Chapter 60: Like White Snow on a Branch, Not Falling to the Mortal World
Manxi Building was a teahouse tucked away in a remote corner. Its decor was elegant, its atmosphere cool and detached—the kind of place that didn’t look very inviting from the outside.
The owner didn’t seem to care whether they had customers, always keeping the doors open. The waiter wasn’t particularly enthusiastic either. Yet, the tea served inside was of the highest quality, and the pastries were exceptionally exquisite—sweet but not cloying, melting in the mouth.
It was the sort of place that looked unremarkable at first glance but was guaranteed to astound you once you stepped inside.
Judging by the current crowd, however, not many people had apparently been astounded.
But the waiter had been especially energetic the past two days, even humming a tune as he carried his tray. Anyone could see how delighted he was.
A slender figure entered through the doorway, just in time to see the waiter’s skipping feet disappear around the corner of the second floor.
The newcomer was dressed in smoke-blue robes. A breeze from the alley swept in, causing the fabric to billow ethereally and further accentuating their thin frame.
"Did Ziyue run into some good fortune?"
The voice was gentle and mellow, carrying a hint of autumn’s chill. It was like the soft, cool burble of a refreshing spring.
Hearing the voice, the Shopkeeper behind the counter looked up. "Young Master, you’ve arrived."
"You mean Ziyue," the Shopkeeper said with a laugh. "A lovely guest has come to the private room upstairs for three days straight. She’s incredibly generous, paying Ziyue in golden leaves to tell her stories. This guest is astonishingly beautiful and listens intently. Whenever she’s pleased, she tips him a golden leaf. That boy is more motivated than ever. He’s been racking his brains these last two days, not caring if he talks until his mouth is raw."
The Young Master chuckled. "So the reason that boy usually gives me the cold shoulder is that the price wasn’t right."
The Shopkeeper set down his abacus and came out from behind the counter. "Please have a seat, Young Master. I’ll go instruct the kitchen to prepare some pastries for you."
The Young Master nodded. After standing in the main hall for a moment, he slowly made his way upstairs.
The second floor was spacious, but it had been entirely converted into separate private rooms. Instead of doors, they were divided by bamboo curtains, allowing for good ventilation and letting the fragrant aroma of tea drift through the air.
The Young Master scanned the area and finally spotted his waiter in the private room farthest to the east.
Even before he got close, he could hear the boy’s unusually boisterous laughter.
"In the nick of time, I did a flip, scooped up the Young Master, and slung him over my shoulder! I ran for ten li without stopping, saving him from the clutches of the bandit queen..."
The Young Master’s face darkened. ’...’ ’What is this nonsense he’s talking about?’
"Ahem."
Inside, Ziyue was speaking with animated excitement, his expression vivid. "Miss, you have no idea! That bandit queen was built like a brick house, tall and sturdy as a horse. Standing up, she was as big as two Young Masters! Her fists were the size of sandbags—one punch could take out a Young Master. And her cavernous mouth could swallow a small child in one bite..."
"AHEM."
Ziyue continued, "It was I, and only I—clever and alert, daring and audacious, quick-witted and peerless in martial arts—who could rescue the utterly powerless Young Master from such dire straits! Otherwise, he’d still be serving as the husband to that ferocious bandit queen."
Xiao Li toyed with a golden leaf, a smile never leaving her lips. ’How could someone be this amusing?’
With a flick of her finger, the golden leaf traced a graceful arc through the air and landed on Ziyue’s tray.
Her gaze swept over the figure faintly visible through the curtain at the entrance. "Is that the Young Master who was almost taken as a bandit queen’s husband?"
The handsome young waiter glanced back, then waved his hand dismissively. "That’s him, but he’s not important. I have more stories to tell."
’Is the Young Master as important as gold? The Young Master can’t get in the way of me earning my golden leaves! In just a few days, I’ve earned more gold than I could in a lifetime as a waiter. The Young Master? Who’s that? Never met him!’
The person behind the curtain sighed and lifted it, turning with an apologetic expression toward the woman seated by the window. The sight before him was so stunning that for a moment, he forgot what he was going to say.
When the Shopkeeper had mentioned the astonishing beauty of the guest upstairs, he hadn’t thought much of it. He never expected her to be a truly rare and peerless beauty.
She was dressed as a man in brocade robes and jade accessories, looking magnificent and noble.
But even the most splendid clothes and ornaments were mere foils to her radiant face.
Her skin was fair, her features delicate. Though she wore no makeup, her face was as picturesque as a painting.
Seated by the window, the sunlight from outside cast a dreamlike glow upon her. Her smile was full and radiant. The cool breeze that drifted in added a touch of leisurely ease to her demeanor.
’One look is enough to know she’s no ordinary woman. I wonder which noble family this blue-blooded lady belongs to.’
"Ziyue."
He first called a halt to his own waiter, who was practically fawning over the guest. Only then did he bow to the young woman. "I am the Young Master of this Manxi Building. Ziyue is young, and we all tend to spoil him. I hope he has not made a fool of himself in front of you, miss."
When Xiao Li saw him, she couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, the smile in her eyes deepening.
"A sincere and energetic youth. How could one call that rude?"
"Besides, he wasn’t lying. The Young Master’s appearance is indeed extraordinary, enough to make one forget the mundane world."
’Unlike Lu Yanzhi, who has a noble air but deliberately feigns a cool, otherworldly detachment, this man is a true Immortal.’
His frame was thin, and his fair skin had a sickly, frail pallor, yet he stood ramrod straight, his gaze clear and upright.
He wore flowing green robes without a single ornament, his hair held in place by a simple Jade hairpin.
The attire was simple and plain, yet his outstanding features made it seem ethereal and transcendent.
His face was handsome but not ostentatious. His features were well-defined and perfectly proportioned. His pair of phoenix eyes were slightly deep-set but held no aggression, only an unruffled calm.
He didn’t intentionally cultivate the aloof posture of an untouchable Immortal; his bearing was natural and composed.
Yet even when he smiled, there was a gentle distance.
Like snow on a branch, never touching the mortal world.
Xiao Li’s admiration was undisguised, but it was purely appreciation, as if she had seen something pleasing to the eye and couldn’t help but marvel at it.
Though tinged with a bit of teasing, it wasn’t enough to make one uncomfortable.
The Young Master was used to people marveling at his appearance, but being praised so forthrightly by a woman like the one before him still made him feel a little awkward.
"Miss, please don’t listen to his nonsense. I heard you’ve come here for tea three days in a row. Are you waiting for someone?"
He quickly changed the subject.
Xiao Li replied, "I’m not waiting for someone. I’m waiting for the wind."
Ziyue glanced at the window. "But there’s wind right now."
Xiao Li smiled. "The wind I’m waiting for is not this wind."
----
The Young Master sat drinking tea in his private room, which, coincidentally, was right next to the one Xiao Li had just occupied.
The Shopkeeper brought up some pastries and was invited by the Young Master to sit with him.
Ziyue came up, clutching his money pot. The golden leaves inside jingled. He sat on a nearby stool, looking perplexed. "Uncle Jiang, there’s clearly wind now, so why did that young lady say she’s still waiting for the wind?"
The Shopkeeper heard him but said nothing, instead looking at the Young Master across from him.
The Young Master slowly set down his teacup and said softly, "Manxi Building awaits the east wind."
Ziyue: ??
’I don’t get it. Doesn’t the west wind blow in autumn? Can you even get an east wind in autumn?’
JINGLE, JINGLE. He poured the golden leaves out—a full thirty of them. He counted them again and again, never tiring of it.
’Ah, the first hour since the beautiful lady left. I miss her.’
’It’s all the Young Master’s fault. Otherwise, I definitely could have earned a few more golden leaves today.’