Winter Time Rendering

But soon, even that little bit of open space was gone. A constant stream of people flowed in front of the mall—men and women, old and young, but most were students of about the same age.

Zhang Shutong looked around with a hint of curiosity. There were carts selling grilled sausages and quail eggs, and vendors hawking toy balloons. Usually printed with various cartoon characters and filled with hydrogen, the balloons formed a colorful jumble in midair, their countless strings clutched in one hand.

Gu Qiuyan subconsciously edged closer to Zhang Shutong. He smiled and asked, "You want to buy a balloon or something?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Shouldn’t you contact your friends? See if they’re here yet."

She wasn’t shy at all. Normally, someone might feel a little timid in a situation like this, being introduced to a new group of people, but Gu Qiuyan radiated an aura of pride that made her stick out from the crowd.

Zhang Shutong found this odd. "Why do you seem more impatient than I am?"

She just puffed out her chest. "What? Am I supposed to be afraid of them?"

As she said this, her lips glistened and her eyes danced, as if she had spent all that time getting ready just to make a grand impression when they met.

Zhang Shutong couldn’t figure out what she was thinking. He just sized her up for a moment, feeling that Gu Qiuyan was somehow off today. A moment later, he realized what it was: she wasn’t wearing her scarf.

"But there’s no need to call them. He’s pretty conspicuous. Look—"

Zhang Shutong pointed toward the most flamboyant figure in the crowd: a teenager wearing headphones, listening to music by himself.

Qingyi was wearing a denim jacket today, which Zhang Shutong had to admit looked cool. But it was so noisy that he and Gu Qiuyan had to raise their voices to talk. ’Can he really hear the music through his headphones?’

He walked up and tapped Qingyi on the shoulder. Qingyi turned around. He was the same as always, his face a permanent deadpan. He smiled when he saw Zhang Shutong and was about to say hello, but before the words came out, his gaze shifted past Zhang Shutong, finally landing on a look of utter surprise.

’Only the great Miss Gu has the power to make this stone-faced guy break character.’

"Gu Qiuyan. You two know each other anyway, so no introductions needed."

Although Zhang Shutong found it really strange that he had to introduce two of his own classmates, he calmly turned back and said to Gu Qiuyan:

"Meng Qingyi. My best friend."

"Oh... oh." The surprise lasted only a few seconds before Qingyi’s deadpan expression returned—something Du Kang could never pull off. He gave a casual wave of his hand. "Welcome."

Gu Qiuyan gave a lukewarm nod and a quiet hello. Now she was back to acting like a cold, aloof young lady.

Zhang Shutong stood between them. "Where’s Ruoping? Why isn’t she with you?"

"Her?" Qingyi said, exasperated. "She saw some kind of snack she’d never seen before and ran off to get in line."

The three of them stared at the people flowing in and out of the mall, suddenly at a loss for what to do.

Zhang Shutong never took the lead in these situations. It was normal for him and the other guys to follow Ruoping’s plans. But something was off with Gu Qiuyan. She was usually the one giving orders when she went out with her entourage, but today, she was silent.

So Zhang Shutong said, "Let’s wait inside the mall. It’s too crowded out here. I’ll message Ruoping on QQ."

It was less crowded inside the mall. The entrance opened up to a section selling all kinds of clothes, flanked by shoe stores and nail salons. All in all, it fit the style of the small island—you couldn’t expect it to be like a major commercial plaza.

Even the escalator was one of those flat, ramp-style ones meant for carts, and there were no regular elevators. In that respect, it wasn’t even as nice as Gu Qiuyan’s house.

Zhang Shutong hadn’t been here in a long time. He asked Gu Qiuyan what was good to see. It was her family’s mall, after all, but she said she rarely came. He could guess the rest without her having to say it: she probably thought there wasn’t enough to do here.

They wandered around for a bit. Gu Qiuyan would give the stores a careless glance before walking on. It seemed nothing here was worthy of her attention.

Who knew how novel that snack of Ruoping’s was; she still hadn’t returned. Just then, Gu Qiuyan said she needed to go to the restroom. Zhang Shutong stopped and said he’d wait for her there.

Then he saw the young miss take the purse from her shoulder, hold it in her hand, and thrust it out in front of him. Zhang Shutong met her gaze for two seconds as her hand hung in midair for two seconds. Finally, the girl’s eyes widened.

"Hold this!"

’Right,’ he thought. ’So it’s not that she doesn’t have a lackey to go shopping with her today. I was the one she was waiting for.’

Zhang Shutong took the bag and watched her walk off haughtily.

"So that’s what that was about?"

Qingyi looked just as puzzled, lost in thought.

"See? I told you she’s hard to figure out."

Zhang Shutong felt like he’d found a kindred spirit.

They happened to be standing in front of a toy store, and both of them peered through the display window at the Transformers models inside.

"Whoa, the paint job on this one is nice... By the way, Shutong, why’d you bring her?"

"She was home by herself... But look, the seam line is a little obvious."

"Did you two come here together?" Qingyi ignored the attempt to change the subject, his expression growing even more curious.

"...A driver brought us." Zhang Shutong decided to leave Song out of the story.

"But aren’t your houses really far apart?"

"The driver picked her up first, then me."

"That’s a pretty dedicated driver."

"...Indeed."

But as soon as the word left his lips, Qingyi broke into a triumphant smile.

"You’ve completely given yourself away, Shutong. You stayed at Gu Qiuyan’s place last night, didn’t you?"

"How did you figure that out?" Zhang Shutong sniffed his clothes, puzzled. ’Did spending one night with Gu Qiuyan somehow marinate me in her scent?’

"When I asked if you came together, the only real answers were yes or no. But you brought up the driver, which was suspicious. Connect that with our phone call last night, and it’s pretty obvious."

"...Yes, but that was because of the rain."

"What exactly happened last night?" This was the good thing about a deduction fanatic: he cared more about the truth than gossip.

Zhang Shutong gave him a rough explanation. Qingyi thought for a moment. "I get it. The truth is, you’re still worried about her."

"Yeah. Just call me a worrywart."

"Nothing wrong with being careful. After all, a man’s..."

"Stop!"

"This is the first time I’ve ever seen you so concerned about a girl," Qingyi said, seamlessly switching to gossip mode.

"..."

That was a hard question to answer. On the surface, it looked that way, but the reality was worlds apart. He was about to pretend he hadn’t heard when he was suddenly reminded of an old acquaintance. So Zhang Shutong just gave a faint nod.

"For now, you can think of it that way."

Now it was Qingyi’s turn to be speechless.

The most impressive Autobot in the display case was, naturally, Optimus Prime. The two of them studied it for a while before Qingyi spoke again.

"But judging from how the police handled it, the incident on the commercial street should be considered resolved. Even if people still hate her family, they’ll have to put up with it."

"More or less."

"So you bringing her out is still you being concerned about her," Qingyi added with a gloating tone. "Don’t sigh just yet. I’m the easy one. You’ll have a real headache when Ruoping gets here. You have to be prepared for that when you bring someone along."

Zhang Shutong was mentally exhausted.

"What’s the deal between those two, anyway?"

"That question’s too profound. Let’s switch to another one."

"What’s for lunch?"

"You think we get to decide?"

"Good point."

"I’m starting to think you really do want to solve this case, Shutong."

"That’s right."

"So, did you find anything after a whole night there?"

Zhang Shutong wondered if her hypoglycemia counted. He thought for a moment.

"Actually, I had a sort of non-discovery discovery. It was this morning, while I was washing dishes."

"What?"

"I’m not entirely sure about it myself," Zhang Shutong said thoughtfully. "Perfect chance to discuss it—"

"It’s more like a physics question I need help with." The mall was bustling with activity, a cacophony of voices filling the air. The suspended ceiling was a good four or five meters high, and the LED lights cast spots of light on the white marble floor. "Let’s say it’s nighttime, it’s raining, and there’s occasional lightning. Around seven o’clock, so it’s already dark. We’re inside a house, and the lights are very bright."

He breathed on the toy store’s glass window and knocked on it with his knuckle.

"This is the window."

Then he pointed to the display case across from them.

"That’s the lawn outside."

"I get it. You’re talking about Gu Qiuyan’s house. Go on."

Finally, Zhang Shutong pointed at the formidable Optimus Prime, only to realize that hand was holding Gu Qiuyan’s purse. He switched hands.

"Now, imagine that’s a dead dog.

"Tell me, if that dog was lying motionless on the lawn, should we be able to see it?"

...

Out of the restroom and down a corridor was the main hall of the mall.

A pretty girl in a cyan dress stood at the entrance to the corridor. She paused, looking left and right with a slight frown, as if she had forgotten the way back.

People came and went before her—old and young, men and women, a tide of strange faces surging past.

For a moment, the world was a chaotic blur. The lights were blinding, her ears were ringing. Some people hurried past, some were relaxed, some had happy smiles on their faces, and some had their faces completely covered.

It was a woman wearing sunglasses and a mask.

She seemed to have been watching for a long time. The woman crept up behind Gu Qiuyan, pulled something out, and reached forward—