Chapter 648 - 663: The Storm

An Ning and Jiang Xia took a four-piece bedding set out of their suitcases and put it on the bed.

It wasn’t that the two of them were germaphobes, but they were a little averse to using bedding that so many strangers had touched.

This was the first time the two of them had shared a room—or, more accurately, the same bed.

Jiang Xia felt a little nervous, but his anxiety didn’t seem to affect An Ning in the slightest. She fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

Jiang Xia sat on the edge of the bed and brushed a few stray hairs away from An Ning’s forehead.

"Why are you so tired?" he murmured.

No one answered him. Jiang Xia took off his jacket and lay down beside An Ning, pulling the jacket over himself as a blanket. He stared at her, and as he watched, he fell asleep—much faster than he’d expected.

「The next morning」 Jiang Xia was awakened by the sound of strong winds outside.

He went downstairs and greeted the old woman, who was already up.

"Good morning."

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

"Very well, the bed was quite comfortable. What’s with the weather outside?"

"Oh—a storm has arrived. Was your flight supposed to be today?"

Jiang Xia nodded and said it was.

"That’s just terrible. You definitely won’t be able to leave today. All the flights have been grounded."

Jiang Xia knew it was unrealistic to travel in this weather. He asked patiently, "How long do you think it will last?"

"A day or two, perhaps. It’s hard to say for sure."

Jiang Xia nodded and told the old woman they would be staying for a few more days, depending on the weather.

The old woman had no problem with that, of course. She warmly invited Jiang Xia and An Ning to come down for breakfast, insisting she had made plenty.

"Thank you. I’ll go get my fiancée."

Jiang Xia turned to head upstairs and ran right into the man they’d met on the plane, who was on his way down.

The two exchanged an awkward but polite greeting as they passed each other.

When An Ning and Jiang Xia came back downstairs, the old woman had already set the table.

A floral tablecloth was spread out, with a lovely hand-woven flower arrangement in the center. Four large, white plates were set across from one another.

The old woman was just walking over with a plate of muffins, smiling warmly at An Ning and Jiang Xia as they came down the stairs.

"My specialty is chocolate muffins. Come and have a taste."

"Thank you, ma’am. I could smell the wonderful aroma from upstairs."

An Ning graciously went over to help the old woman with the food, eager to show her appreciation.

Chocolate muffins, bacon, a vegetable salad, and milk—it was a very lavish American-style breakfast.

The old woman must have enjoyed the company, as she kept urging the three of them to eat more.

Over the course of the meal, An Ning learned the old woman’s story. She once had a son and a daughter, but her daughter had drowned at a young age. Her son died in a car accident as an adult, and her husband passed away not long after that, leaving her all alone.

She loved having company, so she rented out rooms in her house and enjoyed chatting with her guests.

An Ning and Jiang Xia, in turn, explained that they were an engaged couple who had come to Country M to find work.

As for the other man from the plane, he was a Chinese-American who had been back in China visiting relatives. He had a stable job and a family in Country M.

"Let’s introduce ourselves properly. I’m Jiang Xia, and this is my fiancée, An Ning."

The man from the plane hadn’t liked Jiang Xia and An Ning’s boasting, but it was clear they’d be stuck here together for a day or two. He wasn’t a bad person, so he finally extended his hand to shake Jiang Xia’s.

"Hello, my name is Jack."

"Wonderful! I’m Barbara," the old woman added, stating her name. And so, the four of them came to be temporarily living under the same roof, brought together by a storm.

After breakfast, Jiang Xia naturally began to clear the table, which made Jack frown.

’What a disgrace to all men.’

Jack sat on the sofa, sipping a cup of coffee. Seeing An Ning relaxing without any intention of moving, he couldn’t resist asking, "Aren’t you going to help?"

An Ning turned her head and looked at Jack directly for the first time.

"Are you helping?"

"I’m a man."

"So? Are your arms and legs broken? I fail to see the connection between those two things."

An Ning’s bluntness made Jack’s expression turn sour. He stood up, coffee cup in hand, and said haughtily to An Ning, "With an attitude like that, neither of you will find a good job."

"Your attitude is so great, but I don’t see you being president."

Once again, An Ning’s comeback left Jack speechless. He put down his coffee cup and stalked upstairs.

An Ning leaned back on the sofa, not even bothering to look up.

’He’s too easy to beat. There’s no thrill in winning.’

Having overheard the exchange from the kitchen, the old woman gave Jiang Xia a thumbs-up. "Your fiancée is quite something," she said.

"Yes, she’s incredible."

The old woman saw the look of deep affection on Jiang Xia’s face and said, full of envy, "You two have a wonderful relationship."

"We do."

Jiang Xia’s agreement was swift and direct. "I love her very much," he added.

The old woman nodded again and again. At her age, she loved to see young couples so in love. ’If my children were still alive,’ she thought, ’wouldn’t they be starting their own families by now?’

After the dishes were washed and put away, the old woman took out some yarn and began to knit. With nothing else to do, Jiang Xia and An Ning decided to learn from her.

The three of them passed the time in pleasant harmony, filling the living room with a sense of peace.

Of course, it would have been even better if they could have ignored the storm raging outside.

The storm showed no signs of weakening; in fact, the wind and rain only grew more intense.

Before long, the roof began to rattle loudly under the force of the wind. Jiang Xia looked outside at the gale and felt a sense of unease.

He asked the old woman for a raincoat and grabbed some tools, preparing to go outside and patch up the roof.

"No, you can’t! It’s too dangerous!"

"It’ll be fine," Jiang Xia replied. "If we don’t patch it up, the whole thing might get torn off. That would be even more dangerous."

Jiang Xia had a point. An Ning prepared to go out with him, but the old woman kept protesting.

"I’ll go! This is such a hassle."

Jack had come downstairs at some point and was already in a raincoat. He looked down at the three of them and said gruffly, "What are you all staring at? I’m staying here too, you know."

As Jack walked past An Ning, he added, "This is a man’s job."

An Ning understood what he meant. ’He thinks washing dishes is women’s work, and *this* is men’s work.’

An Ning didn’t argue. It wasn’t that Jack was necessarily wrong, just that they had different views on certain things.

Regardless, the fact that he was stepping up to help made An Ning see him in a slightly better light.

Jack and Jiang Xia grabbed the tools and went outside.

The storm was so violent that the two men had to link arms just to move forward. An Ning stood in the doorway, her spiritual power invisibly shielding them.

Jack had Jiang Xia steady the ladder while he climbed up first with a board and nails. Soon, the CLANGING and BANGING of his hammer filled the air as he started to repair the roof.

What should have been a simple task became incredibly difficult in the extreme weather.

Jiang Xia climbed up the ladder as well to help hold the board in place while Jack quickly hammered in the nails.

The wind and rain were relentless. Just as Jack wiped the rain from his face, he suddenly shoved Jiang Xia’s head down, yelling, "Watch out!"