Hearts of Gold: 1-6 Snowfall in Winter

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Snow descends on Beidu, and the weather turns colder. Worried for the children, Jiaojiao rushes to bring them supplies and spots a familiar figure...

Info

Style: No dress-up component Required: Gu Yin Goodwill Lv. 6 Rewards: 3,000 , 600 , 1 , 1 , 1 , Blueprint: Harmony for the World

Harmony for the World

Dialogue Choices

After a while, I give her a slight smile, and she responds with a smile.

• Let Yuan Yu invite her to tea
  • No change
• Personally invite her to tea
  • No change

Transcript

Expand for script.

• After we parted at the inn unhappily that day, I stay at home for several days without going out or sending anyone to the Wen residence.
• Similarly, no one from the Wen family has sent a letter over.
• I thought we shared the same dream. I didn't expect things to turn out like this...

• I stand under the eaves outside the door, looking at nothing, feeling a bit frustrated in my heart.
• Yuan Yu runs quickly from the other end of the corridor.
• Yuan Yu: Miss, why did you come outside? It's windy today.

• I feel a weight on my shoulders as my whole body is wrapped in a thick cloak. There is a breeze blowing, and it feels like something has touched my cheeks.
• Shen Jiaojiao: Yuan Yu, it's snowing.

• Yuan Yu: It is, Miss!

• Yuan Yu: Beidu hasn't had snow for several years already, so it's no wonder some people say that this year will be colder than previous years.

• Yuan Yu: I'll go prepare a hot water pot for you to hold, so you won't catch a cold.

• The snow comes quickly, and before my eyes, everything is already white. Even the steps on the porch are covered with a thin layer of snow.
• I reach out my hand to catch the snow, but before any time has passed, I already feel my whole hand becoming cold, stiff, and numb, causing my entire body to shrink back from the cold.
• I retract my frozen hand.
• Shen Jiaojiao: (I feel cold all over just from that. What about those ragged, barefoot children?)

• The image of them devouring their food that day is still vivid in my mind, gradually blending with the wind and snow, making me feel increasingly suffocated.
• Just then, Yuan Yu comes back holding a hot water pot.
• Shen Jiaojiao: Yuan Yu, go to the storage room and find some old winter clothes that we don't use anymore. Also, prepare some hot soup, and call...

• Yuan Yu: Miss, do you mean the flower seller that you helped that day?

• Shen Jiaojiao: Yes, I forgot to ask her name.

• Yuan Yu: Her name is Bai Zhi.

• Shen Jiaojiao: Call Bai Zhi, and come with me.

• An hour later, I'm standing in front of the inn where we sat the other day.

• I climb the steps, enter the inn, and sit in the same spot as last time. Looking down, I am surprised to see a familiar figure in the alley.
• Similarly, she didn't seem to expect to see Bai Zhi here. She looks up and our gazes meet.
• We both feel a moment of confusion, then we look away. I take a sip of hot tea and look back, but she is no longer looking this way.
• Yuan Yu: Miss, it seems like Miss Wen is also here to bring food to these children.

• Shen Jiaojiao: (She can't let go of these children either. We both thought about coming.)

• She squats down and distributes food to those children, wearing a red fur coat with white embroidery. The bright red stands out against the snowy ground. *It's very eye-catching.
• Children with lips that have turned purple from the cold are gathered around.
• Looking at them, Wen Rou simply lifts her fur coat and calls the children to come to her side to take shelter from the wind.
• I look at her funny appearance and can't help but laugh out loud.
• Shen Jiaojiao: Only she would think of something like that.

• At once, children of all sizes crowd around her, completely surrounding her.
• She can only helplessly shake her head and spread out her fur coat as much as possible.
• Yuan Yu: Even though her intentions are good, having so many beggars around her, including young boys, just doesn't look proper.

• I stop smiling.
• In this alley where the wind is blowing freely with no cover...
• ...she was able to come up with a way to temporarily create a small shelter.
• Shen Jiaojiao: Yuan Yu, I've said it many times, no matter who you are talking to, never be condescending.

• Yuan Yu: I apologize, Miss.

• When Bai Zhi pulls out the old winter clothes, the children all rush over.
• They are all fiercely trying to grab an item, pushing and shoving until their arms and legs are all bruised. I can't bear to watch anymore.
• Just as I am about to avert my gaze, I lock eyes once again with Wen Rou, and this time we both look at each other.
• After a while, I give her a slight smile, and she responds with a smile.

Let Yuan Yu invite her to tea

• Shen Jiaojiao: Yuan Yu, go invite Wen Rou to tea.

• Wen Rou doesn't reject my invitation. She enters the inn, takes off her fur coat, and sits down across from me.

Personally invite her to tea

• I get up from my seat and move to the alley to face her directly.
• Shen Jiaojiao: There's hot tea upstairs, why don't you come warm yourself up?

• The last time we parted here on bad terms. When we meet now, she and I feel some awkwardness.
• The room is quiet, and outside the window, the street is covered in falling snow.
• Shen Jiaojiao: I...

• Wen Rou: I...

• She and I speak at the same time, and both of us can't help but laugh.
• Shen Jiaojiao: You go first.

• Wen Rou: It's snowing today. I couldn't help but worry about these children, so I came to see them.

• Wen Rou: Just now, they all crowded around me.

• Wen Rou: I could feel all of them shivering.

• She looks at me.
• Wen Rou: I thought about it, what you said is right.

• Wen Rou: Fate has brought them to this point. We shouldn't think we're standing on higher ground, able to pick and choose from among them.

• She keeps looking at the children in the alley as she speaks.
• Because there is a limited supply of winter clothes, some children still haven't received any and are huddled on the side, rubbing their arms.
• She lowers her gaze.
• Wen Rou: All beings are equal.

• I replace the cold tea beside her.
• Shen Jiaojiao: Yes, all beings are equal.

• I look over too.
• Shen Jiaojiao: But you and I are not Buddhas or Bodhisattvas, so we can't save all living beings.

• Shen Jiaojiao: I have been thinking about what you said earlier.

• Shen Jiaojiao: We can only do so much, and we definitely can't turn all our ideas into reality.

• Shen Jiaojiao: It's already snowing today, and I don't know how many children who have nowhere else to go collapse in the snow every year. I just hope there will be fewer this year.

• Shen Jiaojiao: Let's each take a step back.

• Wen Rou: How?

• Shen Jiaojiao: We won't select from among the children, and we'll divide the area by regions.

• I point at the street outside the inn.
• Shen Jiaojiao: We'll give the children in this area, with this street as the center and the two streets on either side as the boundaries, the choice of whether or not to come to our house.

• Shen Jiaojiao: This is where we started having this idea, after all. And most of them from around here should know the flower seller and trust her.

• I finish speaking and wait patiently for her response. I see her take a sip of tea and then she looks up with a smile on her lips.
• Wen Rou: Jiaojiao, I'm fortunate to have you as a friend in Beidu.

• Wen Rou: In the past, when I was with my father in Chongyu, we had to calculate every single thing clearly. But sometimes, calculation is actually the least important thing.

• Shen Jiaojiao: I wouldn't have been able to do this alone.

• Shen Jiaojiao: It's just like chopsticks, you need a pair of them for them to be of use.

• She and I both raise the small cups in our hands, and lightly clink them against each other. A little tea splashes outside the cups and onto our fingertips.
• Shen Jiaojiao: To the future.

• After that day, everything officially began.
• As expected, because the children know the flower seller, many of them are willing to come, so Wen Rou and I choose a larger house.
• For the past few days, she has been in charge of negotiating matters related to the house, while I am planning the manpower and items needed for the orphanage.

• The candlelight in front of me seems as small as a bean, casting a dim yellow light in the room.
• Hearing something, I look up. It's Yuan Yu, sitting on the round table in front of the desk, dozing off.
• Shen Jiaojiao: It's so late again...

• Yuan Yu wakes up groggily upon hearing my voice.
• Yuan Yu: Miss, this is already the third night, even someone with a body like a deity's can't endure staying up like this.

• Shen Jiaojiao: Once the house is finalized, I want those children to be able to move in immediately, so these things need to be prepared in advance.

• Shen Jiaojiao: You might think it's just about getting a house ready, but there are many details to be concerned with.

• Yuan Yu: Since that's the case, why don't you tell an experienced housekeeper to come and calculate these accounts?

• Yuan Yu: That would save you from having to stay up all night.

• I rub my sore eyes and motion for Yuan Yu to come over and massage my shoulders.
• Yuan Yu: Why are you still smiling when you're so tired, Miss?

• I look at the candlestick on the round table and speak softly.
• Shen Jiaojiao: Yuan Yu, I haven't been this happy in a long time.

• Yuan Yu does not respond. I feel like I have fallen into my memories.
• Shen Jiaojiao: I can't quite remember the details of my childhood anymore. It feels like all my memories started from when my mother suddenly passed away.

• Shen Jiaojiao: All the burdens and expectations that were originally on my mother's shoulders have since fallen on mine.

• Shen Jiaojiao: Everyone in the Shen family hoped that I would be able to handle the situation immediately.

• Shen Jiaojiao: Those who are waiting for the Shen family to embarrass themselves are always watching me.

• Shen Jiaojiao: My every move no longer belongs to me. I carry this burden with me every day and every night.

• Shen Jiaojiao: Now, I can't tell who I am anymore.

• Yuan Yu: Miss, these years have not been easy. But the noblewomen in Beidu can't find any fault with you.

• I close my eyes and let out a long sigh.
• Shen Jiaojiao: Yes, the whole of Beidu can't find any fault with me.

• The quiet late night provides space for people to catch their breath, and my memories keep coming back, as if there is no end to them.
• Shen Jiaojiao: Yuan Yu, I vaguely remember that I used to enjoy fishing when I was a child.

• My stiff shoulders gradually become relaxed under Yuan Yu's skilled technique, and a voice with a hint of laughter comes from behind me.
• Yuan Yu: Not only that, Miss, but back then you always wanted to climb trees.

• Yuan Yu: You said you wanted to feed the birds. The servants would gather around the trees you were in, terrified you would fall, afraid to move.

• Shen Jiaojiao: I did that? I'm afraid no one would believe it if I said it out loud.

• I pat her hand on my shoulder, signaling her to stop, and hand her a list.
• Shen Jiaojiao: Buy these things as soon as possible. If there is anything missing, report it to me.

• Yuan Yu: Yes, Miss.

• Shen Jiaojiao: You're right. I could definitely order someone else to do these tasks and wait for the final outcome.

• Shen Jiaojiao: But I don't want to.

• I turn my head and get up to go to the window. The darkness reminds me of the night I kept vigil for my mother.
• Shen Jiaojiao: This matter is different. I want to handle everything personally.

• Shen Jiaojiao: Courage is hard to come by. I need to give this my all.

• Shen Jiaojiao: Speaking of which, I really have to thank Wen Rou a lot for this.

• Thinking of her, I can't help but smile again.
• Shen Jiaojiao: I wonder how she's doing with negotiating for the house...