February brought the biting chill of early spring.
Winter's tail still lingered in the wind, leaving a cold sting on people's faces.
After finishing his training, Xu Qing changed into clean clothes, left the martial hall, and headed for his second uncle and aunt's noodle shop.
He had walked this road countless times and would not have taken a wrong turn even with his eyes closed, but the moment he stepped inside today, he sensed that something was different.
His second aunt was, as usual, busy in the kitchen, where a pot of bone broth bubbled away on the stove, steaming hot. His second uncle was wiping down tables and greeting customers. Xiuer was leaning over a table practicing her calligraphy, a blot of ink smeared across her little face without her noticing.
There was someone else sitting on a stool by the kitchen door.
She was a woman in her forties or fifties, dressed in a faded blue cotton jacket, with a bulging sack of rice at her feet. She held a bowl of water, taking a sip and letting out a sigh, then sighing again before taking another sip.
Xu Qing recognized her.
She was Chen Laosi's wife from Blackwater Bay, an old neighbor of his second uncle's family. His second uncle had never forgotten old ties. He had once returned to Blackwater Bay to look at the old house and told Chen Laosi where their noodle shop was.
"Fourth Aunt, you're here." Xu Qing greeted her with a smile.
When Old Madam Chen looked up and saw Xu Qing, her eyes lit up. She hurriedly set down her bowl, rose to examine him from head to toe, and clicked her tongue nonstop. "A-Qing, you've really changed beyond recognition! Those clothes, that complexion... tsk, tsk, tsk. City folk