Lin Chu had lunch, keeping track of time. Around 1:30 PM, she left the shelter and opened the door to her room.

In the living room, Auntie with curly hair was tidying up the dining table, dressed in a simple shirt.

Old Yang, who had originally been lying by the door, had now made his way back to his bedroom and was resting in bed.

Yang Qianqian’s door was still closed, but she was sitting by the dining table, wearing a thick down jacket, almost like she was wrapped in a quilt.

She was holding a soup spoon, stirring the thin porridge in the bowl idly, her eyes occasionally glancing towards the master bedroom to the south.

When she heard the door open, both people in the living room turned to look at her.

She appeared disheveled, her hair somewhat messy, but her face wasn’t pale. She wore a simple gray-white sweatshirt over her, and brown work pants, showing no sign of warmth.

It didn’t seem like she was dressed warmly at all.

Yang Qianqian narrowed her eyes slightly, glaring at Lin Chu, her gaze filled with surprise and doubt.

Auntie with curly hair, seeing her come out like this, widened her eyes and looked her up and down. When she saw that she didn’t seem to be shivering or uncomfortable, a genuine smile gradually appeared on her face.

“Little niece, you’re awake!”

“Mm, I slept for quite a while,” Lin Chu replied.

“Does your head still hurt?” Auntie asked eagerly.

Lin Chu shook her head. “It seems much better now. I’m not cold anymore. Looks like getting soaked in the snow really worked.”

Hearing this, Auntie’s smile grew even wider.

“Come, come, I just made a pot of porridge. Old Yang won’t eat any, so there’s some left in the pot. I’ll heat it up and serve you some.”

Lin Chu, curious about their cooking tools, didn’t refuse Auntie’s offer of porridge. After all, her current persona was that of someone who had been asleep for a whole day and night. She hadn’t eaten anything for a day, so refusing porridge would have seemed odd.

Seeing Lin Chu sit down at the dining table, Yang Qianqian shifted slightly to the side, distancing herself with a cold expression.

Lin Chu pretended not to notice. As soon as she saw the induction cooker in the kitchen, she casually asked, “Do you still have electricity for cooking?”

Officially, the water supply had been cut off, and the gas and electricity wouldn’t last long either.

Yang Qianqian stirred the porridge in her bowl, clearly in a bad mood. When she heard Lin Chu’s question, she still spoke in a detached manner:

“We often have power outages here. My brother set up a solar power system at home, so now we rely on solar power. We can still cook and heat water every day.”

This meant the official power supply had also been cut off.

Lin Chu nodded. “Your brother is impressive.”

After Yang Qianqian nodded, she looked at Lin Chu for a moment before asking cautiously, “Aren’t you cold?”

Lin Chu shook her head. “Not cold.”

Yang Qianqian’s gaze grew even more complicated.

At this moment, Auntie had already walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of porridge.

“Your cousin got soaked in the snow, had a fever, and now has a cold-resistant constitution, so of course she’s not afraid of the cold. But you, you stubborn child, still don’t listen to advice. Look at you, wrapped in this thick winter coat and still freezing.”

As she spoke, she placed the bowl of porridge in front of Lin Chu, smiling kindly at her. “Little niece, eat up.”

Lin Chu had heard the movements in the kitchen when Auntie was preparing the porridge.

Just now, she was indeed only ladling out porridge, with no other actions.

Lin Chu scooped a spoonful of porridge and put it in her mouth.

The porridge was very thin, with only a few grains of rice, almost like drinking water. Lin Chu quickly finished the entire bowl.

On the side, Yang Qianqian also drank her porridge in one go, wiped her mouth, stood up, and walked toward the door without looking back.

“Stubborn girl, where are you going?”

“I’m going out for a bit.”

Yang Qianqian didn’t say much more, put on a pair of fur-lined boots, grabbed a scarf and hat from the rack, and went out.

Lin Chu saw this and went back to her room to grab a denim jacket. She put it on and turned to greet Auntie.

“Auntie, I’ll go out for a bit too. I just arrived here, so I’ll go familiarize myself with the surroundings.”

Hearing Lin Chu’s words, Auntie smiled, as if something came to her mind.

“Right, right, you’re all young people, good at communicating. Go help me talk to Qianqian.”

“She’s a stubborn kid, dead set on not joining us. I really don’t know what to do.”

Lin Chu didn’t respond, just nodded slightly. She found the shoes she wore yesterday by the door, put them on, and went out.

When she caught up with Yang Qianqian, she was already walking unevenly through the snow, not far ahead.

Though Lin Chu had thermal clothes, the outside temperature was still too cold.

The moment she stepped out of the building, the biting cold wind hit her face, freezing her.

But she resisted the urge to shiver and just stomped her feet, then quickly walked in the direction of Yang Qianqian.

Hearing the movement behind her, Yang Qianqian turned around.

Seeing Lin Chu, she stood still, frowning slightly, and then glanced up at the second floor.

“I say, ‘Cousin,’ aren’t you being a bit too loyal to my mom? You even have to follow me when I go out?”

Lin Chu turned her head and, following her gaze, saw Auntie standing on the balcony, smiling at them.

When she turned around, Auntie even waved at her.

Lin Chu waved back, then looked back at Yang Qianqian.

“I’m new here and wanted to take a walk. You’re more familiar with the area, so if you have time, maybe you could show me around.”

Yang Qianqian wanted to refuse at first but then thought that since it wasn’t snowing anymore and Lin Chu wasn’t a threat for now, she lightly nodded.

“Alright. I’m going to see a classmate. If you’re interested, you can come along.”

At this time, going to see a classmate probably meant a very close relationship.

Lin Chu, eager to learn more about this world, decided to follow Yang Qianqian.

As they walked out of Auntie’s sight, Yang Qianqian’s voice came from ahead.

“You didn’t drink the hot water I gave you.”

It was a statement, not a question.

Lin Chu gave a light laugh but didn’t answer.

Yang Qianqian wasn’t bothered by her response and continued talking to herself:

“You’re here to talk to my mom, right? You’d better tell her to give up that idea. I won’t believe in this so-called cold-resistant theory.”

Lin Chu saw her gritting her teeth and couldn’t help but ask, “Why don’t you believe it? Didn’t Auntie become cold-resistant after getting soaked in the snow?”

Yang Qianqian glanced at her quickly, her eyes filled with faint mockery and some unreadable emotion.

“You said it yourself, she’s your aunt.”

Not my mother.

She silently added in her mind.

Though she hadn’t finished speaking, Lin Chu understood the implication.

In other words, if the snow worm successfully invaded someone, that person would no longer be the same.

But clearly, many people in this world didn’t understand this. Otherwise, they wouldn’t believe so many people in the cold-resistant theory after being soaked in snow.

The two of them quickly reached the entrance of Yang Qianqian’s classmate’s neighborhood.

The security guard had already left, so they could enter freely.

But since Yang Qianqian entered the neighborhood, her expression had become somewhat strange.