When she sat up, she discovered that at some point she had come to be lying in bed — and it was Dai Jing’s bed.

“Good morning.” Dai Jing’s voice came from outside, and then the man, dressed in casual home clothes, appeared in her line of sight.

He was carrying a tray in his hands, on which sat a glass of milk.

Seeing him, Shen Ruoxi quickly got out of bed and asked, slightly embarrassed, “You’re better?”

“Your medicine is truly effective.” Dai Jing handed her the milk. “I feel completely refreshed.”

“I can see that.” Shen Ruoxi smiled. “Last night, you were nothing like this.”

“Last night — how was I last night?” Dai Jing tilted his head with a teasing air.

“You’re not drunk, so why are you asking what you already know?”

“Let’s just say I was drunk. The memory is not something particularly flattering.” Dai Jing spread his hands with a helpless shrug.

“Is this glass of milk a memory-erasing potion?” Shen Ruoxi held up her glass. “If I drink it, will I forget your embarrassing episode yesterday?”

“What embarrassing episode?”

“Such as the incident where you tumbled out of bed…”

Dai Jing put on a pleading expression. “Please, Miss Shen, drink it quickly and forget it quickly — I concede defeat.”

Shen Ruoxi was laughing now, her mood thoroughly lifted, and she drank down the milk with great satisfaction.

“I should wash up.” Shen Ruoxi set down the glass.

“The washroom is over there.” Dai Jing pointed to one side. “Breakfast is already prepared. I’ll go wait for you downstairs.”

Shen Ruoxi went to wash up. Dai Jing watched the direction she had gone and gave a quiet smile.

Nanny Liu was downstairs getting breakfast ready. When she saw Dai Jing coming down from the second floor with a smile still on his face, she couldn’t help but pause.

Dai Jing was not a man given to smiling. On the contrary, he kept a grave composure in front of everyone, for he was the head of the Dai family, bearing a heavy load of burdens and responsibilities. His position made it impossible for him to show a smiling face to the world.

Yet he liked to smile in front of Shen Ruoxi — even when she said nothing particularly funny, the mere sight of her would coax a smile from him without his even trying.

“Master Dai is in a good mood today.” Nanny Liu placed two small side dishes on the dining table. “Is it because the illness has passed, or because Miss Shen is here?”

Nanny Liu had served Dai Jing since he was a child, and she held a place in his life different from all others — making her one of the very few people who could joke with him.

“Both, I suppose,” Dai Jing said.

Nanny Liu smiled. “Miss Shen kept watch over Master Dai the entire night. She must be tired.”

When Dai Jing had woken in the early morning hours, he had found Shen Ruoxi slumped over the side of his bed, asleep, with his hand still holding hers in a tight grip.

He had lifted her gently into the bed, tucked the blankets around her, and then sat quietly beside her, watching her sleep.

He was no man of wanton desire, but throughout his life he had encountered all manner of women.

His wife had been a match arranged between wealthy families; there had been little warmth between them, and his relentless business affairs had meant he was rarely home.

When his wife fell ill, he had fulfilled every duty that could be expected of a husband — he had brought in the most celebrated doctors, procured the finest medicines, and stayed by her side as she walked through her final days.

For him, that marriage had been without passion, without any highs or lows — simply the fulfillment of an obligation.

Yet the arrival of Shen Ruoxi had sent a ripple across the still surface of his emotional life. He had thought the ripple would fade and everything would return to calm — but instead it grew larger and larger, until it had spread across the entire lake and could not be stopped.

He knew. He had already fallen in.

“Miss Shen is coming down.” Nanny Liu said cheerfully. “We can eat now.”

Dai Jing turned, and there was Shen Ruoxi making her way down from the second floor. She was wearing the same clothes as the day before, her hair loosely pinned up, her freshly washed face glowing with a soft, dewy radiance.

He watched her walk toward him, and something stirred inside him — a tremor, the tender plucking of a heartstring.

She sat down across from him. Through the floor-to-ceiling window, warm sunlight spilled over her, dusting the strands of hair at her temples with what seemed like a gilded edge, making her look sacred and distant.

He had seen the seventh young mistress of the Shi family — that kind of beauty was rare in this world, impossible to forget after a single glance. And yet Shen Ruoxi, though she could not claim such a breathtaking face, somehow made it impossible for him to look away.

“Is there something on my face that didn’t get washed off?” Feeling his gaze on her, Shen Ruoxi shifted uncomfortably and instinctively touched her cheek.

“My apologies for staring.” Dai Jing said quickly. “I was simply thinking that you, in this unadorned state — you are beautiful.”

“Thank you for the compliment.” Shen Ruoxi returned a gracious smile.

“Let’s eat. I’ll see you home when we’re done.”

The two ate in a quiet that was comfortable rather than strained, and when the meal was finished, Dai Jing had the car brought around while he stood with Shen Ruoxi at the door to wait.

“It’s snowing?” Shen Ruoxi noticed with surprise that the world outside had turned entirely white. Snowflakes drifted down from the sky like cotton fluff, and she couldn’t help but reach out a hand to catch one, watching it slowly melt in her palm.

Dai Jing watched her — she was tilting her face up to the sky, her lips curved in a childlike, innocent smile, as joyful as a child who has spotted sweets or a cat that has spied a fish.

He had taken her for a cool, detached person, one who would not set her heart on anything — yet the expression on her face when she saw the snow was as pure and unguarded as a child’s.

“Back home, there is no snow.”

It was only when she spoke those words that Dai Jing understood she seldom saw snow — unlike him, a northerner who spent every winter surrounded by a vast expanse of white.

But then a thought occurred to him: she was from Xi Nan, and Xi Nan bordered Bei Di, so the winters there should also bring snow. Why would she say her hometown had none?

Before Dai Jing could think through the question further, Shen Ruoxi had already stepped down off the steps, and he quickly called out, “It’s still snowing — it’ll be cold.”

He turned back to ask Nanny Liu to fetch a scarf, then followed her out into the snow.

“I love snowfall.” Standing in the snow, Shen Ruoxi seemed to light up entirely. She playfully stamped her feet into the drifts beneath her, listening to the satisfying crunch with every step.

In the snow-covered world, everything was a dazzling, pure white — so clean it felt as though it could cleanse the very soul.

Dai Jing had seen so much snow that it no longer moved him — and yet watching her so full of joy, he felt as though her happiness were contagious.

It was just as Dai Jing stood there watching her in a daze that a snowball suddenly struck him in the coat. He looked up in surprise to find Shen Ruoxi standing there grinning at him — she was the one who had thrown it.

“A sneak attack?” Dai Jing rolled up his sleeves and crouched down to pack a snowball.

Seeing he was about to retaliate, Shen Ruoxi immediately dodged to one side, and Dai Jing, set on getting his revenge, gave chase.

He hadn’t caught up with her yet when another snowball landed on him. Shen Ruoxi burst out laughing, thrilled by her second successful strike.

“All right — just make sure I don’t catch you.” Dai Jing was, after all, stronger and taller, with much longer strides, and when he truly put his mind to it, there was no way Shen Ruoxi could escape.

When he finally caught up to her, Shen Ruoxi suddenly slipped underfoot. Dai Jing immediately seized her by the wrist — and carried by the momentum, the two of them tumbled together into the snow.

—