Snake Snake and Bear Bear
The warm breeze intoxicates visitors; this saying perfectly captures the charm of Lin'an.
After the snow fell, the sky cleared up. The thick snow melted into streams after the sun came out, spreading out along the paving stones and disappearing into the distance... Perhaps it landed under the feet of passersby, perhaps in the wet mops, or perhaps it blended into West Lake and became part of the poetic landscape.
In short, within two days, the snow seemed to have never been to Lin'an; one could only vaguely sense its existence in photos shared on social media.
The day after the snow cleared up, and there were even signs of spring. Tourists on the shore of West Lake felt very comfortable, and the business of the hand-rowed boats along the shore improved a lot. Every now and then, tourists would rent a boat to see why the ancients loved to go boating on West Lake.
After experiencing it, most people probably felt it was nothing special, or even inexplicable, and attributed the ancients' interests and hobbies to the lack of entertainment and limited knowledge in that era, unlike the diverse and knowledgeable lives of modern people.
Decades or even a hundred years from now, if civilization hasn't been destroyed, people then will probably think the same way people do now.
In a traditional clothing tailoring shop not too far from West Lake, a woman with a high nose, deep-set eyes, long golden-brown hair, and an exotic air walked in.
"E... can I help you?" A young woman wearing a traditional Chinese dress with a high waist walked over. One sign that her English wasn't very fluent was that she kept using the "e" sound when she spoke.
Sometimes it's quite amusing to see people struggling to understand each other's language barriers with broken English, anxiously and repeatedly using "e" as if they've done something wrong.
"Oh, you can speak Chinese with me." Avrora could tell that the young woman probably couldn't use any more words to communicate with her, so she smiled and said, "Lin'an dialect, Southern Fujian dialect, Cantonese, and Northeastern dialect are all fine... I can even speak Xinjiang-accented Mandarin: Hello, how many skewers do you want?"
The young woman paused for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, are you interested in our country's traditional clothing?"
"Yes, do they all require customization and then a waiting period?" Avrora asked.
"That's basically it. We mainly promote Ming Dynasty Hanfu, which is exquisitely crafted and made with high-quality materials. The production time for a complete set is about six to nine months, and currently, the schedule is already booked until September next year," the young lady said with a smile. "Our shop is mainly for offline display. If you want to place an order, you can add our official WeChat account to contact customer service."
"Oh, I want an outfit that makes me look like the White Lady from 'The Legend of the White Snake'," Avrora, looking at the young lady expectantly.
"Um... we really don't have that here, but you can turn right after you go out, there's a tourist information center over there, and they rent out the kind of clothes you want right next to it." The young woman walked to the door and pointed out the direction to Avrora.
"Thank you." Avrora then walked over.
The young woman, with a chocolate bar in her mouth, scoffed at Avrora's retreating figure, "Country bumpkin."
Avrora arrived at the clothing rental shop, where in addition to clothes for tourists to wear for photos by West Lake, there were also brand new clothes for interested tourists to buy as souvenirs.
Avrora was very wealthy, so she bought several sets of "White Lady" costumes, which, according to the staff, were exquisitely replicated 1:1 from those in the TV series.
Carrying the clothes, Avrora returned to the Aman Hotel near Dharma Cloud Temple, where she had been staying for a long time... She wasn't an Aman enthusiast, but she felt it was a suitable place to keep snakes.
The hotel's two-bedroom villa was Avrora's own choice; she liked the old-fashioned courtyard. At less than 20,000 yuan a night, including tax and service fees, it was excellent value for money and much better than the old Sofitel West Lake Hotel she used to stay, which was probably about to be delisted.
Avrora entered the master bedroom, where a remarkably tall woman stood by the window. She wore a long, flowing gauze dress that resembled swirling clouds, the hem of which glimpsed her long, slender legs. Her imposing posture carried an air of predatory cunning, and her narrow eyes flashed with a cold light, making one feel as if being looked at by her would turn one into prey, trembling and ready to flee.
Most terrifyingly, a Serpens was coiled around her. This enormous creature had a waist and abdomen as thick as an adult's. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that this Serpens had no eyes or teeth; it was simply a single piece of snakeskin supporting its shape!
"Snake Snake." Avrora walked over and put down her newly bought clothes.
The woman, whom Avrora called "Snake Snake," glanced at Avrora indifferently before continuing to look out the window. From there, one could see dense forests and faintly hear the sounds of bells and drums, chanting, and the faint scent of smoke rising from the sky.
"I bought some clothes from the Legend of the White Snake. Wearing them might help you recall some things from back then." Avrora was touched by her own thoughtfulness.
The Snake Snake turned around, and its skin, which looked like it still had flesh and bone, suddenly supported its body. It rushed towards Avrora and wrapped it tightly around her. Its toothless and boneless head opened its mouth and bit Avrora's skull.
"I can't stand it like this!" Avrora smiled shyly, her body twisting as she was tightly bound by the snakeskin, her lips slightly parted, her eyes looking at the Snake Snake with a dazed expression.
The Snake Snake then raised its hand, and Avrora saw that it was holding a sharp snake scale.
"That's not a good idea." Avrora recognized it; the scale came from the front of the giant snake's forehead, and it was incredibly hard and sharp.
After saying that, Avrora didn't wait for the Snake Snake to attack her again. With a push of her hands, the seemingly magical and powerful snake skin turned into fragments.
Avrora rushed through the flying debris, moving with lightning speed, and snatched the snake scale from her hand.
The Snake Snake hissed and opened its mouth to bite at Avrora, but Avrora slammed an elbow into it, sending the Snake Snake flying out of the window.
Avrora jumped down from the building right after, grabbed the Snake Snake, and gave it a good beating. "Why can't I tame it?" he thought, infuriating Bear Bear.
"Once you behave, I'll take you to Junsha." Avrora lifted the Snake Snake's long, slender legs and went upstairs.
"Sister Egg, will it snow this year?"
With his own milk in his mouth, Zhou Dongdong put the milk for Shangguan Dandan in his pocket, and swung his arms left and right as he walked with the steps of a People's Liberation Army soldier to Shangguan Dandan's door.
"Probably." Shangguan Dandan sat on the recliner early in the morning, the small stove beside her burning brightly, the kettle making a "buzzing" sound and emitting steam.
"When it snows, I can fill a cup with snow, and then... and then, I'll stick a chopstick in, and it'll become ice cream!" Zhou Dongdong said with great anticipation, after all, it felt like a very, very long time ago that she last ate ice cream.
That time, Brother Chang'an bought ice cream and sat under the sycamore tree with Zhou Dongdong, licking it for a long time. Later, the leaves fell down with a rustling sound, and Zhou Dongdong wore more and more clothes. She never ate ice cream again.
"Then why don't you just throw a carton of milk in the freezer and take it out the next day to make iced milk popsicles?" Shangguan Dandan reminded her.
Zhou Dongdong suddenly realized what was happening and hurriedly went home.
Shangguan Dandan chuckled. A little while later, sure enough, Zhou Dongdong's wailing came from upstairs. Zhou Shuling was constantly being mocked by Liu Chang'an for her average looks and bad skin, so she decided to drink milk for beauty. She had just bought a carton of milk yesterday, but more than half of it was missing. After searching high and low, she finally found it in the freezer. There was no doubt that no one but that stupid child would do such a thing, so Zhou Dongdong got a beating.
"Hey, why are you hitting the kids at home again!"
Zhou Shuling quickly went to the window to look out, and sure enough, Liu Chang'an had returned. Zhou Dongdong wiped away her tears, stretched her neck and jumped up and down by the window, but she couldn't see her brother Chang'an no matter what. Seeing her mother running downstairs quickly, Zhou Dongdong jumped a few more times before she remembered that she could see her brother Chang'an if she went downstairs. She quickly turned around and ran downstairs.