On New Year’s Day, it started snowing at night.

This snow was probably different from what Du Yunyan expected, like floating feathers.

The snow danced in the sky, endlessly falling. It was the first time both of them had seen such heavy snow in the south. After most of the day had passed, a thick layer had accumulated in the yard, and the mountain road was also covered in endless white.

“Ah… it’s really cold.” Gu Wenxi put on his scarf and gloves, saying so, but he didn’t want to go back indoors.

After the snow temporarily stopped, the sky remained overcast, indicating that it wouldn’t melt anytime soon. Du Yunyan planned to clear out the space in front of the door, so he brought an iron shovel and a large broom from the backyard.

“Hey,” Gu Wenxi stopped him, “it’s rare to have such heavy snow, why don’t we build a snowman?”

“Build a snowman?”

“Why is that strange? Haven’t you played in the snow when you were a kid?” He also lived in a place with less snowfall, so every time he encountered such weather, he was particularly excited and wouldn’t miss the chance to have fun.

“I’ve never seen such heavy snow before,” Du Yunyan put the broom aside, “It’s too childish to play now.”

Gu Wenxi didn’t like hearing him say such old-fashioned words, “What’s childish about it? I still love playing now!”

“Aren’t you feeling cold?” Du Yunyan looked at his bulky clothes.

“It’s not cold when you’re playing,” Gu Wenxi said, clapping his hands against his face with gloves on, “You should wear gloves too.”

Du Yunyan couldn’t see much enthusiasm from him, but he still followed his advice and found a pair of canvas gloves for working. The broom they had prepared to sweep the snow was now used to gather the “body” of the snowman. After they piled up a bunch of snow, they slowly shaped it.

The snowfall was heavy enough, and the snowman’s body was piled high enough. Gu Wenxi started rolling a snowball to make its head. He rolled a small ball and looked back. Du Yunyan was squatting beside the snowman, patting its chubby body. Although he had shown little interest before, he was now very focused.

Gu Wenxi had many mischievous ideas. Holding the snowball in his hand, he came up with a prank. Should he throw a snowball at him, or should he pour snow directly into his clothes?

But Du Yunyan was quite rigid. Last time, when he pretended to scare him while riding the motorcycle, Du Yunyan avoided him for half a day. What if he annoyed him again?

Gu Wenxi hesitated. Before, it was purely for fun to tease him, but now there was a bit of a special feeling, probably like a childish elementary school boy wanting to play a trick on someone he liked but fearing being disliked.

He hesitated for a moment, and suddenly, a lump of snow flew from the sky, brushing past his right cheek, instantly feeling a cold sensation, and his cheek became numb and itchy from the snow.

“Hiss—” he shivered from the cold, looked over, and saw Du Yunyan’s expression, seemingly smiling but not smiling, with a lot of snow on his gloves, “What are you doing?”

“Weren’t you thinking of doing the same to me just now?” Du Yunyan saw through his thoughts in one go, “I’m just defending myself.”

“I—” Gu Wenxi felt guilty for half a second, “But I haven’t done anything yet!”

“Who told you to scheme against me?” Du Yunyan said confidently, “I just have to strike first!” He had been outside for a while, and his cheeks were a bit red, and the white vapor he exhaled fell and dissipated into the cold air as he spoke.

This side of Du Yunyan was rarely seen, playful, scheming, and even unreasonable. He no longer had the aloof attitude as before, as if he had gained some liveliness.

Gu Wenxi’s eyebrows lifted slightly, with a clear smile, holding the snowball in his hand, he said, “Then I won’t be polite?” Before the other party could react, he threw the ball.

A lump of snow fell on Du Yunyan’s coat, immediately shattering and scattering, leaving only some white crumbs.

“Your technique is terrible.” Du Yunyan quickly squatted down, formed a new snowball, and then chased after him, throwing it at him.

The two of them tossed back and forth, because it was just a playful idea, and they dodged each other. Most of the snowballs landed on their jackets. After a few rounds, neither gained the upper hand.

When Gu Wenxi was preparing to counterattack again, Du Yunyan ran to his side, covering his head. He saw the man’s exposed neck—not red from the wind, still as white as porcelain.

Du Yunyan wasn’t wearing a scarf, and the collar of his jacket was low. Gu Wenxi couldn’t help but wonder, wasn’t he afraid of the cold?

In a moment of distraction, the figure in front disappeared, and then he felt a bump on the back of his head. The cold snow water seeped into his not-so-thick scarf, flowing onto his neck, making him shiver.

“Are you okay?” Gu Wenxi hadn’t said anything yet, and Du Yunyan came over and approached him. “I thought you would avoid me.”

“It’s okay.” Although he had been teased by the other party, Gu Wenxi still felt a bit awkward. He took off his damp scarf and turned his face away.

“You should go take a bath and change your clothes first,” Du Yunyan said. “Otherwise, you might catch a cold.”

“You know about catching colds?” Gu Wenxi finally regained some confidence.

Du Yunyan pointed to his chest. “Don’t forget, you were the one who came up with the bad idea first.”

Gu Wenxi felt stiff in his neck and back. A hot shower sounded good, so he paused the game.

“Aren’t you going to wash up too?” After all, Du Yunyan’s clothes were also covered in snow, and he should change them.

“You go first, I’ll wait a bit.”

…..

Gu Wenxi took a long time to wash up. Since the weather was cold, he didn’t want to come out once he stood under the warm water. Later, he only thought of the unfinished snowman and reluctantly turned off the shower. He had to hurry and finish it before the sun came out.

After coming downstairs, he found that Du Yunyan was still in the yard, already roughly shaping the snowman’s head and placing it on the body.

“Aren’t you going to change your clothes yet?”

“Right away,” Du Yunyan said to the snowman facing him, “There’s ginger tea on the table by the door, go drink it.”

The table near the dining room’s entrance was the one they usually ate at together. Now, there was a black mug on it, emitting steam. Gu Wenxi held it in his hands, and a pungent smell rushed up, indicating that Du Yunyan had put a lot of ginger in it.

He lowered his head, drinking while looking out through the window. Du Yunyan was earnestly smoothing out the snowman’s head, as if grooming a child’s hair.

The ginger tea was hot and spicy, like a fire burning in his stomach.

---

When Du Yunyan went upstairs to change, Gu Wenxi had just finished a cup of ginger tea.

The snowman outside was already completed in shape, but its face was still bare, without anything. Gu Wenxi found some small rocks from the flowerpot and embellished it, making its facial features come alive.

The sky had been overcast all day, and it snowed again at night. Early the next morning, the snowman still stood there, motionless.

As the sun came out and the temperature rose, it probably wouldn’t be long before that spot turned into a puddle of snow water.

Yan Yan and Du Xinyu came to the inn again, this time to review their lessons as they were about to take their final exams.

Children always loved to play. Seeing the snowman in the yard, they were excited.

“Uncle Yunyan,” Yan Yan called out, “Did you build this?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s add something to it,” Du Xinyu said, pulling Yan Yan. He actually picked up a paper box from the trash bag and placed it on the snowman’s head as a hat, while Yan Yan found a branch to stick into its body.

“Okay,” Gu Wenxi pulled the two children into the house, “Aren’t you here to study? Don’t get distracted!”

Du Xinyu hadn’t done homework with Gu Wenxi before, so he said disdainfully, “Uncle, are you going to teach us?”

“What’s wrong with me teaching?” Gu Wenxi laughed when he saw his somewhat dissatisfied expression. “I was a top student at S University.”

“Tch…the university where Uncle Yunyan didn’t get into isn’t as good.” He whispered.

“What are you doing?” Yan Yan glanced at Du Yunyan behind the bar counter, where he was squeezing juice for them. “My mom said not to mention this in front of Uncle Yunyan.”

Their voices weren’t loud, so Du Yunyan probably couldn’t hear them, but Gu Wenxi was close enough to hear everything clearly.

“Uncle Gu, let’s study.” Yan Yan pulled him.

“Okay, sure.” Gu Wenxi approached, reading the problem, he was still thinking about what they had just said. Before long, Du Yunyan brought four glasses of orange juice to the table, and he was able to slightly clear his cluttered thoughts.

Outside the window, the snowman under the sun was gleaming white, flashing with tiny lights.

The next few days were all sunny, and the temperature quickly rose. The snowman started to “sweat” more frequently, its round and chubby body becoming increasingly irregular, and soon it completely melted away. The snow in the mountains also disappeared almost without a trace, as if it had never fallen.