Jingling, on the eastern side of Tea Mountain Manor.
Last night brought another snowfall, blanketing the ground just enough to bury one’s feet.
The snowy days had only just begun; the weather would grow colder still.
Early in the morning, the grand gate on the manor’s western side opened, and the servants filed out, carrying shovels and brooms to clear the snow before the door. Just as the high entrance bearing the sign "Xu Mansion" swept snow, so did every household in the manor.
Tea Mountain Manor produces tea, but its reputation is not built upon its tea; rather, it owes its fa to the dozens of grand estates here.
The environnt at Tea Mountain Manor is excellent—clear mountains, flowing water, and a neighbor to the Imperial City. If you take the official road, it’s only half an hour away. In the winter, thanks to the surrounding mountain air, it’s a bit warr than in the city, and in sumr it’s cooler. Many wealthy families purchase land here to build their country estates.
These days, the true natives of Tea Mountain Manor live up north; most work in various grand households, so their livelihood is secure and their earnings have improved much compared to the old days of single-handed tea growing and roasting.
Especially in winter, when the manor is a bit warr than the city and the environnt inviting, so city gentry move their whole families here for a stretch, returning ho when spring arrives. So elderly even reside in the manor year-round, saying that getting close to the earth and dew might add a couple years to their lives.
Truth be told, many of the grand hos here are built by outsiders. So are even southerners—why leave their gentler climate for this northern winter? Isn’t it just to seize the chance to cozy up to the Imperial City nobles living on the manor?
The locals have seen plenty of such maneuvers.
These outsider’s houses change hands often—one year it’s the Zhang Family, the next, perhaps the Li Family or the Wang Family. Only the true red-walled mansions remain untouched by anything.
For instance, the western "Xu Mansion" was "Zhang Mansion" just a few years ago; rumor had it their business failed and they sold the estate to cash out. The Xu Family, the new owners, are businessfolk themselves—with a very large enterprise.
Money—that’s one way to squeeze into Tea Mountain Manor. Of course, it must be a lot of money.
As the locals say, people like those at "Xu Mansion" are called "wealthy," but only the red-walled mansions are genuinely "noble."
Still, most dostics in these wealthy hos are recruited locally, unlike the noble families who employ their own long-serving elders. So, while the locals secretly look down on "these folks who just have a few stinking coins," most of their inco actually cos from these "wealthy" houses.
As soon as Xu Family’s servants finished sweeping away the snow outside the gate, two sprightly, pretty figures darted out from within.
They were the Xu Family’s young ladies.
The manor folk only caught sight of the Xu sisters this year. Previously, they’d only heard of the young master visiting. It was said these two were distant relations of the family patriarch, now residing with the Xu Family.
Two girls, lively and beautiful at that—at least outwardly, everyone in Tea Mountain Manor treated them kindly.
Normally, the young ladies rarely ventured out, but whenever it snowed, they would joyfully rush outdoors early in the day, romping in snowball fights, building snown, admiring the scenery. Though this early winter’s snowfall was only a few inches deep, it didn’t diminish the enthusiasm of two girls from the South, where snow was a rare sight.
"Misses, please wait a mont, slow down!"
"Oh dear! Misses, do stop running!"
They may look nimble and lively, but their maids were quite exhausted—one clutching warm cloaks, another carrying a little cart for snow play, struggling to keep up behind them.
"Heehee, we just want to run! If we slow down, the snow might lt!"
"Hurry up, Zhidie, faster, faster!"
Carefree, they dashed far across the grounds, their laughter trailed by two maids burdened with bags, desperately giving chase.
The girls chose the big lawn outside the manor entrance for their winter play. After winter, the dried grass nicely held the snowfall—much more than muddy earth or stone paths—and there, snow would pile up cleanly. Hardly anyone tread the lawn, so the snow remained pristine. Even a tumble wouldn’t stain their clothes.
Older sister Xu Zhiyuan liked building snown, while younger sister Xu Zhidi loved snowball fights more.
So, the usual routine for the sisters went: Zhiyuan laboriously rolling and stacking snown, and as she was about to finish, Zhidi would lob a snowball from afar—lucky, it would hit the snowman; luckier still, it might smack her sister... Then the snow battle would really heat up, dragging their maids in as reinforcents.
It was pure joy—last night brought fresh snow, and the morning was bright and sunny; the winter sun made everyone cheerful. So, at Zhidi’s insistence, they built snown first, then stood at a distance to fling snowballs...
This sort of ga isn’t easily understood by most... Wouldn’t it be better to just throw snowballs at each other?
At mid-7 a.m., a carriage drew off the side road toward the manor. As it passed the lawn, a flying snowball struck the curtain of the carriage window.
The carriage promptly stopped.
The two girls, giggling, saw nothing amiss; they reassured their flustered maids, saying they’d apologize later—it was only a snowball, after all, and no one was hurt, so what was there to worry about?
When the carriage halted, a man descended—clad in a sky-blue long robe. He was rather peculiar; his face looked around fifty, but his hair was entirely white.
"It wasn’t on purpose that we hit your carriage—sorry."
The two girls smiled brightly, fearless, bowing slightly to the man and offering their apologies.
"No harm done. Were you playing at a snowball fight?" The man smiled too, and seeing the girls’ radiant, sunny faces as they apologized, his smile turned gentler still.
"Yes. Uncle, do you want to play with us?"
"Now, don’t be silly! Official, we sisters were fooling around and accidentally hit your carriage; truly sorry."
"Sister, I wasn’t being silly! This uncle obviously likes snowball fights, right uncle?"
The sisters bantered on, leaving the man sowhat embarrassed—his status was unusual; how could he join two girls of sixteen or seventeen in a snow fight?
"Heh, I have affairs at ho today, not convenient to play. Maybe another ti." He smiled and waved, preparing to board the carriage and leave.
"Uncle, what’s your na? We’ll be living in the manor for a long ti; we can find you to play tomorrow?"
"Zhidie! How can you be so cheeky! Who asks soone’s na like that?"
Though the older sister scolded her for being rude, she too was curious and gazed at the man about to board his carriage.
"Heh, my surna is Bai, Bai Changqing. I’ll be staying on the manor for a while, in the house by Taohua Creek."
Bai Changqing finished and returned to the carriage. On the way, he asked the driver, "Those two young ladies, whose family are they from?"
"Sir, those are the Xu family’s girls on the manor’s west side. I hear they’re distant kin—after a family tragedy, only the two girls were sent here to be raised by their relatives."
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