Song Zhao was cooking porridge on the side, and the two chatted casually. Gu Yanzhi was asking questions, and Song Zhao was answering. She was both concerned about the current situation and trying to distract herself from the pain in her leg.

Give me a small table.

The porridge was ready in less than two minutes. Gu Yanzhi found a bedside table in her space for Song Zhao. Song Zhao set up the table outside Gu Yanzhi's legs so that she could eat directly on the small table.

"I'll look for two dishes."

"Okay, find two light meals. The doctor said you can't eat greasy food right now."

Song Zhao ladled out a bowl of porridge and handed it to Gu Yanzhi.

"Your hand?" With his view no longer obstructed, Gu Yanzhi could finally see that Song Zhao's hand was wrapped in gauze. The original white gauze had turned yellow because of his hard work.

"It's nothing, I just accidentally chafed it," Song Zhao said casually, looking down at his hand as he followed Gu Yanzhi's gaze.

It wasn't an accidental damage. Everything she saw, from food and drinks to clothes and other items, was dug out of the ruins of Building 10 by Song Zhao and Gu Yanlin, brick by brick.

The earthquake stopped shortly after Gu Yanzhi fainted, and Song Zhao and Gu Yanlin quickly took her to see a doctor.

Gu Yanzhi's leg was hit by a stone, leaving a hole that was bleeding profusely. The doctor managed to stop the bleeding, but there was no way to proceed with further treatment.

Unfortunately, the hospital doesn't have much medicine available right now, but Gu Yanzhi's wound urgently needs disinfection and bandaging, and it can't be delayed for too long.

Song Zhao and Gu Yanlin remembered that Gu Yanzhi had prepared these things in the backpacks for them, but they ran too fast during the earthquake and didn't have time to take them.

The two quickly ran back to the ruins and began digging through them, piece by piece. Lacking any tools, they had to search by hand for two hours before finally finding the bag.

My ten fingers were worn raw and bloody, with ash and pebbles mixed in with the flesh.

The fingers are connected to the heart, and while the doctor treated them, the two clenched their teeth and didn't utter a sound. They were just secretly relieved that they had been found.

The bag was well-prepared with supplies, including medicine, food, a compressed tent, a change of clothes, heating supplies, and lighting supplies.

The government's relief efforts arrived promptly, but they could only provide manpower. You can't cook without ingredients; the government also lacked specialized relief supplies, with only a few thousand tents stored in warehouses. Faced with millions, even tens of millions, of affected people, this was merely a drop in the ocean.

There are not many houses that are still intact. Some are uninhabited, or some that were still inhabited have become temporary shelters for the government after being persuaded to do so.

Even so, many people still risk their lives to live in a small corner propped up by the collapsed houses, or simply sleep on the ground in the open air, using the sky as their blanket and the ground as their mat in the cold weather. They are lucky if they don't freeze to death.

"Is it daytime outside now?" After finishing her meal and taking painkillers, Gu Yanzhi felt less of the pain throughout her body and finally had the energy to look around the tent she was staying in. There seemed to be no lights on inside the tent, nor any other source of light, yet it was as bright as day.

Judging by the time, it's probably the second year of extreme cold and the first year of polar night now.

“Yes, the polar night is over, and the temperature outside seems to be slowly rising.” Song Zhao quickly finished clearing the table and sat on the edge of the bed chatting with Gu Yanzhi.

On the day of the earthquake, it occurred around 5 or 6 pm, which is considered evening in City C. Under normal weather conditions, it shouldn't be dark yet.

Everyone was shocked by the earthquake, and only a few people noticed that it was dawn. When the earthquake struck, the darkness faded away, revealing what was usually a C City evening.

However, most people are busy trying to save their family or friends who are buried under the rubble, and very few people notice, or rather, they notice but don't have the brains to think about it carefully.

The daytime didn't last long either, and night fell as usual before long. It wasn't until the next day, when people were awakened by the sunlight, that they realized the polar night had finally ended.

As for Song Zhao's mention of rising temperatures, that was based on his own experience.

Gu Yanzhi had prepared a thermometer in the supply package for them. The normal temperature should be around -60 degrees Celsius. Song Zhao checked the thermometer several times today and found that the temperature had gradually decreased from the original -60 degrees Celsius to around -55 degrees Celsius.

However, the perceived temperature is almost the same as -60 degrees Celsius, so very few people notice this.

Let me see your hands.