Genshin Impact: I, the Winter Prince, reign supreme.

In the warm and cozy room, the little match girl danced with joy. For a child, there is nothing more joyful than seeing the birds return.

"Blind sister, come out and see! The birds have all returned."

"Is that so?" the pretty woman sitting quietly by the fireplace responded softly.

She was blindfolded, resting her chin on her hands, with a faint smile playing on her lips.

Fortunately, she rarely appears in public. Otherwise, if the little girl knew that she was the third seat of the Fools' Enforcers, the "Girl" Columbia, they certainly wouldn't be getting along so easily and harmoniously.

Columbia enjoyed the feeling of being with ordinary people.

The other party was willing to tell the truth because they didn't know her true identity, which allowed her to hear many interesting stories or information that she couldn't hear in the quiet Winter Palace. Of course, Su Yu's advice to observe the people's conditions and understand their lives was also an important reason why she often mingled among the common people.

I met the little girl and her family last week.

She then discovered a little girl selling matches at exorbitant prices to foreigners on the street.

Although it did not violate the laws of the Winter Kingdom, she did not support such an immoral act, so she pretended to be a refugee and collapsed in front of the little girl's house.

She did this, of course, to fish for fish; she wanted to test whether the little girl's family was worth saving.

She was quite experienced in fishing.

Last time, she overheard people on the street talking about an architect who frequently abused his wife, so she decided to punish him.

When the architect found her lying in the snow, his first thought was not to help her or report it to the police, but to reach into his coat pocket to look for valuables.

She used the power of ice to freeze the architect's hands and feet.

The architect screamed for help in terror, and a patrolling sheriff came running.

She recounted what had just happened, and under the sheriff's stern questioning, the architect confessed on the spot and was eventually arrested and imprisoned for theft.

She tried the same method on the little girl, and the little girl called her grandfather, who immediately carried her back into the house to warm up. He also invited a doctor to come and treat her, which almost cost her all the money she had earned from selling matches over the past few days.

Touched by the kindness of the little girl's family, she made an excuse to stay. Every night, while the little girl and the old woman were asleep, she would secretly remove the cancer cells from the old woman's body...

The kind-hearted people of Zhidong always deserve a helping hand.

The little match girl suddenly realized that the older sister was blind, so she quickly apologized and took her hand to the window.

"Blind sister, can you hear the birds singing? There are so many kinds of birds."

"Hmm...it sounds beautiful. Do you prefer birdsong or the singing of fairies?"

"The song of fairies," the little girl answered without hesitation.

Columbia asked, "The fairy's singing voice is lonely and cold, and it's always the same few songs over and over again. Don't you get bored after listening to them for so many years?"

The old man stared wide-eyed: "What you hear is different from what we hear, girl. What I hear is joy, happiness, and optimism, which is incomparable to birdsong. Even if birds return to the city in the future, their songs will never replace the nighttime celestial chants."

The little girl praised, "Grandpa is right."

Columbia smiled contentedly.

Then she put away her smile and looked up at the roof of the tall building at the crossroads. The actions of Xiaogong and her assistant were reflected in her eyes. She thought to herself with resentment, "Hmph, this Miss Xiaogong is beautiful and kind-hearted. Her fireworks skills are superb. She will be a fireworks master in the future. No wonder His Highness values ​​her."

During the day today, the little girl sold matches to Xiaogong, which was part of a fishing scheme she had planned.

In the morning, she told the little girl that she heard foreigners talking on the street outside. Knowing that she had amazing hearing, the little girl immediately went downstairs and walked around the street. Sure enough, she found Xiaogong and her assistant, so she took the initiative to go up and sell them.

As it turned out, the other party bought not just one box, but the whole box!

"Blind sister, I lied to that foreign sister, and I feel so bad because she didn't lie to me. She said she would see birds flying tonight, and it really happened. The person who set off the fireworks was that sister, right? Sigh."

The little match girl then recalled the strange behavior of the palace maiden looking at the sky during the day and realized that she was observing the air currents to prepare for the fireworks that night.

"Yes, the fireworks she made were beautiful."

Just as the two were talking, a spectacular fireworks display exploded in the sky.

This time, it formed a snowflake pattern.

Snowflake patterns hold special significance in the winter solstice, serving as a symbol of the winter solstice nation. Some people even tattoo snowflake patterns on their bodies to demonstrate their love and loyalty to the country.

The spectacular fireworks display once again drew cheers from the crowd, and there's no doubt that tomorrow's news in Winter Country will be about this amazing fireworks show.

Faced with such a romantic and beautiful scene, Columbia silently returned to the fireplace.

Tonight's fireworks show was a great success, and Xiaogong will become famous because of it tomorrow. It's hard for her to understand why Su Yu would entrust the exclusive agency rights for black powder to such a talented woman, simply because he admires Xiaogong's talent.

Recalling the sweet words Su Yu had said while holding her hand, she felt inexplicably lost.

The old man suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "Girl, it's a shame you're missing out! The grand finale is coming, I can't wait! It's here, it's here—"

The grandfather and grandson seemed very excited, staring intently out the window.

A firework bursts in the night sky, scatters, recombines, and converges, eventually forming a giant six-winged pattern.

The little girl noticed something special: "It's so pretty! Hmm, why does it look so much like the hair ornament on the blind lady's head?"

"Girl, come and look, aren't those fireworks outside imitating your hair ornament?"

Columbia looked out the window.

He was taken aback at first, then the corners of his mouth turned up slightly again.

She instantly realized that this fireworks display must have been at Su Yu's behest.

It was for the whole of winter, and also for her alone.

Su Yu once said, "You are the warmth of human life."

Just like tonight.

Chapter 162 Fireworks Display

[Girl] Columbia stood before the window covered in frost flowers once more, her long eyelashes fluttering gently, as if she were about to open her eyes.

The special "gift" that Su Yu prepared for her was of great significance. The meaning of the six-winged firework hair ornament was self-evident, which was tantamount to publicly showing his affection for her.

Starting tonight, many people in the Kingdom of Winter will understand who the Prince truly cares about most.

“I’m sorry, blind sister. Grandpa and I forgot you can’t see. Let me describe it to you.” The little girl apologized, taking Columbia’s arm.

Columbia snapped out of her daze and quickly tried to control her emotions—

"You absolutely must not open your eyes," Su Yu specifically instructed before leaving.

The old man joked, "Granddaughter, your sister doesn't seem blind at all. There are two stools, one big and one small, between here and here, but her feet seem to have eyes and can see, and she manages to avoid all the obstacles. And yesterday, the old cat was sleeping at her door, and I thought she would step on its tail when she went out, but she still managed to step over it smoothly."

Columbia replied, “My eyes may not see, but my heart is not blind. Old man, you have observed me quite carefully.”

“I only have one granddaughter. When strangers come to my house, I have to be extra careful. Under Your Highness’s rule, the security in our Zhidong Kingdom has improved a lot in recent years. Take my granddaughter for example, at least she dares to go out alone to sell matches. I wouldn’t have felt at ease before, but there are still quite a few bad people, so we have to be on guard.”

"Old man, do you think I'm a good person or a bad person?"

“If you were a bad person, my grandson and I would have been in trouble long ago. You would come to my room and sit on the edge of my bed in the middle of the night, and several times I thought you were trying to rob and kill me, which made me very worried. Later I found out that you were treating this old man’s illness.”

The little girl asked eagerly, "Grandpa, are you sick? Is it serious?"

The old man chuckled and said, "It's not serious. Your blind sister cured me."

The little girl was skeptical. She had clearly heard her grandfather cough violently that morning. She asked Columbia, "Sister, is what Grandpa said true?"

"Of course it's true, don't worry." Columbia had no choice but to cooperate with the old man and tell a lie. In fact, the old man's cancer was already in its late stage, and all she could do was prolong his life and alleviate his suffering.

Cancer is an incurable disease that even the gods cannot cure.

“Young lady, you are a good person. I am proud that our Zhidong Kingdom has a prince and a kind executor like you. We Zhidong will surely overthrow the laws of heaven and achieve our grand goal in the future.”

The old man exposed her true identity.

To the children, the fireworks display was just a spectacular show; but as an older person, he naturally saw something else entirely.

Such a grand and solemn performance could be enjoyed by Her Majesty the Queen in the Winter Palace, and naturally all the civil and military officials could also see it. It was a spectacle that attracted the attention of the entire nation. The fireworks pattern that was the grand finale of the performance was exactly the same as the hair ornament of the blind girl she had saved, so she guessed that she might be an important figure in the Winter Kingdom with an extraordinary identity.

He had heard a rumor that among the eleven executives of Winter, there was a female executive who was suspected to be blind, and he speculated that she might be that executive.

If they are executive officers, then it makes sense. They are powerful, and even without their eyes, they have special techniques that allow them to see everything in the outside world.

Seeing that Columbia's expression remained unchanged, the old man became even more certain of his guess that she was the executive officer. He took his granddaughter and stepped aside, bowing respectfully and saying, "Sir, I would like to ask you for a favor."

"Go ahead and say it." Columbia sighed softly. She didn't like being flattered like this; she felt much more comfortable with the equal relationship she had with the old man's family.

“When I am no longer here, could you allow my granddaughter to go to the House of Hearths? I have heard that the children there have free room and board and even have the opportunity to listen to His Highness the Prince’s lectures, which would be beneficial to the child’s development. I have nothing to repay you with, but if you don’t mind, please take the deed to this old house.”

His old house is located in the heart of Winterhold. It used to be a slum, but in the last three years it has been transformed into a commercial street through large-scale development, and property prices have soared. Several neighbors have sold their houses and made a lot of money.

He has been reluctant to sell the house because he has grown attached to it and would find it difficult to adapt to a different place. He also plans to leave the house to his granddaughter as her future dowry.

He had been worrying about what to do with his granddaughter after his death. Since the person in front of him was the Executor, exchanging this house for a chance to go to the Hearth House was definitely not a bad deal.

Columbia did not agree immediately, but said, "The physical training at the Hearth House is very tough. You will have to learn boxing, fighting and various martial arts there. People who cannot endure hardship and whose willpower is not strong enough will have their mental breakdowns in a few days."

The old man explained, “Sir, I know all of this. I just want to find a home for my granddaughter. I heard that His Highness the Prince likes every child there, and I believe he can take good care of my granddaughter. I’m afraid I won’t live to see the day when Zhidong overthrows the laws of nature, but my granddaughter can definitely do her part!”

I promise you.

For Columbia, this was just a trivial matter.

"Thank you, sir. This is the land deed for the old house; please accept it."

Colombia accepted the land deed and said quietly, "No need to thank me, thank yourself for your honesty. Most people, if they guessed my identity, wouldn't expose me to my face like you did. Instead, they would try to curry favor with me in the days that followed, trying every possible way to please me and using all their wits to gain benefits from me."

"Sir, the fireworks display outside has ended. Let me see you off."

The old man knew perfectly well that from the moment her identity was revealed, it would be impossible for them to get along under the same roof as before.

"Blind sister..."

The little girl started crying, not knowing what to do.

Columbia left some money before she left. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to ensure their normal life for the next six months, and the little girl wouldn't have to go out to sell matches in the wind and snow every day.

The reason she only kept him for six months was because she had a premonition that the old man's lifespan was at most only six months.

Once outside, Columbia was at a loss for where to go.

Returning to his desolate executive residence?

just forget it.

Every time she returned, she would think of the time she spent with Su Yu. The pain of longing was like a poisonous insect that gnawed at her heart, tormenting her and making her unable to sleep.

She was considering finding another place to "fish" when she heard the sound of boots hitting the snow in the distance.