Winter Time Rendering

Chapter 22: Chapter 7: The Youths’ Threesome (Part 2)

"Where did you go wrong?" He almost parroted Song Nanshan’s question. ’This is what you call "helping me with my homework"?’ he thought. ’A "small favor"? "No need to thank me, we’re brothers"?’

There were so many things to complain about that even he felt like letting out a few jabs.

Besides, this guy wasn’t actually here to apologize. At best, he was the vanguard sent to scout ahead.

The real culprits were in the back—he could see Ruoping and Qingyi standing a short distance away, sneaking glances. They were smiling so hard their faces were about to cramp. He figured the moment they saw he was in a good mood and approachable, they’d rush over for the latest gossip.

Zhang Shutong had always been a direct person. He calmly held up three fingers.

"Three versions. Which one do you want to hear?"

"Can I hear all of them?" Du Kang asked, shooting a look at the two girls in the distance.

The noise in the classroom seemed to quiet down a little. A few people casually glanced over, pretending not to be interested. Even Gu Qiuyan perked up her ears, though she was still fussing with her schoolbag—it was the end of the school day, after all.

Zhang Shutong saw them but didn’t care. He continued.

"Sure, but I’ll only tell one person. It’s too noisy, and I want some peace and quiet right now."

He regretted it the moment the words left his mouth. Staring at Du Kang, he thought, ’You’d better not say it.’

And yet:

"And who might Jingjing be?"

"Go trade places with Qingyi," Zhang Shutong said, palming his forehead. This was the kind of humor everyone used back in 2012. All that talk of "I’m gonna faint," "Jingjing," and "it’s all but a passing cloud"... it made him cringe.

"No, no, no! I’ll shut up, I promise! So, what’s the first one?"

"Song asked me to make a seating chart for the new study groups. I turned it in before I was finished."

"Dude, that timeline doesn’t add up. Quick, what’s the second one?"

"Before we changed seats, I had a dream. I dreamed that this would be the new arrangement,"

Zhang Shutong said, spreading his arms to demonstrate.

"See? She’s next to me, she’s diagonally in front, and then there’s me. Together, we form a perfect, stable triangle."

As he said this, he muttered to himself, ’Wait, is that actually true? Gu Qiuyan would be the right angle.’

"And then you drew what you saw in your dream on the chart and followed its instructions to sit here?"

Du Kang finished the sentence for him, his expression clearly saying, ’Who do you think you’re kidding?’

"So what’s the third one?"

"I have a crush on both of them at the same time."

"Why don’t I believe a single one of those?"

Du Kang was dumbfounded.

"Well, I can’t help you there," Zhang Shutong said with a shrug. "Just pick the one you like best and believe that."

What’s the best way to kill a rumor? Zhang Shutong’s answer was to create a few more that were even more absurd.

If everyone found all of them ridiculous, they wouldn’t believe a single one, and his objective would be achieved.

Judging by the current results, it was working well. The few gossiping onlookers had expressions that said, "That’s it?" and began to turn away, clearly disappointed.

The more you treat something as a big deal, the longer it drags on. But if you’re open about it, things tend to die down immediately.

He was confident that by tomorrow, the three absurd rumors—coming straight from the horse’s mouth—would have spread throughout the class, been discussed for a bit, and then ultimately forgotten.

"Are you sure you don’t like Lu Qinglian?" Du Kang had volunteered for this little mission for his own reasons, and now he finally asked the question that was really on his mind.

Zhang Shutong couldn’t be bothered to answer such a pointless question, but that reaction alone was enough for Du Kang to breathe a sigh of relief.

’This whole thing should be over now,’ Zhang Shutong thought. ’It wasn’t the most elegant solution, but a problem of this level was only worth so much of my brainpower anyway.’

Besides, he had something much more important to do. In fact, that was the very reason he’d rewound time from eight years in the future. Just as he was about to say he was heading downstairs, Gu Qiuyan suddenly shouldered her bag and stood up.

Her face was buried in her red scarf, hiding her chin and revealing only her small nose.

The girl’s expression was still cold, a strand of hair falling across her pretty eyes. She tapped the back of Zhang Shutong’s chair and then... nothing.

This was exactly why Zhang Shutong always said he couldn’t figure out what girls were thinking. ’Surely the great Miss Gu doesn’t want to hear a fourth version, does she? No way. I couldn’t come up with one even if my life depended on it. Those first three already fried my brain.’

They remained in a standoff for two seconds before she glared at him again, her voice crisp and clear.

"Are you going to let me out or what!"

"..."

He moved his chair, and Gu Qiuyan walked out, the soles of her little leather boots tapping on the floor. A charm tied in her hair swung back and forth as she went.

The two boys watched her leave.

"Can you guess what she meant by that?"

"I think... I actually can?" Du Kang said uncertainly. "It seems pretty simple to me. She just wanted to leave, and we were blocking her path."

"That’s easy for you to say now."

’Better to question others than to reflect on myself.’

Zhang Shutong stretched languidly, his whole body relaxing.

"Alright, I’m heading out too."

"Okay, see you at the usual spot."

"The usual spot?"

"Didn’t you say yesterday that you wanted a rematch today? I even mixed the bait already. You’re not backing out, are you?"

Now that he mentioned it, Zhang Shutong did feel the itch to go. His parents usually worked late and weren’t home—they were so busy he barely saw them—so he had nothing to do when he got back anyway.

"Perfect. But I have something to take care of first. I’ll head over when I’m done, so you guys go on and eat without me."

He glanced around and saw that Ruoping and Qingyi had already gone downstairs—they probably mistook him for being in a bad mood and were planning on cornering Du Kang for an interrogation later.

The two waved goodbye. Zhang Shutong smiled from his seat, thinking that this was what being a student was really all about.

Just as he finished packing and was about to leave, the girl at the desk in front of him slowly turned around.

"Zhang Shutong, wait a moment."

Only then did Zhang Shutong remember this particular penguin... no, wait, this particular person. Her presence was just that faint.

The girl, Lu Qinglian, tore the plastic off the straw for her school milk and looked at him, her face a blank mask.