Snow fell thick and fast. From Jade Emperor Mountain to Nine Luminaries Mountain, everything was a boundless white. The temperature was below freezing, and the snow piled up quickly. The evergreen pines and cypresses bore both snow and dangling icicles; their branches often snapped under the weight and fell to the ground with a crack-even the sound carried a chill.
Ran Sheng had a loud voice, so Chen Caozhi had him call out, "Don't come up yet! The mountain path is icy. Be careful not to slip. We'll come down to meet you."
Chen Caozhi, Lai De, and Ran Sheng changed into waxed clogs with high teeth. Chen Caozhi also told Lai De to bring several lengths of hemp rope. Wearing bamboo hats and each carrying a staff, the three made their way down through the thick snow. They found two ox carts waiting at the foot of the mountain, each with a plain silk lantern hanging at its rear. His sister-in-law Ding Youwei, Yinggu, Xiao Chan, Qingzhi, Rain Swallow, A Xiu, Zongzhi, and Run'er had all come. Lai Fu and his son Lai Zhen were driving, and Jing Nu had come too.
Both delighted and worried, Chen Caozhi said, "Sister-in-law, why have you all come in such heavy snow? What if you catch a chill?"
Ding Youwei wore hemp mourning clothes, her hair arranged in a mourning bun, and possessed a delicate grace. In the mingled light of lanterns and snow, her cheeks looked almost transparently white, her lips a faint red. Her slender shoulders slightly hunched, she smiled and breathed warmth onto her fingertips. "It is terribly cold, but Zongzhi and Run'er both insisted on spending New Year's Eve with Uncle Chou, so we all came along. With the family together to see in the new year, it