"Bad news is, Qiuqian's dad also called. He originally booked a flight directly to the city, but the airline said there was a cold front nearby, and all flights were canceled. He was supposed to arrive tonight, but now he's probably going to be late.
"This snow is bigger than we thought, especially in the city. They say it's not good to ride a car anymore. We have fewer cars on the island, and it's too difficult for people to ride bicycles to school in this kind of weather. We're afraid of accidents. And since today is Friday, it's like a day off in advance... Why are you not reacting at all, kid?"
"Then what's the good news?" Zhang Shutong asked again.
"Didn't I say it? It's that we don't have to go to class," Old Song said in surprise. "Isn't that good enough?"
What kind of good news is this...
School is canceled.
Father Gu also can't come back early.
Zhang Shutong just had a feeling that things were getting more and more out of control.
"What do you think, Qiuqian?" Old Song simply ignored him.
"I don't care." Gu Qiumian put down her cup. Today, she was a cold and aloof beauty.
"Are you in a bad mood? But don't worry, your dad just said that if the plane doesn't work, he'll take the high-speed train. He'll always be able to come back. He didn't contact you because he was afraid of waking you up..."
"It's not because of that." Gu Qiumian looked at a certain person with a cold face. "It's because he harassed me this morning."
"Really, Shutong?" Old Song said in surprise.
Zhang Shutong was also surprised:
"I just went and knocked on the door. I didn't do anything else."
"Then after I went and opened the door, did you run away again?"
Zhang Shutong really didn't know about this.
He came down after knocking on the door.
He felt quite embarrassed about waking her up. Zhang Shutong apologized to her. Gu Qiumian turned her face away.
"Okay, let's eat first," Old Song saw that the two of them were fine, so he stopped asking. "I just called the car repair shop. He didn't answer. We'll talk about how to arrange things after the tire is replaced."
Zhang Shutong nodded, thinking about the impact of these two things.
As for Father Gu... To be honest, he was a backup plan. It was a shame he couldn't come, but if he really came, it might not be a good thing.
He was a father, and he would definitely have his own arrangements. For example, what if he insisted that Gu Qiumian stay at home for the weekend?
So Zhang Shutong subconsciously didn't see the other party as a life-saving straw. It was just one less option.
And the school being canceled, on the other hand, gave him an extra day to act freely.
The impact of both was still controllable.
He had already made a plan in his head:
He would go home first, get dressed, and be fully equipped, then go up the mountain.
The path up the mountain had stone steps. Even if the snow was heavy, he could still go up if he walked slowly and it was during the day.
Today's goal was the Green Snake Temple.
Old Song urged them to go wash their hands. Zhang Shutong got up, and at the same time, he pulled out his phone and took a look.
His friends should have also received the notice about the school being canceled. The group was indeed very lively, with messages a lot of messages. The few of them were restless by nature and felt a sense of "great joy."
"I was already halfway there when my mom told me that there was no school today." Ruoping was very resentful and also mentioned herself. "Why did you suddenly disappear yesterday?"
"So happy I forgot to return home." Qingyi was a riddle person.
"Then what are we doing today?" Ruoping asked again.
"Let's go skiing. Didn't we agree last night?"
But Ruoping changed her mind again and said, "How about we go off the island to play?" She had just checked the weather forecast. It only snowed on the island, and the city was fine, so it was better to go out and play.
"I can't. I can't get away. I'll be free in a bit. My parents rushed to get groceries as soon as they saw the snow. I'm watching the store." Du kang sent a photo of himself in front of his family's restaurant. He had built a small snowman and was grinning as he took a picture with the snowman.
Zhang Shutong also wanted to take a picture, but he found that no matter how he took it, it wasn't suitable, so he just stayed in the background.
While staring at his phone, he turned sideways and motioned for Gu Qiumian to wash first.
The sink in the villa was very large, and the two of them could wash side by side. Zhang Shutong put away his phone and looked at the girl's face in the mirror. He noticed that she seemed to have drawn her eyebrows and said casually:
"You seem a little strange today?"
"How am I strange?"
Zhang Shutong thought of a suitable metaphor—
A continuous autumn rain suddenly turned into freezing rain.
"I shouldn't have woken you up this morning. Are you in a bad mood?"
"You have the nerve to say that." Gu Qiumian frowned. "Who are you chatting with again?"
"My friends." Zhang Shutong showed her his QQ. "They're asking me to go out and play."
At this time, a message pop-up appeared at the top of the screen. The sender had a very girly profile picture, a cute little bunny. It was a voice message from Ruoping.
Zhang Shutong opened the voice message:
"Shutong, I know you're already up. If you see this, reply to me quickly. Three minutes and counting."
Ruoping's smiling voice came through.
But Zhang Shutong knew this was a sign of danger.
However, this message came at a good time. He took his phone back and replied, and then said:
"See? I didn't lie to you."
Gu Qiumian said last night not to hide things from her. Although he didn't agree to it right away, Zhang Shutong still brought it up proactively:
"I have to go home this morning, and then I'm going up the mountain."
However, Gu Qiumian turned back into an aloof beauty. She squeezed out some hand soap and applied it to her hands. It was hard to tell which was more delicate, the foam or her skin. After washing, she left.
Zhang Shutong looked back and didn't understand what was wrong with her this morning. She suddenly turned cold.
He sat down at the dining table, and another delicious breakfast was served.
The seating arrangement was also different this morning. Gu Qiumian and the housekeeper sat together, and Zhang Shutong and Old Song sat together.
In the center of the four people was a crystal plate filled with freshly cut fruit. There were five or six kinds, which made one very hungry.
On a small island, fresh fruit was rare in winter. Zhang Shutong went to pick up the last cherry tomato. At the same time, Gu Qiumian also reached out.
Seeing this, he withdrew his fork, not wanting to fight with her, but who knew she also withdrew her hand? The cherry tomato just sat there, and was eventually eaten by Old Song.
It was a rare quiet breakfast.
Then Gu Qiumian went to the sofa to play with her phone.
Zhang Shutong was the last one to finish eating and helped to clean up the dishes. At this time, the housekeeper said:
"Have you noticed that Mianmian is a bit quiet today?"
Zhang Shutong nodded. Could it be that the housekeeper was also worried that he had offended her and was hinting at him?
But he thought back and didn't seem to have done anything like that. The misunderstanding from last night had also been cleared up.
After a while, he ran into Old Song smoking on the balcony. The man said:
"Have you noticed that Qiuqian is very cold? Do you know what this means?"
Zhang Shutong listened attentively.
"It means you were given too much of a good attitude yesterday, and you wouldn't even watch a movie with her. So of course, she has to change her attitude today. So you'd better think about how to arrange things later."
He had expected this.
Walking back to the living room, Gu Qiumian was sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed, watching TV. This time, she sat on the sofa that was a separate set, seemingly intentionally avoiding others.
Zhang Shutong asked her what her plans were for today.
She said to watch a movie.
Zhang Shutong said again, "Don't be so cold. Didn't we clear things up last night?"
She said again, "Your friends are asking you to hang out. Then you should go. You don't need to ask me."
"I said it's not 'hanging out'..."
"Oh, then it's another 'important matter'?"
She specifically bit down on the last two words.
"I'm going to climb the mountain. Are you coming?"
"No." She said bluntly.
So who was right, Old Song or the housekeeper?
However, Zhang Shutong was really not planning to take her this time. The last time he went to the mall was because he suspected the housekeeper and wasn't at ease leaving her alone at home.
But this time, he was going to the temple. If possible, it would be best for Old Song to take her out.
At this time, Old Song came back from outside again. The man hung up a call and sighed:
"Okay, there's some new bad news."
"What is it?" The two of them turned their heads at the same time.
"The tire can't be delivered. The guy just called me. He's now in front of that winding mountain road. The heavy snow has completely blocked the road, and he can't get up."
"Blocked? How bad is it?" Zhang Shutong caught the key point.
"I can't say it's completely blocked. It's just that the ground clearance of a regular car isn't high, but the snow on that section of the road is too thick, and the car's underbody would get stuck directly." Old Song also had a headache.
It seemed that the key was not the tire. Even if they carried the tire up, it would be useless because the car couldn't get down.
Were they trapped in a sense?
It wasn't that bad yet.
Zhang Shutong briefly calculated the distance. It would take about half an hour to walk that winding mountain road.
At this time, Gu Qiumian curled the corners of her lips, which looked like sarcasm, but her expression didn't change.
She was right. The two of them had just said one was going to climb the mountain and the other was going to watch a movie, and then Zhang Shutong was immediately proven wrong. It seemed that nature itself was proving that the young lady's decision was correct.
"Are you still going to climb the mountain?" Gu Qiumian asked with a cold face, her fair face, red lips, and black sweater forming a sharp contrast at this moment.
"Of course, I have to climb."
"Are you going to walk from here to the mountain? It's so cold. Are you stupid..." She stopped there, and her tone became sharp. "Then do as you please."
Zhang Shutong also had a bit of a headache. He dialed his mom's number, preparing to ask for help.
His family had a car, an SUV. Zhang Shutong definitely couldn't let his mom come up to pick him up. He was preparing to walk down and have her wait at the intersection.
Luckily, his mom hadn't gone to work.
He greeted his mom, who replied with only three words:
"Tongtong, get lost."
Zhang Shutong quickly covered the mouthpiece and quickly explained the situation.
The voice on the other end of the phone was lazy:
"Can't you just stay there with the family? Why are you running around? You're disturbing my beauty sleep." His mom complained that he was being a handful, but he could hear her getting up. "Are you sure it's okay for you to walk down the road alone?"
"It's fine. I've checked. It's about ten minutes." Zhang Shutong deliberately shortened the time.
"That road should be okay for an SUV, right?" His mom didn't take the bait. After thinking for a moment, she said, "You didn't expect it, did you? I was very foresighted and had anti-skid chains installed yesterday."
When she said this, her tone was understated.
Zhang Shutong was full of admiration. He didn't expect she also had a trump card. The mother and son were carved from the same mold. His mom proudly accepted her son's flattery.
She was a science student. A woman who studied science and wore a white coat was cool. A woman who could install anti-skid chains was even cooler. In comparison, Zhang Shutong was a liberal arts student, which was a bit embarrassing.
But he didn't want her to take risks. Zhang Shutong just said that he would contact her based on the situation.
"Okay, then just wait." The woman yawned.
Zhang Shutong said, "Please don't put on any makeup. It's best if you come quickly."
His mom said, "I was originally going to go to work, but my workplace is closed today, so I laid back down without even changing my clothes."
"I'm going downstairs." The sound of her shoes on the stairs was very clear. The mother and son talked for a while as she went downstairs. As soon as his mom went outside, she started complaining again, saying, "Do you know how cold it is outside? My precious holiday is gone just like that. Oh, and the car is all covered in snow. I have to shovel the snow too. Just thinking about it is a hassle..."
Zhang Shutong had a very strange feeling, as if there was no clear line between a woman and a girl. His mom and Gu Qiumian were similar. Sometimes they needed to be coaxed. However, the former was about filial piety, and the latter was... he couldn't say what the latter was. He chatted with his mom. Zhang Shutong knew what she liked to hear, but his mom just laughed and said, "Don't try that with me. Your mom is way past that age."
In fact, her tone was still very happy.
Zhang Shutong patiently listened to her shoveling the snow. Although his parents rarely came home, whether in the past or now, as long as he needed help, they would always lend a hand. He found a sense of security in the sound of shoveling snow, which was a weird thing.
But then his very reliable and reassuring mom suddenly let out a cry of surprise, looking terrified. Zhang Shutong was startled and quickly asked her what was wrong.
The woman took a moment to calm down before she said with lingering fear:
"I just saw a tree branch on our car's window. I was going to throw it away, but when I picked it up, I found..."
She let out a sigh of relief and was in the mood to be coy:
"Son, guess what it is? If you guess right, Mommy will bring it to you?"
Zhang Shutong had a bad feeling. He opened his mouth, and the words came to his lips.
Was it...
"Never mind. I'll tell you. It was actually a frozen snake. You scared me to death..."