Chapter 343 Winter Thunder and Snow
Winter thunder shakes the snow, and graves are everywhere.
Thunder in winter is usually a sign of an impending snowstorm.
The thunder became louder and louder. Maodan seemed to sense something was wrong and carried his nest to the bottom of the stove. If the stove was not still burning, he would probably have wanted to get into the stove.
After moving the nest next to the stove, it was still a little worried, so it ran over and picked up some firewood and threw it into its food bowl, reminding Xia Xiaoman that it was time to light the brazier.
Xia Xiaoman didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "How afraid are you that you will freeze to death?" As she said that, she rubbed Maodan's head, stood up and took out a thick quilt from the space, hung it on the door and window to block the wind, leaving only one opening for ventilation.
Then she added honeycomb coal to the kang and the fireplace, and then took out several iron basins from the space to light the braziers.
Soon, the room was as warm as summer, and Xia Xiaoman was sweating even in her short-sleeved shirt. But soon, the temperature in the room began to drop, and Xia Xiaoman could hear the whistling of the wind outside the house through the thick quilt.
Xia Xiaoman took out the thermometer from the space and hung it near the door. When the thermometer was first hung up, the temperature showed 27 degrees Celsius, and then it dropped at a speed visible to the naked eye, until it dropped to 5-6 degrees Celsius, and then the speed of cooling slowed down.
In the room with a fireplace, a kang and five or six braziers, the temperature can drop to 5 degrees Celsius. You can imagine what the scene is like outside.
But compared to the drop in temperature, Xia Xiaoman is more afraid that the blizzard will collapse the roof or bury the entire house.
She looked at the roof, took out a few pieces of wood from the space, sawed them into appropriate lengths, and stood the wood upright under the beams to prevent the blizzard from really collapsing the roof.
As a cold-resistant snow wolf, Maodan huddled beside the stove, looking at the door frequently, feeling very uneasy.
Xia Xiaoman went forward, held Maodan's paw, wiped it clean, and let it lie on the kang. Lying on the hot kang, Maodan's uneasiness gradually dissipated.
…
The snowstorm blew on and off for five days. On the third morning, Xia Xiaoman woke up to find that the doors and windows of her house had been blocked by snow. Except for the living room where she slept, a thin layer of frost had formed in the other two rooms.
On the fourth day, the beams of the house began to creak, so much so that Xia Xiaoman didn't dare to sleep too deeply, for fear of being crushed to death by the accumulated snow in her sleep.
At noon on the fifth day, the howling of ghosts and wolves gradually became smaller. By dusk, Xia Xiaoman could no longer hear any wind, and everything was silent, as if she and Maodan were the only ones still alive in the world.
After the wind and snow stopped, Maodan regained his previous active personality and crawled under the quilt hanging on the door frame, as if he wanted to see the outside world through the crack in the door.
Seeing Maodan jumping up and down, Xia Xiaoman guessed that the snowstorm should have passed, but she did not rush to open the door and go out. She waited until the next morning to make sure that the snowstorm was really over before she opened the door fully armed.
The front door of the house was frozen by ice and snow. Xia Xiaoman tried several times but failed to open the door. So she took down the quilt hanging on the door frame and lit two braziers at the door. After the ice in the door gap melted, she successfully opened the door.
The moment the door was opened, white snow rushed in from outside and almost buried Xia Xiaoman.
Maodan was no longer afraid of the cold now. He jumped around excitedly in the snow and used his claws to dig at the snow outside the door.
Because he was not sure whether there were live red worms mixed in the snow, Xia Xiaoman did not dare to collect the snow directly. Instead, he shoveled the snow like ordinary people and poured it into the boiler to burn it into snow water.
If there are dead red worms floating on the water, filter the snow water and save it for drinking later. If there are no dead red worms, throw it into the space and use it as ordinary water.
There are not many red worms on the surface snow. Only when you dig into the snow underneath will you find the dead bodies of red worms floating in the water.
It took Xia Xiaoman about three days to clear a path leading to the greenhouse outside the yard.
There were still lights flashing in the shed, and Xia Xiaoman patted the shed and called out a few times. After a while, a figure came over and called out through the light-transmitting plastic shed: "Ahem, is that Sister Xia?"
Xia Xiaoman responded, "It's me. How are you guys? Are you okay?"
"It's okay, Sister Xia, ahem, why did you come out? Has the snowstorm stopped?" Zhang Can's hoarse voice came from inside.
"The snowstorm has stopped. If you have nothing else to do, come out and clear the snow. Otherwise, the greenhouse will collapse sooner or later."
"Okay, cough, we'll clear it right away... cough cough cough..." Before Zhang Can finished his words, he started coughing violently.
Xia Xiaoman frowned, "Zhang Can, do you have a cold?"
"Cough, cough, cough, it's okay, just a common cold. It will be fine in two days." After saying that, he turned and left.
Xia Xiaoman saw the blurry figure disappear in front of her eyes, so she didn't ask any more questions. She followed the direction she remembered and went to the entrance of the greenhouse to clear the snow.
After about half an hour, she and Zhang Can dug a path. Seeing Zhang Can's haggard appearance, Xia Xiaoman asked, "Why are you the only one clearing the snow? Where is Zhu Xingliang?"
Zhang Can said nothing, as if he didn't hear Xia Xiaoman's voice, and continued to shovel snow silently.
Seeing him silent, Xia Xiaoman felt bad, "Is Zhu Xingliang sick?"
Zhang Can remained silent and buried his head in digging the snow.
Xia Xiaoman frowned and walked directly into the greenhouse. Inside the greenhouse, Zhu Xingliang was lying quietly on the small kang they had built temporarily. If you didn't look carefully, you might mistakenly think he was asleep.
Xia Xiaoman walked over and reached out to feel the pulse on his neck. As soon as her hand touched Zhu Xingliang's skin, she felt the coldness that did not belong to a living person.
In Xia Xiaoman's impression, Zhu Xingliang was a young man with a low sense of presence and was relatively introverted, but he worked very hard. When the well water was not frozen, he would often help her fetch water, and occasionally water the pine trees planted in the yard. Unexpectedly, at such a young age, he was taken away by a blizzard...
She sighed with some regret and walked out of the greenhouse. Zhang Can cleared the snow while coughing.
Seeing how weak he looked, Xia Xiaoman pulled him into the greenhouse and said, "You are still sick, so don't go out and hang around. It won't be too late to clean up the snow after you recover."
Zhang Can broke free from Xia Xiaoman's hand, pulled the corner of his mouth and forced a smile, saying: "Sister Xia, I'm fine, cough, just a little cough, I will be fine in two days." As he said that, he picked up the shovel and walked out, wanting to continue shoveling snow.
Xia Xiaoman pulled him by the collar and threw him to the ground. "Zhu Xingliang is gone, and the snow outside has blocked the road. Now you are the only one who can see this cotton field. I think you should know what this cotton field means. If you continue to not take care of your body, who will look after this cotton field if something happens?"
Zhang Can lowered his head, making it impossible to see his expression. After a while, he suddenly covered his face with his hands and began to cry silently.
A suppressed cry sounded in the greenhouse. A breeze blew by, and the fill light hanging on the roof swayed back and forth...
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