short series

Starry Night, Snowy Skies: Flower Wine for the New Year

share time: 2025-12-18 06:00:12

On New Year's Eve, Su Wan of the alleyway tavern "Sui Shi" is polishing the third celadon cup—it's the "exclusive ritual" of old customer Uncle Chen: for ten years, every time the stars come out and snow falls, he'd drink three cups of perfectly warmed osmanthus wine and tell a story about "this day last year." But tonight, snowflakes are hitting the window ledge loudly, and Uncle Chen's old cotton shoes haven't crushed the snow prints at the alley entrance. Instead, a young man named Cheng Mo bursts in, wrapped in a dark blue coat, holding a bunch of wintersweet with snow, gasping, "My grandfather asked me to keep the appointment of three cups of wine." Just as he takes a sip of the third cup, Cheng Mo takes out a dog-eared diary: it turns out Uncle Chen passed away last autumn. Afraid Su Wan would be sad, he specifically asked his grandson to come instead—there's a yellowed note in the last page of the diary, written by Su Wan ten years ago: "When the snow stops, let's plant wintersweet at the tavern entrance." Just as the snow from the eave falls into the wine cup, Cheng Mo inserts the wintersweet into a rough ceramic vase and points outside with a smile: "Grandpa said, this year's snow is the reply letter from the wintersweet to you." Su Wan touches the fingerprint on the diary and suddenly sees that on the wintersweet petals, the snow water is reflecting the warm yellow light—turns out, saying farewell to the old isn't losing, but the old customer hiding unsaid words in old wine and new flowers.

mute, 2x speed, if you want to adjust, please click the controller bar to adjust