The full moon held a pocket of brilliant whiteness, showering its moonlight, white as jade, upon the world in this night so cold that all things seemed still.
The night breeze rustled gently, the re-pruned bare branches swaying silently.
The slate-blue villa quietly glowed with warm yellow lights, echoing the jade disc hanging high in the dark canopy.
Behind the huge floor-to-ceiling window, a slender, graceful silhouette was faintly reflected.
Shen Shuyu, wearing a white, classically styled nightdress, leaned against the chaise lounge on one side of the living room.
The light fabric draped somewhat lazily over Shen Shuyu’s slender calves.
Her creamy white skin with its smooth curves.
A hint of youthful plumpness at the right amount perfectly embodied the girl’s youthful innocence and pampered upbringing.
In her hands, she held two knitting needles. Scarlet yarn bobbed up and down with the needles.
In the quiet space, the crisp “click-clack” of the knitting needles meeting echoed clearly.
Aunt Zhao came out from the kitchen carrying a small plate of fresh strawberries. Seeing Shen Shuyu still intently knitting the scarf, she walked to her side and advised, “Miss, do you want to rest a bit? You’ve been knitting for over an hour now.”
Shen Shuyu looked up at the sound, glancing at the pendulum clock. It was already almost nine o’clock.
Then Shen Shuyu looked at the scarf draped on her lap, barely the length of her forearm, and shook her head: “I’ll knit a bit more. I’m knitting too slowly.”
“You’ve knitted wonderfully already, Miss. It’s not just a plain stockinette scarf, look at all these patterns.” Aunt Zhao said as she placed the strawberries on the small side table near Shen Shuyu’s hand. If she’d known, she wouldn’t have taught Shen Shuyu such a difficult pattern.
“Miss, knitting for so long will tire your eyes. If you make a mistake in a row, you’ll have to unravel it and start over. Wouldn’t that waste even more time?”
Shen Shuyu found Aunt Zhao’s words reasonable. She rubbed her eyes gently: “Then could you check for me if there are any mistakes in what I’ve knitted so far?”
“Ah, yes.” Aunt Zhao took the less-than-half-finished scarf Shen Shuyu handed her with extreme care.
She had been in this household for over a decade and had practically watched Shen Shuyu grow up.
This was the first time she’d seen their young miss knit something herself as a gift for someone.
Aunt Zhao carefully examined the scarf Shen Shuyu had knitted.
Although knitting a scarf was a simple matter, doing it well required considerable effort.
Beginners often didn’t know how much force to use, easily making the scarf tight and lacking aesthetic appeal.
Yet Shen Shuyu’s scarf, so far, didn’t have these flaws.
The bright red scarf featured a triple twisted stitch pattern, running evenly and smoothly, without any bumps or irregularities.
It didn’t look like a beginner’s work at all.
But, given their miss’s knitting speed, it shouldn’t be less than forearm length…
Could it be…
Aunt Zhao glanced suspiciously at the ball of yarn beside Shen Shuyu.
The yarn, already through one round of knitting, lay coiled nearby, bent and wavy.
Just as she thought, their miss had unraveled everything she’d knitted before.
Aunt Zhao stroked the soft, delicate scarf, wondering how many times their miss had unraveled and re-knitted it to achieve this current state.
She also wondered just who had the luck to receive such heartfelt effort from Shen Shuyu.
Seeing Aunt Zhao looking at one pattern without moving for a long time, Shen Shuyu grew worried, “What’s wrong, Aunt Zhao? Did I make a mistake somewhere?”
Aunt Zhao snapped back to reality and quickly answered, “It’s perfect, Miss. You haven’t made any mistakes.”
“That’s good.” Shen Shuyu breathed a sigh of relief, a satisfied smile appearing on her face.
She had just eaten a strawberry, and her glossy lips were still tinged with a faint red.
When she smiled, it was like a rose blooming in the winter snow.
Vibrant and ready to burst.
The quiet living room echoed again with the “click-clack” of knitting needles meeting, joined by the chime of the hour.
It was nine o’clock in the evening.
Year-end audits and various affairs at the company were piling up. Shen Lin was rushing between domestic and international locations, hardly ever home this entire month.
The house was empty; only Shen Shuyu was there.
This caged bird flew freely, wildly, within this cage.
Shen Shuyu decided she would knit until the scarf reached her forearm length tonight before sleeping.
She couldn’t openly knit in school like Li Qingqing; she could only work overtime at night to rush its completion.
Only five days until Christmas; she didn’t have much time left.
Shen Shuyu looked at the quietude outside the window. Loneliness surfaced in her eyes, quickly chased away by firm conviction.
Since Yu Mo said she never held any hope for her.
Then she would give her expectations, give her hope.
Turn her own sincere heart into a surprise and present it to her.
.
This year’s Christmas Eve fortuitously fell on a Saturday. Students didn’t have classes, and the lively festive atmosphere carried from Monday all the way to Saturday.
Streets everywhere were filled with the three colors: red, green, and white. Shop windows in every mall displayed artificial “snow.”
Santa Claus has no class consciousness, bestowing the same liveliness upon both the Upper City and the Lower City.
As night was about to fall, the hazy moonlight cast its brightness early onto the sky that hadn’t completely darkened.
A person wearing a long black down jacket, a black knit hat pulled low, was strolling leisurely in Shen Shuyu’s residential compound, carrying a beautifully wrapped paper bag.
At a fork in the road, the person stopped, slightly tilting their head to look towards a left-branching path with an upward slope.
The bright roadside light illuminated their face, outlining a slightly aquiline nose.
Yu Mo had arrived as promised at Shen Shuyu’s residential compound to personally deliver the cookies.
She gazed at the slate-blue villa at the end of the uphill path.
She remembered Shen Shuyu’s room was on the second floor, on the far left, with a tall, arched bay window.
Back then, she would often follow Shen Shuyu home, watching until the warm yellow light lit up that window.
Shen Shuyu’s graceful silhouette cast on the glass pane, like a Western oil painting.
Yu Mo smiled silently and started walking uphill.
She had once thought she would never see this beautiful little villa again.
But at this moment,
Shen Shuyu was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the streetlights lining the road.
When someone passed by, their shadow was the first thing to reveal them.
Finally, just as Shen Shuyu anticipated, a completely black shadow slowly entered the quiet front path.
Yu Mo had wrapped herself up so tightly, even her shadow looked rounder.
The plump, bread-like shadow was elongated and shortened by the roadside lights, drawing closer and closer in Shen Shuyu’s sight.
Shen Shuyu’s heartbeat quickened with the shadow’s approach too.
She swiftly got up to straighten the long knit dress she was wearing, combing her hair using the glass fish tank as a mirror.
Little Gold swam leisurely past, its tail swaying, and blew a bubble at Shen Shuyu.
“Ding dong.” The doorbell rang as expected.
Aunt Zhao hurried out from the reception room to open the door but was stopped by Shen Shuyu: “I’ll get it, Aunt Zhao.”
Aunt Zhao paused for a moment, then asked, “Miss, shall I prepare any refreshments?”
“No need.” Shen Shuyu shook her head. She had other plans.
The walnut wood front door was slowly pulled open by Shen Shuyu from inside. Dressed all in black, Yu Mo appeared before Shen Shuyu.
Shen Shuyu initiated the greeting: “Good evening.”
“Mm, good evening.” Yu Mo was a little surprised that Shen Shuyu had come to open the door herself.
“Would you like to come in and sit for a while?” Shen Shuyu asked, quite naturally.
“No need, I just came to give you the cookies.” Yu Mo said, handing the bag she was carrying to Shen Shuyu.
Shen Shuyu had expected Yu Mo would say that. Taking the bag, she asked, “I heard there’s a Christmas Eve celebration at the Central Square. Want to go see it?”
Yu Mo wasn’t very interested in such things. Right now, she felt she’d rather go home and read a few pages than have fun: “No, I just feel like reading a bit tonight.”
Shen Shuyu regretted lending Yu Mo that other reference book yesterday.
Her hand on the door handle tightened slightly. She added, “It’s rare to have such a big event on a holiday. It wouldn’t be worth your trip all the way out just to deliver a box of cookies to me.”
Yu Mo hesitated a bit.
Thinking back, since her rebirth, it had been a long time since she’d truly relaxed and had fun.
She still remembered that the Christmas Eve event at Central Square in her previous life had been incredibly successful. Everyone came back to school on Monday still talking about it with relish.
But that day, she had waited for Shen Shuyu outside her house all evening and hadn’t been able to go.
“They say Central Square introduced a new Night Market this time, with lots of food. You treated me last time, so this time, my treat.” Shen Shuyu, seeing Yu Mo wavering, added more incentive.
After all, having walked this stretch in the cold wind, her body was a bit chilled. Yu Mo actually did want to eat something hot.
Since Shen Shuyu said she’d treat, Yu Mo no longer refused and nodded in agreement: “Alright.”
Tonight’s night sky was not as dark as usual. Perhaps because of the holiday, even the sky was overlaid with a layer of golden brightness.
Shen Shuyu’s home wasn’t far from Central Square. Within a few minutes’ walk, Yu Mo saw the vast expanse of bustling lights ahead.
Various food stalls and carts were set up orderly in the originally empty square surrounded by shopping malls.
Steam rose up in clouds, adding a warmth that nestled into one’s heart on this cold winter night.
Shen Shuyu ordered a serving of Oden and turned her head to see the delighted surprise on Yu Mo’s face beside her.
She stood next to her, introducing: “The BC District Joint Project has been doing very well lately. Many specialties from the Lower City District are being introduced into the Upper City, and they’re very popular.”
Yu Mo felt pleased but was more worried: “I wonder how long this opening can be maintained, and how many people it can let in.”
“Miss, careful, it’s hot.”
At that moment, the Oden vendor finished making Shen Shuyu’s Oden, a full bowl steaming hot.
“Thank you.” Shen Shuyu took the Oden, looking at the various tidbits inside, and said to Yu Mo: “Once an opening is stretched to a certain degree, it can never close again.”
Yu Mo: “There are quite a few people inside trying to trip it up so it closes, right?”
Shen Shuyu didn’t deny it, nor did she affirm it.
She watched the brilliant lights around them, only Yu Mo was fretting about the predicament they both understood.
Shen Shuyu pressed her lips together, poked Yu Mo’s waist, and held the Oden out to her: “So full of bitter resentment, like a little old lady.”
Hearing Shen Shuyu’s words, Yu Mo paused.
Since when did Shen Shuyu learn to tease like this?
Yu Mo found it novel and amusing, and couldn’t help but laugh, “Alright, alright, we won’t discuss these things today.”
Shen Shuyu didn’t speak, but gave Yu Mo a look that said: That’s more like it—cool, yet carrying a hint of petulance.
Yu Mo felt that the sense of distance Shen Shuyu usually projected to others had completely vanished.
Now, standing beside her, she seemed just like any ordinary friend of hers.
No distance, no resistance.
