Sitting cross-legged on the warm floor in pajamas, sipping coffee and tasting red wine, watching the snowflakes gently falling outside the window, one can’t help but feel inspired to compose poetry. Lai Hui leaned against Zhou Yuqian’s shoulder, lazily saying, “I wish it would snow forever!” Seeing Zhou Yuqian ignoring her and focusing only on his wine, she widened her eyes in warning, “A sick person should act like one, drink less!” Zhou Yuqian glanced at her with a teasing smile, “Didn’t you forget to warn me last night that I’m sick, huh?” He then pulled her closer, forcing her to take a sip from his glass, feigning a frown, “How come your face turns red with just a sip?” Lai Hui moved to the other side, wiping her mouth with a tissue, coughing, “Haven’t you laughed enough today? I’m ignoring you!” He pulled her back with a tug. He held her, seeing her look of annoyance, he pacified, “Okay, I won’t tease you anymore, sitting here is perfect for enjoying the snow.”
The snowflakes were large, and as they sat by the window, they could almost see the shape of each snowflake. When the wind blew, some snowflakes hit the glass, slowly melting into water traces. Icicles hung like a row of long, sharp swords from the eaves, resembling a cylindrical curtain with sharp tips gleaming coldly. The bare trees in the yard were adorned with ice, their branches sparkling and translucent. The pine trees by the road were covered in snow, their needles looking like blooming silver chrysanthemums. The snow stretched for miles, and beyond, the sky was a boundless expanse of silver white. “Beautiful!” Lai Hui exclaimed to Zhou Yuqian behind her. “Don’t want to leave?” Zhou Yuqian asked. “Yeah, once the snow stops, it’s all over!” she lamented. “Even the most beautiful scenery gets boring if you see it too often,” he whispered, nibbling her earlobe, “Once in a while is enough!”
Hearing this, Lai Hui suddenly thought of his past, and the notion of scenery becoming tiresome, let alone herself. A sudden, indescribable sense of loss filled her. She turned her face away, avoiding his affection. She didn’t want to be treated like a dish, eaten when desired and discarded when not. She felt very wronged, perhaps not even considered a scenic view. At this moment, she couldn’t care less about being petty; she just wanted to escape Zhou Yuqian’s embrace. “What’s wrong with you?” Zhou Yuqian turned her face towards him, looking into her eyes. It was no use; she just closed her eyes. “Why the tantrum?” “Who’s throwing a tantrum? Can’t you just not hold me?” Her temper flared, and she turned away, rubbing her sore chin where he had pinched her. Zhou Yuqian let go, allowing her to sit on the other side. The atmosphere in the room suddenly turned colder than the icy world outside. He took a large gulp of wine, then after a while, got up and left the room. The door slammed shut, and before Lai Hui could cry, the door was pushed open again with a bang, and Zhou Yuqian sat back down, awkwardly saying, “Just don’t treat yourself like scenery!”
This was not comforting; instead, it made her feel even more insulted, and she burst into tears. “I know, I’m not scenery, I’m just a dish!” Zhou Yuqian, frustrated, unbuttoned his collar, having not consoled someone in years. He didn’t want to argue over these two days, so he sat beside her, holding her again, “Why are you still crying? You have a point for crying, tell me, people are people, scenery is scenery, what’s this talk about dishes? Besides, have you seen any dish more valuable than that necklace of yours?” There was no response, just tears on his shirt. Zhou Yuqian, always clean, frowned but held back. “Can you stop crying? We should enjoy the snow, why this sulk?” This worked; Lai Hui realized her behavior was unusual, wiped her tears, and stared at him with watery eyes until he felt uneasy. “I’m sorry!” she apologized, then added quietly, “But I still want to cry!” Zhou Yuqian laughed, “Then you better have time to cry! Anyway, you’re not in the mood for snow.” With that, he wrapped his long arm around her waist, pulling her onto his lap, deftly undoing her pajamas’ buttons. “I promise to make you happy, okay? No more anger, huh?” She protested, struggled, even reminded him they were on the floor and he was sick, but all objections were overruled. There was no time for crying or sulking now; outside, the snow was flying, but inside, the temperature was rising. This city in the north, not belonging to them, saw them share a warmth they had never given to each other before.
It was raining outside, not heavily, but when the wind blew, drops from the leaves fell in a rush. Lai Hui was walking under a tree when she caught the sudden “emergency rain,” her hair soaked, droplets hanging on her face, some sliding down her neck, chilling her to the bone. She cursed herself for being lazy; seeing the road wasn’t far and the rain light, she decided to skip the umbrella, only to get thoroughly drenched. From afar, Xie Jiayi approached with an umbrella, quickening his pace into a small run in the rain to reach her, shielding her from the drizzle, tenderly brushing back her wet bangs, scolding, “Why didn’t you call when you were almost here? I would’ve picked you up. Look, you’re all wet now!” Lai Hui gave him a smile, almost mocking her own misfortune, just twitching her lips. “I got caught under the tree, my fault for not looking. Oh, what did you tell mom?” “Just said you had some work trouble, might be late. Over there—” Jiayi paused, biting his lip. Lai Hui quickly took over. “Oh, as long as she’s not worried!” She avoided his pained look, looking up at the seventh-floor windows of the inpatient building. Jiayi pulled her arm, “Aunt Yun isn’t worried, but I worry every day. Lai Hui, I just want to know what happened over there!” Lai Hui laughed to reassure him, though her laughter was strained. “Nothing much, really, I just stayed to watch the snow!” Jiayi wanted to ask if she was alone but held back. They had agreed to be unattached for these months; he had no right to interfere, so he just responded casually. They were already inside the building, bustling with people, making it inappropriate to delve further, so Jiayi forced himself to stop thinking about it.
The window in the hospital room was slightly ajar, the heater blowing out warm air, which circled the room before escaping through the small gap, while the cold air from outside sneaked in. Standing next to the gap made breathing much easier. Lai Hui grabbed the curtain, inhaling the fresh air, speaking absentmindedly with her mother. “Is it cold up north?” asked Lai Ruyun. “Yeah, it’s cold, it’s snowing! There’s a thick layer of it!” 来茴回答道。来如芸望向窗外，七楼连片的树叶都看不见了，眼里只有高楼的屋顶或窗户。仔细看去，也能看到别人家窗台上种的花草，吊得长长的串串，有紫的，有红的，有黄的，她总是盼着那藤蔓开花，这是她几年来唯一能看到的风景。
“多少年没见雪了，这几天做梦，总梦见我们家那火炉子，烧煤的，烟囱拐到窗户外，冒出黑烟，屋里可暖和呢！这大城市的空调再怎么热，也没那炉子暖和。”来如芸伤感地说道。来茴和家逸听了都莫名地紧张起来，两人对视了一眼，家逸笑着说：“是啊，那时候我和来茴还从院子里铲了雪到阳台上堆雪人，您老骂我们！”来如芸笑了笑，撇了撇嘴，嗔怪道：“嗯？不怪！不怪你们两个东西总给我找事儿做。不在院子里堆，非得堆到阳台上，太阳出来，化了一滩水。”来茴也笑了。“妈还说呢，要说怪，家逸的妈更该怪才对，您不知道，徐亚我们三个人到了冬天就在他们家天井里打雪仗，雪球满天飞，有时都能从他家的棉被里抖出团雪来。”“倒真是个善良人，纵容你们胡闹。”来如芸说起往事脸上总是带着笑，一直笑，笑到脸上的肉都僵了，还撑着半哭半乐的笑。“真想回去看看呀，近来总惦着那老房子，这会儿阳台上也该积了雪，火炉子该生上了。”话题又绕了回来，家逸忙说道：“您别急，先养着病，过了这个冬天，下个冬天咱们就回去过！”来茴也附和道：“嗯，过了这个冬天，咱们就回去，眼看快过年了，总不能把爸爸一家人赶到大街上去吧！”来如芸想想也是，她这个身子动弹不得，虽说家逸可以开车送她们回去过年，但那家人是自己答应让他们住的，现在要赶走人也太绝情了。“我也就是这两天想得多了点儿，你们别放心上，这家呀，总有哪天我是能回去的！”来如芸说着，眼里滚出一行浊泪，她望着窗外，模模糊糊地，好像看到了空旷的山野，青黄的狗尾巴草，刺树上的红籽，绿茸茸的地钱，母亲坟头上压了黄纸，风一吹，劈劈啪啪地响。
“啪”的一声，窗帘被来茴猛地一拉，她的手关节泛白，脸也跟着发白，家逸赶忙挡在她身前，手搭上她的肩轻轻抚摸，头微往前倾，低声在她耳边说道：“别胡思乱想，芸姨只是想家了，过了就带她回去！”她拍拍额头，勉强笑，但笑得很难看。“嗯，我知道！”走出医院，来茴飞快地钻进车里，伏在方向盘上大哭起来，家逸坐在旁边，拍着她的背。哭过就好了，哭过就不害怕了，他一声声地说着：“来茴，我陪着你，我会陪你的……”“家逸，你知道我也是身不由己啊！谁愿意把自己的妈妈扔在医院里？不这么做，难道我就眼睁睁地看着她死吗？这世上谁都可以不理解我，唯独她，她怎么能老跟我说这些话？说这些让我难过得想死的话？”她抽抽噎噎地发泄完，抬起头，抹了几把眼泪，手颤抖着把车钥匙插进锁孔。“你现在不能开车！”家逸一把夺过她的钥匙下了车，不由分说地把她从车上拉下来，找到自己的车，塞她进去。
