"It can even blush, its body turning all pink."
Several maids gathered around Huale, chattering happily in discussion, while Hexia walked to a quieter spot to sit down, her fingers lightly moving on the table, occasionally resting and falling. Deklabi saw this and placed a small piece of macaron on her palm.
"Would you like one, Dantalion?"
The pale-yellow treat coated with milk chocolate melted and dispersed its sweet fragrance on her tongue.
Leaning on the shoulder of 'Vurowus' next to her, the young mistress among the maids gently stroked the girl's hair, as they talked about some recent events.
"How was your vacation? I heard you went to see some distant relatives."
"Well, they're not that far, it's just that we hadn't been in contact before." The girl reminisced about the day she said goodbye.
Gu Qianlou stood under the loft's staircase; he had been silent while facing Hexia earlier, but as she was about to walk down the stairs, he stopped her to speak.
"No matter what happens, you can always come back. This place is also your home, a place where you can rest and recover with peace of mind."
"The matters of our older generation have passed, but you...you are different..." After speaking, he resumed his steps and left that old loft.
Departing from the ruins of the Thousand-Floored City, these survivors boarded a vehicle heading to a distant place. Looking back through the curtain of rain as they left, they would establish a new city at the foot of a mountain in the North Fourth District.
According to the records, it was a hill sheltered from the wind where they could build facilities to divert rainwater, reducing erosion on the city. Additionally, not far from the mountainside ran a river, useful for drawing water and initial industrial needs. It was one of the locations chosen by AI as most suitable for developing a new city.
"Do you have any preferred names for the new city, Miss Second Daughter?" someone asked her that day.
"I'm to choose?" The girl was slightly surprised.
"Yes, the possibility of our new city exists because of you, Miss Second Daughter, so it's more fitting for you to decide."
The woman holding the clipboard said this; she was actually Hexia's older cousin, although the two had never met before.
"But I'm afraid to choose poorly and bring bad luck." Hexia understood some of the many connotations and taboos in Eastern culture but didn't dare say she fully comprehended them.
"Then let's not burden ourselves with those profound meanings. The words we cherish were simply made by the ancients on a whim. It's only because they've been passed down and written about by generations that they have gained so many meanings," the older cousin said, open-mindedly. Perhaps she had been briefed beforehand.
"Then let's call it 'Qian Liu,' a light color as transparent as glazed glass, simple and straightforward, without carrying too much weight, light and clear."
"Qian Liu, huh? It has water, jade, it by the mountains, alongside the river. Indeed, it's a very good name... Uh, I shouldn't be adding those old connotations again." She shook her head in haste, afraid the girl might regret choosing such a name.
"Then let's call it 'Qian Liu.' From now on, we won't even use the word 'city' because there's no need for those fence-like city walls."
After thanking the young lady, she recorded the name on her clipboard, which later received unanimous approval and agreement from everyone.
Thus, the new city slowly began to rise at the foot of the mountain, and for many people, life turned a new page from that moment on.
Back in Payin City, the girl rested for two days, recording her journey and experiences in her yellowed sketchbook. Then she sealed it and tucked it away in a corner, resuming her work at 'Dream of Glazed Glass.' Gradually, life returned to its routine state, until today, when she suddenly realized that she had effortlessly reached a level of ease and skill with her violin.
The change in her heart, after setting down the heavy burdens of the past, seemed to make her violin play more vivaciously and effortlessly; she no longer meticulously struggled with every note but maintained the pitch and rhythm while playing spontaneously. Less stringent, more freely, without realizing it, she could play a complete piece smoothly, without any hindrance.
Finally, at the suggestion of 'Botis' and 'Andusia', a small performance was arranged for this afternoon, which turned out to be very successful.
"Dantalion has truly begun to master it now, huh? Even if you performed in some cafés, nobody would find fault," Andusia said with a smile, though the standard for the cafés she mentioned was likely not the usual ones on the street corner but those she had seen in the Twin Trees Star Domain.
"We should celebrate today. Come to think of it, Dantalion, it's been over two months since you started working here, and soon, you'll probably have to go to school."
Time flies. Although it's been only two months, Hexia felt that these two months were more complex and interesting than the previous two years, filled with changes everywhere.
After work, everyone gathered in the cozy library, enjoying the joyous leisure time around the table after the performance, only reluctantly parting at 8 p.m.
"Got to work again tomorrow," one of the maids muttered grumpily.
"Ha ha, perhaps you could ask the manager for a day off."
"Taking time off means less money, forget it." She shook her head.
"Ah, forget I mentioned it; actually, I'm used to it. Just sometimes feel like complaining a bit. It would be nice if every day was this relaxed and leisurely."
"That sounds like you're yearning for retirement..."
"How can you say that..." The two chatted and laughed as they slowly walked away, and Hexia also packed up her things, picked up her lightweight bag, and prepared to head home.