Bai Long City. Capital of Qian Empire.
It was the middle of winter. The streets are covered with a thick blanket of snow. A few inches deep for adults. Knee deep for children.
The breeze is freezing cold, and yet, a crowd of people is buzzing around, creating a lively yet busy street.
The vendors shouted. People bantered for a few taels less. Children laugh and play. Their parents shouting worriedly at the back.
A decorated carriage slowly made its way towards the east street, a place where aristocrats and noble children play. The elaborate design and the elegant horse in front are enough reason for the simple citizens to turn their head and stare.
Careful and afraid. They took a step back to give way.
Inside the carriage, Xu Huajie was stared long enough to make him uncomfortable. He gave a few sidelong glances at the grumpy look in his younger sister's face. Sighing in defeat, he put down the curtains.
"It's rare for Ah Yao to go out, aren't you curious on what's outside your bamboo courtyard?"
"It's cold," Xu Xiaoyao give a simple answer.
Despite the heater inside the carriage, Xu XiaoYao not only refused to remove her fox coat but also wouldn't let go of heating pads.
"They were hanging red lanterns. The atmosphere is festive. It's really pretty, you should see it," Xu Huajie gave another try.
More firmly, Xu XiaoYao stated, "I said, it's cold."
"Alright! Alright, elder brother won't let Ah Yao suffer from a slight cold..." In a swift move, Xu Huajie lifts the curtain again. Small and tiny snows race with each other to enter the carriage and Xu XiaoYao jolted. "Oh look! That's a famous pastry shop! Let's go there!"
Xu Xiaoyao looked at him praying she could throw daggers. Despite the looks of disagreement, Xu Huajie ordered for the carriage to stop at the side. When Xu Xiaoyao didn't budge even an inch, he picks her up to carry down.
Her eyes twitch, her cheeks immediately turn red in cold, and her hair stands on it's ends. As her usual solemn face turn uglier and uglier in utter disgust, Xu Huajie laughed heartily.
The moment Xu Xiaoyao felt Xu Huajie's intention to put her on the ground, she grabbed his robe tightly, ready to hiss at him at any moment.
Feeling the dangers looming, Xu Huajie thought it's smarter to indulge his sister a bit more while young and with a thick face, carried her inside the store.
It was only then that Xu Xiaoyao allowed to be put down.
Pairs of eyes look in their direction but were ultimately ignore by the pair of siblings. The shop is indeed famous as it was packed with people even on a cold day. Most of the customers are ladies of prominent birth with their maidservants.
They recognized Xu Huajie as the Xu family's young master but not Xu Xiaoyao. They start to whisper among themselves.
Xu Xiaoyao picked the corner most table and sat there. Xu Huajie sat next to her while Yun'er stood at the line.
A long time passed, and the line move in an agonizingly slow pace. As he saw his sister lean to the side and slowly doze off, Xu Huajie regretted his impulsiveness. In the end, he just gave Xu Xiaoyao a chance to laze off.
"Ah Yao---"
Xu Huajie was abruptly cut off by a call.
"What a coincident. If it isn't young master Xu," said an enthusiastic voice.
"Young master Li," Xu Huajie stood up and greeted the newcomer. "Please take a sit."
"It's rare to see young master Xu in a shop such as this," Li Wei said.
Xu Huajie felt like he was teased and immediately explained. "I'm just accompanying my second sister as she wasn't familiar with the street."
The light in Xu XiaoYao's eyes flickers open along with her brother's lies.
"Greetings, Young master Li," Xu Xiaoyao curtsey after she was mentioned.
Li Wei eyed her, studied her looks for a bit then smiled. Not even bothering to return her greeting, he ignores her after.
It was an obvious show of disrespect. Xu Huajie felt uncomfortable and wanted to demand respect for his sister. The words remained stuck in his throat for a long time until the right moment to utter them were gone.
"Young master Xu, there's this interesting shop just a few stores from here. Why don't we go there?" Li Wei invited, completely disregarding that Xu Huajie was with his sister.
"Oo---oohh... It must be really interesting since Young Master Li personally recommends it. Ah Yao, forget your pastries today. This elder brother of yours will get you another day. Let's accompany the young master Li instead."
Xu Xiaoyao raised a brow. Is she the one that forced him to enter this 'girly' shop? Also, isn't this young master Li entered the shop too?
"Regrettably, it's not suitable for young girls," Li Wei said, his smile spreading wildly on his face. Xu XiaoYao swears he's a few inches away from grinning at them.
"Eh? But... I cannot leave my sister alone," Xu Huajie tried to decline subtly using Xu XiaoYao.
"It's alright. We'll just take a quick look," Li Wei edge him a bit more.
"Young master Li, this---"
"Come on, don't act like a young mistress. I said it's a quick look so it'll a quick look. The line isn't even moving in here. What's wrong in leaving her for a few seconds. I'm already asking so nicely and Young master Xu won't even give me any face?"
'Annoying,' Xu Xiaoyao thought. He was smiling but he was acting like a devil. Even adding, 'aren't we friends', to successfully jab at Xu Huajie's weakness.
As expected, Xu Huajie cannot endure pressure from his peers. He said, "Here, wear this. Stay warm," to Xu Xiaoyao before following Li Wei outside the shop.
Xu Xiaoyao meekly nodded her head. Submerging to the warmth brought by the two thick coat, she silently watched her brother follow a shady person.
Elbow propelling her chin, Xu Xiaoyao made a slow tapping sound on the table.
The annoyed costumers glared at the small lady making the sound.
.
.
.
.
.
Each step, a crunching sound echo to their ears. Xu Huajie stared at his feet while he mindlessly followed Li Wei.
He was told it was just a few stores away, but Li Wei made him ride on the carriage. At each turn on the streets, Xu Huajie heart pounded louder and louder. He wanted to return but as Li Wei made a few casual talks, he could do nothing but nod his head then smile; smile then nods his head.
He was then taken to a place around a dark desolated alley. The questioning forming in his head were brushed off to the back of his mind after Li Wei gave him an assuring smile.
His hands trembling, Xu Huajie steps down the carriage and brave himself as he follows along. After a few steps, he saw a small shop. It was simple and not overly decorated, just a small sign at most in front. But the fact that it's the only shop in this dark alley makes it suspicious.
Truth be told, Xu Huajie is not an adventurous person. He rather watches over her sister as she wastes the day sleeping.
When they stepped inside, the front shop was bare with nothing but a few herbs in a display.
A herbal shop?
Li Wei signaled to him and they entered farther to the back of the shop. In there, what seems as the back door is actually a door which leads to another room.
From where he stood towards the other end, Xu Huajie can tell how big the room they were in. However, the people wildly moving around gave him a suffocating feeling.
The room is dimly lit with a few red lanterns. The swaying fire made it hard to recognize the people inside unless you were close enough. They were laughing and then crying. Some were shouting with angry roars while some lay staring into space.
xu Huajie instinctively steps back to flee.
Li Wei pulled him inside and sat on a couch with some others. Xu Huajie recognized them as the other young masters he hangs out at times and slightly felt relieved.
"Hey! It's young master Xu! Does your father know that his goody-two-shoes son is here?" Someone chipped in.
"I bet he doesn't!"
And then they laugh uncontrollably.
Xu Huajie gape at them, not entirely sure what is happening around him nor what is laughable.
Suddenly, in his peripheral, he saw a shadow of someone striping, who then grabbed someone, then strip that person too. Xu Huajie almost jumps on his feet. He then realized that there were females along with them.
Disturbing sounds echo in his ears and his cheeks redden. Although he turns to bow his head towards the ground, his eyes cannot help but darts back to the figures of two people.
Li Wei chuckled at his expression. He picked something from the table and unrolled it. He then offered it to Xu Huajie. "Here, try this."
"What's this?" Xu Huajie asked.
"White powder," Li Wei said nonchalantly.
"What?!" Shocked, Xu Huajie back away. "I can't," he tried to decline.
"Come on. This is good stuff, believe me," another youth sat next to Xu Huajie, cornering him.
"No. I really can't. I'm... my sister is still waiting for me," Xu Huajie tried to reason, hoping it will help him out of the situation.
"What are you afraid of? What about your sister? Look around, everyone is doing the same thing. There's nothing bad with it! Just try it and you will like it," a hoarse voice said and he inched closer as he talked.
People start to circle around Xu Huajie.
"But---" Xu Huajie send a look towards Li Wei, hoping he could speak up for him.
"Declining so much... Do you think we're doing something bad? And here I thought that Young master Xu is our friend and won't judge us!"
A pressuring voice said and others echo in agreement. Xu Huajie clenches his mouth as his sweats turn cold.
"One. Just try one and if you don't like it, I won't push you anymore," Li Wei suddenly said and the rest back off from Xu Huajie.
"Just one?" He asked, thinking he was given a way out.
"Of course, why would I lie to my good friend? Come on. Hurry up, you're making us look bad."
Xu Huajie looks around to see their faces. In this place, only he is not in sync with them. While they are acting nonchalantly with each other and having fun, only he is so stiff.
Being different, being excluded, and the disconnection. They were disgusting feeling brewing in the pit of his stomach.
The white powder in his hands is tiny and a pinch plenty. This small amount, easy to discard and blow away by the wind, doesn't appear that harmful after looking again.
Xu Huajie rolled the paper again and inch it closer to the fire. A hand reached out to stop his actions.
"No, no! Don't smoke it. It's better if you sniff it directly!"
"Look, you do it like this!"
"Young master Xu will definitely like it."
Xu Huajie did what he was told and copied them. He held the paper closer to his face a give a few sniffs. Suddenly, a hand held out to push the whole content to his face. Surprise and unable to breathe, he accidentally inhaled an uncontrollable amount of white powder.
He heard the people around him laughing as they held him in place.
A painful and hot sensation traveled thru his nostrils. The moment they let go, Xu Huajie throw a coughing fit and rolled to the ground. Tears accumulated in his eyes and his mouth salivating.
A dizzy spell hit his head.
"Hey, you're overreacting," someone said in a dangerous tone.
Hearing this, everyone turns to look down on him and stopped laughing.
"That's right. What's with that reaction."
"You're making us look bad."
"No... It's..." Xu Huajie backs off. Afraid of the people around him giving disappointing expressions. "It's... it's... it's good! Really! I--- I didn't expect how good is it. Here, give me another one---"
Xu Huajie frantically stood up and wasn't looking as he stepped back and end up bumping into someone. The cup that the man was holding felt to the ground and shattered to pieces.
"That's---"
Before he could say a few words, Xu Huajie was grabbed and was dragged by the collars. The man was taller than him and there's a dangerous aura surrounds him. Xu Huajie painfully groans and the hand holding his collars tighten.
There's no chance to cry out for help. The man half carried him outside and gagging sounds came out of his mouth.