Chapter 38 Power Outage and Residents' Group

Just as I was feeling quite pleased with myself, the indoor lights suddenly started flickering and then went out completely with a hiss.

Okay, looks like there's a power outage.

One second we're content with the status quo, and the next second something goes wrong.

It's okay, this is just the daily life of an unlucky person.

The room was pitch black, the only light coming from the fire in the stove.

Using the firelight, I grabbed my phone, turned on the flashlight, and went to the small west hut to get a small storage battery.

Large batteries are no longer needed; small batteries are sufficient for turning on the lights.

Connect the battery to the light bulb, and the room is lit again.

Okay, I have to admit that I felt some fear when I was in the dark, but when the lights came on again, I felt calmer.

The first thing to do when the power goes out is to move the contents of the large freezer to the back room.

I never intended to continue supplying electricity to the large freezer. With this natural outdoor refrigerator already in place, every kilowatt-hour of electricity supplied to the large freezer would be a loss.

Now that the power is out, we need to move it to the back even more to prevent the meat from melting and spoiling inside the house.

It took an hour to move the meat from the large freezer to the back room and then clean the large freezer.

These two large freezers will also serve as kitchen storage cabinets from now on.

When the door to the back room is opened, both the kitchen and the back room are below freezing.

After I finished moving everything, I closed the back door tightly and hurried back to the east room to warm up.

Wrapped in a blanket, I sat on the sofa by the fire, shivering at first, but as my body gradually warmed up, I lay down on the sofa.

Then I kept looking at my phone, trying to see where the power outages were happening.

Then Sumi sent another message.

"Chengcheng, is your power outage at home? Are you scared?"

"Yes, there's a power outage, but I'm not scared. We have a backup power source at home." Seeing Sumi's concern warmed my heart.

"That's good. I also have a backup power supply at home. My mom was worried that you, a young girl, would be scared, so she asked me to ask."

"Thank you for your concern, Auntie. I'm doing fine now."

Although their concern warmed my heart, I didn't want to have too much contact with others.

No matter who it is, the more you come into contact with them, the more dangerous it becomes.

I didn't reply to Sumi's subsequent messages, but instead went to check the WeChat group for residents of a community in a southern city.

Although these things have nothing to do with me anymore, I still want to see them.

I want to learn about my living environment in my previous life, and also as a pastime to pass the time during the apocalypse.

I scrolled through the chat history to the beginning of the snowfall.

At first, a new announcement appeared in the owners' group chat, posted by Aunt Zhang from the neighborhood committee.

"Due to the special weather conditions, the community has entered emergency living mode. In order to ensure everyone's food, warmth and safety, it has been decided that the neighborhood committee will manage the community's supplies and then distribute them to everyone."

The vast majority of people resisted this notice.

"You think you can just take over like that? If you take all the supplies and keep them all for yourself, are we just supposed to starve to death?"

A young man said this directly.

"It's so cold, how are you going to distribute it after you take it back? Are you willing to distribute it to each household? It sounds like you're trying to cheat us out of our food."

"At such an advanced age, can't you have some shame? The neighborhood committee has never done anything before, but now they've suddenly appeared."

The homeowners sent messages attacking Aunt Zhang one by one, and the matter was dropped.

What follows are chat logs of residents asking each other for help.

"My child has a fever. Does anyone have any fever reducers? Please, just leave them outside the door and I'll go get them. Please help my child."

"I have some at home. I'll leave it outside the door for you in a bit, then you can come and get it."

"It's so cold at home. Does anyone have heating equipment? Can I stay at your house for a while?"

Requests to visit other people's homes rarely get a response; very few people actually manage to invite unfamiliar neighbors to their home group chat.

Moreover, nowadays every household is not warm, and there are very few people who can help others.

"Anyone want to live together?"

I found it quite novel that a girl with a red little girl profile picture sent such a message.

"Are you a girl? Me too, how about we give it a try?"

"Then let's chat privately."

So the two girls went to talk privately. If their personalities were compatible and their resources were similar, they would probably keep each other company and keep each other company.

"Is anyone else living alone? Let's all find someone to share a room with, it'll be warmer if two people sleep together."

Then a guy with a black profile picture made the suggestion, and many people agreed. Everyone started looking for their travel companions in the group.

About five or six days later, a new situation arose in the group.

"Help me! My roommate in 305 is going to kill me! I'm in the bathroom, please come and save me!"

A distress message was suddenly sent out.

The residents asked him with great concern which room he lived in, and then organized a rescue team.

By the time the residents arrived fully equipped and dressed, the person who had called for help, 302, was already dead.

Meanwhile, 305, whom 302 had mentioned before his death, was now chewing on his flesh and blood.

It turns out that when they first started living together, they had no food. They went hungry for five or six days, which drove 305 crazy. After going insane, he wanted to kill and eat people.

Of course, he not only wanted to do it, but also did it.

When the residents who rushed to the rescue saw this bloody scene, they all vomited and ran home to lock their doors and windows.

Seeing the lively discussion in the group chat, I couldn't help but shudder.

It's terrifying that cannibalism has already occurred at the very beginning of this extreme cold.

I don't remember if this happened in my previous life. At the time, I was cold, hungry, and almost fainted, so I didn't even look at the random messages on my phone.

I couldn't bear to read any more of this; it was really affecting my mood. Living alone already makes me prone to overthinking, and seeing too much of this could lead to depression.

Looking at my warm little home, it felt as if I were living in another world, far removed from the extreme cold of my previous life.

To change my mood, and since it was time to eat, I decided to cook for myself.

I maintain a two-meal-a-day schedule, one meal being a good one and the other being relatively simple.

I just had stewed dried green beans in an iron pot for lunch, so I'll keep it simple for dinner.

I'm going to make myself a tomato and egg noodle soup. I won't bother kneading and cutting the dough; I'll just have a simple noodle soup with tomato and egg sauce.

Since the stove and hearth in the east room were always burning and the fire never went out, they could be used directly for cooking, which was actually more convenient.

First, add water to the large iron pot, then take the spatula and place it on the stove in the house.

Heat the oil and fry two eggs. Once the eggs are cooked, remove them from the oil and set aside. Then add chopped green onions and tomatoes.

Once the tomatoes have released their juices, add the eggs and stir-fry together, along with a small amount of water, salt, chicken bouillon, and other seasonings.

Let the broth simmer on the stove for a while. By this time, the water in the large iron pot will have boiled. Go directly to the kitchen and put the noodles into the large iron pot.

Once the tomato and egg sauce has thickened and become more fragrant, pour the sauce into a large bowl.

While waiting for the noodles to cook, directly brush out the wok.

Then scoop the noodles directly into a large bowl and mix them thoroughly with the tomato and egg sauce.

The white noodles, yellow eggs, and red tomatoes blend together perfectly, creating an incredibly delicious flavor.

I ate a whole big bowl.