The next few weeks passed by in a flurry of activities as the frigid winter air gave way to the light spring breeze. It was time to welcome the lunar new year at the Temple of Ninety-Nine Blessings. Although the snow wouldn't thaw completely on the mountains, the people residing in the temple's vicinity took the celebration of the dawning spring seriously. Some were in charge of the decorations, some were on food duty, while the rest were organizing the logistics for the new year's eve dinner.

Outside the bamboo hut that Ye An shared with Xi Chen, the latter was back on track with his daily physical training. With the sun slowly peeking its rays above the horizon, the sleek sweat on Xi Chen's back caught the glint of the rising sun. Gone was his pale parlor from just weeks ago, Xi Chen's skin was now back to its healthy golden hue. As he shifted and turned, his muscles rolled and weaved with the movement. The old scar at the small of his back was back to its usual contrast to his tanned skin. In addition to that, the new scar on his chest was a distinct pale pinkish hue that was commonly seen in fresh scars. Xi Chen's wound had healed up nicely over the weeks where he took small steps to regain his strength, first by meditating daily at the crack of the dawn with the monks and then moving on to training with them in the martial arts that was passed down through generations of monks of the temple.

Despite the crisp morning air and the scattering of snow around him, sweat was glistening on his forehead which flicked away from his neatly-tied bun as he made a sharp turn and extended the arm that held a long piece of bamboo with so much force that his muscles rippled and the bamboo quivered. His ears pricked at the crunching and slopping of small boots on barely melted snow.

"Teac-" The boy started hollering for Ye An but stopped immediately when he saw Xi Chen. "Xi Chen gege!"

It was Kang. The boy seemed to have grown a few inches. Xi Chen halted his training at the sight of the boy. Xi Chen cracked a smile at the sight of the boy's twinkling eyes.

"That is so cool!" The boy was bouncing on his feet with excitement. "Could you teach me that move?"

Before Xi Chen could answer, the door to the bamboo hut opened to Ye An. "Kang? Why are you here so early? Classes don't start until an hour later."

Even though Teacher Ruliang was back to his healthy self, he had suggested that Ye An continue teaching at the school and that they should split the classes between the two of them. "I know that I'm getting old even when I don't want to admit it. Besides, I'll be retuning to farming once spring is here and I don't think such a hectic schedule would do me any good." was what he said. Ye An didn't really have anything else planned so she agreed. It was a way to repay everyone's kindness.

"Teacher An, you're so silly!" The boy expressed with a carefree laughter. "It's the new year's eve! No one's studying today. Everyone will be busy setting up for tonight's dinner! I'm here because Auntie Yu Lan asked me to fetch the both of you to assist us at the food hall."

After a quick change of clothes on Xi Chen's part, both adults followed behind Kang's trail as they headed off in the direction of the food hall.

"I have to let you know, Kang, that I'm not much of a cook." Ye An declared, her breath coming out in white puffs. "I don't know how much of a help I could be in the kitchens."

Kang turned his head to Ye An as he skipped ahead. "Don't worry, Teacher An! I helped with the vegetable cutting last year. I could teach you!"

Ye An's mouth curved into a fond smile. "Yes, I'll need all the help I could get." Turning to Xi Chen, she asked, "Do you perhaps have any hidden culinary skills?"

"My cooking skills, if they could even count as skills, are borne through necessity during my time in military training. If you want some charred rabbit then sure, I have the skills for that." Xi Chen chuckled. "But I don't think burned game is what people are looking forward to when they think about their new year's eve dinner."

Ye An's laugh bubbled brightly. The last few weeks had been a blessing to her. She was finally able to be an ordinary woman. An ordinary woman openly in love with Xi Chen. They spent their days walking hand in hand and talking. About life, about who they wanted to be, about their lives before meeting each other. The one topic that they managed to avoid thus far was the world outside the temple. And they were both happy to stay in this blissful bubble of ignorance. At least for now.

"So you know how to cook!" Ye An reached a hand to clasped Xi Chen's, the motion was now familiar, to her, to him, and to the rest of the community at the temple. "Then when are you going to cook for me?" 

Ye An's unadulterated expectation in her gaze made Xi Chen's heart leap. He couldn't help himself from reaching out to Ye An's face with his other hand and planted a quick kiss on her lips. "One day."

It was at that moment when Kang turned around to say, "I also- Ew, were you two kissing? Eurgh. Whyyy? My eyes!" The boy quickly turned to the front and shook his head as if to shake that image of his mind.

Ye An blushed while Xi Chen said to the boy lightheartedly, "It's what you do when you have a woman you love. You'll understand one day, Kang."

At this, Kang clasped his ears, "No, I don't wanna understand. I don't wanna." and he started humming to drown out anything else that Xi Chen wanted to say.

Xi Chen smiled at Kang affectionately. "That boy reminds me so much of Ah Lin." When he first met Kang, so much of the young boy's personality reminded him of Ah Lin. Maybe that was why Kang evoked a certain protective side of Xi Chen. They resembled each other so much that Kang's mere existence was enough to slowly mend the hole in his heart that was caused by Ah Lin's absence. Xi Chen knew that no one could completely fill this hole in his chest but if he was honest with himself, maybe he didn't want to. 

"I don't think Ah Lin will take that as a compliment." Ye An commented goodnaturedly. "Being compared to a child and all when he's our age."

Xi Chen hacked out a laugh. "True. He would've been irritated and insufferable."

Ye An smiled but her smile was upside down when she asked, "Do you still think about him a lot?"

"I do. I couldn't help it but it's getting less and less as the days go by. I wonder if I would forget about him entirely one day." Xi Chen was silent for a while before he resumed. "I don't want to though. Thinking about him once in a while like this is nice. It feels like a celebration of his life instead of an endless heavy mourning."

Ye An let go of her hand that was in Xi Chen's and fluidly reached out so she was now clasping the other side of his waist. She turned and her arms were now circling Xi Chen's waist. The sudden hug stopped Xi Chen in his tracks. Ye An spoke, "Keep thinking of Ah Lin as much as you want. Keep his memory alive as much as you wish to and I'll be there to hold you if it gets too much."

Xi Chen's somber face lit up as the morning sun beamed over their silhouettes. "I like this forthcoming version of you."

Ye An immediately let go in embarassment. "I- I- You've been very honest with me and I just wanted to return the favor."

Xi Chen grabbed Ye An's hands gently and placed them back around his waist. He adjusted his stance so that his forehead met Ye An's as he whispered, "Thank you."

When they finally arrived at the food hall, they were faced with a flustered Kang. "Where did you go? I was so surprised to see you gone when I turned around. I thought you were right behind me!"

Ye An ruffled his head affectionately. "You were just so fast that we couldn't keep up!"

"Well, I did grow taller during the winter." Kang rubbed his nose in a boyish smug. "Maybe that's why." 

The three of them entered the kitchens soon after and was met with a bustling hive of activity. There were the usual kitchen helpers, but there were also many common people who had dropped by to chip in any help that they could give. It wasn't even noon yet but it seemed as if every single person in the mountains were here.

"Oh good, you're here!" Auntie Yu Lan was carrying cabbages down the narrow alley between the kitchen counters when she noticed them. "Kang, go to the courtyard and help Uncle Hao with the chickens. I heard him yelling that a couple of them escaped again."

"Alright!" The boy immediately ran towards the right of the kitchen that opened up to a courtyard that was filled with the noise of angrily clucking chicken.

Auntie Yu Lan blew a stray lock of hair out of her face. "Sorry about interrupting your day. But the population here have grown so much that we need every helping hand that we could get."

Ye An waved a hand. "It's not an issue, Auntie Yu Lan. We're happy to help." 

Xi Chen nodded in agreement and fluidly took the cabbages off Auntie Yu Lan. "Where's Uncle Ruliang? He would throw a fit if he saw you carrying such a heavy load." Xi Chen had grown close to both Auntie Yu Lan and Teacher Ruliang. When he found out that they always wanted a child but weren't able to conceive, Xi Chen naturally stood in as their unofficial son and the elderly couple had zero qualms about it.

"Oh. Thank you, Xi Chen." Auntie Yu Lan took this chance to roll her shoulders. "I just sent him to tend the fires for the steamed nian gao. I won't get anything done at the rate he's interfering."

Ye An smiled. "He's just looking out for you."

"I know. That's why I could never get mad at him." Auntie Yu Lan cracked a contented grin. "Well then, let's get you both to the vegetable station."

The rest of the day passed by in a blur of slicing and chopping of vegetables for different dishes. Some of the vegetables were meant for soups, some for stews, and some for stir fry. It was easy for Ye An and Xi Chen to pick up the vegetable preparation because knives were technically just smaller swords. By the end of the day, when the shadows of the night turned the orange sky purple, Ye An had learned of a few different winter vegetables that she had never seen before.

"Phew!" Kang roughly wiped at his forehead. "That was a busy day. I bet I grew taller just by chasing chickens all day!"

Both Ye An and Xi Chen laughed at the antics of the boy sitting between them as they had their meal. It was finally time for the new year's eve dinner. Rounds of tables were set up at the compound outside the food hall that was currently packed with the entire population of the mountain. People were chatting and the atmosphere was reeling with the excitement of the new year. 

There was a sudden twinge of guilt in Ye An's heart when she watched them. Most of them were commoners around the area who were displaced because of the war. How many of them had lost their homes? And how many more had lost family members and loved ones?

"What are you thinking so deeply about?" Xi Chen placed a piece of steamed chicken over Ye An's rice before placing a smaller piece on Kang's bowl.

"I-" Ye An shook her head. "Nothing."

Xi Chen knew that it wasn't nothing and merely gave her a look promising that they would talk about it later tonight.

"Okay, I'm done." Kang had gobbled up his food in lightning speed. 

"Kang-" He was gone before Ye An could stop him. The young boy ran headfirst towards the other children. A couple of them were already waving sparklers in their hands and were letting out gleeful giggles that was joined by Kang's boisterous delight.

That was when the head monk dropped by their table. "He was probably waiting all day for this moment."

Xi Chen smiled. "Seems like it."

There was a moment of silence as the three of them watched as more and more children joined Kang and they were now lighting up firecrackers on top of sparklers. "Looking at him now, you won't know that he lost his parents recently. He was in bad shape when he was found by Ruliang."

Ye An whipped her head to the head monk. "What do you mean?"

While still continue looking at the children, the head monk replied, "Kang lived in a secluded area at the outskirts with his family and he lost his parents during the first invasion. His parents took pity of a passing Northerner so they offered him a meal but it seems like he was one of the bad ones and he murdered them right after his meal just to make sure that they keep their mouths shut. Kang was hiding in his wardrobe when it all happened."

Both Ye An and Xi Chen were rendered speechless. It was Xi Chen who spoke, biting each word as his own memory resurfaced. "That's awful."

"Yes, indeed." The head monk nodded. "But looking at his face now-" The light from the firecracker sparks danced on Kang's wide laugh. "That is a face of resilience."

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the edge of the compound. Xi Chen stood up in alert. There were people in disheveled clothing walking towards them. Everyone at the compound who were drunk with festivities just a moment ago stood eerily still, watching as the woman in front of the formation fell into a kneel. Unlike her wobbly knees, her hands that were holding what looked to be a bundle of rags were secure and stable as if those rags were her most prized possessions.

Ye An ran towards her with Xi Chen following close behind. When Ye An reached the woman, she realized what she thought was a bundle of rags was actually a newborn baby. 

The woman looked up and croaked, "Help us. Please. The capital has gone up in flames. We have nowhere else to go."

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Writer's note: Welp. I guess that's the end of the honeymoon phase. Or not lol 

Vocab:

Gege = Gēgē = 哥哥 = Elder brother