Li Danqing brought over a piece of braised beef and four boiled eggs.
Chen Wanning immediately distributed the eggs among the three children and Bai Zhi.
“I don’t need one.”
“Let the children have them.”
Chen Wanning smiled.
“Aren’t you a child too?”
“How many years older are you than they are?”
Bai Zhi thought about it.
Xiao Yu was ten.
Xiao Siqi was eleven.
Xiao Jingyu was twelve.
Her current body wasn’t much older than theirs.
Considering that she wanted a strong body in the future, Bai Zhi didn’t argue.
She accepted the egg and ate it.
The beef remained untouched.
It was probably being saved for the next day.
The campfires gradually died out.
Everyone spread out their bedding and prepared to sleep.
Xiao Zelan asked Chen Wanning to help Bai Zhi change her bandages.
For reasons Bai Zhi couldn’t quite understand, Chen Wanning declined.
She claimed she needed to put the children to sleep.
In the end, Xiao Zelan was forced to handle the task himself.
Bai Zhi sat in the corner formed by the oilcloth and stacked firewood.
Since her upper clothing needed to be removed for the bandaging, Xiao Yu stood nearby holding up a mattress to block the wind.
Bai Zhi slipped one sleeve off.
Her shoulder and entire arm were exposed.
The cloth covering the wound had shifted.
Now it covered only half the injury.
Xiao Zelan carefully peeled it away.
“Hiss…”
The wound had become slightly red and swollen.
Nothing serious.
Using warm water from a waterskin, Xiao Zelan gently cleaned away the dried blood.
Afterward, he sprinkled wound powder onto the injury.
A fresh strip of cotton cloth covered the wound.
Then he ran another cloth beneath her arm and across her back to secure everything in place.
“Done.”
He reached over to help her pull her clothing back on.
“Wait.”
“I’m changing shirts.”
“You close your eyes.”
Xiao Zelan’s face instantly turned bright red.
He immediately shut his eyes.
When one sense disappeared, another became sharper.
He could hear everything.
The rustle of fabric.
The sound of clothing being removed.
The movement of her rummaging through her bundle.
The soft noises of putting on clean clothes.
For some reason, Xiao Zelan could hear his own heartbeat.
When he had been applying medicine moments earlier, he’d felt perfectly calm.
Now his face felt as though it were on fire.
“Okay.”
Bai Zhi’s voice finally sounded.
Xiao Zelan let out a breath of relief.
Then she added:
“Now let me change your bandages.”
“No point making everyone run around.”
His relief vanished instantly.
Xiao Zelan’s injury was on his back.
He removed his upper garment completely.
Earlier that morning, Xiao Yu had handled the bandaging.
Unfortunately, he’d simply wrapped the cloth directly around the wound.
By now the bandage had twisted itself into a rope-like strip that constantly rubbed against the injury.
Bai Zhi dipped a cloth in warm water and cleaned the wound.
Then she lightly slapped his back.
“Bend forward a little.”
The medicine powder had been applied unevenly.
Not wanting to waste any, Bai Zhi carefully smoothed it out with her fingertips.
Fresh cotton cloth went over the wound.
The old bandages were wrapped securely around it.
“There.”
“Get dressed.”
Xiao Zelan practically lunged for a clean undershirt.
Pulling it on as quickly as possible, he casually wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.
He definitely didn’t want Bai Zhi asking why he was sweating in weather cold enough to freeze rivers.
By this point, Xiao Yu—who had spent the entire time serving as a living privacy screen—was barely awake.
Half-asleep, he spread out the bedding.
Pulled the fur blanket over himself.
And promptly collapsed.
Bai Zhi and Xiao Zelan then finished treating the remaining wounds on each other’s necks and foreheads.
Only after everything was done did Bai Zhi pull out a needle and thread.
Using the neighboring campfire as light, she began repairing her damaged clothing.
“Hiss!”
She immediately stabbed herself with the needle.
“Little Sister-in-law.”
“Let me do it.”
Chen Wanning had apparently been watching.
Judging from Bai Zhi’s awkward posture, she clearly wasn’t experienced with sewing.
Suddenly, Xiao Zelan spoke up.
“Sister-in-law.”
“Don’t you need to put the children to bed?”
Chen Wanning blinked.
“They’re old enough.”
“Why would they need that?”
Xiao Zelan: “…”
That was not what she’d said earlier.
Chen Wanning’s sewing skills were excellent.
Even under poor lighting, her stitches remained tiny and neat.
Especially on undergarments.
The repairs were almost invisible.
Watching her work, Bai Zhi suddenly remembered countless scenes from novels.
“Sister-in-law.”
“Can you do embroidery?”
“Of course.”
“When we get some fabric, I’ll embroider a pouch for you.”
Bai Zhi grinned.
“You should open an embroidery workshop someday.”
Chen Wanning looked surprised.
“Huh?”
“I’ll draw the designs.”
“You stitch them.”
“I know lots of patterns you’ve never seen before.”
For a moment, Chen Wanning smiled.
A genuine smile.
One of the rare relaxed expressions she’d shown since exile began.
“All right.”
“When that day comes, I’ll work for you as an embroiderer.”
Snow continued falling.
Bai Zhi crawled beneath the blankets.
Instinctively moving closer to Xiao Zelan.
He quietly pushed the hot-water bottle toward her.
“Hold this.”
Soon everyone was asleep.
Sometime in the middle of the night, Bai Zhi woke from the cold.
The temperature had dropped even further.
She shifted closer to Xiao Zelan.
Then closer still.
Eventually she slipped a hand beneath his outer clothing in search of warmth.
Just as her hand was about to burrow deeper—
A larger hand caught hers.
“Cold?”
“A little.”
Then Xiao Zelan guided her hand beneath his cotton coat.
Only a thin undershirt separated her fingers from his skin.
And yes—
Those were definitely abdominal muscles.
His injury was still relatively recent.
Although he’d lost strength in his legs, traces of muscle remained across his body.
Bai Zhi had noticed that while treating his wounds earlier.
His body was wonderfully warm.
Bai Zhi immediately tried to push her hand deeper.
Ideally, she’d have inserted her entire arm.
Before she could succeed, Xiao Zelan pressed her hand firmly against his stomach through the fabric.
“Don’t move around.”
“Go to sleep.”
His voice sounded slightly hoarse.
Recognizing she’d already gotten away with enough, Bai Zhi behaved herself.
Within minutes, she was asleep again.
The next morning the snow was still falling.
Even harder than before.
Nobody rushed to get up.
Only Xiao Zeyan and Chen Wanning were already awake.
They lit a fire between the two families’ shelters.
Then boiled water so Bai Zhi’s group could refill their hot-water bottles.
Outside, the snow had already risen above ankle height.
Travel was impossible in conditions like this.
Sure enough, Gao Wei soon arrived with an announcement.
“No travel today.”
“We stay at the relay station.”
Then he ordered everyone to clear snow from their shelter roofs before the weight caused collapses.
The shelters stood more than two meters tall.
Without ladders, clearing the snow wasn’t possible.
Once again, everyone began lining up to borrow the few available ladders.
Arguments broke out almost immediately.
Someone complained about doing more work than others.
Someone else complained about waiting too long.
The usual chaos.
Meanwhile, Bai Zhi remained tucked comfortably beneath her blankets.
The hot-water bottle had just been refilled.
She had no intention of moving.
Chen Wanning wanted to make dough-drop soup.
Their family would contribute buns and beef.
Bai Zhi’s group would provide flour and mushroom meat sauce.
Bai Zhi made a suggestion.
“Let’s fry sliced buns.”
“I have lard.”
“And sugar.”
The dough mixture was already prepared.
Chen Wanning handed soup duty over to Xiao Zeyan.
Then she began frying bun slices.
Golden.
Crispy.
The moment they came out of the pan, she sprinkled them generously with sugar.
The first pieces immediately went to the children.
Including Bai Zhi.
Once again, Bai Zhi enjoyed the benefits of being treated as a child.
True, her soul was already in her twenties.
But her body was only in its early teens.
A growing teenager naturally required more food and more sleep.
How could she possibly reject the opportunity to eat delicious food while staying buried beneath warm blankets?
Everyone eventually received a bowl of dough-drop soup filled with minced beef.
To Bai Zhi, it tasted surprisingly similar to West Lake Beef Soup.
By noon, the ladder finally reached their section.
Bai Zhi stopped Xiao Zeyan before he could climb up.
There was an easier way.
The iron plates hidden inside her basket had already been transferred to her sleeves.
To anyone watching, she appeared to be sweeping the roof with a branch.
In reality, she was secretly controlling the metal plates.
The snow slid neatly off the roof.
Since the shelter roof was pointed, the movement looked completely natural.
No one suspected anything.
At lunchtime, most people skipped food entirely.
Since nobody needed to travel today, conserving supplies made far more sense.