Chapter 156 Renting a Sewer
Having just experienced a snowstorm, most people in the community gave in and moved to the sewers.
Xia Xiaoman came to the community square and looked around. There were a lot of people renting sewers, and they were queuing with their necks hunched and their hands clenched.
Just as Xia Xiaoman was about to line up, she heard a familiar voice, "Ayun, look, does that look like a fluffy bear?"
Turning back, Fu Baiwei and Sun Haiyun were standing not far from her. "Who do you think looks like a bear?"
When Fu Baiwei heard the voice of an old acquaintance, she laughed even more mercilessly, "Haha, Xia Xiaoman, where did you get that mink coat from? From the back, you look like an underage bear!"
Xia Xiaoman curled her lips. What a bear, so what? Why did he specifically add the word "underage"? Was he making fun of her for being short?
"This dress was given to me by Sun Qing. It's a little ugly, but it's quite warm. Are you guys going to rent a sewer too?"
Fu Baiwei hummed and complained to Xia Xiaoman, "We have to move. It's too cold at home. You don't know how cold Ayun and I were a while ago. Look, I have frostbite on my hands and ears."
As she spoke, she stretched out her weather-beaten hands and said, "It was so cold during the snowstorm. My house is on a high floor, so no matter how hard we tried to block the wind, it would always blow in. It was so cold that we didn't even dare to sleep, for fear that we wouldn't be able to wake up after falling asleep."
"Our neighbors downstairs just couldn't bear to light too many braziers, so they fell asleep at night and never woke up. When the patrolmen went to look for them, they found that they had frozen to death in their beds, still in a dreaming sleeping position."
Thinking about it now, Fu Baiwei still feels a little scared. Fortunately, she and Sun Haiyun did not sleep on the day when the temperature dropped sharply, otherwise they might have become one of the ice sculptures.
"For a few days after the snowstorm, we lived with Grandpa Luo and Aunt Xing. Three families squeezed into a small room and used six braziers to survive."
The fuel they had stored was limited, and if such blizzards occurred a few more times, she and Sun Haiyun would be frozen to death sooner or later.
"Xiao Man, are you going to move to the sewer too? I remember Wang Shijin said that you have a kang at home, so it shouldn't be so cold that you have to move to the sewer!"
Xia Xiaoman said, "The weather is unpredictable now. Who knows if the temperature will continue to drop in the future? Let me rent a place first. If there is an emergency in the future, at least I can take refuge in the sewer."
Fu Baiwei sighed, "The temperature is already cold enough now. If it continues to drop, I don't know if humans can survive."
Sun Haiyun said: "Humans' ability to adapt is unimaginable. The lowest temperature in the area where the Inuit live can reach minus 70 degrees Celsius, while the temperature we are experiencing now is only around minus 50 degrees Celsius. As long as we are given some time to adapt, we can walk freely in the snow."
Fu Baiwei curled her lips and said, "The Inuit have been adapting to extreme cold since their mothers were born. We have become monks halfway through our lives, so it will take us at least 10 to 20 years to adapt. Do you think God will give us so much time to adapt?"
Sun Haiyun smiled and said, "If it doesn't work, we can just hide in the sewers and not come out. As long as the country is there, there will always be a glimmer of hope."
A few people were chatting, and soon it was their turn to enter the sewer.
Entering the sewer, a warm feeling hit her face. Xia Xiaoman took off her mink coat and hung it on her arm.
"Do you want to rent a seat?" asked the staff.
Xia Xiaoman and the others nodded and took out their IDs. The staff checked the IDs, deducted the work points, pointed in a direction and said, "Follow the signs to Area D. 378 is Xia Xiaoman, 379 is Fu Baiwei, and 380 is Sun Haiyun. Take your seats and don't run around."
Xia Xiaoman and the other two responded and walked towards the direction the staff pointed.
The sewer was not spacious. Xia Xiaoman was short and could walk upright, but Sun Haiyun had to bend over and lower his head to walk, otherwise he would hit his head if he was not careful.
This is the expanded sewer. If it hadn't been expanded, even a tall person like Sun Haiyun wouldn't have been able to come down.
As we walked along, we saw many people already setting up sheds and cleaning up their places, and quite a few had already started stoves, so it was no wonder the sewers were so warm.
After walking around for a while, I finally found their location.
At both ends of each sewer are public toilets. Xia Xiaoman and his friends were lucky, as they were located right in the middle of a sewer, not next to a toilet.
The space was outlined with white paint. Xia Xiaoman measured it with her feet. Five meters sounded like a lot, but it wasn't actually that big. Excluding the 1.8-meter sleeping space and the 1-meter stove space, the remaining 2.2 meters were used to store supplies.
If you have a lot of supplies at home, there may not be enough space to store them.
Seeing how small the space was, Fu Baiwei asked worriedly, "Xiaoman, are you not going to move down for the time being?"
Xia Xiaoman nodded and said, "I have a basement over there. As long as the house doesn't collapse, I won't move down." Living in a sewer is too depressing.
"Can you rent this place to me?" Fu Baiwei asked. She and Sun Haiyun had a lot of supplies, and they couldn't fit in two places.
Xia Xiaoman readily agreed, "Sure! Even if you don't rent it, I will rent it to someone else." Otherwise it would be a waste to leave the space vacant.
Fu Baiwei smiled immediately after hearing this, "Xiao Man! You are so kind, I love you so much!"
Xia Xiaoman suddenly felt a chill, "Don't try to get close to me. I only need 10 kilograms of food a month. If I want to move down one day, you must make room for me."
"No problem, I'll give you the rent later!"
…
After renting a spot, Xia Xiaoman and his companions left the sewer from another exit.
Xia Xiaoman followed Fu Baiwei and the others to collect the rent. While waiting for Fu Baiwei downstairs, he saw patrolmen carrying out several people who had frozen to death from upstairs.
The corpses were all curled up in a ball hugging themselves, and judging from the expressions on their faces, they must have died in their sleep and did not suffer any pain.
Suddenly, there was a burst of crying from upstairs. Xia Xiaoman frowned and hid in a sheltered place, waiting for someone silently.
After waiting for more than ten minutes, just when Xia Xiaoman was hesitating whether to go upstairs to find Fu Baiwei and the others, Sun Haiyun came down carrying a bag of food.
"Why did it take so long? What happened?" Xia Xiaoman asked.
Sun Haiyun handed the food to Xia Xiaoman, and then said: "Grandpa Luo... passed away..."
Xia Xiaoman was stunned. "How could it be...Isn't he in good health?"
Half a month ago, I was still able to teach them how to use a broadsword, how come they suddenly...
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