In the swirling snow, while a coat might be slimming and elegant, it was simply too cold.

Between beauty and warmth, Xiaolan Xia chose the latter.

She wore a thick, long down jacket… Yes, this was a genuine down jacket, Luna’s new product for this winter. Xiliang Chen had finally solved the technical challenge of extracting duck down, separating the quills from the down to create a true down jacket.

With just this achievement, Old Chen had made Luna popular again this winter, especially in cold northern cities. The highly insulating pure down jackets immediately caught Jia Ji’s company off guard when they hit the market.

Reportedly, Jia Ji was getting severe headaches over this.

Old Chen truly lived up to his previous life’s reputation as a fashion industry mogul who made it to legal news. Although in this life, meeting Xiaolan Xia led him to transition early from clothing wholesaler to brand owner, starting quite inexperienced and following Xiaolan Xia’s lead – during Xiaolan Xia’s year abroad, Xiliang Chen couldn’t make overseas calls for every decision, and in this “weaned” state, facing competition from Jia Ji, Manager Chen had grown rapidly over the year.

Xiaolan Xia pulled back from her thoughts because she spotted Zhou Cheng.

Snowflakes fell on Zhou Cheng’s head, melting quickly due to the young man’s vigorous energy.

After more than two months apart, Zhou Cheng’s features had become even more defined.

Had he become more handsome?

Strange, why did her boyfriend seem more attractive every time they reunited after separation? What was the principle behind this?

“Xiaolan?”

His wife seemed to be sleepwalking. Zhou Cheng worried she was frozen silly and quickly reached for her hand.

Indeed, her hands were cold.

Zhou Cheng warmed them for a while, then led her toward the building:

“Let’s go inside first, it’s warmer indoors.”

“Mm.”

“Why did you come without any notice? It’s already dark, and you came alone… Did something happen?”

“Not at all.”

Ah, she must be frozen silly, Zhou Cheng concluded.

His wife wasn’t usually this soft and cute!

Zhou Cheng held Xiaolan Xia’s hand as they walked, while her heart beat rapidly.

She wasn’t frozen silly at all – she just found it strange that Zhou Cheng seemed more handsome, surely due to hormones. How could dopamine’s effects last so long? Hadn’t research proven that romance transforms into “affection” within two years? They’d been together so long, practically an old married couple – why was she still getting all flustered?

Thankfully she had sent Little Yu away.

Xiaolan Xia felt her female secretary could accompany her anywhere except when she was with Zhou Cheng.

Not because she’d be a third wheel, but because Xiaolan Xia needed to maintain her boss image!

Zhou Cheng led Xiaolan Xia to the cafeteria.

“Deputy Squadron Leader Zhou, when are you and Sister-in-law having the wedding?”

“Sister-in-law, you haven’t visited in so long!”

“Sister-in-law, do you still remember me…”

People kept greeting Xiaolan Xia, and she nodded with a smile:

“Hello everyone, yes, I remember you all.”

Zhou Cheng shooed them away: “Don’t you have anything better to do after eating?”

How tactless, crowding around his wife when their meetings were so precious.

He was now Deputy Squadron Leader, with increased authority, and others dared not joke too excessively. Besides, Xiaolan Xia had thick skin – she wasn’t some country bride who would blush at teasing.

Zhou Cheng pulled her to the cafeteria:

“Have you eaten? If not, let’s eat together.”

Xiaolan Xia nodded, “Sure, let’s eat together.”

Tonight’s unit meals were ordinary – officers ate the same as everyone else.

The ingredients were identical, the only difference being between communal and individual portions. Pork and cabbage stewed with noodles served with steamed buns – that was Zhou Cheng’s dinner tonight.

In the portion saved for Zhou Cheng, there seemed to be more pork, almost spilling over.

Zhou Cheng understood immediately – when he asked them to save some food, they had specifically picked out meat slices to leave for him. They wouldn’t care if it was just for Zhou Cheng, but for his partner’s visit, it became perfectly reasonable.

They had to maintain Deputy Squadron Leader Zhou’s face.

They had to make the future family members feel the unit’s warmth.

She was willing to marry into their unit – what’s wrong with having a few extra pieces of meat?

Zhou Cheng moved the meat to Xiaolan Xia’s bowl:

“Eat up, you’ll only feel warm with a full stomach.”

Xiaolan Xia wasn’t picky.

They could afford delicacies, but right now, there was no President Xia or Young Master Zhou, just Deputy Squadron Leader Zhou and his unofficially betrothed.

Such simple sincerity was more precious than gold.

The kitchen staff secretly made Xiaolan Xia a fried egg, leaving the bowl and running away.

“Sister-in-law, eat it while it’s hot, it’ll warm you up.”

Pork oil with egg, sprinkled with white sugar – a bit greasy and sweet.

But consuming it all, soup and all, Xiaolan Xia felt completely satisfied.

She looked at Zhou Cheng, breaking into a smile:

“What to do? I came without warning – did I cause you trouble? Nothing’s wrong, I’ve been busy for a few days since returning home. Work is endless, but I’ve sorted things out somewhat. I just missed you terribly and wanted to see you immediately, so I came without thinking.”

The sudden surge of longing made her change all other plans, rushing to Zhou Cheng’s side as quickly as possible.

Seeing Zhou Cheng, her heart finally settled.

Zhou Cheng could walk and sit normally – so that previous “mission” truly had no serious impact, right?

Xiaolan Xia’s sudden flirtation caught Deputy Squadron Leader Zhou off guard – he had an image to maintain, and subordinates were still secretly watching. He wasn’t used to intimate gestures.

It was like being fed a large bowl of sugar water.

Zhou Cheng had a sweet tooth, and maintaining his Deputy Squadron Leader image while restraining himself was quite challenging.

“What trouble? You came so late you can’t return to the city tonight… Staying at the unit, you think that would trouble me?”

They had shared a bed before.

Though Zhou Cheng had taken several cold showers that night, he had managed to control himself!

But Xiaolan Xia wouldn’t get a chance to tease him at the unit.

Zhou Cheng leaned close to her ear, lowering his voice:

“You think we can sleep in the same room?”

-No, no, don’t misunderstand!

Xiaolan Xia hadn’t thought of that at all – being married versus unmarried made a huge difference. They could be free in America, but this was at his workplace.

She just wanted to tease Zhou Cheng but ended up being teased instead.

What about sharing a room? They’d shared rooms before, and Zhou Cheng was the one who hadn’t dared cross any lines!

The rascal Zhou Cheng took Xiaolan Xia to greet the leadership. Leader Li worried the young people might not be mindful of appearances, but Zhou Cheng showed excellent awareness:

“Tonight I’ll let Xiaolan use my quarters, and I’ll squeeze in with others.”

This was the best solution.

Xiaolan Xia had no objections herself.

But when Zhou Cheng escorted her to his room, his presence lingered everywhere, male pheromones permeating the space… Xiaolan Xia wanted to cry – this was torture! After all, she was a normal, mature woman!