The Eighth Snowflake

Tch, who cared about Liao Xue's cooking anyway?

Shen Qiancheng shook off Liao Xue's hand and strode resolutely toward the pharmacy.

Liao Xue stood outside the door, her figure thin and fragile. Liao Xue, Liao Xue—who on earth would care for you so meticulously?

Liao Xue sneered and followed Shen Qiancheng inside.

The shop door slid open, and the lazy clerk was on the phone with someone on a Sunday, mid-sentence: "Isn't it just to show off how filial she is..."

"Welcome."

The sluggish sensor by the door finally chimed. The clerk set down her phone. "Well, I've actually got a customer for once—don't hang up, I'll be right back."

The clerk assumed that Shen Qiancheng would be put off by the exorbitant prices and quickly send this pretty young thing packing.

"Hello, what medicine do you need?"

Shen Qiancheng craned her neck to look at the highest shelf, where the boldest black lettering read "Bone Strengthening."

Without wasting words, she pointed to the bone-strengthening powder. "Broken bone. This is what you take."

Her fingers were fair and delicate, her hands soft and lovely. The clerk's eyes lit up. No girl from around here could have hands so dainty and beautiful; this had to be an out-of-towner. And an out-of-towner meant ripe for fleecing.

The clerk rolled her eyes knowingly and pointed at the bone-strengthening powder behind her. "For a fracture, this alone won't cut it. When you break a bone, you need to supplement your qi, blood, spirit, all of it."

"No need!" A sharp voice cut through from behind Shen Qiancheng, followed by a "Welcome."

Shen Qiancheng raised her voice: "Don't mind her. I don't know her. Get me everything you said."

With that, she turned around and, on instinct, made a face—pulling down her lower eyelid with her middle finger to expose her whole eyeball and sticking out her tongue. A textbook, perfect face.

Liao Xue was stunned on the spot. Shen Qiancheng realized what she had done only when it was too late.

One thought crossed her mind: Crap—the glorious image of me as President Shen is ruined.

Liao Xue, meanwhile, thought: Did President Shen just... make a face?

The clerk saw the newcomer go silent and feared she might bolt without paying, so she snapped, "Hey, hey, are you still buying? Scan the code right here."

Shen Qiancheng snapped back to reality, scanned the code and paid without hesitation. The moment the speaker announced "Alipay received XXX yuan," she flew out of the shop like the wind.

Liao Xue was still replaying the face Shen Qiancheng had just made. That was adorable.

Shen Qiancheng sat in the back of the tricycle, chest heaving, holding several boxes of supplements.

Liao Xue took the driver's seat and whispered, embarrassed, "President Shen, are your bones having problems too?"

Liao Xue was asking rhetorically—Shen Qiancheng was perfectly healthy. As for why she bought these supplements, that was as obvious as daylight. That's exactly why Liao Xue had said "No need."

Shen Qiancheng snapped back, "I've got osteoporosis, okay?"

She knew Liao Xue was probably behind her, chuckling to herself. Just thinking about it made her furious. When she did something nice for someone, who dared not accept it? Only Liao Xue, ungrateful wretch.

But Shen Qiancheng was wrong about Liao Xue—Liao Xue wasn't laughing at all.

From the very start, Liao Xue had never thought Shen Qiancheng was a bad person. She just wasn't good at expressing her kindness.

That was fine. Liao Xue understood.

The two returned to the village in silence. They were still a ways from the storage shed when Liao Xue brought the tricycle to a stop.

Shen Qiancheng had spent the whole ride reassuring herself—it was just a face, not like she'd died. What difference was there between that and the number four anyway? Who was she, Shen Qiancheng? The devil of Tang City! If anyone ever saw her making such a face, where would she put her dignity?

But—soon she wouldn't be the Shen family's eldest miss anymore. Switzerland was far away, with the emperor at a distance; who would recognize her as Shen Qiancheng there? She'd just change her name when she arrived.

By the end of her broodings, Shen Qiancheng's mood had settled quite a bit. When she saw Liao Xue stop abruptly, she frowned in displeasure. "What's wrong?"

Liao Xue stammered like a new bride meeting her in-laws for the first time: "The village entrance is just ahead. You can go back on your own..."

Had she been too good to Liao Xue? Liao Xue was getting cheeky now!!!

"No way!" Shen Qiancheng refused firmly. "You picked me up from wherever, so you deliver me back there. You're taking me to the Village Chief's house."

"But... but... but..." Liao Xue's eyes darted away, not daring to meet Shen Qiancheng's gaze.

Seeing Liao Xue's timid look, Shen Qiancheng understood immediately.

"Sneaking out against your mother's wishes again? We're not eloping or having an affair, so what's there to be afraid of?"

Startled by Shen Qiancheng's bold, forward language, Liao Xue couldn't get a word out.

This... affair... how could she say such a thing?

Shen Qiancheng shot Liao Xue a look of pure disappointment and offered a solution: "Didn't you say you'd cook for me? Go tell your mother clearly, and come back to the Village Chief's house with me."

As she spoke, she reached out and placed her hand very, very close to Liao Xue's—if Liao Xue would just take her hand, she would bring Liao Xue back to the Village Chief's house, and before Shen Qiancheng left Liao Family Village, she would protect Liao Xue with all her might.

A huge temptation was dangled right in front of Liao Xue. But she couldn't trouble Shen Qiancheng any further. She already owed Shen Qiancheng so much that paying it back would take a lifetime.

Liao Xue shook her head, forcing herself to pull her hand back. "President Shen, I was just joking. You go on back by yourself."

Rejected again. Shen Qiancheng had grown numb to it—how many times had Liao Xue refused her now?

Fine. If she didn't want her help, then so be it. Shen Qiancheng would save herself the trouble.

Shen Qiancheng got off the tricycle, empty-handed, and stood beside it. "Fine. I was just being presumptuous."

With that, she marched off without giving Liao Xue so much as a glance.

Shen Qiancheng silently counted her steps.

If Liao Xue called out to her within ten steps...

One, two, ... eleven. Fine, twenty steps: if Liao Xue called out to her by then, she'd give Liao Xue another chance.

At step fifteen, a voice like thunder split the air, startling Shen Qiancheng so badly her ears rang.

"Liao Xue!!!!!!"

Mother Liao came hurrying over, her hair bouncing with every step, as if terrified Liao Xue might slip away the moment she looked away.

At the sound, Liao Xue's body trembled almost imperceptibly, flinching as if she'd touched an electric wire.

Mother Liao's strides were long. In two or three steps she reached Liao Xue, her face beaming with joy, like she'd found a thousand-yuan bill.

"Little Xue, where've you been?"

Liao Xue pressed her lips together, glanced at Shen Qiancheng, who was walking away, and said nothing.

In the past, when Liao Xue clammed up and couldn't get a single word out, Mother Liao would have been scolding and hitting her by now. But today she seemed to have done a complete turnaround.

Before Liao Xue could respond, Mother Liao went on without prompting: "Hurry up and come home with me. A huge stroke of luck has fallen on your head. Our Liao family's ancestral graves must be smoking with good fortune. You ungrateful girl, your luck is better than your mother's."

Mother Liao's words were practically dripping with this "huge stroke of luck." As for what that luck might be, Liao Xue didn't need to think—she already knew.

Just as Mother Liao had once sent her to Shen Qiancheng as an assistant to avoid paying a ten-thousand-yuan debt, she saw no reason not to sell her daughter again when faced with the prospect of real money.

Liao Xue nodded and pointed to the tricycle behind her. "I'll return this to the Village Chief's house first. I'll be home soon."

Ten meters away, Shen Qiancheng, thanks to Mother Liao's booming voice, caught only the phrase "huge stroke of luck." But for Liao Xue, what could be a huge stroke of luck?

Shen Qiancheng herself had come here to scout locations for building a school, and Liao Xue had always wanted to study.

A smile tugged at Shen Qiancheng's lips—not a fake one, but a genuine, warm smile, as if she were truly happy for Liao Xue.

Feeling lighthearted, she hummed a tune as she walked down the village path, no longer bothered by the birds' unmelodious chirping or the dust that swirled up along the way.

She didn't even notice that her entire happiness now hinged on someone else.

Liao Xue drove past Shen Qiancheng in the tricycle. Shen Qiancheng was bent over, plucking a few wildflowers by the roadside—Liao Xue had once said they were called evening primrose—and happened to see Liao Xue driving past with Mother Liao in tow.

Shen Qiancheng felt a stir and wanted to call out, but Liao Xue only glanced at her with cold indifference, as if she were just another weed by the roadside.

Shen Qiancheng's good mood vanished in an instant.

Playing hard to get!

By the time she returned to the Village Chief's house, a stack of supplements sat piled by her door—every single item she'd bought at the pharmacy, not one missing.

The Village Chief was just carrying some in when he looked up to see Shen Qiancheng standing in the yard, face dark as a thundercloud, radiating an "don't mess with me" aura.

Shen Qiancheng asked, her voice ice-cold: "Liao Xue left these?"

The Village Chief was still reeling from her mood and could only manage a startled "Ah."

Shen Qiancheng spotted the tricycle parked in the yard. "She went home?"

The Village Chief, confused, replied, "Ah. She parked the cart, dropped off the stuff, and left."

Shen Qiancheng gave a curt nod, her face still stormy enough to bring down a deluge. The Village Chief, well past fifty, was so daunted by her expression that he didn't dare breathe too loudly. Move the boxes or not?

While he hesitated, Shen Qiancheng spoke again, her tone unreadable: "Don't bother tidying up—I'll be using them. And no need to save me dinner."

With that, she picked up the supplements—heavy, unwieldy—and stalked out of the yard.

The Village Chief's wife, still in her apron, came out and saw Shen Qiancheng heading out again. "Not staying the night?" she asked, brightening.

The Village Chief sighed. "Those two had another fight. Young people these days... not like our time."

The Village Chief's wife sounded disappointed. "She went off to find Little Xue. I thought she was leaving for good. Back when I was young and unmarried, I had..."

The moon climbed quietly into the sky. Cicadas buzzed alongside the frogs, and crickets chirped, linking the treetops, the pond, and the grass into a rustic midsummer night's symphony.

Shen Qiancheng's arms were heavy—so heavy she had to stretch them out straight. Mosquitoes swarmed around the incandescent streetlamps, biting her each time she passed one. Her fair arms and pale neck were now covered in pink welts.

Once, Shen Qiancheng had lived in luxury, too pampered to carry her own shopping bags. Now, here she was, dragging boxes of supplements that a certain someone had refused, coming all the way out to deliver them a second time.

Who else had ever received such treatment from her?

She'd have to go into town tomorrow to buy some school supplies for Liao Xue.

At that thought, she didn't find the boxes heavy anymore. She walked cheerfully until she reached the Liao house.

The Liao family's gate had already been repaired. It was still early, but the gate was shut tight, and not a single light flickered in the yard.

Afraid the boxes would get dirty if she set them on the ground, Shen Qiancheng tucked them all under one arm, pressing them against her shoe—not caring that those were designer heels worth at least a few hundred thousand.

She raised a hand to knock on the door ring, but the instant her fingers touched it, a sharp shatter split the air—a windowpane breaking.

Shen Qiancheng's heart seized with pain. What had happened to Liao Xue?