Grace Cooper stretched out her arms, pulling him entirely into her embrace, her chin resting on top of his head. After being woken up by him, she was still groggy and nuzzled against him: "Stop it, let me sleep a bit longer."

　　Eric Bennett: "..." Damn.

　　He lay there for a while, and seeing that Grace Cooper still had no intention of getting up, he had no choice but to say, "I'm getting up now."

　　Grace Cooper: "Mmm..."

　　Eric Bennett: "Grace Cooper?"

　　Grace Cooper: "Last night you called me sweetie, and today it's just Grace Cooper."

　　Eric Bennett: "..."

　　But even as she said that, Grace Cooper still let go, then leaned against the headboard and watched Eric Bennett get dressed. As Eric Bennett was putting on his clothes, he couldn't help but feel the atmosphere was a bit strange. After thinking for a moment, he turned to look at Grace Cooper: "Can you not look at me like that?"

　　Grace Cooper: "What look? The money's on the table, just take it and go. Hand me a cigarette, I want one."

　　Eric Bennett: "..." Is this the post-coital cigarette or what?

　　Grace Cooper: "What, not leaving yet? We agreed on five hundred yesterday, not a cent more."

　　Eric Bennett was at a loss for words. After getting dressed, he hurried downstairs.

　　The others were already sitting in the living room, eating the breakfast brought by the villagers. As usual, Eric Bennett counted heads and found that, besides Grace Cooper, three people were missing from the room.

　　Adam Grant saw him and motioned for him to come over and sit.

　　"Nothing happened last night, right?" Eric Bennett asked.

　　"No," Adam Grant replied, "no one died."

　　No one died, that's good. Eric Bennett let out a sigh of relief.

　　In fact, last night was extremely quiet; they didn't even hear any extra noises. Eric Bennett tentatively asked if anyone had heard anything upstairs, but everyone gave the same answer—it was a very quiet night, and apart from the wind outside, there was no other sound.

　　"After breakfast, we'll go chop down some trees and deliver the wood to the carpenter. We need to move quickly," Adam Grant said. "Looks like it's only going to get colder, and nothing happened last night..." He seemed a bit puzzled as he spoke.

　　"Yeah, that's right," Eric Bennett replied casually.

　　The remaining three people also came downstairs one after another. Grace Cooper was the last to come down. She was still wearing that beautiful long dress, but had added two relatively thick coats and a pair of big cotton pants over it. Because the dress was so long, she walked slowly, her movements very graceful.

　　When Eric Bennett saw her, he awkwardly looked away.

　　"Qiushi," Grace Cooper called his name.

　　Eric Bennett replied helplessly.

　　"Why are you ignoring me?" Grace Cooper said. "I want to eat the noodles you cook."

　　Eric Bennett: "I'll make them for you at lunch. There's no time now."

　　Grace Cooper: "That's not what you said last night in bed."

　　Little Scott was drinking porridge, and upon hearing this, nearly choked. Adam Grant's expression also became a bit odd, his gaze flickering between Eric Bennett and Grace Cooper.

　　Eric Bennett couldn't help but laugh and cry: "Alright, enough, stop messing around. I really do appreciate what you did last night. I'll make you noodles for lunch, and fry you two extra eggs."

　　"Alright then," Grace Cooper compromised. "Sigh, it would be so nice if there were some chopped scallions."

　　In such cold weather, having green vegetables to eat was already a stroke of luck; as for things like chopped scallions, that was just wishful thinking.

　　Everyone finished breakfast more or less, put on their warm clothes, and got ready to head out with their axes.

　　The place for chopping trees was in the woods at the edge of the village, and there was only a narrow path leading there. Because of the snow, the path had become even narrower, only wide enough for one person at a time.

　　Going up the mountain was fine, but coming down while dragging the wood would be even more troublesome, Eric Bennett thought as he walked along the path.

　　Among the eleven of them, luckily there was someone who knew carpentry—a man in his thirties who claimed to be a carpenter. He could chop trees and make simple furniture, but coffins were beyond his expertise. He walked at the front, picked out a few trees, and began teaching everyone how to chop them down.

　　Most people here had never done this before, so even with someone teaching, everyone was quite clumsy their first time.

　　Eric Bennett swung the axe a couple of times, and after the first chop, only left a faint mark on the trunk.

　　"You're still not doing it right," Grace Cooper stood beside him, hands in her pockets, her breath white in the cold. "You have to use your strength downward, otherwise the axe is too heavy to lift."

　　Eric Bennett: "You've chopped trees before?"

　　Grace Cooper: "I've watched others chop trees."

　　Eric Bennett made a sound of acknowledgment.

　　Grace Cooper said, "Be careful, don't hurt yourself."

　　Eric Bennett nodded and continued swinging the axe. This was much more troublesome than they had imagined. After a whole morning, with several men taking turns to rest, they only managed to fell one tree.

　　"What do we do, Brother Xiong?" someone asked. "What now?"

　　Adam Grant looked at the weather, gritted his teeth, and said, "Let's go, carry this tree back, and continue tomorrow."