Winter Time Rendering

They were now in the liquor aisle.

The shelves were a dazzling display. Under the spotlights, a colorful assortment of cans was arrayed before Gu Qiuyan.

She had been staring at the cocktails for a while, and a few minutes ago, she asked if he wanted to buy a few cans to drink with his friends at lunch.

She seemed like an expert in this area. Zhang Shutong asked if she drank often, like when she went to karaoke with her "little friends." She said it was alright; she’d have a little when she was in a good mood.

Zhang Shutong had never seen her tipsy, but he definitely wouldn’t be seeing it today. The plan had changed.

"So?" Gu Qiuyan asked.

Zhang Shutong suspected Gu Qiuyan had seen through his attempt to act cool. She was even playing along by asking the question. If only she weren’t snickering.

He put away his phone.

"So, now it’s just the two of us."

"What about the other two?"

"They’re on standby."

"What does that mean?"

"That’s a secret," Zhang Shutong said with a smile.

Gu Qiuyan glared at him again. "You’d be miserable if you couldn’t keep me in suspense!"

Zhang Shutong couldn’t explain. After all, the operation’s name was "Operation: Goddess of Destiny, Steward of the Young Lady’s Future."

This operation wasn’t just about protecting the young lady’s life; it was also about protecting her mood.

Neither could be neglected. If even one of these objectives failed, Zhang Shutong would consider the entire operation a failure.

Gu Qiuyan tossed her hair and walked off. Zhang Shutong pushed the cart and followed her. "Where are you going?"

"Didn’t you just say it’s just the two of us?"

"So?"

Zhang Shutong still couldn’t connect that sentence with her turning and walking away.

"So from now on, you’ll listen to my arrangements."

With that, she walked ahead without looking back, her hands clasped behind her, taking small, easy steps.

Zhang Shutong felt she had suddenly turned into a tigress. A tigress that had patiently, patiently, *patiently* stalked her prey, waiting for its companions to scatter. Now that the prey was all alone, the tigress finally bared her fangs in a triumphant grin.

This was a man-eating tigress, truly terrifying.

If he didn’t want to be eaten, his only choice was to push the cart and follow her closely. But one of the cart’s wheels must have gotten stuck somewhere; it was making a CREAKING sound and took some effort to get back on track.

But with Gu Qiuyan walking ahead, he had a chance to check his phone. The iPhone’s battery was down to 35%. Zhang Shutong switched on low power mode. He hadn’t been able to charge it at Gu Qiuyan’s house last night. And while he didn’t usually use his phone much, he couldn’t resist playing a round of Angry Birds this morning—which he lost.

He habitually wanted to clear the background apps, but he’d heard that iOS had a unique "tombstoning" mechanism, perfect for lazy people.

Zhang Shutong didn’t know the exact principle behind it, but he knew this: reality wasn’t a game, the culprits weren’t pig heads, and apart from this unique mechanism in his phone’s OS, he didn’t want to see a real tombstone appear before his eyes.

Song had just left the police station. The person on the other end of the line said they were still missing one of the "culprits."

This arson was a meticulously planned operation. Just as Mrs. Li had said, those people’s entire families depended on their shops on the commercial street for their livelihood. They were desperate and afraid of betrayal, so they even recruited people in secret.

Using some special method of contact, they first identified interested parties within a certain circle. Then, in a small, dark room, a piece of paper listed the time and place. Whoever was willing to go would press their thumbprint on the paper.

There were originally six people, but when the time came last night, one person didn’t show up.

No one knew who the absentee was.

Zhang Shutong explained this to his best friends.

Qingyi was the sharpest:

"Then who planned it in the first place?"

"They’ve already been interrogated. It wasn’t any of the five."

"So it was the one who didn’t show up?"

"Exactly. The real mastermind."

"Was he deliberately trying to use those five as scapegoats while he has another move planned?"

"Maybe."

"This sounds really dangerous. Shouldn’t we just call the police?" Ruoping chimed in.

"The police are already short-staffed, and now they have five arsonists to deal with. We can’t count on them," Qingyi explained.

"Then can’t we just go straight to the police station? We could go right now and stay there until Gu Qiuyan’s family comes back. We could have Du Kang bring us lunch. I’m craving the rice noodles from your family’s restaurant."

Ruoping’s suggestion was the safer option, but it was unanimously rejected by the three guys.

"No way!"

"Don’t you three get all worked up now! (furious)" Ruoping was exasperated.

"We’re not getting worked up. Today might be the only chance to draw out the mastermind. He can only make his move while Gu Qiuyan’s family is away," Zhang Shutong explained.

"My family’s restaurant isn’t serving rice noodles right now," Du Kang also explained.

"All wrong." Qingyi laid down the law. "Can you all take a closer look at the name I gave the operation?"

"What do you mean?" the three of them asked at the same time.

Qingyi sent a voice message directly:

"’Operation: Goddess of Destiny, Steward of the Young Lady’s Future’—the point is, you can ignore all the words like ’Young Lady,’ ’Future,’ and ’Goddess of Destiny.’ The keyword is ’Operation’!"

"So?"

"Since it’s an ’operation,’ there’s no operation in history that involves making a girl wait at a police station all day. That would be so unromantic."

Qingyi stated calmly.

In that moment, it was as if he were possessed by Song, his words ringing with power.

’So cool!’

For once, Zhang Shutong completely agreed.

"Alright everyone, from now on, the operation has three objectives—"

Zhang Shutong typed quickly. He didn’t care if he sounded like a chuuni right now; what mattered most was building momentum:

"First, identify the mastermind. Second, collect evidence. As for the third..."

—BEEP BEEP BEEP.

Zhang Shutong paused, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. He looked up and realized he had followed Gu Qiuyan all the way to the supermarket checkout.

She said she wanted to go browse the clothing stores on the third floor next. Zhang Shutong complained that he was tired, but she retorted, "Didn’t you just promise me you’d follow my arrangements today?"