When winter arrived, so did Jin Ning’s birthday.
Everyone said she had a blessed life—beautiful, educated abroad, and married to a husband who treated her like a treasure. In her forties, she still didn’t have to lift a finger around the house, and her son was both smart and filial, the envy of all.
And as for her birthday—how many women her age celebrated their birthdays in such grand fashion, with other people’s children scrambling to prepare gifts for her?
One of those children was Shao Xue.
Shao Xue had saved up her pocket money and exchanged it for a crisp fifty-yuan note at the corner store. From the start of December, she had been talking non-stop about making a DVD for Jin Ning. Aunt Jin was obsessed with dramas, particularly Winter Sonata, and had visited the video store eight times in one month to see if they had the DVDs for the series.
The show had just recently aired, and there wasn’t a single store in the city that carried it yet. Zhao Xinran, also a drama addict, told Shao Xue about a store in the east of the city that could burn DVDs of any show available on the market.
Thanks to Zhao Xinran, Shao Xue had decided early on what to give Jin Ning for her birthday.
Shao Xue talked about it so much that she finally annoyed Yu Dong Ge. “Next time you see Aunt Jin, stop asking her about those pointless things like TV shows and movies. I’ll tell you this: today she was showing some foreign guests around the relics restoration lab, speaking English as fluently as a TV host. Why don’t you ask her how she learned English instead?”
When Jin Ning was younger, she traveled to many places. She spent a year as an apprentice in the restoration department at twenty-two, and when she left, Uncle Zheng went after her from thousands of miles away to bring her back. Shao Xue admired her confidence and elegance. Even a simple long skirt looked amazing with a pale silk scarf. Aside from her TV drama addiction, she was young, played piano, spoke English fluently, and had a chic wardrobe full of high heels and handbags, as well as a shelf of foreign books in her room that made Shao Xue’s head spin with envy.
Aunt Jin was perfect in every way, but to Yu Dong Ge, her only notable trait was her English. Like most teenagers, Shao Xue dismissed her own mother’s practicality and scoffed at her utilitarian advice.
In fact, like many young girls, it would be a long, long time before Shao Xue came to understand that being a good woman and being a good mother were often two different things.
But fourteen-year-old Shao Xue just shoveled down a few bites of food and, half-heartedly, nodded.
“Got it, Mom.”
Shao Hua, who had been married to Yu Dong Ge for over a decade, could sense something was off. After Shao Xue returned to her room to do her homework, he set down his chopsticks and asked, “What’s the matter?”
Yu Dong Ge’s discontent was written all over her face. “What’s the matter? Nothing’s the matter.”
“If something’s bothering you, just say it. I don’t think Xiao Xue did anything wrong.”
To his surprise, his wife slammed her bowl on the table and spoke with a sarcastic tone: “She’s all worried about getting Aunt Jin a birthday gift, but she’s never cared this much about her own mother’s birthday.”
The clock on the wall ticked away, and Shao Hua burst out laughing. “Oh, so you’re jealous of Jin Ning?”
“Jealous? I gave birth to her, didn’t I?” After a pause, she added, “And yet she acts like she’s more loyal to others than to her own family.”
This “disloyal” Shao Xue carefully slipped the freshly burned DVD into her pocket.
The DVD had a plain white label, with Winter Sonata written on it in permanent marker. Shao Xue handled it carefully, worried that the writing might rub off.
“There aren’t more than three shops in the city that can burn this show for you,” the shop owner had said with a professional air. “This disc has more storage than usual, so forty yuan is a bargain.”
Shao Xue nodded, and as soon as she left the shop, she spotted Zhang Qi waving to her from a distance.
His school had been keeping him busy. Aside from their joint parent-teacher educational projects, they’d come up with a new idea—students had to spend their weekends doing community service at the local neighborhood committee, and they had to get their activity hours stamped for proof. This essentially robbed the students of their free time at home.
Zhang Qi had no choice. Every day he went to the neighborhood committee to count materials and write bulletin boards, and he dragged Shao Xue into it as well.
It was Saturday, which meant it was Zhang Qi’s turn to serve the community again. The auntie from the neighborhood committee asked the two of them to go to the warehouse and retrieve a few posters to regularly update the community bulletin board.
The warehouse wasn’t far from the video store, and Shao Xue, reluctant as ever, was dragged along by Zhang Qi.
The so-called "warehouse" was actually an abandoned courtyard. The walls were higher than those of a regular house, but there wasn’t anything valuable stored inside. Shao Xue knew the place well—back before it was turned into a storage space, she and a few other mischievous kids would sneak in to play cards, marbles, and snack.
They hadn’t been there since starting middle school, and now, looking at it again, wow—what a transformation.
The top of the wall was lined with shards of glass, sharp enough to make anyone trying to climb over cut their hands to shreds. The front gate had a giant brass lock on it that couldn’t be broken open without a key.
“Even with a key, no one’s getting in!”
Zhang Qi and Shao Xue took turns trying to shove the key given to them by the neighborhood committee into the lock, but it wouldn’t budge. Shao Xue wiped the sweat off her forehead, frustrated. “Did you take the wrong key?”
“No way,” Zhang Qi shook his head. “She handed it to me just before I came to get you.”
Staring at the tall gate, the two stood there, lost. Zhang Qi glanced back in the direction they came from. “Should I go back and ask her?”
“Why bother?” Shao Xue’s eyes caught sight of a window in the courtyard wall without any glass. “We can climb in through there.”
The window, positioned near the top of the wall, was just large enough for a child to fit through. With Zhang Qi’s broad shoulders, he’d get stuck as soon as his head went in, so naturally, the responsibility of climbing through fell on Shao Xue.
Though not very high, the window still looked intimidating from below. Shao Xue surveyed the area, took a few steps back, sprinted forward, grabbed the windowsill, and hoisted herself into the air.
She actually made it up.
Zhang Qi, standing by, found the whole thing amusing. Shao Xue swung her legs over the windowsill and sat perched up there, scanning the scene from her new vantage point.
Suddenly, her expression froze.
“What’s wrong?”
Shao Xue’s face darkened, and she ignored Zhang Qi’s question, her eyes fixed intently on something in the distance. Zhang Qi followed her gaze but saw only rooftops and swaying tree shadows. From his position, he couldn’t see what she was looking at.
Just as he was straining on his tiptoes to get a better view, a sudden scream pierced the air from the other side of the wall.
Then came a loud thud, followed by Shao Xue’s groans of pain. Zhang Qi stood frozen in shock, and then he heard a sharp crack.
"My DVD! My DVD is broken!" Shao Xue wailed.
When Zheng Su Nian arrived, he found Zhang Qi stuck halfway through the window.
The two had caused quite a commotion. Zheng Su Nian had been talking to a girl in a nearby alley when he heard Zhang Qi’s voice booming through the air in his awkward, changing pubescent tone: “Shao Xue! Shao Xue! What happened to you?!”
Zheng Su Nian rushed over immediately.
He was about the same height as Zhang Qi, but much slimmer, so with a bit of effort, he could squeeze through the same window. After pulling Zhang Qi down, he instructed him to go back and ask the neighborhood committee for the correct key. Then, with a quick leap, Zheng Su Nian agilely vaulted over the wall.
Seeing Zheng Su Nian’s graceful monkey-like movements, Shao Xue immediately fell silent.
“What happened?” Zheng Su Nian dusted himself off and went over to check on her. Shao Xue had fallen pretty hard, covered in dust, with scrapes on her hands and knees. He reached out to help her up, but she clutched her ankle and collapsed back down.
“Did you sprain it?” he asked, looking up.
Shao Xue refused to meet his eyes.
“What were you thinking?” He sounded irritated now. “If the key didn’t work, you could have just gone back to ask for the right one! Why the need to climb over the wall? Show me another girl in the whole alley who’s as reckless as you. You’ll only learn your lesson when you finally get hurt—”
“Yeah,” Shao Xue interrupted, her voice bitter from both pain and anger. “I may not act like a proper girl, but I don’t know who taught me to climb walls, climb trees, and raid bird nests when I was little.”
Zheng Su Nian was speechless.
The sound of a key turning in the lock came from outside, and the neighborhood committee auntie and Zhang Qi hurried inside.
“Hurry, hurry,” the auntie said anxiously. “Take her to the clinic. If something happens, how am I going to explain it to Dong Ge?”
Determined not to show weakness, Shao Xue forced herself to stand up. But the pain in her ankle was so intense that she wobbled and fell against Zheng Su Nian.
He calmly reached out to steady her. “You fell into me on your own.”
She huffed in annoyance and hopped on one foot out of the gate.
Fortunately, it was just a sprain and hadn’t affected her bones. The clinic doctor prescribed some ointment for the swelling before moving on to attend to an elderly woman struggling to breathe, leaving Zheng Su Nian and Shao Xue sitting there in silence.
“So, what’s the problem?” Zheng Su Nian asked, looking down at her. “What did I do to upset you?”
Shao Xue was at a loss.
What did he do to upset her? Nothing, really. Except that, while she and Zhang Qi had been cluelessly struggling, he had been spotted talking closely to a tall girl in a floral dress from her perch on the wall…
Just thinking about how close they had been sent a fresh wave of anger coursing through Shao Xue.
"Zheng Su Nian," Shao Xue asked weakly, "Do you guys all like those women with perfect figures, elegant and gentle?"
He froze.
"Why are you asking that?" Zheng Su Nian countered, "Have you finished your homework? What are you even thinking about?"
"Oh, come on!" she winced in pain, her eyelids twitching. "Why can’t I ask? Can you stop treating me like a kid?"
"Aren’t you a kid?"
"I’m only a year younger than you!"
As they argued, Yu Dong Ge came into the room. With her mother’s help, Shao Xue hopped off the bed, glaring at Zheng Su Nian as she bounced out of the room.
What nonsense!
Zheng Su Nian walked around the empty clinic twice, grabbed his jacket, and stormed out the door. Zhang Qi was outside waiting for him, holding ice cream bars. Zheng Su Nian took one and pressed it against his face to cool down.
After calming down a bit, Zheng Su Nian turned to Zhang Qi and asked, "Is Shao Xue out of her mind?"
Zhang Qi, biting into his ice cream, thought for a moment. "Seems like she’s on her period."
Zheng Su Nian was taken aback. "How do you even know that?"
Proudly puffing out his chest, Zhang Qi replied, "Women’s best friend, right here."
Zheng Su Nian wasn’t completely clueless about these things. Whenever Jin Ning had her period, the whole family had to cater to her whims, and even her tears during dramas were more intense than usual. After cooling off for a moment, Zheng Su Nian asked again, "Zhang Qi, have you ever thought of Shao Xue as a girl?"
Zhang Qi, baffled, stared at his good friend. "Her? A girl?"
The three of them had grown up together, wearing open-crotch pants as toddlers. Back then, Shao Xue had a shaved head and would climb walls and trees with them, doing everything they did, including napping on the same bed, without any awareness of gender differences. Zhang Qi still remembered the first time Shao Xue got her period—they had just jumped down from a tree together, and suddenly, Shao Xue clutched her stomach and started shouting.
Zhang Qi was horrified when he saw the blood. "Did you hurt yourself? Why is there so much blood?"
From that moment on, he labeled Shao Xue as "a guy who bleeds once a month."
Zheng Su Nian, being older, understood a bit more about such things, but his feelings toward Shao Xue were always different from how he saw the girls in his class. At that age, boys were just starting to feel awkward about girls, and the last thing they wanted was to lose a good friend and gain another girl to worry about.
Yet, while teenage boys might have low emotional intelligence, they weren’t completely clueless. Hesitating, Zheng Su Nian said, "When Shao Xue fell into my arms earlier… she… she was really soft…"
Zhang Qi, still chewing on his ice cream, stared at him in disbelief. "Wait, what do you mean, soft? Be specific!"
Zheng Su Nian closed his eyes, his mind filled with an indescribable sensation. "Everywhere… everywhere was soft."
That was the first time Zheng Su Nian truly realized that there was a difference between boys and girls, all thanks to Shao Xue, who had fallen from a wall and then got mad at him.
Girls were soft. Everywhere.
Their awkward tension carried on until Jin Ning’s birthday. As the weather grew colder, a few light snowfalls had already dusted the ground. Jin Ning’s birthday fell on a Monday, and after school, Shao Xue rode her bike to the restoration department.
For Jin Ning’s birthday, Uncle Zheng had planned a dinner. Aside from the three of them, Shao Xue and Zhang Qi were also invited. Shao Xue’s gift, however, had shattered in half, and she didn’t have the money to make another one, so she was especially nervous as she arrived.
Zhang Qi hadn’t arrived yet, so Shao Xue entered the restoration room alone.
In the new millennium, the outside world was changing rapidly, but time seemed to have stopped inside the restoration department. Apart from the peach and plum trees that budded, bore fruit, and shed their leaves with the seasons, the courtyard’s glazed eaves hadn’t changed since the day Shao Xue was born. She wobbled through the gate and saw Zheng Su Nian crouched in a corner, helping his father clean some screws.
Without a word, she turned to leave.
The courtyard was quiet, with just the two of them. Zheng Su Nian didn’t hold back: "Why are you running away?"
Shao Xue stood at the door, stubbornly refusing to respond.
Zheng Su Nian wiped his hands dry and went inside to grab his backpack. Out of the corner of her eye, Shao Xue saw him rummaging through it, and despite herself, she couldn’t suppress her curiosity.
"What are you looking for?"
Zheng Su Nian, still squatting, teased her: "Come over, and I’ll tell you."
Shao Xue, easily swayed, hesitated but eventually shuffled over to stand beside him, peeking into his backpack.
Something shiny caught her eye, momentarily blinding her. Before she could get a good look, Zheng Su Nian threw his bag behind him and shoved something into her hands.
"What’s this?" She hadn’t realized what was happening yet.
"Didn’t your last one break?" Zheng Su Nian said impatiently. "You’re coming to my mom’s birthday empty-handed?"
It was a familiar white DVD, with familiar black marker handwriting. And, no doubt about it, Zheng Su Nian’s handwriting was much better than the store owner's: Winter Sonata—A gift from Shao Xue.
She practically jumped for joy.
Remembering her behavior toward him earlier, even the thick-skinned Shao Xue felt a bit embarrassed. She awkwardly leaned over, searching for something to say. "Su Nian, where are your dad and my dad?"
"At a meeting," he replied, sitting back down to continue cleaning the screws. "After the meeting, we’ll all go out to eat."
The screws he was cleaning had been removed from old clocks and were each older than Shao Xue. After a while, she got bored watching and tugged at his sleeve. "Let’s go to the square in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony."
Zheng Su Nian, a bit helpless, dried his hands and walked out with her.
The Taihe Hall Square, spanning 30,000 square meters, turned into a vast snowfield once covered with snow. Zheng Su Nian lazily rode his bike along the central axis, giving off an air of old-fashioned romance. He stopped in front of the Taihe Gate, watching Shao Xue hop up the steps, three steps at a time, while he followed slowly behind.
Before them lay the expansive Taihe Hall Square, a boundless sea of white snow that made everything around them seem almost blindingly bright.
“Shao Xue,” he suddenly asked, “have you ever thought about the future?”
At that time, one of them was fourteen, the other fifteen, and the future seemed as distant as the horizon. Shao Xue didn’t find his question abrupt—in such snow, in front of such a grand hall, it felt right to discuss vague, ethereal questions like this.
“No, I haven’t,” she stood upright, looking far into the distance. “But it won’t be here.”
“Not here?”
“I don’t know where, but not here.”
Her gaze seemed to travel over mountains and seas, landing on a point Zheng Su Nian couldn’t begin to understand.
* * *
Jin Ning’s birthday was celebrated at a restaurant with its own stage.
It was a newly opened place, and apart from their small group, the hall was empty. Shao Xue handed Jin Ning the DVD of Winter Sonata, making her laugh like a blossoming peony.
Aunt Jin was truly beautiful.
The cake was meant for the younger ones, but when it came time to cut it, Jin Ning didn’t have any. As they lit the candles, Shao Xue asked about her age, and Zheng Jin laughed, saying, “Eighteen.”
The three kids fell silent for a moment before Zheng Su Nian slowly raised his hand. “Dad, it’s bad enough you two are so lovey-dovey at home that it blinds me, but could you at least tone it down when you’re in public?”
“Shut up!” Jin Ning playfully shoved him. “Everyone else gave me gifts—where’s yours?”
Zheng Su Nian immediately adopted a wounded expression. “My gift is anything but ordinary.”
With that, he snapped his fingers dramatically.
The restaurant’s sound system boomed to life with a loud “bang.” The few other customers turned their heads to look at the stage, where a young woman in a long dress gracefully walked up. Adjusting the microphone, she softly announced, “Tonight, I’m singing Anita Mui’s ‘Cherish Tonight’ for the birthday girl, Ms. Jin Ning. Your son and husband wish you a forever eighteen.”
As the song’s nostalgic intro began, Shao Xue finally realized—it was the same girl she’d seen talking to Zheng Su Nian the other day!
The girl was charming and petite, with a voice as deep and magnetic as Anita Mui’s. The hem of her dress swayed as she smiled demurely at the audience: “The southern breeze kisses my face gently / Bringing the scent of flowers / The stars have faded, the moon is hazy…”
Zheng Su Nian held up the signed tape in front of Jin Ning.
“Mom, happy birthday.”
“When did you plan all this?” Jin Ning asked, both surprised and delighted. “This is so unexpected.”
“Just a few days ago. She’s in our school choir,” Zheng Su Nian said, glancing at the girl on stage before lowering his voice. “She’s got a crush on one of the basketball players in my class and kept asking me to pass him notes. So, I said if she sang a song for you, I’d help her.”
Just as he finished, Shao Xue spit her tea all over Zhang Qi.
“What the heck?!” Zhang Qi shouted in shock. “Why’d you choke?”
Shao Xue, her tone suddenly bright and exaggerated, startled everyone. “It’s nothing, nothing! Let’s eat, eat! Aunt Jin, happy birthday! I’ll toast you with this glass of orange juice!”
The few people present clapped along with the song, and the girl on stage, enjoying the spotlight, sang the chorus once more, her lively tone infecting everyone: “No matter tomorrow / When we have to say goodbye / Let’s cherish tonight…”
The song was about parting, yet she made it sound so light and joyful.
The performer sang, and the audience laughed. Shao Xue smeared a bit of cream on Zhang Qi’s face, while Zheng Su Nian ran to the door to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Zheng Jin and Jin Ning watched the children’s antics with fond smiles, their hands gently clasped under the table.
“The southern breeze kisses my face gently / Bringing the scent of flowers / The stars have faded, the moon is hazy / We huddle close, words overflowing with affection / Every word sincere / No matter tomorrow / When we have to say goodbye / Let’s cherish tonight…”
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