Zhang Shutong let out a yawn, sitting lazily on his desk.
Wednesday, December 19th. The year 2012 was coming to a close.
Straight ahead was the back wall of the classroom. Lu Qinglian was holding a piece of chalk, sketching out a few lines on the blackboard.
"It's crooked," Zhang Shutong said, propping up his chin.
Hearing this, she didn't say a word. She simply picked up the eraser, wiped away the crooked lines, then turned her head, seemingly asking for confirmation.
"Looks good," Zhang Shutong said.
Lu Qinglian resumed writing from where the line had broken off.
It had to be said, she learned things very fast. Earlier, Zhang Shutong had seen her borrow an encyclopedia of blackboard news from the library. She had merely spent a morning studying it between classes, and she was already able to get right to work.
Except for being a bit unpracticed at the start, smooth and beautiful lines soon extended from under her hand, forming a chibi reindeer image.
This was, of course, an important component of the Christmas blackboard newspaper.
Quite surprisingly, she actually liked this cute art style, which reminded Zhang Shutong of her teddy bear water bottle.
"Pink," Lu Qinglian said without turning her head.
Zhang Shutong pulled a piece of pink chalk from nearby and handed it to her.
Lu Qinglian didn't plan to waste too much time on such minor matters. In her own words, it was just a blackboard newspaper; it could be done in a single afternoon.
Of course, that was assuming someone was helping at her side.
As Rep Lu's seatmate and the second-ranked student right below the top of the grade, Zhang Shutong had the honor of becoming her partner.
As if.
If he had the time, he'd rather go ride his motorcycle.
He took a look at the back door of the classroom. Making a turn out from here led straight to Class 2. If Zhang Shutong could split himself in half, his other half should be in Class 2 right now.
"Come help."
A notification popped up on QQ. Zhang Shutong hurriedly hopped down from the desk.
"Wait a bit, I'll be right back."
He then ran toward Class 2's classroom. Class 2 was much livelier than Class 1. Over a dozen girls were packed in the front row of the classroom. The multimedia projector was turned on, playing a backing track. As he arrived, Gu Qiumian pressed the pause button on the podium.
In the silence, numerous gazes turned toward him, though only for a brief moment. It wasn't because these girls maintained strict discipline during rehearsals, but rather—
The students of Class 2 had long grown accustomed to Zhang Shutong's presence.
"How can I help?"
"Help control the backing track," Gu Qiumian moved to a camera mounted on a tripod, the lens pointed right at the choir group. "And this, record a video before every choir run."
Zhang Shutong nodded repeatedly. Seeing the grand setup Class 2 had put together for the New Year's Gala, he didn't know whether to feel envious or relieved.
Yes, it was for the New Year's Gala. Every class had to present an activity. Previously, Zhang Shutong felt that the only upcoming holiday was Christmas. But as the days quietly slipped into late December, before Christmas had even passed, New Year's Day had shoved its way into the frame.
They were only six days apart, holidays that were always easily lumped together.
Take Class 2's performance for instance: a choir song chosen by the girls, a Christmas-themed song. Gu Qiumian was the lead singer. Zhang Shutong had always known she sang well, but this time she was also acting as the rehearsal director—vocal arrangement, melodic weaving, all these professional tasks were handled by her alone. Someone who played the piano might not be a music expert, but their understanding of vocal music certainly wasn't small.
If the school hadn't lacked instruments for her to perform with, she would have definitely done a solo piano piece. As things stood, Gu Qiumian settled for the next best thing, changing the class activity to a choir performance. It didn't waste too much time or energy, yet looked quite decent as a program.
Zhang Shutong saw Gu Qiumian make an OK gesture at him. He first pressed the record button, then used the mouse to click open the backing track file. As the melody played, the girls' crisp and lively singing resonated through the afternoon classroom.
Zhang Shutong had always felt that one couldn't expect too much from these choir performances. For student activities, having fun was paramount. Gu Qiumian clearly thought so too. But despite her pulling many punches, while the first few lines were decent, the singing degenerated into a complete disaster as it went on.
"Stop."
Gu Qiumian held up a finger.
Zhang Shutong pressed pause.
Gu Qiumian sighed and turned around:
"Didn't we do larynx training last night? How did you manage to forget almost everything after just one day? You, you, you, and you—I said if you can't use nasal resonance properly, don't use it! It's fine! Right now it sounds like you have a cold! The bass section keeps rushing, and the harmony timing is off too... Finally, pay attention to stabilizing your breath, try not to produce a bleating sheep voice..."
Zhang Shutong let out a sudden snort of laughter.
A pair of beautiful eyes glared over, and he quickly held back his laughter.
Sorry, sorry, Zhang Shutong thought to himself. Although I know what a bleating voice means, whenever you speak, I just think of a bleating sheep.
"Alright, let's take a break, then we'll do it one last time." Gu Qiumian clapped her hands. "The improvement has been super, super big! But for the last gala of middle school, we still need to give it our absolute best effort. I'll send the recording to everyone tonight."
Listening to them sing from the podium, Zhang Shutong sometimes thought it was quite marvelous to hear such words come out of Gu Qiumian's mouth. Perhaps the Gu Qiumian in his eyes differed from the one in others' eyes? Either way, he couldn't say it out loud; if he did, she'd think he was speaking ill of her again.
"Alright, that's all for now."
Zhang Shutong snapped back to reality and pressed the pause button once more.
Since it was the last rehearsal, it meant he wasn't needed anymore. Taking advantage of the time while Gu Qiumian was reviewing their performance, Zhang Shutong poked his head out from the back of Class 1:
"Call me if you need help with anything."
"It's already done." Amidst a flutter of chalk dust, Lu Qinglian gently clapped her hands.
"There's still a large empty spot in the bottom left corner," Zhang Shutong reminded her.
"Leaving it for others to write well-wishes."
What a clever way to cut corners. Just as Zhang Shutong was about to express his admiration for classmate Lu, he heard that Class 2's rehearsal had finished, and countless footsteps streamed out of the classroom.
"Heading out first."
Zhang Shutong called out and hurriedly set off.
Inside Class 2's classroom, Gu Qiumian was sitting on a desk, swinging her slender legs back and forth.
"Go smoothly?"
"Not smoothly at all!" The generous and neat girl had vanished, replaced by one pouting her lips. "Every night it finally starts looking like something, only to revert to its original state the next day! And I can't even tell them directly; I have to coax them along. It's so hard..."
Zhang Shutong couldn't offer any real help either, so he had to settle for listening to her complain. After thinking for a bit, he said:
"There are still over ten days until New Year's Day. It should be in time."
She pulled out a lip balm from her pocket and applied it vanity-style:
"My mouth is completely dry from talking. Sigh, guess I'll keep trying."
"Then let's go out to eat now. What do you want to eat?"
Gu Qiumian's expression suddenly turned fierce:
"Don't you try to change the subject!"
His intention had been seen right through by her. Fine, fine, he had known all along that a hurdle was waiting for him here.
It all started this morning when he received a call from Gu Qiumian while brushing his teeth, asking if he was hiding something from her. Zhang Shutong had been stunned at first and asked which matter she meant.
She replied that he knew very well in his heart. The phrase men feared most was this exact line from women. Zhang Shutong did know a few more things than Gu Qiumian—some he had hidden on purpose, some she wouldn't believe even if he told her, and some he wanted to tell her but hadn't found the right chance for.
In short, Zhang Shutong had promised Gu Qiumian that he wouldn't hide things from her anymore, but he had undeniably broken his word.
Thus, Zhang Shutong felt a bit guilty. At that moment, the eldest young lady sneered again, saying she would settle the score with him at noon.
Zhang Shutong had braced himself and come to school, but who knew Gu Qiumian wouldn't bring it up the entire morning? Once school was over, she had been busy with the rehearsal. Zhang Shutong originally thought she had forgotten because of work, but it turned out she was waiting for him right here.
"Are you going to say it yourself, or should I?" She crossed her arms.
Zhang Shutong truly didn't know which matter she was referring to.
He thought carefully about what he had done recently that could have been discovered by Gu Qiumian...
Zhang Shutong thought of that quirky underclassman girl.
"I went to your family's shopping mall yesterday," he tested the waters.
"Oh, that. Might as well talk about that together then." Gu Qiumian narrowed her eyes.
"Xu Zhiruo told you?"
"Mm."
"Did she tell you I was shopping with a short-haired girl?"
"Heh."
"She actually saw it wrong." Zhang Shutong breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself that this was what it was about. "That person wasn't Ruoping. It was Lu Qinglian."
He knew Gu Qiumian's relationship with Ruoping wasn't...
Wait, Zhang Shutong suddenly realized—hadn't the incident with the gold coin chocolate on this timeline been changed?
"Who?" Gu Qiumian stopped narrowing her eyes and blinked instead.
"Lu Qinglian," Zhang Shutong blinked too.
The aggressively imposing Autumn Rain Mianmian was a bit dazed.
"What were you two doing together?" she asked suspiciously.
"It's like this," Zhang Shutong explained. "Didn't I mention before that we were looking for the man who stole the fox? Lu Qinglian is good at fighting, so I had her wear a wig and disguise herself as Ruoping."
"Then did you catch him?"
"Just missed him." He sighed and recounted last night's situation.
"Does your group of friends know about this?" Gu Qiumian asked again.
"They know," Zhang Shutong said offhandedly. "Yesterday, Du Kang and Qingyi were the ones who brought the statue to me..."
Oh.
So that's what she meant.
Zhang Shutong suddenly understood.
There was still one person who didn't know.
He looked at Gu Qiumian cautiously, but she merely stared at him expressionlessly, making it impossible to tell if she was angry or appeased.
"Since you were busy with serious matters, I won't settle this score with you for now," she raised her eyebrows again. "But you clearly dragged me into this, yet ended up telling me nothing. What did you promise me before?"
"Actually..."
"No excuses!"
"Sor—"
"No apologies!"
"Then what do you want to hear?"
"I don't want to hear you talk!"
Seemingly throwing a huff, she jumped down from the desk, walking with rapid strides.
Zhang Shutong had no choice but to follow briskly, asking Gu Qiumian what she wanted to eat for lunch.
"Pick it yourself."
"Rice with toppings?"
"Too greasy!"
"Rice noodles?"
"Too heavy!"
"Sweet and sour pork loin?"
"Too sweet!"
Zhang Shutong knew things had gotten a bit serious; Autumn Rain Mianmian could actually resist the temptation of sweet and sour pork loin. But he wasn't someone who knew how to coax girls either. Unable to come up with words, he followed her silently.
Just as Zhang Shutong pushed out his bicycle and the two walked out of the school gates, the campus was already deserted. He was about to ask where her family's car was, but Gu Qiumian sat onto the back seat without a word.
She was wearing a skirt today, so she sat sideways, wrapping one arm straight around his waist. Zhang Shutong's pedaling motion froze, earning him a slap on the back from her:
"Too wobbly!"
Zhang Shutong slowed down, but the bicycle still wobbled its way out of the school grounds. He looked back and forth:
"Then what do you want to eat? You have to eat something, right?"
"Not hungry." Her tone wasn't as fiery this time. "Take me for a ride."
Zhang Shutong interpreted this line as her wanting to clear her head. There was no need to go to the downtown area, but as for other places... He thought for a bit. Going out into the middle of nowhere wasn't very appropriate either, so he pedaled toward the base.
This was the second time he had brought Gu Qiumian along this route, but for Gu Qiumian, it was the first.
The cold wind blew against his face. He felt Gu Qiumian had mostly cooled down, so he asked again:
"I didn't hide this from you on purpose. I just didn't get around to saying it."
"So you only tell me after you're done with everything?" Her lips were crystal clear, but the words she spat out were icy cold. "Unless you need me for something again, you won't even make a phone call, right?"
"You can't really put it that way." Zhang Shutong's momentum weakened significantly.
They soon arrived at the base. Zhang Shutong stopped the bike in front of the large drainage tunnel, pulling out two small stools from the safe. He offered one to the eldest young lady first, then sat on the other himself. Still, he had to admit that skipping lunch to sit in the suburbs and freeze in the wind at midday was a pretty foolish thing to do.
"Sometimes, I just feel like there might be danger," Zhang Shutong said softly.
He didn't know why he subconsciously always wanted to hide things from Gu Qiumian. Was it because he felt she didn't need to know so much? Or that knowing less would allow her to be happier?
Many things were probably determined by first impressions.
Zhang Shutong had "known" Gu Qiumian for a long time, but the first time he got acquainted with her was after turning back time and becoming her seatmate. Back then, they had experienced the castle incident, the arson incident, and a series of revenge acts along the commercial street in quick succession. Danger lurked all around them, to the point where they even suspected the nanny, Nanny Wu. Yet Gu Qiumian had acted even more indifferent than he did. Back then, she had stubbornly said:
"If I could be knocked down by something like that..."
This was perhaps the importance of first impressions. Back then, Gu Qiumian was a lonely, solitary girl who didn't care about most things. She had no friends in class; even with a bunch of lackeys under her, it was hard to connect on a deeper level. Only in that fixed seat, occasionally drawing grimaces on the window pane, would she let out a gentle smile.
Without even realizing it himself, a seed had been planted in Zhang Shutong's heart ever since—he felt it would be nice if she could live without a care in the world. If there was any danger facing her, what he needed to do was clear away all those dangers entirely, rather than tell her about them in full formality.
However, if he had met the current Class 2 monitor—a popular, well-liked girl—at the very beginning, perhaps many things would have been different.
Then again, how could there be "what ifs" in life?
This time, Gu Qiumian didn't take up his point. Instead, she asked:
"Ever since the avalanche incident, have you felt that I've suddenly become unfamiliar?"
"What?" Zhang Shutong was stunned. He thought to himself that it wasn't really the case—oh, except for that time she suddenly straightened her hair, which gave him quite a fright.
"Fine, just listen to me." Gu Qiumian glared at him. "I can tell you now. I had a nightmare last night."
"...Are you okay?"
"The day before yesterday, you said that I used to be really unpopular, had no friends in class, and was isolated, right?"
Zhang Shutong nodded hesitantly.
"So you, with your big mouth—making wild statements! Right after you said it, I had a nightmare that was almost identical!" She immediately turned upset. "It's all your fault, all your fault!"
Gu Qiumian balled up her fists and pounded him. It hit like hail falling on a person—there was some force to it, but it felt light as a feather. Sitting on the small stool, Zhang Shutong felt like the stool beneath him was a rocking boat, struggling to stay upright on its own.
Gu Qiumian pounded him for a bit while making fussing sounds until she had mostly vented her anger. She smoothed her messy long hair behind her ears, returning to the posture of an elegant and dignified young lady, but her expression suddenly turned serious.
"So tell me now..."
Gu Qiumian stared into his eyes:
"Was that dream real?"