Snow was falling in the Jade Capital.
Meng Chunqiu still wore his hair long. Draped in a fox-fur cloak, he stood on the balcony admiring the snow. From behind, he looked like a delicate young woman. From the front—well, he still looked like a delicate young woman, one who made people worry she might catch cold.
Snowflakes swirled outside, covering the world in white.
Everything seemed just as it had last year and the year before.
The difference was that, back then, he had stood here admiring the snow because he was bored. This year, seeing the snowfall had prompted him to give himself a little time off.
Footsteps sounded behind him.
Then came Brother Chen's voice. "Well, whose sheltered young lady is this? What's she doing in the boys' dorm?"
Meng Chunqiu remained perfectly calm.
He had always aimed for a traditional look: long hair, traditional clothes, the bearing of an elegant young gentleman from ancient times. Unfortunately, he was simply too beautiful. "So beautiful you can't tell whether they're male or female," as people online put it. As a result, he was often mistaken for a woman.
He had a good temperament, though, and never got angry when strangers made that mistake. Before university, deliberate teasing had still annoyed him a little.
But now...
Brother Chen had forcibly cured him of that temper.
"What's going on? This is dangerous! We've got a muscle-bound hunk in our dorm. Run before he spots you."
"..."
Even Brother Jiang had been dragged into this.
But Brother Jiang was probably used to it by now.
Meng Chunqiu kept gazing at the frozen world outside. Only when Brother Chen came to stand beside him and leaned on the railing to look down did he speak. "With a scene like this, Brother Chen, do