◎Happy 73rd Day: Polar Night◎
Wang Qingqing is very interested in the ice cellar.
She is naturally afraid of heat. For others, the temperature is something they can just endure, but for her, it is a painful experience that makes her teeter on the brink of life and death every day.
I don’t want to move in the summer because I’m afraid of the heat, but once I stop and have nothing to do, my attention will be unconsciously attracted by the temperature, and I start to think about the philosophical question of “why should I continue such a difficult and hard life?”
Now that the opportunity to resolve the summer's ordeal was right in front of him, Wang Qingqing's mind was working rapidly.
What is the biggest problem in storing ice in winter by building an icehouse?
Of course it’s the low temperature!
Given the current temperature outside, if they want to dig an ice cellar, they will have to dig through the permafrost with their bare hands.
But at the same time, the advantage of building an ice cellar in winter is the low temperature!
Jiang Muyun had heard a few words about ice cellars in his previous life: "The principle behind building an ice cellar to store ice is quite simple. First, soil insulates, and second, the larger the ice, the slower it melts."
China's civilization has been passed down through the generations, and many ancient monuments have been preserved. Even if you haven't learned about them specifically, you've probably seen some of them when traveling.
When Qin Shiwen went to the capital for a competition, he visited the capital's ancient buildings, among which was an ice cellar specially used by the ancient royal family.
"I remember the ice cellar in the capital. It was a semi-underground structure, similar to a cave. There were drainage ditches inside the ice storage room to prevent the water from melting the ice from continuing to melt the ice." Qin Shiwen tried hard to recall the ice cellar he had seen at that time.
Chu Buwen knew a little more about these things: "Ice storage in ice cellars probably has two layers of insulation. The first layer relies on the soil. The deeper you dig, the thicker the insulation layer. The second layer is actually the ice piled inside the ice cellar."
"We can think of all the ice in the ice cellar as being divided into two parts." Chu Buwen casually picked up a wooden stick and drew a simple diagram on the ground. "The ice stored on the outer layer can be considered part of the ice cellar. We can use the ice to build a refrigerator, and then store the ice in the refrigerator."
Jiang Muyun continued, "It's a bit like what we do now: digging a hole in the snow to use as a refrigerator, and then putting the food that needs to be frozen in it to preserve it."
Zhao Jiahao looked at the Chinese character "回" (U) diagram on the ground and said, "Then there are some advantages to starting the ice cellar now. At least we don't have to pile ice on the outside; we can pour the ice wall directly. The ice wall can continue to freeze during the winter, forming aged ice blocks that will be harder to melt when the temperature rises. Wouldn't that provide better insulation?"
Jiang Muyun nodded: "Indeed."
The ice mined and transported to the icehouse is in blocks, stacked together, and not a single solid block. In comparison, a solid wall of ice poured directly during the construction of the icehouse is of course more difficult to melt.
The ancients did not build ice walls not because they were stupid, but because the capitals of all dynasties in China were rarely so cold. The water poured on them would not freeze for a while, and there were no conditions for building ice walls. It was more convenient and quicker to collect ice directly from rivers.
And now... they can't harvest ice, so they can only make their own ice.
Because before the arrival of winter, a severe drought had dried up all the surrounding rivers and lakes. Before the snow fell, the only rain that fell here was acid rain with unknown toxicity.
There is no ice in the riverbed now, only snow that has been frozen hard and looks like cement blocks.
But the benefits are also obvious.
The difficulty they have in digging through the permafrost will drop dramatically.
The soil has a low moisture content. Even if it becomes permafrost due to the low temperature, it is still a weak permafrost. The difficulty of excavation is incomparable to the old permafrost on the plateau.
Qin Shiwu scratched his head. "The permafrost here should be seasonal. Assuming this ice cellar is going to be used for a long time, the repeated freezing and thawing will be very troublesome."
Jiang Muyun didn't think so. "The main impact of frost heave and thaw on buildings is deformation. We are on a mountain, and the structure itself is more stable than ordinary buildings. Considering the water content, the permafrost has limited impact on us."
"The most important thing is that we're building an ice cellar." Jiang Muyun filled in the middle of Chu Buwen's small diagram. "The interior of the building will be filled solid with ice. It doesn't matter if the exterior collapses—of course, it's best if it doesn't collapse, otherwise we'll have to dig all over again. As long as the drain isn't blocked, everything will be fine."
Wang Qingqing's eyes sparkled: "Then let's consider the location issue?"
Li Anxuan thought about it for a long time. "First of all, it'd better not be too far from where we live, otherwise the ice will melt on the way out in the summer. Secondly, choose a sunny slope, which will be more convenient for heat preservation and insulation."
"The most important thing," Li Anxuan said, "is that we can get it a little closer to the cave where we grow vegetables. The temperature near the ice cellar will be somewhat lower, right? This way, we can keep the crops a little cooler in the summer, so we don't waste them."
The first two points are common sense, but no one has really considered the last point.
Jiang Muyun held his chin with one hand and said thoughtfully, "Didn't we prepare two caves to store crops? One for a warm bed and the other for an ice cellar. We can put the entrance to the ice cellar in the cave and dig it out diagonally downwards. What do you think?"
Everyone knows that the temperature inside a mountain is low, so digging the ice cellar directly inside the cave really saved them a lot of effort.
"Then I suggest we change the size of the ice cellar to a slightly longer shape. This will definitely cause greater loss of ice on the outer layer, but since we've already dug it into the mountain, the extra heat insulation will more than offset the loss." Zheng Xiang picked up a branch on the ground and drew a new diagram on the ground. "Otherwise, I'm afraid this small hill will collapse if we dig it up."
After listening to it, a group of people laughed and cried.
It sounds unbelievable that just a few of them could dig down a mountain.
But who can blame them for not having any knowledge about this?
They know nothing about mountain structure, supporting forces, where to dig and where not to dig, and how far to dig. They can only rely on luck and be cautious to the point of being humble.
Qin Shiwen hugged himself with a loving look on his face: "What a bunch of hopeless illiterates."
Jiang Muyun smoothed the diagram on the ground and said with a self-pitying look, "I'm not like that. I just finished the college entrance examination."
Qin Shiwen: "Who do you think I'm talking about? Shouldn't you two be well-versed in astronomy and geography right now? You should make some use of it."
Chu Buwen: "He says he's not good at astronomy and geography, and he doesn't understand mountain structure either."
Jiang Muyun: "I'm an astronomist, I can testify that I'm not good at geography. If you don't know, don't ask me."
Qin Shiwen was so angry that he laughed: "If you are not good at astronomy, why don't you ask about geography?"
"Oh, you're talking about this." Jiang Muyun said shyly: "Geography said you are a piece of shit, why do you ask Astronomy first when you have something to ask? Don't come to me anymore."
Chu Buwen nodded in agreement, saying, "I am a dog. I will testify that if I have any questions in the future, I can only ask Tianwen."
Qin Shiwu was impressed: "You are really cruel to yourself in order to avoid being illiterate."
Zhao Jiahao asked actively: "Why don't you ask Tianwen now, when will the weather outside be normal?"
Master Jiang was ready to go, but Chu Buwen said seriously, "Well, this can't be asked now. We have to wait until tonight."
Zhao Jiahao was bewildered: "What's the difference?"
Chu Buwen said solemnly: "Do you know why the ancients always said to observe the celestial phenomena at night?"
Zhao Jiahao, who had just been tricked once, evolved: "Because you and Jiang Muyun are not human. You two liars, stay away from me!"
Jiang Muyun, who was scolded innocently, felt extremely dissatisfied.
The weather now is very bad, with short days and long nights. It gets bright around eight in the morning and starts to get dark around four in the afternoon. The time they can spend outdoors is getting shorter and shorter. Now that they have decided to dig an ice cellar to store ice, they have to act immediately.
Digging an ice cellar is a big project, and according to their plan, it should be completed during the coldest period of time.
Otherwise, they would have to go through the hardship of digging frozen soil and not enjoy the benefits of pouring ice walls, getting the best of both worlds.
To be honest, digging frozen soil is not a job that can be accomplished with the tools they have.
The only digging tool they had that was hard enough was the engineer shovel. It was made of an unknown alloy, but it was not affected by low temperatures at all and showed no signs of cold brittleness at all.
But using such a small engineer shovel to pry the frozen soil made them feel like they had no place to use their strength, and the efficiency was so low that they themselves were worried.
Jiang Muyun walked around the small earth pit they had dug for half an hour twice and came up with a dirty trick.
"How about we get those two rabbits over here and let them dig a hole here?" Jiang Muyun was tempted when he thought about the two rabbits digging a hole.
The cold wave came suddenly before, and they didn't take care of the rabbits. They thought they were going to die, but they didn't expect that they had dug a comfortable nest for themselves and managed to survive without eating each other.
And I don’t know if they were scared by the cold wave, but these two rabbits did not give up their plan to dig a nest even after the cold wave and they had charcoal fire to keep warm.
The frozen soil around the cave seemed to be no problem for them at all. The two of them were determined to dig a nest deep enough, but they were trapped by the ropes on their feet and could only dig two or three meters deep into the mountain before they could go no further. Then they would not give up and would move to another place to try again.
Jiang Muyun was afraid that they would lose their temper and want to die if they couldn't dig a satisfactory nest, so he had to loosen the end of the stick a little more, which allowed them to dig a satisfactory depth.
This digging ability is not that of a rabbit, it's simply that of a pangolin.
Now that their bread and butter is in trouble, it's naturally time for them to show their expertise.
Jiang Muyun took meticulous care of these two multifunctional cubs. He specially found a stainless steel basin for them to use as a seat, and thoughtfully put a few rags of clothes inside, which was then personally delivered by the driver Xiaobai.
When Zhao Jiahao was lamenting the treatment of these two, Jiang Muyun lowered his voice and said, "They are so heavy. Feed them well. There is a lot of meat."
Qin Shiwen looked at the trembling hare with satisfaction, and said disapprovingly, "What nonsense are you two talking about in front of the child? Is this what our rabbit should listen to?"
Jiang Muyun zipped up his mouth, held the rope in his hand and left the cave with everyone else, then hammered the metal rod tied to the rope into the ground to secure it.
"We use melted snow to pour water on the ice wall. Does the ice stored in the ice cellar also need to be melted? Will the workload be too much? Will we have enough time?" On the way back, Qin Shiwu planned to harvest ice.
The ice cellar they planned to dig was not small. If they really wanted to use snowmelt water and then freeze it again, the workload would be no less than boiling water to fill an entire reservoir.
"It really won't work if the snow doesn't melt." Jiang Muyun sighed, "We store the ice in the ice cellar in the hope that it will melt as slowly as possible, so of course the ice we put in now should be frozen as solidly as possible."
"If there is enough time, I would like to save all the boiling water and freeze it into ice. It can not only cool down but also be eaten." Jiang Muyun said.
In fact, based on her experience, this winter should last long enough for them to boil the water, freeze it into ice and store it in the ice cellar, until the entire ice cellar is slowly filled up.
But this is just her experience, and no one can guarantee it.
This uncertainty gave all of them a sense of urgency when deciding to do something.
Wang Qingqing looked up and said, "Life is really tough. I'm afraid winter won't pass, but I'm also afraid it'll pass quickly. No matter how much I store, I'm always worried it won't be enough. I never know for sure."
Jiang Muyun smiled but said nothing, he just wanted to say in his heart, welcome to become a qualified person of the end times.
This is where people are most tired in the end times.
There is never a bottom.
No one knows when the next rain will come, and no one knows when the sun will come out next time.
During the rainy season, we don’t know how much water we need to store, so even if we dig eight reservoirs at home, we may not dare to use water to take a bath during the dry season.
When food is plentiful in the new spring, I dare not eat it. I wish I could dry and store everything because I don’t know how long the next extreme weather that will keep me from going out will last.
They hope that the summer will last longer so that they can store more dry firewood for the winter, but they also hope that the summer will pass quickly because the prickly heat caused by the heat is really uncomfortable.
They hope that winter will last longer so that they can stock up on more preserved foods, but they also hope that winter will pass quickly because frostbite is no easier to bear than prickly heat.
Days pass by in fear, and except for those who are truly open-minded and indifferent to life and death, everyone in the apocalypse is in this anxiety all the time.
Of course, wanderers like Jiang Muyun, who rarely stay in the same place for a long time, are better in this regard.
She pays more attention to the collection of daily necessities such as lighters, medicines, weapons, as well as some rare and luxury items in the end times, such as well-packaged cigarettes, alcohol, tea, etc.
After all, she only has two legs, and no matter how much food she stocks, she can only carry a small amount with her on the road.
Therefore, Jiang Muyun and Chu Buwen were examples of people who just got by in their previous lives.
During the New Year, we hurried along the road and searched for supplies. As the New Year was almost over, we rushed to find a place to take shelter, and either stored or exchanged enough water to last us through a season.
After getting through this season, I will continue on my journey with nothing.
Those who couldn't stand this kind of life would have long since given up their destination and found a suitable place to settle down.
People who can wander for a long time have a very good mentality. There is no point in being anxious anyway, so they might as well give up.
But things are different now. Jiang Muyun now has his own homestead. He has to change the habits he developed when he was homeless and learn the anxious mentality of hoarders.
"How about we fill the ice cellar with ice made from ordinary snow water first, then boil water to freeze ice, and slowly replace the ordinary ice inside?" Jiang Muyun suggested.
Wang Qingqing thought about it in her mind: "I think this is safe. The ordinary ice cubes replaced can be thrown into the reservoir, so there is no waste."
Qin Shiwen wanted to say that the reservoir was now full of snow, and when the temperature rose to around ten degrees below zero and the water no longer froze, they would definitely have to melt the snow again. It was useless to throw ice in now, but Chu Buwen spoke first.
"There's no need to go to such lengths. We can just store the replaced ice in the cave. We'll seal off the entrance to the ice cellar first, then the cave itself." Chu Buwen had a brilliant plan, fully embodying the insatiable spirit of a mature apocalyptic survivor. "Until the hottest part of summer, we can store the food in the cave with the kang. When we need the cave, we'll need the ice. There's no conflict in timing."
Li Anxuan added: "When digging the trench for this cave, we need to dig it deeper. We have to be prepared that the ice in the cave will not last until summer."
Wang Qingqing said she didn't mind: "Anyway, the ice in the cave outside is just extra, so it's better to have it. Besides, even if the ice in the cave disappears, there's still water from the melt, right? It's no big deal to store more water."
Anyway, no matter what, they will have to burn snow and melt water day and night for a long time in the future.
The two rabbits moved to a new territory and subconsciously wanted to find a place to hide themselves.
As long as these two rabbits are not stupid, they can feel that the temperature inside the mountain is the warmest, and when digging holes, they will naturally dig inwards, which is exactly the same direction that Jiang Muyun and the others need.
Although the evil landlords enslaved two innocent rabbits to work for them to open up wasteland, they themselves were not idle either.
They excluded the time for shoveling snow and started working in three shifts again, taking turns melting snow and making ice.
They had a lot of plastic bags of various kinds in their hands, which were now ready to use.
Dig several square pits of the same size in the snow, cover them with plastic bags, and pour ice water freshly melted from the snow into them. It only takes a few hours for the pits to be frozen solid.
These square pits come in two sizes: one for pouring ice walls, one meter long, half a meter wide, and only about ten centimeters thick. The other is for storing ice, one meter long, one meter wide, and nearly fifty centimeters thick.
The landlords worked tirelessly themselves, and delivered meals to the two laborers every day, and checked on their work progress.
Seeing that the area they needed had been dug by the laborers with several holes, they sent the two laborers back to the place they were familiar with and gave them a warm home.
The two rabbits didn't realize that their labor was being used for free. They were just happy that they were back in a familiar and warm place. They were so happy that their appetites were great for several days.
In order to reward the two laborers, their parents almost pulled out all the green plants on the mountain. In the end, they had to rely on the bamboo grass growing everywhere to get through this period.
Jiang Muyun and his friends came with shovels to enjoy the fruits of the rabbits' labor. In order to improve efficiency, they also built a simple stove in the cave and burned fire to increase the temperature inside the cave.
They loosened and cleared several rabbit holes that were close together, and then expanded the area little by little.
Once the surface layer is dug up, it will be much easier to dig inside the mountain.
The more troublesome thing is that when we occasionally pry up large rocks, it is not as easy to throw them away as before. We can only pile them in the cave and push them down the mountain after the snow melts.
Some of the rocks looked so large that they didn't dare pry them, so they simply dug around them. With so many twists and turns, the entrance to their ice cellar alone was five or six meters long. The interior was also irregularly shaped, but the area looked to be over a hundred square meters. Ten-centimeter-wide drainage ditches had been dug into the ground as a means of digging.
Fortunately, they didn't plan to build ice walls with ice blocks, so the regularity of the shape of the ice cellar didn't have much impact.
The ice cellar has been dug, and the next step is to pour the ice wall.
A pot was placed on a simple stove inside the cave, and the melted water was used to melt the snow, and the efficiency of both sides was extremely high.
The previously frozen ice slabs were erected as baffles, and buckets of water close to freezing point were poured into the gap between the ice slabs and the mountain wall. It only took a few minutes for them to refreeze into ice, firmly gluing the ice slabs and the mountain wall together.
After the side walls are poured, the bottom is next.
The bottom of the ice cellar was covered with ice slabs, and buckets of water were poured directly on it until a layer of ice nearly 20 centimeters thick formed at the bottom of the ice cellar.
The ice layer on the top is not easy to pour, so you have to bring in the ice blocks that need to be stored first, then stack them up to the top, and then fill the ice blocks and the gaps on the top with ice water and wait for them to freeze into ice.
They laid plastic sheets between all the ice slabs used to build the ice walls and the ice blocks they actually needed to store, making it easier to take out the ice blocks later.
The color of the plastic sheet matches the environment in the ice cellar, making it look a bit weird.
They use disposable tablecloths to freeze ice cubes and block ice cubes.
The old-fashioned, red kind.
They stood at the door of the ice cellar holding lights and looked inside. The environment in the ice cellar was that the ice was not clear but still crystal clear, with a faint red color visible through the ice. From time to time, some places would reflect a little strange light.
Jiang Muyun marveled at his group's bizarre aesthetic for three seconds: "I remember we had white tablecloths, right? The one that made the mini greenhouse before?"
Zhou Ying, the tablecloth provider, smiled shyly. "This red with a hint of gray is just too ugly, and wouldn't be suitable for a greenhouse. I thought I'd use it now. I didn't expect it to turn out so well."
The effect is so outstanding that at least three pairs of ghost couples who are getting married for good luck must be fed in one meal, otherwise this scene cannot be created.
Qin Shiwen, who was in charge of freezing ice cubes and first proposed using a red tablecloth, held up an LED light and shone it from his chin to his face: "Isn't this effect quite good? Who would dare to say they wouldn't be cold when they come in?"
Qin Shiwen is worthy of being a coach for a group of adolescent children, as he has strict control over their physical and mental health, with both psychological and physiological cooling down.
The ice cellar was filled with ordinary ice, but their work of melting snow and freezing ice was not yet finished.
Since we are talking about extravagance and debauchery, then of course we have to follow the highest standards.
The stove in the big cave bears a weight that it shouldn't bear at its age. Except when cooking, when it can be a little more relaxed, the rest of the time it has to carry a big bucket and keep burning.
These buckets sometimes contain snow and sometimes water.
The snow is removed when half of it is left after being boiled, but the water has to be boiled before a group of humans will remove it to cool it down and then replace it with the next bucket to continue boiling.
Since this water was drinkable water they prepared, Jiang Muyun and others would filter it first after the snow melted and then boil it.
After the boiled water cools down, put it in the snow pit outside and freeze it into ice.
After these edible ices are frozen solid, they will be wrapped in tablecloths and stored in the snow. When a certain amount is accumulated, they will be moved to the ice cellar and replaced with ice cubes made from ordinary snow water.
This process is countless times more troublesome than directly melting snow and freezing ice, and it is also very slow.
In order to be able to boil water on the stove continuously, they even arranged a rotation of people to shovel snow.
Every morning, three people would stay in the cave to melt snow and boil water, while the others would go up the mountain to shovel snow. When the shovelers returned, they would work together to complete the laborious tasks of filtering and pouring ice.
Fortunately, the snow didn't fall heavily during this period, and the situation of snow piling up to one meter overnight never happened again. Their snow-shoveling work became much easier, and even with fewer people, they could still shovel all the snow.
But as the days passed, their speed in shoveling snow and making ice grew faster and faster, yet time seemed to run out. Even the children's slopes could only be used for relaxation after dark. The occasional dark outings risked a beating from Dr. Qin, who would come looking for them.
Everyone knows the reason.
The days are shortening.
Even though there was no sun outside, and occasionally a grayish-white wind would blow to block the light, the whole day was dark and gloomy, and the news that the daytime was secretly getting shorter could not be hidden from anyone.
"Isn't it really winter now?" Qin Shiwu's brows were almost twisted into a knot.
Jiang Muyun took off his gloves and warmed his hands by the stove. "There are still two days in winter, the 29th and 39th days. It's not normal for the days to get shorter. Let's just treat it as a special tourist experience in the Far North Village."
Jiang Muyun, an old rich man who has firewood, food and a kang, now speaks in an extremely arrogant manner.
These days, Jiang Muyun often secretly takes a thermometer out to measure the temperature.
More than a month after the beginning of winter, the outside temperature began to drop gradually again.
It was so bad that the two chickens, which were not afraid of the cold and could be self-reliant, took the initiative to follow Jiang Muyun back to the big cave after foraging and settled down outside the cave.
This news was neither good nor bad, but it made Jiang Muyun feel relatively relieved.
The temperature is steadily dropping, which is better than another cold wave.
Clearing snow, finding green plants, and taking care of crops, as long as they go out, no matter how often, they are at risk of being blocked outside by the cold wave again.
Compared to the sudden cold wave, Jiang Muyun still prefers this winter when the temperature drops slowly.
There's just one bad thing about this winter.
At twelve o'clock noon, Jiang Muyun opened the door for the sixth time today.
The sky was still pitch black, with only the snow reflecting a loose, white light.
"Brave children, do you want to hear this good news first, or that good news first?" Jiang Muyun leaned against the door and spread out his hands one by one, consciously raising his generation.
Qin Shiwen said calmly, "Brave River God, if you don't come up with two pieces of good news today, I'll let you see this naughty kid and that naughty kid."
"We." Qin Shiwu strictly pointed out the imprecision in Qin Shiwen's word choice.
Zhao Jiahao, who consciously classified himself as one of the naughty kids, began to roll up his sleeves cooperatively.
The brave River God was not at all panicked: "First of all, welcome all the lucky ones to Oymyakon, the coldest village on Blue Planet. This activity is free of charge. Food and accommodation are all included during the experience. Please help yourself."
Chu Buwen acted like a respectable man and clapped his hands lightly.
Jiang Muyun politely nodded to him in gratitude. "Secondly, each of you lucky winners has won our event's grand prize: the limited-time Antarctic experience—Polar Night."
"Our company provides free space shuttle technology that can travel from the East Siberian Plain to Antarctica in seconds. The duration of the experience depends on Blue Planet's mood. Just be careful with your electricity during this time, as there's absolutely no light outside."
The author has something to say:
I heard about the polar night life and its various harms to the human body from hearsay. The main source of information was my colleague in Finland. Most of the other content is nonsense orz
More than half of my knowledge of life in temperatures of -60 or -70 degrees Celsius comes from the documentary "Oymyakon, the Coldest Village" (as well as various other materials about this place).
According to encyclopedia data, the lowest temperature ever recorded in Oymyakon is 73°C, and the average annual temperature is 16°C. In this case, the sense of security of warming yourself by the fire in the house is completely 0v0.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
