Winter Time Rendering

"Hey, you lot! Word is out! Get out here!"

Zhang Shutong understood immediately. News of them catching the poachers must have reached the school. If this were the city, there would have been a delay of two or three days.

But the island was so small, and it only had one junior high. The incident had happened last night, and the police called first thing this morning.

Judging by the thrilled look on Song’s face, they were definitely in for some praise.

’But this is clearly a good thing. Why does he make it sound like we’ve been caught?’

Regardless of what Zhang Shutong was thinking, the classroom suddenly fell silent. Most eyes were now fixed on Lu Qinglian.

—’It was no surprise that Zhang Shutong and his close friends were involved—they were always getting into something together. But what did Lu Qinglian have to do with any of it?’

This thought surfaced in many of their minds.

’Was Lu Qinglian particularly close with any of those guys?’

Plenty of kids in class knew Du Kang had a crush on Lu Qinglian. After thinking it over, they arrived at one heart-stopping possibility:

’Could that guy have actually won her over?’

Fueled by this speculation, everyone’s eyes followed Du Kang. He had just dropped his backpack, but now he was strutting cockily out of the classroom. The stares from many of the boys in class turned murderous.

In any case, amidst the curious stares and hushed whispers of their classmates, the group walked out of the classroom and followed their homeroom teacher to his office.

Song, a firm believer that all’s fair in war, couldn’t resist building the suspense. He leaned back in his office chair as if interrogating a suspect and asked in a slow, deliberate voice,

"Know why I called you guys in?"

Du Kang was the first to scoff.

"C’mon, Song, why are you being like Qingyi? Just spit it out."

"Is ’Song’ something you should be calling me? Show some respect." Song Nanshan’s thick eyebrows shot up. "Fine, let me ask you this: did you do yesterday’s homework?"

"Uhh..."

"One week of cleaning duty," the homeroom teacher said with a terrifying smile.

"Aww, come on!"

Zhang Shutong thought, ’Du Kang is still so naive. You can’t challenge Song Nanshan head-on.’ He then took the initiative, picking up the teacher’s teacup to refill it at the water dispenser—the perfect picture of a model student.

Song turned to Du Kang. "See? Shutong knows how to respect his teacher. You should learn a thing or two from him, you brat." He chuckled and turned his head, only to pale when he saw Zhang Shutong’s hand firmly on the hot water dispenser’s button.

"What do you think you’re doing, you brat?"

Zhang Shutong stopped, looking a little regretful.

"Alright, alright, forget it. I get it now. You’re all a bunch of heartless little rascals. Give the cup to Ruoping. Let Ruoping get my water..."

At this point, Song Nanshan had lost the heart to keep teasing them. He said, exasperated,

"Look, I just came to tell you that morning exercises are canceled. The principal wants you all to take turns saying a few words on the flag-raising stage. Go back and prepare what you’re going to say."

"So no bonus?" Du Kang asked, taken aback.

"In your dreams. A bonus? The most you’ll get is a commemorative banner," Song Nanshan scolded with a laugh. "Now, all of you take this seriously. Think carefully about what you’re going to write. It doesn’t need to be long, but the principal’s office is treating this as a big deal. Especially you boys, don’t you go messing... Feng Ruoping!"

Song barked again, his eyes wide. "What, are you trying to boil me alive, too? Did you think I wouldn’t notice?"

Ruoping stuck her tongue out sheepishly. She was about to hand the cup to Qingyi, but Song put a stop to it, his eyes glaring.

"What is this, a relay? Let Qinglian get it for me!"

Hearing this, Lu Qinglian just nodded and calmly took the cup.

Song was immensely gratified by this. ’At least there’s one good kid left,’ he thought. He shot a look at the four ungrateful wretches and said with a stern face,

"Praise is one thing, but from now on, I want you to stay away from such dangerous situations. Oh, and this time, it wasn’t just the four of you—you dragged poor Qinglian into it. I haven’t asked for the specifics, but what if something had happened to you kids? What would your parents do? Don’t always be trying to play the hero. You hear me?"

They all nodded in understanding. Only then did Song pull open a drawer. He might have been a gruff man, but right now he was being fussy, his words still sharp.

"I can tell none of that sank in. *Sigh*. Forget it. Come over here. You did a good job this time. Same as always, one for each of you..."

Song Nanshan’s drawer was always filled with lollipops. They were supposed to help him quit smoking, but few of them ever ended up in his mouth. They all went to his students. He’d hand one out for praise, one during a heart-to-heart, and even one to comfort a student he’d just scolded to the point of tears...

In the end, everyone happily walked away with a lollipop. Even Lu Qinglian took one.

Song Nanshan waved his hand, shooing the kids back to their classroom as if they were little chicks. Watching the boys and girls laughing and roughhousing as they left, he felt a mix of nostalgia and pride.

In the end, the man just smiled and shook his head, sighing to himself. ’I really am getting old.’ He reflexively rubbed his lower back, straightened the slight hunch beneath his white shirt, and picked up the cup of freshly poured water.

He took a sip, then PFFT! He sprayed it all over the floor, his eyes widening in shock.

"Wait, how is this still scalding hot?"

...

The moment they were out of the office, Ruoping sidled up to Lu Qinglian to chat.

’I shouldn’t have bothered,’ Zhang Shutong thought. ’If I’d known the teacher was calling us out, I wouldn’t have needed that whole song and dance earlier. I just ended up offending Gu Qiuyan for no reason.’

But regardless of whether Lu Qinglian had been called out, remembering her behavior during morning reading, Zhang Shutong could only offer a silent prayer for Ruoping.

’She’s probably about to get the cold shoulder.’

But to his surprise, the two of them actually started talking. As they chatted, Lu Qinglian, with some guidance from Ruoping, even managed to unwrap her lollipop and pop it in her mouth. One of her cheeks puffed out, and she seemed to be in a decent mood as she narrowed her charming, almond-shaped eyes.

At first, he thought it was just because Ruoping was so likable. But then Du Kang and Qingyi went over to say a few things, too. In response, she would occasionally nod, shake her head, or offer a quiet, simple reply.