Zhang Shutong brought out the smiling statue.
He sat in a window seat, so it could be placed right on the windowsill.
The sky had darkened. The campus at night was at its liveliest right at this moment. The crowd before the school gate was dense and dark. As the temperature dropped sharply, many parents were worried their children would catch a cold, so significantly more came in person to pick them up.
Currently, quite a few parents had entered the campus, and likewise, many students were running outward; the crowd surged like a tide for a time.
Zhang Shutong merely glanced at the campus below before shifting his gaze away.
There were still quite a few people in the classroom. Among the four classes in the ninth grade, only their class had yet to settle on a program for the New Year's Gala. The other three classes were all rehearsing.
Class 2 had a choir performance, with Monitor Gu stepping up in person. Class 3 had a drama, with Monitor Feng also stepping up in person. Class 4... Zhang Shutong's network was a blank in Class 4, making it impossible to draw a conclusion.
He watched the coming and going in the classroom, waiting quietly in his seat. Perhaps that man was blended in among them.
The person beside him asked:
"Are you sure he'll show up?"
Du Kang popped open a box of student milk and drank.
Zhang Shutong was currently sitting in Class 3's classroom:
"Why wouldn't he?"
"But I still think going to the tunnel is safer..."
"Think about it, who holds the initiative right now?"
"That man, right?"
"Wrong. It's us. Since he's set his sights on us, what does that mean?" Zhang Shutong explained. "It means we have what he wants in our hands. Since he's been looking for us all along, why should we let him lead us by the nose?"
There was another sentence Zhang Shutong didn't say. Based on yesterday's experience, the vicinity of the old house really wasn't a good place to lure someone. The terrain there was low; whether from the hospital hallway, the dormitory top floor, or even the roofs of slightly taller nearby buildings, one could see what happened in front of the old house. You couldn't be sure where the other party was.
And Zhang Shutong's pressing matter was to "tell" that man: I have the fox you want in my hands, come and get it, rather than observing silently. Taking everything into consideration, the school was actually the most suitable place.
This was an open scheme. Either way, the man needed to confirm which class he was a student of. Once he found him and suddenly discovered the fox at Zhang Shutong's side, whether to come take it or not would depend on his own plans.
"I'm still a bit panicked," Du Kang said softly.
"Don't panic. With so many people right now, even if he sees me, he won't make a move. By the way, do you have strawberry flavor? Hand me a box?"
"Got it..."
"Thanks."
"You two, come help!" Ruoping said at the front of the classroom.
Zhang Shutong had just taken a sip of milk when he was called over to move props. He looked at the fluffy body suits on the ground, which were likely borrowed from the school's warehouse:
"Feels like fewer than last year."
Last year, he and Du Kang had left the island to rent props.
"The head teacher said that for the graduating class, it's already good enough to have something to play with. We shouldn't occupy too much study time, so the number of people isn't too large. Besides, staying home every day, how could I go out to buy things?"
Ruoping lowered her voice:
"Look at that man, does he look like him?"
In the next second, that middle-aged man helped his daughter lift her backpack, and the father and daughter left the classroom.
"Speaking of which, it's just the four of us today, plus Qiumian and Qinglian staying behind?" Ruoping casually shifted the topic.
"Yeah."
In just the time it took to say a few words, the number of people in the classroom decreased a bit.
"Among the four grades in middle school, quite a few stayed behind to rehearse after school today, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then do you think that man will make a move inside the school?"
"Hard to say." Zhang Shutong spread his hands. "Getting him to confirm the fox is in my hands is enough."
Right now, Zhang Shutong's face had become a business card. He had to guard near the fox, so after assembling the props, he returned to Du Kang's seat and sat down properly.
It was truly lively.
In the past, the campus would have long been quiet and empty at this time, but today every classroom had its lights on. The wind slammed against window after window, and even through the glass, one could hear the laughter of young boys and girls. Zhang Shutong couldn't bring himself to do homework while catching a person. He propped his chin up out of boredom, watching Director Ruoping train the actors.
"No good, the smile doesn't look nice," Ruoping said with dislike.
In the past, her exclusive actors were himself and Qingyi, which implicitly raised her standards. Now that both had jumped ship, Director Ruoping was short on personnel.
"What are you guys performing this year?" Zhang Shutong asked out of rare curiosity.
"Prince saves the princess, still the same old troupe," Du Kang said helplessly.
She still liked prince and princess scripts so much.
"What about your role?"
"I'm helping out with odd jobs this year," Du Kang said with little enthusiasm. "What's fun about just the two of us? What about your class?"
"Poetry recitation."
"Huh?" Du Kang was startled.
"I only heard about it too," Zhang Shutong thought for a moment. "The class monitor said only this could get the head teacher to nod, but many people oppose it. They're probably still discussing it right now."
He didn't hold any official post, so he didn't need to participate in the discussion—unlike a certain study representative.
"True, almost forgot your teacher is very conservative," Du Kang added. "How about you and Qingyi come over to guest star? Think about it, Class 2 has a choir, so he has nothing to do either."
"Forget..." Before Zhang Shutong could finish his sentence, he saw Ruoping pointing at him with a paper tube rolled up from a script:
"Shutong, demonstrate for a bit."
Zhang Shutong smiled for a second, then told Du Kang expressionlessly:
"If it's playing a tree, I can do it."
Looking at the campus again, the crowd had thinned out quite a bit. Zhang Shutong checked his phone again:
"I guess it's about time."
"What?"
"That man—if he saw me, he wouldn't come straight up to snatch it. Instead, he would follow the stream of people back to the school gate and tail me like yesterday. But now the students are almost all gone, and he hasn't waited it out. He should be fairly certain I'm rehearsing in the classroom."
Zhang Shutong added:
"Wait until rehearsal finishes later, then we can practically move to the second step."
"Speaking of which, is Gu Qiumian's family driver waiting outside?"
"Mm, an extra layer of insurance. Though there were too many people at the school gate just now, so it couldn't be used yet."
Speak of Gu Qiumian and Gu Qiumian arrives. Just as his voice fell, he heard someone next door say:
"Let's take a break first, ten minutes."
Following that, a pair of small boots stepped into Class 3.
Right now, Gu Qiumian and Ruoping had perhaps truly reconciled. Ever since Zhang Shutong came clean with her at noon, he took advantage of the long break to call the two together. Bringing up the chocolate incident back then, Ruoping felt a bit apologetic, but Gu Qiumian shook her head and said that she should actually thank her for thinking about that matter at the time, otherwise such a precious opportunity wouldn't have been used on herself.
The two shook hands and made peace.
Of course, Zhang Shutong didn't understand girls' friendships and didn't plan to comment much.
The accompanying change was that while Gu Qiumian would never come to Class 3 casually in the past, today she came the moment she wanted to.
"A drama," Gu Qiumian said with a bit of nostalgia. "I wanted to play along every time, but unfortunately, I left every New Year's."
Zhang Shutong asked if she wanted to guest star. She said if it didn't take up too much time, she could, because each class's performance was staggered, so time-wise it was completely manageable.
"Guest star as who?"
Currently, the student playing the prince was kneeling on one knee before the king, promising to save the princess and whatnot. After a voiceover, he embarked on the journey to slay the dragon. Zhang Shutong looked again and again:
"Doesn't seem like there are any open slots left."
The scale of this year's drama was indeed very small. In previous years, to let as many people in class participate as possible, even the "trees" along the journey had dedicated actors, but this year they were replaced with foam backdrops.
"How about we put on a program too," Gu Qiumian suggested.
Zhang Shutong thought to himself, Which class are you from? Then he thought that she was the eldest young lady; if she went to the principal... She probably wouldn't even need the principal, just saying a word to the dean of students would definitely add an extra program to this New Year's Gala.
If Zhang Shutong was an energy-conserving idealist, Autumn Rain Mianmian was an energy-consuming idealist. She crossed her legs, resting her chin on her finger, actually starting to think seriously:
"What would be good to perform..."
Counting on her fingers, she said they needed to determine the scale first—either way, she could call over quite a few people across the entire school to guest star—then came the script, needing a beautiful script written, then finding a director, a director who resolutely carried out the eldest young lady's intentions, and finally the actors.
Zhang Shutong asked if she needed stage crew, earning a roll of her eyes.
"I can write the script," someone said at this time.
Zhang Shutong looked toward Qingyi, thinking to himself, Big brother, where did you pop out from again?
"Actually, when writing the script last year, I had already thought of this year's in advance," Qingyi said with some melancholy. "I didn't expect us to suddenly split classes this year."
Zhang Shutong hurriedly turned his head to look at the podium. At this moment, the student playing the prince encountered a blacksmith on his journey. The blacksmith said, "Young prince, I have three swords here. One is made of diamond, one is..."
Hey, hey, shouldn't the prince bring his own sword?
Zhang Shutong could tell at a glance that this wasn't written by Qingyi. Qingyi's prince would bring all three swords along.
Of course Three-Sword Style is the coolest! Who would choose one sword out of three?
"So what do you want to write?"
"An upgrade to last year's script," Qingyi said, beaming with joy. "Didn't we only save one princess last year? This year I plan to turn it into two princesses, then the evil dragon ties the princesses up in two different locations, planting a bomb on each princess that detonates simultaneously. The evil dragon tells the prince the locations of both princesses, but the prince can only save one... Pay attention, here comes the key point: when the evil dragon tells the prince the locations, he secretly swaps the two locations! Which means the one you wanted to save was Princess A, but only upon arriving do you realize you saved Princess B..."
Apologize to the princess right now.
Autumn Rain Mianmian and New Peach Old Charm simultaneously prepared to stay far away from this guy.
"Maybe we don't need to find a dedicated playwright," Gu Qiumian rested her chin in thought. "Let the actors and director negotiate among themselves."
"Then what are you doing?" Zhang Shutong couldn't help asking.
"I'm responsible for having fun," she raised her chin. "I'll save a lead role slot for you, want it?"
"Are you really sure about adding a program?"
"Aiya, it's just a hypothesis! I still have to go to Class 2 to rehearse later, it's impossible to start tonight anyway. Let's just think about it first."
Saying this, she checked the time:
"Heading over first."
"Okay."
Zhang Shutong looked out the window again. The campus was almost empty by now, meaning he could finally make a trip to the restroom.
Shaking the water off his hands as he came out of the restroom, Zhang Shutong took a glance at Class 1. The argument inside the classroom had reached a white-hot stage. Class Monitor Wu Shengyu was struggling to convince the crowd, so he pressed his hands down and said:
"Does classmate Lu Qinglian have any objections?"
Lu Qinglian paused her pen for a moment:
"Whatever."
Unlike the others who crowded around the front row, she sat silently in her seat alone, working on her own tasks, as if residing on a lonely island where the surrounding noise had nothing to do with her.
"Quiet down first, let's hear what classmate Lu has to say." The class monitor didn't let it rest, smiling slightly again. "Since she chose to stay behind, it means she has ideas about this year's program. I see the blackboard newspaper was drawn very well this time. Everyone might as well quiet down and take turns speaking; arguing won't produce results."
Hearing this, Lu Qinglian stood up and looked around at everyone. The aura on her body suddenly changed—from being indifferent to the world to being beyond doubt. Even the speaking students subconsciously shut their mouths. Lu Qinglian said calmly:
"I'm changing places."
It wasn't an explanation, only a statement.
With that, she picked up her paper and pen, leaving the classroom directly amidst the stunned gazes of everyone.
Although there was no expression on that delicate face and her tone carried no heat, based on Zhang Shutong's understanding of her, the noise must have driven her to impatience.
"I told you long ago to change places," Zhang Shutong cast a sympathetic gaze.
"I thought it was just a meeting." She rarely revealed a headache-plagued expression.
Zhang Shutong knew the teachers' office was locked after school, otherwise Lu Qinglian would have definitely waited there.
"How are things now?"
The two walked as they talked.
"If that person came today, he definitely locked onto the fox's location and clearly knows I'm still rehearsing in class. What comes next is waiting."
She tapped her chin and asked again:
"Which class is quieter?"
"None of them are quiet." Although Zhang Shutong didn't know what program Class 4 had, he could tell from the hallway that it was very noisy.
Lu Qinglian let out a soft sigh.
"Still, there's no need to keep grinding practice problems at this hour, right?" Zhang Shutong suggested. "I can't stand the kind of noise in Class 1 either, but the other classes are mostly just lively. It's quite fun to participate occasionally. Strictly speaking, Class 3 is a bit better. Besides, with Ruoping around, who would dare be noisy around you?"
Lu Qinglian looked at him expressionlessly.
Zhang Shutong felt he had been caught in the crossfire.
When the two arrived at Class 3, the drama on the podium had come to a temporary close. Ruoping reviewed the general effect first, finding it passable, then had the actors return to their seats to memorize lines, leaving the remaining minor details to be polished during rehearsal.
Qingyi asked if she needed help modifying the script.
Ruoping said very seriously that only when Shutong acted out his chuunibyou script could it evoke the right feeling, whereas everyone else lacked the flavor. Zhang Shutong helplessly said not to tease him. A sudden thought struck him: if Lu Qinglian came to act in a drama, it would actually save a lot on the script—she didn't speak much, relying entirely on her aura.
Before rehearsal, to clear out space, Class 3's desks had been pushed together. Several of them sat gathered around the desks. Zhang Shutong noticed Lu Qinglian clipped her ballpoint pen onto her exercise book. Ruoping was quite excited; having been cooped up at home for too long these past few days, she chattered on endlessly. While chatting, she turned her head to supervise the actors' work, saying with some regret:
"It would have been great if we didn't split classes this year. Old Song would definitely agree to let us go wild once."
Everyone agreed one after another, though unfortunately, there were no "what ifs."
"How long are we rehearsing until?" Zhang Shutong asked instead. He was quite clear on Class 2's schedule—singing only five times, as any more would be unbearable for the throat, so Gu Qiumian's side would wrap up very soon.
"We can leave right now." Director Ruoping started ushering people out. "It just depends on Class 1 and Class 4. I asked a friend in Class 4, and it's estimated that twenty minutes should be about enough."
Zhang Shutong nodded.
Next was how to pass those twenty minutes.
Ruoping had a sudden idea:
"How about we play Truth or Dare in a bit!"
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