Central heating is available in most parts of Beijing, typically starting in November and lasting until March of the following year. However, it's only early March now, and the heating companies haven't even started purchasing coal yet.
The sudden drop in temperature overnight caught the relevant government departments completely off guard.
In the previous life, the government also urgently dispatched additional personnel to transport large quantities of coal from Shanxi. However, the heavy snow lasted for more than half a month, with snow accumulation on highways reaching above the knees, and many transport routes completely covered by ice, paralyzing land transportation on a large scale.
Even though the transportation department hired a large number of people overnight with food as payment to clear the snow and ice, the water circulation, which is the most important part of the heating system, could not be guaranteed.
The principle of heating pipes is to provide heat through the circulation of hot water, but when the outdoor temperature suddenly drops to minus 60 or 70 degrees Celsius, even the groundwater freezes into ice blocks, and the water supply system simply cannot pump water.
Without water, millions of tons of coal can only sit idly in the heating company's coal yard.
The room was warm and cozy, and the contrast between the hot and cold made Lu Sheng's face flushed and hot, and it was also a little itchy.
"Lu Sheng?"
Xu Yi's voice came from outside the door.
"They're here! They're here!"
In order not to give away any clues, Lu Sheng hurriedly put on a hat, scarf, and gloves, and casually draped a mink coat over his shoulders.
On her way to open the door, she accidentally lost her slippers.
Hmm, the floor is so hot it burns my feet! It really is underfloor heating!
Zhuangzhuang was sprawled out on the floor, looking completely blissful.
Lu Sheng opened the door a crack and poked his head out, only to be immediately greeted by a blast of cold air.
Xu Yi was wearing a black fitted down jacket, and the tip of her nose was slightly red from the cold. "Are you not cold?"
"I'm fine..."
Before he could finish speaking, a hand warmer was handed over through the crack in the door.
Lu Sheng was stunned for a moment, and Xu Yi had already turned to 402.
Sun Tiantian and Xiao Yu also woke up and immediately let each other know they were safe through the door.
A short while later, Xiao Yu knocked on the door and invited Lu Sheng to come to room 402 to warm up. The more people there were, the warmer it would be; it was more like a lively atmosphere.
Sun Tiantian was curled up in bed wrapped in a quilt, with two mink coats draped over her body, and an electric blanket was attached to the quilt.
Four electric heaters were on in the room at the same time, making my eyelids feel hot.
Even with so many layers of clothing, my body was still shivering from the cold, and tears and snot were streaming down my face.
"Use it through your clothes, so you don't burn yourself." Xu Yi handed Lu Sheng and the others a double-layered bag, which looked handmade.
Lu Sheng held it in his hand with gloves on; it was scalding hot, much hotter than the hand warmers they bought in the mall.
Without making a sound, I glanced at the bag and saw that it contained iron powder, charcoal, and a damp paper towel. It was probably a metal oxidation-reduction heating pack that Xu Yi had made himself.
Mastering math, physics, and chemistry will take you anywhere in the world; her teacher was right.
Xiao Yu cooked a large pot of ginger cola, added some red dates, and served it to Sun Tiantian and Lu Sheng first, and then poured a large glass for Xu Yi.
Zhuangzhuang also got a small bowl, and he lay on the ground licking it up with slurping sounds.
As Lu Sheng handed over the cup, he glanced at the back of Xiao Yu's hand.
I must have caught a chill while washing the ginger; my whole hand turned purple from the cold, and there were red, swollen bumps between my fingers and on the back of my hand, like frostbite.
After downing a large glass of ginger cola, the group finally felt a little warmer.
"People from Northeast China are usually resistant to the cold, why are you so quiet now?" Xiao Yu teased, rubbing Sun Tiantian's frozen fingers.
Sun Tiantian's hometown is Harbin. In the two years she's been in Beijing, she hasn't even worn thermal underwear in the winter. She often mocks Xiao Yu and Lu Sheng for being weak Beijingers.
"Who would have thought that I, a wolf from the Northeast, would freeze...frozen like a dog here?" Sun Tiantian sneezed, her teeth chattering. "The Northeast has central heating, so even the coldest weather is physical damage. You guys have nothing, it's all magical damage."
They still had the mind to joke around, so it seemed that the people on the fourth floor were all alright. Lu Sheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Bang bang bang.
There was a knock on the door from outside the corridor.
Lu Sheng followed Xu Yi outside to see what was happening. There stood a girl wrapped up like a teddy bear outside the iron gate.
Wearing a double down jacket, old-fashioned handmade cotton trousers, and snow boots, with a hat and scarf wrapped all the way up to her nose, only her bright, watery eyes were visible.
Lu Sheng stared for several seconds before recognizing Jiang Lan from the beauty mark at the corner of her eye.
Jiang Lan's maternal grandmother lives in Mohe, which is known as the coldest place in China. Every winter, she makes several winter clothes and mails them to her.
The concern of the elderly may seem a little nagging at other times, but it always comes in handy at crucial moments.
"Lu Sheng, I have something I want to discuss with you. Can you let me in first?" Jiang Lan stomped her feet in the cold.
"Just say what it is," Lu Sheng said calmly through the iron gate.
Jiang Lan hesitated and looked around before finally deciding to lean against the door and say in a voice that only Lu Sheng and Xu Yi could hear, "My uncle has a cannery in the next district. I'd like to ask you to help me drive there. We'll split the canned goods 30/70, you get 30% and I get 70%."
"It's been so many days, the factory's inventory should have been shipped out by now, right?"
Lu Sheng thought back carefully and realized that he seemed to have heard that Jiang Lan's relatives owned a factory in the suburbs.
"No, no!" Jiang Lan hurriedly waved her hand. "My uncle's factory doesn't have a business license. It's basically an illegal workshop. People with connections come to pick it up themselves."
“I contacted my uncle a few days ago. He was staying at the factory by himself, and no one came to pick up the goods. But I haven’t been able to reach him for the past two days. Something may have happened to him.” Jiang Lan’s eyes were filled with sadness.
After a pause, fearing that Lu Sheng and the others might think the split was too small, Jiang Lan quickly added, "Eight-eight, even two-eight is fine. You guys with the car take the lion's share, just give me whatever you want."
Lu Sheng considered for a few seconds, "Wait downstairs, we'll be down in a few minutes. We can only take you, no more."
"Okay, okay! I'm all alone!"
Upon receiving Lu Sheng's permission, Jiang Lan jumped up excitedly and hurriedly went downstairs.
Lu Sheng and Xu Yi exchanged a glance and went back to 402 to call Xiao Yu to join them.
Heavy snow has blocked roads, making travel difficult. Blindly searching for supplies is even more challenging, and in temperatures as low as minus sixty degrees Celsius, the risk is extremely high if you don't have a target. A wasted trip could even result in serious injury.
With Jiang Lan leading the way, at least the goal is clear, which is better than them wandering around aimlessly like headless flies. Besides, 20% isn't much; consider it an information fee.
The outdoor temperature was even more terrifying than Lu Sheng had anticipated.
Lu Sheng was wearing two layers of thermal underwear and cotton pants, and three layers of wool insoles in his boots. But the moment he stepped out of the Lilac Pavilion, he was hit by a blast of cold air, and his chest felt like it was being torn apart.
The average temperature in Beijing is only a few degrees below zero, but the outdoor temperature has now dropped to minus fifty degrees.
With a temperature difference of up to 60 degrees Celsius, many people experience cardiac arrest in their sleep due to the low temperature.
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