Winter Time Rendering

Chapter 177: Chapter 75: Revisiting the Villa_3

She always liked to use particles at the end of her sentences, sometimes sounding imperious, other times soft and gentle.

Only then did Zhang Shutong remember he still hadn’t added the profile with the sheep-and-cloud avatar to his friends list. And to think he’d been calling her by the nickname "Endless Autumn Rain" all this time.

The two added each other as friends. He suddenly remembered he should ask for her phone number to make contacting her easier in the future. And just like that, "New Peach, Old Talisman" and "Endless Autumn Rain" had successfully established diplomatic relations.

Zhang Shutong waited for a while:

"Where’s the picture?"

"I didn’t take one," Gu Qiuyan said with a giggle. "Silly, I’ll take it tomorrow."

Zhang Shutong thought she was being childish. So all that talk about the mug was just to get his QQ number.

’She could have just asked directly.’

The rest of the drive passed in this light and cheerful atmosphere. They were about to turn onto the mountain road leading to the villa when the car suddenly jolted as if it had run over something, startling all three of them.

Song instinctively slammed on the brakes. The rear of the car fishtailed in the snow, on the verge of spinning out of control. He cursed, quickly gripping the steering wheel to regain control, and managed to bring the car to a stop on the side of the road, just barely.

Zhang Shutong got out of the car with him. The two men went to take a closer look and found a sizable pothole. It had been covered by snow, so they hadn’t seen it. The sudden jolt came when the wheel fell in.

"That scared me," Song Nanshan said, still shaken. "We were almost there. We nearly had an accident..."

Zhang Shutong, however, crouched down to inspect it, confirming that it wasn’t a man-made trap but a pothole from disrepair.

He glanced around. The area was a stretch of wasteland. He vaguely recalled that this road was indeed in bad shape. He had been here by car three times before, but he’d been too busy talking with Song to pay attention to the road conditions. He did remember the ride being very bumpy, though.

"Let’s go, Shutong. What are you spacing out for?"

Song was already waving at him. Zhang Shutong hurried back to the car.

For the rest of the way, Song Nanshan drove even more cautiously. A trip that should have taken seven or eight minutes ended up taking twice as long.

The brilliantly lit villa was enclosed by an iron fence, looking like a palace deep in the mountains. By the time the car pulled up to the main gate, the sky was nearly dark.

Song parked the car. Gu Qiuyan made a call, and the housekeeper, Aunt Wu, came out with a few umbrellas.

Zhang Shutong stood by the main gate, holding an umbrella. It was an electric gate, fitted with a security camera. As for the height... he estimated it was over two meters tall. A coil of barbed wire was wrapped around the top, which he guessed was electrified. It would be difficult to climb over.

Gu Qiumian urged him to hurry inside. Zhang Shutong casually replied, "You guys go ahead. I’m going to walk around the yard for a bit."

Gu Qiumian wasn’t happy about that. "You’re so annoying. Why do you have to wander around when it’s snowing?" Despite her words, she said in a huff, "Come on, I’ll show you around."

The two of them went to the backyard under their umbrellas. The backyard had an artificial lawn. He turned on his phone’s flashlight and walked over to the backyard fence through the falling snow.

Zhang Shutong studied it carefully for a moment and saw that the entire perimeter was the same.

Gu Qiumian couldn’t help but ask, "Why are you so focused on studying the fence?"

Zhang Shutong couldn’t answer. ’I’d like to study your front door, too,’ he thought.

He looked it over several times, at least confirming that the villa’s "security system" had no loopholes. He then crouched down; the few potted plants by the fence were also completely intact. By now, Gu Qiumian was getting impatient. She stomped her feet and said, "Hurry up, I’m cold..."

Zhang Shutong didn’t actually need her to accompany him, but he was afraid she’d get cold, so he nodded, ready to head back.

He had just stood up and taken a step forward when a dog suddenly barked, startling him so badly that his hand trembled. A large black dog shot out, its back arched in an attack posture. Gu Qiumian had already stepped in front of him. "What are you doing out here?" she said to the dog. "Go back, go back!"

Then she turned to comfort him:

"Don’t be scared, he’s on a leash. I forgot to tell you..."

Zhang Shutong let out a breath, his muscles gradually relaxing.

He was actually quite afraid of dogs. He’d been bitten as a child, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a childhood trauma.

’Now the young lady had saved him again. Even though it was her dog, she was still pretty considerate, wasn’t she?’

The Doberman was obedient enough not to growl again, instead just circling in front of the two of them.

It was wary of the stranger.

But this stranger was standing right next to its owner, and its owner was even blocking its path. For a moment, the dog couldn’t make sense of the situation.

The Doberman tilted its head, looking at Zhang Shutong.

Zhang Shutong tilted his head back, looking at it.

’Looks like I saved you this time,’ he thought.

’A small, unexpected pleasure, I guess.’

Afterward, the two of them returned to the villa. It was indeed huge—so large that the front door was wide enough for two people to enter shoulder to shoulder.

The moment the door opened, warmth and light washed over them.

The moment it closed, the cold, snowy night seemed to vanish.

It was as if returning to this warm, bright place made it her home turf. Gu Qiumian kicked off her little boots and shouted:

"Aunt Wu, we’re back—"

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