Chapter 65: Yi Qie Tai Cen
A few plum blossoms stand proudly against the cold, their fragrance lingering even in the snow.
Bai Feifei stood beneath the tree, head tilted back, lost in thought. Snow clung to her eyelashes. Whenever she was silent or not intending to do anything, she was always this exquisitely beautiful. Appearances can never be judged by their own. For instance, at least in this snowy scene, there was no hint of murderous intent in Bai Feifei. She seemed like a royal concubine, a beauty born of nature, her elegance surpassing even the chrysanthemums of autumn, tears still glistening on her cheeks.
But as soon as Xie Huailing approached, the imperial concubine vanished, replaced by a cold and aloof female warrior who glared at him and said, "What are you doing here again?"
Xie Huailing did not slow her pace because of Bai Feifei's indifference. She stepped on the snow, which had accumulated to a thickness like cotton wool, making it difficult to walk without sinking her feet: "You shouldn't have answered like that. When I came to find you, you should have said that you were moved, that you were considerate of me, and that you welcomed me warmly, instead of asking me what I was doing here and why I came here. These are meaningless questions."
"I think you're just bored."
"That's meaningless."
Xie Huailing stopped a step away from Bai Feifei and looked at where she was looking. It turned out that most of the plum blossoms on a plum tree had been blown away by the wind. Looking at the ground, she realized that it wasn't the wind's fault. The fallen plum blossoms were still lying on the ground, looking like they had died.
Then it was Xie Huailing's turn to ask Bai Feifei, "Why are you messing with these perfectly good flowers?"
Bai Feifei didn't answer. Her mood wasn't exactly pleasant, perhaps because of her trip out that morning. Bai Feifei had her own power and her own things to do, and therefore her own troubles and sorrows, which Xie Huailing didn't understand.
She countered with another question: "Since you're so inquisitive, let me ask you again: when are you going to give me my Seven-Leaf Star Soul Grass? I know perfectly well that after I came back yesterday, Li Xunhuan's case should have been almost completely solved."
Xie Huailing didn't intend to hide this from Bai Feifei anymore, nor did she think she could. She replied, "I'll give it to you in a couple of days. It'll all be over in two more days."
Then the two remained silent, both gazing at the withered plum blossoms. The plum blossoms seemed to cough amidst the swirling snowflakes; their crimson hue, unable to be suppressed by the white snow, shone through every corner, blooming even on the brown branches. People compare the setting sun to blood, for the twilight of a day's end and the fiery glow of sunset, a poignant reminder of a glorious but unforgettable death. But people also compare the winter plum blossoms to blood, for besides their deep red, they possess a cold, proud defiance. Sometimes, bloodshed signifies the end of a life; sometimes, it signifies solitary independence.
Xie Huailing suddenly asked, "When are you leaving?"
Bai Feifei didn't answer immediately. She paused and said, "After obtaining the Seven-Leaf Star Soul Grass."
Xie Huailing then said, "Won't you stay a few more days? I'll be so bored if you leave."
Bai Feifei then said, "What does it matter to me if you're bored? Are we that close?"
Xie Huailing countered, "Don't we have a good relationship?"
Bai Feifei remained silent for a long time.
She knew why she argued with Xie Huailing time and time again, just as she understood the perfect complement between two flowers. There should only be one such unique flower in the world, but now there are two. They were perfectly compatible, so compatible that it sometimes felt like they had grown up together. She wasn't truly a dead person, nor was she so cold-hearted as to have lost all human emotion. Xie Huailing, on the other hand, simply had a different way of thinking and was inherently cold-hearted. Perhaps one day they would meet someone who could truly understand them and become their important confidant. She would leave behind her loves and hates, and Xie Huailing would have his own.
And that day will come, and that day is now.
But after the snow on her eyelashes melted, Bai Feifei said, "I won't get along with anyone. I have things to do, just like you have things to do. When I've finished everything, if you're still alive and I'm still alive, then come and ask me that question again."
Bai Feifei knew Xie Huailing, and Xie Huailing knew Bai Feifei too, so they didn't try to stop her any longer: "Why didn't you come to find me? Traveling far away is tiring, you know. What if I suddenly die out there?"
“Then you deserve it,” Bai Feifei replied.
“But traveling far away is really tiring.” Xie Huailing rambled on and on. “To put it another way, can’t you really come to see me? Even if you’re dead, you have to crawl out of your grave to find me. But if you die in a really ugly way, don’t come to see me. I’m afraid I’ll be scared awake in the middle of the night.”
"Who asked you to back down ten thousand steps? If you're going to back down ten thousand steps, can't you just not back down at all?!"
"What are you saying? I'm already being very generous by taking a huge step back for you. Who else would be willing to take a huge step back for you besides me? This is a huge step back!"
Bai Feifei rolled her eyes at this, but Xie Huailing seemed oblivious to her rising anger, continuing, "Men are everywhere, but I'm the only woman out there. And to put it another way, you should thank me for letting you experience being pushed back... Don't look at me like that, and don't hit me. You know what they say?"
Bai Feifei's brow twitched, and her palms began to itch. She asked, "What did you say?"
Xie Huailing replied, "It's said that beating someone is a sign of affection, and scolding someone is a sign of love."
Bai Feifei: "..."
Bai Feifei sneered, a vein throbbing on her forehead, her smile as if she were about to take her life: "I'll be your best friend right now."
Upon seeing this, Xie Huailing tensed instantly and cautiously retreated step by step. The small step she wisely maintained between herself and Bai Feifei acted as a buffer, allowing her to slowly move backward despite Bai Feifei's unhurried pursuit. As she retreated, she said, "Calm down, don't be impulsive."
Bai Feifei pressed closer, and as she retreated, she moved closer, saying, "I'm very calm. You stop right there."
If it wasn't an order Xie Huailing liked, she would refuse outright: "Do I look like an idiot?"
Bai Feifei said, "I'd rather you were a fool. Do you know how long I've put up with you?"
Xie Huailing said, "I know, isn't this also a kind of honor for me?"
The more Bai Feifei talked, the angrier she became, until her pale face regained color and blushed like rouge. Frost and snow fell on their heads and shoulders. At midday, they were unusually lively, becoming two figures in the breathtaking snow-covered plum blossom painting, their stillness within their usual movement, and their movement within their stillness today.
However, the difference in strength between people can be greater than the difference between a person and a dog. After taking two steps back, Bai Feifei raised her hand and pressed Xie Huailing down.
On the open snow-covered ground, two white figures overlapped, splashing up a cloud of snow. There wasn't even a chase before Xie Huailing collapsed to the ground. A chill tried to creep up on them, but it couldn't; something more joyful blocked its way. In the midst of a harsh winter, Bai Feifei grabbed Xie Huailing by the collar, the veins on her forehead almost visible, ready to have a good fight with him.
She threatened, "Now that Su Mengzhen isn't here to save you, I'd like to see if you can come up with anything useful."
To project a more imposing presence, Bai Feifei unusually lowered her eyebrows. This wasn't the expression she would use when interrogating people; rather, it was a fierce look she put on specifically for Xie Huailing.
But Xie Huailing wasn't afraid when Bai Feifei grabbed her by the collar and pressed her to the snow. They looked at each other, and Xie Huailing smiled in Bai Feifei's furious gaze.
Her smile was genuine, even tinged with naivety. Perhaps it was her personality that overshadowed her looks, but now Bai Feifei realized that this scoundrel did indeed have a handsome face, and seemed to be a bit younger than her. She didn't like to smile, she usually didn't smile, but at this moment her eyes curved into crescents. It wasn't a stunning, icy smile, but a very gentle smile, softly stretching beyond mountains and rivers.
"You still have the nerve to laugh." Bai Feifei couldn't take it anymore. She lowered her head and tried to turn away, but before she could feel angry, she actually laughed. "You still have the nerve to laugh."
She released her grip, let go of Xie Huailing, then rolled over to the side and lay down shoulder to shoulder with Xie Huailing.
The soft snow enveloped her back, and she smelled the scent of winter. Her anger vanished instantly, and her mind and body calmed down in a moment. Bai Feifei couldn't hear any distant sounds, nor could she hear Xie Huailing's laughter. Her laughter was just laughter; she wouldn't laugh out loud. But in that peaceful, dreamlike moment, Bai Feifei knew when she had stopped.
It's as if everything has gone far away; as long as she hasn't risen, neither the goal nor the pain will return, and both can be forgotten. The future is near, yet also far; at least, the future isn't here now.
Suddenly, she didn't want to care about many things anymore. When was the last time Bai Feifei felt like this in her life?
She vaguely felt a sense of pleasure; well, she understood why Xie Huailing had laughed. This pleasure compelled her to ask a question she wouldn't normally ask, a question that could be considered intimate: "Have you always been like this?"
Xie Huailing answered very readily: "Always, ever since I was born. Where I'm from, they call me a freak."
"That is indeed quite strange." Bai Feifei chatted casually with her, like an ordinary close friend on a street corner. "Won't people think we'll talk about it?"
"Yes, especially when I'm in school. But what do I care about other people? If I don't appreciate it, it's all their fault."
"That's true—what is a school?"
"They're all the same – schools, private academies, academies, places to study. Every day it's just studying, exams, rankings, and getting scolded. In our area, we don't just admit boys, we admit girls too."
"So, things outside the Great Wall aren't bad either. What was your ranking in school? Top three? Or number one?"
"They're all wrong, it's the last one."
Bai Feifei was genuinely surprised and asked, "Why?"
Xie Huailing remained calm and replied, "My handwriting is ugly; the teacher cannot understand it."
Bai Feifei couldn't help but laugh, as if a spring breeze had swept across the years. She then asked, "So how did you finish reading it?"
Xie Huailing replied again: "Special channels and special talents have their own methods."
Bai Feifei laughed even louder, turning her head away, but the laughter still leaked out from her trembling shoulders. Xie Huailing laughed along with her. She had also tried hard to improve her calligraphy, but fate had decreed her demise, and what could she do? This was the only thing she had to accept her fate.
After Bai Feifei finished laughing, they continued chatting. Whenever Bai Feifei asked a question, Xie Huailing would answer, even if it was about herself; she would give Bai Feifei an answer.
They chatted for an unknown amount of time before finally calming down and sharing this space.
The clouds drifted far away, the earth seemed endless and the sky moved on its own, as if only the two of them remained. A vast expanse of white stretched before them, refreshing everything they could see. They thought of nothing more, knew nothing more. Shoulder to shoulder, they thought neither of the melting snow nor the cracked ice on the water.
"Su Mengzhen is not my cousin."
Xie Huailing said this without warning.
Bai Feifei was taken aback, but then spoke without hesitation.
“I’m going to kill someone.” She put her hand to her eyes and said slowly, “I’m disgusted by the fact that his blood is on my skin all the time. I have to kill him. I must kill him.”
Then came complete silence; they stopped speaking and simply gazed at the sky.
No one needs to say goodbye, much less farewell. Before the snow stops, people will each head off to their own mountains.
But no matter how dynasties rise and fall, or how the world changes, the wind that blows this afternoon is a page in their lives, because only with this page can they turn to the next.
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In the evening, Bai Feifei was still dragged by Xie Huailing to buy a cat.
Xie Huailing, who was still thinking about the cat, bombarded Bai Feifei with phrases like "This is practically my own kitten," "I felt an instant connection with it the moment I saw it," "It must really want to come home with me," and "The cat's flower language is 'first come, first served.'" Bai Feifei responded with sharp criticisms like "I feel nauseous, I'm going to throw up," "It sounds more like it's destined to suffer a calamity than 'destined to'," "Did you ask its opinion before saying these things?" and "I'm already starting to feel sorry for it."
However, fate was on the side of the cat. Not wanting the cat to fall into Xie Huailing's hands, the waiter told Xie Huailing apologetically that the cat had already been bought at a high price by the customer who had come with her last time with his head down.
Xie Huailing was shocked and her eyes widened: "Damn cat traffickers, where's my cat?!"
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Ms. Xie was still taught a lesson by Di Fei in terms of hand speed.
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I wrote about Bai Feifei and Ms. Xie entirely as best friends and closest confidantes. Best friends are best friends, that's what best friends are all about, and that best friends can easily put others ahead of them.
Also, Bai Feifei will be making a comeback. Bai Choufei came to Jinfeng Xiyu Tower, and Bai Feifei, whose name differs from his by only one character, can't come too!
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