"Do you like reading, Alina?"
Yu Yachen stood beside her, asking with interest.
"It's alright. More than reading, my dream as a child was to be a painter. But my family didn't have the means, so I had to give it up," Alina replied.
"Is that so? I remember when I was little, my dad made me learn to paint, too. He's a total manga fanatic. I wasn't interested in manga at first, but because of him, I ended up reading a lot. He even said I had to become a great painter one day."
Thinking of this, Yu Yachen remembered her past life. She had learned to paint back then, too, but she hadn't touched it in this life.
Manga like JoJo and Dragon Ball... her dad had made her read them.
"I wasn't really into that stuff, but being around it so much, I learned a little. In the end, whether it's writing, or painting, or film... the act of creation itself is a romantic thing."
Yu Yachen smiled.
"Mm, you think so too, Miss Yu?" Alina said, surprised. "I would have thought someone like you wouldn't care about that kind of thing."
Yu Yachen, in truth, didn't care. She just wanted to live a quiet life, have a stable job, be able to buy groceries and cook for herself, drink hot milk, and just be left alone in her own world. That was enough for her.
She really didn't have any special desires, nor would she, as the system suggested, use her looks to get into messy relationships.
"When I was little, I really admired the characters in manga. Sometimes I'd think... if only I could be one of them," Yu Yachen said with a chuckle.
Alina, of course, had never read a shonen manga and didn't understand what she meant. She just stared at Yu Yachen's beautiful smile and nodded happily for her.
"Speaking of which... I've never really looked at this tundra properly."
Yu Yachen spoke suddenly. She had always thought this place was filthy.
"I didn't expect it to be so beautiful."
The ice on the lake reflected a cold, clear light. The wind and snow had subsided, and the mist had scattered. The contours of the distant mountains were outlined in silver by the moonlight, as if draped in a thin veil.
Looking up, the tundra's night sky was surprisingly clear, without a single cloud. The stars glittered like scattered diamonds, and a green-blue aurora flowed across the sky like silk.
Yu Yachen had never expected to see an aurora here. She had only seen such a sight as a child, when her parents took her traveling abroad.
"It's true. It's always snowing so heavily, and the fog makes it almost impossible to see. A view like this is really rare. Do you like it here, Miss Yu?"
Yu Yachen didn't answer right away. Instead, she suddenly reached out and gently took Alina's wrist. The Elafia's hand was slender, giving the impression that it was as fragile as a falling snowflake.
Her thumb brushed over the back of Alina's hand, then slowly laced through her slender fingers. Alina looked at her in surprise.
"Alina, you don't have to use that title anymore," Yu Yachen said softly.
"Don't keep calling me Miss Yu. Why don't you try calling me by my name?"
"Hm?"
Alina's mouth opened, and she said, a little shyly, "Yachen?"
"Mhm, that's right," Yu Yachen smiled. "Are you cold? We should head back. It's a little dangerous out here."
"Okay... let's go back."
Alina's breath fogged in the air. She slowly slid her fingers into the gaps between Yu Yachen's, lacing their hands together.
"I grew up in the south. Maybe because it rarely snowed where I lived, I've always had a special feeling about snow," Yu Yachen said suddenly.
In her past life, she lived in a southern city. In Columbia, where she lived with her parents in this life, it snowed a lot, but after moving to Lungmen, she hadn't seen snow in a long time.
"I love snow. It's even better if it can pile up. Unlike the sea or the sunrise, I've always felt that snow is special."
As they walked, sparse snowflakes drifted down. Some landed on the white-haired woman's eyelashes, making her face look even more exquisite. The translucent flakes refracted the moonlight into tiny specks of light.
"White... and fragile. They melt when they land in your palm, and when they pile up, they're easily turned to mud."
Yu Yachen was truly beautiful. Alina stared at her profile. Her skin was as white as snow, and her clear, pale cyan eyes were like the aurora they had just seen.
"I remember watching a cartoon when I was little called Snow Child. It was about a mother and daughter who built a snowman. One morning, the mother went out, and the snowman suddenly came to life. It skated and played with the child. Later, as night fell, the child had to go home, and the snowman could only watch her from the door."
"But unfortunately... a hot coal fell from the stove and set the child's house on fire."
"In the end, to save the child, the snowman ignored the risk of being melted by the flames, rescued the child, and finally melted away in the breath of spring."
Yu Yachen finished the story and turned to look at Alina.
"I think snow is special, just like that kind snowman, who made such a huge impression on me as a child. Even though time has passed, my memory of it is still deep."
"I... I like kind people. Just like how snow is so dazzling when it piles up."
The warm breath from Yu Yachen's mouth fogged in the air.
"That dazzling quality... is just like the person I like the most."
"..."
It was an almost direct confession. Alina froze at first. After a brief moment of disbelief, she finally understood the meaning behind her words.
Alina's hand, holding hers, curled slightly. The tips of the Elafia's ears turned red, and her lowered eyelashes, like snow-dusted butterfly wings, trembled.
The little deer's face had, without her noticing, flushed, perhaps from the cold... or perhaps for a deeper reason.
"Me too... I like Miss Yu, too..."
Her voice was very, very quiet, so faint that it was easily buried by the gently whistling wind.
Author's Note / Promotion:
A shout-out to a great author on the rankings.
Synopsis:
Bad news: Bai Xun transmigrated to Arknights. Good news: He has a golden finger. As long as he completes others' commissions, he can get all kinds of strange rewards, from the Twelve Talismans to Magnetic Field Rotation.
Using Seaborn genes to create an infinite body for Mobius to ascend to godhood; teaming up with Welt Yang from Star Rail to assault Schicksal and inflict the ultimate insult on Otto; helping Kevin become an Aeon of Preservation to fight threats from beyond; putting the imperial robe on Ch'en to save—or burn—all of Terra...
A gate to all worlds, familiar and unfamiliar guests... as long as the payment is sufficient, Bai Xun will complete any commission. It's just... can you guys stop using yourselves as payment?!
Mei: "Please, teach me Magnetic Field Rotation! I'll be your cook for life!"
Pardofelis: "Please... hold me tight."
M3: "Come back to life, Kal'tsit! I will create a world with you in it!"
Nian: "Bro-in-law, just for me, use the Tiger Talisman on Sui!"
Xi: "No, no, stop wooing my husband!"
...From the book, "Stop Using Yourselves as Commission Payment!"
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