Become a cat [Zhan Zhao]

In past lives, cold winter and snowy nights meant death threats, those all-pervasive cold winds could take away one’s body temperature, and even make one die silently in one’s sleep.However, maybe it was because of a trip to the north with Zhan Zhao, Ah Lan has changed her view of the snowy night now, when she saw the snowflakes in the sky, the first thing she recalled was the warmth of Zhan Zhao's embrace.

But this still couldn't change the fact that it was freezing cold outside. Alan looked around tremblingly, and was about to go back to the house honestly, but suddenly heard a gust of wind above his head.Instinctively, she stretched out her arms to catch the cat that fell from the sky, and then embraced the cat that fell from the sky.

"Brother!" Ah Lan's eyes widened in surprise, "Why are you here?"

Zhan Zhao was silent when he heard the words, thinking that this silly girl doesn't call her big brother when she should call her, but barks when she shouldn't call her.Thinking like this, he broke free from Ah Lan's embrace, jumped onto the opponent's shoulder, and then wagged his tail to signal the opponent to go into the house quickly.

It's so cold, if you stand for a while, it will freeze into icicles.

Alan hurriedly turned around and entered the room, and then closed the door tightly.She took the cat off her shoulders again and hugged it into her arms, then sat in front of the charcoal basin and flicked the ashes, trying to let the remaining warmth play a role.However, even though they were sitting by the side of the charcoal basin, they couldn't feel any warmth at all, so A Lan had to light the charcoal basin again, and the moment the tinder lighted up, the dark red fire light illuminated her face.

"It's so late, aren't you cold outside?" Alan said to the cat self-consciously while pulling the charcoal pile, "It snowed so well at night, no wonder I woke up from the cold."

Zhan Zhao silently glanced at A Lan when he heard the words, then lay down on A Lan's lap, and sighed silently in his heart.

——The reason why he appeared here in this ghostly weather was actually because he was worried that Ah Lan would wake up at night.In fact, ever since the fierce battle in the bell tower that night, Zhan Zhao noticed that Alan was frequently awakened by nightmares at night.Although she never mentioned it, Zhan Zhao can also guess one or two things——Alan should have dreamed of falling from the top floor of the clock tower.

This has made Ah Lan unable to sleep well recently, but Zhan Zhao has nothing to do about it.Although he can feed and clothe Ah Lan and teach her the ability to defend herself, but he can't prevent her from having nightmares.What's more, falling from such a high place, the average person will never have such an experience in their lifetime. A Lan is only a teenager, so he must be terrified.

Thinking of this, Zhan Zhao couldn't help but sigh again.He originally thought that with his own ability, he could protect Ah Lan well, but things didn't seem to be that simple.

The charcoal basin in the house began to make a crackling sound, while the snow outside was falling harder and harder, and the sound of snowflakes falling on the roof could almost be heard, with a non-stop rustling sound.Alan hugged the cat and shivered for a while, and finally her body gradually warmed up. She breathed a sigh of relief, hugged the cat and began to shake her body lightly, muttering in a low voice, "Go to sleep."

Zhan Zhao: "..." You should go to bed and sleep, what should you do if you fall asleep later and then go to the brazier?He struggled twice, trying to wake up Ah Lan, but the latter pressed his head instead and said in a low voice, "Don't make trouble."

There was a whining sound of wind outside, and Ah Lan suddenly said, "The wind here is not as strong as in the north." She still remembered the wind blowing in the north all night long, as if it could knock the roof off. It's too cold.

Although the wind here is also very cold, but the momentum is much weaker.Sometimes Ah Lan even felt unaccustomed, as if the experience in the North Country had left a deep imprint on her heart, so even the wind and snow had been engraved into her blood.She hugged the struggling cat tightly and murmured, "Stop making trouble, go to sleep, it will be dawn in a while."

Maybe there will be a few more hours, the sky always comes later in winter.Thinking of this, Ah Lan looked at the charcoal basin in front of him in a daze.Some of the charcoal blocks inside are burning red, while others have turned off-white, looking soft and deceitful.She lowered her eyes and kept staring at the red and gray charcoal blocks, and at the end she began to vaguely feel that it looked like a painting, like the head of a strange bird with a comb, beak and feathers.

Heavy drowsiness still struck from time to time, but Ah Lan bit her lip to prevent herself from falling asleep.She did it before she knew it, but to reduce the chances of having nightmares.Alan already has some experience in this regard, and often wakes up in the middle of the night and goes back to sleep, which is likely to be a nightmare.

And the scene in the dream is almost the same every time. On the top floor of the bell tower where the wind is blowing, the brick that A Lan is holding makes a clear and crisp sound of shattering.There are no monsters behind him, only a bottomless abyss.Ah Lan didn't dare to move, her heart was about to jump out of her throat, and she had a premonition that the brick would completely shatter if she moved.

But even if she didn't move an inch, the masonry crumbled to powder every time.A Lan's hands scratched, but only the cold air slipped through the fingers.She leaned back and fell toward the abyss.

Different from the memory in reality, every time Alan falls in the dream, the process is endless.She kept falling, and at first she could see the bell tower overhead, then only the dark night sky.The surrounding area was empty and boundless, and the sound of whistling wind kept pouring into his ears.

Alan was still afraid at first, but after falling for too long, this fear was mixed with fatigue.She might even begin to look forward to the end of this torture, even if the end is falling to pieces.

"Meow!" A meow brought Ah Lan back to her sanity, she lowered her head and met those round eyes.A Lan couldn't help shivering, and suddenly realized that even if she didn't fall asleep just now, she still relived the situation of falling.Panting lowly, she let go of her arms that had been tense just now—this is how Zhan Zhao sensed that something was wrong with Alan.

"What time is it?" Alan wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and looked out the window.It was still dark outside, and maybe the moonlight had dimmed, so that even the snow wasn't as bright as before.

Zhan Zhao finally struggled and jumped out of A Lan's arms, pushing A Lan to the bed as much as he could.However, his stature is not half as big as the opponent's now, no matter how hard he tries, A Lan still doesn't move.

"I don't want to sleep anymore, it will be dawn soon." Alan muttered and lowered his head to hug the cat, but the cat avoided it.

Zhan Zhao helplessly walked around Ah Lan, and finally had no choice but to head towards the bed by himself.After he left like this, Ah Lan finally stood up: "Cat, stop making trouble, it's warmer here." She finally stopped calling Big Brother, which was the only good thing tonight.

"Meow!" Zhan Zhao was usually reluctant to make a sound when he turned into a cat, but tonight he had to call out again and again.

Alan didn't seem to appreciate it very much, she walked slowly to the bed, and sighed: "It's almost dawn, why bother." However, the cat had already jumped on the bed, and she had no choice but to get under the covers.After leaving the bed for so long, the quilt had become cold again, Alan was unwilling to take off her clothes, so she simply slept with her clothes on.Zhan Zhao watched A Lan obediently close her eyes with satisfaction, and then nestled down on her pillow.

After lying down, the drowsiness finally became irresistible, A Lan's eyelids trembled twice, and fell into a deep sleep.I thought I was going to have another nightmare, but when I opened my eyes, the sky was already bright.

The snow outside had undoubtedly stopped, and even the sound of the wind could no longer be heard.And the cat was gone.Alan quickly turned over and got up.Then she suddenly remembered that she had promised Aunt Qi to help today, so she quickly packed it up.

What happened last night was like a dream, if it wasn't for the fact that she was still wearing clothes when she woke up, Ah Lan might really think that she was dreaming.Before she opened the door and left, she glanced at the room again, and found that Zhan Zhao did not leave any traces, and she didn't even know where she came from when she left.

Cats don't know how to drill dog holes, do they?

Alan pursed her lips silently at her rebellious thought, and walked towards the back kitchen stepping on the snow that was only three fingers deep outside.

Along the way, there were already diligent handymen up to sweep the snow. When Ah Lan passed by, these little handymen couldn't help but peek at her.Apparently, the news that Zhan Zhao brought back a friend from the rivers and lakes had spread among them—because this friend turned out to be a girl.

Alan didn't know that the Kaifeng government office was full of her own legends, she just found Aunt Qi early, and then began to learn how to steam steamed buns from him.

Aunt Qi has been a cook all her life. She can not only cook delicacies from mountains and seas, but also stir-fry home-cooked dishes. She is also proficient in steamed buns, noodles, and flatbreads.If you borrow the sayings in the Jianghu, then Aunt Qi must be worthy of the evaluation that she is proficient in all eighteen martial arts.When Ah Lan saw the posture of the other party kneading dough, he began to admire the other party - this skilled craftsmanship and just the right amount of strength made him look like a master.

And Aunt Qi was also very satisfied with A Lan: In such a cold weather, the girl can still get up so early, she looks like a good child who can endure hardships.As expected of Mr. Zhan’s friend.

The two got along very harmoniously.Alan learned how to knead dough and make steamed buns from Aunt Qi. She rolled up her sleeves and her hands were covered with flour.Because of the Chinese New Year, there are red dots on each steamed bun, which look very gorgeous against the white steamed buns.

There are a lot of people in the yamen, and those servants and arresters eat in the mansion, and a man can eat three or four steamed buns.Therefore, Aunt Qi had to go back several times at a time, with Alan helping her until her arms were sore, and then she could barely finish preparing today's breakfast.

The work to be done in the morning is to make various preparations for the New Year.

Ah Lan has never felt so fulfilled—even when she is learning martial arts from Zhan Zhao, she has never been so tired.In just a few days, Alan followed Aunt Qi to learn how to steam steamed buns, make dim sum, and kill chickens and fish.There is no work in the kitchen that A Lan has not learned.Aunt Qi has a heart of nurturing, seeing that A Lan is smart, she gives her all she has.When Ah Lan learns quickly and well, she will say with satisfaction: "Such a coincidental girl, whoever marries you in the future will be blessed."

Alan usually just smiles, since she had no family since she was a child, she has never thought of starting a family.Marriage still seemed a very distant thing to her.

However, one evening, when Aunt Qi was resting on the porch, beating her legs and repeating the words again, someone not far away said:

"Why, Ah Lan wants to get married?"