Winter Returns

Chapter 79 A Young Lady
The suspicious Zhang Shutong extended an "invitation" to Gu Qiumian!
The continuous autumn rain agreed!
In short, she nodded in agreement and ran upstairs to change her clothes.

Thankfully, she said it was just a thick coat, unlike last time when I had to try it on and wait for ages.

Zhang Shutong quite liked this about Gu Qiumian; she was quite straightforward when necessary.

"You...you...you..." Old Song was shocked again.

Zhang Shutong apologized to his mentor, feeling quite embarrassed that he had troubled his teacher to make another trip in the cold weather.

"That's alright, anyway, I won't be able to sleep at this hour if I go back in the car..." Old Song muttered, "I mean, why are you so impulsive? Why did you take Qiu Mian out again?"

"I have important business to attend to," Zhang Shutong explained.

"Then it must be something important." Old Song was amused and exasperated. "Taking a girl out late at night can't be something unimportant. Hey, I just realized, if you could drive, wouldn't I be out of the picture tonight?"

Zhang Shutong nodded.

Indeed.

If he could, he wouldn't want to ask Lao Song to be his driver; he felt bad about it.

"Fine, fine, so you're complaining that I'm a third wheel, huh..."

Zhang Shutong quickly said, "Teacher, you've misunderstood. We just encountered a snake in the yard."

"and then?"

"Then... she got scared and said she was afraid at night and couldn't sleep alone. So I thought the three of us should go out for a walk, it would be better if there were more people."

Sorry, it's been raining so much lately, I'll have to take the blame for this.

Zhang Shutong apologized again.

It's sometimes reasonable for a young lady to take the blame for her henchmen.

"Oh, you're quite thoughtful." Old Song believed him, rubbing his chin. "Qiu Mian is indeed the kind of girl... um, I recently saw a popular term online, you kids should have heard of it, what's it called again?"

"Proud?"

"Yes, that's tsundere. I was wondering why she seemed to dislike you earlier. Turns out she was just embarrassed and felt ashamed in front of you, right?"

Zhang Shutong quickly said, "That's absolutely right."

"That's right, so Shutong, you should be more accommodating to her. Sometimes young girls are like that, they like to throw little tantrums." Old Song finally seized the opportunity to begin imparting his dating tips to his beloved apprentice.

Zhang Shutong thought to himself that he hadn't gone easy on her yet, but outwardly he showed that he understood.

Old Song then said cheerfully:

"Alright then, in that case, your teacher will take you for a drive. Hmm, a drive in the snowy night, that sounds pretty romantic."

Some men seem to possess a unique romantic streak, which comes in handy during difficult times. Zhang Shutong couldn't say whether this was a good or bad thing; in any case, Lao Song was like that, and so was Qingyi.

He only felt cold.

But it was necessary to go to the restricted area. The reason Zhang Shutong brought Gu Qiu Mian along was not because she was afraid, but because the frozen snake gave her a bad feeling.

He knew that snakes were cold-blooded animals, and he also knew that snakes hibernated. Normally, you wouldn't see snakes on the ground at this time of year. Coupled with the Green Snake Temple and tattoos, it's no wonder people were wary.

Moreover, he just thought that while it might be difficult for a person to climb over the villa's fence, that didn't mean animals couldn't.

Although it is difficult to find any connection at the moment.

He went over and locked the side door, then took a picture of the snake stick. When he returned to the house, Gu Qiu Mian also ran downstairs. She was wearing a thick white down jacket with the zipper pulled all the way up, covering her chin.

The down jacket was clearly a high-end product, filled with fluffy goose down. Now she was no longer a young lady, but a bundle of young ladies.

Nevertheless, the girl was still wearing jeans that accentuated her slender legs. Zhang Shutong asked her why she didn't change into thick cotton pants since she was afraid of the cold. The girl rolled her eyes at him and said, "What do you know? That looks so ugly."

Beauty is more important than being cold; this is a vain girl.

Old Song then said with a smile, "Look, here it comes again, isn't it just like I said?"
Zhang Shutong knew he wanted to say that the young lady was arrogant, so in order not to be exposed, he nodded with a stiff upper lip. Gu Qiumian didn't know what the two of them were talking about, and just glanced at him strangely.

The three then got into the car, and the nanny came out with an umbrella to see them off, telling Gu Qiu Mian not to stay out too late. This made Lao Song feel a little embarrassed; it was indeed inappropriate to take a student out for a stroll so late at night.

"Don't worry, we'll just take them for a drive, and we'll keep in touch by phone anytime..."

Gu Qiumian also used her charm to get Wu to smile wryly and say, "Don't catch a cold." Then, remembering something, she went back inside to pour her a cup of hot water and asked, "Where's your thermos?"
Zhang Shutong thought to himself, "This is bad."

To everyone's surprise, Gu Qiumian casually brushed it off:

"I forgot it at school today, oh Aunt Wu, don't worry about me, you should go home quickly, don't catch a cold..."

They rolled up the window, and under the dark sky, the moonlight was faintly visible. The car's engine broke the silence of the snowy night, and it slowly drove onto the road, leaving two deep ruts in the road.

Old Song tuned the radio, not forgetting to turn around and tease:
"Qiu Mian, are you still scared now?"

Gu Qiumian put down her hand that had been breathing on it and asked in a puzzled tone:
"What are you afraid of?"

“I understand, I understand.” Old Song raised his eyebrows at Zhang Shutong again. “Don’t you think your teacher is incredibly insightful?”

Zhang Shutong was under immense pressure, thinking, "Please don't make any more predictions. If Gu Qiumian exposes my mistake, I'll have to pay for two... no, three thermos cups."

This time, Zhang Shutong sat in the passenger seat, expecting to be the one giving directions. However, Old Song seemed quite familiar with the area. Curious, Zhang asked him, and Song Nanshan casually replied:

"You all know that I often drive around aimlessly."

"Then...why did you wander around that wasteland?" Zhang Shutong had replaced the restricted area with "that wasteland".

"What you're saying is ridiculous. There's plenty of wasteland on our island. In all four directions, except for the east which is mountainous, everything outside the city can be considered the suburbs."

"Is this the way?"

Old Song thought for a moment:
"If you're talking about a road that can be crossed by cars, then this is probably the only one. Remember the mountain road we took when we came here? There's an intersection where you turn west onto a small road, and then follow the main road to get there."

The villa is to the south, while the "restricted area" is to the west.

At that time, the ring road around the lake, which would take place eight years later, had not yet been built, and many places were still unpaved dirt roads.

Zhang Shutong seemed to be thinking about what he heard, then turned to Gu Qiumian and asked:
Have you walked this road before? Or been to the place I mentioned?

The girl shook her head and said, "You've been acting all mysterious since just now. What are you talking about?"

Old Song chuckled, but Zhang Shutong couldn't laugh.

There are only two possibilities for the course of this unsolved case:
The murderer took Gu Qiumian to the restricted area.

Gu Qiumian went to the restricted area by herself.

The former requires a vehicle, and it cannot be a bicycle or motorcycle. He also thought that since it is a car, even if there are no surveillance cameras on this road, there should still be tire tracks left.

It rained on a previous Friday, and Gu Qiu Mian was murdered in the early hours of Sunday. In just over a day, many roads in the suburbs were still wet, and given the island's humid climate, tire tracks would likely have been left behind.

If it's the latter, Zhang Shutong first ignores her motive for running out in the middle of the night, but she has no idea where the "forbidden zone" is, so how could she run over there?
On a sunny day, this stretch of road takes twenty minutes to drive, let alone walk.

The car drove for a while longer and soon arrived at the intersection that Lao Song had mentioned, where they had recently made a pothole.

This time, Lao Song drove more carefully, and fortunately, nothing happened along the way. Suddenly, he pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned off the engine.
"Why don't you give it a try? Haven't you been saying you wanted to learn to drive all this time?"

Zhang Shutong was somewhat surprised.

Old Song has already opened the car door:

"Don't just stand there. I know you've been itching to get started. You've been watching how I shift gears. I'm free tonight, and this is a small road. It's snowing so I can't drive fast. I'll teach you how to start."

"Are you going to learn to drive?" Gu Qiumian asked curiously.

Zhang Shutong nodded and reassured her, "Don't be nervous, I won't drive fast."

To avoid the young lady making a scene and getting out of the car.

He switched seats with Lao Song, took a deep breath, and realized that this day had come so soon.

It wasn't that I wasn't mentally prepared, but rather that I didn't expect Lao Song to be so agreeable.

"Adjust the seat first, and the rearview mirror. You're tall, so it should be about three fists' distance from your head..." As expected of a teacher, Song Nanshan seamlessly switched to driving school instructor mode.

The subsequent teaching was also very professional:

"seat belt.

"Then think about what I taught you this afternoon: start the engine, then depress the clutch, shift into first gear and release the handbrake. Don't try to start in second gear like I did, or you'll definitely get yelled at when you take your driving test..."

As he spoke, Song Nanshan muttered to himself:
"It seems a bit difficult for me to ask you to do all this right away. Why don't you familiarize yourself with the gears first, so you don't shift into the wrong gear?" Zhang Shutong did as he was told and felt that he had almost memorized it.

Are you sure you've memorized it?

"OK," Zhang Shutong replied casually. His eyes were fixed ahead, his movements a little clumsy but not frantic. As he turned the key, Old Song continued to grumble anxiously beside him:
"Don't be all talk and no action. Of course you'll remember everything while you're sitting here, but you'll be completely lost once the car starts moving. You're lucky if you don't suffocate the first time you try a manual transmission. You'll see in a bit... no, wait and see, you actually succeeded on your first try?"

At the same time, Zhang Shutong used both his hands and feet, coordinating the brake and clutch, smoothly shifting the gearbox into first gear. The engine sounded deep and resonant. He released the handbrake, and the car immediately responded. Old Song looked surprised.
"Not bad, I thought the engine would stall when you released the clutch..."

At this moment, the car was idling. Zhang Shutong lightly pressed the accelerator and seemed to feel a critical point where the engine and wheels were engaged. The car lurched forward, but quickly calmed down under his control. He continued to accelerate and smoothly shifted into second gear.

"Okay, continue!" Old Song's eyes lit up.

Zhang Shutong, however, had no energy to pay attention to what he was saying; all his focus was now on controlling the small machine beneath him.

The steering wheel felt like an extension of his arm, while the accelerator was firmly integrated with the sole of his shoe. He shifted into third gear, but there was no need to drive too fast in the snow, so he braked again to slow down. Old Song was indeed a man who knew cars. Although this little Focus didn't have a particularly impressive large-displacement engine, it was surprisingly agile under his control.

In fact, he has always had a good memory. Since the afternoon, he had rehearsed the various steps in his mind many times. At this moment, he didn't even need to look at the gear. He shifted gears instantly as he stepped on the pedal, without any hesitation.

Zhang Shutong wasn't one to aim too high; he was content just to get the car moving smoothly. Today, he only planned to familiarize himself with the car in low gears. Suddenly, Old Song swore:
"Did you accelerate when you shifted gears just now?"

Zhang Shutong was taken aback, then nodded:
"Shouldn't it be?"

He suddenly remembered a technique Qingyi had told him, something about downshifting and rev-matching, which was supposed to increase engine speed for easier overtaking... Anyway, Zhang Shutong didn't pay much attention to the principle at the time, and there were no cars to overtake on the side road, but that didn't stop him from practicing first.

Unfortunately, the car suddenly lurched forward, and it seemed the attempt was unsuccessful.

"Damn, that's impressive!" Old Song slapped his thigh. "You can't even drive a car, yet you're already practicing advanced techniques. Are you a reincarnated driving god?"

"is it hard?"

At this moment, the continuous autumn rain interrupted.

Zhang Shutong also subconsciously turned his head.

"Don't look at me, watch where you're going!"

Old Song's heart was about to jump out of his chest.

He turned to look at the road again, and Old Song was dumbfounded:

"...You say it's difficult? Actually, it's not that difficult. You'll get the hang of it with practice. The problem is, this is his first time touching a car... Is this really your first time driving?"

Zhang Shutong hummed in agreement. Of course, it was the first time. He didn't dare take his hands off the steering wheel, and he was far from being as dashing as Lao Song.

He gradually slowed down, no longer using any advanced techniques, so as not to strain his mentor's heart. Old Song breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this, lowered the window slightly, and lit a cigarette.

As the smoke dissipated, Old Song seemed to come to his senses and was about to pat Zhang Shutong on the shoulder to praise him for driving well. Zhang Shutong quickly stopped him. Old Song stared at the car for a while before he felt at ease and started chatting with Gu Qiumian.

Naturally, it was also about car-related knowledge, such as manual transmission techniques, ten things experienced drivers must know, and which cars have the best gear shifting feel. He talked about it endlessly, and then he mentioned Zhang Shutong, saying that this kid was born to drive, his talent is amazing...

Zhang Shutong listened casually but drove attentively. After gradually getting used to it, he finally dared to relax his muscles a bit. To be honest, his left leg cramped up a little. He changed to a more comfortable position and then realized that his cheek was a little itchy.

Without even turning his head, he could see Gu Qiumian's hair with just a glance out of the corner of his eye.

The entire back row was her domain. She leaned forward at some point, her hands gripping the seat, listening to Lao Song talk while staring ahead, whether out of nervousness or curiosity, it was hard to tell.

Zhang Shutong followed her gaze, but found nothing new; it was just a small car driving across the vast wilderness.

The headlights illuminated the road, snowflakes danced in the night, and the windshield wipers whirred intermittently. It was cold, of course, but inside the car it was fine; the ceiling lights cast a faint glow, and the air conditioning vents blew out warm air. A few strands of hair fell from her forehead, playfully swaying. Like her scent, they were unruly, wandering and creeping onto your face and into your nostrils.

Zhang Shutong really wanted to say, "Can you sit properly? Please have some manners, young lady. What young lady sits in a car like this?" But right now, his attention was entirely focused on the car, and he didn't have time to speak. He could only awkwardly turn his face away, finally managing to shake them off a bit.

In the car with the three of them, the homeroom teacher made a boastful promise:

"Let me tell you, Qiu Mian, in all my years of driving, this is the first time I've ever seen someone dare to shift gears and rev the engine right after touching the car, and the key is that they actually succeeded..."

"The process for getting a driver's license is now fixed. If it were my time, this kid would have gotten his license in three days, believe it or not. When they had a student like this, the instructors would just slack off and let him be their substitute instructor..."

"Alright, it's narrow up ahead, let me drive. Shutong, slow down, and don't accelerate this time, just shift into gear."

Seeing Zhang Shutong nod and put his hand on the gear shift, the man turned his head away with relief.
"I thought it would be good enough if he could even learn how to start today, but I never expected such a big surprise, he actually..."

The car suddenly stopped and stalled.

To be precise, it was due to improper operation; the clutch was not properly engaged when shifting gears, causing the gear to stall.

This is one of the most common mistakes that driving novices make.

"What's going on? Is the car broken?" Old Song was taken aback at first. "It's not broken. No, you were driving it just fine a moment ago, weren't you?"

He was very embarrassed. He thought to himself, "I just finished praising you, and you come here with this."

"Uh……"

Zhang Shutong didn't know what to say. He just followed the feeling from before and thought he was very steady. But when he shifted gears, he felt an itch on his face and lost control of his footing. The car stalled in the middle of the road.

“I thought it would be good enough if he could even learn how to start today, but…” Gu Qiumian repeated this sentence while leaning back in her seat, “A pleasant surprise… haha…”

Zhang Shutong awkwardly restarted the engine, his hand already on the gear shift, when he remembered Lao Song saying that someone else would be driving next, so he paused.

Just as he was about to open the car door, a light suddenly appeared behind him. He turned around and saw Gu Qiumian holding her phone up with both hands, taking a picture directly in front of his face.

With a click, he was frozen in the viewfinder, his expression probably quite embarrassing.

Zhang Shutong was stunned.

But what surprised everyone the most was that Gu Qiumian was also stunned.

"Why is it lit up?"

She was a complete tech idiot, and as she spoke, she strangely flipped her phone over and looked at the camera.

"deleted."

Zhang Shutong took a deep breath and reached out to grab it, but Gu Qiumian, having been discovered, stopped pretending and snorted, saying, "Who took a picture of you? I'm taking pictures of the scenery in front of me, okay?"

Zhang Shutong didn't believe it at all, since he had done the same thing before. But then Miss Gu took the initiative and said unexpectedly:
"The reincarnation of the racing god."

Zhang Shutong's face flushed.

"His talent is incredible."

Old Song coughed as well.

"Born to drive!"

The master and apprentice got out of the car at the same time, and the autumn rain continued to fall, securing victory in this match.

As they passed each other in front of the car, Old Song patted Zhang Shutong on the shoulder:

"You're so arrogant, so arrogant, just let her have her way..."

……

The car was in chaos. Zhang Shutong, sitting in the passenger seat, had nothing to say. He opened the window a little and let the cold wind blow on his face.

My first time learning to drive ended in a very embarrassing way.

She doesn't take pictures when the car is running well, but she remembers to take out her phone when the engine is off.

Zhang Shutong glanced at the rearview mirror and saw Gu Qiumian curled up in her seat, giving a small yawn.

But you can't let her find out yet, because once she does, she'll look over defiantly, and then...

"You were born to drive, so what's wrong with me keeping this as a memento for you?"

As she spoke, she couldn't help but laugh herself.

In short, it was just the same few sentences over and over again, which made Zhang Shutong suspect that she wanted to take him to her house to be her driver.

More than ten minutes had passed since they changed cars. Perhaps the three of them had been arguing for a while and were now feeling a bit tired from the warm air.
It could also be that the surrounding environment gradually became gloomy, the moon disappeared, and apart from the car headlights, no other light source could be seen, causing the atmosphere to freeze.

Zhang Shutong looked away and turned his car towards the road ahead. The road was getting narrower and narrower, and it was beginning to look familiar to him.

All that could be heard outside the window was the soft rustling of tires crunching over the snow.

That body of water, where two people had been killed twice, seemingly by some unseen force—

The "forbidden zone" is almost here.

(End of this chapter)