Memories (Part 2)

The wind and snow swept past, pressing their thin "clothes" against their shivering, tiny frames. The older sister reached out, trying hard to pull her younger sister closer, attempting to offer a sliver of warmth, but her own arms were trembling uncontrollably. The younger sister kept her small face tilted upward, her crimson eyes filled with nothing but an endless longing for the simple food known as a "char siu bao," as if it were the warmest and most wonderful thing in the world.

Yun Lan stood a few steps away by the side of the main road, snowflakes settling on his shoulders. He watched the two small figures with white hair and heterochromatic eyes quietly—clinging to each other for warmth in the cold night, their bodies barely covered—with no obvious expression on his face. Only the fingers tucked inside his coat pockets moved ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly.

Cold melted snow slid down his temple once more. This night was freezing. And the appearance of these two girls was like a stone cast into a frozen lake, stirring the first silent ripples in his otherwise aimless wandering. He did not know who they were, where they came from, or why they had fallen to such a state. But those two pairs of eyes—one gold, one crimson—so striking in the snowy night, and that trembling voice asking for a "char siu bao," were etched into this cold night and into his heart.

"Forget it, forget it. As a child born under the red flag, I still can't just watch something like this happen," Yun Lan sighed helplessly.

Seeing the smaller girl with white hair and golden eyes nearing hypothermia, Yun Lan hurried over.

Yun Lan quickly took off his own coat and covered Yi Xuan with it. Yi Jiang wanted to say something, but was stopped by a look from Yun Lan.

Yun Lan took out his phone and made a call: "Uncle Su, please come pick me up. I'm coming down the mountain to spend the New Year with my parents this year. Try to be as fast as you can. Prepare some thick coats and hot water bottles in the car; I've picked up two children."

The voice on the other end replied: "Young Master, you're still a child yourself, can you not be so calm? If you were coming back for the New Year, you should have told me earlier. I'll come pick you up, Young Master."

"Alright, alright, next time for sure. Just hurry over," Yun Lan waved his hand helplessly and replied.

I hung up the phone and looked at the little one watching me, asking: "Do you two want to come home with me? Your sister is almost suffering from hypothermia; if she keeps wandering like this, she definitely won't survive the winter."

The white-haired, red-eyed girl (Yi Jiang) looked at Yun Lan, who was only a few years older than her, then looked at her sister shivering in her arms, and nodded firmly.

She had no choice. What this big brother said was the truth; her sister couldn't hold on much longer. Even if it were a mountain of blades or a sea of fire, she would brave it for her sister's sake.

Just like that, Yun Lan brought Yi Jiang and Yi Xuan back to the Yun Family villa.

The maid originally wanted to take Yi Jiang to bathe and clean up first, but Yi Jiang held Yi Xuan's hand tightly, refusing to let go.

Yun Lan let the maid step back, leaving the two sisters alone for a moment.

Yun Lan watched Yi Jiang sitting on the sofa holding Yi Xuan, then went to the study to see his parents first.

As soon as he entered the study, he heard his mother Xia Yue's teasing voice: "When did our Yun'er learn to pick up children from the street? And two little beauties at that."

Yun Lan replied helplessly: "I don't know if they're beauties or not, but I couldn't just watch those two little ones freeze to death on the street."

Yun Shen said indifferently: "It's good to be kind-hearted. Our Yun Family is well-off; we aren't short of two extra pairs of chopsticks for meals."

"Then Father, Mother, I'll go check on those two sisters first," Yun Lan said as he walked out of the study.

Yi Xuan was much better now. She looked curiously at the chandelier on the ceiling and asked her sister curiously: "Sister, where is this? It's so pretty."

Just as Yi Jiang was holding her sister and preparing to say something.

I walked out. "This is big brother's home, oh. I picked you two up." I smiled and rubbed the heads of the two white-haired balls in front of me.

Yi Jiang did not resist this contact, just felt a bit embarrassed. Yi Xuan, however, spoke the truth: "Big brother's hands are so warm."

I smiled and looked at the white-haired, red-eyed girl, asking: "What are your names?"

Yi Jiang replied: "My name is Yi Jiang, and my sister's name is Yi Xuan."

"Yi Jiang, Yi Xuan... Good names, very good names."

Wait, Yi Xuan!?

The Yi Xuan from the thirteenth generation of the Yun Kui Mountain sect!?

Oh, I'm in a multi-anime world. Elysia has already appeared, so having an extra Yi Jiang and Yi Xuan doesn't seem like something hard to accept.

Complaining internally aside, I still gave the sisters a choice. First: If they didn't want to stay here, I would give them a sum of money to ensure they would never worry about food or clothing. Second: If they were willing to stay, they could stay as my maids.

Actually, I didn't need maids. Giving them a way out was just an excuse to keep them; young girls have thin skin, and this was just a pretext to let them stay.

(No way, no way, there's no way anyone would actually make two white-haired lolis maids, that would be truly beastly.)

Yi Jiang thought for a moment. It seemed like there were two choices, but in reality, there was only one. After all, an innocent man is guilty of his own treasure. Two children wouldn't be able to hold onto a large sum of money.

"Then... stay as maids?" Her heart hung in the balance, staring tightly at every flicker of change on Yun Lan's face. Big brother... should be a good person, right? She added in a low voice, as if to convince herself, and as if pleading for an affirmative answer, "After all... you picked us both up, all dirty... we... you don't mind, big brother."

This sentence was said very softly, but it carried a sense of cautious hope and inferiority. They knew how terrible they had looked before. To be brought back by someone who didn't mind, and to be given warmth and food—in their limited understanding, this could already be categorized as a "good person." As for what a "maid" had to do, whether it would be hard, or what the future held, they had no concept; they only felt this was the only "exchange" they could offer.

Yun Lan's gaze lingered for a moment on Yi Jiang's tense little face and Yi Xuan's carefree profile. The snow outside seemed to be falling harder, pattering against the window.

I didn't answer Yi Jiang's question; after all, being a maid was just an excuse to keep them. I changed the subject and said: "Get your health back first. Everything else can be discussed later."

Yun Lan's answer meant that at least for tonight, and for the foreseeable next few days, they had a place to shelter from the wind and snow, and to be fed and clothed.

Yi Jiang's tense shoulders relaxed slightly. Although the future was still uncertain, at least the most urgent survival crisis had been temporarily resolved.

She ruffled her sister's hair and took her to the bathroom to bathe and clean up.