Qi Qingyao looked at his brow as it twitched slightly, and she knew that she was winning this battle. All she had to do was keep increasing the dosage.

"I'm a thirsty young woman whose husband died, you know! To have such a strong young man here~~~ It's only natural that my mind starts wandering! If you want to retain your purity, you'd better listen to me and sleep. on. the. floor."

Jiang Yeqian watched Qi Qingyao quietly for a while as she strutted about triumphantly, but then he paused and looked as pitiful as he could manage, his voice barely a weak whisper as he said, "If I sleep on the floor, my wounds will get worse. If they get worse, I'll keep freeloading here and living off your food and shelter. It'll take a lot longer for me to clear my debt then, so long that you might never see the day."

"..." Qi Qingyao took a sharp intake of breath.

Dang it.

He did that on purpose.

If he did not recover, she would have to keep taking care of him.

At the same time, she wanted him to recover soon so she could make him her house servant.

After she weighed the pros and cons…

Qi Qingyao clenched her teeth and then gritted them. "You, take the innermost corner. Dabao, Erniu, Xiaobao, you three lie in the middle. I'll take the side!"

"Alright! ~~~~"

The children had long since been listening in on their mother's conversation with that man, but Mommy looked rather upset so they did not dare to interrupt. Now that Qi Qingyao had given the order, Jiang Yeqian nodded without a word and shimmied to the wall, while the three children happily brought their little pillows to the center of the bed. They lined up in the middle, leaving plenty of space at the side.

Qi Qingyao washed her feet and jumped into bed!

The warm bed-stove was comfortable to lie on. Jiang Yeqian had one blanket, the three children shared another, and Qi Qingyao had one for herself.

The three children had been sleeping in the center for the past few days, so they had gotten somewhat used to it.

However, Jiang Yeqian had been sleeping at the outer edge all this time, and now suddenly he was next to the wall. The children were a little unaccustomed to that, but then they turned to their right and came to a sudden realization. 

They thought to themselves,

'If we had a Daddy, that's where he would sleep!

'Daddy and Mommy would sleep on either side of us!

'Wouldn't that be nice…'

Qi Qingyao had no idea what her children were thinking. She fell asleep in no time at all, and then Erniu wandered away from the children's covers groggily, squeezing into her blanket instead. Qi Qingyao hugged Erniu's warm body. It was like a nice soft pillow, and she slept even more soundly after that.

Dabao and Xiaobao were feeling left out, though.

As they slept, they instinctively squirmed toward the wall until they ended up under Jiang Yeqian's blanket.

Jiang Yeqian, "..."

When he opened his eyes, he saw a toddler sleeping on his chest. After a pause, he pulled the kid off and carefully put him back under the blanket next to him. The next second, however, another one crawled onto him. Before he could get this one off, the one he had just pried off clambered over him too. One of the toddlers hugged his leg and the other lay on his chest, both of them sound asleep.

He could smell that faint aroma of milk that naturally came with young children.

There was also the smell of medicine emanating from his own body.

As a result, Jiang Yeqian could only stare up at the pitch-black hut, utterly silent.

It was a cold winter night with a harsh northern wind blowing outside.

Eventually, Jiang Yeqian fell asleep. However, he was not unconscious this time. His innate senses and constant alertness meant that he immediately noticed the people approaching the hut.

Three seconds later, he heard soft footsteps amidst the northern gale.

Jiang Yeqian turned around and murmured to Qi Qingyao, "I think I heard something outside."