By November, early winter had arrived, and the hot weather carried a hint of coolness.
That was how the weather in S City was: hot, yet pleasantly cool.
Five minutes later, the coach Lin Xiaoqian had booked arrived.
Longquan Ancient Town was not too far from the airport, but they would not actually be staying in the town itself. They were heading farther in, to Shuiji Village.
After getting off the coach, Bai Chen felt that the village lived up to its name. The stream beside it was crystal clear, with fish and shrimp plainly visible in the water.
They were now on a small path in front of the village.
A woman had come to meet them, with several children beside her.
Two boys and a girl.
Perhaps from spending every day exposed to the sun and wind, the woman's skin looked older than her years, sallow and dry.
When they asked her age, they learned that she was indeed quite young, only in her twenties. But she had married early and had too much to worry about to spend time on her appearance.
The three children beside her were all beaming, skipping along behind their mother.
The little girl was not particularly shy around strangers. When she spotted Lin Jingchen and Bai Chen, she cautiously poked her mother.
Her mother asked in the local dialect, "What is it?"
The little girl's cheeks flushed as she mumbled, stealing a glance behind her. "Mom, those two guys are really handsome."
Her mother looked back too and saw two tall, handsome young men walking behind them. They were certainly easy on the eyes.
One looked fresh-faced and sunny, the other refined and elegant.
They walked very close together, one talking and the other smiling, though she had no idea what they