The first light glimmered, and sunlight shone especially white across the boundless snow.
Rosy light spilled through the paper window into the room, falling across Su Jingyan's face.
Su Jingyan stirred awake. The fairy beside him was already gone, leaving only a lingering, delicate fragrance...
When Su Jingyan left the room, he could no longer find the beauty anywhere in the house...
Perhaps she had left... Su Jingyan shook his head, his expression complicated.
He went upstairs to the loft, sat before the tea table, set out a chessboard, and began playing alone.
On the little river below, an old man worked his oars, his small boat swaying as it passed beneath Su Jingyan's loft.
The sound of oars breaking the river's surface curled up around the beams and fell upon Su Jingyan's chessboard...
At some point, he had actually learned to play chess alone...
White snow swirled, and the year's end drew near.
Many who had traveled far from home returned, and every household grew lively.
Unlike those ten thousand glowing windows, Su Jingyan's home seemed especially quiet and deserted.
Yet Su Jingyan felt no loneliness at all. Perhaps he had grown used to it.
...Ever since his parents passed away, he had been alone.
"Time to earn some money..."
Su Jingyan counted the silver in the house. There was little left.
Although he was usually frugal and had received some silver from the court after passing the provincial examination, even a mountain of wealth would be eaten away if he only spent without earning.
The other side of the house Su Jingyan's parents had left him faced the street, but he had never opened it up...
After some thought, Su Jingyan opened the street-facing storefront and hung up some calligraphy and paintings he had made in his