Lixue rests the side of her face on her arm as she listens to the rhythmic sound of snipping. Although her eyes are closed, Lixue could feel the precision and care within each crispy, clean cut. A soft smile adorns her fair face as she lifts her slender fingers to brush the strands of hair that had fallen loose from the wind behind her ear.
As the rhythm comes to a halt, Lixue opens her eyes to gaze at the bonsai clippings scattered all over the stone tabletop. She watches as a pair of large weathered hands sweep the bonsai clippings into a seemingly perfect circular pile before brushing it over the edge of the table and into a wooden bin. Although Lixue could spot the slight imperfections with just a glance, she doesn't say anything. She turns her gaze towards the newly trimmed bonsai, noting one branch that seems to be slightly longer than the ones around it.
"Isn't it beautiful, Lixue?"
A pair of light blue earrings dangle back and forth as Lixue lifts her head from the table. She turns to look at the owner of the voice and gazes into his dark, yet brilliant, eyes. Her head tilts slightly as she turns to observe the bonsai again. With her eyes focused on that one branch, she picks up the clippers and carefully trims it to size.
"There, now it's perfect."
"It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful." The man chuckles as he places his hand on Lixue's chin, gently pushing her head back and away from the bonsai. "See?"
Although Lixue vaguely understands the meaning behind the man's words, she couldn't help but notice more imperfections now that she could see the bonsai in its entirety.
"Father, I know you can see that the flow of the trunk is off." She extends her finger, tracing the slightly imperfect curve of the trunk. "It has been ever since you removed the training wire... There's also a slight overgrow of bark around the place where the wiring used to be."
"Is that so…?" Her father strokes his chin as he observes the things that Lixue pointed out. "Lixue, who decided what constitutes a 'perfect' flow?"
The question catches her off guard, throwing Lixue into deep thought. She knows that the flow of the trunk is slightly off… but off from what? Why does she have a perfect image of what the flow should look like if "perfect" is undefined?
"Everything is beautiful in its own unique way." Seeing his daughter lost in her thoughts, the man chimes in to try and guide her. "It has its flaws, but who are we to determine that it's not perfect? Who are we to determine that it's not beautiful? You girls are not perfect, but in my eyes, you two are still the most beautiful girls in the world."
"That doesn't make any sense." Lixue's brows furrow as she turns to meet her father's eyes. "No matter how I think about it, I'm definitely perfect."
"Is that so?" Her father bursts into a hearty laugh at Lixue's serious expression. He gently wraps his arms around his daughter before pulling her into his chest. "My mistake. My eyes must be growing dull. My girls are indeed perfect."
"No, not Hanni. Just me."
"Not Hanni?" The comment causes him to raise a brow. "Why is that?"
"She can't comb her own hair. She can't get dressed by herself. She doesn't use her head. She doesn't…" Lixue starts listing off every single reason why her sister isn't perfect. Her father listens quietly, holding back the urge to point out that Lixue was no different when she was younger. "...can't brush her own teeth. She's stronger than me, but hides behind me like a coward. She runs away from everything. She cries and complains too m-"
"Go on..." Upon hearing the pause, her father smiles as he waits patiently for his daughter to take her first step out of an unhealthy obsession with perfection.
"...but she makes me laugh… She makes me smile when I'm down- like mom… She's not perfect, but… but I still love her."
Lixue's father brushes her bangs aside and plants a kiss her on the forehead.
"Lixue, my beautiful daughter, I'm so proud of you."
***
"Weiwei, what was it you said? If I recall correctly…" Chunhua throws his arm around Wei's shoulders, pulling the young Zhou prince into a necklock. He puts on his best Wei impression as he continues. "'It can't be. They only glow when they're sprouting…'"
The students let out a light chuckle before refocusing their attention onto the glowing root entangled between the roots of the elm tree. Dan loosens the buckle on the leather straps of the herb transporter, allowing it to slide off his shoulders and onto the ground. He pulls out the tray from the top storage chamber and stuffs the herbs from the tray into his sleeve pocket. After checking for any leftover residue in the tray, he hands it to Maoyi.
"I need four more pegs, please." Dan requests as he works on removing the existing pegs from the top storage chamber.
Despite all of the students hearing his request, none of them move. After a short pause, they turn their eyes toward Chunhua.
"Oh, pegs. Four pegs coming right up." Chunhua releases Wei as he pats his pockets and checks his sleeves. Upon finding nothing, he laughs nervously. "So hear me out. I definitely put them in my sleeve. However… there's a very good chance that they fell out when I took off my rob-"
"URGGG! REN CHUNHUA!" Maoyi slaps the back of Chunhua's head with the tray, cutting him off in the middle of his explanation. She grows visibly frustrated, dropping the tray and grabbing him by his blossom-patterned collar with both hands, pulling him closer. "WHY ARE YOU SO- URGGG! IT'S ONLY CUTE WHEN IT'S HARMLESS. BUT THIS IS AN AZURE GLIMMERROOT, YOU CLOWN!"
"Did you just call me cute?" Chunhua tries to diffuse Maoyi's anger with laughter.
"What? No, you clown! I meant wh- pffff!" Chunhua's defensive maneuver works, causing Maoyi to laugh and momentarily forget about her frustration.
"It's fine." Dan, unfazed by his seniors' bickering, calls out. "We'll just have to borrow pegs from the other compartments. The slight difference in airflow shouldn't make too much of a difference as long as we hurry back."
While Dan redistributes the pegs from other compartments, Xi and Anning begin extracting dirt from around the root. After they finish clearing out most of the debris, Maoyi takes out a pair of scissors from her satchel, using the soft blue glow to help her distinguish the entangled roots from one another. Xi smiles as he listens to the crisp sound of the scissors snipping away at the elm roots.
"This should work." Dan says as he presses the last peg into a hole on the top layer of the herb transporter. "Did you extrac-"
Before he could ask if the root had been extracted, a muffled explosion, followed by a familiar word calling out from behind cuts him off.
"Again."