Yun

That year, on the grassy slope of the Back Mountain behind a poor rural village.

"So pretty~ Whiter than the big porcelain bowl at my house, so beautiful!"

The girl was dazzled by the snowy-white Snake Scales and boldly stepped forward to touch them. It was the first friend Bai Yujun had made after her rebirth.

"Mother wants me to learn needlework, but it's so hard. I've pricked my fingers full of needle holes. I also have to learn to cook and tend the fire. She says my lot in life is to spend my whole life cooking, tending fires, and mending clothes at home..."

They lay on the grassy slope and gazed at the sky.

As they talked, she realized there was more and more work to do, leaving no time to play. Their conversations gradually grew heavy.

"Big Snake, I'm so hungry. The grain at home was taken away by the clan chief in town. He said it was for the imperial grain tax, but Yun'er is so hungry..."

She had grown thinner. Calluses and dead skin covered her hands, while her hair was dry and yellow from malnutrition.

The little girl slowly grew up.

When they met again, she hugged the White Snake, laughing and crying as she complained that the White Snake had been gone for so many years.

"I'm getting married..."

"Brother Wang from the village is very kind. I like him, but I don't want to marry him. I really like Brother Wang..."

"Last month, Steward Guo came to our village and saw me. He said he wanted to take me as a concubine. I know concubines have no standing. Steward Guo is forty, just like my father."

"The village is poor, and Brother Wang's family is poor too. Every year, there isn't enough