It's snowing.

Hopland in the south has a rare light snow. It is a novelty in this warm seaside city.

White snowflakes slowly floated down from the sky and fell into the courtyard, and the air became colder than before. Some children wore cotton jackets and played happily in the snow, throwing snowballs and building snowmen. This was almost the first time in their lives for them who grew up by the sea, so they were particularly excited.

Large frost-covered glass windows separate the cold outdoors from the warm interiors. The fire in the indoor fireplace is silenced, and a tick sound comes from the mahogany bronze pendulum bell against the wall.

Mei Lu sat quietly on the small sofa next to the fireplace. The handrail on the left was a little hot and warm to the touch. She wore a blanket, which was woven in wool. It looked a bit old, and there were small wool balls in some places.

Logically speaking, the eldest lady of the Helis family and the current head of the family are not unable to afford a good blanket, but this one has a special significance to her.

Although she was quite well-behaved when she was a child, she also had fun. When she was about 8 years old, it also snowed in Hoplane, which was even heavier than this time. She and Fujino and some other girls of the same age were playing in the snow, and they also tried to use snowflakes to build various things, such as villains, kittens, puppies, etc.

But because they had no experience, they always had different piles of things, and they were ugly. Adley and Wick were laughing at them from the side. Feng Nori was so angry that he picked up the snowball and smashed it over. Now, the boys and girls on the snow had snowball fights with each other and threw snowballs back and forth.

While fighting and running, the small animals that were originally piled up were also stepped on by others. She was so angry that she cried and felt aggrieved. Fengnai comforted her, but she still kept going. Later, Fengnai went to find Brother Fenerton. Fenerton was almost adult at that time, and was the oldest in their generation and very prestigious.

He soon called Adley and Wick, who were about 9 years old, and asked them to apologize to himself. Although Adley was naughty at that time, he did not dare to ignore Brother Fenton, so he had to apologize to her reluctantly. Only then did she stop crying.

Later, Brother Fenlton found a few more shovels and shoveled the snow on the ground together, which was much faster than using their hands. Then he asked Adley and other boys to help build the snow. They were a little disdainful at first and did not want to play house games with the girls. But as they piled up, they became interested. Wick suggested that everyone build a castle together, which was approved by many children.

So more than a dozen children joined forces to build a castle on the snow. Brother Fenerton watched from the side, and sometimes he went to find some tools to help him flatten the snow pile into large squares, and gave them some small wooden boards to make the snow piles look angular, which made them more interested.

It was like this all day, and they didn't even want to eat for lunch. They were thinking about how to build a beautiful castle. More than a dozen children ran around the snow, constantly gathering the snow to the middle. They first piled up a small hill, and then Fenerton helped them plan the general shapes, such as walls, the main body of the castle, towers, etc., and then each person was responsible for a small part and started to act.

Adley wanted to go to the highest fortress in the castle, Fengnai wanted to go to the tower, and Wick wanted to go to the main body of the castle. Since their families were from the best, they were usually the leader and the other children could not make any money, they could only let them choose first. Seeing that she didn't choose, Brother Fenton ran over and asked curiously, was it because he was shy and dared not say it.

At that time, she didn't know what to choose, so she had to say that I would just build the city wall with other children, which was relatively simple. In this way, Fukuno and 5-6 children piled the castle body in the middle, and 8-9 children piled the city walls on the outer edge.

It was not until afternoon that the castle was piled up, and Brother Fenlton saw it several times during this period, and it was revised several times before it was finally completed.

The white ice and snow castle has a bit of awkward walls, and the height is uneven. The main body of the castle in the middle is not very symmetrical. If the tower is a bit thick and does not look beautiful. But overall, it can still be seen that it is a castle.

Although it was not perfect, everyone was still very happy and began to assign where they would live in the castle in the future.

Adley was the first to speak, saying that he would live in the fortress roundhouse in the middle of the castle, because that was where the king lived. Then it was Fukuno, who said that he would live in the tower and be like the princess. Wick looked at it and said that he would live in the middle of the castle, and he wanted to be a general, and then the other children also said their ideas, where to live, who they wanted to be, ministers, heroes, queens, bishops, poets, etc.

Finally, Fenerton asked her where she wanted to live. She thought about it and replied that she wanted to live with her family and let everyone be together happily. After that, Adley laughed and said that this wish was too boring and there was something to think about. Seeing that she was about to cry again, Brother Fenerton scolded Adley a few more words, asking him not to comment on other people's dreams at will, and she felt a little better.

She was playing in the snow all day, and she was also weak at that time. After she came back, she caught a cold, had a headache, and had a fever. She curled up on the bed all day. Her father went to ask the pastor who taught her to perform healing spells every day. She was a little better, but she was still a little depressed. She slept too much in bed and felt a little uncomfortable.

Seeing that she was in a bad mood all day, Aunt Lige, the maid, was talking to her by her bed, and she was not idle in her hands, and knitted a blanket.

At that time, she would lie on the bed and listen to Aunt Lige telling some past things, such as the scenes of Lige living in the mountain village when she was young, wild boars, monsters, foxes, etc. in the mountains, and the stories of Aunt Lige herself with her brothers and sisters when she was a child, what would they play with, etc. Mei Lu listened to it with relish, and it was not so boring to lie in the bed.

The cold lasted for a week or two, and Fukuno had also looked for it several times during this period, but he was afraid of being infected with her, so the parents of both sides did not allow them to meet, but left some gifts, not only Fukuno, but also other children. Even Adley and Wick asked Fukuno to bring her a beautiful little dagger.

When the cold is cured, Aunt Lige's blanket is also completed. She put it on when the Meilu is cold. Be careful not to catch a cold again in the future.

Time passes slowly, and the blankets that once could cover the whole body are now only suitable for draping on the shoulders. The people who knit blankets are no longer there, and the children who play together are going their separate ways and disappear in life, and some will never even see each other again.

The fire burned quietly, and the past seemed to emerge in flames. Mei Lu was immersed in memories, smiling sometimes on her face, and sad sometimes. When the blanket on her shoulders slipped off, she woke up inadvertently, pulled the blanket back, and then fiddled with the firewood in the fireplace to burn it again.

Mei Lu looked at the orange-red flames, and there was no longer the worries and anxiety of the past in her pupils, and a calm and peaceful fire was reflected in it.

Even though the past is no longer and the familiar people are gone one by one, she will continue to move forward, just as she dreamed of when she was a child, she will make the Helis family a warm big family again.
Chapter completed!