Chapter 82
Just as Qin Huai said, everything has its precursors, but when things haven't happened yet, those subtle precursors are easily overlooked by people, or even if they are noticed, they can't associate what kind of results these precursors will bring.
The alpaca incident was also a reminder to the military. Although they knew there was a zoo here, they had too many things to do. They hadn't even sorted out their human affairs, so how could they care about animals? However, it must be said that when the city where humans lived was destroyed by the earthquake, even if the plague was raging, it became a paradise for animals. They ran around and reproduced quickly. The piled up ruins might be more suitable for them to survive than the once orderly steel city. I don't know if it was from the zoo or some wild beasts in the distant mountains after the earthquake. In short, when the whole world was silent about industrial noise and there were no steel carriages on the road, large beasts began to roam in people's residential areas.
Over the next few days, many people were injured by these animals. Some were seriously injured when encountering wolf packs. The key point was that those wolves were nothing like the ones raised in zoos. There were big differences in their body shape and eyes between those raised in the wild and those raised in captivity by humans. So some soldiers began to patrol around every day, looking for these wild beasts that could hurt people.
Although there is no inevitable connection between the two, Qin Huai still expressed his premonition when he met Shi Yuanfei at the power supply station.
Shi Yuanfei didn't disbelieve Qin Huai, but he made a reasonable analysis: "Even if they are really wild wolves, they may have come to the city just because of the lack of food. Our homes have been destroyed, and their homes may not still be there."
Qin Huai shook his head. "If it was just an isolated incident, I might not think too much about it. But recently, there have been frequent incidents of animals injuring people. I always feel that something is going to happen again. Of course, I am just guessing, especially now that the temperature is dropping. Animals can always feel nature better than humans. There have been extreme heat, so extreme cold is not impossible. Of course, if the temperature drop is just to restore the climate to its previous state, then that would be better."
Shi Yuanfei nodded: "We will keep a close eye on the temperature. By the way, how is your work going? Do you need me to help you get a permanent job?"
Qin Huai smiled when he heard this: "It's just a small matter, there's no need to use up Captain Shi's favor."
Many people have felt the drop in temperature. The difference between over 50 degrees and over 40 degrees can be said to be very large. When the temperature reaches over 40 degrees, which people once could not bear, people who have survived such a long and hot summer even feel that it is just like the coolness of autumn. It turns out that everything has to be compared.
With the restoration of the power supply, everyone feels that everything is moving in a good direction. Now they have settled into their new home and the new environment is under construction. As the government plans and rebuilds bit by bit, their lives will one day return to what they were before.
The army can clear supplies much faster than people can search by hand, and soon some furniture and supplies can be exchanged, but the points for exchange are not small. An air conditioner costs at least 20 points, which is a month's rent in the townhouse area. The main reason is that there is no condition to produce these things at present, and the number that can be found is not large, so it is a little expensive. But no matter how expensive it is, there are people who will exchange it. After all, although the temperature has dropped, it is still hovering around 40 degrees.
Looking at the neighborhood that had become bustling because of the opening of the exchange point, Mu Nan reminded Jian Chu and the others, "Go exchange some supplies for the winter."
Their points were later calculated. The largest source of points came from the cans they found on the way here, dozens of boxes of canned corn and canned meat, as well as some candied beans. On average, each family could get more than 700 points. Now, the points that can be earned in a month's work only fluctuate around 100. More than 700 points is considered a very good fortune. Because they have a lot of fortune, Mu Nan asked them to exchange some.
Jian Chu looked at the sunshade curtains outside that could not be removed yet: "Wintering? What kind of winter is this?"
Mu Nan said, "The temperature has dropped, which means winter is definitely coming, it's just a matter of time. It's so cheap to buy in the off-season. Look at how cheap air conditioners are now, and quilts are only one or two points, which is even less than a can of meat. You can wait until the weather gets cold to change them. It's hard to say whether you can change them by then. There are no factories producing them now, so there are only a few. Anyway, my family has already changed them, so you can figure it out for yourself."
Seeing Jian Chu still hesitating, Mu Nan was afraid that they would freeze to death, so he said, "If nothing unexpected happens, we will all live here in the future. If we don't buy more belongings now while they are still cheap, we may not be able to get them when we need them in the future."
Jian Chu looked at Yu Zibai and was somewhat persuaded: "How about changing something?"
Yu Zibai felt that Qin Huai was capable and far-sighted, and as Mu Nan said, the temperature was dropping and winter would come sooner or later. Even if it didn't come, it wouldn't hurt to exchange some supplies and keep them at home. If winter really came, it might not be possible to grab supplies by then. After all, everyone migrated here with cleaner pockets than on their faces.
On the third day after they rode their tricycles to the military headquarters with their large and small bags to exchange for the winter supplies that no one was interested in, the bright sunny day was suddenly covered by dark clouds while everyone was sleeping. Gusts of cold currents came from nowhere and blew away the heat that had lasted for more than a year. The temperature continued to drop at an impossible speed. Some people woke up from the cold in their sleep, and some died in their sleep due to the rapid drop in temperature.
Mu Nan actually didn't remember the exact date when this cold winter came. In his previous life, this winter came extremely suddenly, and people at that time had no concept of time. Mu Nan didn't know that he would be reborn, so naturally he couldn't remember all the days so clearly. He only remembered that it was approximately June.
So when the temperature dropped, he was caught off guard by the cold. Qin Huai was more alert. When he felt the room temperature was a little too low, he woke up sensitively, opened the curtain and saw that the sky outside had become gloomy. When he opened the window, he found that the temperature in the air-conditioned room was even slightly higher than outside.
Qin Huai immediately switched the air conditioner from cooling to heating, and took out a blanket to cover Mu Nan, then went downstairs to turn on the floor heating, and called the neighbor on the intercom. The neighbor was probably still sleeping soundly, and he didn't answer after calling several times, so he thought something had happened.
Qin Huai checked the doors, windows and heating equipment in the house and said, "The temperature has dropped. Don't freeze to death. Remember to check if Xu Ming is awake."
Yu Zibai, who was holding the walkie-talkie, was stunned for a moment, then he got up and opened the window to check the situation. As soon as he opened the window, he was startled by the chilly temperature and was suddenly a little confused. The temperature was over 40 degrees before he went to bed, but it has dropped to only a dozen degrees in just a short time. The temperature is dropping too fast.
Qin Huai went back upstairs, opened the window and threw two stones across from them. Soon, the sound of a dog barking was heard from the house opposite. Then someone lifted the curtain and looked outside tentatively. They were a little surprised to see that it was Qin Huai across the street. However, they soon noticed that the weather outside was different, so they opened the window and looked, only to be shivered by the cold wind.
Qin Huai said, "It's okay, I'm just reminding you to cool down." After that, he closed the window and returned to the room.
In just a short while, the temperature outside seemed to have dropped a little. The heating in the house did not rise as fast as the temperature outside, and it felt like the room was getting colder and colder. Qin Huai added another quilt. Mu Nan, who had been covered with a small blanket for a year, was not used to having such a heavy blanket on his body, so he was awakened by the quilt. He was not yet fully awake, but subconsciously reached out and pushed it away.
Qin Huai got into bed and hugged him: "The temperature has dropped. I turned on the heater in the house, but the temperature hasn't risen yet."
Mu Nan was half asleep: "It's so heavy."
Qin Huai touched his hands and feet, luckily they were warm: "If it wasn't serious, you would be freezing to death."
Mu Nan turned over in the quilt, as if he wanted to check the time on his phone. Qin Huai pulled his hand back from under the quilt: "Go to sleep, don't look, it's still daytime."
Mu Nan groaned. It was a little difficult to wake up completely when he was sleeping soundly, but at least he remembered to remind others, so he reached for the intercom again.
Qin Huai pulled him back into the quilt helplessly: "Go to sleep, I've notified everyone, even Niuniu's family was woken up by the window smashing, they won't freeze to death."
Mu Nan was relieved and snuggled into Qin Huai's arms. The air outside was getting colder and colder, so he naturally snuggled into the warmer place. But before he could fall asleep again, he was awakened by the sound of gongs and knocking on the door. Qin Huai put on a thick coat, walked to the balcony outside the living room, opened the balcony door and looked out. There was a group of soldiers.
The soldier who knocked on the door saw someone coming out and said quickly: "The temperature has dropped. Remember to keep warm and don't fall asleep."
The noise of banging gongs and doors was so loud that every household was woken up. Some people then realized that the temperature outside had dropped so much that they wished it was winter.
If someone stood up to answer, the soldiers would make a note in a small notebook and write down the house number. For those who received no answer after knocking for a long time, the soldiers would just try to break into the house. The houses here are basically fully occupied, so there is no such thing as an empty house. People can hardly go out in broad daylight, so if no one answered, something must have happened.
Qin Huai returned to the room and saw Mu Nan sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He asked helplessly, "Are you still sleeping?"
Mu Nan yawned and stretched, then looked at his phone and saw that it was only twelve o'clock noon, so he shook his head: "The dark days are coming to an end, and we are about to usher in the light!"
Qin Huai said with a smile: "You speak as if the disaster is over."
Mu Nan: "At least I can go out during the day. The feeling of sleeping during the day and sleeping at night is still different. Even though I have been sleeping day and night for so long, I still feel that sleeping at night is more comfortable."
Pulling aside the shelter and looking at the gloomy sky, the people in the military department all frowned. Shi Yuanfei waited expressionlessly for the logistics team to count the data of supplies. Before, it was cooling supplies, and now it was cold-proof supplies. Fortunately, when Qin Huai told him about it, he was careful and asked people to pack up the winter supplies in advance. He didn't expect that his prediction would come true so soon.
Looking at the gloomy sky outside and the falling temperature, no one in the 713 base looked happy. Some even couldn't help cursing out loud: "Are they trying to kill us?"
The veterans with a little more experience also looked exhausted, but they still forced themselves to cheer up: "First, put on winter clothes, and send out as many vehicles as possible. Try to make some noise, and drive around the city and other places. If we can't gather everyone together, then try to wake them up. At least they can still survive after waking up, which is better than freezing to death in their sleep."
A new round of rescue is about to begin, but many people are completely exhausted. Disasters one after another leave no room for respite. Many people even think that it is better to die once and for all, so as to avoid suffering in life. But those who bear the responsibility do not allow themselves to be vulnerable. If even they do not work hard to stand up, their country will really be finished.
Seeing that the sky was gloomy, Mu Nan didn't know when the sun would come out again. He was a little worried that the power would be overloaded, so he turned off the air conditioner on the second floor and only turned on the whole house heating. The air conditioner on the third floor was still on. After all, the heating could not be turned on so quickly. There were also soil pots on the third floor that had sprouted and grown seedlings, and they couldn't be frozen to death by the low temperature. The electricity used was supplied by the government, and the solar energy storage at home was temporarily unused. In case of a power outage and no sun one day, at least it could be used for a while.
The snow had not started to fall yet, but the wind was very strong. Gusts of cold wind swept past, blowing the curtains outside that were used to block out the view almost into the sky. Mu Nan watched for a long time and decided to go upstairs and take down the curtains himself to prevent them from being blown away by the wind.
Just as he was about to go upstairs, he saw Qin Huai coming back, and quickly leaned on the railing to look down: "Brother."
Qin Huai raised his head and said, "Go back to the house. You are not afraid of the cold even if you wear so little."
Mu Nan glanced at the down jacket on his body. There was a warm coat inside and two sweaters outside. It was not too little. When Qin Huai came upstairs, Mu Nan asked, "Are you still going to work today?"
Qin Huai shook his head: "Not for the time being, the sudden drop in temperature has thrown many people into confusion, just wait for notification from there." He had just gone to Building No. 1, where there was equipment connected to the power station office building, so he went to ask if they would go to work as usual today. However, he also guessed that he probably wouldn't need to go to work in the next one or two days, as they were probably busy formulating a rescue plan. If they were slow, who knows how many people would freeze to death. Moreover, the sudden drop in temperature had prevented many people from preparing in time, and their families might not have thick clothes that could withstand the low temperature, so asking them to go to work at this time was a bit unreasonable.
Seeing Mu Nan preparing to go upstairs, Qin Huai knew what he was going to do, so he pushed him back into the house: "I'll go up and collect it. It just so happens that you haven't taken off your clothes yet."
Mu Nan followed him: "I'm with you. I'm wearing a lot of clothes. This is a polar cold-proof down jacket. It's super thick."
Qin Huai was afraid that he would catch a cold due to the alternating hot and cold weather, so he took off his clothes without saying a word and sent him back to the room.
The external curtains upstairs were easy to close. They were originally installed by Qin Huai, so he knew where the ropes were knotted and could be untied with a single pull. When he was closing them, Yu Zibai also came up. The two sides of the rooftop were actually interconnected. The wall partition only reached a person's chest, so it was easy to climb over. Yu Zibai saw Qin Huai was also there, so he wrapped himself in clothes and came over in the cold wind: "Do you have the floor heating turned on?"
Qin Huai nodded: "It's on, but the temperature hasn't risen yet. It will probably take some time."
Yu Zibai said, "Thanks to your reminder, we changed into some thick clothes and blankets, otherwise we would be freezing to death. Those who have air conditioners at home are fine, but those who don't have air conditioners and are waiting for the floor heating to heat up will really freeze to death. I just hope the power will not be cut off. The sun is blocked, how can the power station be safe?"
Qin Huai shook his head: "I don't know, but solar energy is not the only way to generate electricity. Just in case, we have already started repairing other power stations. Are you still going to work today?"
Yu Zibai held his collar tightly. The wind was too strong. Even though he was wearing a lot of clothes, the wind would still blow in. "I probably won't go. Anyway, the salary is paid daily. I'll be paid every day. I'll stay at home and see what happens."
The two talked for a while and then went to take down the curtains outside. It was too cold. The wind seemed to be able to blow through thick clothes and into the bones. Who would have thought that it was so hot yesterday that I couldn't wear clothes, but today it would be so cold that I could stand outside in winter clothes and my teeth would chatter.
Qin Huai placed the removed curtain cloth directly in the corridor between the third floor and the rooftop. After returning to the room, he took off his coat and stood under the air vent of the air conditioner for a while to dispel the coldness on his body. Then he sat on the sofa next to the bed. Mu Nan was so sleepy that he yawned while hugging the pillow, but he still resisted the urge to sleep. Now that it was not hot during the day, he had to adjust his day and night schedule.
Qin Huai pinched his face and said, "If you are sleepy, go to sleep. There is no need to hold on."
Mu Nan felt the coldness of his hand, and she sobered up a little: "No, I can't sleep. If I sleep now, I won't be able to sleep at night. Eat something, and you won't feel sleepy."
Qin Huai laughed. It was only three or four in the afternoon. Normally, he would get up at four or five and it would be almost time to eat. But since the day and night schedule had to be adjusted, the meal times must also be adjusted: "Eat some snacks when you are hungry. Now you can go out during the day. The time for three meals a day should be restored to the previous time. Don't eat now and then you won't be able to eat later." If he couldn't eat dinner, he would have to have a midnight snack later. If he couldn't control himself and ate too much at midnight snack, he would definitely have stomach discomfort when he went to bed at night, so he had to keep Mu Nan under control and not let him come casually.
Mu Nan took a small piece of cake and a few bags of French fries and potato chips and piled them on the coffee table in front of the sofa. He also took out a bunch of fruits and asked Qin Huai to move the projector over to him. He found a thrilling horror movie to watch to wake himself up.
Qin Huai asked, "Wouldn't you be nervous and scared watching this kind of movie?"
Mu Nan sighed and said, "You underestimate me too much. I can watch Saw while eating. This kind of horror movie is just music and atmosphere. There's not even a ghost showing its head. What's there to be afraid of?"
Facts have proven that some big words will eventually be slapped in the face.
Mu Nan sat on the toilet and didn't dare to close the bathroom door. His reason was that the bathroom was too cold and he had to keep the door open when going to the toilet so that he wouldn't be cold. As for calling Qin Huai from time to time, it was purely because it was boring to sit on the toilet, so he just chatted to pass the time.
After a while, Qin Huai, who was chatting with him, suddenly fell silent. Mu Nan tried to stretch his head to look outside, but the toilet was a little far from the door and he couldn't see outside at all. He couldn't help but ask, "Brother? Are you still there, brother? What are you doing? Brother? Brother? Answer me."
Qin Huai didn't reply for a long time. Mu Nan couldn't sit still on the toilet. He felt that a white hand would come out from it at any time. He was frightened by his own association and didn't want to continue using the toilet. Just as he was getting ready, Qin Huai suddenly appeared at the door of the bathroom, leaning against the door with his arms around his chest and smiling at him: "You call this not afraid?"
Mu Nan quickly pulled his pants tighter: "Why are you here? I didn't even close the door. Go out and don't stand at the door."
Qin Huai smiled and said, "There is no part of your body that I haven't seen."
Mu Nan directly took out a pillow from the space and threw it at him: "Don't stand at the door, go away, I can't pull you out if you stand at the door!"
Qin Huai: "Aren't you afraid? It would be great if I could stay here with you."
Mu Nan pulled at the waistband of his pants: "Qin Huai!"
Qin Huai laughed so hard that his shoulders shrugged. Fearing that Mu Nan would really get angry because of his laughter, Qin Huai let him go, returned to the sofa with the pillow in his hand, and found a lively variety show and turned up the volume. It didn't seem so scary when it was lively.
Mu Nan breathed a sigh of relief. This Qin Huai, no matter how old he gets, will never change his bad nature!
The howling cold wind chilled the entire land to the bone in just one day, and by night, snowflakes were floating from the sky. Even though the authorities had done their best to maintain power supply in the residential area, some people living in the houses were still freezing. Those who hadn't gotten air conditioners could only wait for the floor heating to heat up, but floor heating couldn't heat up so quickly. This kind of central heating would take at least a day.
So many people did not have winter clothes and their homes could not be heated up, so they all ran to Building No. 1. Building No. 1 was the temporary accommodation point for the soldiers here. Generally, if anyone needed any help, they could go directly to Building No. 1 to find them. They did not need any other help at the moment, they just needed a warm place to resist the cold, at least until the temperature at home rose, otherwise they would really freeze to death.
Building No. 1 is now crowded with people, some of whom are even wearing short-sleeved shirts and shorts. No one expected that the temperature would drop so suddenly without even a transition buffer period. Before, they were only trying to keep warm, and when they found some thick clothes and bedding in the ruins, they even threw them away because they thought it was too hot and too far away and too troublesome. Now it is so cold that they are shivering all over and their brains are frozen, and they deeply regret it. If they had not taken the trouble to move them back then, how could they be frozen into fools now.
It's okay for them here, at least they have a place to seek help. However, those who were quarantined in the campus and had not yet been transferred here were the ones who were really frozen to death. They were quarantined here because they were sick. Even though the people above came to rescue them as soon as the temperature dropped, some people who were already sick and had a fever could not hold on and were about to die.
The sudden heavy snowfall at night further escalated the temperature drop. Not everyone had cold-proof clothing. Those who had settled in the residential area could be woken up in their sleep. It was not known how many survivors far away could make it.
The patrol and rescue vehicles picked up the exposed survivors one after another and placed them in the school auditorium which had been slightly renovated and was available for use. The people outside were responsible for finding people, while those inside were responsible for isolating them. The sick and the healthy had to be separated, otherwise they would infect each other if they were together, and in the end no one would escape.
There were too many people evacuated and the auditorium could no longer accommodate them. There was no choice but to use the limited materials to continue to build resettlement points, so the only option was to increase the points reward and call on the public to actively participate in the rescue operation.
This rescue was just to build houses, rather than following the soldiers to save people, and there was no need to come into contact with the sick. However, not many people participated, mainly because they did not have thick clothes. They had the will but not the strength.
Jian Chu and his friends all went. They had clothes, so they wouldn't be too cold if they wore more. Now they were given a lot of points, so it was a good opportunity to earn more. If this cold wave would pass quickly, it would be fine. But if it was as cold as summer and lasted all year long, so cold that they couldn't go out, then they could only earn more points now to exchange for some food and stay indoors to avoid the winter.
Wu Zheng and his brother also went together. They were worried about leaving Niu Niu alone in the room, and they knew that Qin Huai had no plan to let Mu Nan go out to work, so Niu Niu was sent to Mu Nan's place.
Mu Nan stroked Niuniu's dog head, sat by the window and watched the group of people wrapped up thickly leave, and sighed: "There are only two of us left."
Niuniu: “Woof!”
Mu Nan: "We are all the same, we are all the ones who are kept in captivity."
Niuniu: “Woof…”
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