At that time, if I hadn't pestered my mother to take me down the mountain to find my father, would I have been able to see those things that my mother tried to hide from me from my mother's fingers later? - Ritsuko

The position of the county order in Xuexiang has been vacant for ten years before you know it.

In the past ten years, Ritsuko has gradually faded away from immaturity, and her appearance is peerless, which is comparable to that of Mrs. Nangong when she was young, and even her personality has begun to approach Mrs. Nangong's gentleness and knowledge.

She had always known about the incident ten years ago, but she had always pretended not to know.

"Mother, it's going to snow again, I'll help you bring in the dried ingredients in advance." Ritsuko walked into the dining hall with a basket full of baskets and placed them next to Mrs. Nangong, who was sitting on a bench picking beans.

"Thank you, Ritsuko." Strands of silver have appeared in Mrs. Nangong's hair, since the death of the county magistrate, she suddenly seems to be dozens of years older, there are already a few deep wrinkles on her originally beautiful face, and even her straight posture seems to be a little stiff because she often bends over, "Just leave the next one to my mother, didn't you say before that you wanted to try the solution?" The day should not be far away, so let's go back to the back room and read with peace of mind. ”

"Then mother, I'll go back first, if you want to help, you call me."

Ritsuko stood outside the door, staring at the wooden door that was closed by herself, she felt sorry for her mother.

Regarding the incident ten years ago, she has almost relieved herself with time, but Mrs. Nangong has never come out of it, she has been living in that shadow.

Pushing open the small window of the back room, there is the only stone staircase that can go up and down the mountain every day.

One by one, the snowflakes fell in front of the window, and three or two slowly fell on the open page of the book on the table, and also covered the new footprints on the steps.

Footprints?

After the snow, Ritsuko and Mrs. Nangong never went down the mountain again, and on this mountain, except for Ritsuko's house, there was only the empty house on the other side of the steps, but the empty house was abandoned there since the self-discipline remembered.

"Is someone coming?" The footprints looked a little deep, and it was about a burly man.

Ritsuko closed the book, leaving the scattered pieces of Liuhe in the pages forever.

She walked out of the back room, counting the time, even if she had just walked up the last stone steps before she left the window, no matter how slow she should have walked to the front of the house, but when she walked through the dining hall, she still did not hear any movement from the entrance.

"Ritsuko? Did something happen? How did you get out? ”

"Mother, someone is coming."

"Someone's coming? My mother hasn't heard a knock on the door here, is she coming to us? ”

"I saw the footprints on the stone steps from the window of the back room, it looked a little deep, it should be a sturdy person, besides, we are the only family on this hill, and we should be the only ones who can be found."

"Isn't there something going on the road?" Mrs. Nangong put down the japonica rice in her hand that was about to be put into the stove to be steamed, "Why don't you go out and have a look?" ”

"It's okay mother, you can get busy first, I'll just go out and have a look."

"Then you have to be careful, don't be like your father......" Mrs. Nangong was stunned for a moment, and only after seeing Ritsuko's serious face did she react, and she was about to bring out the incident subconsciously, "No...... It's nothing, if you encounter any danger, you must shout loudly, and your mother will definitely protect you. ”

"Mother, don't worry, I won't be in danger." Ritsuko smiled at Mrs. Nangong and left.

There was movement outside the door.

This is what Ritsuko heard as she approached the entrance.

From a very young age, she found that her ear power seemed to be a little better than that of her father and mother, although it was not a smooth ear, but those small sounds that normal people could not perceive could always be captured by her. It's like the sound before the snow falls, Mrs. Nangong can't hear it, but she can put away all kinds of things in the yard for her at the first moment.

Ritsuko's heart was pounding, and she could hear the movement outside the door for a long time, but there was still no knock on the door.

She slowly pushed the door open, and there was a man standing outside, a young man but not the burly man she had imagined.

The scholar in Tsing Yi, who was a little thin, hunched his body, rubbing his hands that had been frozen red, and kept belching at his hands.

"That...... Would you like to come in and warm up? ”

The man raised his head when he heard Ritsuko's voice, and immediately raised his hand to salute her, "Hello, it's Wen Jinnian, who just moved here today, and I heard that there is only your family in the vicinity, so I thought about coming over to say hello, sorry to disturb you, this gadget will be given to you as an apology." ”

Wen Jinnian took off the cloth bag on his body, took out a small wooden box from it, and handed it to Ritsuko.

The voice in Ritsuko's ears became a voice-over from the moment she saw Wen Jinnian, drifting farther and farther away. For a moment, there was almost only his bent eyebrows in her eyes, which were as warm as jade, and the slightly cool snowflakes fell on his delicate face, like a fairy descending to earth. The jet-black hair is combed in a neat bun on the top of the head, and it is set in a delicate white jade hair crown, with a scholarly temperament.

"You...... Are you okay? Wen Jinnian shook his hand in front of Ritsuko's eyes.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I accidentally remembered the past, what did you just say?" Ritsuko smiled apologetically at Wen Jinnian, the tips of her ears were slightly red, and her heart seemed to be beating a little faster from just now.

"This is a little caution, please don't dislike it."

"It's ...... Hairpin? Ritsuko carefully opened the small wooden box in her hand, and lying quietly inside was a white hosta, the snow was bright and clear, and at first glance it was inexplicably matched with the snow scene outside the house.

"When I walked through the town, I saw this hairpin, I thought it was very good-looking, and I remembered that there was a beautiful woman living on the snow ridge, and it should be very suitable for this hairpin, so I bought it. Now it seems that it is indeed a good match. Wen Jinnian lowered her head a little embarrassed and touched the back of her head, "I just don't know the girl's name......"

"Nangong Ritsu, it's just that everyone likes to call me Ritsuko, if you want, you can also call me that."

"Miss Ritsuko...... I'll go back first, I just moved here today, and there are still a lot of places that haven't been cleaned. Wen Jinnian stretched out his hand and pointed to the empty house on the other side of the stone steps, "That house seems to have not been inhabited for a long time, and the dust accumulated is a little thick." ”

"Do you want me to clean up for you?"

"How embarrassed to trouble Miss Ritsuko, it's enough to be in the next person, it's cold outside the house, the girl should go into the house first, and I'll leave first."

Wen Jinnian saluted Ritsuko again, picked up the cloth bag again, and turned to leave.

Tsing Yi slowly disappeared around the corner, and also disappeared into the increasingly dense snow, but quietly walked into Ritsuko's heart.