What Did It Feel Like

After Luo Xiyun went into the bathroom, Chen Xu got up and dressed as well, casually folding the blanket.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, he noticed a patch on the sky-blue bedsheet. He could not help finding it strange.

"No way..."

His heart gave a sudden leap as a possibility occurred to him. The longer he looked at the mark, the more certain he became that his guess was right.

Last night?

Didn't she have a boyfriend?

He found it hard to believe.

The mark was too faint in color, so at first he had not thought in that direction. But under normal circumstances, there was no reason for it to be colored. Other than that, there was no other possibility.

After thinking for a moment, he walked over to the trash can. Sure enough.

An indescribable feeling welled up inside him.

Before long, Luo Xiyun came out after her shower. Seeing that Chen Xu was not in the room, she was about to go out and look for him. Then she caught sight of the bedsheet, and her face heated up. She hurried over to put it away, then took out a new bedsheet from the cabinet and spread it over the bed.

Just as she finished dealing with it, Chen Xu came in carrying a tray. "I made breakfast. Come on, eat while it's hot."

Luo Xiyun took one look and saw red dates, goji berries, and red beans in the porridge. Somewhat puzzled, she asked, "Don't you dislike sweet food?"

"I made this especially for you." Chen Xu pulled her over to sit by the bed, picked up a bowl, scooped up a spoonful of porridge, and brought it to her lips.

Luo Xiyun felt a little uncomfortable at his sudden enthusiasm. She raised a hand to stop him and said, "I'll do it myself."

Chen Xu did not insist. He stuffed the bowl and spoon into her hands and said, "Eat more. There's plenty left in the pot. I'll get you another serving when you finish."

"You should eat too." Luo Xiyun saw him staring straight at her, making her face feel hot, and told him.

"Okay." Chen Xu picked up his bowl and began eating too.

After breakfast, Chen Xu washed the pot and bowls. When he came back, he saw her frowning with a worried look on her face. He sat beside her and asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"

"No... I..." Luo Xiyun hesitated, lowering her head and not daring to look at him. In a quiet voice, she said, "That... that. What if... I get pregnant?" Her voice grew softer and softer, until her last words were almost inaudible.

Chen Xu had never seen her looking so shy and timid before. It completely overturned the image he had of her, and the contrast made his heart itch. Leaning close to her ear, he said, "If you really get pregnant, then have the baby."

Luo Xiyun was overwhelmed with embarrassment. She shoved him away and snapped, "At a time like this, you're still talking nonsense."

Seeing that she was genuinely getting anxious, Chen Xu stopped provoking her and comforted her instead. "Don't worry. You're in your safe period right now. You won't get pregnant."

The moment he finished speaking, he saw Luo Xiyun looking at him with a strange expression. Her gaze made him feel a little guilty, and he asked, "Why are you looking at me like that? Was I wrong?"

In an odd tone, she asked, "How do you know?"

"Know what?"

"My safe period."

Only then did Chen Xu realize why her expression had become so strange. For a moment, he did not know how to answer. Normally, it was indeed strange for a man to pay attention to a woman's menstrual cycle when they were not even dating.

Luo Xiyun gritted her teeth and said, "Just as I thought. You really are a pervert."

Her face was tinged with red, and her eyes seemed veiled in mist. Her voice carried a nasal tone. It was clearly a rebuke, yet when it came from her mouth, it sounded indescribably tender and lingering, making Chen Xu's heart stir.

With a wicked grin, he said, "Then what did it feel like, sleeping with a pervert?"

Luo Xiyun's face turned scarlet. She shoved him away hard and said resentfully, "Disgusting."

Chen Xu laughed heartily and stopped while he was ahead. He did not tease her further, lest she become furious and take it out on him in the end.

Their relationship had made a breakthrough, and in the days that followed, they began truly living together.

Day after day passed, and the wind and snow outside seemed to grow fiercer and fiercer.

On the fifth day, Chen Xu finally made up his mind to take Luo Xiyun out with him to get some gasoline.

He had a premonition that as the end of the dream drew nearer, the weather would become increasingly harsh. If they did not go now, they would not be able to go later.

By now, the snow outside was already more than half a meter deep, making it impossible to drive a car. So he spent another two days preparing, only setting off officially on the seventh day.

On the day they set out, Chen Xu drove a loader in front to clear the snow. Luo Xiyun drove the large truck behind him. What they lacked now was gasoline; they had plenty of diesel in storage. This time, they loaded half a truckload of diesel into the large truck.

Naturally, this made them very slow.

They did not dare rest along the way, afraid that the vehicles might break down. If that happened, they would truly be doomed.

It took them a full ten hours to cross the Ice Surface Area and reach the building district Chen Xu had visited last time. They soon found a gas station.

After driving for so long, they were exhausted. They decided to rest for the night and deal with everything tomorrow. They found a nearby building with an entrance wide enough and drove both the loader and truck inside.

It had originally been a tile store. The door had been locked, but Chen Xu forcibly pried it open. There was enough room inside, so he used the loader to shove the display tiles aside, clearing enough space for both vehicles.

Then Chen Xu took a small portable gas stove from the truck and cooked a pot of noodles. The two of them gathered around the pot and wolfed every last bite down.

Only after eating the noodles did Chen Xu feel alive again. The loader had no heating, and he had nearly frozen stiff.

After resting for a while, he lit a fire in a corner and set up the tent beside it.

"When will this snow finally stop?"

After finishing their work, the two sat by the fire to warm themselves. Luo Xiyun hugged her knees and stared at the flames before her, seemingly talking to herself.

Chen Xu looked at her face, rosy in the firelight, and said softly, "It probably won't keep falling for much longer."

Luo Xiyun turned to look at him. "What if it never stops?"

For a moment, Chen Xu did not know how to answer, because he knew that the snow might really never stop falling.