Chapter 21

Father Xiao’s hands were covered in flour. He gently patted his wife’s shoulder and half-embraced her, speaking softly,
“Don’t be scared, Pingping. I’m here.”

Bai Jiaojiao felt like she’d just been force-fed dog food—but she had to admit, it tasted pretty good.
She had never been in a relationship and didn’t believe in love, but seeing such unwavering devotion over the years… it would be a lie to say she wasn’t touched. Father Xiao’s love really held up.

Father Xiao gave her an apologetic smile.
“The person you mentioned is probably an old friend from the team back in the day. He used to joke around a lot and scared your mom a few times. After that, she started avoiding him whenever she heard his name.”

“Just because of that?” Bai Jiaojiao felt something was off. Looking at Mother Xiao’s pale face, could it really be just a prank that made her this frightened?

“It really was because of that. Maybe she was startled pretty badly the first time. Back then, Chen…” He trailed off, noticing how frightened his wife looked, and skipped over the name. “We were harvesting rice. That guy was swinging his sickle high and nearly hurt your mom. He had a habit of scaring people. Ever since, your mom gets scared just hearing his name.

But he’s a good guy. During holidays, he would avoid your mom but still send gifts—probably feeling guilty for what he did back then.”

Bai Jiaojiao wasn’t convinced it was just a coincidence. But seeing how scared Mother Xiao was, she didn’t dare press further. She silently wondered whether she should go to Chenjia Village for a look.
What a hassle, ugh.

After the dumplings were wrapped, it was time to boil them—but Xiao Zhou hadn’t come back yet.
The family wasn’t complete, so they couldn’t start cooking.

It had started snowing again outside.

“Dad, where could Xiao Zhou be?” she asked.

Father Xiao thought for a moment. “Maybe he felt something was missing and went to the black market.”

The black market—where people sold things like food stamps, clothes, and food outside official channels.
If caught, they’d be thrown into a holding cell.

Bai Jiaojiao got a little worried, but Father Xiao reassured her,
“No need to worry. Xiao Zhou knows what he’s doing. You, a young girl, just stay put.”

“Then I’ll just walk around near the house.”

After she left, a figure dressed in snowy white came in. He dusted the snow off and, not seeing that petite silhouette inside the house, his expression immediately darkened.

Father Xiao looked at the black pork he was carrying and asked in confusion,
“Didn’t we already have enough meat for the dumplings? Why’d you go get more?”

“I wanted to cook something special for Jiaojiao,” Xiao Zhou replied quietly, his mood visibly sinking. He didn’t even dare ask the three words on his mind.

Where is she?

She didn’t even know the village well, yet every time he wasn’t around, she’d go wandering off like she had no care in the world.

His head was filled with all kinds of crazy thoughts.

Father Xiao said, “Jiaojiao said she was walking near the house. Go call her back—it’s freezing outside.”

Xiao Zhou gave a heavy nod and walked a full circle around the house. He even went down to the fields, but aside from snow, there was nothing.

She… ran away?

Xiao Zhou’s eyes began to turn bloodshot, and he tasted blood in his throat, which he forcibly swallowed.
No matter where she went, he would find her.

Xiao Zhou reentered through the back door, intending to tell his father he was heading out to search. As he passed by his own room, he paused—he noticed a small bulge under the blanket through the door crack.

He pushed open the door.

The woman on the bed hadn’t woken up yet. She was still wearing the clothes from that morning, loosely covered by a blanket. Listening closely, he could hear the cute sound of her snoring.

“Jiaojiao?”

She was right in front of him, yet he still couldn’t quite believe it. He reached out and touched her face.

Just as soft and smooth as ever, though a bit cold. It felt nice—but also made him worried.

Xiao Zhou instinctively pressed his warm palm to her cheek, trying to warm her up. That’s when her sleepy eyes fluttered open—and suddenly sharpened with clarity.

Bai Jiaojiao didn’t know if it was just habit now, but waking up to see Xiao Zhou’s face so close didn’t scare her anymore. She even rubbed her cheek against his warm hand.

Instead, Xiao Zhou’s face turned beet red, but he couldn’t bring himself to pull his hand away. The feeling was just too good.

“What time is it?” Bai Jiaojiao naturally moved his hand aside and sat up to stretch.

Xiao Zhou looked at her delicate figure and the faint curve of her waist—his face turned redder.

“I… I just got back. Dad said you were walking around outside the house.”

Bai Jiaojiao’s expression changed slightly, but she quickly composed herself. “I got tired walking, so I came in to nap.”

“If you want to go out, you can ask me to go with you,” Xiao Zhou said.

Bai Jiaojiao cleared her throat and glanced at the door to make sure no one was there. Then she whispered,
“Actually, I just walked around and came back in through the back door. It’s too cold outside, and I didn’t want Mom and Dad thinking I was lazy, so I said I was out walking. Cover for me, okay?”

All the darkness in Xiao Zhou’s heart instantly vanished. His eyes lit up with a genuine smile, and he ruffled her hair.
“Okay.”

Bai Jiaojiao was momentarily dazzled by his smile, but quickly came back to her senses and hurried to change her clothes.

For lunch, aside from dumplings, there was even red-braised lion’s head meatballs—along with freshly steamed white rice. Bai Jiaojiao hadn’t expected that at all.

“Xiao Zhou specially went to the black market to get black pork. I was wondering what it was for—turns out it’s a special treat for Jiaojiao,” Father Xiao teased. “If he keeps treating you this well, we’ll be relieved.”

Bai Jiaojiao’s face turned red, and Xiao Zhou didn’t look much better—but he still earnestly replied,
“I’ll always treat Jiaojiao well.”

As she ate the lion’s head meatballs she didn’t get to taste in her dream, Bai Jiaojiao thought it was even better than she’d imagined.
Because it was made with love—love from the amnesiac Xiao Zhou.

Too bad, she couldn’t return that love.
And right now, what mattered most was saving the Xiao family.

Bai Jiaojiao mulled over it again and decided she really did need to visit Chenjia Village.

Conveniently, that afternoon, Father Xiao asked them to bring some things to a cousin’s wife who had married into Chenjia Village.

Apparently, the cousin’s husband was still in the city and hadn’t returned, so they were short on winter clothes. They brought over some old clothes from Mother Xiao and Xiao Yueyue—but none were torn.

In this era, just having clothes to wear was a blessing. Giving clothes was like offering charcoal in a snowstorm. Bai Jiaojiao felt Father Xiao was truly kind—a far cry from the naturally twisted Xiao Zhou.

“So this is Xiao Zhou’s wife? Such a pretty, youthful face,” the cousin’s wife greeted them warmly.

In the dilapidated courtyard, she had rummaged through the house to find a few usable stools—of varying heights, some quite unstable. Bai Jiaojiao was exhausted from walking and quickly sat down after helping Father Xiao settle Mother Xiao.

“Of course—she’s my wife, after all,” Xiao Zhou said proudly, not shy at all in praising his wife.

His words made the atmosphere a bit awkward. Father Xiao glared at him.
“You really don’t know how to be modest.”

Mother Xiao giggled at the side, though it wasn’t clear if she understood.

The cousin’s wife glanced at Mother Xiao, her gaze flickering slightly.
“Meiping’s still the same?”

“Yeah, she’s in good health. Runs around every day. Always so cheerful.” Father Xiao gently patted his wife’s head.

Mother Xiao’s complexion was a healthy wheat color. Her face was clean, and her hair was neatly styled—clearly well cared for.

The cousin’s wife’s smile stiffened a bit. Suddenly, Mother Xiao got agitated and lunged forward.

It turned out her cousin’s son, Chen Tiedan, had been rummaging through the gifts they brought. Several of the larger clothes had fallen to the ground. Mother Xiao rushed over to pick them up, startling Chen Tiedan, who burst into tears and threw whatever he had at her.

“You rotten old hag! Get away from me! Get lost!”