Gu Qiumian's detached villa had four floors, with a large yard surrounding it, enclosed by iron railings.
The villa was built in a desolate, remote area where you could see the lake below. Perhaps the scenery was nice on clear days, but right now it only felt eerie.
Old Song was quite thoughtful—he knew to keep an umbrella in the car. He handed it to Gu Qiumian, and when the young girl asked if they wanted to come inside and sit for a while, the teacher and student both waved their hands simultaneously, saying it was too late, she should hurry back for dinner, and to contact them if anything came up.
They watched her walk into the light rain, standing for a moment in front of that black iron gate. It was actually an automatic gate—it beeped and opened. Gu Qiumian waved at the car, then turned and walked into the villa.
Lights were on inside the villa. Her family had a housekeeper, so she could have a hot meal as soon as she got home. What a fortunate thing that was.
Zhang Shutong had been foresighted enough to buy a steamed bun at the school gate. Old Song was in a worse state—he probably hadn't eaten well at lunch, and his stomach was growling with hunger. Zhang Shutong had expected they'd quickly find a restaurant, but who knew Old Song would pull the handbrake, lower the window, and turn off the car.
"Let me smoke before we go." The homeroom teacher waved his cigarette pack. He'd clearly been holding back the whole way. "You come up front too. Why are you still squeezing in the back seat? There's another umbrella under the car door."
Zhang Shutong also felt cramped, but he didn't need an umbrella. He braved the rain to change seats. With Gu Qiumian gone, the two men felt much more relaxed.
"Actually, I really do have something to tell you. I wasn't joking at lunch." Song Nanshan found his lighter, and a flame lit up in the dim space. "I contacted Qiumian's father at lunch today, but her dad can't make it back. The earliest would be Monday, so these few days... Hey, what are you spacing out about?"
Zhang Shutong was recalling Du Kang's words. He remembered Du Kang saying that Gu Qiumian had "disappeared" on Monday, but the actual report wasn't filed until Tuesday. He originally couldn't understand why they'd reported it a day late, but now he had the answer.
"What did her father say?"
"Her dad had anticipated it. He'll make arrangements."
"Is there anyone besides the housekeeper?"
"Not really. Mainly because Qiumian doesn't like having so many strangers around. He probably coordinated with Commercial Street or the police, right? Think about it—someone who runs a big business has weathered all kinds of storms. He's seen more than me, and more than you."
But Zhang Shutong said nothing.
"Alright, stop worrying about it. That's not what I wanted to talk to you about anyway. How come you didn't seize any of those opportunities I created for you just now?" Old Song pushed him with his shoulder, disappointed. "Should've been me who took the initiative to suggest taking you guys out to play tomorrow, and you just agree."
"Didn't she say she didn't want to go?" Zhang Shutong was thinking about something else and answered offhandedly.
"That's because you weren't proactive. The girl waited forever before saying that. Girls need to be pursued, you know." Old Song had become a relationship master now. "You don't believe me? I could call her right now, you ask her again, and Qiumian would probably agree."
"Let's just forget it."
"Don't you dare tell anyone outside that I taught you. What a waste of that face of yours." Old Song said with disdain.
Only then did Zhang Shutong snap back to attention, asking in puzzlement why the teacher was so enthusiastic about setting them up.
Old Song took a drag of his cigarette and said, "Your thoughts really aren't pure. When did I say anything about romantic stuff? I'm clearly just telling you to be friends. Friends, understand?"
Zhang Shutong pursed his lips without saying anything.
The cigarette wasn't even finished when Song Nanshan began reminiscing about his youth with some emotion, saying that back when he was in school, boys and girls had to be heavily guarded against each other just to say a word. If he could've sat in the same vehicle with a pretty girl going somewhere—forget a car, even a donkey-drawn cart would've made him overjoyed. And here Zhang Shutong was, not cherishing it.
Zhang Shutong really felt it was strange being lectured about relationship matters by him. Not that their respective positions made it inappropriate, but Old Song was single himself. If he really had this ability, it wouldn't be his turn to help Zhang Shutong—he'd already be running around with girls himself. But Zhang Shutong didn't say this in the end, just silently criticized him in his mind.
He urged Old Song to speak quickly if he had something to say. He still needed to go to Commercial Street in a bit.
"You really want to investigate this yourself?"
"Just taking a look." Zhang Shutong saw no need to hide it from him. Old Song would definitely follow along if he knew, and having a helper wouldn't be bad.
He was planning to visit Hometown Lake Fish Restaurant again. This time he had a clearer direction—no need for indirect probing, he could just get straight to the point. In that case, the homeroom teacher's appearance was more intimidating than his own. Maybe they really could find something out.
"Ah, every single day, just running around with you kids." Song Nanshan scratched his head. "But what are you even after? If you liked Gu Qiumian, I'd understand, but like with the scarf incident—you did it but didn't fully explain."
"Less trouble. Isn't it fine now anyway?" Zhang Shutong replied absentmindedly.
"You'll regret it sooner or later."
"If I really regret it, I'll let my future self deal with the headache."
"You're playing word games with me now?" Song Nanshan laughed and cursed. "But seriously, what do you think of Qiumian as a person? Answer properly—I'm not asking about romantic feelings."
Zhang Shutong really wanted to say, please stop asking. For every extra question, I guarantee I'll fill your tea cup with boiling water one more time in the future. Isn't it good to maintain your rough guy persona? Why be so naggy?
"Actually, she was in pretty good spirits today." Song Nanshan flicked his cigarette ash.
"Was she?" Zhang Shutong asked, puzzled. "I didn't see her smile much in the car."
"You're really dense. I'm telling you, whether a girl is happy or not isn't shown by whether she smiles. Even I noticed it, so look—"
Song Nanshan pointed at the passenger side window. Zhang Shutong turned his head to look, and sure enough, the car's glass had also been vandalized by Gu Qiumian, now bearing a faint ghost face.
"Although I can't tell what she was drawing either, she must've been in a good mood."
Zhang Shutong tilted his head and stared at the ghost face for a few seconds. It really was ugly. "I did see her with her friends during break, laughing and talking. That's not strange, is it?"
Rather, what struck him as strange was that her mood had been quite poor yesterday, yet today it had suddenly cleared up.
Zhang Shutong thought about it:
"Is she the kind of person who's a bit carefree?"
"Bullshit!" Old Song ruffled his hair. "I think you're the heartless, thoughtless one!"
"Then what's the reason?"
"Girls' matters don't have so many reasons. Some are just easily satisfied." Old Song began his lecture. "Normally this isn't something I should be teaching you, but the opportunity's here, so your teacher will pass on some knowledge. My girlfriend back then was kind of like this too—silly."
Zhang Shutong thought, don't think I can't tell what you're saying. You're gossiping about her being silly right at the gate of her villa—isn't that a bit too brazen? Besides, Gu Qiumian wasn't silly:
"Isn't she pretty smart?"
"Wrong again. She's clearly a silly girl too."
But Zhang Shutong really couldn't connect "silly" with Gu Qiumian. He listened as Old Song continued his verbose speech:
"This 'silly' isn't about intelligence level, it's distinguished like this: shrewd girls know very clearly what they need, but sillier girls—they can't differentiate these things."