The Winter in Nanfang is damp and cold.
Different from the Winter in the north, the Winter in Nanfang is like staying overnight in a dripping, damp cave; that kind of cold always feels like it seeps into your bones.
It’s as if it wants to freeze your bones along with it.
So along with that, all kinds of colds and fevers also appear frequently at this time.
Of course, it isn’t like that in the north. Compared to the damp cold of Nanfang, the north is closer to dry cold.
It’s like the cooling from an air conditioner after it’s set to dehumidify.
Compared to the original cooling, it carries a bit more chill, staying on the surface of the body.
You can clearly feel the concept of cold, but it isn’t especially unbearable.
You can understand the cold in the north as an extremely high stat, while the cold in Nanfang is a corresponding mechanic.
“Deep Winter in the north isn’t this uncomfortable. Over there, when it’s cold, it’s cold, and when it’s hot, it’s hot.” As a true northerner, Yang Shuli put her hands on her hips and complained, “Unlike here, where the temperature is neither high nor low, making you hot if you wear too many clothes and cold if you wear too few.”
“And it’s easy to get sick too.” After Yang Shuli said that, she added one more sentence.
“Third (Lao San) in our Dormitory is always blowing their nose when they get up in the morning.”
“That should be rhinitis acting up, right?” Xu Nian, standing nearby, replied.
“Anyway, it all feels about the same.” Yang Shuli waved her hand.
The two were standing in front of the crosswalk waiting for the traffic light.
Xu Nian obediently stood beside Yang Shuli waiting for the green light, even though both sides were empty and there wasn’t even a pedestrian.
Perhaps precisely because both sides were empty, the pedestrians who had originally been waiting for the traffic light with Xu Nian and Yang Shuli simply walked across against the red light without the slightest hesitation.
But this was on the road. When crossing the street, although Xu Nian still hadn’t figured out what exactly the source of Yang Shuli’s psychological problem was, he couldn’t choose such a drastic therapy to help himself obtain the truth.
Not to mention that there was a high probability it would just make Yang Shuli worry about him for nothing.
“By the way, is tonight Christmas Eve?” Yang Shuli asked Xu Nian beside her, as if she had suddenly remembered something.
At that moment the green light happened to turn on, so Xu Nian poked Yang Shuli’s head.
Yang Shuli also began walking forward like a wind-up doll.
“You remembered wrong. Today isn’t Christmas Eve; tomorrow is.” Xu Nian clearly remembered that today was the twenty-third.
Then, as if interested, he said, “Why do you care about that? Is there something you’re planning to do on Christmas Eve?”
Yang Shuli immediately opened her mouth, her words carrying some Hope, and even her eyes lit up.
“I’m planning to hang a sock by my bed on Christmas Eve, so Shengdan Laoren can put a gift in it for me.”
“Really? Then you’d better choose a sock with a bit more flexibility, or after Shengdan Laoren puts the gift inside, it’ll burst out from the bottom.”
Xu Nian didn’t deny Shengdan Laoren, nor did he say Yang Shuli was childish.
He inexplicably felt like he was some ordinary hero protecting a girl’s dream, though unfortunately he seemed more suited to be a villain.
“But my socks all seem to be ankle socks. The longest ones are only calf socks. I’m planning to ask Second Boss for a pair. She gives off the feeling that she’d have black pantyhose in her closet.” Yang Shuli began confessing her plan to Xu Nian.
“Why would you think that?”
“That kind of figure, at a glance, looks like someone who’d wear black stockings and go ‘ah, mm mm mm.’ Third (Lao San) in the Dormitory has always said that.”
However, it seemed Liu Xie not only didn’t take Ye Qingchang’s words to heart, but even thought that Ye Qingchang only said such things because she couldn’t have it and was slandering it.
And Liu Xie would also straighten her back at times like this, support her somewhat heavy breasts, and say to Ye Qingchang: “Oh my, I’m so jealous of your figure, Third (Lao San). No matter what exercise you do, you have no burden at all. You must be great at sports, right?”
Then Ye Qingchang would start to completely break down.
The two walked along the street as usual, checking whether the vendors beside them had opened up anything new, and then looking to see if there were any new faces among the mobile vendors by the roadside.
Then they saw red boxes arranged one after another on a mobile cart.
On them were written two large characters: Peace.
“Are those Offerings?” Yang Shuli said, pointing at the small red boxes on the table.
“Obviously not, right? They should be Peace Apples. Isn’t tomorrow Christmas Eve? This counts as a special seasonal fruit.” Xu Nian saw it clearly at a glance.
“So Peace Apples are fruits that only grow before Christmas Eve?”
“No, they’re just ordinary Apples.” Xu Nian shook his head lightly.
“Then why are they called Peace Apples? If that’s the case, what’s the difference from ordinary Apples?” Yang Shuli tilted her head.
“Let me tell you the difference.” Xu Nian led Yang Shuli toward the stall and asked, “How much are your Peace Apples?”
The owner of the small stall put on a smile. “Five yuan each.”
“How about it?” Xu Nian turned to Yang Shuli with a smile. “Now you know the difference, right?”
“Oh, I really do know now. Couldn’t be clearer.” Yang Shuli twitched the corner of her mouth. “Let’s go, let’s go. We’ll go somewhere else.”
Just as the two were about to move their feet, the stall owner couldn’t bear to let these two customers slip away, and reached out to call them back.
“Hey, young man, young man, won’t you buy your girlfriend an Ap… Peace Apple? It keeps you safe.”
She grabbed Xu Nian’s arm.
Xu Nian was very satisfied with that form of address, and he stopped walking.
But Yang Shuli still had that principle: she could buy expensive things, but she couldn’t buy them at an expensive price.
So she grabbed Xu Nian’s other hand.
Then she pulled Xu Nian over in one go, making the female stall owner’s hand leave Xu Nian’s arm.
“Sorry, the two of us actually came out to buy some Offerings. Yours is too auspicious; we don’t really want it.” Yang Shuli turned back and put on a smile that wasn’t very apologetic.
It felt a bit like the kind of smile that wanted to pretend a little, but couldn’t quite manage it.
“Not very auspicious? I have that here too.” The stall owner lowered her head and rummaged around, then took out a white box.
The two characters for Peace on it had been replaced with a large “Mourning.”
Xu Nian and Yang Shuli fell silent at the same time.
“See? Isn’t this perfect as an Offering?” the stall owner said to Xu Nian.
“Then how much is this one?”
“Six yuan.”
“Why is it one yuan more expensive?”
“Isn’t it because I need to earn an extra share of money from the dead?” the stall owner said with complete confidence.