The melon farmer exchanged some vegetable seeds with Zuo Ling, and Zuo Ling told him about the precautions. The melon farmer repeatedly said that he could give it a try.

Seeing that he insisted, Zuo Ling gave it to him instead.

Compared to melon farmers, she's a novice, while they're professionals; they might actually be able to grow it successfully.

The melon farmer's name was Tian Youren. He had two sons and a daughter. His eldest son was Tian Dali, his second son was Tian Erli, and his youngest daughter was Tian Sanlan.

The little girl is gone; the one who came with them was their niece, Ge Cuiying.

Back at the resettlement house, the eldest son was cooking noodles on the stove.

Tian Youren asked his eldest son, "Where are the second son and Cuiying?"

Tian Dali gestured towards the next room: "Second brother and Qian Xiaodie are next door, and Cuiying might be at Grandma Li's house."

Tian Youren sighed. They asked for two resettlement rooms, where his niece and Qian Xiaodie would live together. Qian Xiaodie was his nephew's wife.

On New Year's Eve, the whole family was sitting together watching the Spring Festival Gala when suddenly heavy snow fell, the temperature plummeted, and the power went out.

The whole family quickly looked for warm clothes, and fearing the temperature would be too low, they even added charcoal fires to each room.

Everyone was disappointed because of the power outage, so they just went to sleep.

No one expected the snow to fall so heavily.

Overnight, their house was buried completely.

Tian Youren was woken up by the urge to breathe. He tried to get out of bed, but his body felt weak and he had no strength at all.

The feeling wasn't uncomfortable; it was very comfortable, so comfortable that all I wanted to do was lie down and sleep. Tian Youren knew that Zhongmei Gas had been discovered, so he quickly woke everyone up.

I nudged my wife, but she didn't react at all.

He fumbled to turn on the flashlight. His wife's face was flushed and her breathing was rapid. He knew something was wrong and called his two sons for help.

The eldest son heard this and answered. Then he heard the door open, followed by the sound of something heavy falling to the ground.

The temperature dropped quickly, so fires were lit in several rooms, and the eldest son also suffered carbon monoxide poisoning.

He struggled to open the window, but it was blocked by snow. He tried to open it several times but couldn't. In desperation, he smashed it with his flashlight.

His limbs were weak and powerless, and it took a lot of effort to smash a hole in the window.

A cool breeze blew into the room, making him shiver. He regained some strength and shook his wife, but she still didn't wake up.

He stumbled to see his eldest son, who came out wearing pajamas and a cotton-padded jacket, lying on the cold ground.

He dragged and slapped his eldest son's face repeatedly until he finally woke him up, and then went to wake his second son.

The second son had locked the door. After he finally managed to pry it open, woke up his second son, and returned to the main house, his wife's face was ashen and she was already dead.

He was stunned and at a loss when he heard his eldest son and his wife calling for their granddaughter in heartbreaking cries, and he also heard wailing coming from his second son's room.

He lost his wife, his eldest son lost his daughter, and his second son lost his big, healthy baby boy who was less than three months old.

On what should have been a day of family reunion, they were separated by death. Tian Youren still dares not recall that day.

When he and his eldest son and daughter-in-law, and second son and daughter-in-law crawled out of their house, they found that everything outside had changed.

The entire village was buried by heavy snow, and everywhere there were cries, which sounded like the howls of wolves.

They thought they would finally receive rescue, but more than a week has passed and no one has come to save them.

My eldest son's family has a small radio, from which I intermittently learned that this disaster is global.

A global disaster! It means that the entire nation of China is suffering! Rescue efforts are needed everywhere, but the country can't possibly handle it all.

With no hope left, one can only save oneself.

The temperature was below minus seventy degrees Celsius, and the soil was frozen solid.

He found it difficult to even bury his wife, granddaughter, and grandson properly.

They burned some wood to thaw it, and painstakingly dug out a large pit. They found some planks, nailed together a makeshift coffin, and barely managed to bury the person.

The second daughter-in-law had just given birth and was heartbroken at losing her son. It was also freezing cold, and she couldn't go on for more than a few days.

During the earthquake, the youngest daughter and eldest daughter-in-law went back into the house to grab food, but before they could come out, the house collapsed, and they both died.

The once harmonious and happy family is now reduced to just the three of them.

Only his nephew's wife, Tian Xiaodie, survived in his younger brother's family. His younger sister's entire family was gone, but his married daughter, Ge Cuiying, was found. Tian Youren's heart was numb with pain.

If all your relatives are dying, and one of them finally comes back, you naturally want to keep him by your side.

Then a hailstorm struck. The hailstorm in the freezing cold was unbearable.

After several rounds of heavy snow, earthquakes, and hailstorms, the village of over two hundred people was reduced to just a dozen or so.

Thinking of all this, Tian Youren couldn't even cry.

After much searching, I learned that Noah's Ark was the best neighborhood in Kyoto, so I decided to try my luck there.

When they arrived, each of them carried some food, daily necessities and other supplies.

They were robbed repeatedly along the way, losing more than half of their supplies. Two villagers were killed, and the rest were injured to varying degrees.

When Tian Youren arrived at Noah's Ark, he saw tens of thousands of people waiting outside for a chance to enter the community. His heart sank.

They were just a group of old farmers. If other people couldn't get in, how could they?

Unexpectedly, he ran into a benefactor who came to buy melons from his melon patch.

Tian Youren felt that Heaven must have seen how much suffering he had endured and finally opened its eyes to bestow grace upon him. His family cherished this hard-won opportunity.

He, his two sons, niece, and nephew's wife all signed up for the planting group, and they also participate in the construction of resettlement housing and community patrols when they have time.

The whole family is working hard to earn contribution points so they can exchange them for more supplies.

The second son and his nephew's wife, one having lost his wife and children, the other having lost her husband and children, were neighbors in the same boat, growing closer with each passing year.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!