The cold snap came too severely, and it was in May, which was neither hot nor cold. Many people in the base, whether they had houses or not, were wearing very thin clothes. They had no thicker clothes or quilts to cover their bodies, and died of hypothermia in the rapidly dropping temperature.

Even more people died in the fights with thugs and criminals to protect their supplies and families during the riots in the previous few nights. In addition, the poor people living in shanty towns did not evacuate or froze to death on the way to evacuation.

Truck after truck loaded with bodies were transported to a place outside the base where the bodies were burned. Thick black smoke filled the sky above the base, and people's cries of grief were heard one after another.

Because the temperature dropped so drastically, many people at the base suffered frostbite overnight, catching colds, fevers, and even having limbs broken and requiring surgery.

Shishan Hospital received instructions from its superiors to waive various examination and surgery fees for patients with frostbite. People only need to pay for medicine to receive treatment, and the hospital has been full.

It was half a month later that Si Nan saw Cheng Su Ming again.

His chin was covered with blue stubble and he looked extremely tired. He came back and took a hot shower, then fell on the bed and slept all day without even stroking his hair. He got up, ate a simple sandwich, put on his backpack, and went out to continue working.

Si Nan held him with concern: "Why are you leaving in such a hurry? I haven't prepared food and drink for you yet."

"I'm going to work normally this time, so you don't need to prepare food for me." Cheng Suming looked back at her with a smile: "I'll work three more days and then have a week off. I'll be at home with you every day."

Si Nan stuffed the thermos cup filled with hot water into the outer pocket of his backpack. "You work too hard as a doctor. You've lost a lot of weight since you came back. Why don't you quit your job and come home to grow vegetables and herbs with me, and you can also earn food points. I still have a lot of supplies in my space, more than enough to support you."

"It was you who asked me to go to work before, and it's you who won't let me go to work now." Cheng Suming reached out and pinched her nose. "During this period, the salary of medical staff in our hospital is three times the usual amount. Working one day is equivalent to working three days. If you don't work, it will be a waste. Of course, I know we are not short of supplies, but I go to work not only to earn points, but for our long-term future. I need the connections in the base to find out the murderer who killed you in the dream. For this, I need to infiltrate the internal management of the base and get more information. I know you have enough self-protection ability now, and you usually don't go out. If you encounter problems when you go out, Sheng Youqing, Yang Wentao and others will support you at any time. So you have been working hard at home during this period. When I come back from vacation, I will compensate you well."

He then pointed to the phone in his hand and said, "Contact me anytime if you have anything."

The civil communications restored at the Shishan base only cover the entire Shishan base locally, and the signal is intermittent, far less smooth than the Internet.

During the half month that Cheng Suming was away from home, he would use his mobile phone network to video chat with her during meals and rest to make sure she was safe.

Sheng Youqing, Yang Wentao and others all have mobile phones given to them by Si Nan. If she really encounters any problems, she will notify them immediately to come and help. Therefore, he can work in the hospital with peace of mind for the past half month.

"Okay, whatever you say makes sense, I won't say much." Si Nan stepped on his toes to help him put on a scarf, stuffed two bottles of anti-frostbite, chapped clam oil, and frostbite cream into the bag of his down jacket, and advised: "Be careful on the road, don't slip and break bones. There are still many escaped criminals and thugs hiding somewhere in the base to cause harm to people. You'd better go with You Bin so that you can take care of him on the road, otherwise if something happens, I won't know where to find you."

"I understand, Mrs. Cheng. I will be careful." Cheng Suming listened to her mumbling patiently, lowered his head and pecked her lightly on the mouth: "I'm going to work, you have to be careful at home."

There was no heavy snow outside anymore, only light snow the size of a chopstick tip.

The sky was still dark and gloomy, and the cold wind blew incessantly, causing pain on my face.

Cheng Suming stood at the gate of his house and waited for Sheng Youbin for a while, and then the two went to the hospital together.

Both of them were dressed warmly, wearing windproof hats, goggles, cotton gloves, and scarves around their faces, walking on the road fully armed.

There were very few pedestrians at this time. Except for the sanitation workers who regularly cleared the snow on the main roads, there was almost no one walking outside.

The sky and the earth were covered in a vast expanse of white. Snow piled up on both sides of the road was taller than people and the bottom was frozen into ice. Occasionally, there were children who could not stay at home and secretly ran out to play in the snow. They dug holes, ran around, and had snowball fights in the snow. The sound of parents anxiously calling their children to go home could be heard nearby.

Because the road was too icy and slippery, the journey to the hospital, which should have taken only half an hour, took the two of them more than an hour to get there.

When they arrived at the hospital entrance, a thin layer of ice had formed on their eyelashes, scarves, and hats.

"Hiss—it's so cold."

Sheng Youbin followed Cheng Suming into the outpatient department and felt the warmth of the hospital's heating. He rubbed his hands and took off his gloves, while looking at the patients who were still in a coma and the survivors who came to use the heating, which filled the hospital corridors and left no place for them to step. He couldn't help but lower his voice.

He whispered to Cheng Suming, "Brother Cheng, didn't they work overtime to build two fifteen-story shelters half a month ago? How come there are still so many people who are not patients sleeping in the hospital corridors?"

"The shelter has housed over a million survivors, and everyone lives together. The heating and quietness are not as good as in a hospital. I'm afraid these people came to the hospital specifically to get some peace and quiet."

Cheng Suming climbed up to the third floor with his long legs and walked to his own doctor's lounge. He put down his backpack, took off his heavy coat, scarf, gloves, etc., put on a doctor's white coat, put on a mask, and signaled to Sheng Youbin, who was also dressed, "Get ready to start the consultation."

A colleague passed by their clinic and stopped at their door: "Xiao Cheng, you are here so early today."

Cheng Suming nodded to the other party: "Director Li, you came quite early today."

"Oh, triple the salary. No matter how cold it is outside, I have to come." The chief surgeon, Li Yongsheng, who was nearly fifty years old and a little bald, looked at Cheng Suming enviously and said, "Did you take a shower today? Look at your clothes, it seems you changed into a new down jacket. Judging from the brand of your down jacket, it must cost a lot of points to redeem it, right?"

After the Logistics Department built a large store for redeeming points, the food, clothing and daily necessities in the store gradually became complete, but many items were subject to time-limited redemption.

The store will write on the blackboard outside what will be available the next day. For example, on Monday, 10,000 kilograms of fresh vegetables will be available, and each person is limited to one kilogram, on a first-come, first-served basis. On Tuesday, it is different, with grains, canned meats, snacks and other snacks also available in limited quantities, on a first-come, first-served basis.

Half a month ago, the base distributed free clothes and bedding to people who had no cold-proof clothing, but each person only had one set of thicker clothes and an old quilt. Many people wore them for more than half a month, and their clothes became smelly and had to be changed and washed. They could only go to the points store to exchange them for thicker clothes.

The clothes inside are naturally different according to the material and brand. Even if they are old clothes, the prices are different.

Although Li Yongsheng was a chief physician with good salary and benefits, he had a large family to support and had to save some food to support Liao Manman, with whom he was having an affair, so his life was very tight.

He was reluctant to change into two more nicer clothes, but when he heard that he could get triple pay if he worked overtime to treat patients for a month, he came without stopping.

Seeing Cheng Su Pan Pan Ming shaving his beard and regaining his former gentle and handsome appearance, with his unbuttoned white coat revealing a super warm down jacket of a famous brand that had been very expensive before the end of the world, he felt jealous.

When Liao Manman was hanging out with him, she always said that if she could sleep with Cheng Suming, she would have no regrets in her life.

Recently, Shishan Hospital is planning to promote Cheng Suming to a higher position. His wife is also a young, beautiful and capable woman. She actually grows fruits and vegetables at home. I heard that she has contracted two acres of greenhouses and hired people to plant them. Their family has never lacked food and drink.

Cheng Su Ming was successful in both career and love. Li Yongsheng was extremely jealous and spoke in a sour tone.

Cheng Suming replied calmly, "The clothes I'm wearing are not exchangeable with points. I was lucky before coming to the Stone Mountain Base. I found a clothing store in the ruins and picked up a few down jackets. After washing them, they were almost as good as new ones."

"You are so lucky." Li Yongsheng sighed and left.

"Brother Cheng, they said that Dean Shishan plans to promote you to the position of associate physician. He will soon assess your surgical skills and arrange a surgical operation for you to perform. I wonder if it is true?" Sheng Youbin watched Li Yongsheng leave, then turned to ask Cheng Suming.

"It's true, and it's also false." Cheng Suming turned on the computer in the clinic and said expressionlessly, "They said it was an assessment for me and arranged a surgery for me, but in reality, I ran into a big problem. No surgeon in the entire surgical department dared to take that operation, so they threw the mess on me."

"Ah? What's going on?" Sheng Youbin sat next to him and listened carefully.

Cheng Suming looked at the case of a patient inside the hospital and said, "A senior figure in Kyoto has a bad heart and needs a heart bypass surgery to continue his life. But that figure's heart function is not good, and the chance of success of the surgery is very low. He is related to the entire Kyoto base and the lifeline of a special research project. The surgeons in Kyoto are afraid that the operation will not be successful and they cannot take the responsibility. They push each other and are unwilling to perform the surgery. Later, they couldn't push anyone anymore, so they chose to look for capable surgeons in bases across the country to perform this operation. Unfortunately, I was selected by the Shishan base."

"Then do you want to have this operation?" Sheng Youbin realized the seriousness of the matter and asked with a frown.

"Why not?" Cheng Su Ming said calmly, "Life and death are determined by fate, and wealth is determined by God. If I succeed, I will not only be promoted, but also have an important network of contacts. I am not afraid of failure. At worst, I will not be a doctor anymore, and let your sister Nan support me for the rest of my life."

When he mentioned Si Nan, there was a faint smile in his narrow, dark eyes, and a look of happiness on his face that made Sheng Youbin a little jealous.

When will he be able to be like Cheng Suming, and have someone who is sincere to him, who supports him silently behind the scenes, and whom he also loves?

After Cheng Suming left, Si Nan had nothing to do, so he went to the greenhouse upstairs and sprinkled some weak urea and fertilizer made from rotten leaves of fruits, vegetables and melons into the soil to increase soil fertility, allow crops to absorb nutrients and grow better.

Then she straightened the vines of green beans, cowpeas, lentils, watermelon vines, bitter melons, loofah vines, etc. that were growing in a tangle, and pulled them back to their respective wooden poles and trellises. She then artificially pollinated the already flowering crops such as watermelon, cantaloupe, loofah, etc.

Fruits and vegetables grown in greenhouses and sheds have no insects to pollinate them and need to pollinate themselves. Generally, they only need to pick a few flowers and pollinate other flowers.

For legume crops like green beans, you can just pick a few flowers for pollination. For melons like watermelon, the flowers must be distinguished between male and female for successful pollination.

Nowadays, most crops, such as green beans, have grown densely packed with long strings of green beans on a wooden pole, which can be picked and sold.

However, the growth cycle of cowpea is longer than that of green beans. It only blooms slowly after it can be sold, and needs manual pollination.

For example, the strawberries she had pollinated before began to bear fruit and slowly turned red, and the tomatoes were also full of green, egg-sized tomatoes.

It may be due to the bad weather, or it may be because of the tomato disease last month. The leaves of more than a dozen tomato plants are a little wilted, and the tomatoes are half the size of ordinary tomatoes.

Fortunately, she took medicine to treat the disease in time. By the time the tomatoes turned red, the medicine was almost ineffective.

As for melon and fruit crops, for example, the ten watermelon plants planted two and a half months ago have produced a lot of watermelons. She cleaned up the excess stubble and the small watermelons that were not growing well, and then put the rest of the watermelons in net bags and hung them under the vine racks to grow.

Each watermelon now is as big as a human head. The vines are beginning to wither. In half a month at most, when the vines are almost dry, they can be picked.

Although these watermelons are not very big due to the climate and greenhouse cultivation, Sinan still feels a sense of accomplishment as the farmer who grows them.

Last month, she had filled more than a dozen bags of soil with fertilizer bags, and planted a watermelon seedling with strong roots in each bag, engaging in seamless watermelon planting and trading.

Now the melon vine is more than one meter long, with small flowers sparsely blooming on it. She picked a few male flowers and fertilized the female flowers one by one.

After finishing artificial pollination, she picked a lot of fresh vegetables that were ripe and edible, such as beans, loofah, cucumber, bitter gourd, etc., as well as garlic leaves and shallots, and divided them into five portions, one for herself and one to send to relatives and friends.

She first delivered to the house next door. Cheng Wei was sleeping in at home. When she saw the fresh vegetables she delivered, she rubbed her sleepy eyes and said to her, "Sister-in-law, you are so kind. You always send me any fresh fruits and vegetables you grow at home as soon as possible."

"If you know I'm nice, then don't be picky. In this weather, it's good to have fresh vegetables. Even if you don't like loofah or bitter melon, you should cook them and eat them to supplement your vitamins."

Si Nan put the vegetables in the basket on her table. He saw that the bowl she had eaten in the morning was still on the table. The leftover soup and juice were frozen and not washed. There were several pieces of dirty clothes piled up on the wooden chair in the living room. The room was cold and there was no kang or fire wall. He sighed with a headache and said, "Yang Wentao has a hard time working alone outside. You have nothing to do at home, so you should do some housework within your ability to reduce his burden. Apart from anything else, you should wash the bowl you have eaten from. The weather is so cold, you should also light a fire to warm up the house. It will be more comfortable for Yang Wentao to come back from get off work later. Don't lie in bed and sleep in all the time."

Cheng Wei really wanted to say that she was used to being lazy, and that Yang Wentao was doing all these things, so she didn’t have to worry about anything at all.

But she knew in her heart that she had gone too far. It was Yang Wentao's business to pamper her and spoil her. As his lover, she couldn't just enjoy his efforts as a matter of course.

After she sent Si Nan out, she went to the kitchen obediently and clumsily lit the fire with firewood, doing something she used to think was dirty.

Mother Sheng was not on duty today and was knitting a sweater at home. When she saw Si Nan coming over with a basket of vegetables, she opened the door and led her in, muttering, "Girl, you send me vegetables every two or three days, and I feel embarrassed to accept them. I want to refuse, but I'm afraid you'll be unhappy, so I have to accept them shamelessly. I planted more than a dozen pots of vegetables in Youbin's room with the vegetable seeds you gave me last time. They didn't grow very well, but they were barely enough for our family to eat. You should sell more of your vegetables."

Si Nan looked at the clean floor of Sheng's house, and the neatly arranged tables and chairs without a speck of dust or dirt. It was in stark contrast to Cheng Wei's house. She smiled and said, "Originally, the vegetables grown at home are for our family to eat, and we sell them when there are more. You don't have much vegetables to eat, so of course I have to give you some. I don't lack those points and supplies."

Mother Sheng put the vegetables she gave her into the kitchen, and came out and sighed, "You are so thoughtful. Last time you promised Brother Pang and his family to live in our greenhouse, and they have been helping me and Sister Wang with our work. Now the crops are growing well, and the fruit corn will be ready for harvest in half a month. I opened a corn head and took a look. They are all very plump. They will definitely sell for a good price when the time comes."

"Uncle Pang and the others have moved away?" Si Nan asked, sitting on a low stool in the living room.

"They moved out yesterday. They wanted to thank you, but you happened to be out, so they had to ask me to tell you." Mother Sheng sat beside her and showed her a sweater that was almost finished. "This is the wool yarn that Pang Da and his friends exchanged for at the points store. They knitted you a sweater as a thank you gift. After they finish working on the temporary heating shelter, they will go out with the army to cut wood and make money, and look for supplies. When they find something good, they said they will reward you."

A sweater may seem worthless in the eyes of outsiders, but Sinan knows that Pang Xing'an and his gang of shantytown survivors who have nothing use the meager points they earn every day to exchange for expensive wool at the points store and ask Sheng's mother to help them knit a sweater. This kind of thought is truly rare.

Mother Sheng asked her to sit for a while, took the knitting needle, finished the collar in no time, shook the knitted sweater, and compared it to her body: "This sweater was started by Pang Da's eldest daughter. She knitted it for a week. When she was about to finish it, her hand was injured. Others can't knit it, so they asked me to finish it. Try it on yourself to see if it fits.

This sweater has a complicated bamboo pattern. It fits Sinan perfectly and makes him look thinner. Mother Sheng praised it again and again: "It's really good. When the points store opens for wool exchange again in a few days, I will also go to exchange more than ten kilograms of wool and knit another one for you and Youqing and her brother."

"Auntie Sheng, there's no need to knit for me. I have too many clothes to wear." Si Nan declined politely.

"Silly girl, why are you being so polite to me? You only wear those few clothes all day long. How can you have extra clothes? Don't you give us enough things? Auntie will knit you a sweater. Don't refuse."

Mother Sheng took out a small bag from her room and handed it to Sinan: "This is the welfare provided by Youqing and Youbin's respective companies for their overtime work. There are some candies, biscuits, melon seeds, plums and other snacks in it. They kept them all and asked me to give them to you. There are also some dried sweet potatoes and glutinous rice balls made from sweet potato flour that I exchanged at the points store. You can take them home and eat them. Tell auntie when you are done and she will make more for you."

Si Nan had no choice but to accept it. She walked out of the Sheng family's courtyard, opened the small cloth bag, and saw all kinds of biscuits and snacks piled inside. She knew in her heart that Sheng Youqing and her siblings probably received these benefits but were reluctant to eat a single bite, leaving them all for her to eat in order to repay her for helping them.

The feeling of being remembered by others was quite good. She put the small cloth bag into the space, took the remaining two baskets of vegetables, and went to her uncle and aunt's house in a good mood.

My uncle's family all went out to work, and the child was left to the care of the eldest cousin's wife from the neighboring Si family. It was said that she was given 30 kilograms of food every month. The eldest cousin's wife took care of the child diligently and conscientiously, and even Mao Pingzhen and her daughter, who were always busy, could not find any fault with her.

Ten days ago, Zheng Hao was taken outside the base in the army's special corpse storage vehicle and burned separately.

After the incident, Zheng Jian, who was with the vehicle, came back with a small box of ashes and informed Sinan. They buried Zheng Hao in the forest behind the mountain on the south side of the base and set up a simple grave.

At that time, the eldest cousin's wife and Si Yufang, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, cried so hard that they fainted at one point.

Now, ten days have passed. My eldest cousin's wife has temporarily come out of the shadow of losing her husband. She is trying hard to take care of her own children, the daughter of Liu Ming next door, and the only son of Zheng Jian and his wife. She also has to go to the hospital to take care of her unconscious father-in-law Zheng Guang. My mother-in-law, who is mentally unstable at home, runs back and forth every day and is exhausted.

When Sinan went there, Zheng Jian and his wife had gone out to work, and the eldest cousin's wife was changing the pants that Zheng Jian's son, who was less than two years old, had urinated on.

Seeing her appear, the eldest cousin's wife forced a smile at her and said, "Cousin, you are here, come in and sit down." Then she stood up and brought her a stool.

"Sister-in-law, please stop working. I'll be leaving soon." Si Nan stopped her and put the two frozen baskets on the ground. He looked at the two children sleeping in the living room and Si Yufang, who was already skinny and bony, sitting next to the two children in a daze. "My aunt is still the same?"

The eldest cousin's wife nodded: "I think it was a big shock, and it took a while for him to recover. He has been much better these days. At least he needs to drink some rice soup."

"My aunt is in this state, half of it is her own fault. Thank you for your hard work, sister-in-law." Si Nan sighed: "I can't help you with anything else. If you feel tired, I can take my aunt away and take care of her for a while."

"No need." The eldest cousin's wife shook her head: "I do blame my mother-in-law for indirectly killing Zhuangzhuang's father, but I know in my heart that the culprit is not her, but her brother, and the real murderers who killed Zhuangzhuang's father. I have no reason to ignore her. My mother-in-law used to be very good to me, but now she has become so stupid. To be honest, I feel bad seeing her. Don't worry, my second brother and his wife are at home. They work to earn money to support the family. I will take good care of my parents-in-law at home, and I will tell you if I need anything."

There are not many women who are so sensible these days. Si Nan talked to her for a while, and when she was not paying attention, he secretly put a few handfuls of noodles into the kitchen, and then left the Zheng family.