The houses in Snow Town were not only beautiful, but also built for a purpose. The roofs were piled with snow, giving the overall scenery a vast outlook of whiteness. At the doorstep of each house laid a shovel and broom for snow removal, and there were rows upon rows of street lights to illuminate the area at nightfall.
The sky at dusk was so beautiful that one might think they were in a dream.
Tang Yuanyuan got down from Yuchi Yishu’s back. Pulling out her mobile phone, she started capturing several photos of the scenery. A thought struck her mind, and she turned around to ask, “Yishu, we haven’t taken any photos together yet. Shall we take one now?”
“Okay.” Yuchi Yishu nodded in agreement, like the accommodating brother he has always been to Tang Yuanyuan.
Tang Yuanyuan turned on the front camera of the mobile phone as she said to Yuchi Yishu, “Let’s use this to take the pictures.”
“Alright.”
As she adjusted her position, Yuchi Yishu bent down and stood close to her, his towering frame blocking the beautiful scenery that Tang Yuanyuan had taken a long time to find for the picture.
As they both posed for the photo, Tang Yuanyuan’s hand shook a little. Blinking, she looked at both their faces on the phone screen.
She couldn’t help but realize that she and her brother were worlds apart in their appearance. He had a handsome face and eyes that were as deep and mysterious as the ocean. As charming as one can be—according to the girls who had set their eyes on him before. Whereas looking at herself, all she saw was a plain set of eyes in a round face. She looked nothing like her brother.
This realization dampened Tang Yuanyuan’s mood almost immediately.
As she was about to put her phone away, Yuchi Yishu raised his hand and pressed on the camera shutter.
The photo was instantly captured.
Tang Yuanyuan was still processing the fact that they really took a photo, as she was feeling rather ashamed of her weight at the moment and did not want to take one.
“Wait up!” The minute Zhong Chufeng noticed they were taking photos, he abruptly let go of the luggage and went forward, squeezing himself between Yuchi Yishu and Tang Yuanyuan. Holding onto her fair wrist, he said, “Yuanyuan, take a picture with me too!”
Not waiting for her answer, he took her mobile phone as he happily said, “Come on, let me snap the picture. My arms are longer, so we’ll be able to get a good angle with the scenery in the background…”
Zhong Chufeng then went on to snap several pictures with Tang Yuanyuan. She, on the other hand, was standing there in a daze.
After taking the photos, Zhong Chufeng was going through the photo album when he noticed that Tang Yuanyuan seemed a little confused in all the photos, while he had a series of different expressions.
It seemed that he was the only one getting hyped.
Zhong Chufeng thought to himself, It’s okay. It’s good that I even have a photo with her now. With a smile, he turned his head to Tang Yuanyuan then asked her, “Send these photos to me, alright?”
“Okay.”
Of course, sharing the pictures with him was not a big deal for her.
After using her mobile phone to send all the photos to himself, Zhong Chufeng returned it back to her.
“You have to save these photos of us, Yuanyuan.”
“I definitely will, Chufeng!”
As they were happily taking photos, An Qian made her way to them. She had been wanting to post a picture of Tang Yuanyuan to the WeChat group for the longest time, and today, the opportunity had presented itself.
She panted as she reached them, saying, “I want to take a photo too, Yuanyuan. Let’s take one together.”
Tang Yuanyuan was about to oblige when Yuchi Yishu, who had been silently observing for some time, suddenly interjected and said, “We ought to get indoors; the sun will set soon and it will get dark out here. Let’s take a look at our accomodation first. It’s only our first day here.”
Zhong Chufeng immediately agreed. “He’s right. Since we’re traveling on our own, there will be plenty of time to take pictures while enjoying ourselves over the next few days. I brought my camera along for this trip too. Once our luggage is delivered, we can use the camera to take photos, and I’m sure they’ll come out better.”
And with that, An Qian’s plan had hit a wall, yet again.
She looked at Tang Yuanyuan with a bit of resentment. Are they doing it on purpose? The two of them had taken pictures with her, but why would Yuchi Yishu not allow her to take pictures with Tang Yuanyuan?
Could it be that Yuchi Yishu actually noticed what happened before? Oh dear, I must find time to explain myself to him.
The house had two floors; the lower level was where the kitchen, bathroom, and dining area were, while the upper level was the bedrooms.
There were three rooms in total, so Yuchi Yishu and Zhong Chufeng would be taking one each, while Tang Yuanyuan and An Qian would be sharing a room.
An Qian, who was practically frozen to the bone, had finally begun to regain sensation in her hands and feet upon entering the house. The landlord was there to welcome them, and offered everyone a bowl of hot soup. There was a thick layer of oil floating on the top, and this made An Qian rather disgusted.
“This mutton soup is the perfect comfort food for such brittle coldness,” said the landlord. “The snowfall today is indeed rather heavy. It must not have been easy for you guys to walk all the way up here. Drink up now! Let’s get you guys all warmed up.”
Hearing that, Tang Yuanyuan’s eyes lit up, and her hand shot out to take the bowl from the landlord.
“Thank you, Madam!”
Seeing Tang Yuanyuan’s flushed face, paired with her round eyes and chubby cheeks, the landlord smiled and said, “You are most welcome! Enjoy the soup.”
In the end, the cold got the best of An Qian and she too resorted to drinking the soup.
As she reached out for the soup, her hand brushed against the landlord’s, to which the landlord said, “Oh dear, your hands are freezing! It must have been a long journey here.”
The landlord looked at what she was wearing, and couldn’t help but say, “Sigh, you young girls. Elegance and style should not outweigh comfort. You’re still young and probably don’t think anything of it now, but when you get older, you’ll be much more prone to frostbite. Besides, girls get cold easily. That’s just how our system is built, so you must take caution to dress well to keep yourself warm.”
An Qian drank the mutton soup, and though she didn’t usually fancy this type of soup, it seemed relatively acceptable then. The warm soup felt like liquid warmth going down her throat, the heat slowly radiating throughout her entire body.
Sometime later, her complexion returned to its usual rosiness.
Tang Yuanyuan, on the other hand, had finished drinking her bowl of soup and couldn’t help but ask the landlord shyly, “Madam, this soup is delicious. May I have another bowl, please?”
It was the first time that the landlord had laid eyes on such a cute young girl, and she was smitten by Tang Yuanyuan and her sweet tone. She immediately agreed to her request with a big smile on her face.
“Why, of course, dear!”
Upon hearing this, An Qian resented her even more for this.
One bowl is more than enough to warm up the average person. But it’s not surprising that a fatty like her can’t control her food intake, what more to say about counting calories. A girl like her can never lose weight.
I really don’t understand. Why would Zhong Chufeng like a girl like her? Could it be that skinny girls are not to his liking?
She rolled her eyes as she sipped the soup in her bowl.
Seeing Tang Yuanyuan’s bubbly personality, the landlord couldn’t help but offer her some snacks once she had finished her second helping of soup.
“Oh, young lady, I can tell you’re a person who appreciates good food. These are my treasures, and I don’t usually share them with just anyone, but since fate has made us cross paths, I will let you try these.”
