The two played downstairs for nearly an hour before going upstairs and returning home.
Qing Yi stood in the entryway, taking off her knit cap and gloves.
After playing outside for nearly an hour, the cold wind had reddened her cheeks and delicate nose, while a faint pink tinged her fingertips.
Qing Xuan stepped forward and gently untied her scarf for her, then carefully brushed the remaining bits of ice and snow from her hair.
He held the young woman's slightly cold hands between his palms, slowly warming them and passing his warmth to her bit by bit.
"Are you cold?"
Qing Yi let him hold her hands as the warmth from his fingertips gradually drove away the stiffness.
She raised her eyes, the clear depths still carrying the laughter from the snow, and gently shook her head.
"Not cold. It was very fun."
The lockdown of Linjiang Academy's return plaza officially began after the snow stopped.
The large area originally used by students for travel and training was temporarily cordoned off, and spatial devices were brought into the grounds one after another.
The staff dispatched by the Transcendent Association also arrived at the academy that morning.
Many students would pause outside the perimeter and peer inside through the newly erected barriers.
The school had informed everyone several days earlier, so everyone knew what was being prepared here.
Yet less than a year had passed on Blue Star since Class 7 entered Douluo Continent.
To most students at the academy, that classroom and those names still belonged to the previous class.
But those who were about to return had already lived in another world for over twenty years.
When Zhou Ruolan arrived at the monitoring hall, the spatial department had just completed the final round of coordinate verification.