Winter Time Rendering

Chapter 131: Chapter 55: Roman Holiday (Finale)

He grabbed Gu Qiuyan by the hand and they shot up to the rooftop. The man realized what was happening and immediately charged after them, but Zhang Shutong used the brief window of time to lock the door. They took a step back and heard the heavy THUD of a body slamming against it.

"What a rush."

Now that they were finally safe, there was no need to whisper. The girl breathed a sigh of relief as the night wind whipped through her hair. Only then did she notice her heart was pounding wildly.

The thrill wasn’t over for her yet. She said:

"Do you think that guy is fuming? He was *this* close to catching us, and then a door gets in his way."

They might be safe, but the rooftop was exposed to the elements, and the night wind was cold.

The boy nodded.

"Let’s just wait here for a while. He’ll probably give up and leave soon."

"And what if he doesn’t?"

"Then we’ll call the police and wait. I doubt he’d dare to hang around the school." As he spoke, the boy pulled out his phone and pressed the power button a few times. A moment later, he said awkwardly, "Crap, I just remembered my phone’s dead... I guess we’ll just have to tough it out."

The situation, once safe, grew tense again. It was as if the man had heard their conversation; not only did he not leave, he began throwing his weight against the door with even more force.

The door was only made of plywood. It was good enough to deter mischievous students, but it wouldn’t last long against a grown man ramming it with his full body weight.

The boy and girl had obviously realized this. After a moment of silence, Gu Qiuyan asked:

"So... what happens when he breaks the door down?"

As if her words were a command, there was a loud CRACK, and a fissure split the door panel.

Zhang Shutong whispered:

"Like I said, he’s not going to give up easily. The question is how long this door can hold out..."

He jinxed it. The words had barely left his lips when the door, unable to take any more abuse, finally BANGED open as the man crashed through.

"Nowhere left to run, is there?" the man panted, finally forcing a cold sneer through gritted teeth.

There on the rooftop, all he could see were the boy and the girl.

"What do we do? What do we do?"

They retreated step by step, Gu Qiuyan anxiously shooting meaningful glances at Zhang Shutong.

Zhang Shutong knew why she was so anxious—

So, he braced himself and, with a deadpan expression, committed to playing his part:

"Don’t worry. I’ve still got an ace up my sleeve."

The girl, just as he’d expected, burst out laughing. At the same moment, the boy yelled out to the side:

"If you don’t come out now, someone’s gonna get killed!"

The man stared, dumbfounded, as four figures suddenly emerged from behind the stairwell enclosure, appearing on the once-empty rooftop.

Zhang Shutong played his four cards all at once:

One adult and three students.

It was none other than Zhang Shutong’s homeroom teacher and his posse.

Who knows how long they’d been lying in wait, every one of them itching for action.

They were never afraid of outnumbering the enemy. In an instant, the tables had turned.

"I was about to go crazy holding still, Shutong! What took you so long to give the signal?" That was Du Kang.

"You two looked like a couple of idiots just now." That was Ruoping.

"A man’s gotta have an ace up his sleeve. So cool!" That was Qingyi, who shot him a thumbs-up.

Zhang Shutong returned the thumbs-up, then turned to Gu Qiuyan. "Hear that, you goof?"

"You’re terrible..." Gu Qiuyan said, her body trembling with laughter.

Zhang Shutong reminded her that it wasn’t time to get complacent yet.

"See? The guy’s doing exactly what I said he would. He’s starting to hesitate again. If he were thinking fast, he could still grab a hostage."

Zhang Shutong pointed in Ruoping’s direction.

"Ruoping’s the closest to him. If he made a move, he could probably catch us off guard. Not that he will—the chances of that are basically zero."

"Why?"

"He’s kept his face hidden this whole time. Why would he risk everything now instead of just running for it? It’s not like he’s going to get his hands on *you*. Besides, his personality gives him away. He likes to operate from the shadows, that much is true. To put it nicely, he’s opportunistic. To put it bluntly, he’s timid and indecisive. I told you, I’ve already figured out his every move. If you don’t believe me, just watch—"

Sure enough, the man subconsciously touched the mask on his face, glanced around warily, and started backing away step by step.

"But if he runs, then all this will have been for nothing." Gu Qiuyan was playing the part of the perfect hype man, bouncing on her toes like a giddy fangirl. "Come on, think of something! You’ve got another ace up your sleeve, right?"

Zhang Shutong sighed in resignation.

"Can’t you let me have this one cool moment at the end?"

"Play your card!"

’I really regret agreeing to this,’ Zhang Shutong thought.

Gu Qiuyan’s smile was radiant. Zhang Shutong rolled his eyes and called out to the man, "Hold on a second there, killer."

’Honestly,’ he thought, ’pleasing the audience is way harder than catching the killer.’

’But then, who was it that just so casually said that the little details don’t matter, the killer doesn’t matter, and whether the guy is smart or not doesn’t matter? That he’d already figured out every single move the man would make? And what was the important thing? His half-watched *Roman Holiday* gave him the answer: making the princess happy.’

As the man’s retreating footsteps came to a halt, he muttered:

"Oh, apologies. It seems I just keep finding more aces up my sleeve... Du Kang, bring his son up."

"You got it!"

Another boy dragged a shadowy figure out from behind the stairwell enclosure.

Zhang Shutong considerately shone a light on them, allowing the father and son to have their reunion.

"What are you doing here? You told me you were going to dinner with your teacher!" The man was finally panicking.

"Dad... they knew the whole time. This was all just a show for us..."

"How did they find you?!" the man growled in disbelief, his eyes instinctively snapping to Zhang Shutong.

’And at this moment, the line he had been waiting so long to deliver could finally be used.’

But for some reason, the prospect suddenly felt hollow.

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