Chapter 4 : Husband/My Love ❤️

“My dear, this is so magical~ It can actually produce hot water on its own?”

Pei Qingxuan looked utterly curious, her deep eyes sparkling with excitement, like a child who had just discovered a fascinating new toy, brimming with wonder.

“Of course! Don’t you know whose house this is…?”

Hearing Pei Qingxuan’s words, Xu Ping’an nearly tilted his nose to the sky, his head held high, his face full of pride.

“This water heater took a lot of effort. I bought four whole pieces of cowhide and had someone specially sew them together. The outside is even coated with tree lacquer… Uh, why am I telling you this?”

Slapping the back of his head, he suddenly remembered that he was a doctor now, and the priority was to keep Pei Qingxuan alive.

Turning around, he picked up the medicinal herbs he had already ground up and poured most of them directly into the wooden tub.

He didn’t dare look too long, afraid that “little Xu” might get too excited.

He quickly grabbed the nearby lid and handed it over.

“Put the lid on, just leave your head out.”

“Oh…”

Pei Qingxuan’s adorable, slightly dazed voice came through.

With a light movement, the lid was placed on the tub.

Only then did Xu Ping’an truly let out a sigh of relief.

A short while later, he returned with a bundle of firewood.

“My dear, what are you doing?”

Pei Qingxuan’s big, curious eyes watched as Xu Ping’an broke the firewood into pieces and stuffed them into the gap beneath the tub.

“Boiling you.”

Xu Ping’an replied casually, his mind still preoccupied with thoughts of medicinal formulas.

He hadn’t expected that his words would make Pei Qingxuan tremble.

With a loud thud, she stood up from the tub.

Truly, she was… well-endowed.

“What are you doing?!”

Xu Ping’an snapped back to reality, only to see the girl’s face streaked with tears.

“My dear, I… I don’t taste good. Please don’t eat me, okay~?”

In another sense, he did want to “eat” her.

But even if he wanted to, now was hardly the time.

Given this silly girl’s current physical condition, she might collapse halfway through, right?

“Who’s going to eat you? I’m treating you! Sit back down!!”

He hurriedly picked up the lid that had fallen to the ground and covered the tub again.

Taking a deep breath, he finally managed to calm himself.

If he kept suppressing his urges like this, even if his mind stayed intact, “little Xu” might start causing trouble.

“My dear… you’re really not going to eat me?”

“No, no, definitely not.”

But I might in the future.

He thought fiercely to himself, though it was just bravado.

If he truly had that kind of courage, he wouldn’t have just stolen a glance earlier.

Yes, Xu Ping’an… a man with lustful thoughts but little courage to act on them.

“Stay put. I’m not going to eat you, and I’ll take care of you from now on.”

“Really?”

Pei Qingxuan’s hopeful yet pleading expression made his scalp tingle.

Had he just promised something troublesome? This felt like it might become a big deal later.

But there was no time to dwell on that now.

Xu Ping’an took out the medicine box he had prepared earlier and slowly pushed open the lid.

The moment the intricate lid was lifted, a visible wave of icy mist surged out from the gap.

In an instant, the temperature in the room seemed to plummet below freezing, and a layer of white frost crept over the nearby window frame.

As the room’s temperature dropped sharply, Xu Ping’an couldn’t help but shiver.

He grabbed a coat hanging nearby and draped it over himself, then carefully put on gloves.

From the small box, he gently extracted a white lotus flower.

This was called the Mysterious Ice Snow Lotus, grown from seeds provided by the system.

As for how valuable it was, he truly had no idea.

But judging by its appearance, it was undoubtedly worth a fortune.

On the silvery-white petals, a few dewdrops glistened.

Xu Ping’an knew these were the essence of extreme yang within the yin chill.

Not daring to use too much, he gently tilted the petal, letting a few dewdrops fall into a porcelain cup.

He then placed the flower back into the box and sealed the lid.

The moment the lid closed, the room’s temperature instantly rose again.

Picking up the cup, Xu Ping’an glanced at the dewdrops inside and nodded.

“Come, open your mouth.”

Pei Qingxuan obediently opened her mouth, still a bit dazed.

A single, intensely cold dewdrop landed on her tongue.

Instinctively, the girl wanted to spit it out, but the dewdrop was miraculous.

Upon touching her tongue, it turned into a stream of icy energy that surged down her throat.

“Ugh!”

Her body trembled, and Pei Qingxuan’s eyes widened in shock.

“My dear… what did you just give me? It’s so cold.”

“It’s supposed to be cold. If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t have a chance at all.”

Xu Ping’an nodded calmly, then focused on tending the fire.

Pei Qingxuan sat in the wooden tub, watching him.

At first, the icy energy coursed through her body, but thankfully, the warm water in the tub counteracted some of the chill, making it bearable.

Yet a strange sensation gradually emerged.

A wave of warmth suddenly rose from three inches below her navel!

Pei Qingxuan’s cheeks flushed a deep crimson, her gaze growing hazy.

“My dear… it’s, it’s getting a bit hot.”

“Hm, that means the medicine is taking effect.”

Xu Ping’an nodded, glanced at Pei Qingxuan, and continued tending the fire.

“My dear… it’s, it’s starting to feel a bit itchy~”

Uh… Although he had anticipated this, seeing it actually happen made Xu Ping’an feel a surge of heat.

“Endure it. Even if it’s unbearable, you have to endure. The medicine is stimulating your vitality.”

The kidneys are the foundation of innate vitality.

Given her severe injuries and the decline of her innate energy, if this foundation wasn’t activated, she likely wouldn’t survive.

But activating innate vitality… meant fully stimulating the kidneys’ functions.

And the kidneys were responsible for…

Xu Ping’an’s face reddened.

“Ahem, uh… don’t move around. Take your hands out.”

To prevent her from doing anything irrational under the medicine’s effects, Xu Ping’an had to act before the medicine fully took hold.

If she didn’t take her hands out now… she might end up wilder than the stud donkey at the east end of the village.

Speaking of which, Old Zhang from the village still owed him money for that donkey medicine!

Thinking back to the day when Old Zhang, with a secretive air, came to him to prepare that peculiar batch of medicine, Xu Ping’an couldn’t help but marvel at the old man’s audacity.

That old donkey of his was so ancient it could barely walk, yet Old Zhang had sought him out to ensure the beast could have one last wild romp before its end.

That day was truly chaotic—the entire Erdaotou Village’s female donkeys were ravaged by that old stud.

If this silly girl went wild, she’d probably be no less frenzied than that donkey.

Hiss!

Xu Ping’an suddenly remembered something.

This girl wasn’t ordinary.

Her strength was so immense that even a full-on tackle could leave him seeing stars.

He quickly stood up.

He needed to find something to ensure she couldn’t break free.

“My dear~ where are you going?”

At that moment, Pei Qingxuan felt a clash of hot and cold within her body.

A nameless fire surged upward from three inches below her navel, while a chilling sensation pressed downward from her chest.

The collision of the two left her unable to tell whether she was hot or cold.

Most crucially, at the point where the hot and cold clashed, a strange sensation was steadily spreading through her entire body.

It was tingly, numbing, almost intangible.

In that moment, she blocked out everything else, her eyes fixed solely on the man outside the tub.

He was her husband, the first person she saw when she opened her eyes.

She could only trust him—had no choice but to trust him.

“I’m going to get a donkey… I mean, no, I’m going to grab some tools.”

Xu Ping’an’s mind was still on Old Zhang’s donkey.

Realizing his slip, he hurriedly left the room.

A short while later, under Pei Qingxuan’s dependent yet expectant gaze, Xu Ping’an returned carrying a hefty iron chain.

“Good thing I planned to raise a wolfdog and bought this big chain in advance. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know what to do.”

“My dear… what’s this for?”

Pei Qingxuan’s eyes were hazy, her breath fragrant as orchids.

She watched as Xu Ping’an, standing outside the tub, sized things up and began wrapping the chain around the wooden tub.

“Don’t worry, you’ll see soon enough.”

With a clank and a clatter, he secured the chain tightly, finishing it off with a large copper lock.

Xu Ping’an clapped his hands, standing up with a refreshed expression.

“All set. Now you can’t touch anything.”

“Touch what?”

“To stimulate your kidney’s vital energy without letting it dissipate… ahem, nothing, nothing.”

Xu Ping’an looked solemnly at Pei Qingxuan, who sat in the tub with only her shoulders, arms, and head visible.

“Listen, no matter what happens later, you absolutely cannot touch the uncomfortable spots, got it?”

The adorably naive girl, with a mix of coyness and petulance, her eyes brimming with allure and her breath like orchids, responded.

“Can’t touch? But my dear… it’s really uncomfortable~”

Damn it, he knew it would be potent, but he didn’t expect it to be this potent!

The effect was no less than what Old Zhang’s donkey experienced back then.

“My dear~”

“Endure it…”

“My dear~ My dear~”

“I am but a commoner, tilling the fields of Nanyang…”

As the girl’s soft, melodious voice—half pained, half pleading—echoed through the courtyard, it was accompanied by… the peculiar sound of a man quietly reciting poetry under his breath.

“My dear ❤️”

“Master Zhuge, save me!”