Winter Time Rendering

"So what’s this all about, Teacher?" Du Kang asked, gripping the seat in front of him. He and Ruoping were both in the back.

"We’re moving some desks from the warehouse to the seventh-grade classrooms," Song Nanshan said casually. "I was originally going to have you all do it on Friday, but that was when the thing with Li Yipeng happened, and I forgot all about it."

"Wow, you’re really something else, forgetting about that," Du Kang said, giving him a thumbs-up. "No wonder you suddenly offered to treat us. You were just calling us over to do hard labor, weren’t you?"

"What do you mean, ’no wonder’? Do I not treat you ungrateful brats often enough?" Song Nanshan retorted with a laugh. "You think those meals were free? When push comes to shove, who else am I going to call to be my cannon fodder?"

But Ruoping rolled her eyes. "Then how come you only called the three of us? Why not your ’beloved disciple’? That’s blatant favoritism."

The "beloved disciple" was, of course, Zhang Shutong.

"Oh, him," Song Nanshan paused, glancing at the boy in the passenger seat. "Isn’t Shutong fishing with Qiumian? I figured I shouldn’t interrupt their time together."

The girl feigned a sigh, pressing her hand to her forehead. In truth, she didn’t really mind; she just couldn’t resist a sharp retort.

Besides, today’s plans were already a total mess. Shutong had messaged them back when they were at the mall, saying that his and Qiumian’s task was complete. He told them they were free to do whatever they wanted from then on and not to worry about him and Gu Qiuyan.

She had quickly asked for details, but Shutong had only said there was a "big surprise" in store for today. He’d asked her: did she want to know now, or wait for the mystery to be revealed at the very end and have a truly unforgettable Saturday?

After a moment’s thought, she chose the latter.

She’d also warned him to be careful and not get carried away and screw things up.

He had replied with a short "Don’t worry," telling her to enjoy what was coming next.

’But nobody said "what was coming next" meant going to school to move desks, did they?’

’What part of this is an "unforgettable Saturday"?’

’Well, in a way, it certainly is unforgettable.’ Feng Ruoping felt numb to it all. She’d just let them drag her around.

So, the girl simply cupped her face in her hands and stared out the window in silence.

Du Kang, never one to sit still, asked Song Nanshan how many desks they had to move and if they could finish that afternoon. Song Nanshan thought for a moment. "About ten or so," he said. "Not too many."

"You call that ’not too many’?" Du Kang’s eyes widened. "One trip from the warehouse to the classroom building takes at least five minutes, doesn’t it?"

"It’s not just you three," Song Nanshan amended. "I called some other students to help, too."

"You should’ve said so earlier, Teacher!" Du Kang breathed a sigh of relief.

"If I’d told you earlier, what if you decided to flake and not show up?" Song Nanshan kept one hand on the steering wheel while ruffling Qingyi’s hair with the other. "You, too. Get off your phone or you’ll get carsick. Why are you always acting like such a grown-up?"

Qingyi pushed the man’s large hand away, annoyed. "I’m chatting with Shutong."

"Oh? How are things on his end?"

"He’s not replying. I was just about to tell him that we’re headed to the school," Qingyi said, puzzled. ’Did his phone die? No, that can’t be it. Is the reception bad over there, then?’

"He probably just hasn’t seen it. That kid is likely busy with his girl," Song Nanshan said reassuringly.

But before he could finish, his phone vibrated. It was resting on the car’s center console. Du Kang started to reach for it, but Song Nanshan snatched it up first. He glanced at the screen, tapped out a quick reply, then shoved the phone into his pocket and kept driving.

Soon, the car pulled up to the school gates. It was almost noon.

The four of them had a casual lunch.

Since they were being roped into hard labor, they were determined to make their homeroom teacher pay for a good meal. But the most extravagant dish available was just braised beef over rice. In a lame attempt to get his money’s worth, Du Kang ended up chugging two bottles of soda, leaving him uncomfortably stuffed.

Then, Song Nanshan told them to go rest in their classroom for a while. He said he had to step out for something and would be back in a bit to start moving the desks.

They nodded and watched as his car drove out of the school gates again.

Du Kang asked out of boredom, "So, what should we do now? And what’s up with Shutong?"

"He still hasn’t replied," Qingyi said with a shrug. "But we already discussed the plan. As long as we follow it step-by-step, nothing should go wrong."

"Don’t you think Song is acting a little strange today?" Ruoping suddenly asked.

"How so...? BUUURP." Du Kang clutched his stomach.

"He told me on the phone that it was an emergency and that I should hurry out of the mall to wait for him. So how come he’s not in a rush anymore? He even ran off again."

"Song told me the same thing," Du Kang recalled. "I was still at Gu Qiuyan’s house. He suddenly showed up at her villa gate and told me to get in the car, quick."

"There’s something else that’s off," Ruoping added. "How did he know Shutong and Gu Qiuyan were together? Did you tell him?"

"I didn’t say anything," Du Kang said, baffled. "I thought you or Qingyi told him."

"Then how did he know?" Ruoping’s expression turned serious.

But unfortunately, after all her reasoning, just as she was waiting for someone to back her up, their resident mystery enthusiast was completely silent.

Ruoping nudged Qingyi, and the boy finally snapped out of it. "Sorry, I was thinking about something else. What were you guys talking about?"

Ruoping repeated her points.

"You’re being dense," Qingyi sighed. "Couldn’t Song just have called Shutong himself?"

"But doesn’t Shutong have bad reception?"

"That was before Shutong got to the ’base.’ It was just a matter of timing." He thought the question was too dumb to even warrant an explanation. "Alright, forget about that. I’ll show you two something much more interesting."

With that, Meng Qingyi headed for the bathroom, and the other two remembered the issue with the names on the stalls.

Ruoping hesitated at the entrance to the boys’ bathroom. Du Kang laughed and teased her, "There’s nobody here on a Saturday, what are you scared of? Besides, you’re one tough girl. You wouldn’t be scared even if someone was here..."

And for that, Du Kang’s other ear got pinched.

Bantering, the three of them made their way to the stall. The school lights were off since it was a Saturday. Light filtered in through the small, blocky windows, leaving the bathroom dim.