Chapter 23: Nothing to say
After the autumn hunt, the weather grew colder day by day. Winter came early in the Cloud Recesses, and when the first snow fell, the entire mountain gate was bathed in a blanket of white.
Si Zhui wrapped himself tightly in his thick cloak. As soon as he came out of the library, he saw Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling standing in the corridor, rubbing their hands, with a crooked snowman piled at their feet.
"Si Zhui! Come help!" Lan Jingyi waved at him, "We want to build a snowman like Senior Wei, but this one looks weird."
Si Zhui walked over and took a look. The snowman had a round head, a branch stuck in its body as a token of love, and two curved smiling eyes dotted with ink on its face. It did resemble Wei Wuxian, but its body was extremely tilted, as if it would collapse at any moment.
Jin Ling stood aside with his arms folded, saying in disdain: "What a pile! It's worse than a rabbit." But when the snowman was about to collapse, he calmly used his spiritual power to support it.
Si Zhui smiled and picked up a broom to help them compact the snowman's base. "If Senior Wei saw this, he'd definitely say you've piled it up into a crooked mess."
The three of them were laughing when they saw Wei Wuxian walking over on the snow, carrying a food box. "Hey, are you making a snowman? Let me see if it looks like me?"
Lan Jingyi quickly took credit: "Senior Wei, look at these eyes, don't they look like you when you smile?"
Wei Wuxian bent down to examine her for a moment, then stroked his chin and nodded, "Well, you have good taste! It's just that she's too thin. She needs to gain some weight—how can I be that slim?" He opened the lunch box, revealing several plates of steaming snacks. "Come, try some of my newly made snowflake pastries. Consider it a treat for you."
Several people gathered together to eat snacks. Snowflakes fell on their hair, bringing a crisp coolness, while the candy in their mouths was sweet and warming. Jin Ling ate the fastest, and a little frosting stained the corner of his mouth. Wei Wuxian pointed at him with a smile: "Eat slowly, no one will steal it from you." He said and handed him a handkerchief.
Jin Ling's ears turned red. He took the handkerchief and wiped them, then whispered, "Thank you."
Back in the quiet room in the evening, Lan Wangji was warming the wine. The fire flickered, the wine pot on the copper stove was steaming, and the aroma of wine mixed with the fragrance of plum blossoms filled the room.
“Are you back?” Wei Wuxian took the wine jug from Lan Wangji and poured Si Zhui a glass of warm fruit wine. “It’s cold, drink something to warm you up.”
Si Zhui held his wine glass, watching his father and his father talking by the stove. Wei Wuxian danced with joy as he recounted the interesting things he had seen that day. Lan Wangji occasionally responded, but his gaze remained fixed on him, filled with an unwavering tenderness.
"Oh right," Wei Wuxian suddenly remembered something, "your birthday is next month. What gift would you like?"
Si Zhui was stunned; he had almost forgotten about his birthday. After a moment's thought, he smiled and said, "No need for any gifts. I'd just like to have dinner with Daddy, Father, Jingyi, Jin Ling, and the others."
Wei WuXian raised an eyebrow: "That's it? That's too simple."
Lan Wangji nodded: "Okay."
At night, Sizhui lay in bed, listening to the sound of falling snow outside the window, his heart particularly peaceful. He remembered the laughter of making snowmen during the day, the snowflake crisps in the lunch box, the warm wine by the stove and his father's gentle gaze.
These small bits of warmth are like a fire on a winter night, perhaps not blazing, but enough to dispel all the chill. He knows that there may be wind and snow on the road to growth, but there will always be moments like this that make him feel that life is worth living.
The next morning, when Sizhui went to pay his respects to Lan Qiren, he found the old man lost in thought before a pot of black plum blossoms. On the desk lay a scroll: the Wen Clan's Medical Classics.
"Great uncle."
Lan Qiren came back to his senses and pointed to the book: "This is the medical classic left by Wen Qing, with her annotations on it. You have a cold body, so you should read more about medical knowledge so that you can learn how to regulate yourself."
On the cover of the scroll was embroidered a small white plum blossom, clearly a woman's handiwork. Holding the book, Sizhui suddenly understood that his great-uncle's care was like this black plum blossom: unassuming yet quietly blooming with warmth even on the coldest days.
He looked down at the beautiful annotations on the pages, as if he could see that gentle woman studying medical books here many years ago. She was indeed a warm aunt. And now, this warmth passed through time and fell on him.
The snow was still falling, and the white walls and black tiles of the Cloud Recesses were covered with thick snow, but it couldn't hide the lights and warmth that shone through everywhere. Si Zhui knew that there would be many more winters like this, and the people around him would always be there.
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