On the day of Start of Winter, Sunset City finally welcomed its first snowfall of the year.
At first, the snow fell sparsely. By the hour of the Dragon, it gradually thickened, fluttering down until Sunset City was crowned in white.
A thin layer of white covered the blue-gray eaves, while the bluestone slabs on the streets were mottled dark and light by the melting snow, like an ink-wash painting of the mortal world.
Yet Heavenly Fragrance Tower was far livelier than usual today.
The stone steps at its entrance had already been swept three times by the attendants, but the snow continued to fall unhurriedly, covering them again in the blink of an eye.
The servants simply stopped sweeping and laid several layers of coarse burlap at the threshold to keep guests from slipping.
Just after the hour of the Rabbit, people had already begun waiting outside Heavenly Fragrance Tower.
Most were idle men from the city, though there were also a few merchants from elsewhere. Wrapped in thick fur coats, they hunched their necks and stamped their feet in the snow.
They were waiting for none other than Sunset Red Dust, which Heavenly Fragrance Tower sold once a year.
"Creak..."
At last, the doors of Heavenly Fragrance Tower opened.
Two attendants pushed open the heavy vermilion-lacquered wooden doors, and a wave of warmth mixed with the fragrance of wine rushed out. Those who had waited all night surged inside, the snowmelt from their shoes gathering into little streams across the threshold.
In less than half an hour, the first-floor hall was packed to the brim. The rough wooden benches were crammed with people, while those who arrived later and found no seats leaned against pillars, or simply squatted in corners. So long as they could smell the wine,