Inside the small courtyard, a small red clay furnace was propped up on burning pine branches, within it new unstrained green ant wine.

Vice Principal Xia had a thin blanket over his body, sitting on a yellow bamboo chair that had been worn to the point where it had a glossy jade-like surface. On a small table next to him were small cowhide scrolls.

In life, those who one could call true intimate friends were very few to begin with. This was especially true when one reached his age, the amount that remained would be even fewer.

His close friends had already half withered and fallen. They didn’t have much celebration in this life, always separated… this was a reality that couldn’t be helped. Right now, he was drinking alone, which was why it seemed especially somber and lonesome.

However, fortunately, he still had many things worth recalling, as well as many people he still had to take care of. That was why he wasn’t idle at all, instead calm and peaceful.

A light gazhi noise sounded, the small courtyard’s renovated bamboo doors pushed open. A brass frame bespectacled Xiao Mingxuan walked into the small courtyard. He raised his hand, and then with a flick of his finger, a small scroll landed on the thin blanket covering Vice Principal Xia’s...