Has waking up made you no longer afraid of the cold?

A fleeting thought flashed through Lin Chu’s mind, but it was quickly drowned out by pain once again.

She tried to think more carefully, but just then, the sound of a key turning in the door reached her ears.

Auntie with the curly hair had opened the door to her home and stepped aside to make space for Lin Chu to enter, pulling her gently inside.

The temperature inside the house was at least ten degrees warmer than in the hallway, and Lin Chu felt her stiff, frozen fingers slowly regaining feeling.

“Come on, my dear niece, your brother isn’t home, so you can stay in his room,” said Auntie.

Following her guidance, Lin Chu walked inside.

The house was a small three-bedroom apartment on the second floor of a residential building.

The living room wasn’t large, about 10 square meters. On the left was a bedroom with its door tightly shut.

On the right, there were two bedrooms, both facing south with their doors open.

Auntie closed the front door, changed into a pair of blue linen slippers, and handed Lin Chu a pair of matching pink slippers.

“These are for you. I bought them for your sister, but she didn’t like the style, so they’ve been sitting unused,” she said with a smile, placing the slippers in front of her.

Lin Chu took off her sneakers and put on the pink slippers, letting Auntie lead her to the bedroom facing south.

Both south-facing rooms had balconies.

The two balconies were not connected.

One was a large south-facing balcony with a washing machine and a laundry basin, while the other was a small west-facing one.

Auntie led Lin Chu into the bedroom with the small west-facing balcony.

“Your brother works in another city, only coming back during holidays. You can stay here for now. If you need anything, just find me,” she said.

The bedroom wasn’t large, Lin Chu estimated it was less than 10 square meters.

The bed had a navy blue bedspread that was neat and clean, as though it had been recently changed.

Next to the balcony, there was a desk.

Books were neatly arranged in one corner of the desk, and a nearby bookshelf was filled with trophies.

Everything appeared simple, based on a quick glance.

Lin Chu glanced at the countdown in the system.

6 minutes.

“Auntie…” The word almost escaped her lips, but she quickly corrected herself. “Aunt, I got caught in the snow, and I’m not feeling well. I’d like to change into some clothes first.”

Upon hearing Lin Chu call her “Aunt,” Auntie beamed with joy.

“Alright, did you bring any clothes?” Auntie’s gaze shifted to Lin Chu’s small backpack, then she smacked her thigh.

“Ah, such a small bag, you probably don’t have many clothes. Wait here, I’ll get you some.”

Auntie turned and ran to the next room.

Before Lin Chu could even refuse, she furrowed her brow, mustering strength, and stood in the room, waiting.

Fortunately, Auntie came back quickly, less than a minute later, with two sets of long-sleeve, long-pant colorful pajamas.

“Dear niece, if you don’t mind, you can wear mine.”

“Your figure is similar to your sister’s, but that girl is throwing a tantrum. Once she calms down, I’ll have her bring you a couple of her sets of clothes.”

Lin Chu didn’t want to waste any more time. She rubbed her head and looked at Auntie.

“Okay, Aunt, my head hurts a lot right now, so I just want to change and lie down for a bit.”

Upon hearing this, Auntie’s smile widened. She nodded repeatedly and backed out.

“Okay, okay, I’ll go out now. You take a good rest.”

With that, Auntie exited the room.

Lin Chu stepped forward, slowly closed the door behind her, and locked it.

Once done, she quickly made some noise to cover her movements, and with 3 minutes left on the countdown, she placed the shelter key on the balcony door.

In the next second, she felt her body lighten, and she was already standing in her small courtyard.

“Master!”

At the sound of Xiao Er’s surprised shout, Lin Chu leaned against the railing and sat down on the ground.

The pain in her head and the cold from her body made her feel weak.

Ignoring the constant alert sounds in her mind, Lin Chu stretched out her hand and ordered Xiao Er:

“Xiao Er, help me up.”

Xiao Er rushed to assist her. Lin Chu quickly gave the system 5 points and activated the peephole function.

As soon as it opened, she heard arguing from outside the door.

“…It’s already this late, and you’re still bringing someone home? What are you thinking!”

“…Your cousin… she’s not just anyone.”

“What cousin? I never heard of having a cousin.”

The girl’s voice was loud, and Lin Chu could hear it clearly.

But Auntie’s voice was softer, and through the door, Lin Chu only caught some mumbling, before hearing her say:

“…Anyway, we’re family, morning or evening.”

Family, morning or evening?

Lin Chu furrowed her brows when she thought about how Auntie had asked her to stay in her son’s room.

Just when she thought the argument had ended, she suddenly heard Auntie raise her voice.

“You little brat, you secretly heated water behind my back again? I’ve told you…”

Before she could finish, a loud sound of a door slamming shut rang out.

It seemed the girl had locked herself back in her room, shutting out the argument.

Hot water?

Hearing these words, Lin Chu suddenly remembered.

Right, she had just been caught in the snow and was extremely cold. She should take a hot shower.

With Xiao Er’s help, she made her way to the bathroom and undressed.

She used the space to mix some boiling water with cool water, and during this, the pain in her head intensified.

It felt as though something was gnawing at her brain.

Lin Chu didn’t care much about it, and grabbed the mixed hot water, pouring it over her head.

She had hoped the hot water would drive away the cold, but as soon as it touched her scalp, a sharp pain shot through her head.

Lin Chu dropped the scoop in her hand and grabbed the nearby wall to steady herself.

But the pain didn’t stop there; now, even her right ear was throbbing.

If it hadn’t been for Lin Chu biting down hard on her tongue, she might have fainted again.

She slid down the wall to the floor, grabbed the scoop again, and poured another scoop of hot water over her head.

One scoop after another, the pain in her ear slowly faded.

But the pain in her head still lingered, though it no longer felt like needles stabbing her brain.

Even someone as resilient as Lin Chu couldn’t help but rummage through her space for a painkiller.

Just as she was about to take it, she spotted a few green syringes in the corner of her space.

They were the healing syringes Bai Wei had given her in the flooded world as an apology.

Apparently, they were the product of her special talent.

Healing…

Lin Chu immediately wanted to end the brain-pounding, wall-crashing feeling.

She took out a green syringe, removed the transparent cap from the needle, and injected it into a vein in her arm.