STT – Chapter 16

Jiang Huaixi, get off me.

Lu Zizheng was lost in thought for too long. For as long as she was staring at the fireworks, Jiang Huaixi was staring at her. As a result, when she snapped out of it and turned her head, Jiang Huaixi didn’t have time to look away.

To cover up the awkwardness, Jiang Huaixi pretended to ask naturally: “I didn’t expect you to have such a romantic sentiment, liking to watch fireworks?”

Lu Zizheng faintly smiled and stirred the shrimp balls on her plate: “It’s nothing, I just remembered that someone owed me a fireworks show. I don’t know why, but it seems like I’ve remembered it for a long, long time.”

She saw that Jiang Huaixi’s smile was somewhat frozen, looking pensive. She then withdrew her thoughts and happened to see a child downstairs playing in the snow while his parents tried to pull him away. She shifted the topic and asked: “Do you know how to build a snowman?”

Jiang Huaixi raised an eyebrow and countered: “What do you think?”

Lu Zizheng smiled slightly and said: “Hah, I can tell just by guessing that you definitely don’t.”

Jiang Huaixi said with great interest: “You seem to know a lot. Why don’t you teach me?”

Lu Zizheng laughed: “Do I get paid for teaching?”

Jiang Huaixi added a bit of wine to her empty glass and swirled it gently, teasingly said: “That depends on how well you teach. I never do unprofitable business.”

Lu Zizheng shook her head regretfully and disdainfully said: “I’m not teaching a skill, it’s a sentiment. Sentiment is priceless, there’s no loss, only gain. You really don’t understand the market.”

Jiang Huaixi put down the cup, picked up a napkin to wipe the corner of her lips, and said: “Indeed, sentiment is priceless, hidden in the heart, unforgettable for a long time, and becoming more cherished with time.” Her words had an implied meaning but were merely a sigh.

Sentiment, Lu Zizheng sighed: “Speaking of which, I haven’t built a snowman for many years. I remember the first time I built a snowman, my dad taught me hand-in-hand, rolling a big snowball first, then rolling a small snowball. My mom was afraid of the cold and didn’t dare to use her hands, so she was responsible for holding a pointy carrot waiting to give the snowman a nose…”

While speaking, Jiang Huaixi clearly saw the nostalgia and longing in her eyes.

With a sudden thought, Jiang Huaixi said lightly: “Then let’s go.”

Lu Zizheng didn’t keep up with Jiang Huaixi’s leap in thought and reflexively asked: “Go where?”

Jiang Huaixi frowned: “Didn’t you say you would teach me how to build a snowman and find sentiment?”

Lu Zizheng only realized today that Jiang Huaixi is truly a person of action who does what she says. She looked out the window, seeing only a thin layer of snow on the ground, and said with a laugh: “The snow is so thin now, how can we build a snowman?”

Jiang Huaixi frowned and looked at Lu Zizheng intently: “I have my ways, you just need to tell me if you want to go now or not.” Her expression was surprisingly serious, and Lu Zizheng discerned that she was not joking.

She was only puzzled and surprised for a moment, then wiped the corner of her mouth, picked up her bag, and stood up, responding: “Then let’s go.” After speaking, she laughed again: “Anyway, if we continue eating, there won’t be any small cakes…”

Jiang Huaixi took the lead, a faint smile appearing at the corner of her lips, her long hair swaying with her straight posture…

In the corner of her eye, she saw Lian Xuan watching them, seeing them off as they left…

After exiting the restaurant, Lu Zizheng grabbed Jiang Huaixi, extended her hand upward with her palm open, and said: “Give me the car keys, I’ll drive.” Jiang Huaixi always drank in moderation, usually just a few sips, but just now, she drank quite a bit, which was rare.

Jiang Huaixi obediently took the keys out of her bag and handed them to Lu Zizheng: “Here you go, a law-abiding good citizen.” She took out her phone and said while fiddling with it: “I’ll wait for you here. You have no problem with reversing the car, right?”

Lu Zizheng turned and walked away: “Wait here without worry, no need to overthink it.”

When Lu Zizheng drove the car to Jiang Huaixi, Jiang Huaixi had already finished her call, hands in her pockets, waiting leisurely. After the car stopped, Jiang Huaixi opened the car door and couldn’t help but tease: “You took quite a while, I almost thought you were stuck in the parking lot and was about to rescue you.”

Lu Zizheng gave Jiang Huaixi a cold glance. She hadn’t noticed when Jiang Huaixi parked the car, but when she went to drive it, she found out Jiang Huaixi had parked quite skillfully. If it were any closer, she might have really gotten stuck in the parking lot. No wonder Jiang Huaixi asked her earlier if she had any problems reversing; Lu Zizheng had to suspect she did it on purpose.

Jiang Huaixi showed a mischievous smile and said sincerely: “Zizheng, I’m entrusting myself to you. The roads are slippery at night, so be careful.”

Lu Zizheng stared straight ahead and said coldly: “Shut up, if you say one more word, I can’t guarantee I won’t drive the car into a ditch.”

Jiang Huaixi pouted and quieted down, helped Lu Zizheng turn on the navigation, and entered the destination, giving her a few pointers when the road conditions were bad.

Under Jiang Huaixi’s guidance, the car smoothly drove out of the city and toward the quiet and desolate suburbs. The snow was falling heavier and heavier, and Lu Zizheng drove more and more cautiously.

After passing through a desolate area, the car drove into a villa district, and lights began to appear in the field of vision.

This place is located halfway up the mountain, significantly colder than the city. Along the way, one could feel that the snow was much thicker here than on the roads in the city. But when the car drove into this villa district, there were no traces of snow on the road, and Lu Zizheng just assumed that the road cleaning work here was done promptly.

From afar, a brightly lit villa different from the others came into view. As they got closer, they saw its courtyard gate wide open, with a few people faintly standing in front of it.

Jiang Huaixi said: “Stop over there, we can walk in.”

Lu Zizheng turned off the engine and got out of the car following Jiang Huaixi.

Indeed, there were a few men in suits standing in front of the gate, slightly bowing their heads and bending their waists, respectfully addressing Jiang Huaixi: “Miss.”

Jiang Huaixi asked indifferently: “Is everything ready?”

The man standing at the front responded: “Everything is ready.”

So Jiang Huaixi nodded slightly, ignored them, turned to Lu Zizheng, and said: “Let’s go in.”

As soon as they entered the courtyard, Lu Zizheng was astonished by the scene in front of her. The courtyard was full of neatly piled snow, and as soon as she stepped in, her shoe sank more than halfway. She thought for a moment, connected it with the scene on the road earlier, and immediately understood.

She turned around and looked at Jiang Huaixi, seeing her also looking at her with a calm expression, but in her eyes, there was still an unconscious hint of expectation. Such a romantic fool, Lu Zizheng felt touched in her heart, but she teased with a laugh: “Working for the Jiang family is not easy. On a good holiday, you still have to shovel snow in the middle of the night to clear the way for the boss’s amusement. Big boss, did you give them extra allowances?”

Jiang Huaixi squatted down, casually playing with the snow, looked up at Lu Zizheng, and replied indifferently: “Don’t be so obvious in your envy of the rich. Is this enough to make a snowman for you?” Her eyes were sparkling, making it hard for Lu Zizheng to refuse.

Lu Zizheng also squatted down on the spot, extended her hands, and began to push up a thick layer of snow, laughing: “It’s enough to make ten.”

She started pushing the snow from around her, gathering it towards the center and compacting it: “Look, class is starting. Do as I do.”

Jiang Huaixi nodded, looking like a good student.

Lu Zizheng rolled a big ball to make the base of the snowman, and Jiang Huaixi imitated her and made one too. Then, Lu Zizheng made a smaller ball, and Jiang Huaixi seriously followed and made one as well…

The snowman’s body was finished. Lu Zizheng picked up two branches from under the tree in the courtyard to make the snowman’s arms, and Jiang Huaixi did the same. The branches Jiang Huaixi picked were much longer than Lu Zizheng’s, just enough to touch the hands of Lu Zizheng’s snowman.

Everything was perfect, but it was still missing facial features. Lu Zizheng wanted to use local materials, but after looking around, she couldn’t find anything suitable. As she was bowing her head in deep thought, she heard Jiang Huaixi clap her hands lightly, the sound clear and pleasant.

A man walked over to Jiang Huaixi with a white bag, silently placed it down, and left quietly…

Jiang Huaixi raised her eyebrows proudly at Lu Zizheng, took out round and shiny black beads from the bag, carefully placed them on the snowman’s head, followed by a cute carrot nose, and a small red bracelet forming the mouth.

When the work was finally completed, she stood up, contentedly admiring her snowman. Then, she glanced at Lu Zizheng’s snowman and smirked mischievously, “Teacher, your snowman doesn’t have eyes or a nose. It’s so scary; people will have nightmares after seeing it at night.”

Lu Zizheng shuddered at Jiang Huaixi referring to herself as “people,” and silently stood up as well. She walked towards Jiang Huaixi’s snowman, one foot deep, one foot shallow, and pondered, “These shiny black eyes do look quite pretty.” Suddenly, she reached out her hand, quickly pulled them back, and ran away swiftly.

Jiang Huaixi looked closely, horrified. Where did the shiny black eyes of her cute snowman go! Just as she realized, she lifted her foot and chased after Lu Zizheng, “Give me back Snow Baby’s eyes.”

Lu Zizheng ran while laughing, “Oh, you even named it. I didn’t realize Miss Jiang has such a childlike heart…”

How could Jiang Huaixi outrun Lu Zizheng? After a few steps, she was already panting. In desperation, she squatted down, grabbed a handful of snow, and threw it at Lu Zizheng. The snowball hit its target, striking Lu Zizheng’s thigh and making her stagger.

Jiang Huaixi was overjoyed and shouted triumphantly, “Give me back the eyes.”

Lu Zizheng squinted slightly, “You want the eyes, huh…” Quick as lightning, she also grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at Jiang Huaixi, “Come and get them…”

But Jiang Huaixi was prepared; she moved her body lightly and dodged the attack, mocking, “Zizheng, your aim isn’t very good.”

Unwilling to give up, Lu Zizheng raised her hand for another throw, but Jiang Huaixi dodged again…

“Let me teach you how to hit the target…” Before she could finish her sentence, Lu Zizheng couldn’t dodge in time and was hit by another snowball from Jiang Huaixi, making her exclaim, “Ouch.”

“Are you going to return them or not?”

“No, unless you hit me once…” Lu Zizheng responded loudly with a smile.

“In your dreams!” Jiang Huaixi bent down, clenched her fist, and prepared to give Lu Zizheng another hit.

Lu Zizheng had learned to be smart and wouldn’t sit still waiting for the attack. As the snowball flew towards her, she ran away quickly, and Jiang Huaixi naturally followed in quick pursuit.

The two of them, chasing and dodging, engaged in a snowball fight, their laughter and exclamations gradually filled the once silent and lonely courtyard, echoing in the night sky…

For the first time, Jiang Huaixi heard Lu Zizheng laugh so heartily, like a child. As she reached out to grab Lu Zizheng, Lu Zizheng looked back at her in panic, but was caught and pressed down into the snow by her.

When she was panicking, her wide eyes, shiny and wet, were as cute as a little deer. Jiang Huaixi’s eyebrows curved, her smile filled with joy. Unfortunately, her legs were already so cold they were almost numb, and she didn’t have the strength to roll over and protect Lu Zizheng from getting hurt. She could only use her already frozen hands to support her body so as not to crush her.

“Ah, Jiang Huaixi, get off me…”

“Sorry, thinking about my Snow Baby losing its eyes makes me so heartbroken that I have no strength left.” Jiang Huaixi lowered her head and looked at Lu Zizheng, smiling mischievously.

At a distance of just a few inches, Lu Zizheng could clearly see Jiang Huaixi’s ink-like eyes reflecting her own image so clearly and enchantingly.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly closed her eyes, not daring to look directly. She was already shivering from the cold, her teeth chattering, but Jiang Huaixi’s eyes seemed to carry warmth, heating her body. Her breath, lightly and warmly, fell on her frozen face…

Her lips, those faintly pink lips, were they warm too? Lu Zizheng felt like she was under a spell.

LP: Re-translated on July 30, 2024