cold clothes

Now that it's just the two of them, perhaps they can talk.

How should I start this conversation...?

After thinking for a moment, Leng Yi said, "Sister Nuandong, it seems you've treated me differently from the very beginning. Why is that?"

As she expected, Warm Winter said indifferently, "Didn't I just say that I have a responsibility to teach you to become the most beautiful courtesan?"

Leng Yi shook her head. "It's different. You treat me very differently. We've only known each other for a few days, and you've already shown me so much concern, even bringing me medicine from the dungeon. You once said that you and Qingchun lived together for sixteen years and that you were closest to Qingchun, but you didn't care about Qingchun at all, yet you cared about me instead. You didn't show any intention of standing up for Qingchun in your words; instead, you were angry because I did something stupid... Please forgive me for being a bit cold-hearted. I don't understand your kindness towards me at all; I just think it shouldn't be like this... Why is that? What is it about me that attracted your attention?"

After speaking at length, Leng Yi exhaled a breath of stale air, and before Nuandong could reply, she smiled and said:

"Thank you."

"Ok?"

“Thank you, Sister Nuandong,” Lengyi said again with a smile. “Although I don’t know why, your kindness to me is genuine… Just like I don’t know why Sister Yunmei and Lingcao are so kind to me, but their kindness is completely sincere. So, I am very grateful to you both.”

“But,” Leng Yi’s lips curled into a helpless smile, “there are more people here than just those who are kind to me. This Sister Nuan Dong should know better than I what kind of place this is, and what we are supposed to do here…”

"Hehe, this is the first time I've come here and talked to someone so much. Maybe it's because I'm blind and the world is pitch black, that I can think deeply about my inner self. Thank you, Sister Warm Winter, for listening to me talk so much."

Warm Winter was somewhat surprised by Leng Yi's words. She stared intently at Leng Yi's tightly closed eyes, as if trying to see through the wounds to those clear pupils. Perhaps because of the great calamity she had suffered, Leng Yi exuded a sorrowful and serene aura, like a light feather falling helplessly to the ground, or like pale snow heavily covering the mountain ridge.

Snow... Thinking of this, the first snow season is almost here.

Suddenly, she remembered that snowy night when she was given the name Warm Winter. The mother of Fengxiang Tower was not yet Mama Hu. Her former mother was a very cheerful and smiling woman. That night, all the other children were fast asleep, but she and Qingchun were too busy playing to sleep. So her former mother invited her and Qingchun to sit around the stove and boil snow. Qingchun never tired of going out to collect snow.

"Let's name Er Ya 'Warm Winter'," her mother suddenly said with a smile. When Er Ya asked why, her mother said she hoped every winter Er Ya would experience would be as warm as spring, a beautiful wish.

Qingchun laughed and hugged Nuandong tightly, saying that Erya would feel warm when she was with me, because I am Qingchun!

At that time, the faint flames still held a glimmer of hope—but only at that time.

Memories flickered like fireflies, and as the warm winter deepened, her thoughts returned. Her gaze refocused on Leng Yi, and she felt an inescapable fate descending upon her, one she could not break free from, nor could Ning Bi.

“I know you are a smart child, but—” slowly, Nuandong uttered a proverb that seemed to be addressed to no one but herself, “Extreme intelligence is bound to bring harm, and deep affection is short-lived.”

"Take good care of your injury. I'll do my best to help you get an exemption from the exam in two days."

"No, Sister Warm Winter, I absolutely have to take this exam."