Spring's Lilac Snow

03

In this mediocre area on the outskirts of the Central Continent, silly children who gave into the yearning of being able to walk on air often appeared. They would used their insufficient internal energy and lift few centimeters off the ground for a split second before collapsing heavily to the ground, their bodies depleted of energy. A vast majority of people in this town would pass away before they could witness, or even hear a rumor, of this legendary action in its full glory.

Lihua was currently gliding through the crowd in a rush to finish what she had set out to do. Even with her body rising an inconspicuous 10 centimeters off the ground and being able to dart through this congested street so agilely, no one gave her the slightest glance. After all, what was most imperative as of now, was to bargain with the shopkeeper to reach to lowest price possible.

When Lihua's destination came into sight, she imperceptibly lowered herself to the ground and headed for the Nine Peony Embroidery Shop. This store was not only the most expensive in the area, but also sold the highest quality fabric and threads. For her family that she cherished the most, this was only right. Keeping in mind that she needed to put together quite a few pieces Lihua started out by picking out quite a number of silk fabrics and stocking up on thread colors she needed.

Keeping in mind that she already planned to put together a luscious silk blanket with a layer of soft fur from a ninth-grade spiritual beast in order to prevent her mother's health from deteriorating further in the upcoming chilly weather. Lihua thoughtfully made the plan to accompany that blanket with an entirely new set of clothes specifically made to keep her ill mother warm during the winter.

In a few weeks, Xinyi would also be starting her first year at the famed Celestial Nine Skies Academy. Although Xinyi already had a rather large collection of her older sister's hand sewn clothes, she still begged for Lihua to gift her another, for "luck" upon entering the academy.

Just as Lihua was about to head over to pay, she recalled the tantrums Mingxia would throw whenever she only gifted her second sister anything. Deciding to make two more, one for her youngest sister and one for her father, she signaled over a assistant to help carry the fabric.

Even if she patronized the store very often and racked up an insane total cost for the store to profit from, she still was not as familiar with them to the point of being allowed in the inner storage and to store away the materials in her bag. Not willing to allow anyone to take the opportunity to trouble her, it was for the best, after all she was helping the assistant do her job and train her arm strength.

After browsing for a short while, Lihua actually got ready to pay, and go home. While letting the manager carefully check the price marked on each roll of fabric and every bundle of thread, Lihua did not show even the slightest hint of impatience. Instead, she busied herself by preparing her calculated price of 6,975 silvers. Of course, that included that the store decided amount of discount they offered her in consideration of the profit Lihua made them, not only by buying from them, but mostly from selling her works to them. Even though they only collected 20% of the price it sold for, the wealth was still massive.

Due to the nature of having varying cost decided by factors such as its popularity, quality, rarity, material, discounts, etc, the total price wasn't even, making it a bit more troublesome count out.

By the time Lihua had the silvers sorted out, the manager had just rung up the price. 6,975 silvers, not one silver more or less. Quickly packing up her items into her pouch, her trip out to run errands had finally closed. She swiftly left the store and meant to return back to her Jade Moon Pavilion.

Taking the route that allowed her to reach home the fastest - as she always did - Lihua encountered a problem with this path for the first time. In between the spaces of two food stalls, there was a small child who had red and glossed eyes. However, it seemed that he wouldn't let himself cry. Clutching a metal ring that was too large for him, his eyes darted around frantically. Feeling empathy for the child, she strolled over to him and bent down to meet his eye level.

She let a smile onto her face as softly asked, "Are you lost? Do you want me to bring you to your home? My name is Liu Lihua, can you tell me yours?"

The young boy used his freehand to grasp onto her dress and spoke with bright eyes, " Lihua jiejie, you can call me Xiao Chen. Um, my surname is Yu. I also have an older brother, and...uh, I like to eat."

While the boy was prattling on, Lihua had already taken his hand into her own and begun slowly walking towards Yu Manor where Xiao Chen should live. Once they arrived at the gates to the manor, Lihua had expected to see him off and shortly leave after that. After all, the kid and her were practically strangers.

Xiao Chen on the other hand, wanted to keep talking with this big sister. However, as fate would have it the head guard held his arm and rushed him past the gates to show the family that he was safe. When remembered to look back for the big sister, she was gone. Xiao Chen creased his eyebrows and frowned at the guard who was so close that he could be considered family.

All the way to the hall, Xiao Chen was upset. Even daring to greet his entire family with a frown. Of course, he was not punished for this, after all he was the Yu Family's precious baby. They would never express any amount of irritation or temper towards him.

The Matriarch of the Yu Family, Xiao Chen's grandmother, spoke gently, "Chen'er, did someone wrong you? Please tell us why you are upset."

Xiao Chen only pouted and turned his head away.

As if coming to a realization, Xiao Chen's father pleaded, "Daddy is every sorry that we lost you in the crowd. We really did spend a long time searching for you, but we were convinced that you would be able to come home. In fact, your older brother has still been looking for you and only returned a few minutes ago."

Xiao Chen bit the corner of his lip and grouchily complained, " I was having a lot of fun with Lihua jiejie. I was even going to have her come in to play with me, but them the Uncle Li pulled me away from the gate and then she was gone when I was able to look back. Now I don't even know where to find Lihua jiejie."

Xiao Chen had kept his tone rather calm for a complaining child, but there was still a hint of whining and he was still pouting. While his daddy was blanking out over how to solve the issue, his mommy proposed a solution.

"Chen Chen, how about asking around for this Miss Lihua. There has to be someone in the Kingdom that knows who she is." Catching the uncertainty in Xiao Chen's eyes she continued, "And if it comes down to it, we can just ask the King. After all his good buddy, your father, is visiting him soon."

Nodding Xiao Chen just decided to wait for fate, or the King, to help them meet again, and at that time he would be sure to find out who the big sister is.