An Guoping and An Guoqing unloaded several large baskets from the truck.

An Sancheng was talking to the driver, inviting him to get out and sit inside for a bit. Although he knew the man couldn’t, it was proper etiquette to offer.

Prompted by a subtle gesture from An Sancheng, Lin Cuihua went into the house and came out with a bag of dried vegetables.

These were vegetables they had stored during the autumn, along with a few pieces of cured meat left over from the last time they’d butchered a pig.

"Here, take it, take it."

"No, no, I couldn’t."

"It’s nothing special. Just take it. You came all this way."

"I really can’t. There’s no need."

An Sancheng and the driver started going back and forth, pushing the gift between them. An Ning’s head swiveled, looking left, then right.

With a SWOOSH, the package between them vanished, now in An Ning’s hands.

An Ning opened the truck door, tossed the package inside with a THUMP, and slammed the door shut. "There," she said.

It was all one smooth motion, giving the driver no time to react.

The driver had no idea what to do next. He was still frozen in the pose of pushing the gift away.

"Would you like to stay the night?"

An Ning’s one question scared the driver so badly that he jumped straight into his truck, gave a brisk wave goodbye, and drove off.

"I was being sincere."

An Ning watched the truck disappear, a look of innocence on her face.

Unfortunately, it was too dark for anyone to see it.

"Hurry up and get inside, it’s freezing."

"With weather like this, it’s probably going to snow."

An Ning followed everyone inside. The big rooster was the last one in, and An Guoqing shut the main gate. Anything else could wait until tomorrow.

Lin Cuihua lit the fire in An Ning’s room every day, so that night, An Ning once again slept in a warm bed.

Early the next morning, An Ning awoke to the sound of Lin Cuihua’s voice.

She groggily opened her eyes and wiped the sleep from their corners. Even she couldn’t avoid it.

Sleeping on the heated kang bed left her with a dry mouth and eyes, but it was so comfortable. So comfortable that she had woken up late and was even tempted to stay in bed.

An Ning struggled for a few minutes before finally getting up.

The moment she crawled out from under the covers, a shiver wracked her body from the cold.

’Why is it so cold?’

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

"Are you up?"

"I’m up."

As soon as An Ning replied, Lin Cuihua pushed the door open and came in, carrying a pile of clothes.

"Put on these woolen long johns, your sister-in-law knitted them for you. There’s also a padded jacket and pants, she made those for you too. See which ones you want to wear."

It was An Ning’s first time encountering the thick, woolen long johns and padded clothes of the north.

"Mom, why do I need to wear these?"

Lin Cuihua climbed onto the kang and tucked the clothes under the quilt to warm them up.

With a SWISH, she pulled open the curtains.

"It’s snowing. It’s freezing outside. You’ll freeze to death if you don’t wear them."

Lin Cuihua climbed off the kang and went out to get busy with her chores.

An Ning wrapped the quilt around herself and draped it over the windowsill. She propped her elbows on the sill, cupped her hands, and peered through a gap in the frost on the windowpane to see the vast expanse of white snow outside.

"It’s snowing!"

An Ning grinned foolishly at the window, suddenly in a hurry to get dressed and go outside.

Back in the interstellar era, she had spent ninety-nine percent of her time in a lab, studying and training her spiritual power.

She had only ever seen snow from a distance, and mostly on a screen. She had never once touched real snow.

An Ning pulled out the woolen long johns Lin Cuihua had just placed under the mattress pad and pulled them on over her thin long underwear.

But when she tried to put on her outer pants, she couldn’t button them.

An Ning pinched the woolen pants with one hand. They were about half a finger thick.

She stood on the kang and tried to squat.

Bending her knees was a little difficult.

"Mom—"

The time had come for the all-powerful "call for Mom."

Lin Cuihua walked in, her hands dripping wet.

"What is it?"

"I— I can’t button my pants. The woolen long johns are too thick."

Lin Cuihua wiped her hands on her apron, came over, and gave the pants a tug. Indeed, they wouldn’t button.

"Your sister-in-law was afraid you’d be cold, so she made them a bit thick."

"Wait a moment, I’ll get you a piece of string. That’ll work."

An Ning tried sucking in her stomach, but it was no use.

’I’m definitely an authentic Ancient Earth Person now, using a string as a belt.’

An Ning, who had been muttering to herself, fell silent when Lin Cuihua came back in.

"Here you go. Tie it yourself."

An Ning took the length of red woolen yarn, threaded it through the waist of her pants, and tied a slipknot at the front.

’Looks like my winter pants will need to be made in a larger size.’

An Ning absorbed the lesson and quietly committed it to memory.

She got off the bed to go see the snow.

Putting on her cotton-padded shoes, An Ning got ready to go out.

"Come back soon! Those cotton shoes will be soaked in no time."

Lin Cuihua called out worriedly after her, nagging while she chopped vegetables with one hand.

"Honestly, how old is she?"

But An Ning had already run out of the house and into the yard.

The world was cloaked in silver, a blanket of white as far as the eye could see.

In the yard, An Sancheng and his two sons had already cleared several small paths: one leading out of the yard, one to the outhouse, and one to the backyard.

An Ning stood in the center of the yard and took a deep breath.

’So air has a smell after all.’

The crisp scent unique to the northern air traveled through her nostrils and into her lungs, chilly yet invigorating.

HUUUUFF—

She exhaled, and a visible puff of white breath swirled playfully before her eyes and vanished.

An Ning followed one of the small paths out of the yard and stood at the main gate.

Ahead of her were four figures, their backs to her: An Sancheng, An Guoqing, An Guoping, and the last one must be Jiang Xia.

The four of them were clearing snow with shovels and brooms.

They were clearing the stretch of road from the front of their two houses to the village.

The big rooster and Da Huang had come out at some point, too. The chicken and the dog were deliberately picking the uncleared spots to frolic about.

They left strings of clear prints on the pristine white snow.

An Ning felt an urge to join in. In a rare burst of mischief, she charged forward.

"Da Huang, I’m coming!"

An Ning spread her arms and plunged into an uncleared patch of snow. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Due to her weight, the moment her foot landed, the snow came up past her ankle.

"Bawk bawk bawk— Bawk bawk bawk—"

The big rooster strutted past her, showing off as it left a series of clear footprints that didn’t sink into the snow.

"Oh, you’re definitely laughing at me."

An Ning started chasing after the big rooster.

"BAWK—"

The big rooster flapped its wings and flew over her.

Using "chasing the chicken" as an excuse, An Ning ran gleefully through the snow.

The four men were all rather carefree; it didn’t even occur to them that An Ning’s shoes would get soaked and her feet would get cold.

"Go, sweetie, go!"

"Little sis, faster!"

"Sis— Go! We’re having chicken for dinner tonight!"

The moment that boy, An Guoping, finished shouting, he saw the big rooster’s demeanor change abruptly as it charged toward him, full of killing intent.

"Hey— What are you doing!"

"Sis, help me!"

The big rooster’s combat prowess was ranked in the top three in the village.

An Guoping was chased all over the snowy ground. The big rooster stayed right behind him, never quite catching him but always just a hair’s breadth away, making An Guoping feel like he was constantly on the verge of danger.

’Serves him right. Let’s see if he dares to talk about eating chicken again.’

Gloating, An Ning ran out of the snow and stood beside the men who were shoveling.

Jiang Xia glanced down and saw An Ning’s shoes.

"Third Uncle, let’s go home and eat first. We can finish shoveling after we eat."