Feng Xia thought Gu Xiaoxi might be upset after hearing that, so she quickly added, “But I can see that your Battalion Commander Lu treats you differently. Don’t take it to heart. We just wanted to give you a heads-up. We’ve seen Liu Meihua looking at him with those fiery, infatuated eyes several times when he comes home—it’s really disgusting.”

Hearing this, Gu Xiaoxi also felt a wave of disgust.

She said seriously, “Thank you for the reminder, sisters. I’ll be more attentive from now on and treat my Battalion Commander Lu even better, so he keeps his distance from other women.”

Li Guifen and Feng Xia both laughed at her response.

After chatting for a while longer, they each went back home.

Seeing that the vegetables they brought included a large Chinese cabbage, Gu Xiaoxi originally wanted to mix in some minced meat and make pork and cabbage dumplings. But since she was running low on flour, she ended up just steaming a small portion of rice and making an egg custard.

A small bowl of rice, paired with soft egg custard and a spoonful of meat sauce—simple yet nutritious.

Since she had no idea when Lu Jiansen would be back, she used up the remaining flour to make a few vegetable-filled dumplings and set them aside. When he returned, she could just boil them in water for a quick meal.

As night fell, Li Guifen came over to take down the dried bedding and chatted with Gu Xiaoxi briefly before heading home for dinner.

Gu Xiaoxi had no housework left to do, so she heated some water, took a bath, and went to bed.

She planned to wake up early the next day and make another trip to the recycling station.

…

The Next Day

Gu Xiaoxi was jolted awake by the sudden sound of heavy rain.

The sky outside was dark and gloomy, and the house felt eerily quiet. She turned on the light and suddenly realized—Lu Jiansen hadn’t come home last night.

Checking the time on her watch—4:30 AM.

She lay back under the covers, staring blankly at the ceiling.

She had experienced weather like this before, but right now, for some reason, she really wished Lu Jiansen were here with her.

Just as she was thinking about him, she heard the door outside creak open.

Her heart tensed up.

A moment later, the bedroom door was pushed open.

Startled, she immediately sat up in bed.

And then—she saw him.

Lu Jiansen stood there, shirtless, his hair still dripping with rainwater.

Their eyes met, both caught off guard.

She hadn’t expected him to return so suddenly.

He hadn’t expected his little wife to already be awake.

“Why are you up so early?”

“Did you just get back?”

They spoke at the same time.

Lu Jiansen wiped his wet hair with a towel before stepping closer to her.

“I just got back. Came to check on you, but I have to head out again soon.”

“In this heavy rain? You still have to go?” Gu Xiaoxi frowned, feeling an inexplicable pang of concern.

Lu Jiansen reached out and gently ruffled her hair. “Go back to sleep for a while. I’m going to take a shower and change.”

“I’ll heat some water for you,” she offered.

But before she could get up, Lu Jiansen immediately pulled her back down. “No need, I’ll do it myself.”

“Then I’ll cook you something to eat.”

Seeing how determined she was to do something for him, Lu Jiansen’s heart softened.

Unable to resist, he bent down and kissed her lips.

The sweet little wife in his arms was too tempting. He had only meant to give her a light kiss, but in the end, he couldn’t stop himself from deepening it.

Only when she was almost out of breath did he reluctantly let go.

“I’m going to shower.”

His voice was low and hoarse, carrying an indescribable sense of longing.

Gu Xiaoxi was too busy blushing to notice what exactly he was longing for.

When Lu Jiansen finished his shower, got dressed, and was ready to head out, Gu Xiaoxi finally realized that he had really just come back to check on her—he still had a mission to complete.

“I’m leaving now! I might not be back tonight. Make sure to lock the door properly.” Lu Jiansen reminded her, still a little uneasy.

Gu Xiaoxi nodded. “I got it. Take care and stay safe!”

“Alright. Make sure you eat well while you’re home alone.” After saying that, Lu Jiansen leaned down and kissed her forehead. Then, he put on his raincoat and quickly left.

Watching him disappear into the rain, Gu Xiaoxi stood there for a long time, unable to snap out of it.

The rain outside was getting heavier, mixed with the sound of thunder and flashes of lightning.

Unable to sleep, Gu Xiaoxi went into the kitchen.

That was when she noticed that despite being in a hurry, Lu Jiansen had brought back a small bag of peeled wild chestnuts and a wild pheasant for her.

Even the clothes he had just changed out of after his shower had already been washed once and left in a basin.

This man wasn’t just considerate—he was incredibly diligent!

She boiled some water, plucked the pheasant’s feathers, then washed and wrung out Lu Jiansen’s clothes before neatly folding them into the wardrobe.

Since it was still early in the morning, she didn’t feel like stewing the chicken, but she did spend a long time making caramelized roasted chestnuts.

There was no helping it—she loved eating them!

With a batch of roasted chestnuts ready, she skipped breakfast and simply sat by the table in the living room, munching on them while watching the rain outside.

However, the rain continued pouring relentlessly, showing no signs of stopping.

As the downpour persisted, the water level on the ground rose higher and higher. Within an hour or two, the water had already reached the front gate of the courtyard.

Along with the floodwater, branches and garbage were drifting in as well.

Gu Xiaoxi remembered an experience from her previous life—walking through the rain, stepping on a rusty nail hidden in the trash-filled water, and injuring her foot. With nothing else to do, she grabbed an umbrella and stood in the courtyard, using her garbage-clearing skill to clean the floating debris.

Before long, she had cleared out a huge pile of trash.

Initially, she planned to burn it immediately, but upon closer inspection, she noticed that among the trash were rusted nails, torn cloth, and rotting vegetable leaves.

With a sudden thought, she threw the pile into the Old Goods Storage.

To her surprise, the entire pile vanished, and in her New Product Display Hall, a bottle of iodine solution appeared.

Although she wasn’t sure why this time she got iodine instead of toilet paper, she was still quite pleased.

What made her even happier was that just now, her merit points had increased by one, and the Skill Store had unlocked new options.

Skill Store:

Skill 1: Level 1 Wound Cleaning Technique (Requires 1 merit point)

Skill 2: Level 1 Bandaging Technique (Requires 1 merit point)

Seeing this, Gu Xiaoxi immediately realized that the skills appearing in the Skill Store were related to her earlier thoughts while clearing the garbage from the floodwater.

If someone were to get injured by sharp debris in the water, wouldn’t they need to disinfect and bandage the wound?

With that in mind, she immediately spent a merit point to learn Level 1 Wound Cleaning Technique.

After that, she no longer feared the heavy rain. Holding her umbrella, she stepped out again.

Before long, she had cleaned up all the nearby trash.

With the garbage removed, the previously clogged drainage system began to function properly. The water on the ground started receding, and despite the ongoing rain, the water level at the gate had visibly lowered.

After working for half an hour, she gained another bottle of iodine, earned another merit point, and used it to unlock Level 1 Bandaging Technique.

Since her clothes had gotten a bit damp, she didn’t want to risk catching a cold. She went back home, boiled some water, and took a hot bath.

Being alone at home, she didn’t bother cooking lunch and simply boiled the vegetable dumplings she had made the night before.

At around 1 p.m., after raining for half a day, the downpour finally stopped.

However, the sky remained dark, suggesting that more rain might come later. Not wanting to go out, Gu Xiaoxi decided to stay indoors.

Just then, Li Guifen came over. She even brought along two freshly steamed buns for Gu Xiaoxi.

“Xiaoxi, your Battalion Commander Lu hasn’t returned from his mission yet, has he? Here, try these buns I just made!”