"A little lower. Yes, right there is fine..."
"The color for the blackboard display? Use red. Pink doesn't look good, and don't pair it with green. Who came up with the red-and-green combo last year? It was ugly as hell."
At that moment, someone raised their hand and asked:
"Monitor, what was your class's theme last year? Let's not repeat it today."
"I forgot. Just make up a story," she said nononchalantly. "I just want it to look good."
"What about the Christmas tree then? What are we hanging on it? There's only one star right now."
"Everyone bring your own things—chocolates, apples, pinecones, candies, bells. Let the classmates improvise. I'm only responsible for the star at the very top."
"Alright." At this point, Gu Qiumian clapped her hands. "Let's stop here for now. Clean up what's on hand and go have lunch."
The crowd nodded in agreement. Some were picking out chalk colors, some were sketching outlines on the blackboard, some were pasting paper cuttings on the windows, and others were sweeping up the leaves on the floor.
The classroom in the afternoon was a bustling scene of activity. The young girl arranged the work before her, then turned her head, the ornament at the end of her hair swinging with her movement—
"The star is crooked!"
Zhang Shutong turned his head helplessly:
"Is this fine?"
Gu Qiumian crossed her arms and thought for a moment:
"A little lower."
"How about this?" Zhang Shutong stood on tiptoe, making an effort to adjust it several times.
"Hmm... it seems the position just now looked better?"
Such freezing words issued from her rosy lips.
"...Then like this?"
"That works."
Serving the young mistress wasn't easy. Zhang Shutong breathed a sigh of relief and jumped down from the chair.
December 17, Monday, Class 2 of the fourth year of junior high.
As the saying goes, the duck is the first to know when the spring river water warms up. The first places on the island where one could feel the Christmas atmosphere, aside from that shopping mall, were the schools.
Looking at the Christmas tree before him, Zhang Shutong could hardly believe it was a real tree. The species was a fir, reportedly the tree species used most often each year to make Christmas trees worldwide.
Not long ago, it had been carried into the classroom by several workers and placed against the back wall. It was fully over two meters tall, its top almost touching the ceiling.
Even so, this was already the most pocket-sized model among firs. If the fourth year hadn't been on the fourth floor, making oversized volumes difficult to transport, it might have been several meters taller than this.
When he first saw it, Zhang Shutong had been so startled his mouth hung open. Hey, hey, in my memory, a Christmas tree should be those plastic, fake trees that are only as tall as a child, with random gift boxes hung on them and stuffed with filler foam. Since when could real trees be seen on the island?
But the people around him were accustomed to it. He asked around indirectly and only then found out that the eldest young mistress Gu had paid out of her own pocket—this, of course, was also something that happened after her interpersonal relationships changed. Every Christmas, Gu Qiumian would transport a Christmas tree from outside the island to place in the classroom.
Only the class she was in had this privilege. The other three classes were at most permitted to produce a version of a blackboard display or bring small items to either decorate the classroom or give to friends.
She liked celebrating Christmas, and the students in the same class could join in the fun. Sharing joy was better than keeping it to oneself, so no one would gossip.
The only one suffering was Zhang Shutong.
Strictly speaking, a student from Class 1 shouldn't run over to Class 2 to help. Moreover, hanging a star at the top of a tree was a trivial matter, and Monitor Gu certainly didn't lack manpower. Those volunteering were as numerous as perches crossing a river, but the monitor insisted on using no one but him. Her exact words were: Who told you to be so tall?
"Actually, I still think it looks better higher up."
Gu Qiumian was deep in thought. Zhang Shutong made a move to leave... Well, running away wasn't an option. Acting as an advisor beside the young mistress, he said:
"It's because you're standing too far away. If it's hung too high, you won't be able to see it standing under the tree."
"Alright, alright," she sighed. "You're so lazy."
"Yes, yes."
"I'm leaving first. Shihan, you watch over them as they clean up."
The girl named Shihan was the vice monitor. With that, the young mistress waved her hand and pulled her Pokémon out of the classroom.
When passing Class 1, she asked curiously:
"Does Class 1 not even decorate the outer wall this year?"
"Nothing at all." Zhang Shutong glanced over. "The homeroom teacher won't allow it."
"So I let you come to Class 2 to experience it."
"You are truly wise."
"Naturally," she hummed.
"Oh right, what are we having for lunch? Have you thought about it yet?" Gu Qiumian urged again.
Do you want to eat Kentuckey? Just as Zhang Shutong uttered the first syllable, he saw Gu Qiumian raise her eyebrows demonstratively. She looks quite pretty today, Zhang Shutong thought to himself.
"Qing Yi and the others have booked a place, a small restaurant." Zhang Shutong stopped joking.
Gu Qiumian, however, was a little displeased. "Didn't you say during the long recess that you had something important to discuss with me?"
"It is quite important. But it's not very convenient here. Let's talk when we arrive."
They planned to hold a temporary brief meeting at noon.
There were five people in total, including Zhang Shutong.
Although Ruoping's matter couldn't be discussed on the way, Zhang Shutong could bring up something else:
"Are any of your family's bodyguards or drivers free lately?"
"What's wrong?"
"To borrow some manpower. Can you make the call?"
"First tell me what you're stirring up again?"
"It's not stirring things up," Zhang Shutong explained. "Hmm... let me ask you a question. Do you still remember back in the first year of junior high, Ruoping brought you a bag of gold coin chocolates, and the next day you returned a box to her?"
"What about it?" Gu Qiumian looked at him sideways.
Zhang Shutong wanted to hint at the timeline before it was changed, so she would be prepared for the upcoming topic.
But before he could speak, Gu Qiumian began to settle old scores:
"Oh, I remember. I gave you a piece back then too. Why didn't you want it?"
"I don't like sweets." Heaven knew why he hadn't accepted it. "Let's not talk about that for now. Suppose Ruoping hadn't accepted your chocolates the next day?"
Zhang Shutong said carefully:
"What I mean is, could it be something like a butterfly effect? If she hadn't accepted the chocolates, it would have led to the class isolating you, and then your popularity in class over the past few years wouldn't have been too great, leaving you with not many frie..."
"You're the one with bad popularity! You're the one with bad popularity!" Gu Qiumian was instantly displeased, her eyes glaring, feeling that he was making fun of her.
Zhang Shutong felt somewhat helpless. Afterwards, he thought it over and felt it was enough to just tell Gu Qiumian about the foxes, leaving the dark history unmentioned for now.
"Let me tell you something, prepare yourself mentally." Now that they had walked into the campus yard where there weren't many people around, Zhang Shutong leaned into her ear and whispered, "I recently discovered a secret. Aside from snakes, there are actually legends of foxes on the island."
Gu Qiumian blushed.
She was the first one to get shy upon hearing about foxes.
Zhang Shutong waved his hand in front of her eyes and was glared at by her.
"And then?"
"And then we were looking for the foxes yesterday." Zhang Shutong held up two fingers. "We've already found two. My mom discovered one, and Ruoping discovered one."
Gu Qiumian didn't care how many statues had been found; she was still pondering the legend of the foxes:
"Why do I feel... like I've heard this from somewhere before?"
Zhang Shutong asked in surprise:
"You've heard it? Before or after you transferred schools?"
"I forgot." Gu Qiumian knit her brows. "Where did you hear about it anyway?"
"Uh, from a stu... a tourist."
"So what? What does this have to do with bodyguards?"
"Because of the fox matter, Ruoping is in some danger."
It wasn't easy for Zhang Shutong to directly tell her the functions of the two statues. He planned to find an opportunity to transition slowly; coming right out with changing the past and predicting the future would easily leave someone dazed.
"You can understand it as another man of unknown identity who is also looking for the fox statues, and he left behind some... threats?"
"I don't quite understand."
"It's precisely because it's unclear that it's worrying." What Zhang Shutong said next was the truth. "I'm not sure why that person is looking for the foxes either. He left some clues. When deciphered, the general idea is that he's coming to find Ruoping within a week. It's quite terrifying."
"Could it involve some conflicts in belief?" Gu Qiumian worried instead. "Don't take it lightly, this is no joke."
"Who knows, so I'm asking you for a favor."
"You remember me at a time like this. Why didn't you tell me when you were looking for the foxes?"
"There wasn't time..." Zhang Shutong defended himself. "Yesterday was too busy."
"Che. How can I help?"
"Inside the school is fine, it's mainly on the way to and from school." Zhang Shutong thought for a moment. "Of course, we can't be too passive either. It's best to find a way to track him down."
"How do you know it's a man?"
Zhang Shutong explained yesterday's events to her once:
"Unfortunately, there aren't many clues."
In the end, Gu Qiumian didn't say whether she would help or not. They got into the car, and the driver drove toward the small restaurant. The two tacitly stopped the topic of the foxes.
After a while, Gu Qiumian cleared her throat:
"Christmas—"
She drew out the last word, and Zhang Shutong knew she was waiting for him to pick up the cue:
"Oh, Christmas."
"I am asking you what plans you have for Christmas?"
"Haven't thought about it yet."
Zhang Shutong remembered that last year's Christmas fell on a weekend, and their family had gone to the city for dinner:
"Probably a dinner gathering with friends in the evening."
"From that matter you mentioned until Christmas, it seems to be exactly one week."
"Oh, it really is."
"A week goes by very fast."
Zhang Shutong understood:
"A treated dinner, you'll decide on the place when the time comes?"
The corner of Gu Qiumian's lips turned down—that was the expression used when looking at an idiot:
"You..."
She took a deep breath:
"Why do you anger people every single day?"
Zhang Shutong really felt he was a bit innocent. "Where is the 'every day'? At least not yesterday."
"Who says you didn't yesterday?" It was proven that when a woman gets angry, she is an irrational creature. "You angered me in my dream!"
"That counts too?"
Zhang Shutong thought to himself, Gu Qiumian, how have you been corrupted by me to dream as well?
Zhang Shutong didn't lower himself to her level, but merely asked what kind of dream it was exactly, so a person could at least die with a clear understanding.
But Gu Qiumian just glanced at her own legs; she was wearing jeans today, her legs slender and straight.
The young girl's face flushed:
"Not telling you!"
Zhang Shutong was truly a bit dazed.
...
When they entered the private room, the other three had already arrived. It was a stir-fry restaurant with only two private rooms. Zhang Shutong greeted them, and Gu Qiumian also waved her hand as a greeting. She whispered in his ear:
"By the way, does Lu Qinglian know about the foxes? Isn't she the temple keeper of the Green Snake Temple?"
"She knows even less than you do."
Zhang Shutong had wanted to call her out at noon too, but unfortunately, he didn't have that much face.
Gu Qiumian nodded, and the two subsequently took their seats. Zhang Shutong unwrapped the plastic-sealed tableware, rinsed the bowl and chopsticks with hot water, and pushed them in front of Gu Qiumian.
Zhang Shutong noticed everyone was staring at him:
"What's wrong, haven't you ordered?"
"We did, we did." Du Kang said strangely. "So, Shutong, how went the discussion?"
"No problem on my side," Gu Qiumian said.
"That's good," Qing Yi glanced at Ruoping. "It just so happens everyone is gathered today, so I'll briefly introduce our plan for this week. First, at school, the three of us boys will watch over you. Is that fine?"
"There's a problem." Ruoping slumped listlessly on the table.
"What?"
"When I go to the restroom, there is really, really no need to follow me..."
"Oh, we'll note that for next time," Qing Yi said calmly. "Next is the whereabouts of those two fox statues. They'll be kept at the 'base.' Any objections to this?"
Zhang Shutong nodded.
He had originally wanted to keep them at his own house, but even if he didn't consider himself, he had to consider his mom. After thinking it over, they could only be placed at the base. Du Kang had even suggested hiding them in the doghouse; Zhang Shutong felt the inertia of history was very powerful.
Gu Qiumian whispered again:
"What is the base?"
Zhang Shutong was about to say you've been there, before remembering it was that time they caught Zhou Ziheng and his son:
"A large drainage tunnel with a safe inside."
She nodded again, seemingly finding it quite thrilling. This was her first time participating in this kind of matter:
"How big are the two fox statues?"
"I'll take a photo for you later."
"And then there's Shutong..."
"Yeah, I've already contacted the police, but don't hold out too much hope."
"Then finally, it's Ruoping herself. It's best not to go out casually these few days."
"Not even on the weekend?" Ruoping asked weakly, currently feeling her momentum was naturally a head shorter. "I still wanted to buy some Christmas decorations."
"Overruled," the three boys said simultaneously.
Du Kang added:
"For these few days, it's best to bring lunch from home. If you're craving something, tell us and we'll bring it to you. Also, it would be better to find a hat to wear."
"Received..."
The plan was more or less set like this, and the five quickly finished their meal. At the dining table, Gu Qiumian went out to make a phone call. Upon returning, she waved her phone:
"Settled."
...
When they returned to the classroom again, Lu Qinglian was reading a book at her desk.
By the look of it, she had just eaten and come down from the rooftop.
Zhang Shutong offered a greeting:
"We've finished our discussion over here. Sorry to trouble you next."
Lu Qinglian flipped a page of her book and gave a faint nod.
"But do you really not need to buy a new piece of clothing?"
"Wearing Student Feng Ruoping's is enough."
"What about shoes then? You can't wear old ones either. It just so happens..."
Lu Qinglian interrupted expressionlessly:
"Student Zhang Shutong, you have already mentioned the matter of shoes three times today. You had better..."
Zhang Shutong thought to himself, that's because my house really has a pair of boots. He shifted the topic:
"Let's go to the commercial street after school to take a look. I remember they sell wigs there, so it won't come to actually cutting your hair."
Lu Qinglian made no indication.
But regardless of whether she indicated anything or not, the two actually had another arrangement.
Hiding forever wasn't a solution—
And that was to draw the snake from its hole.