. She huffed.

"Of course. Aunt Wu has been with my family since I started middle school."

Zhang Shutong nodded.

They drove in silence. Or rather, the girl next to him couldn’t be bothered to talk to him. She would occasionally exchange a few words with Song Nanshan, but Zhang Shutong was more than happy with the peace and quiet.

He watched the scenery recede rapidly outside the window. Gu Qiuyan’s villa was on the south side of the island. He hadn’t visited this area often before, and now, eight years later, there was even less that he recognized along the way.

The only landmark worth noting was the funeral home—the one where a funeral would be held eight years from now. But at the moment, there wasn’t a trace of it. It was just a vacant lot with a massive smokestack rising from it.

A thin wisp of smoke drifted up into the sky, gradually fading until it was gone. Perhaps because of the recent rain, the sky today was a brilliant, cloudless blue. Zhang Shutong’s eyes followed the trail of smoke, but he quickly lost its source.

「The car entered the city.」

As expected for a weekend, the streets were getting crowded. The little car weaved through traffic and finally pulled up to the main entrance of a three-story shopping mall.

Song smoothly shifted the car into neutral. "Alright, I’m heading to the police station first," he said. "I’ll get in touch when I’m done. You two have fun."

Then he put the car in second gear and, with a WHOOSH, sped away.

Leaving the young man and woman alone in the now-empty space.