All the tension and apprehension vanished completely at this moment.

Feeling the madness and burning intensity in Sheng Zexi’s eyes, Gu Jianing recalled her past life—how this man had called her name and rushed into the raging fire to find her.

At this moment, Gu Jianing hesitated no longer.

She wrapped her arms around him in return.

The heated kang bed was scorching, and so were the two people on it.

Inside the room, the pitch-black night was accompanied by the relentless snowfall outside, as if determined to blanket the entire world. Everything around was silent and still.

The cold wind howled fiercely.

Only the warmth inside the room continued to rise.

Across two lifetimes, two lonely and frozen hearts finally intertwined at this moment, finding solace in each other.

Two full hours—two whole hours!

Afterward, an utterly exhausted Gu Jianing muttered a curse at Sheng Zexi before falling into a dazed slumber.

She was too tired to hold on any longer.

As for Sheng Zexi, he was like a wolf finally satiated, now brimming with energy, his face radiating satisfaction.

He got up to boil water, first wiping himself down before bringing the basin to the kang bed to gently clean up his delicate wife. Then, he dressed her in sleepwear.

Throughout it all, Gu Jianing remained in deep sleep, completely at his mercy.

Once everything was settled, Sheng Zexi finally blew out the kerosene lamp and climbed into bed.

The moment he lay down, Gu Jianing instinctively sought out warmth and burrowed into his embrace.

Sheng Zexi pulled his little wife into his arms, lowering his head to place a tender kiss on her smooth forehead. His deep eyes brimmed with contentment.

To think that the person in his heart was also his wife—at this moment, holding her in his arms, he felt this was the happiest moment of his twenty-something years of life.

“Ningning, goodnight. Sweet dreams.”

Outside, the night was frigid with heavy snowfall, but inside the room, the two held each other and slept warmly.

That night, Gu Jianing had a wonderful dream. In it, she cured Sheng Zexi’s illness and took the Pregnancy Holy Body Pill. Soon after, she became pregnant. The dream ended with many adorable and beautiful children calling them “Mom” and “Dad.”

Nestled in Sheng Zexi’s embrace, Gu Jianing slept soundly, a soft smile unconsciously curling her lips.

The next morning, when she woke up, the man was no longer by her side.

Gu Jianing glanced outside at the daylight, then checked her watch. Her lips twitched—it was already past ten in the morning.

Supporting her sore waist, she got out of bed and saw a note and breakfast left on the table.

Picking up the note, she saw Sheng Zexi’s bold and strong handwriting. He had gone to get her breakfast early in the morning before heading off for training—at five o’clock.

Gu Jianing gasped.

After exhausting her so much last night, this man still had the energy to get up at dawn for training? His stamina was truly something else.

She suddenly felt that Sheng Zexi was like a demon that drained energy, and she was the one being drained.

She could guarantee that right now, she must be completely drained.

Pulling out a small mirror, she took a look at herself. To her surprise, the woman in the reflection had a rosy complexion, like a plump, juicy peach, and an undeniable charm in her eyes that she couldn’t conceal no matter what.

Alright, it seemed she hadn’t really suffered a loss.

But still…

Gu Jianing started searching through the system’s store, looking for pills that could help her endure future “battles” on the kang bed. She didn’t want to be rendered useless and bedridden after every encounter until the sun was high in the sky the next day.

[Host, there’s no need to search. Once you cure Sheng Zexi’s illness, the reward—‘Peerless Beauty Pill’—will have that effect.] The Childbearing System chimed in at the perfect moment.

Gu Jianing: So, the Peerless Beauty Pill has that function too?

Alright then, she would wait another half a month.

The stove was still warm. Gu Jianing placed the cooled mantou and side dishes on it to reheat, then boiled some water for washing up.

By the time she finished breakfast, it was already noon.

Sheng Zexi hadn’t returned, but Gu Jianing had expected that. He had told her before—if he didn’t come home for lunch, she should go to the canteen to get food on her own.

Since she had just eaten breakfast, she wasn’t hungry and didn’t need to go.

“Sister Shuwang, Sister Shuwang…” Gu Jianing knocked on the door of the neighboring house.

Before long, Zhang Shuwan answered, with little Guoguo trailing behind her.

“Jianing, you’re here.”

“Mm, Sister Shuwang, I have something to ask you.”

“There’s no need for formalities. Just ask. Don’t stand outside—come in.”

Guoguo was delighted to see Gu Jianing and called out sweetly, “Auntie!”

Gu Jianing slipped a few White Rabbit candies into her little hands.

“You don’t have to give her those,” Zhang Shuwang said. “Those White Rabbit candies are precious.”

“It’s fine. I just like Guoguo.”

Once inside and seated, Gu Jianing brought up the topic of the house warming.

“…I heard that most of the food is personally prepared by the military wives. But I—I don’t know how to cook,” she admitted, her delicate, beautiful face scrunching up in distress.

Zhang Shuwang recalled seeing Commander Sheng bustling around the stove the day before and immediately understood what was going on.

“That’s no big deal. I can help you,” Zhang Shuwang offered confidently, patting her chest.

“We can discuss what dishes to prepare first. Once we finalize the menu, you just need to get the ingredients, and I’ll come over to help cook.”

Was that an option?

“Wouldn’t that be too much trouble for you?”

“Not at all. I’m good at stir-frying, and we don’t need anything too fancy—just a few big pot dishes will do.”

“Alright, that works.”

This was a huge help from Sister Shuwang. Gu Jianing made a mental note to properly repay her later.

The two of them started discussing the menu. When Gu Jianing mentioned a few meat dishes, Zhang Shuwang immediately exclaimed, “With these meat dishes, I guarantee everyone will be satisfied!”

After all, this was the resource-scarce northwest, where meat was even scarcer. Lin Xing had mentioned that even the canteen had very little meat. Once the heavy snow sealed the mountains, forget meat—even vegetables would become scarce. If one arrived late, there would be nothing left at all.

Leaving Zhang Shuwang’s house, Gu Jianing felt relieved—one more task settled.

Zhang Shuwang had been concerned about how she would source the meat, but Gu Jianing wasn’t worried at all. She planned to check the market in two days. If she couldn’t buy any there, she would use the system’s exchange store, where ingredients were incredibly cheap.

Back home, Gu Jianing pulled out a letter and paper, ready to write to her family and Grandpa and Grandma Sang.

She had to let them know they had arrived safely in the northwest. Though it was cold, they had everything they needed and were doing well.

However, due to the heavy snow sealing the mountains during the New Year, they would have to stay put and couldn’t travel anywhere.

For her family, Gu Jianing wrote a long letter, addressing each loved one with many heartfelt words.