The moment Zhang Shutong closed the car door, before he could even react, the small car had already started moving.
It felt like boarding an unlicensed taxi.
The unlicensed taxi driver even had the mood to fan the flames:
"Shutong, how come it looks like you still wanted to get out? Are you afraid of me or afraid of Qiumian?"
Of course I'm afraid of both of you.
Hearing this, Gu Qiumian couldn't sit still either, glaring at him:
"Teacher, didn't you say you were going to buy some food? How did you end up bringing him along too?"
"Ahem, I really do have business with Shutong, but don't I have to take you home first? It would be too late to go back and find him afterward, so I just brought him along."
Zhang Shutong finally understood where that earlier displeased glance had come from.
But the young miss's performance was relatively composed. She just lowered her head without speaking, reaching one hand under the seat, fumbling around for quite a while.
After the car had been driving for a bit, Zhang Shutong finally understood what she was researching: she was actually studying the chair—or rather, how to adjust the seat. But she didn't ask, just fiddled with it on her own. After struggling for ages, the car suddenly accelerated sharply. Accompanied by the girl's surprised cry, perhaps having accidentally touched something, she and the chair reclined backward together.
This was just a two-door hatchback to begin with, so naturally the seat couldn't be very high. Her scarf went flying, along with her hair. With this recline, Gu Qiumian landed right on Zhang Shutong's legs across the chair back. Her flying scarf covered her face, leaving only a pair of beautiful eyes exposed.
The girl's hair was somewhat disheveled, with a strand hanging in front of her eyes. The two of them stared eye to eye, face to face at very close distance for two seconds. Suddenly Gu Qiumian's eyes widened, and Zhang Shutong looked away. From the corner of his eye, he saw her brace herself with both hands, flailing about as she struggled to sit back up.
After finally returning to position, she held it in for a moment before muttering:
"How do you move this seat forward? I've never seen a manual one before."
"Oh, it's right under the seat, there's a lever. Just pull up." Teacher Song's smile was practically overflowing.
Gu Qiumian then pulled the seat forward forcefully. The space for Zhang Shutong's knees was finally liberated by a section—though it only meant he didn't have to sit sideways anymore; he still had to press against Gu Qiumian's chair back.
Only then did Zhang Shutong realize she wanted to move forward a bit, but somehow had adjusted the backrest instead. He thanked Miss Gu, but heard Gu Qiumian say, "I just found you pressing against me uncomfortable."
But before she finished speaking, the girl and seat suddenly came sliding backward along the track again. The space that had just become somewhat spacious became cramped once more. Zhang Shutong didn't quite understand what she meant, only hearing Gu Qiumian sound somewhat embarrassed:
"I pulled too hard just now. Geez, why do you take up so much space..."
As if the person sitting behind her was some kind of cargo. As she spoke, she grunted and moved forward a tiny bit, then slid back, adjusting back and forth several times before finally settling.
The car cabin finally quieted down.
Zhang Shutong more or less understood Teacher Song's meaning—probably seeing how "actively" he was solving the case, he simply brought him along when taking Gu Qiumian home.
Speaking of which, it turned out that Father Gu hadn't been home these past few days, and Teacher Song had been the one picking up and dropping off Gu Qiumian.
Mentioning Father Gu, Zhang Shutong asked Song Nanshan again:
"Did you tell her dad about this afternoon?"
But Teacher Song just laughed:
"See, Qiumian, this kid is more anxious than you are..."
Hearing this, Zhang Shutong was speechless. He originally thought Miss Gu wouldn't have anything nice to say either, but unexpectedly Gu Qiumian turned her face away, silently looking out the window. She seemed to act this way every time her father was mentioned.
The result was that neither of them picked up his thread.
Teacher Song had no choice but to smooth things over:
"I told him, I told him. Just leave it to the adults to handle, don't worry. Besides, I've dealt with Li Yipeng's mother before. That person is just... anyway, when her emotions get going, she'll say anything. If it weren't for Qiumian's dad being away these few days, I wouldn't even want to tell her, to spare her the bad mood."
But as he said this, Zhang Shutong saw him wink in the rearview mirror.
Zhang Shutong suddenly realized that what Teacher Song called "real business" might truly not be just taking Gu Qiumian home—there might be something else. So he shut his mouth and asked no more questions.
Teacher Song laughed and said, since they'd left school, they should be happy. Have a good time over the weekend—your teacher specially approves that you two don't need to do homework this week.
After speaking, he turned on the radio, which happened to be playing a song.
Zhang Shutong had nothing more to say. He stared out the window. Outside, there were many people stopping and starting. The car's soundproofing wasn't great, yet there was a feeling of being isolated from the outside world.
The warm air from the heater made people drowsy. Mixed in the hot air were waves of fragrance. This scent couldn't possibly be from Teacher Song's car—it was brought in by Gu Qiumian.
Zhang Shutong couldn't tell if it came from her clothes, her hair, or somewhere else. He was slow to scents—perfume smelled nice, laundry detergent smelled nice, body wash naturally also smelled nice.
Only now did he realize he was very close to Gu Qiumian. They'd already been deskmates for two days, yet he hadn't had this feeling during that time. Perhaps it was the cramped car cabin that amplified this point.
The red Focus hatchback slowly drove along the road, with trees and pedestrians on both sides slowly receding.
Within a few miles radius of the school gate, crowds flowed like weaving. Song Nanshan was clearly an experienced hand—downshifting, upshifting, releasing throttle, adding throttle. His temper was quick, occasionally honking the horn a few times. The car was like an oiled fish in his hands, threading through the dense crowds.
The naturally aspirated engine's high-pitched humming wasn't exactly pleasant, but it wasn't unpleasant either.
For a moment the car was silent. They had many things to say outside the car, but once inside they became speechless.
Faint tobacco and fragrance smells ran wild in his nose. An old song drifted by his ears—it should be Zheng Jun's "Elopement":
Leave love to the most sincere girl by my side;
You accompany me singing, you accompany me wandering, accompany me to mutual destruction;
Only now do I suddenly understand;
What I dream of is true love and freedom;
Want to take you and elope...
Teacher Song's fingers lightly tapped on the steering wheel, humming along with the melody, very much having the intention of driving his little car to elope with his beloved girl. He was perfectly at ease, not caring whether the remaining two were willing or not.
But this song really wasn't appropriate for the occasion. Wouldn't playing anything be better than "Elopement"? Wasn't he supposed to be taking Gu Qiumian home? How did it become an elopement? Besides, an elopement should be a matter between two people, yet the cramped car cabin clearly held three people. It was truly a strange combination:
An adult sat in the driver's seat, a girl sat in the passenger seat, a boy crouched sideways in the back row—because his legs were long.
Today was Friday, December 7th. Zhang Shutong had looked at the calendar many times and definitely wouldn't remember wrong. Three days later on Monday, the girl named Gu Qiumian would disappear on that very day. Her body would be discovered in the waters called the "Forbidden Zone." What exactly she encountered that weekend could no longer be verified.
And now the girl sat in front of Zhang Shutong. Sometimes she looked out the window, sometimes glanced at the radio. The car's speakers had some distortion. When Zheng Jun bellowed out "just take you and elope," she bore the brunt of it, always frowning.
The weather was truly cold. Even with the windows closed, she was frozen until even her ear tips turned red.