2 Bai Shuixian

Feeling the light of the sun on her eyes, she opened them. Startled at what she saw, she looked around. Trembling, she stared at her hands scarless before once again looking at the surrounding area. She wondered, 'What? H-How can this be?'

The sights around her were familiar to her. The painting of the narcissus flowers hung on the wooden wall. The jade vases that held freshly cut roses sitting on the bedside table with fresh water.

She remembered all of these as a part of a lost past. Sitting up from the bed, she grabbed her blanket and saw that it was the one given to her by her grandma. The blanket was exquisitely embroidered with chrysanthemums made of golden threads.

Confused and lost, she closed her eyes and opened them once again. She finally got up from the bed and headed towards the mirror. When she stood in front of the full-body mirror that reflected her figure, her eyes widened. Walking up to get a closer look, she touched the reflected face and felt the cold glass touching her.

Examining her body up and down, she saw the outstanding white hair and the silver eyes. She saw her tiny frame of a small child,and the familiar white clothes that were embroidered with a cloud pattern from silver threads. Every single thing around her looked like it was an exact replica of her past. Everything suddenly became too overwhelming to her as she let herself fall onto the ground.

She did not notice the tears that were dripping from the corner of her eyes. Those unnoticed droplets dropped one by one onto her clothes. It was only when she broke out of her trance did she finally notice that she was soaked wet and her eyes were puffy from all the crying.

She thought that she had died. She had already surrendered to death. In tears, she asked the gods, who trapped her back into her cage, 'Why must you torture me so?'

The heavens should have known that she did not wish to be reborn. Had it been before her last breath, she might've chosen to live. She would've maybe tried to strive for a better life.

However, no one answered her questions. Her room was as silent as the infinite desert. It was as silent as the bright sky full of stars filling the blackness of the night. If possible, she wished, just this once, that the calmness of the room would last forever. That everything she was seeing was just a dream, the last dream she will have before going into her eternal sleep.

As if on cue, the heavens sent their answer to break her hopes. A screechy voice shouted, "Xian'er! Xian'er! Hurry! Teacher Chang is here!"

She instantly recognized the voice, it was the one of her mother. She abhorred this voice so much, but even she knew that could not hate her so deeply. In the end, this woman was the person that gave birth to her.

"I'm coming, mother," Bai Shuixian replied.

Calming herself, she tied her hair in a male updo. Grabbing the silver hairpin given to her by her grandma, she put it in her hair. After that, she grabbed the white ribbon and tried to tie it around the bun.

Whilst taking care of her appearance, she asked herself, 'Was I really going to continue with the same routines of the past? Follow their every order and abandon my own wishes?'

Shaking her head, she answered out loud to herself, "No. I'm going to make a change. I have the memories of the past to protect me. I have the benefits of the past."

She held the bun with one hand to correctly tie it with her other hands but the ribbon slid past her fingers and fell on the ground. However, as her hand went to pick it up, it froze mid-air and returned to her hair to untie the bun she just made.

_ _ _ _ _

Confidently walking down the hall, he looked at his mother who was waiting for him.

With a smile plastered on his face, he calmly said, "Mother, I apologize for the long wait."

A little shocked at her child's appearance and strange behavior, she froze.

It was the first time her child smiled at her. Every time they met, she would always be yelling at him and he would always argue back with her. She had thought that their relationship was already irreconcilable. Yet, what happened?

"Xian'er, your behavior… is a little weird today," she said.

"Is it? Do you not like it, mother?" 'Bai Shuixian' asked with a sweet smile.

"No, no, I like it," she stuttered. "It's just… Your hair…"

"My hair?" 'Bai Shuixian' asked with a cute tilt of his head.

"When did you dye your hair black?" she asked. "What if Teacher Chang doesn't like it?"

With a sweet chuckle, 'Bai Shuixian' replied, "I took a long time this morning to dye my hair, mother. Also, don't worry about Teacher Chang. Teacher Chang is very supportive of the things that I do as long as it doesn't interrupt my studies."

"I-I see…" she stuttered. "As long as you are not causing problems then I suppose all is well,."

"Well then, mother, I will take my leave to see Teacher Chang now," Bai Shuixian said as he slowly continued his path.

"You also have practice with your grandfather after class is done," she reminded him before he left.

Bai Shuixian did not respond to her reminder and continued walking towards the hall where Teacher Chang was waiting at. Inside, he was reprimanding his mother. She did not behave like a mother at all.

Now, he understood why Bai Shuixian wanted to die so badly. Bai Shuixian was only a weak child in need of guidance, but her mother was such a horrible advisor. Such a young child shouldn't be left alone to fend for herself.

With his back turned towards her mother, he scoffed. Instead of caring about whether her child was healthy or if she had eaten, she instead talked about his appearance and his classes. Well, answering that, Bai Shuixian had not eaten at all since she woke up, if you could call it like that.

Her body was quite hungry right now, but due to class with Teacher Chang, he could only ignore the bodily needs. As a developing child, nutrition and food were more important than ever. He wondered if Bai Shuixian would be able to last long enough until the end of the day.

Classes with Teacher Chang began at si shi and ended at wu shi. Immediately after that, Bai Shuixian would have to head to the military base to train with her grandfather until you shi. It seems like her schedule will not permit her to eat till nighttime.