“You already have a bad reputation for abandoning a spouse. If I leave now, no male will dare to want you,” said Alva.

  Molly halted in her actions and uttered in a high-pitched voice, “You’re threatening me?”


  Seeing as she had stopped hurling stone fruits at him, Alva responded with a smug expression. “Hmph.”


  Unbeknownst to him, Molly had long regarded this matter as a test her admirers had to go through, so she simply didn’t care. The very next moment, she started throwing stone fruits at him more ferociously.

  Alva cried furiously as he dodged. “Aye! Why are you like this? I’m really leaving, huh!”


  “Sure, go ahead and leave right away. Scram to the stone mountain to join them in the mining!” Molly screamed.

  Alva stuck his head into the nest and covered himself with the grass. “I’m not leaving. No way am I leaving before the mining is completed!”


  Molly nearly exploded from the anger. With her big belly, she went to yank him up. “Get up. Who told you you could sleep in the nest? If you want to sleep, go sleep in a corner!”


  After this fiasco, Molly was so exhausted that she fell asleep shortly after lying down.

  Alva turned his head sideways and glanced at her, then stealthily got up and laid an animal skin blanket over her. He let out a sigh but did as Molly ordered, piling up a thick nest in the corner using dry grass.

  Meanwhile, in the iron-smelting room, seeing as Edgar’s countenance wasn’t all that great, Bai Qingqing didn’t ask him any questions. She planned on going to Molly after the cold season was over to ask her personally.

  She peered into the underground vault and saw that Winston was turning on the furnace and watching over the fire. His majestic body gave off a red glow under the illumination from the fire, as though a layer of oil was applied over it.

  Bai Qingqing walked up behind him, then sat down on the floor and jumped down.

  “Winston!”


  The underground vault was square-shaped, and the furnace pit opposite looked perfectly well concealed, and there was even a layer of rocks inside. But once Bai Qingqing jumped down, she felt like she was in a giant oven, making her involuntarily narrow her eyes.

  This hotness felt really pleasing.

  The unique scent of coal burned in the air. The moment that scent entered her nostrils, Bai Qingqing felt an uncomfortable sensation in her lungs, making her cover her nose with one hand right away and cough twice.

  Startled to hear her voice, Winston instantly turned around.

  “Why did you come down here? I’ll carry you up.”


  As he spoke, he raised Bai Qingqing back to the surface, before crawling up himself.

  “An’an should be awake any time now. I’ll send you back first.” Winston lifted her into his arms and said as he walked outwards.

  After inhaling a few breaths of the cold and fresh air outside, Bai Qingqing felt much more pleasant. Though, her lungs still felt an indistinct uncomfortable sensation.

  Bai Qingqing covered her mouth and coughed twice. Winston instantly fixed the hat tightly on her head.

  “Cold?” Winston asked worriedly as he quickened his footsteps.

  Bai Qingqing shook her head as she looked towards the iron-smelting room. “No. I was merely choked by the air.”


  Winston heaved a sigh of relief. “I told you not to come down, but you didn’t listen.”


  Bai Qingqing coughed again and then said seriously, “I feel that the air quality was terrible. You’d better make the room better-ventilated. In a place where coal has burned, the environment can’t be too sealed up. Otherwise, it will lead to a lack of oxygen in the air, and might even produce poisonous gases.”


  Winston’s brows tightly furrowed. After a momentary silence, he said in his deep voice, “Got it.”


  Afraid that he would be overly worried, Bai Qingqing reassured him, “So long as the room is well-ventilated it will be fine. Don’t worry too much.”


  “Mm.”


  With Bai Qingqing in his arms, Winston had just stepped into the stone castle when An’an’s cries rang in their ears.

  Parker, who was holding the baby and skillfully coaxing her, beamed at the sight of Bai Qingqing. “I was about to go look for you. An’an is hungry.”


  “Hand her over to me.” Bai Qingqing jumped down from Winston’s arms and spread out both arms to carry the baby. She had just taken the baby from Parker when she coughed yet again.