Jade or rotten wood frostbite

The warm, spring-like interior contrasted sharply with the howling wind outside, and Ah Chou couldn't help but shiver. After taking only a few steps, a piercing pain shot through his cheek.

When I reached out and touched it, my fingertips were wet.

Realizing what it was, large, hot tears slid down her lower eyelids. The cold wind quickly took away the warmth, making her skin icy and irritating her delicate skin.

Ah Chou took two deep breaths of cold air, suppressing the complex emotions surging in his heart, and ran out of the yard with his head down. The howling wind carried his thin body, making him sway like a sapling.

The faint knocking sound caught Xiao Le's attention, who was too nervous to sleep. He immediately opened the door, and the cold wind that rushed in made him squint. He grabbed Ah Chou's icy wrist and pulled him into the house.

"Why did Wang Zun call you over so late at night? Did you do something wrong?" Xiao Le wrapped her coat tighter around herself and leaned closer to the still-warm charcoal brazier, and couldn't help but sneeze.

"At least I left you a pot of hot water. Wash your hands and face, and go to bed early in the new year." There was deathly silence behind her. Xiao Le turned around in confusion and met A Chou's tear-streaked face, with ice crystals even forming on her cheekbones.

"Hey, haven't I told you so many times that you can't cry no matter how wronged you are, it's so cold!" Xiao Le gritted her teeth in exasperation, quickly mixed warm water, wet a handkerchief, and covered A Chou's red and swollen cheeks.

The commotion woke up the other light sleepers. Shunzi, who had been about to criticize, pursed her lips under Dazhuang's warning gaze and shrank back into the covers without saying a word.

Xiao Le frowned, her face contorted in a frown, and asked, "Are you feeling any better?"

As his hands and feet warmed up a little, Ah Chou nodded slowly. His tears stopped flowing uncontrollably, and he lowered his eyes, looking extremely depressed.

"I think you're definitely going to get chilblains on your face. Once you get them, they'll recur every winter. Your face is ruined."

Xiao Le kept grumbling and complaining, unaware of the growing sadness and disgust in A Chou's eyes, and continued, "I'll go to Uncle Ban tomorrow morning to ask for some ointment. Applying it will make me feel a little better."

Xiao Le sighed and asked, puzzled, "Were you punished?"

Ah Chou hesitated, pinching his fingers. Jiang Yan called him over and gave him some delicious pastries and expensive clothes. The rest of the time didn't hurt, so it wasn't considered a punishment.

Ah Chou shook his head, took out something wrapped in a handkerchief from his bosom, and opened it corner by corner to reveal some slightly crushed pastries.

Xiao Le's eyes lit up, his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, and he asked excitedly, "These were given to you by the King?"

Ah Chou nodded and pushed Xiao Le towards him.

Xiao Le didn't touch it. "Such good stuff, are you really going to give it to me?"

Ah Chou wanted to eat with Xiao Le, but he was too upset, so the food tasted bland and wasted its delicious flavor.

Xiao Le grinned, "Then I won't be polite. I've been hiding half of the sweet shortbread I received, I'll go eat that first."

A sweet aroma filled the air, and the others in the room unconsciously swallowed their saliva. They had seen many delicious things while working in the Prince's mansion, but they had never tasted them themselves.

Driven by desire rather than shame, Shunzi peered out and asked, "Ugly, can I have a piece?"

Xiao Le put one foot on the stool and said smugly, "Last time you said that Ah Chou stole Wang Zun's things, but now you're begging him for them. Aren't you afraid that these were stolen too?"

Shunzi's face flushed red and then turned pale, and he stammered, unable to explain why.

Under the table, Ah Chou gently tugged at Xiao Le's clothes. Xiao Le coughed lightly and relented, saying, "Alright, since Ah Chou doesn't mind, I'll let you try some good stuff."

Upon hearing this, the others, disregarding the warmth they had managed to create under the covers, all gathered around the table.

Xiao Le waved his hand dismissively, "Each person can only have half a piece! Half a piece!"

Da Zhuang was the only one who didn't come over; he turned his back to them and crawled into the blankets.

Delicious pastries bring joy to the eater, and savoring their sweet taste can even lead to a good dream.

As usual, Xiao Le and A Chou snuggled together in the same quilt, covered by a thick, warm cloak, not feeling cold at all.

He turned to face Ah Chou, pouting as he whispered his dissatisfaction, "Those people are bullying us. Why did you share the pastries with them? It broke my heart."

Ah Chou pointed her finger at Xiao Le Yuan's bulging belly through his clothes, her big eyes revealing her emotions completely.

"Okay, okay, I ate the most, I know!" Xiao Le pretended to be angry for only two seconds before happily snuggling up to A Chou. "What are your plans for the new year?"

Ah Chou thought about it for a while. When he was being dragged away to other places to be sold with bone chains on his body, all he thought about was not dying on the way. After he was safely admitted to the Prince's mansion, he was well-fed and clothed, and he had nothing left to think about.

A fleeting image flashed through her mind, causing her heart to skip a beat. Ah Chou subconsciously touched the raised scar on her shoulder, her eyes drooping softly to conceal her complex emotions.

"I plan to save up money so I can make myself a new coat for winter, the kind with little flowers embroidered on it..."

The sound grew fainter and fainter as Xiao Le drifted off into a sweet dream.

Ah Chou rolled over and faced the roof beam, staring blankly into space. The stinging pain on his cheek turned into an itch. Xiao Le told him not to scratch, or he would get a scar.

Unable to sleep, Ah Chou sat up, his hunched back reflecting his current mood, his shorter hair falling over his shoulders.

At the time, the ends of my hair were dry, yellow, and tangled. Uncle Ban cut them off with a pair of scissors. Fortunately, I was getting enough nutrition, and my hair still felt relatively smooth to the touch.

Ah Chou touched her scars again, and unpleasant memories flooded her mind. She hugged her knees and buried her face in her arms. For some reason, tears would flow uncontrollably whenever she thought about it.

In the middle of the night, light footsteps sounded and stopped overhead. Dazhuang closed his eyes tightly, and only opened them after hearing the rustling sound of someone crawling under the covers. There was half a pastry placed on a cloth next to his pillow.

Dazhuang raised his upper body and looked towards the innermost part, where Achou had already lay down with his face buried in the quilt.

—

Even people living in a cold and desolate place like Lingzhou have a secret expectation for the new year.

The snow stopped, and the golden sun peeked out from behind the clouds, its long-awaited rays illuminating the earth and bringing hope to those who had long lived in darkness and cold.

The servants, bending low and carrying trays overhead, orderly served breakfast. The aroma of the food filled the warm room, briefly filling the emptiness of their desires.

Jiang Yan Hui looked listlessly, her appetite indifferent, and asked Uncle Ban, who was serving her, "Can the scar on Ah Chou's shoulder be removed?"

Uncle Ban nodded and answered truthfully, "Your Excellency, it is not difficult to remove the scar on Ah Chou's shoulder. Just dig out the raised scar and apply Jade Skin Cream, and the skin will be as smooth as before."

Jiang Yan frowned. "Why didn't you dispose of it when you brought it back? It's such an unsightly place."

Uncle Ban replied, "Ah Chou's wound was pierced by an iron ring. Exposed to the wind and sun, coupled with his weak body, and multiple infections, there is no healthy flesh left. Applying the Jade Skin Ointment will not help."

Jiang Yan Hui felt dissatisfied that such a beautiful body was marred by ugly scars, and desperately wanted to remove the imperfect parts, leaving only a flawless work of art.

While Jiang Yanhui was deep in thought, Uncle Ban calmly reported, "This morning, Xiao Le, who shares a room with Achou, came to ask me for ointment to treat frostbite, saying that Achou had frostbite on her cheeks."

Jiang Yanhui snapped out of her thoughts, her brows furrowing deeply. "Have you gone to see it?"

Uncle Ban said, "I went there myself, and Ah Chou's cheeks were indeed covered in red, swollen chilblains, and his finger bones were also covered in chilblains."

Putting the scar aside for the time being, Jiang Yanhui was furious at the vase she had finally found that she liked. A vase that didn't know how to take care of itself and please its owner was causing its owner a lot of trouble and worry.

She waved her hand listlessly. Perhaps Ah Chou was a piece of rotten wood mistaken for a gem, otherwise why would she be disappointed in him again and again?

Uncle Ban nodded, took a few steps back, and turned around. Before he had fully stepped out of the threshold, Jiang Yanhui's voice came from behind him again.

“Bring him to my room to serve me, and I will personally train him.”

Crafting a fine work of art is like deploying troops in battle; the initial planning and preparation are all for the final, decisive blow.

So Jiang Yanhui suddenly changed her mind.

The winters in Lingzhou are long and tedious, but she doesn't mind spending some time polishing the vases to create works of art that suit her aesthetic tastes.

A note from the author:

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Ah Chou felt wronged, but she didn't say anything.