As the sun climbed higher, the view broadened, revealing a world of white sculpted by nature's hand, like a pure land isolated from the mortal realm.
Quán Jiǔ grew tired of laughing and simply sat down in the snow. Because she was wearing waterproof clothing, she didn't feel the cold; instead, it was soft.
Chǔ Róng was somewhat helpless. "It's cold on the ground, get up quickly."
"Aiya, I've never played in so much snow!" Quán Jiǔ mumbled. In her hometown, let alone playing in the snow, she had never even seen snow. If it snowed a little, even just a dusting, she would be excited for a long time.
Seeing her charmingly playful demeanor, Chǔ Róng's eyes were filled with tenderness. "Then you wait."
Quán Jiǔ was curious and her gaze followed Chǔ Róng.
The camera operator's lens also followed Chǔ Róng around. Soon, the photographer understood.
Chǔ Róng found more than a dozen branches of similar thickness and pulled off a few vines from the trees. He arranged the branches, weaving the vines back and forth among them. He repeated this for more than twenty minutes, and a simple wooden sled was completed.
Quán Jiǔ squatted beside Chǔ Róng, watching the wooden sled take shape in his hands. Her heart, like snow meeting sunlight, gradually melted.
Chǔ Róng placed the wooden sled on the ground and sat on it himself to test it. Once he felt it was stable, he let Quán Jiǔ sit on it.
Quán Jiǔ had learned to ski, so she wasn't afraid. She picked up two small sticks, held them like a steering wheel, leaned her body's center of gravity slightly back, and then pushed off with the sticks. The wooden sled slid forward.
The slope in the forest wasn't steep, and the speed was just right. Quán Jiǔ was so excited she couldn't help but shout.
Chǔ Róng followed behind her, listening to her happy cries, his lips also uncontrollably curving upwards.
For the next three hours, while playing and searching, Quán Jiǔ and Chǔ Róng found various wild vegetables. Although they were a bit bland, it was much better than eating plain rice.
"Should we consider climbing trees to get bird eggs?" Quán Jiǔ sat on the wooden sled, propping her chin and looking at the tall trees overhead. The chirping of birds sounded like hundreds of thousands.
Chǔ Róng pulled the wooden sled, walking ahead. "We can try the cypress trees." Cypress trees have many thick branches, strong enough to bear weight.
"There's no signal in these mountains. What about your company?" Quán Jiǔ suddenly remembered this and asked curiously.
"Everything has been arranged in advance, don't worry."
Quán Jiǔ sat happily on the wooden sled and soon began humming a tune.
...
The two returned to the small wooden cabin just before noon. The simple plate of wild vegetables tasted exceptionally good, making Quán Jiǔ admire Chǔ Róng's cooking skills once again.
After lunch, Quán Jiǔ looked at the snow in front of the cabin, her eyes shining. She suddenly shouted, "A Rong, let's build a snowman! Such good snow, it would be a waste not to build a snowman."
Chǔ Róng, who was washing dishes in the kitchen, heard this familiar call and his whole body stiffened. The plate slipped into the sink. But he didn't care; his mind was filled with that call of "A Rong."
Putting down the bowl, Chǔ Róng took three steps and then two to reach the door. He hugged Quán Jiǔ tightly from behind, as if wanting to merge her into his very bones.
"What did you call me?" Chǔ Róng asked in a low voice, with a hint of testing and caution.
Quán Jiǔ was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized that she had inadvertently used a nickname. She had really just called out instinctively, wanting to build a snowman with him.
Although they had known each other for over ten years, she had never built a snowman with him, or rather, they had never done anything particularly memorable together. The Chǔ Róng of the past was always so busy, so busy that they could only say good morning and good night to each other, so busy that she even felt he didn't love her.
But the events of the past two months had given her a false impression, as if she were a treasure held in the palm of his hand; as if she were very precious.
Chǔ Róng only held her gently before letting go of Quán Jiǔ. Then he patted Quán Jiǔ's head. "Wait." He went inside and soon came out with two pairs of gloves.
Quán Jiǔ's mood became cheerful again. She shut out the random thoughts in her mind and focused on the fun at hand – building a snowman. To be honest, she had never built a snowman in her life. Seeing the depth of the snow, it was probably enough to build one as tall as a person.
Chǔ Róng found a shovel from somewhere. He was responsible for shoveling snow, while Quán Jiǔ rolled snowballs. Indeed, once a snowball started rolling, it got bigger and rounder. Seeing the snowball, the size of a bowl, already knee-high, Quán Jiǔ was overjoyed and excitedly exclaimed, "This part should be about right."
"If it gets any bigger, it'll be a big-faced cat," Chǔ Róng poked Quán Jiǔ's nose and smiled gently.
Quán Jiǔ's face flushed instantly. She bit her lip and turned her face away. "What should we use for the nose and eyes?"
Chǔ Róng smiled. He first moved the snowball to the larger snowball body and stacked it, then he made two smaller snowballs and went inside. Soon, he came out with two black beads.
Quán Jiǔ was slightly surprised, then immediately realized, "Soot from the pot." The soot from burning firewood was pitch black. With this, it really looked like two black eyes from a distance.
Chǔ Róng placed the eyeballs on the snowman's face. The originally somewhat plain snowman immediately came to life by half. As for the other half, Quán Jiǔ dug on the ground for a long time, picked up a handful of small pebbles, and pressed them into a crescent shape for a mouth.
...
As the sun gradually moved westward, four decent-looking snowmen were piled up at the entrance of the small wooden cabin, appearing like a family of four.
Quán Jiǔ looked at the snowmen snuggling together, and a warmth suddenly arose in her heart. No matter how prosperous and beautiful the world was, the only thing that could make one stay forever was home. But if there were no family members at home, then home would no longer be home.
Family... her gaze fell on Chǔ Róng, who was busy perfecting the snowmen, even striving for perfection. This person, who was once her family, no, strictly speaking, was still her family.
This scene should also be what Mími and Tútu were looking forward to, right?
"What are you thinking about?" Chǔ Róng walked over and wiped the sweat from Quán Jiǔ's forehead.
The touch of his fingertips was very gentle and warm. Quán Jiǔ's heart trembled slightly, and she shook her head. "Nothing."
"Do you want to see a castle?" Chǔ Róng asked out of the blue.
"A castle?"
Chǔ Róng looked at the snow on the ground and smiled. "My carving skills are also quite good."
"Snow sculpture? You..." Quán Jiǔ's mouth formed an "o." She almost said, "How come I didn't know?" Fortunately, the camera behind her stopped her.
"So you used your free time to learn these things?" Knowing everything, it was as if he spent his days learning, except for sleeping.
Chǔ Róng piled up snow and said calmly, "In my time, there are only two things."
Quán Jiǔ looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
"Learning." And you.
Quán Jiǔ saw Chǔ Róng stop abruptly, her curiosity piqued. She urged him, "What else? What's the other thing? Isn't it eating and sleeping? Aren't those two things already? Could it be learning and working?"
Chǔ Róng just smiled without speaking, concentrating on the castle he was building.
"What is it? Tell me." Quán Jiǔ pushed Chǔ Róng's shoulder.
Chǔ Róng remained unmoved.
"Then give me a hint. Aiya, why are you so suspenseful when you talk? Genius, President Chǔ, what is the second thing in your protagonist-like life?"
Quán Jiǔ grabbed Chǔ Róng's shoulders and shook him incessantly, as if she had to know the truth. Who knew that her movements were too large, or perhaps for some reason, she lost her balance and leaned back uncontrollably.
In her haste, Quán Jiǔ instinctively grabbed onto something she could hold onto... someone's clothes, and then, in front of the camera, they both fell to the ground, in an extremely ambiguous position.
Chǔ Róng, with his back to the camera, was full of smiles and whispered, "This time, you provoked me first."