Shen Manyun bought some golden thread and returned home, where Xinglan squatted on a nearby chair, watching her sew.
“Was Sister Manyun a tailor before?”
“Yes.”
“Why would a tailor heal our Soul Clan?”
“Because this is all I know how to do. Your bodies are quite similar to fabric,” Shen Manyun replied softly, her needle and thread dancing through the cloth.
“What do you mean by ‘all you know’? Did you start learning this since childhood?” Xinglan tilted his head, puzzled.
“No one taught me. I was born with this skill,” Shen Manyun said, holding the fabric up to Xinglan for comparison.
“At the place where I used to work, everyone had the same ability as me. I wasn’t particularly special.”
Shen Manyun thought to herself that they were no different from machines.
Yet, anything labeled as “handmade” always commanded a higher price.
-Even though her work could easily be replaced by machines.
Shen Manyun had once seen an embroidery master invited to guide them at the factory.
She was incredible, able to create patterns that didn’t exist before just by thinking of them.
The master distributed the embroidered samples to them, and Shen Manyun could immediately replicate the design, matching the master’s work perfectly.
She could even replicate a mistake in the master’s stitching.
Was that impressive?
Shen Manyun didn’t think so.
She could never come up with a completely new idea like the master could.
She couldn’t create; she could only repeat the same work based on existing templates.
Even the clothes she made for Xinglan were embroidered with patterns copied exactly from books.
“It’s so beautiful! Did you come up with this design just for me?” Xinglan asked excitedly after putting on the new clothes.
“No, it’s from a book,” Shen Manyun answered honestly.
She looked at Xinglan intently and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Sorry for not being able to give you a unique design.
“It’s still very pretty,” Xinglan said happily, diving into a snow pile in the yard.
He wasn’t afraid of the cold, but wearing thick clothes during this snowy season made him feel less out of place.
Shen Manyun stood under the eaves, watching him quietly, pondering what to do with the black fabric.
Since Yan Feiguang didn’t need it, she decided to keep it for herself.
“Sister Manyun come build a snowman!” Xinglan waved at her excitedly.
Shen Manyun shook her head.
She had never seen snow before and felt a bit fearful of this cold, fluffy substance.
“The city lord told me you wanted to exercise. It’s not good to stay cooped up all the time,” Xinglan said, running over and grabbing Shen Manyun’s wrist.
“Let’s go play outside. There’s more snow on the streets,” he said, pulling her out the door.
Shen Manyun followed him, realizing she hadn’t moved much these past few days and could barely run a few steps.
Well, since she was in this world now, she should try to get stronger at least so she could run faster if danger arose.
The snow on the streets was indeed thicker, untouched and leaving deep footprints with every step.
Xinglan ran off to build a snowman, while Shen Manyun stayed nearby, rolling snowballs and handing them to him.
“We should find two branches for the arms,” Xinglan said after finishing the main body of the snowman, rubbing his hands together.
“That’s amazing,” Shen Manyun said.
She had never seen a snowman before and couldn’t have imagined what it would look like.
The trees along the street were tall, and Xinglan fluttered under them for a long time without being able to break off a dry branch.
It seemed he had forgotten he was a soul clan member, acting more like an ordinary child.
Shen Manyun, who was even shorter than him, couldn’t help much, so she thought she could go further away to look for branches.
But just as she stood up, the door of the city lord’s mansion opened.
Yan Feiguang walked out, his footsteps crunching softly on the snow.
He approached, initially intending to grab Xinglan by the collar as usual to help him reach the branch.
However, when his gaze fell on Xinglan’s new clothes, he instead supported him under the arm and lifted him up.
Previously, Xinglan mostly wore old clothes, but today his outfit was brand new.
Shen Manyun, who had just stood up, looked at his profile.
Yan Feiguang had also changed into new clothes, which were clearly not his usual style.
He now wore brighter colors; his moon-white robe appeared somewhat gray against the snowy backdrop but made him look even more gentle, like the fading twilight.
The clothes sent from Luodu indeed suited him well, Shen Manyun thought to herself.
When Yan Feiguang turned to look at her, Shen Manyun quickly averted her gaze.
Yan Feiguang remained as serious as ever with her and said:
“Don’t go out of the city when it’s snowing, and don’t let this kid drag you along either.”
“Alright,” Shen Manyun replied, as she still had some sense of safety.
“City Lord, look-new clothes!” Xinglan stretched out his cotton sleeve in front of Yan Feiguang.
“It’s the latest style,” Yan Feiguang knew who had made the clothes.
He adjusted his own collar, took the branch Xinglan had picked, and placed it on either side of the snowman’s body.
“It needs to be longer!” Xinglan seemed a bit dissatisfied.
“Why?” Yan Feiguang asked.
“Because it’s for Sister Manyun, her hands are long and dexterous,” Xinglan said.
Ah… Shen Manyun, who had been quietly listening with her hands on her cheeks, belatedly looked up.
The snowman standing on the snowy ground looked a bit silly-was that supposed to be her?
Shen Manyun met the snowman’s black jujube eyes and chuckled softly, remembering that the jujubes were dug out by Xinglan from his pocket.
“City Lord, keep an eye on it for me, I’ll go find a longer branch,” Xinglan excitedly ran off.
Yan Feiguang stayed in place, holding the snowman steady, while Shen Manyun blinked but said nothing.
She thought of her plan; she should try to help him express his feelings to the female lead.
Knowing the original story’s plot, she should be able to assist him.
“I saw someone from Luodu,” Shen Manyun said.
“Xinglan is hiding there, how come I didn’t notice?” Yan Feiguang replied.
Curious about the snowman, he pinched its ear.
Unexpectedly, with too much force, the snowman’s ear crumbled and fell off.
Shen Manyun saw him hurriedly try to catch the falling ear.
The next moment, the already unstable snowman collapsed and scattered.
Many parts of the snowman’s body were snowballs Shen Manyun had gathered and shaped from the snow on the ground.
Her strength was small, and those snowballs weren’t firm, loose and shaky, so they fell apart at Yan Feiguang’s touch.
Shen Manyun quickly ran over, and Yan Feiguang, unusually, seemed at a loss.
He stood still, spreading his hands to show he had only touched it lightly.
“Let’s make another one for him,” he quickly picked up the black jujubes from the ground.
The black jujube was frozen solid, with Xinglan’s tooth marks still visible on it.
Shen Manyun also came over to help.
They had to rebuild the snowman before Xinglan returned.
“Build it here,” Shen Manyun said, her memory sharp.
As Yan Feiguang rolled snowballs for her, she quickly took them and restored the snowman to its original state.
“It’s too fragile,” Yan Feiguang murmured.
“Snow is like sand-if you squeeze it too hard, it just falls apart.”
“Is that how snow is?” Shen Manyun’s voice was soft. “I’ve never seen it before.”
“It hardens when it melts a bit, like ice, but snow and ice are different,” Yan Feiguang explained, compacting the snowball before handing it to Shen Manyun.
“It’s fascinating…” Shen Manyun reattached the snowman’s ear and whispered,
“Are you wearing new clothes?”
“Yes,” Yan Feiguang replied.
Shen Manyun thought he was just as adorable as Xinglan, immediately putting on new clothes as soon as he got them.
‘Maybe… maybe he should…’ Shen Manyun pondered how Yan Feiguang should express his feelings to the female lead.
They were so far apart-how would the female lead know that Yan Feiguang had put on the clothes she sent as soon as he received them?
Thinking of the love stories she’d seen in dramas, Shen Manyun suggested,
“He should write her a letter.”
“Her?” Yan Feiguang placed two black jujubes in Shen Manyun’s palm and asked,
“Did Xinglan say something strange again?”
Shen Manyun squeezed the jujubes and said, “He knows, and so do I.”
Yan Feiguang fell silent, but when Shen Manyun glanced up at him, she noticed a faint blush on his cheek.
He was embarrassed.
Shen Manyun patted the snowman’s head just as Xinglan came running back, clutching two branches in his hands, his steps quick.
“I… I searched for a long time!” Xinglan attached the branches to the snowman’s body.
He hadn’t noticed anything amiss-Shen Manyun and Yan Feiguang had restored the snowman before he returned.
“Manyun sister, does it look good? Does it? Does it?” Xinglan asked excitedly after finishing his snowman masterpiece.
“It looks good,” Shen Manyun nodded.
“Thank you for making me clothes,” Xinglan said softly.
“I haven’t earned any money yet. The city lord said children shouldn’t work, so I don’t have much.”
“I’ll give you a better gift in the future!” he promised Shen Manyun.
“Okay,” Shen Manyun nodded.
As dusk approached, Xinglan, satisfied after a day of play, headed home.
Shen Manyun also bid farewell to Yan Feiguang.
After he returned to his residence, she stayed behind, staring at the snowman for a long time.
It was crooked and adorable.
She realized she could have something like this too—a gift from someone else.
Shen Manyun was happy.
As she walked back to her house, she heard a rustling sound in the sky behind her.
A white eagle shook its wings and took off from Yan Feiguang’s home.
Shen Manyun’s sharp eyes immediately noticed a letter tied to its leg.
Had Yan Feiguang actually listened to her advice?
Shen Manyun felt pleased and pushed open the courtyard gate to enter.
But in the twilight, she saw a figure standing in her yard.