A woman in her 70s marries a rough-looking man; her plump wife is too delicate and alluring.

"Then chop two bundles of firewood for us."

Li Dazhu's face froze for a moment, then he slowly put the stack of money back into his pocket.

He stood there with his head down for a while, as if thinking about what to say, and finally managed to squeeze out only, "Thank you."

After saying that, he turned and left.

The next day, there were not only five bundles of firewood at the door, but also a basket of apples.

He Zhaoyang was surprised when Sheng Yuze returned.

"Where did you get the apples?"

"It was given to me by Brother Dazhu, right?" Sheng Yuze said. "I shared some with my mother and the others, and I brought the rest back."

"Hmm." He Zhaoyang got out of bed and grabbed an apple, but a small package fell out from underneath. She opened it and found thirty yuan inside.

He Zhaoyang frowned and held the money in front of Sheng Yuze. "Did Brother Dazhu put this money here?"

Sheng Yuze: "I don't know."

He Zhaoyang gave the money to Sheng Yuze, "Go and return it to them."

Sheng Yuze took the money and left.

*

December has arrived.

The weather is getting colder every day, and the wind is howling outside the window.

He Zhaoyang was fast asleep in Sheng Yuze's arms.

Sheng Yuze felt a warm touch, and when he opened his eyes, he saw He Zhaoyang breathing steadily with his mouth slightly open, his long eyelashes trembling.

He's gotten used to it. Since the weather got cold, even with lots of blankets on the floor, it's still cold. Sheng Yuze even caught a cold once.

He Zhaoyang also felt that it wouldn't be good for his mother and sister-in-law to know about their separation, so he went to bed.

He Zhaoyang drew a line on the 38th parallel, blocked the middle with a blanket, and said, "No one is allowed to cross this line."

But He Zhaoyang is so afraid of the cold that he rolls into Sheng Yuze's arms every night in the middle of the night.

Sheng Yuze was secretly delighted. It was worth it for him to fake a cold; now he could sleep with his wife every night.

He Zhaoyang would blush at first, but every morning when she woke up and found herself in his arms again, she would quickly move back and pretend that nothing had happened.

But after doing it many times, blushing turned into feeling at ease.

After all, she would never wrong herself. Anyway, Sheng Yuze was her husband in name only, so there was nothing wrong with hugging him.

Sheng Yuze looked at He Zhaoyang's face and, as if possessed, lightly kissed her forehead. This action made He Zhaoyang's eyelashes tremble, as if she was about to wake up.

Sheng Yuze quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

He Zhaoyang opened her eyes and met Sheng Yuze's face. She was momentarily dazed and unconsciously touched his face.

That face—the fox from her past life used that face to seduce her every day.

He seduced her for over 500 years, until he failed and the fox completely broke off all contact with her.

Sheng Yuze felt the warmth of He Zhaoyang's hand and unconsciously swallowed.

He opened his eyes, grabbed He Zhaoyang's hand, and said in a low, hoarse voice, "Stop fooling around."

He was afraid that if she touched him any further, she would give herself away, so he figured it was better for her to just wake up.

He Zhaoyang snorted, "Don't hold me in your arms next time, you're just trying to take advantage of me."

After saying that, she got dressed, got up, and went to wash up.

He Zhaoyang's counterattack left Sheng Yuze both amused and exasperated.

While He Zhaoyang was washing up, the old lady was practicing Tai Chi in the yard.

While brushing his teeth, He Zhaoyang mumbled, "Grandma, you look really energetic today!"

Li Yuzhen smiled and said, "Thanks to the mountain spring water."

He Zhaoyang smiled.

It wasn't some mountain spring water; it was clearly a spiritual spring from within her space, but she couldn't say that.

He Zhaoyang said sweetly, "Grandma is truly blessed."

"You silly child."

When He Zhaoyang entered the main room, he saw Qin Meng and Li Xuanxue making dumplings.

"What kind of dumplings are you making, Mom?"

Qin Meng smiled and said, "Beef dumplings and mutton and chive dumplings."

He Zhaoyang said happily, "That's great, these are all my favorite foods."

After saying that, he sat down and made dumplings with them.

Sheng Yuze's leg had long since healed, and after he finished tidying up, he started cleaning.

While Li Xuanxue was chatting with He Zhaoyang and the others.

Sheng Kaiyuan came in carrying a swaddled baby.

Before he could even call out, he went into the main room, put the child on the kang (a heated brick bed), and then, panting heavily, cried out, "Mother! Wife! Come quickly!"

Qin Meng was still clutching a dumpling wrapper when she stepped outside and saw the swaddled baby on the kang (a heated brick bed). She froze.

"Open source?"

"What's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?" When Li Xuanxue came out of the kitchen, she followed his gaze and saw the blue cloth on the kang (a heated brick bed), and paused in her steps.

Li Xuanxue stepped forward and glanced at the baby in the swaddling clothes. The baby's face was red from the cold, and the baby's breathing was intermittent, and the baby could not even cry.

The swaddling clothes were covered in snow water.

Li Xuanxue hugged the baby with heartache, "Where did you get this child? How did it get like this?"

Sheng Kaiyuan was extremely anxious. "Quick, check on the child! I found him under the car; I don't know how long he's been frozen!"

Qin Meng touched the child's forehead. "It's burning hot, the child has a fever!"

He Zhaoyang touched the child's head and infused it with a trace of spiritual energy.

Then they fed the child some spiritual spring water, and the child drank non-stop as soon as he touched the water, clearly because he was starving.

Sheng Yuze quickly fetched a basin of warm water, took a clean towel, wet it, and placed it on the child's forehead.

Sheng Kaiyuan sighed, "I just got back and saw a package under Yuze's car. I was afraid it was something bad for Yuze, so I thought about taking it away. But when I looked, it was a child."

This child is pitiful. No one knows when she was thrown under the car. Her parents probably didn't want to raise her and secretly abandoned her when no one was around, or maybe they threw her under the car before dawn.

Li Xuanxue suddenly squatted down. She squatted by the kang (a heated brick bed), not crying out loud, but her shoulders trembled, and she covered her face with her hands, yet tears still fell to the ground.

Sheng Kaiyuan went over to help her up, but she didn't move.

Sheng Kaiyuan also squatted down and hugged Li Xuanxue.

He knew that Li Xuanxue, who had lost a child, couldn't bear to see such a scene.

Sheng Kaiyuan patted Li Xuanxue's back gently, "It's okay, wife, don't cry, don't cry. Let's find the children's parents first."

Sheng Yuze: "Leave it to me. Let me go find her parents. Judging from their attitude, they don't plan to raise her. I'll just hand them over to the police."

The child was settled on the kang (a heated brick bed), his breathing gradually stabilized, and his little face turned from bluish-purple to a rosy hue.

Li Xuanxue was still sitting by the kang (a heated brick bed), gently patting the child's bottom, as if afraid that the child would disappear if she let go.

Sheng Kaiyuan squatted down next to her, put his hand on her back, and didn't say anything.

He Zhaoyang went outside, leaving them alone.

In the afternoon, He Zhaoyang went to the kitchen to boil water, and Sheng Yuze followed him in, holding the empty baby bottle in his hand.

Sheng Yuze: "Was there any information in the child's package?"

He Zhaoyang nodded. "There was a note that said he was born on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month."

Sheng Yuze didn't ask any more questions. He filled the bottle with warm water, added some formula, and went out.

After dinner, Sheng Kaiyuan called the whole family into the main room.

He stood in front of the table, holding the crumpled piece of paper in his hand.

"This child," Sheng Kaiyuan began, his voice low, "I've discussed it with Xuanxue and we've decided to raise him."