The Professor's Confusion

In winter, it snowed.

The grass should have withered yellow, the trees should have shed their leaves, the weather should have been bitterly cold, and all things should have returned to solitude.

Spring, on the other hand, was the season when life revived.

Wild grass sprouted tender shoots anew, trees brimmed with Life Force once more, the sun lingered longer and longer in the sky, and hibernating creatures stretched lazily as they crawled out of their burrows and nests.

Today was December 7th, heavy snow in the lunar calendar's solar terms, undoubtedly a winter day—Zheng Qing had been utterly certain of that, because only a few hours earlier, he had been discussing the different classifications and characteristics of snowmen with Nicholas.

But now, the young publicly funded student, who had just shaken off his grogginess, began to doubt his own memories.

Because around him, along the Linzhong Lakefront, the formerly barren, lifeless world had somehow burst into vibrant life.

The lake water seemed clearer, tender green buds had emerged from the bare branches of the shrubs, and fresh splashes of color had appeared amid the grayish wild grass. Tiny white flowers were scattered among the grass; when the breeze swept past, it seemed to carry a faintly sweet fragrance.

Everything, every last thing, proclaimed to the young publicly funded student a world utterly different from the one he remembered.

"This... this..." Zheng Qing looked around, tongue-tied and unable to speak for a long while.

"This was an accident." Professor Yao clearly understood why they were so shocked. He flicked his hand, drew out a small pinch of golden tobacco from his robes, stuffed it into his pipe, and sighed deeply. "...You can think of it as a mishap during a magical experiment."

What sort of magical experiment could produce an