"Brother Xiao, it's crooked. A little to the left."

"No, that's not right either, Brother Xiao. A bit to the right."

"Hmm, that doesn't look right either. Down a little—no, forget it, up a bit instead. Yes, yes, just like that."

"All right, I'm sticking it on like this, then."

Xiao Mo stood on the ladder and smoothed the Spring Festival couplet flat with his hand, working at it until there was not a wrinkle left.

But just as Xiao Mo came down the ladder, Xiaoqing rubbed her chin. "Doesn't it still look a little crooked? It ought to go a bit more to the left."

"Ow..." Xiao Mo gave Xiaoqing a knuckle to the head. "You tell me now, when it's already good and stuck? Next one!"

"Oww..."

Xiao Mo and Xiaoqing carried the ladder over to another door and went at it again.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Bai Ruxue was cooking.

It was New Year's Eve.

By the custom of Qi, on this day you put up fresh Spring Festival couplets and eat the New Year's Eve feast at noon.

"Crackle, crackle, pop."

As noon drew near, the other households of Stone Bridge Village lit off their firecrackers one after another.

Every time a household set off firecrackers, it meant that family had started its New Year feast.

Bai Ruxue brought the dishes out too, setting them down carefully on the table. "Xiao Mo, Xiaoqing, the food's ready..."

"Just a moment, Sister, we're almost done here," Xiaoqing called back, then went on directing her Brother Xiao. "Brother Xiao, a little to the left... yes, yes, that's it!"

"Brother Xiao, everyone else is already at their New Year feast... let's hurry..."

"No rush, no rush." Xiao Mo smiled. "The couplet has to go on flat. Flat means peace and safety. Get it?"

Once the couplets were up, Xiao Mo propped the string of firecrackers bottom-up against the pillar by the gate and lit the fuse with a tinder stick.

Bai Ruxue and Xiaoqing hastily clapped their hands over their ears.

The firecrackers went off with a crackle and a pop.

The two girls—one in white, one in green—watched the gunsmoke outside the courtyard with a mix of fear and anticipation, and the sparks that kept bursting out of the white smoke.

"Pop... pop... pop..."

As the last few firecrackers popped and fell, the smoke slowly dispersed.

By the stone table, Xiao Mo raised his cup and stood. "Today is New Year's Eve—out with the old, in with the new. In the year ahead, I wish you both good health and every wish fulfilled."

Bai Ruxue's eyes curved into crescents as she raised her cup, every inch the lady of the house—though her words carried a teasing lilt. "And when spring comes, I wish Mr. Xiao success at the top of the examination list."

"I wish Brother Xiao the top of the list too," Xiaoqing echoed.

The cups clinked, and the wine inside rippled softly.

"Eat, eat—if we don't, the food will go cold." Xiao Mo quickly sat down.

Bai Ruxue opened the rice barrel and served Xiao Mo and her sister, while Xiaoqing kept the wine coming.

Only after Xiao Mo took the first bite did Bai Ruxue and Xiaoqing pick up their chopsticks.

The wine was a green rice wine Magistrate Sun had sent over.

Mindful that Xiao Mo rarely drank and that there were two young ladies in the house, so this wine wasn't easy to get drunk on and went down smooth and mellow.

When the New Year feast was over, Bai Ruxue and her sister cleared the bowls and chopsticks. Xiao Mo offered to help, but Ruxue shooed him out of the kitchen, saying this was women's work.

Xiao Mo had no choice but to sit out in the courtyard.

Watching the white figure bustling about in the kitchen, Xiao Mo couldn't help but grow a little dazed.

Without his noticing, some eight years had slipped by since the day he saved her.

That little white snake of back then had truly grown into a young woman.

"Brother Xiao, why do you keep staring at my sister?"

Xiaoqing teased from inside the kitchen.

Xiaoqing already knew about the agreement between her sister and Brother Xiao—that when spring came and he returned from the metropolitan examination, he would marry her sister.

Xiao Mo smiled. "Your sister's pretty."

Compared with Xiao Mo's easy frankness, Bai Ruxue had gone red. She gave her sister a little tug. "Let him look. We'll keep washing the dishes."

"Cluck, cluck, cluck..." Seeing her sister's shy face, Xiaoqing laughed like the hens out in the courtyard.

Xiaoqing had noticed that after so long down off the mountain, her sister really was more and more like a mortal woman.

Especially lately—now that her sister understood her own feelings for Brother Xiao, her little fits of shyness made her prettier than ever.

In the afternoon, Xiao Mo played ring-toss with the two sisters.

He set out some copper coins and bits of silver on the ground; whoever landed a wooden ring on a prize, that prize was theirs.

Miss, and you had to paste a paper strip on your face.

By the end of the game, Xiao Mo's face was plastered with so many red paper strips he could barely see the road in front of him.

The two sisters couldn't help laughing out loud.

At night, darkness drew its curtain across the sky.

Stars were scattered over the night like fine sand.

Winter stars seemed to shine a little brighter than summer ones.

Bai Ruxue brought hot water to wash Xiao Mo's feet.

Xiao Mo meant to refuse, but Bai Ruxue, blushing, said, "Once we're married, this sort of thing has to be done too."

Xiao Mo was briefly taken aback; looking at her shy, gentle face, he didn't refuse.

"There. I'll go out now—get a good rest." Bai Ruxue dried his feet, picked up the basin, and headed for the door.

"Ruxue..."

Xiao Mo called her name.

"Hm?" Bai Ruxue tilted her head, puzzled.

Xiao Mo hunted for the right words. "Ruxue, the day after tomorrow, I may... be setting out for the capital."

"The day after tomorrow?" Bai Ruxue blinked. "Why so soon?"

"Because Mr. Zhang at court leaves the capital for his post in Beihai Province in mid-second month, and he wants me to come see him before he goes. So I may have to leave half a month early..."

As he spoke, the girl's eyes had already dropped.

Xiao Mo could see the disappointment in those peach-blossom eyes, clear as day.

Xiao Mo rose to his feet. "Ruxue, I'm sorry... I..."

"It's all right." Bai Ruxue shook her head and lifted her face with a smile. "I've heard of Mr. Zhang too—a venerable elder of great virtue and standing, and it seems His Majesty thinks very highly of him. Weren't you made xieyuan on his recommendation?"

"That's right." Xiao Mo nodded.

"Then go, Xiao Mo." Bai Ruxue set the basin aside and gently took his hand. "I'm only a woman, and I haven't read many books, but isn't serving at court your dream? It's only half a month earlier, that's all. It's fine."

"Ruxue..."

"No more apologies, all right?" Bai Ruxue smiled. "I really am fine. Aunt Chen says the most important thing for a wife is to be understanding toward her husband."

As she spoke, the blush on her cheeks crept quietly up to her ears, and her voice turned bashful and soft. "Even though we aren't married yet... but... but I... I ought to start learning a thing or two as well."

Looking at Ruxue, so shy she seemed about to melt, Xiao Mo felt his heart stir. He smoothed her hair. "I'll come back as soon as ever I can."

"Mm. I'll be waiting."

Bai Ruxue would have liked a few more days with Xiao Mo as well, but Bai Ruxue felt there were still many days ahead.

He's only leaving half a month early. It doesn't matter...

I'll wait for him to come back.

That night, Bai Ruxue hurried to finish a scent pouch for Xiao Mo.

There was also a new robe that needed its last stitches tonight.

She wanted Xiao Mo to be able to wear it on the road to the capital.

Candlelight flickered in the room.

Whenever drowsiness crept up on her, Bai Ruxue kept eating chilies, or else splashed cold water on her face.

"Sister... why not finish the robe tomorrow..." Xiaoqing said, her heart aching at how worn out her sister was and how stubbornly she refused to sleep.

For a snake demon, fighting off winter drowsiness was genuinely miserable.

"It's fine." Bai Ruxue shook her head, her fine needle still running through the cloth. "This robe has to be finished tonight so I can have Xiao Mo try it on tomorrow. If it doesn't fit, there'll still be time to alter it."

Seeing her sister like this, Xiaoqing knew she wouldn't listen to a word she said.

Anything to do with Brother Xiao, and her sister turned especially stubborn.

"Then Xiaoqing will help you." Xiaoqing got out of bed and came over to her sister.

"You just go to sleep, Xiaoqing," Bai Ruxue said.

"No. If Sister doesn't sleep, Xiaoqing doesn't sleep," Xiaoqing insisted. "Sister, is there anything I can help with?"

"All right..." Bai Ruxue thought it over. "Then help me sew these two pieces of cloth together and embroider a bamboo stalk on them. I want to make him an inner pocket."

"Yes, Sister!"

Xiaoqing quickly picked up the needle and thread from the table and set to sewing in earnest.

But less than half a shichen in, Xiaoqing felt her eyelids growing heavier and heavier.

One shichen later, Xiaoqing had fallen asleep sprawled on the table, drooling.

"I knew you couldn't last." Bai Ruxue's soft pink lips curved faintly, and she tapped her sister's nose, saying tenderly.

It was deep winter now, and at Xiaoqing's cultivation level, in a few more days she would have to go back up the mountain to hibernate.

Xiaoqing had started drowsing seven days ago; how could she possibly stay up all night with her?

Bai Ruxue carried Xiaoqing back to bed and tucked the quilt in around her.

By the candlelight, the girl kept sewing, stitch after stitch, the teal robe of the man she loved.

The next morning, when the rooster crowed, Bai Ruxue finally lifted her head and rubbed her shoulders.

The teal robe in her lap was finished.

Once Xiao Mo was up, she hurried him into it to try it on.

Seeing how well it fit him, the girl finally let out a breath.

"Is it comfortable to wear?" Bai Ruxue asked. "Anything that still needs fixing?"

"Very comfortable." Xiao Mo looked down at the teal robe. "Nothing needs fixing. It fits perfectly."

"Good thing it fits, Brother Xiao—Sister didn't sleep a wink all night. If it hadn't, she'd likely be altering it another whole day," Xiaoqing put in from the side.

"Such a chatterbox." Bai Ruxue gave the back of her sister's hand a light smack.

"Really, Ruxue, you don't need to make clothes with your own hands anymore. We're not short of money now," Xiao Mo urged.

"It's no trouble." Bai Ruxue stepped closer and smoothed his sleeves, his waist, his collar. "Clothes made by other hands are always clothes made by other hands. I wouldn't feel at ease."

"..." Xiao Mo's throat worked. He wanted to say a great deal, but a thousand words could only come down to one sentence. "Ruxue, you've truly gone to such trouble for me."

Bai Ruxue's eyes curved. "Between you and me, what need is there to speak of trouble?"

Xiao Mo's gaze on her grew softer and softer.

He knew this was only a life lived out inside the Hundred Lives Book, but if a man truly had a wife like this, what more could I possibly ask for?

"What time do you leave tomorrow?" Bai Ruxue asked.

"The hour of chen. Magistrate Sun is sending a carriage to fetch me."

"I hear the road to the capital is long. Will anyone be escorting you there?"

"Magistrate Sun says he'll arrange it. Don't worry, Ruxue."

"That's good, then." Bai Ruxue nodded. "I'll give you your bundle tomorrow. There may be rather a lot in it, but you're not allowed to complain—it's all things you'll use."

"All right..."

Every time he went on a long trip, Bai Ruxue prepared a great deal for him—a bit of everything, and honestly a bit much.

She even packed him a scent pouch to keep the mosquitoes off.

With Xiao Mo's agreement, Bai Ruxue smiled and pulled Xiaoqing off to the kitchen to cook.

On the first day of the New Year, Bai Ruxue did the housework as usual.

At mealtimes she wore a smile, deliberately keeping Xiao Mo from seeing how much she dreaded his going.

But Bai Ruxue was not a person who could hide what she felt.

Both Xiao Mo and Xiaoqing could see the sadness in her heart.

Early the next morning, Bai Ruxue woke before anyone else and prepared breakfast for Xiao Mo.

Before long, a carriage drew up outside the courtyard, with several constables on horseback riding alongside.

These were the men come to fetch Xiao Mo.

After breakfast, Bai Ruxue walked Xiao Mo out of the village, step by step.

He was leaving in a hurry this time and few people knew of it, so the village chief and the others had not come to see him off.

The constables tactfully walked well ahead, leaving the two of them alone.

"Once you're in the capital, you must eat properly. Don't just make do."

"I know."

"It's getting colder and colder. Be sure to wear plenty of clothes."

"Don't worry. The winter clothes you made are thick."

"Take these two jars of honey with you. They aren't worth much, but they come from the heart. You can't go see Mr. Zhang empty-handed."

"Don't worry."

"And—no brothels."

"I won't."

"And if you don't do well on the exam, it's all right. Don't lose heart. I'll be at home waiting for you all the while."

"All right."

Xiao Mo stopped, turned around, and looked at the girl before him. "Ruxue, this is as far as you should come."

She bit her lip lightly. "I... let me walk a little further..."

Xiao Mo shook his head. "You've already walked five li."

"..." The girl bowed her head, fingers clenched tight, her long, curved lashes trembling.

After a long while, she lifted her head and looked at him. "Go early, come back early."

Xiao Mo stepped back two paces, straightened his collar with great solemnity, and made a formal bow, hands clasped before him.

He straightened up. He said no more—the more he said, the harder it would be to leave.

He turned, walked on, and climbed into the carriage.

"Hyah!"

With the constables escorting it, Xiao Mo's carriage rolled away into the fields.

Bai Ruxue instinctively took a step forward, but in the end she held herself back.

The carriage went farther and farther, until it shrank to a black dot and vanished from the girl's eyes.

"Sister, Brother Xiao is already gone. Let's go home..." Xiaoqing said to her sister.

"No hurry. Let me look a little longer..."

"But there isn't even a shadow of Brother Xiao left..."

"It's all right..."

The girl clutched her skirt tightly and kept gazing into the distance.

"I... let me look a little longer..."