Peaceful Music: The Black-Clad Alley [An Ensemble of Common Folk]

The stone-paved lane was slick with rain, reflecting white walls and black-tiled eaves. There were few passersby, but no shortage of noise: the clatter of a spatula from one house, a child crying from another, and a few low curses mixed in. At first glance, it was an utterly ordinary alley.

Look closely, and it really was an ordinary alley.

Xie Siyun skipped along beneath her little oil-paper umbrella. After three months of pestering her mother, she'd finally gotten a pair of canvas shoes with oilcloth soles, and today she could put them to use. Spotting a puddle in the distance, she hurried over...

"Little miss, be careful, or your mother will give you an earful for getting your dress dirty." A man carrying a shoulder pole laughed as he called out to stop her.

Xie Siyun didn't care. She bounced even more merrily in the puddle. "My dad's home today." With her dad on her side, her mother couldn't do anything to her!

They all lived in Wuyi Alley and knew one another well. They knew how much Xie San doted on his daughter, so they just smiled and let it go.

After splashing through the puddle, her hem damp, Xie Siyun ambled home. She looked up at the dim alley, where the gray sky was divided into a narrow canal, and couldn't help thinking of the line, "The swallows from the halls of the Wang and Xie clans have flown into the homes of ordinary folk."

Once home to the great Wang and Xie families, Wuyi Alley had long since become a thing of the past. Now its residents included the sons of rich families who married famous courtesans, soot-covered blacksmiths, and even butchers and laborers. As for Xie Siyun, she'd gone from being the head of discipline at a high school to a little girl whom even dogs and cats couldn't stand.

Sigh. From the fearsome demoness in her students' eyes to the neighborhood's "little know-it-all," Xie Siyun was thoroughly depressed. Other people who transmigrated showed their brilliance early and became child prodigies. How had she ended up a "little know-it-all"? Sigh, living next to ignorant people left her abundant talents with nowhere to shine. Truly, loneliness was as cold as snow...

"Boss, boss, how come your mom let you out to play today?"

So much for loneliness as cold as snow. She had a whole gang of little followers!

Xie Siyun twirled her oil-paper umbrella, grinned to show her tiny teeth, and puffed out her chest proudly. "My dad's home."

A slice-of-life story, a large ensemble cast, and the coming-of-age journey of young men and women along the Qinhuai River.

Theme: Ride your dreams like a steed, and make the most of your youth.