It was another spring day.
In the spring of the young woman's eighteenth year, the peach blossoms on the other peaks had all burst into bloom, painting the mountainsides in a riot of reds and purples.
Only the peach grove on the back mountain of Shallow Study Peak remained bare, without a single flower to grace its branches.
This was yet another spring the young woman did not like.
Then, one evening that spring.
While Tushan Jing Ci was at home reading, a dear classmate ran up to her courtyard, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Bei'er? What are you doing here? What's wrong?"
Seeing her best friend crying her eyes out, Tushan Jing Ci was startled. She quickly opened the courtyard's wicker gate and went to meet her.
"Jing Ci..."
Xu Bei'er's eyes were red as she threw herself into Tushan Jing Ci's arms, tears streaming down her face like pearls from a broken string.
"It's okay, it's okay. Take your time and tell me everything. I'm here."
