Winter Time Rendering

Chapter 181: Chapter 78: A Handful of a Young Miss (Part 2)

"I drive around aimlessly all the time. You guys know that."

"Then... why would you go for a drive in that wasteland?" Zhang Shutong had substituted "that wasteland" for "the forbidden zone."

"What are you talking about? This island has plenty of wastelands. East, west, north, south—besides the mountains to the east, anywhere outside the city limits is pretty much the outskirts."

"Is that the only road?"

Song thought for a moment:

"If you mean a road a car can pass through, then yeah, that should be the only one. Remember the Ring Mountain Road we took to get here? There’s an intersection. You make a turn west onto a side road, then just follow the main road, and you’re there."

The villa was in the south, while the "forbidden zone" was in the west.

At this time, the Ring Lake Road from eight years in the future had not yet been built. Many places were still unpaved dirt roads.

Lost in thought, Zhang Shutong turned to ask Gu Qiuyan:

"Have you ever taken this road before? Or been to that place I mentioned?"

The girl shook her head. "You guys have been so secretive this whole time," she said. "What are you actually talking about?"

Song chuckled, but Zhang Shutong couldn’t bring himself to smile.

There were only two possibilities for how this cold case unfolded:

The killer took Gu Qiuyan to the forbidden zone.

Gu Qiuyan went to the forbidden zone herself.

’The former would require a vehicle, and not a bicycle or a motorcycle. If it was a car, then even without surveillance on this stretch of road, it must have left tire tracks.’

’It had rained the previous Friday, and Gu Qiuyan was murdered in the early hours of Sunday. That was just over a day later. The roads in the outskirts wouldn’t have been completely dry, and with the island’s humid climate, a car would have definitely left tire tracks.’

’If it was the latter... first, setting aside her motive for running out in the middle of the night, she didn’t even know where the "forbidden zone" was. How could she have possibly run there?’

On a clear day, that stretch of road took twenty minutes to drive, let alone walk.

The car drove on for a bit and soon reached the intersection Song had mentioned, the one where they’d hit a pothole earlier.

This time Song drove a bit more carefully, and luckily, the rest of the drive was uneventful. As he drove, he suddenly pulled the car over to the side of the road and killed the engine:

"You try. Weren’t you always bugging me about learning to drive?"

Zhang Shutong was a little surprised.

Song had already opened his door:

"Don’t just space out. I know you’ve been itching to try. You were watching me shift gears the whole time. We’ve got nothing to do tonight, and this is just a side road. You can’t drive fast in the snow anyway, so it’s the perfect chance for me to teach you how to start the car."

"You’re learning to drive?" Gu Qiuyan asked curiously.

Zhang Shutong nodded. "Don’t worry," he added, reassuring her. "I won’t drive fast."

’That should keep the young lady from throwing a fit and demanding to get out.’

He and Song switched seats. He took a deep breath. ’I didn’t think this day would come so soon.’

’It wasn’t that I wasn’t mentally prepared, I just didn’t expect Song to agree so readily.’

"First adjust the seat, and the rearview mirror. You’re tall, so leave about three fists of space above your head..." Just like a true teacher, Song Nanshan seamlessly switched into driving-instructor mode.

His subsequent instructions were also very professional:

"Seatbelt.

"Then think about what I taught you this afternoon. Ignition, then press the clutch, shift to first gear, release the handbrake. Don’t copy me and start in second gear, or you’ll definitely get chewed out when you take your license test..."

As he spoke, Song Nanshan started to mutter to himself:

"Maybe having you do all this right off the bat is a bit hard. Why don’t you get a feel for the gears first, so you don’t shift into the wrong one."

Zhang Shutong did as instructed and felt he had it down.

"You sure you’ve got it?"

"I’m sure," Zhang Shutong replied casually. He stared straight ahead. His movements were still a little unpracticed, but he wasn’t fumbling. As Zhang Shutong turned the key, Song was still chattering anxiously beside him:

"Don’t get cocky. Of course you remember it all while you’re sitting still. The moment the car starts moving, you’ll be totally lost. For your first time with a manual, not stalling is already a win. If you don’t believe me, just you watch... wait, what? You actually did it on your first try?"

Meanwhile, Zhang Shutong’s hands and feet moved in concert. Coordinating the brake and clutch, he smoothly shifted the gearbox into first. The engine gave a low hum. He released the handbrake, and the car immediately responded. Song’s face was a mask of astonishment:

"Not bad. I thought you were going to stall when you let out the clutch..."

The car was now idling. Zhang Shutong lightly tapped the gas and could almost feel the critical point where the engine engaged the wheels. The car lurched forward but he quickly brought it under control. He gave it more gas and smoothly shifted into second gear.

"Alright, keep going!" Song’s eyes lit up.

But Zhang Shutong couldn’t spare the focus to listen. His entire concentration was on taming the small machine beneath him—

’The steering wheel feels like an extension of my arms, the gas pedal an extension of my foot. I shifted into third, but seeing no need to speed in the snow, I tapped the brake to slow down. Song really knows his cars. This little Fox doesn’t have some badass, high-displacement engine, but it’s surprisingly nimble under my control.’

’I’ve always had a good memory and had mentally rehearsed the steps countless times since this afternoon. Now, I don’t even have to look at the gearstick, shifting instantly as I press the clutch without the slightest lurch.’

Zhang Shutong wasn’t one to overreach. He was perfectly happy just being able to drive the car smoothly and only planned on getting used to the lower gears today. But then Song suddenly cursed:

"You kid, did you just give it gas when you shifted?"

Zhang Shutong froze for a second, then nodded:

"Wasn’t I supposed to?"

’He’d suddenly recalled a technique Qingyi had mentioned, something called rev-match downshifting. It was supposed to increase the engine’s RPM to make overtaking easier... In any case, he hadn’t paid much attention to the theory back then, and there were no cars to overtake on this little road, but that didn’t stop him from giving it a try.’

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