"Where are we going?" Chu Yang asked.
"Let's eat hot pot. How about that?"
"Sure."
Eating hot pot on a snowy day, warm and cozy.
Chi Yan brought her to a mountain villa, and the two entered a private room on the second floor with a balcony overlooking the snowy scenery. Inside the room was comfortably warm, perfect for a hot pot meal.
Before the dishes arrived, Chu Yang stood on the balcony, gazing at the snowy landscape. In the distance, the mountains were soon covered with a thin layer of snowflakes. Visible breaths formed puffs of vapor in the cold air.
Chi Yan introduced the place to her, "Besides the delicious food, they also have hot springs here. Would you like to go soak in the hot springs later tonight?"
"Hot springs? But we have classes tomorrow."
Chi Yan nodded, "Yeah, we'll soak in the hot springs and then head back. We won't stay overnight. But if you want, I can bring you here again next weekend. This is a newly developed resort area, developed by Zheng's family—that's Zheng Tianyuan's family. Oh by the way, you can't see the plum blossom forest from here, but there's one on the other side. The blossoms should still be in bloom. We can go check it out later."
"But we didn't bring any clothes."
"No worries, they have everything here."
"Okay."
Soon, the servers brought all the dishes, and Chu Yang and Chi Yan hurried back inside to start the hot pot feast, with all of Chu Yang's favorite ingredients like beef tripe, pork stomach, duck blood, duck intestines, beef, and lamb. The two ate until they were sweating profusely.
During the meal, they even took off their coats as they ate ravenously. After filling their stomachs, they stepped out onto the balcony to enjoy the scenery for a while, allowing their body heat to dissipate.
Shivering, they went back inside to put on their clothes, and then Chi Yan took her to the hot springs.
Unexpectedly, they were volcanic hot springs. Chu Yang, wearing a swimsuit, sat on the rocks in the hot spring as occasional snowflakes fell and instantly melted.
Chi Yan sat beside her, embracing her waist as they leaned against each other, savoring this wonderful moment.
"Look over there, plum blossoms," Chi Yan pointed in a direction.
Chu Yang turned to look, and indeed there were plum blossoms, their petals dusted with snow. "A touch of red amidst the snow, very beautiful," Chu Yang nodded in agreement.
Hearing her say this, Chi Yan suddenly thought of something, his ears turning red. He coughed a couple of times, inwardly berating himself for being so sappy.
Chu Yang turned to look at him, noticing that not only were his ears red, but his entire face was flushed. Hearing that one shouldn't soak in hot springs for too long, she asked, "What's wrong? Why is your face so red? Let me take a look."
Chu Yang turned his head, and Chi Yan's gaze inadvertently fell downwards, catching a glimpse of a certain crevice through the rather revealing swimsuit provided by the staff. His nose immediately started bleeding.
Chu Yang panicked, "You're having a nosebleed!"
Chi Yan: ...Damn it!
In the end, Chu Yang realized it was caused by his high body heat and started laughing. She patted his head. Recently, her mood hadn't been great, and she had been neglecting him.
Seeing Chu Yang laugh, Chi Yan no longer felt embarrassed, at least his darling Chu Yang was happy.
After soaking in the hot springs, they both felt much more relaxed. Chi Yan then took her to see the plum blossoms up close. As Zheng Tianyuan and Chi Jin approached, they saw Chi Yan taking photos of his girlfriend in the distance. The couple seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Zheng Tianyuan tilted his chin towards them, "Look at your cousin, I think my newly opened resort has become his dating spot with his little girlfriend."
Chi Jin replied, "You could do the same. But you don't have a girlfriend."
Zheng Tianyuan exclaimed, "Hey! You don't have to put me down like that... Should we go say hi to them?"
Chi Jin shook his head, "Nah, let's not disturb them. Let's go."
"Alright."
On the other side, Chi Yan and Chu Yang were unaware that Chi Jin and Zheng Tianyuan had been there.
After spending some time together, Chi Yan and Chu Yang left. Zheng Tianyuan watched them leave from the balcony upstairs, "Your cousin just left."
"Mmm," Chi Jin responded casually. "When are the others arriving?"
"Soon, in about two or three minutes."
...
Chu Yang quickly returned to the school dormitory, where Ya Ya and Small grapefruit had already left. Chu's Mom called her, asking when she would be on vacation and when she planned to return home.
Considering that she had to go abroad after the final exams, Chu Yang said, "It will be a bit later this year. I'll call you when I'm about to return home."
"Okay, okay. How have your studies been going? Are you exhausted? Do you have enough money? If not, just tell your dad."
"I have enough money, no need to worry. The exams are coming up, and then it will be vacation after that."
"Alright, the weather is getting colder, so remember to dress warmly when you go out."
"Got it, you two take care as well."
"Mmm, we know."
...After chatting briefly about family matters, Chu Yang hung up the phone.
During exam week, it was difficult to secure a spot in the library, so Chu Yang went to study at Chi Yan's place instead. Every morning after breakfast, they would start studying their respective subjects. When they got tired of studying, they would watch TV or movies. Previously, Chi Yan had set up a projector at home to watch horror movies with Chu Yang, but she had never watched another horror movie since then. While she couldn't handle horror movies, they could still watch other films.
Sometimes, Chu Yang would practice her witchcraft. Once, she accidentally conjured a gust of wind that blew towards Chi Yan, who had just come out of the bathroom wearing only a towel around his waist. The towel nearly fell off, exposing his privates, but fortunately, he grabbed it in time, though the towel he had been using to dry his hair dropped to the floor.
Chu Yang had already covered her eyes, deciding to practice her spells alone in her room from then on to avoid such accidents.
In the evenings, they would go for a run in the neighborhood to breathe in some fresh air. If they didn't feel like going out, they would use the treadmill. After their run, they would stop by the baked sweet potato stall outside the neighborhood to buy some baked sweet potatoes to share—a simple but happy routine.
Soon, the final exams were over, and everyone was free to either go out and have fun or return home. Chu Yang had also booked her ticket to go abroad and prepared her luggage.
The day after the exams ended, Chu Yang and Chi Yan boarded a flight to go abroad.
After another long flight of over ten hours, they checked into a different hotel this time, without any disturbances at night. The next morning, they set out for Sophia's village.
This time, their mindset was different from the previous visit, and the scenery outside the car window had also changed—previously it had been green, but now it was a blanket of white snow.
As they walked along the familiar small village path, they encountered the same old man who had given them directions before. "Hey, didn't you two come here before?"
Chi Yan replied, "Yes, we've come to see Sophia."
"Oh, she has already..."
"We know," Chu Yang suddenly interjected. "I'm her heir. Could you take us to see her grave?"
The old man nodded, "Oh, so Sophia left everything to you. I'll take you there."
"Thank you."
