I'm not Yingjie

Walking out of the bamboo forest in the courtyard, the pale pink fox jumped onto the table he had brought for making tea, took a bite of one of the cups of slightly cold tea, drank it all in one gulp under the man's gaze, and let out another cry of joy in excitement.

"...Is anyone coming?" The man understood what the fox meant. He rolled up his long hair that was like a waterfall, tightened his cloak, stood up from the floor specially used for enjoying the spring, smoothed the wrinkled corners of his clothes in the warm and cold wind, picked up the black mask from the table and walked into the inner room.

The decoration of this house is simple yet stylish. The spacious corridors give people a refreshing feeling. The styles of many countries blend harmoniously without being abrupt, and it is full of the atmosphere of solitary elegance.

The only thing was the blurry group photo hanging in the main hall, which destroyed the overall harmony, but for some reason no one took it down.

While the man was lighting the heater, the fox cleverly wiped its soles on the doormat and followed him through the main hall to the door.

He put on the mask, the ceramic mask covering his cheeks tightly, then reached out to open the door, letting in the first breeze of the new year.

"Lin, Happy New Year." A pink-haired girl wearing a cherry blossom kimono appeared behind the door. She came with a fragrance. She had long flowing hair and tied it up today. Her capable look turned into a woman's tenderness, and the smile on her lips was like pink cherry blossoms blooming in the garden.

Holding the souvenir in her slender hand, she placed it on the display stand at the door with ease.

"Are you alone?" The man moved aside to allow her to pass. Sakura shook off the rain on the soles of her clogs in front of the door and walked into the warm house wearing her white tabi.

"They said they needed more preparations. I guess they went to buy fireworks." She followed the man all the way back to the courtyard. During the walk, the pink fox rubbed Sakura's legs with her soft fur from time to time. After stepping into the courtyard, she skillfully climbed onto her shoulders and used her tail as a scarf to keep the girl warm.

This warmth burst out from the bottom of her heart. Ying gently stroked the fox's head and said to the man who was boiling water to make tea again: "Thank you for helping me take care of it. It must have caused you a lot of trouble."

The man looked at the fox who was yawning with tears in his eyes, and said nothing.

Sakura strolled in the courtyard and sniffed the fragrance of the flowers. She hadn't been here for some time. No matter when, there was always a reassuring tranquility in this mansion, which could calm the restless mind amidst the flowing water and singing birds.

Maybe it's because this man lives here?

In my memory, he was a man of few words, but with a sharp temperament, like a piece of fine forged steel. Now he has changed, and he still doesn't talk much, but the sharpness of the swords and sabers in the past has been washed away. He has become as calm and mature as his long hair.

To make a long story short, after the man poured tea for Ying, the doorbell rang. The impatient nature of the caller made him guess who it was.

"Lin! Mebius told me to tell you that she will be here later! That crazy woman is always procrastinating!" The man wearing a mask of a different color but similar shape to the man's stopped knocking on the door and shouted to the silent man, "Who's here?"

The man was a little uncomfortable with his suit and tie appearance, but even his gentle attire couldn't hide his heroic spirit from the inside out. The man was just a little curious as to why he dressed like this.

The man pointed to the house and said, "Sakura."

"She came quite quickly. I'll go in and sit for a while. Call me when you're ready to cook." Qianjie moved his right arm. The suit that didn't fit him well was almost torn at this moment. It was so awkward that people didn't know how to evaluate it.

"...Last time you and Kevin messed up the kitchen, so this time the vote is for Mebius and Su to cook." The man patted the fallen leaves off Qianjie's shoulders, he crossed his arms, his tone indifferent.

Qianjie froze in his tracks. He nervously placed his hand on the doorknob and knocked on the wooden door with his five fingers: "Who organized the vote? Why don't I know about it?"

"Kevin voted while you were in the bathroom after eating the meal you guys cooked."

"..."

Perhaps because he rarely had similar experiences and feelings, Qianjie's movements were quite gesticulating.

The man shook his head and walked towards the courtyard with regret, asking as he walked, "Do you need me to find you a bathrobe?"

"Ah? Why?" Qianjie stopped and looked at the group photo in the main hall and asked.

The man looked up and down at the body whose muscles were about to break free from the cloth: "Don't you have no clothes to wear?"

"I have it." Qianjie was a bit stubborn, but he was quick-witted. After noticing that the man was sizing him up, he casually said, "I wore this on purpose. I heard from Hua that Shenzhou attaches great importance to New Year customs, so I borrowed a formal suit from Kosmo."

"...What about Kosmo?"

"He's wearing the same thing."

The man could probably imagine what the scene in the courtyard would be like in a while.

The popularity creates heat, and the cold courtyard becomes a little more lively and has a different artistic conception. The man leans against the sliding door, and the accumulated water on the eaves gently forms a line, flows into the channel through the cracks in the stone road, and turns into a trickle.

Ying and Qianjie were chatting casually. The man took a breath of warm air, put on the mask at an angle to cover half of his face, revealing his lips, took out an old heather pipe from the drawer of the storage table outside the door, rubbed the tobacco, lit a match, and stood in front of the door with smoke billowing.

With his eyelids half closed, the silhouettes of the two people were reflected in his clear pupils. In the sweet smell of tobacco mixed with a hint of spicy flavor, warmth flowed into his every limb.

Holding the slender handle with one hand, he tapped the pipe with fine wood grain, maintaining a proper rhythm, supporting the hand holding the pipe with the other hand, looking up at the sky and exhaling.

He doesn't like smoking and doesn't have the habit of it, but he will occasionally smoke for a while as a pastime when he has nothing to do.

Other people don't like smoking either, but they like to watch him smoke, or rather, appreciate him.

In the words of Alicia, his movements when smoking were natural and his behavior was completely different from usual, with a kind of beauty that seemed to have come from the screen to reality.

After taking a few puffs of his cigarette, the doorbell rang again and he put down his pipe and walked out.

New Year Special Edition: Forest Shadows

"Whoosh-"

A sharp sound cut through the sky, adding a hint of fireworks to the cold air. The man stopped to listen to the sound of fireworks going off in the distance before slowly coming to the main entrance.

"Clap."

The half-uncovered face was illuminated by the bright fireworks.

"Ah~ Lin, is this what they call "holding the lute half-covered?" The people outside were surprised by this unprecedented look, and then picked up the plastic bag in their hands, blinked and smiled, "I brought back barbecue, do you want to eat?"

The man's dark pupils stayed on the person outside. He remembered that when she went out today, she was wearing ordinary casual clothes, not... a light pink bathrobe embroidered with masked figures.

He had seen her wearing all kinds of clothes, Shenzhou style, Western style, Japanese style, ancient style, modern style... What she wore depended entirely on her mood. As long as she was in a good mood, she would try new clothes, like a colorful red rose, and occasionally she would drag others into it, such as Mebius.

By the way, she is in a good mood almost every day.

However, in the man's impression, she had never worn a yukata. Perhaps she felt that it was inappropriate and inconvenient to wear a yukata on a daily basis.

But today he saw her in a bathrobe, just as she had always been before, as transparent and gorgeous as a crystal flower, unreal in this world.

The hot air from the barbecue box collided with the cold air from the outer layer of the plastic bag, stained with a gray mist. The girl held the cheap foam box and plastic bag in both hands, and her quirky smile seemed to have never changed.

"Why are you staring at me?" After waiting for a long time without any response from the man, the girl realized when she saw his unobstructed black eyes sizing up her clothes. "I asked someone to make this for me. Do you think the person on it looks like you?"

Looking closely, the mask is indeed his mask, so this should also be his Q version image.

Unlike him who looked like an ice cube, this masked man was cheerfully stretching his arms outstretched.

"Ying and Qianjie are here. They are drinking tea." Without further comment, the man said lightly, "Come in. It's cold outside."

"Do I have a share?"

"I can make you some."

He turned and walked into the house, with the girl following him.

……

This time they didn't have to wait long, probably because they all chose this time period to come here, so when the man opened the door again, there were already three people standing in front of the door.

The woman with long wine-red hair wearing a fur coat took off her goggles to wipe off the rain and smiled quietly: "Long time no see, my dear friend."

"How was your performance?" The man showed concern, which was rare. He reached out to take Eden's gift, but she waved her hand away, indicating that she should do it herself.

"Well... it went a little unexpectedly smoothly, but that's also part of the charm of art, even if..."

"Can't you guys just go inside and talk first?" The tall, green-haired woman raised her slender eyebrows and urged impatiently.

The man glanced at her attire and said, "He who is impatient is always too late."

"...Are you going with Wei Erwei to cultivate the so-called poetic nature?" The woman could tell that he was mocking her procrastination today, but she was too lazy to care.

"Lin, do you need my help with the set up?"

The last person was Abonia, who was dressed not much differently from usual. With a beige sweater and tied-up hair, she looked warm and virtuous. Her unique smile made the man nod subconsciously.

Eden and Aponia put on their indoor shoes and walked inside arm in arm: "Let's talk later. I haven't seen you all for a long time..."

However, there was still one person who had not moved. Her mottled snake eyes were like two topaz with exquisitely carved patterns, emitting a dim glow. She had not taken off her white clothes for a long time and placed her hands on the crotch of her cheongsam. The bright green pattern embroidered on the jade-white fabric looked like a night-scented magnolia.

Men noticed before anyone else that Mebius actually wore light makeup and altered her clothes, but the extent was small, so almost everyone thought she was devoted to her work and didn't pay much attention to her appearance.

But today, contrary to her usual style, she changed into a cheongsam and put on light red eye shadow, looking very charming.

"...Aren't you going in yet?" The man didn't move an inch.

"I'm going to wait for Klein." Mebius had his back to him, his slender neck looking especially white under the warm light.

“…This is for you.”

Mebius felt her shoulders sink, and she turned around to see a man in cloth draping a cloak over her back.

"…Not cold." She said so, but she still shrank her neck and pulled the cloak with the man's body temperature tighter, which warmed her stiff body that had been blown by the cold wind. "You can go in."

"I'll chat with you for a while while we wait for them."

Mebius glanced at his dark mask and said, "Huh... you've really changed a lot."

The man looked at the rising bright moon and said calmly, "Maybe."

……

"Ahahahaha... Sorry, I got stuck in traffic after checking the parts for Klein."

The woman, whose face was covered in grease and who hadn't even changed her work clothes, held Klein in one hand and smiled sheepishly at the two people waiting.

"Klein, are you okay? What did Vilvi do to you?" Mebius snatched Klein from Vilvi's hand and glared at Vilvi who was smiling.

“I’m fine, Doctor…” Klein covered his dizzy head with his long sleeves, “It’s just that I felt a little dizzy when Doctor Velvet rushed over…”

"It seems we are not too late."

The four of them walked together from the dark night to the moonlight. Kosmo supported Su, whose face was still a little pale. Grayshu and Kevin followed behind them and came to the door.

"Su, how are you doing recently?" The man asked Su, who looked weak but had his eyes closed and had an aloof temperament.

Su's long braid moved up and down slowly: "Not bad, it shouldn't take long."

Kevin glanced at the people present and the shoes on the shoe rack: "Are you all here, Lin?"

"And Padu and Hua, they went to buy fireworks."

"magnificent……"

"Kevin."

The man stopped Kevin from continuing, and Kevin nodded after a moment of silence and did not talk about the matter anymore.

Today is not the right day.

No, he just cares.

"I brought some ice cream, let's eat it later." Kevin weighed the bag in his hand. Judging from its thickness, it must be filled with a lot of things.

"Eating at this time?" The man hesitated and looked at the cold street outside the door after a light rain.

Kosmo looked at the ice cream in Kevin's hand in silence for a while.

"cool."

"Brother Lin, this is for you."

Grace handed the man a scroll rolled up in a paper tube.

The man didn't rush to open it, but just asked, "What's the painting?"

"Kosmo told me to say I don't know if you ask me, and not to tell you that he actually drew it." Gray Xiu said blankly, "Oh, by the way, Kosmo also told me not to say this."

"..."

The man couldn't see the expression on Kosmo's face, but he could guess his subtle mood.

……

"Phew... Mission accomplished! Brother Lin! The fireworks that Ahua and I bought today are enough to last the whole night!"

A truck stopped in front of the door, and the porters were carrying fireworks that could fill an entire warehouse. The brown-haired girl, wearing thick winter clothes, saluted the man in a funny way, with a smile all over her face.

"Lin, I've asked Phyllis not to buy so much..." The gray-haired woman in martial arts uniform and red-framed glasses couldn't help but sigh and said to the man, "It's really not cheap to waste money and hurt time and strength."

The man did not show any dissatisfaction. He picked up one of the boxes of fireworks and said, "It's okay. Let's go. We're waiting."

New Year Special Edition: Mottled Forest Shadows

With Weiwei's interest, the main hall was transformed into the desired effect in the blink of an eye.

"Well, today's magic is - Extreme Explosion! Just snap your fingers and fireworks will be launched that can blow the whole building up into the sky!"

The light on Weiwei will shine accurately on her wherever she goes. Enjoying the spotlight on the stage is the basis for becoming a great magician.

She changed into an evening gown and stretched out her arms, basking in the sight: "Can we have some applause?"

"..."