Xiao Lin stared blankly at Gu Xiaoxi, which made her frown. “Two women are fighting, and you didn’t even try to stop them. Now you’re just standing there, ignoring whether your nephew lives or dies?”

Snapping back to his senses, Xiao Lin quickly took the child from Ding Lanyi’s arms and rushed to the hospital.

Gu Xiaoxi ignored the cries coming from inside the house and bent down to pick up the swaddling cloth from the floor.

At that moment, the political commissar and his wife arrived, followed by a large crowd.

She didn’t bother with how they handled the situation. Instead, she stepped out of the crowd and headed toward the medical office.

As she passed a secluded area, she hesitated for a moment before casually tossing the soiled swaddling cloth into the old storage. She replaced it with a clean one and quickly caught up to wrap the child in it.

While the doctor was examining the child, Ding Lanyi looked at Gu Xiaoxi apologetically. “I’m sorry! And… thank you!”

Gu Xiaoxi shook her head. “It’s fine.”

She had no intention of getting involved in other people’s family matters. Once the doctor finished the examination and said the child had bruises from being pinched and needed further observation, she decided to leave.

She didn’t know who had pinched the child, but they had been ruthless.

On her way home, she was surprised to discover that she had gained another merit point. A new skill had also appeared in the skill store.

Beginner Skill Store:

Skill 1: Cleaning Technique (Requires 1 Merit Point)

Skill 2: Drying Technique (Requires 1 Merit Point)

Seeing that she had two merit points, Gu Xiaoxi decided to learn both skills at once.

As she wondered what to clean at home to test her new skills, a familiar, pleasant male voice suddenly called out behind her.

“Xiaoxi!”

She stopped in her tracks and turned around. Bathed in the soft sunlight, Lu Jiansen was walking toward her. A gentle light flickered in her eyes.

“You’re back!”

Lu Jiansen nodded slightly. “I got called to the commander’s office for an urgent matter.”

She didn’t ask further and instead told him about the Xiao family’s situation.

Lu Jiansen was silent for a moment before saying, “Xiaoxi, Battalion Commander Xiao failed his mission, and there are a lot of issues left unresolved. If I don’t return tomorrow, it means I’ve been sent on a mission. But don’t worry—I’ll be fine.”

Gu Xiaoxi looked up at him. “Will it be dangerous?”

Lu Jiansen gently brushed his fingers across her worried gaze. “I won’t let anything happen to me.”

“Mm, I believe you!” Gu Xiaoxi nodded.

She couldn’t stop him, so all she could do was trust him and hope for his safe return.

The two strolled home at a leisurely pace, passing by the Xiao residence without stopping to watch the commotion.

Back at home, Lu Jiansen rolled up his sleeves and headed straight to the kitchen to cook, while Gu Xiaoxi searched for something to wash—but found nothing.

In the end, she sat by the well in the courtyard and used her Garbage Sorting and Disposal skills to remove the impurities and moss inside the well.

To test her Cleaning Technique, she even cleaned the surrounding area.

Seeing that she could now control a small portion of the well water, she jumped happily by the well several times.

She used to hate how muddy the courtyard would get after it rained. But now, that problem was solved!

With a quick application of the Drying Technique, most of the damp ground had already dried.

By the time she turned around, the entire courtyard was completely dry, exuding an indescribable sense of cleanliness and clarity.

She thought to herself—she must keep doing good deeds and earn more merit points!

When Lu Jiansen finished cooking and stepped outside, he saw the spotless courtyard, and a faint smile flashed in his eyes.

She Really Loves Cleanliness!

While eating, Gu Xiaoxi suddenly noticed something—her skin seemed to have become much fairer and clearer than before. Was it just her imagination?

After finishing the meal, she pushed Lu Jiansen, who was about to wash the dishes, out of the kitchen.

“I’ll do it!”

Lu Jiansen, however, simply ruffled her hair indulgently. “Whenever I’m home, I’ll do the washing.”

Gu Xiaoxi was about to argue when she heard her brother’s voice coming from outside.

“Sis, your bathing tub is here. Where should I put it?”

Lu Jiansen immediately stepped outside. “Put it in the room for now.”

“Commander Lu, the cement and bricks have arrived too. Where should we build the bathroom?” Li Kun and a few soldiers asked while carrying the materials into the courtyard.

Lu Jiansen quickly assigned them a location.

Gu Xiaoxi glanced over, then took the opportunity to sneak back into the kitchen and wash the dishes.

Knowing that hard labor would make everyone hungry, she decided to fry some sesame seeds and peanuts to make sesame glutinous rice balls.

It was simple, delicious, and—most importantly—something she was really good at making.

Inside and outside the house, everyone was busy. Although they were working separately, the atmosphere was warm and lively.

When Gu Dachuan caught the scent of roasted peanuts and sesame seeds, he couldn’t help but smile. “My sister makes the best peanut and sesame glutinous rice balls!”

Hearing this, Lu Jiansen instinctively glanced toward the kitchen.

It seemed his little wife didn’t particularly like cooking, but she did enjoy making and eating snacks.

Even the brown sugar steamed cake she made at noon had been delicious!

There were so many kinds of pastries in the capital—next time he wrote home, he would have to ask his mother to send more.

Once the glutinous rice balls were ready, there was quite a large batch. Gu Xiaoxi specially sent a bowl over to Sister-in-law Li.

Li Guifen was pleasantly surprised. “Xiaoxi, you just sent over some brown sugar steamed cake, and now you’re bringing more food?”

Gu Xiaoxi smiled. “Since we’re building a bathroom at home, I figured the workers would get hungry from all the effort, so I made extra. I thought I’d bring some over to you too.”

Feeling delighted, Li Guifen turned around and fetched a large pumpkin from the kitchen.

“This is from our garden. We harvested over ten big pumpkins! Take one home and try it—you have to accept it!”

Gu Xiaoxi smiled and nodded. “Alright, I won’t be polite then!”

And so, she went home carrying a large pumpkin and immediately started making pumpkin pancakes.

When the pancakes were done, she arranged over a dozen on a plate and called Lu Jiansen inside.

“We’re newlyweds, and this is our new home. We didn’t hand out wedding sweets or host a banquet, so how about giving each family six glutinous rice balls and two pumpkin pancakes?”

Lu Jiansen hadn’t even thought about this. Now that she mentioned it, he nodded at once. “Good idea. I’ll deliver them!”

If he was deployed on a mission, Xiaoxi would be home alone. It was important to maintain good relationships with the families in the compound.

Not necessarily to ask for favors, but at the very least, to maintain friendly ties.

To get the task done quickly, he enlisted Gu Dachuan and Li Kun to help carry the food.

As a result, Li Guifen—who had just given a pumpkin—ended up with four fragrant pumpkin pancakes instead of two. She was so delighted that she turned to her husband and praised, “Battalion Commander Lu really married a wonderful wife!”

Yes, while others received two pumpkin pancakes, she got four.

How could she not feel special?

She had already made up her mind—whenever she could help, she would make sure to look out for Gu Xiaoxi!