Translator: Swien

Translated At: VineNovels.com

Chapter: 30

As soon as Zhang Shutong closed the car door, before he could react, the small car had already started.

This felt like getting into an unlicensed taxi.

The unlicensed taxi driver was even in the mood to fan the flames:

"Shutong, why do I feel like you still want to get out? Are you afraid of me or Qiumian?"

Of course, I'm afraid of both of you.

Gu Qiumian couldn't sit still upon hearing this and glared:

"Teacher, didn't you say you wanted to buy something to eat? Why did you bring him along too?"

"Ahem, I really have something to discuss with Shutong, but doesn't teacher have to send you home first? It would be too late to go back and find him, so I just brought him along."

Zhang Shutong finally understood where that displeased glance came from.

But the young miss's performance was still calm.

She just lowered her head and didn't speak, reaching her hand under the seat and fumbling around for a long time.

It was only after the car had been driving for a while that Zhang Shutong understood what she was studying:

She was really studying the chair, or rather, how to adjust the seat.

But she didn't ask and just fiddled with it on her own.

After a long time of tinkering, the car suddenly accelerated sharply.

Accompanied by the girl's exclamation, perhaps she had accidentally touched something, she and the chair fell backward together.

This was a two-box small car, so the seat naturally couldn't be very high.

Therefore, the scarf flew up, and the girl's hair also flew up.

When Gu Qiumian fell, she happened to fall onto Zhang Shutong's lap over the chair.

The flying scarf covered her face, leaving only a pair of beautiful eyes exposed.

The girl's hair was a bit messy, with a strand of hair hanging in front of her eyes.

The two of them looked at each other, eye to eye, face to face, at a very close distance for two seconds.

Gu Qiumian suddenly glared, and Zhang Shutong moved his gaze away.

In his peripheral vision, he saw her prop herself up with both hands, baring her teeth and brandishing her claws as she struggled to sit up.

After finally getting back into position, she held it in for a short while before muttering:

"How do you adjust this seat forward? I've never seen a manual one before."

"Oh, it's under the seat. There's a lever. Just pull it up."

Old Song's smile was about to overflow.

Gu Qiumian then forcefully pulled the seat forward, and the space for Zhang Shutong's knees was finally freed up a little—but it was only enough so that he didn't have to sit sideways.

He still had to press against the back of Gu Qiumian's chair.

Only then did Zhang Shutong know that she wanted to move forward, but for some reason, she had adjusted the backrest instead.

He thanked Miss Gu, but heard Gu Qiumian say, "I'm just annoyed that you're pressing against me."

But before she could finish, the girl and the seat suddenly slid backward along the track again.

The space that had just become a little more spacious became crowded again.

Zhang Shutong didn't understand what she meant, and only heard Gu Qiumian also say with some embarrassment:

"I pulled it too far just now. Aiya, why are you taking up so much space..."

It was as if there was some cargo sitting behind her.

As she spoke, she huffed and puffed and moved forward a tiny bit, then slid back again, adjusting back and forth several times before it was over.

The car finally quieted down.

Zhang Shutong roughly understood Old Song's meaning.

It was probably because he saw that he was so "active" in solving the case that he brought him along when he took Gu Qiumian home.

Speaking of which, it turned out that for the past few days that Gu's father was not at home, Gu Qiumian was driven to and from school by Old Song.

Speaking of Gu's father, Zhang Shutong asked Song Nanshan again:

"Did you tell her dad about what happened this afternoon?"

But Old Song smiled:

"You see, Qiumian, this kid is more anxious than you are..."

Zhang Shutong was speechless upon hearing this.

He had thought that Miss Gu wouldn't have a good expression either, but who knew that Gu Qiumian would turn her face away and look out the window silently.

It seemed she was always like this whenever her father was mentioned.

The result was that neither of them answered him.

Old Song had to smooth things over:

"I told him, I told him. Just leave it to the adults to handle. You can rest assured. And I've dealt with Li Yipeng's mother before. That person is just... anyway, she'll say anything when she gets emotional. If it weren't for the fact that Qiumian's father wasn't around these few days, I wouldn't have wanted to tell her, to save her from a bad mood."

But as he said this, Zhang Shutong saw him wink in the rearview mirror.

Zhang Shutong suddenly realized that the "serious matter" Old Song was talking about might not really be sending Gu Qiumian home.

Perhaps there was something else, so he shut up and didn't ask any more questions.

Old Song then smiled and said, "Since we're out of school, let's be happy. Have fun this weekend. Teacher has specially approved that you two don't have to do homework this week."

After saying that, he turned on the radio, and a song happened to be playing.

Zhang Shutong had nothing more to say.

He stared out the window.

There were many people walking and stopping outside.

The car's soundproofing wasn't good, but it gave a feeling of being isolated from the outside world.

The warm air from the air conditioner made people drowsy.

Mixed in the hot air was a faint fragrance.

This smell certainly couldn't be from Old Song's car, but was brought in by Gu Qiumian.

Zhang Shutong couldn't tell if it was the smell of her clothes, her hair, or somewhere else.

He was very insensitive to scents.

The smell of perfume was fragrant, the smell of laundry detergent was fragrant, and the smell of shower gel was of course also fragrant.

Only now did he realize that he was very close to Gu Qiumian.

They had been deskmates for two days, but he hadn't had this feeling during that time.

Perhaps the narrow car had amplified this.

The small red Ford Focus drove slowly on the road, and the roadside trees and pedestrians also slowly retreated.

The flow of people within a few miles of the school gate was like a weaving shuttle.

Song Nanshan was obviously an expert.

He downshifted, upshifted, released the gas, and refueled.

He had a quick temper and would even honk a few times from time to time.

The car in his hands was like an oiled fish, weaving through the dense crowd.

The high-pitched hum of the naturally aspirated engine wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't unpleasant either.

For a moment, the car was silent.

They had a lot to say outside the car, but once they got in the car, they were speechless.

The faint smell of smoke and perfume swirled in his nose.

The old song playing in his ears should be Zheng Jun's "Elopement":

Give my love to the most sincere girl by my side;

You sing with me, you wander with me, you suffer with me;

It's only now that I suddenly understand;

What I dream of is true love and freedom;

I want to elope with you...

Old Song's fingers tapped lightly on the steering wheel, humming along with the melody, as if he was driving his small car to elope with his beloved girl.

He was as calm as ever, not caring if the remaining two were willing or not.

But this song was really not suitable for the occasion.

Wouldn't any song be better than "Elopement"?

Didn't he say he was sending Gu Qiumian home?

How did it become an elopement?

Besides, eloping should be a matter for two people, but there were clearly three people squeezed in the small car.

It was a strange combination:

The adult sat in the driver's seat, the girl sat in the passenger seat, and the boy was hunched in the back row, because his legs were long.

Today was Friday, December 7th.

Zhang Shutong had looked at the calendar many times and would definitely not remember it wrong.

Three days later, on Monday, the girl named Gu Qiumian went missing on that day.

Her body was found in the body of water called the "Forbidden Zone."

What she had encountered that weekend was now impossible to know.

And now the girl was sitting in front of Zhang Shutong.

She sometimes looked out the window, sometimes glanced at the radio.

The speakers in the car were a bit distorted.

When Zheng Jun shouted "just take you to elope," she was the first to bear the brunt, and would always frown.

The weather was really cold.

Even with the car windows closed, she was so cold that even the tips of her ears were red.

Chapter 30