The young girl was standing just beyond the courtyard wall at this moment. She had almond-shaped eyes and looked timid and frail.

On the other side of the courtyard gate, a voice sounded, “Are you selling this maid?”

Jason Smith was taken aback. He turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw a young man in brocade clothing, smiling with his eyes, standing outside the courtyard—a completely unfamiliar face.

Beside the young man in brocade stood a tall, elderly man with fair skin and a kindly expression, his eyes gently narrowed as he sized up the young man and woman in the neighboring courtyards.

The old man’s gaze swept past Ethan Brooks without pausing, but lingered much longer on Jason Smith and the maid, his smile growing warmer.

Jason Smith glanced sideways and said, “Sell! Why wouldn’t I sell?”

The young man smiled and said, “Then name your price.”

The girl’s eyes widened in disbelief, her face full of astonishment, like a startled young elk.

Jason Smith rolled his eyes, held up a finger, and waved it. “Ten thousand taels of silver!”

The young man’s expression didn’t change. He nodded and said, “Alright.”

Seeing that the young man didn’t seem to be joking, Jason Smith hurriedly changed his tune. “I mean ten thousand taels of gold!”

The young man’s lips curled up. “Just teasing you.”

Jason Smith’s face darkened.

The young man in brocade ignored Jason Smith and shifted his gaze to Ethan Brooks. “If it weren’t for you today, I wouldn’t have been able to buy that carp. After I brought it home, the more I looked at it, the happier I felt. I thought I must thank you in person, so I asked Grandpa Wu to bring me here to find you tonight.”

He tossed a heavy embroidered pouch to Ethan Brooks, his face beaming. “This is your reward. Now we’re even.”

Ethan Brooks was about to speak, but the young man in brocade had already turned and left.

Ethan Brooks frowned slightly.

Earlier that day, he had accidentally seen a middle-aged man carrying a fish basket down the street, having caught a golden carp about the length of a palm. The fish was jumping vigorously in the bamboo basket. Ethan Brooks only glanced at it but felt it was a sign of good fortune, so he asked if he could buy it for ten coins. The middle-aged man had originally planned to treat himself to a good meal, but seeing a chance for profit, he raised the price, insisting on thirty coins. Ethan Brooks, with little money to spare, couldn’t afford it but was reluctant to let go of the golden carp. He followed the man, haggling and hoping to bring the price down to fifteen coins, or even twenty. Just as the man seemed about to give in, the young man in brocade and the tall old man happened to pass by. Without a word, they bought the carp and the basket for fifty coins. Ethan Brooks could only watch helplessly as they walked away, powerless to do anything.

Staring hard at the backs of the grandfather and grandson as they walked farther and farther away, Jason Smith withdrew his fierce gaze, jumped down from the wall, and seemed to remember something. He said to Ethan Brooks, “Do you still remember that four-legged one from the first month?”

Ethan Brooks nodded.

How could he not remember? It was still fresh in his mind.

According to the customs passed down for hundreds of years in this small town, if a snake entered your house, it was a good omen, and the owner must never drive it away or kill it. On the first day of the new year, Jason Smith was sitting on the threshold basking in the sun when a little creature, commonly called a four-legged snake, darted into his house right under his nose. Jason Smith grabbed it and threw it into the courtyard. Unexpectedly, the four-legged snake, already dizzy from being tossed, grew more and more persistent. Again and again, it infuriated Jason Smith, who never believed in ghosts or spirits. In a fit of anger, he flung it into Ethan Brooks’s yard. Who would have thought that the very next day, Jason Smith would find the four-legged snake curled up under his own bed.

Jason Smith noticed the girl tugging at his sleeve.

The boy and the girl seemed to have a tacit understanding. He instinctively swallowed the words that were about to leave his lips.

What he wanted to say was that the hideous four-legged snake had recently developed a bulge on its forehead, as if horns were growing.

Instead, Jason Smith said, “Evan and I might be leaving here next month.”

Ethan Brooks sighed. “Take care on the road.”

Jason Smith said half-jokingly, “There are some things I definitely can’t take with me. Don’t go sneaking into my house to steal things when no one’s home.”

Ethan Brooks shook his head.

Suddenly, Jason Smith burst out laughing, pointed at Ethan Brooks, and teased, “Timid as a mouse! No wonder the poor never prosper. Not only will you be bullied and poor in this life, you might not escape it in the next one either.”

Ethan Brooks remained silent.

They each returned to their rooms. Ethan Brooks closed the door, lay down on the hard wooden bed, closed his eyes, and the poor boy softly murmured, “Peace in every fragment, safety every year, peace in every fragment, safety every year…”

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ps1: A nearly 200,000-word side story of Snow is being updated on WeChat. The official account is: fenghuo1985

ps2: Over a hundred alliance leaders even before uploading. You guys are awesome...

ps3: Long time no see, Sword of Coming!

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Volume One: Caged Sparrow

Chapter Two: Open the Door