Ruoping was considered relatively tall among the girls.
Lu Qinglian was also considered relatively tall, even a tiny bit taller than her.
As for whether the two had similar body shapes, honestly, Zhang Shutong couldn't tell—Student Lu had always been wearing green robes, like a penguin returned from the cultivation world.
Oh, so she actually had such a nickname.
Of course, what looked the least alike was their appearance. Lu Qinglian had a sharp face and almond eyes, yet her disposition was very cold. This was the hardest part to disguise, but that man hadn't seen Ruoping's face clearly either. Having similar clothing and hairstyles was the limit of what they could achieve, which was enough to deceive the opponent.
Not only did she have to dress like Ruoping, but she also had to take a turn in the tunnel, preferably subduing the man when he prepared to strike.
When Lu Qinglian found out, she didn't explicitly refuse, but her gaze was cold. Zhang Shutong could read her meaning from it. Come to think of it, who would like to be dressed up as someone else? But for the sake of the clues regarding the clay figurines, she endured it and let it drop. Moreover, she and Ruoping were on good terms.
When the school bell rang, Zhang Shutong packed his schoolbag:
"Wait for me a moment."
He had inquired during recess and found out there was indeed a shop that rented wigs in the commercial street. This suited his intentions perfectly. After all, a proper wig was very expensive and not something they could afford to consume; renting one for a few days would be fine.
He had to watch Ruoping get into the car first.
"See you at the school gate in a bit."
As Zhang Shutong left the classroom, he encountered Ruoping running out from the door of Class 3:
"Hurry, let's go, let's go!"
Ruoping grabbed his schoolbag, wanting to leave immediately.
"What's wrong?"
"Before the two of them come out," Ruoping said urgently. "Ever since I finished telling them that segment of the prophecy last night, the two of them won't leave my side for an instant. When I sleep at noon, they look as if they want to grab a pillow and sit right next to me. I can't take it anymore!"
"Just endure it," Zhang Shutong urged. "The two of them are also concerned about you."
"Heh." Ruoping sneered directly. "Qing Yi even proposed a plan."
"What?"
"To abduct me before that man finds me. What do you think?"
"Uh..."
Zhang Shutong thought to himself that protecting Gu Qiumian last time had been like that too. Why does this kid want to abduct people at every turn?
"Du Kang has a plan too," Ruoping was driven to tears without any output. "He said to bring that dog he just picked up over to my house to help watch the house and safeguard the yard. But do you think that dog is as big as your shoe?"
"...It is a bit early."
Although that dog would be very large in the future, it wasn't large enough right now.
"Tell me, what kind of unreliable methods are these..."
"Speaking of which, actually, I have a proposal too."
Zhang Shutong took the opportunity to bring up the matter of Lu Qinglian disguising herself as her. He had originally thought Ruoping would go frantic, but to his surprise, her eyes lit up:
"Great, great! You ask... Forget it, I'll ask Qinglian what she wants to wear. I have dresses, coats, and jeans. I'll bring them all over to her tomorrow. I've wanted to see it for ages!"
Forgot that she's a fangirl.
The two walked forward while discussing this matter. Just then, someone waved and asked:
"Ruoping, are we going to get our nails done?"
"I have things to do today, maybe in a few days."
Ruoping replied with a polite smile, but Zhang Shutong could see the sorrow in her eyes, bidding farewell to a normal life.
"What about tomorrow? There's a newly opened milk tea shop, you know?"
Zhang Shutong knew it referred to Zhou Ziheng's shop. After the commercial street incident ended, their family had moved away, and new merchants had now moved in.
"I won't have time either."
Ruoping's smile began to grow strained.
"I heard the mall is holding an event over the weekend, it's Christmas! Have you thought about who you're having dinner with?"
The young girl's large eyes lost their highlight.
The Christmas atmosphere had indeed grown thick. The topics in the girls' mouths had turned into whom to invite for dinner, how to spend Christmas Eve, whether to gift apples or chocolates, and so on. There were customs from Japan and customs from Europe. Regardless of whether it was authentic or not, being happy was enough. Zhang Shutong could also feel young hearts starting to become restless.
For this reason, their homeroom teacher, Teacher Xu, had caught several typical examples in class today.
"Shutong, oh Shutong," Ruoping asked pitifully, "when can we find that man?"
"Do our best." Zhang Shutong shrugged.
"I want to regain my freedom!"
"I want to too."
"How about I gift you a fishing rod for Christmas? Will you let this young lady off over the weekend?"
"Bribery is useless."
Ruoping was ultimately not of a weak disposition. She gnashed her teeth and said resentfully that she would absolutely make that man look good. Seeing this, Zhang Shutong smiled, but Ruoping suddenly asked seriously:
"Do you think that thing will recover?"
Zhang Shutong froze for a moment.
He did know when the Sorrowful Fox would recover. Judging from the information from the Vega route, counting from now, it should be four or five months later.
"Maybe."
"Then if it really recovers, do we have another chance to change the past?"
Zhang Shutong nodded.
"Then..." Ruoping was somewhat hesitant.
Zhang Shutong knew what she wanted to say. If they waited for that fox to recover, what should it be used for? And to whom should it be given? Anyone would have their own regrets:
"Let's wait until it actually recovers to have a headache over it."
"True. Did you tell Gu Qiumian about the chocolates?"
"Yeah."
"What did she say?"
Zhang Shutong thought for a moment:
"She... didn't believe it."
Gu Qiumian stubbornly felt her popularity was very good.
Speaking of which, how to make her believe the fox's ability truly existed was also a difficult matter. Zhang Shutong instinctively glanced at the door of Class 2. She was the monitor and had to stay in class today to hold a brief meeting. Her crisp voice could faintly be heard, and of those two foxes, one was predicting the future, and the other was... changing the past.
Zhang Shutong thought of something. He silently turned his head and urged Ruoping along.
They parted ways at the school gate.
The driver from Gu Qiumian's family had driven an extra car over. Qing Yi and Du Kang followed and got into the car. Their bicycles were still at Ruoping's house; escorting her for this stretch would allow them to ride them away.
Zhang Shutong also pushed his bike out of the school gates. It was somewhat melancholy to speak of—his motorcycle had been locked in the storage room by his mom again, so he could still only ride a bicycle to school. In the past, his most treasured possession had been this Flying Pigeon brand bicycle, but now he felt it was so slow.
Lu Qinglian walked slowly by his side.
It was now dismissal time, which was the most bustling period. The school gate was crowded, so the two naturally couldn't ride off on their bikes immediately like usual.
"Hold on, let me check the specific location." Zhang Shutong looked down at his phone.
Lu Qinglian was also looking down.
"What are you looking at?" Zhang Shutong asked curiously.
"Christmas."
Zhang Shutong was startled:
"You're actually interested in it too?"
Zhang Shutong wouldn't be surprised by whichever girl held expectations for it, except Lu Qinglian.
He leaned over wanting to take a look, but Lu Qinglian snapped her phone cover shut with a click:
"What are you thinking again?"
She sighed softly:
"I am just looking at Baidu Baike."
Not seeing her for a few days, she actually even knew about "Baidu Baike"!
"Oh." Zhang Shutong instinctively responded, then asked, "Searching for information?"
"Yes. Teacher Xu said today that we need to prepare a blackboard display about Christmas."
She replied casually.
"I see."
Zhang Shutong thought to himself that the homeroom teacher also understood the principle that channeling is better than blocking.
Or rather, letting the students in the class draw a blackboard display was her bottom line; beyond that, they couldn't cross the line by a single step.
And their class didn't have a cultural and entertainment representative, which was very unartistic, showing more or less her attitude toward various activities.
So this matter was ultimately handed over to the study representative.
But of all people Teacher Xu could pick, she picked one... who understood Christmas the least.
"For example?" Zhang Shutong prepared to kindly popularize the knowledge.
"Santa Claus, elk, stockings, and gifts."
Several brief words issued from Lu Qinglian's pink lips, and then she asked in puzzlement:
"Why stockings?"
"Because in the legend, Santa Claus slides down the chimney to throw gifts into the house," Zhang Shutong recalled. "I remember the origin is like this. European houses would build a fireplace under the chimney, plus Christmas is in winter, so clothing that needed to be dried would be placed beside the fireplace. The gifts just happened to fall into the stockings, and it gradually became a custom."
"Very interesting." She nodded slightly.
"Don't mention it."
"Student Zhang Shutong, are my shoes and stockings still at your house?" Because of this custom, Lu Qinglian thought of another matter instead. "I will go retrieve them as soon as possible."
Zhang Shutong thought for a moment and didn't mention the matter of the boots.
While speaking, they arrived at the commercial street. The wig shop was hidden around a corner, with shops selling small ornaments on both sides. Walking inside to take a look, wigs of various colors and styles were hung on the wall. As a boy, he really hadn't known such a place existed.
The shop owner was a young woman with purple-dyed hair, wearing ear studs and smoky makeup.
"First time here?"
She was currently sitting behind the counter, not even raising her eyes:
"What size?"
Zhang Shutong thought to himself, this thing has sizes?
"Three yuan a set." The woman pointed to the machine beside her. "Renting a wig is five yuan."
Zhang Shutong turned his head to look, only then discovering that this wasn't any wig shop, but a place to take photo stickers. No wonder the wigs on the wall were all colorful, with very few being black.
"Just renting a wig?"
"You two are students." The woman stopped at that, meaning they were unreliable, and wigs were too expensive.
"Someone recommended it."
Saying this, Zhang Shutong reported a name that even he found unexpected—he had asked the young nurse about the wig shop.
Why does a young nurse know free combat and have such a wide network of connections?
"Fine," the woman agreed very readily. "Be careful not to get it wet."
Zhang Shutong began to choose a wig. Actually, there wasn't much to choose from. Ruoping's hairstyle was just a very common ear-length short haircut. Zhang Shutong didn't know what it was called either. He had studied it on his phone just now—French style, Japanese style, bob cuts... it left a person dazed.
The final targets were only two. One was a slightly shorter, more capable asymmetrical cut with side-swept bangs. The other was longer, the ends naturally resting on the neck, featuring wispy bangs.
They were already the closest two in the shop.
Zhang Shutong took them down, first letting Lu Qinglian try them against her head.
She didn't feel anything toward this kind of occasion bursting with little-girl atmosphere, not casting a single glance at those photo stickers, let alone paying attention to the colorful wigs on the wall.
She held the hair up in front of her forehead, yet maintained a certain distance, absolutely not letting it contact her forehead:
"Which looks more alike?"
Lu Qinglian looked into the mirror.
"It seems... neither looks alike?"
Zhang Shutong said uncertainly.
He couldn't easily say whether the style of the wig was wrong, or if Lu Qinglian hadn't put it on, or perhaps he had thought of it too simply, and merely changing a hairstyle made it difficult to turn into another person.
Of course, there was also the reason that Lu Qinglian's green robes were too discordant.
"The first one is a bit better." Zhang Shutong pondered. "The second style is sweeter, it doesn't quite suit your disposition."
"Student Zhang Shutong, are you looking forward to this?" Her gaze was slightly cold.
"At most, curiosity."
Zhang Shutong had only seen long-haired Gu Qiumian, but had never seen short-haired Lu Qinglian.
Hearing this, Lu Qinglian decisively put the wig back. She gathered up that waterfall of long hair and said faintly:
"How about this?"
"A bit better?"
"Then I'll cut it."
"No need to go that far." Zhang Shutong wasn't sure exactly how long it would take for such long hair to grow back, estimating it would be difficult without several years. "It's just to get through these few days, the sacrifice is too great..."
The woman on the side, however, finally raised her head:
"Are you cutting it? I buy hair here. Little sister, your hair quality is quite good. For this length, selling it for several hundred yuan is no problem. Fixed price, eight hundred. Shall I go get the scissors right now?"
"Hold on, let me ask her again..." Zhang Shutong and Lu Qinglian stepped out of the shop door, and he lowered his voice, "Won't your grandmother find out if you do this?"
"It can be explained."
Zhang Shutong had previously always believed that temple keepers had requirements for hair length, not expecting that it was simply that Lu Qinglian hadn't cut it.
"Why are you so proactive about cutting your hair?" he asked. "Worrying about not having enough money? I brought the deposit out."
"Just choosing a more trouble-free method."
It seemed she was indeed very resistant to wearing a wig, preferring to cut off that long hair.
"Are you finds it dirty?" Zhang Shutong suddenly thought of something.
He remembered that when the two first met, Lu Qinglian didn't even like physical contact. Of course, it was the same now. Zhang Shutong had guessed many reasons in the past, later discovering that she simply seemed to have mysophobia.
The reason Lu Qinglian inexplicably had a kind of resistance turned out not to be a problem with the hair.
"You'll wear a hairnet," he gestured. "A net will enclose your hair first, then the wig is put on. Is that okay?"
Lu Qinglian knit her brows. It seemed she wasn't very willing to give up her long hair either, and finally nodded her chin.
"Not cutting it anymore? Then which one did you choose?" the proprietress asked. "Oh, that asymmetrical one. It quite fits this little sister's disposition, very handsome."
Zhang Shutong had long known Lu Qinglian was a cool girl.
"However," the proprietress shifted the conversation, "her hair is too long, I'm afraid it won't be that easy to put on. Wait, I'll find a hairnet for you to try..."
The other party unwrapped a black net, tearing off the packaging paper while saying:
"Come, little sister, sit down first. I'll teach you how to wear it. After wearing it well, don't wash your hair for these few days..."
"Is it a must not to wash it?"
Before Lu Qinglian could knit her brows again, Zhang Shutong took the lead to ask.
"Then you'll have to put it on once every day," the proprietress said. "Her hair is too long, it's very troublesome."
Zhang Shutong glanced at Lu Qinglian's gaze, which meant:
Troublesome is better than not washing my hair.
"Then..."
Zhang Shutong was just about to say then you just teach her, but Lu Qinglian interrupted:
"Thank you, I can do it myself."
It turned out hair contact was also counted within physical contact.
"That works too." The purple-haired woman was also an individual with personality, presumably having seen many even more unique individuals. She said indifferently, "Then I'll speak from the side, and you do it yourself facing the mirror. Putting it on is actually very easy, it's mainly how to coil up this long hair of yours."
Zhang Shutong waited silently on the side, watching Lu Qinglian skillfully gather her long hair, and under the guidance of the proprietress, stuff the temples and loose strands of hair into the hairnet, causing him to lament that Lu Qinglian was indeed accustomed to being alone, appearing to be like this regardless of what matter she performed.
The wig shop had a very large floor-to-ceiling mirror, making many procedures much more convenient. She focused intently on the mirror, able to complete it all by herself.
Unfortunately, by the time Zhang Shutong realized this matter, it was already the next day.