“Your Highness, it’s almost the new year~”
Qiansitelin’s voice came from outside the door, making Muxuan freeze slightly.
‘A new year?’
Ever since arriving in this world, Muxuan really had lost track of time.
“What time is it now?”
“It’s the last day of Light Calendar 325~”
Hearing Muxuan’s response, Qiansitelin immediately pushed open the door and walked straight in.
She looked at Muxuan, who was sitting at the desk writing something, and a smile appeared on her face.
“Three more hours until Light Calendar 326~ Doesn’t Your Highness want to do something fun~”
Muxuan put down the quill in her hand, the ink still wet on the parchment.
She looked up at Qiansitelin, whose eyes flickered with a candle-like light, and even her golden hair seemed stained with the fading twilight outside the window.
“Something fun?”
As if thinking of something, Muxuan’s face flushed slightly, and she turned her head away.
“Doing this kind of thing every night… aren’t you tired? My waist is still sore…”
Muxuan’s voice was very soft, carrying a hint of reproach.
Seeing Her Highness’s shy expression, the smile in Qiansitelin’s eyes deepened.
“But it was originally Your Highness who proposed it first~”
Qiansitelin’s words struck like a precise arrow, hitting Muxuan’s weak spot and making her choke.
The embarrassed blush spread from her cheeks to her ears.
“I… I was just…”
Muxuan tried to refute, but her voice was as faint as a mosquito’s, unable to find the right words.
In the end, she could only glare at Qiansitelin in frustration, then turned her head even further away, her gaze falling on the still-wet parchment, pretending to study her own handwriting.
The golden-haired girl approached with a beaming smile, her steps as light as a cat’s.
Qiansitelin ignored Muxuan’s slight resistance, placing both hands on the edge of the desk.
She leaned forward slightly, her golden hair falling, carrying the faint light of the twilight outside the window as it brushed across Muxuan’s hand, bringing a tingly sensation.
“Alright, tonight it’s not that kind of thing~”
“It’s just that the new year is coming, and I wanted to see what Your Highness plans to do~”
The tension in Muxuan’s shoulders and neck finally relaxed a little, and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief, though the redness at her ears hadn’t completely faded.
Only then did she tear her gaze away from the parchment, hesitantly looking back at Qiansitelin, who was almost pressing up against her.
“Plans?…”
Muxuan repeated in a low voice, her gaze drifting toward the window.
Qiansitelin’s breath was close, carrying a familiar warmth.
Muxuan’s thoughts flew further away, to that previous world she had almost forgotten.
Memories flooded in like tides.
The sharp crackle of firecrackers in the streets, the bright red paper cuttings on window frames, and the warm scene of family sitting together making dumplings.
Thinking of this, Muxuan’s lips unconsciously curled into a nostalgic smile.
“Qiansitelin.”
Muxuan spoke softly, her voice still carrying the shyness from before, but now turning into a gentle recollection.
“Have you heard of New Year’s Day?”
Qiansitelin was silent for a moment, then simply shook her head, her gaze light, as if waiting for Muxuan to continue.
“Usually, the new year is called New Year’s Day. It’s a day for family reunion, with many interesting traditions.”
“Then am I Your Highness’s family~”
Muxuan had expected Qiansitelin to ask about the traditions, but this sudden question caught her off guard.
“Why are you focusing on that! Can’t you ask me what the traditions are…”
Hearing Muxuan’s muttering, trying to avoid her question, Qiansitelin couldn’t help but smile.
That shy expression already made Qiansitelin understand her young Highness’s feelings.
“Then Your Highness~ what traditions are there?”
Seeing that Qiansitelin was genuinely curious, blinking those eyes at her, Muxuan continued to explain.
“People eat a food called dumplings, symbolizing reunion and good luck; they also cut red paper into auspicious patterns and paste them on windows to ward off evil and pray for blessings.”
Qiansitelin tilted her head, her golden hair shimmering in the twilight, looking somewhat innocent.
“Dumplings? Paper cutting? They sound so novel~ But to ward off evil and pray for blessings, why not seek refuge at the Church?”
“It’s just to create a strong festive atmosphere…”
Muxuan didn’t know how to explain it well, her words a bit vague.
Qiansitelin didn’t mind, though. She leaned in closer, her hands sliding from the edge of the desk to gently rest on Muxuan’s shoulders.
“How about we try it tonight? There are still three hours until the new year, consider it Your Highness’s first lesson to me~”
Muxuan’s thoughts returned to the present.
The redness at her ears faded, replaced by a joy in sharing.
“Alright.”
She stood up and took Qiansitelin’s hand.
“Let’s start with the dumplings. For dumplings, you first make the wrapper, then the filling.”
She walked toward the small kitchen area in the corner of the room.
Simple ingredients were stacked there—flour, water, and the chopped vegetables and meat Qiansitelin had prepared earlier.
“First, the dumpling wrapper.”
Muxuan rolled up her sleeves, revealing her fair, slender wrists.
She took out a bowl of flour, poured in water, and stirred as she explained.
“This is called ‘kneading the dough.’ The ratio of water to flour has to be just right, and you knead it into a smooth dough.”
Qiansitelin curiously leaned in, watching Muxuan’s hands dance through the flour.
Though the movements were a bit clumsy, they carried a sense of nostalgia.
“Let me try~”
Qiansitelin took over with a smile, her fingers covered in flour, but the dough felt clumsy in her hands.
“Oh no, why is it so sticky?”
Muxuan couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
She wrapped her arms around Qiansitelin from behind and guided her hands.
“Gently, like this… That’s right, use your wrist.”
The two worked under the faint candlelight, and the dough gradually took shape, soft and elastic.
Muxuan used a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a thin sheet, then pressed out round wrapper shapes with a small bowl.
“Look, this is the dumpling wrapper. Thin enough to hold the filling.”
Next came wrapping the dumplings.
Muxuan demonstrated first, taking a wrapper, adding filling, and pinching pleats with her fingers.
“This is called ‘wrapping.’ Each pleat represents a blessing.”
Qiansitelin tried to imitate, but always ended up with crooked dumplings, the filling spilling out.
“Your Highness, why do mine look like this?”
Qiansitelin muttered a complaint.
Muxuan saw this and patiently guided her.
“Don’t rush, take it slowly… See, fold it like this.”
Gradually, Qiansitelin’s dumplings began to look presentable.
As the dumplings boiled in the pot, steam rising, Muxuan suggested another activity.
“While the dumplings are cooking, let’s do paper cutting!”
Seeing the red paper on the corner cabinet, Muxuan walked over slowly.
“Paper cutting is simpler, but you need patience.”
Then, Muxuan picked up scissors and cut a delicate “Fu” character out of the red paper, the lines smooth and flowing.
“On New Year’s Day, every household pastes this up, symbolizing good luck.”
Qiansitelin was eager to try, but her cuts were crooked, and red paper scraps fell all over the floor.
“Oh, my hands just won’t obey~”
Hearing Qiansitelin’s complaint, Muxuan sighed helplessly and sat down beside her, teaching her hand in hand.
Looking at the small, fair hand holding hers, feeling the earnest young Highness beside her, a thick smile spread across Qiansitelin’s face.
“Focus!”
Noticing that Qiansitelin’s attention wasn’t on the paper cutting but on herself, Muxuan said sternly.
Hearing that, Qiansitelin immediately concentrated and finally cut out a simple window flower.
The two pasted their works on the glass window.
The twilight filtered through the red paper, casting warm shadows.
Just then, the prelude of distant bells rang out—Light Calendar 326 was approaching.
Qiansitelin looked at the steaming dumplings on the table and the paper cuttings on the window, her eyes bright as stars.
“Your Highness, is this New Year’s Day? It’s wonderful~”
Muxuan nodded.
Her heart was a mixture of bitterness and sweetness.
The past life had become smoke and clouds, but the warmth at this moment was real and tangible.
“Yes, this is how a new year should begin.”