Winter Time Rendering

Chapter 190: Chapter 82: The Princess-like Girl (Part 2)

When she was truly angry, she didn’t glare or fly into a rage. She just became indifferent.

Zhang Shutong apologized first. It was hard to say who was right or wrong in this situation, but what did it matter? Apologizing was never the wrong move.

You couldn’t exactly say Gu Qiuyan was being unreasonable. Regardless of whether he was in the mood or not, he should have gone downstairs to watch the movie with her. That way, everyone would have been happy.

So he took the initiative, stepping out of his room to go downstairs with Gu Qiuyan. But to his surprise, the girl didn’t move. She blocked him in the doorway and said coldly:

"I’m not asking you to watch a movie. The TV is off, the lights are out, and Teacher Song has gone to bed. Since you didn’t have time to come downstairs, I took the liberty of coming to find you. Is that all right?"

Zhang Shutong froze. ’The TV’s off? Then what are you here for?’

No wonder she’d come back after just a few minutes. It wasn’t that she’d come to get him halfway through the movie. She had used that time to take care of things downstairs.

Zhang Shutong could only speak up again. "I’m sorry for ruining your mood."

"I came to settle the score with you," she said with a frown, then added, "This has nothing to do with the movie."

The hallway fell silent again. Zhang Shutong had no idea what she meant.

Just as the old saying goes, Gu Qiuyan had always been a girl he couldn’t figure out. He’d gotten a little ahead of himself lately, thinking that after being her lackey for so many days, he finally understood what the young miss was thinking. In reality, he still didn’t have a clue.

"Let me in first." She’d dropped the polite softeners from the end of her sentences. Fortunately, she was still in the mood to glare at him.

Zhang Shutong stepped aside, watching the girl walk into his room. But that wasn’t quite right. It was more like the young miss was gracing her own territory with her presence; this wasn’t Zhang Shutong’s room at all.

The guest room was better furnished than a hotel, with a desk and chair set and a small sofa. Zhang Shutong sat on the edge of the bed and watched her sit primly on the sofa, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Zhang Shutong had braced himself for a scolding, though he couldn’t quite imagine what Gu Qiuyan sounded like when she was cussing someone out. ’Wait, she actually has yelled at me before. And it was me she was yelling at.’

Back during the scarf incident, she had said:

"Disgusting!" "I hate people who do things and won’t admit it!" "Fine, if you won’t admit it, don’t your parents work for my dad? I’ll go tell him!"

And so on.

Thinking about it, it had been a long time since she’d yelled at him—at least eight years.

"Do you think I’m easy to fool?" To his surprise, this was Gu Qiuyan’s opening line.

"No." ’Actually, you’re pretty easy to fool.’

"Then look me in the eyes."

’Why is it always about looking into her eyes...’

Zhang Shutong tilted his head and looked at her. ’I could look at them a hundred more times and it wouldn’t change anything. I get it, your eyes are beautiful and your eyelashes are thick, okay?’ He tried to lighten the mood, but Gu Qiuyan enunciated each word slowly:

"Are you hiding something from me?"

"Er..."

"You suddenly ran upstairs during the movie and made a secretive phone call. Tonight was the same—you insisted on wandering around that patch of wilderness. You were restless on the way back, and you didn’t even notice your hair was soaked." Gu Qiuyan was also staring into his eyes, making Zhang Shutong instinctively look away, but the girl was relentless. "Teacher Song kept asking me if I was scared in the car. It was about this, wasn’t it?"

"About that..."

’You’ve really got this wrong.’

Zhang Shutong didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The only reason Song had asked if she was scared was because he, Zhang Shutong, had told a little lie—that she was so frightened by the snake she couldn’t sleep.

But the atmosphere was too serious for jokes, even from a lackey like him.

Gu Qiuyan’s face was stern.

"It’s about me, and it must be something serious, right? You haven’t been acting right all evening. You were always studying my family’s gates. I noticed a long time ago. How long were you planning to hide this from me?"

This time, she wasn’t glaring or throwing a petty tantrum. She was just earnestly making him look her in the eyes.

But Zhang Shutong couldn’t bring himself to speak.

"I’m angry with you right now!" the young miss emphasized.

Zhang Shutong apologized yet again. "I shouldn’t have been acting so crazy tonight. I made everyone unhappy."

But as soon as he said that, Gu Qiuyan’s tone grew even colder.

"Who said this was about the movie? I didn’t want to expose you, but since you won’t admit it, I’ll just say it. Are you still worried someone is trying to get revenge on me, and have you been investigating it?"

Her words were shocking, giving Zhang Shutong no time to react.

"Am I right?"

He could only nod.

But at the same time, he was even more bewildered.

’If you could guess that I’m trying to protect you, then why are you still angry?’

’Do you think I’m being a busybody?’

He had just watched a Zhou Xingchi movie, so he quickly found a fitting adjective. Okay, putting himself in her shoes, if someone came snooping around his house and meddling in his affairs for such an absurd reason, Zhang Shutong wouldn’t be happy either.

He decided to just shut up and await his orders.

Gu Qiuyan finally glared.

"Did you really think you were hiding it well? That I’m easy to fool? Let me tell you, you’re an idiot! A blockhead! A moron!"

’This is a little heartbreaking. Why am I getting yelled at for doing a good deed?’

The girl’s eyelashes were trembling.

"Why do you have to bottle everything up inside! Why do you try to carry everything on your own! Aren’t you tired, you idiot! You don’t even have time to relax and watch a movie. In your eyes, am I really so useless that you have to run around in the snow and get soaked to the bone just to protect me!"

Her lovely eyebrows finally furrowed together.

"That’s why I’m so angry right now! I’m so mad at you my stomach hurts!"

Zhang Shutong didn’t know what to say. He didn’t feel like his situation was as miserable as she made it sound. Besides, he’d already apologized three times. They say three times is enough for anything, and even he felt it was getting redundant.

Gu Qiuyan stared intently into his eyes, her chest rising and falling beneath her robe.

Zhang Shutong had to admit, he’d been completely misled by Song’s words. The old man had rambled on and on, but the one thing Zhang Shutong remembered clearly was that she was "silly." But that was completely, utterly wrong. She was a young miss, but she wasn’t some silly, sweet, and naive girl. She wasn’t just a little girl who would wrinkle her nose and glare, nor was she some tech-illiterate dunce who’d forget to turn off the flash when taking a picture. And she wasn’t just the girl who cried in the library with red-rimmed eyes. She was clearly smart and proud.

"Alright, I’ll give you one more chance."

She stood there in her wine-red velvet robe, with her raven-black hair and fair skin, looking like a beautiful and noble princess. From her lofty position, she issued an undeniable command:

"Tell me. I want to know!"

Zhang Shutong didn’t resist any longer. He sighed and cobbled together an excuse on the spot. Since he was making it up, it was bound to be ridiculous, but something was better than nothing.

Steeling himself, he explained that he’d had a dream. In the dream, it was a rainy night, and her family’s dog had been poisoned. Then a few men in a van pulled up to her gate, though he didn’t know what they were planning to do... As he spoke, Zhang Shutong couldn’t even continue. He felt his face flush. Who would believe such a flimsy story? He hadn’t believed in dreams since kindergarten.

But Gu Qiuyan got up from the sofa and sat down next to him.

She placed her hands on the edge of the bed and asked softly:

"Just because of that?"

"Just because of that." ’I should have just gone home, even if it meant trudging through the snow,’ Zhang Shutong thought. "...It’s ridiculous, I know, but I’m not trying to lie to you."

"I believe you." She shook her head. "Because I had a dream too... about that place we went to tonight. I think I’ve dreamed of it... that I’ve really been there before."

Zhang Shutong was stunned again.

’Why would Gu Qiuyan dream of the forbidden zone?’

’He’d used a dream as a cover for his time rewind, but what was her reason?’

Zhang Shutong quickly asked her if she remembered any other details, but Gu Qiuyan said she couldn’t recall clearly, only that it was very cold.

He was a little disappointed.

’Is the forbidden zone some kind of special place, for it to appear in Gu Qiuyan’s dream?’

’Or could her dream even transcend time and space, showing her a vision of when she was killed?’

’Or was it just a coincidence? There were plenty of wilderness areas on the island. Maybe she just had a sense of déjà vu from playing somewhere similar.’

A series of questions flooded his mind, and Zhang Shutong subconsciously tried to weigh their possibilities. He sat on the bed, hands clasped under his chin, staring blankly at the floor.

Just then, Gu Qiuyan leaned her head closer, her fragrance intensifying.

"So you’re still worried about other people, like the men in the van?"

Zhang Shutong nodded. Her face, which had been so icy just moments before, suddenly turned stern again.

"I told you you’re an idiot. Taking a dream so seriously, running all over the place because of it. Idiot!"

’She’s impossible to please,’ Zhang Shutong thought. ’I’m an idiot if I hide things from her, and I’m still an idiot if I don’t. When do I get to be the smart one?’

But Zhang Shutong was in no mood for such banter right now. Since he had told Gu Qiuyan what he was investigating, he had to use this opportunity to make her take it seriously. He turned to face the girl and said gravely:

"It might have been a dream, but don’t take it lightly. For the next few days, you listen to me."

But Gu Qiuyan didn’t say a word. She was staring at his chest, and the tips of her ears began to turn red. The only sound was their breathing, inches apart. Zhang Shutong looked down too. She was nearly a head shorter than him, and he realized her gaze was fixed right on his collarbone. They were a little too close. Though they were often this close as desk mates at school, back then they were in uniforms, not pajamas. Her stare made him a little uncomfortable, so he shifted back slightly.

"Got it?"

"Got what? I don’t get it!"

Gu Qiuyan glared again.

"Idiot! Blockhead!"

After saying that, she scrambled away, nearly tripping out of her slippers. The noble princess had become a princess in distress, utterly routed. The door slammed shut, and a moment later, her voice drifted in from outside:

"Don’t you dare hide things from me again!"

It took him a long moment to snap out of it. He scratched his messy hair and breathed a sigh of relief.

He’d finally passed this test.

Zhang Shutong turned to look out the window. The night was pitch-black, and the snow was still falling. In his eyes, the cold girl from before had melted away like a dancing snowflake. He thought to himself that Gu Qiuyan was still easy to fool.

His mood suddenly lightened. He stood up.

Lights out, into bed, off to sleep.

...

The snow, of course, was still falling.

Under the pitch-black night sky, a single lantern illuminated the small courtyard wall.

In the dead silence, with a CREAK, a young woman pushed open the courtyard gate. She used her umbrella to hook the lantern and extinguish it.

Outside the small temple known as the Cyan Snake Temple, the last speck of light vanished.

Darkness enveloped everything, vast and mysterious, making the young woman’s slender figure stand out even more.

The young woman walked through the swirling wind and snow. The hem of her clothes fluttered, and strands of her black hair danced in the wind, sticking to her face.

Soon, snow settled on her hair and shoulders. She merely glanced at the sky, frowned, and returned to the temple.

The light inside the temple was dim. A few candles flickered on their stands. The main doors were wide open, allowing the wind and snow to pour in, the flames faltering at her arrival.

The candlelight illuminated her eyes, which were as still and deep as an old well.

Droplets of water, carrying dust, soaked the bluestone floor. She casually set down her umbrella, closed the temple doors, and began walking again.

On the altar before her, three long sticks of incense were burning, their faint white smoke drifting through the air.

She walked up to the ancient statue and, with her fingernail, began to pick away at the wax seal over the snake’s eye, her gaze fixed upon it.

"As I thought..."

Lu Qinglian murmured to herself, her faint, indifferent voice quickly swallowed by the smoke and dust:

"This is the second time."

The night remained, ancient and unchanging.

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