Ye Yingying (3)
Shortly after that, Yun Yanqiu started seeking out Ye Yingying more often.
One morning, as the mist hung in the air, he led Ye Yingying along a dew-kissed flagstone path to a lush, verdant tea garden. Layer upon layer of tea bushes wound their way up the mountainside, their tender green buds adorned with glistening dewdrops that shimmered in the morning light. A gentle breeze carried the crisp, grassy fragrance of the tea bushes. Before Ye Yingying could even take a deep breath of this refreshing air, Yun Yanqiu handed her a bamboo basket, gesturing for her to follow him and pick tea.
“Do it my way.” He demonstrated by gently pinching the base of the tea bud with his thumb and forefinger, then lifting his wrist to drop a whole bud into the basket. “Like this,” he said, his voice unconsciously softening, “Don’t use too much force, or you’ll break it.”
Ye Yingying tried to imitate him by reaching out, but she couldn't control her strength. She wrinkled her nose in frustration when she crushed the tender bud for the third time. Suddenly, a warm sensation approached from behind—Yun Yanqiu was standing behind her, his right hand gently resting on the back of her hand.
"Relax your hands." His breath brushed past her ear, seemingly oblivious to the inappropriateness of their close proximity. Ye Yingying's fingertips trembled slightly with tension, her nostrils filled with the faint scent of pine from the man behind her.
The slender hand gently plucked a whole tea bud from her hand before stepping back. Ye Yingying occasionally stole glances at Yun Yanqiu's profile, where sunlight shone, illuminating a suspicious red hue.
For the next while, the two maintained a tacit distance, neither saying much. It wasn't until she damaged the bud for the fifth time that Yun Yanqiu finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"What are you laughing at!" Ye Yingying's face flushed red.
"It's nothing." He bent down to pick up the tea leaves scattered at her feet. "That's enough. Let's go back."
It was already noon when they returned to the courtyard. Yun Yanqiu finished processing the freshly picked tea leaves and set up a tea stove in the yard to boil water. Ye Yingying rested her chin on her hand and stared at him, noticing that he was wearing a white robe as always, but with the sleeves rolled up, revealing his well-defined forearms.
"Do you prefer it stronger or weaker?" Yun Yanqiu suddenly looked up and asked.
Ye Yingying was staring blankly at his bobbing Adam's apple when she heard this and blurted out, "Everything you cook is good."
She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. Although she used to tease him like this often, Ye Yingying felt flustered now.
Yun Yanqiu paused, startled, and quickly tried to compose herself, but what came out was incoherent: "I meant... uh, that..."
The sound of tea being poured into the porcelain cup was exceptionally clear. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting an amber glow on Yun Yanqiu's fair fingers. He silently pushed the teacup towards Ye Yingying, his fingertips inadvertently brushing against the back of her hand.
"Try it, but be careful, it's hot," he said in a low voice, his voice a little hoarse.
Ye Yingying picked up the teacup, the steam blurring her vision. The aroma of the tea spread between her lips and teeth, without any bitterness, but with an unexpected refreshing taste and endless aftertaste.
"Is it good?" Yun Yanqiu asked.
Ye Yingying looked up and found him gazing at her intently, his gaze so focused it made her heart flutter. A mist rose between them, softening his features.
"Mmm." She nodded gently, this time with a genuine smile. "It's especially delicious."
Xuanming Mountain is covered in snow all year round, with snow accumulation on the ground never ceasing. Ye Yingying wasn't used to the cold here, so she kept pestering Yun Yanqiu for hot tea. She wanted to help pick tea to repay him, but the tea leaves in Xuanming Mountain were very delicate, and she couldn't pick many intact buds even after several attempts with Yun Yanqiu.
Feeling embarrassed to continue making things worse, Ye Yingying rolled her eyes and came up with a new idea.
Before dawn that day, she tossed and turned in bed, finally unable to resist the urge to rise, and tiptoed out of bed. She wrapped her clothes tighter around herself, a few specks of sleep still clinging to her eyes, but a mischievous smile played on her lips. The moment she pushed open the door, a blast of biting cold air hit her, making her shiver. The fresh snow from the previous night had piled up to half a foot deep, making a soft, crunching sound underfoot.
A still silence fell over the area in front of Yunyanqiu's house. Ye Yingying crouched down on tiptoe in front of the door and began to knead the snow on the ground. Her fingertips quickly turned red, but she was oblivious, completely absorbed in shaping the snowman.
As dawn broke, Ye Yingying examined her finished product, unable to resist covering her mouth and chuckling to herself, her breath swirling into mist in the morning light. Just as she was about to retreat back inside, she suddenly heard a noise from within, startling her so much that she stumbled and fell to the ground. Ignoring the snowflakes on her clothes, she scrambled back into the house, then quietly leaned against the window, peeking through the crack.
Ye Yingying held her breath as the wooden door creaked open. Yun Yanqiu, as always, was dressed in a moon-white robe, his hair still damp with steam. He abruptly stopped in his tracks, his gaze falling on the snowman in front of the door.
The snowman was incredibly endearing, with a vibrant green leaf atop its head. He stood there for a long time, a smile unconsciously curving his lips.
A muffled sound suddenly came from not far away. Yun Yanqiu looked in the direction of the sound and his gaze fell on Ye Yingying's tightly closed door.
The people inside instantly huddled together behind the door like thieves caught red-handed. She heard the soft rustling of fabric drawing closer, and Ye Yingying's heart pounded. The footsteps stopped at the door, but there was no further movement. She bit her lip and waited for a long while, finally unable to resist, she opened the door a crack—
There was no one outside the door, only two clear lines of footprints winding into the depths of the bamboo forest on the snow. Ye Yingying kicked the threshold dejectedly, then suddenly noticed a patch of white on the windowsill. The thing was small; upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a snowman the size of a palm. This snowman also had a green leaf on its head, but compared to the large one she had built, this leaf looked more like a wide-brimmed hat on its head.
Ye Yingying picked up the leaf and realized it was the one she had chosen to place on the snowman's head, still retaining a faint scent of pine. She twirled it in her hand and noticed ink stains on it, blurred by the morning dew.
Ye Yingying stopped what she was doing and looked closely. She saw a few small words printed on the back: "Enjoying the snow?"
The icicles under the eaves suddenly broke, the crisp sound startling the birds slumbering on the branches. Ye Yingying looked up and saw Yun Yanqiu standing by the bamboo grove, the morning light filtering through the swirling snowflakes and sprinkling fine golden dust on his shoulders.
The fresh snow silently covered the footprints on the ground, but it couldn't conceal the two shadows that drew ever closer. When the two faced each other and saw their reflections in each other's eyes, the most moving snow scene was no longer between heaven and earth.
Looking back now, she realized that her feelings for Yun Yanqiu had become complicated and difficult to describe from that time onward. On one hand, she became increasingly infatuated with this seemingly untouched yet vibrant and lively man; on the other hand, her obsession with obtaining the Rakshasa Jade still hung over her like a sword of Damocles. Whenever she smelled the cool scent of cedar on his clothes and felt a pang of longing, that thought would be like ice water poured over her head, suddenly bringing her back to her senses.
Although she no longer needed to struggle with this, Ye Yingying's heart was still filled with unease—no matter how realistic this place was, it was still an illusion. Was it really alright to become so immersed in it? Moreover, at the end of this illusion lay her death…
The tea stove gurgled softly, and the rising steam wove a hazy veil before her dazed eyes. Yun Yanqiu picked up the plain earthenware teapot and poured the clear blue tea into the teacup in front of her: "Try it."
Ye Yingying took a small sip; the tea's aroma was as crisp and refreshing as after a snowfall, yet it had an unexpected sweetness upon tasting. "Emerald Snow Tea?" she blurted out, then immediately pursed her lips, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the warm glaze of the rim of the cup.
"This is new tea, and it doesn't have a name yet." Yun Yanqiu paused slightly in her hand holding the cup. "But the name you came up with is quite good."
"I was just making it up." Ye Yingying lowered her head awkwardly and took a sip, letting the warm steam dampen her eyelashes.
"That doesn't matter." His voice was as soft as snow falling on bamboo tips. "Or does this name already belong to someone else?"
"No," she denied hastily, lowering her head to stare intently at the ripples dancing in the cup. "Let's call it that..."
Ye Yingying's silence was somewhat unusual, and Yun Yanqiu's gaze darkened slightly: "Are you going back?"
"What?"
"When do we set off?" He lightly stroked the rim of his cup with his fingertips, as snow pattered down from the eaves.
"I haven't even said I was leaving!" The teacup clinked against the wooden table. "Don't you want me to stay here?"
"I do." Unmelted snowflakes clung to his eyelashes. "But your heart... isn't with me."
Another snowflake landed on Yunyanqiu's eyelashes. He didn't brush it away, but simply gazed at Ye Yingying, his eyes as calm as a deep pool. She was all too familiar with that all-knowing look—he would look at her like that every time she lied, until she crumbled completely.
"In your heart, whether it's Rakshasa Jade or Ghost Calculator, they're actually much more important than me, aren't they?"
"I..." She was momentarily dazed, unable to distinguish whether the person in front of her was an illusion or real. Her gaze suddenly fell on the ice crystals that had formed on his sleeve—the marks left from when they were building a snowman this morning.
Would he think that way too? No, he should. She had promised to accompany him back to Xuanming Mountain, but she had broken her promise… Guilt grew wildly like vines, tightening around her heart. A thousand words choked in her throat, the reflection in the tea mirroring her chaotic thoughts. She watched helplessly as the light in Yun Yanqiu's eyes dimmed, like twilight swallowing the last patch of snow.
The sound of the tea stove boiling was deafening. Ye Yingying suddenly remembered that there had indeed been such a scene in the past. Yun Yanqiu noticed that she was absent-minded and perfunctory, and her vague words made him even angrier. His questioning words at that time still echoed in her ears: "If it is all just pretense, please go back."
In the misty air, Yun Yanqiu's departing figure overlapped with her memories. Ye Yingying suddenly awoke: it turned out that every choice she made, however self-righteous, had etched a new wound into his heart.
Ye Yingying suddenly stood up, her sleeve flipping the teacup over, causing it to roll on the table with a clear, resonant sound.
She couldn't let him wait any longer—she looked up, her eyes revealing an unprecedented determination.
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