"It's good to have a space, but it's also full of dangers." Si Nan pointed at the wrecked Changji vehicle in the distance and said, "Second cousin, if you have a space and someone knows your secret and tries to harm you and get your space, you have to hide the secret of the space and live in a situation where you could die at any time. Are you willing to do that?"
Zheng Jian remained silent, of course he didn't want to.
He is just an ordinary person who wants to live an ordinary and stable life. Although the space can store a lot of things, he would rather not have it if it can bring him constant danger of death.
At this time, he began to understand Sinan a little. It turned out that owning a space that everyone envied was not a good thing.
The four of them hadn't eaten for two days, so they all enjoyed the boxed lunches very much.
Si Nan originally thought that Gao Moli was dead, and she was so sad that she couldn't eat. But when the food was delivered to her mouth, she felt the hunger in her stomach that needed to be filled with food. Then she understood. When she was young in her hometown, she often saw someone die in their family. The relatives looked heartbroken, but no one refused to eat a single drop of water or a single grain of food like in TV and movies.
It turns out that true grief is hidden silently in the heart but will not affect people's normal life.
Maybe there really are people who are so sad that they refuse to eat or drink and try to commit suicide as shown in the movies, but there are not many such people. Most people accept the reality, pick themselves up, and live a good life without that person's company.
She finished her lunch box with tears in her eyes and even drank up the water. Ignoring Cheng Suming's advice, she endured the severe pain from her wounds and took out two thick quilts from the space. With the help of Cheng Suming, she wrapped Gao Moli in them as a burial for her.
It also prevented the sharp building materials on the ruins from scratching her body and causing secondary injury to her in the process of dragging her away.
After wrapping it up, put it in a large bag and tie it with nylon rope for easy dragging away.
Because Sheng Youqing was unconscious, she had to be carried away by Yang Wentao, who was in good health.
Zheng Jian broke his left leg, and Cheng Suming made him a crutch using two wooden sticks. He could barely walk with the crutch.
Cheng Suming originally wanted to carry Si Nan on his back, but was rejected by Si Nan. She was mainly injured in the back and abdomen, with some injuries to her thighs and calves, but she could still walk.
She followed Cheng Suming, letting him drag the bag containing Gao Moli's body, through the uneven pavement of the underground commercial street and the ruins of numerous building materials. She carefully avoided the sharp icicles and ice arrows, and moved towards the area of stacked ruins that Yang Wentao had seen before, where he could climb up to the ground.
The sky is bright today, with few dark clouds, and there is plenty of light under the ruins.
They all wore anti-slip shoes with deep gears and walked about two hundred meters to the place where the Changji convoy fell.
There were about a hundred people in the Changji convoy this time, including about thirty people from the Changji organization, and the other more than seventy people were ordinary survivors of the Changji base who were forced to come out to hunt with them, and suffered heavy casualties.
In most cases, their bodies were pierced by icicles and ice arrows under the ruins, and they died on the spot or were seriously injured, with no one to treat them.
Many people had already been frozen to death, their bodies covered with thick snow, turning into ice sculptures with their eyes open.
There were still people who were not dead yet, with icicles and ice arrows sticking out of their bodies, shouting for help in hoarse voices.
When Si Nan and his group passed by them, several members of the Changji organization who were seriously injured collapsed on the spot and could not move, looking at them with eyes full of resentment.
Si Nan walked past them indifferently and saw that from the large truck loaded with prey in Changji not far away, bodies of prey frozen into ice were being poured out. There were also a few lame wild wolves, snow leopards and other wild beasts nearby, eating the prey. Not far behind them, Dahei was crouching with his fangs bared, as if he was ready to attack at any time.
Si Nan called out, "Dahei."
Big Black barked, then ran quickly to her side, wagged his tail and licked her palm with his tongue. His big watery eyes looked straight at her and he made a low humming sound from his mouth, as if asking her if she was okay.
"I'm fine." Si Nan stroked its furry head, pointed at the truck and said, "Go, drive away those carnivorous beasts. I'll cover you. I want to take all the prey on the truck into my space."
"Woof!" Dahei rushed forward without hesitation and attacked the snow leopard that was twice its size, while also biting the wild wolves that were still eating meat.
The snow leopard was attacked for no apparent reason and reflexively bit back the big black creature that attacked it.
As soon as it opened its mouth, an iron arrow shot into its big mouth. It howled in pain and turned around to attack the person who shot the arrow at it.
The next second, iron arrows shot at its body one after another, causing it to roll on the ground in pain. Dahei took the opportunity to bite its vulnerable abdomen.
The snow leopard realized that the dog and several humans not far away were not easy to deal with. Its dark green eyes were full of unwillingness. It slowly retreated and ran to a corner to eat the human corpses.
The other few surviving wild wolves were also repelled with the cooperation of Sinan and Dahei and hid aside.
There was no threat from wild beasts, so Si Nan walked carefully to the truck and saw that it was loaded with a variety of prey such as wild boars, mountain deer, spores, pheasants, hares, ostriches, crocodiles, and even pythons. It was estimated that there were no less than a hundred large animals and two or three hundred small prey, filling the entire truck.
No wonder they didn't see any prey along the way, it turned out that they were hunted down by this long-distance convoy. It was good this way, at least their trip was not in vain.
Si Nan controlled the truck loaded with prey with his mind and moved it directly into the space.
After the vehicle was moved away, it was discovered that there were still many corpses of wild wolves and other animals nearby.
Their meat can be sold and their fur can be made into clothes, so she naturally put them all into the space.
The seriously injured people who were still alive in the Changji base were unable to move. They watched helplessly as she took away all the prey they had worked so hard for several days. They were angry and anxious, and made weak cries for help: "Save us... We don't want to die."
Si Nan turned around and looked at them: "Don't accuse me of being indifferent. Since you have boarded Changji's pirate ship, you are my mortal enemy. I have done you justice by not killing you and silencing you. From now on, whether you live or die is up to fate."
These people were seriously injured. If they didn't stop the bleeding and leave here in time, the wild beasts nearby would smell the blood and gather here, and only death would await them.
Even if they had the strength to leave the ruins, it was freezing cold outside and they would soon die in the snow without a vehicle.
Si Nan didn't bother to kill them all to protect the secrets of his own space. There was no need to cripple a dying person.
Just as she turned to leave, she heard a familiar voice: "Xiao Nan, I'm your father, are you really going to watch him die without helping?!"
Si Nan and Zheng Jian were both stunned. They turned their heads abruptly and looked at the person who spoke.
A middle-aged man covered in blood, with two ice arrows stuck in his thighs and chest, was hanging under a ruined wall. It was Si Chengye, who had been on the run for nearly a year.
At this time, his hair was long and messy, and he had not shaved his beard. His sloppy appearance covered up his original appearance, so Si Nan and the others did not recognize who he was at all.
What a narrow road for enemies to cross! Si Nan laughed angrily, she didn't look for him, but he came to her on his own!
It would have been better if Si Chengye didn't speak, maybe he still had a chance to survive. But now that he has opened his mouth, no one can save him.
Si Nan watched Zheng Jian, who was limping towards Si Chengye with hatred in his eyes, leaning on a cane, and a mocking smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
Man proposes, God disposes. Some people's death is heartbreaking, and some people are worse off dead than alive.
"You, you are Zheng Guang's second son? What do you want to do? I am your uncle! Ah——"
Hearing Si Chengye's screams from behind, Si Nan didn't even look at him. He turned around and called Xiao Hei. He followed Cheng Suming and walked about a thousand meters before finally arriving at a location where a lot of ruins and building materials were stacked up.
They were at the bottom of a deep pit, and other places were flat and smooth with ice and snow, making it impossible to climb up. This place might have been formed by fallen building materials that happened to overlap during the earthquake, forming a 'staircase' that could be climbed up.
The so-called 'stairs' are not easy to climb, as they are all covered with ice. If you are not careful, you will slip and fall on those sharp icicles, which is more painful than death.
Yang Wentao took the ice pick given by Si Nan, put Sheng Youqing down, tied a long rope around his body, and climbed up step by step with difficulty.
He lost his balance several times and nearly slipped off the shabby building materials that could not bear the weight, but he managed to keep his body steady.
About twenty minutes later, he reached the ground safely. He first pulled Cheng Suming up with a rope, and then the two of them threw down two long ropes from above, and together they pulled Si Nan and the others up.
After reaching the long-lost ground, Si Nan's heavy mood improved a lot. She took the off-road vehicle out of the space. Cheng Suming and Yang Wentao worked together to lift Sheng Youqing to the last row of seats and let her lie down. Gao Moli's body was placed in the driveway. The others got in the car and headed towards the Shishan base.
About five hours later, when they were about to return to the gate of Shishan Base, Yang Wentao parked the car behind a hidden hillside.
Si Nan moved the truck full of prey out of the space. Cheng Su Ming got out of the car and took several thick towing ropes given by Si Nan. He tied them to the truck whose front was severely damaged and then towed it into the Shishan base by an off-road vehicle.
There were five of them, but they brought back so many prey, which naturally caused a sensation in the base.
Yang Wentao was responsible for explaining to those curious people where the prey came from, while Cheng Suming took Si Nan and Sheng Youqing straight to the hospital for emergency treatment.
Si Nan stayed in the hospital for a whole month and even spent the New Year in the hospital.
Sheng Youqing stayed in the hospital for even longer, for three months, because she had a blood clot in her brain and had to undergo surgery.
Fortunately, she recovered well, and when she was discharged from the hospital, Si Nan went to pick her up.
The temperature that day was close to minus 65 degrees Celsius, and there was basically no one walking outside. Sinan specially brought a big umbrella to pick her up and block the snow for her.
"I feel like a big star now. On the left is assistant Xiaonan, on the right is my mommy-brand agent, and in front of me are two bodyguards. It's so impressive when I go out."
Sheng Youqing couldn't help laughing when she saw Si Nan following her closely, holding an umbrella to shield her from the wind, Cheng Suming and Sheng Youbin walking in front of her, carrying her package, and her mother on the right, putting a towel hat on her.
"Yes, yes, you're a big star, okay?" Sinan held her hand, "Watch your step, don't fall and end up in the hospital again."
"Don't worry, Assistant Xiaonan. I've been in the hospital for three months. I've had enough. I don't want to stay here any longer." After saying this, Sheng Youqing took Si Nan's hand and climbed onto the bed of Yang Wentao's tricycle.
Yang Wentao is on vacation today, so he brought Cheng Wei to pick her up.
Cheng Wei asked Yang Wentao to weld a canopy on the rear of the car overnight and cover it with cloth curtains on all sides. This way, it could block the wind and snow and provide space for people to sit. It was very thoughtful.
Sinan originally wanted to ask Yang Wentao to weld a car canopy, but then she thought that her three cars were not big, and the cars would be even narrower after welding the car canopy, and she wouldn't be able to load much cargo in the future, so she decided to give up.
Sheng Youqing, her mother, and Cheng Wei sat in the back of Yang Wentao's car, while Si Nan and Sheng Youbin sat in the back seat of her tricycle and were taken back by Cheng Suming.
Both tricycles have anti-skid wheels installed on their wheels, so it is not easy to slip when riding in the snow and ice.
Sheng Youqing was discharged from the hospital today, so Si Nan hosted the party and prepared many dishes at home in advance, inviting all the relatives and friends to eat hotpot to make up for the regret of not having a family reunion three months ago.
When they arrived at Si Nan's house, the people who stayed at home, such as Si Yufang's family, Liu Dalin's family, and Sister Wang and her husband, washed and cut the vegetables for the hot pot, boiled the red and white soup base for the double-flavored hot pot, and made many delicious meals that were their family's specialties. They set up two large tables full of food in the living room on the first floor, which had a fireplace and warm air conditioning. As soon as they entered, they could smell the delicious aroma of hot pot.
"Oh my god, this is too rich." Sheng Youqing drooled as she looked at the table full of dishes. "Can we start eating? I've been eating light vegetarian food for three months in the hospital. I'm almost like a nun. Today I'm going to give up meat."
"We have to wait a few minutes. The soup base is already cold." Si Yufang plugged in the two induction cookers given by Si Nan. Her two daughters-in-law helped put the two red and white pot bases on the induction cookers. After a while, the two mandarin duck pot bases began to sizzle and bubble.
"Youqing, you are in good health, so you shouldn't eat spicy hotpot. Sit here and eat white hotpot." Sinan pulled Sheng Youqing to sit on the heated kang bed in the living room. "White hotpot is stewed with native chicken, large ribs, and medicinal herbs such as jujube and angelica. Not only is the soup delicious, but the ingredients are also delicious."
"But I want to eat the red pot." Sheng Youqing looked at the white soup base in front of him and lost his appetite.
"Just listen to Xiaonan." Mother Sheng sat down next to Sheng Youqing and scooped a bowl of white pot soup for her. "You have just recovered. You can't eat spicy food. You have to take it slow."
Seeing her pouting, Sheng's mother said, "Xiao Nan knows you're greedy, so she gave me several packets of hot pot ingredients a few days ago and asked me to make it for you when I have time. When your body gradually recovers, I'll make it for you."
"Okay." Sheng Youqing resigned himself to eating the white pot.
Cheng Wei sat directly next to Si Nan, pushing away Cheng Su Ming who was originally going to sit next to Si Nan, saying, "Brother, Uncle Liu and the others are asking you to come over for a drink, don't spoil our fun by sitting at our table, we women will talk about women's stuff when we sit together."
At the table near the door, several grown men had gathered together. Si Nan even took out a lot of good wine that he had bought before the end of the world from his space and placed it on their table.
Liu Dalin was happily pouring wine and called Cheng Suming: "Xiao Cheng, why are you sitting at their table? Come and have a drink with uncle, and we can have a good chat."
Cheng Suming had no choice but to go to the seat where the men were sitting.
After everyone was at the table, Si Nan asked everyone to pour the drinks she had taken out from the space, and stood up with a glass of orange juice in her hand, saying with a smile: "Come on, everyone, let's toast to welcome our comrade Sheng Youqing out of the hospital! At the same time, let's also send in the three-month-late New Year's greetings, and wish everyone a happy New Year every year!"
"Welcome home Sheng Youqing, and wish you all peace and prosperity in the years to come." Everyone raised their glasses and stood up.
The children at the same table with Si Nan also raised their cups and imitated the adults, "Cheers!"
The hotpot was bubbling and the dishes were plentiful. Everyone was chatting while eating. The only TV program on the capital news was playing in the living room. The children were playing on the floor with their homemade toys after finishing their meals. There was indeed a festive atmosphere.
After the meal, everyone helped to clear the table and wash the dishes. Sinan distributed some of the leftover food to everyone and asked everyone to take it home to eat.
They cooked too much food, and it would be a waste if she and Cheng Suming couldn't finish it. Their relatives and friends didn't have any infectious diseases, so they wouldn't mind the leftovers, so everyone went home happily.
After they left, Si Nan felt uncomfortable with the quietness of the house. She turned off the air conditioner and lights on the first floor one by one, followed Cheng Suming upstairs, climbed onto the bed silently, and did not lean on the headboard to play with her mobile phone as usual. Instead, she lay on her back and stared at the incandescent lamp above her head.
"What are you thinking about?" Cheng Suming took off his coat, climbed onto the bed, got into the quilt and asked her.
"I'm thinking about Gao Moli." He came in with a gust of cold air, so cold that Si Nan couldn't help but snuggle into his warm and broad chest. He said with a gloomy expression: "If I hadn't made that crazy decision to lead the people from Changji Base to that underground mall, Gao Moli might be alive and well, eating hot pot with us, instead of being buried alone in the ice and snow on the back mountain. She must hate me, right?"
"She won't." Cheng Suming pulled Si Nan into his arms and kissed her deeply on the forehead. "If you hadn't reminded us to go to the underground mall, we might have all died at the hands of the people in Changji Base, or fallen into the belly of wolves and beasts. You have done your best to save all of us. Gao Moli just got freed in advance. How could she hate you?"
Si Nan felt much better after being comforted by him. He hugged Cheng Su Ming and muttered, "I want to be extravagant tonight. Let's not turn off the lights and go to sleep like this."
"Okay, whatever you say."
In the following days, Cheng Suming worked as a nominal doctor. He did not have to go to Shishan Hospital to see patients, but just held a sinecure. When Shishan Hospital had major surgical operations that other doctors were not sure to do, they would contact him. After understanding the patient's condition, he could do the operation. Naturally, his salary was reduced by one third, but he did not care.
He spent most of his time at home working as a barefoot doctor, collecting food supplies as remuneration. Every day he helped Sinan plant vegetables and take care of the greenhouse in the medicine garden. His life was not boring but fulfilling.
The main reason was that he felt that being able to stay by Si Nan's side all the time, watching over her and protecting her at any time made him feel more at ease than doing anything else.
The weather was getting colder day by day, and the temperature was dropping day by day. When the temperature broke through minus 75 degrees, the warming up time that everyone had been expecting did not appear. Instead, it dropped another ten degrees. As a result, the power supply equipment of the entire base was covered with thick layers of ice and snow and could not operate. The temperature outside had reached the point where one would be frozen to death if they went out.
Many people were unable to use electrical heating equipment and could only burn large amounts of firewood for heating. However, the doors and windows of their homes were blocked by the ice and snow outside, causing indoor ventilation and carbon monoxide poisoning. Many people died in their sleep due to difficulty breathing.
For one-third of the survivors living in the shelters built at the Stone Mountain Base, the military's coal supply was insufficient after the power outage, and they had not prepared firewood in advance. The two 15-story shelters were gradually frozen from the outside to the inside at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In order to survive, the people inside broke out into an unprecedented bloodbath. Everywhere people were scrambling for thick bedding and clothes, frantically hacking and killing those around them, and fleeing to the greenhouses in the agricultural area, wrapped in layer upon layer of thick clothes.
The chaos that occurred when the severe cold weather hit a year and a half ago was repeated, but people were not so lucky this time. No matter how thickly they were dressed, as long as they went out, they would be frozen to death in the ice and snow within half an hour, with no possibility of survival.
There were screams and wailing in the shelter, it was a scene of hell, but Sinan could not see it.
In such a harsh and extremely cold environment, even if she had space, abundant supplies, and made sufficient preparations, she still couldn't withstand the freezing temperature outside.
She and Cheng Suming had frostbite all over their hands, feet, ears and faces. They wore at least five thick down jackets, cotton jackets and windproof jackets, and were wrapped in two 20-pound quilts. They were wrapped up like bears, but they were still so cold that their bones ached.
They didn't dare to burn firewood for heating for fear of carbon monoxide poisoning, so they could only use the diesel generator that they had been reluctant to use to generate electricity and keep the room warm with air conditioning.
When the diesel engine was burning hot and needed to be cooled, Sinan threw the diesel generator back into the space and continued to use firewood to burn several large braziers in various places in the room. The windows in the room were cleaned all the time to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.
During this period, Dahei and Dabai stayed in the room obediently and did not go anywhere, for fear that they would freeze to death if they went out.
This went on for more than a week. Many people at the Stone Mountain Base could not stand the extreme cold and were frozen into hard ice sculptures like stones. Then the temperature finally dropped.
The temperature dropped in the morning. Si Nan, with panda eyes and wearing several layers of thick warm gloves, stood in front of the narrow gap in the window, cleaning the thick ice that had frozen on it.
In the past, she had to use all her strength to lift off a small piece of ice, but today, with a light chisel with a pickaxe, a large piece fell off.
At the same time, she felt her body gradually getting warmer. She thought she was too cold and had a fever. When she was about to turn back to work on the motor, she heard Cheng Suming say, "It seems to be warming up. Do you feel it?"
The author has something to say:
A new natural disaster is coming.
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