Chapter 40
News of the transportation disruptions and tourists' inability to leave Xuexiang spread quickly.
News of heavy snow blocking roads in various places has been spreading widely online.
Panic spread throughout the scenic area.
On the first day of being stranded, Zhao Yan took her parents to the supermarket in the scenic area to grab a lot of water and food. Xuexiang is already a scenic area with high prices, and after the transportation was suspended, the prices became even more outrageous.
Moreover, the scenic area only has two supermarkets, one small shop, and one convenience store, and the stranded tourists have blocked several places.
Many tourists grumbled and complained, but were still reluctant to pay.
On the second day of being stranded, the snow outside the hotel was getting thicker and thicker. At this point, Zhao Yan and her family were still in a relatively good mood. They felt that although they were temporarily stranded, it would not be for long. They believed that the relevant departments would be able to clear the snow from the road soon and allow the train to run smoothly, at which point they would be able to go home.
On the fourth day of being trapped, Zhao Yan and her parents ran out of food they bought at the supermarket. Zhao's father spent a lot of money to buy a box of instant noodles from a restaurant next to the hotel. During this time, the family kept calling the hotline, but it was always busy.
On the sixth day of being trapped, the hotel experienced successive power outages, water outages, and heating outages for unknown reasons. The snow was now thicker than a person, and the hotel's glass doors were blocked by snow and could not be opened. No one dared to risk going out to find out the cause, and everyone was trapped in the hotel.
The temperature in the north without heating is unimaginable.
The family put on all the clothes they could and piled all the blankets on the old man, but even so, they were still shivering from the cold. There was no water or electricity, and they could only eat instant noodles dry. The worst part was that the box of instant noodles they had bought at a high price was almost gone.
On the eighth day of being trapped, the family ran out of instant noodles and could only get water by digging snow from outside the window to melt it. However, in the minus thirty-degree weather, the snow coming into the house from outside didn't melt at all, so the family had no choice but to drink the snow directly.
"I shouldn't have suggested coming to Xuexiang. It made the four elders suffer like this." Father Zhao regretted it so much that he kept hitting his head.
The elderly couple were already in poor health, and after enduring hunger and cold for several days, both of Zhao Yan's grandparents developed high fevers.
The worst part is that there's no power, no internet, and no signal. I can't make calls or call for help, and I can't even leave the hotel. All I can do is give them some cold medicine provided by the hotel, but it's completely useless.
"Dad, don't be like this. No one could have predicted this would happen. You have to pull yourself together; Grandpa and the others still need your care!"
Her father's intention in taking the family on this trip was out of filial piety, wanting to make his elderly parents happy. No one can predict natural disasters or man-made calamities in advance, and things are already very difficult. She couldn't let her parents continue to suffer from guilt and waste their mental energy.
On the ninth day of being trapped, the sound of car engines came from outside the window. It turned out that the snowstorm had stopped for a while, and someone had immediately driven a speeding car to the city and brought back some supplies. However, there were only a limited number of speeding cars in the snow town, and the supplies brought back were also limited. The Zhao family of seven only received a small plastic bag of supplies.
There were three pieces of bread, two bottles of water, and one fever reducer in the bag.
During this special period, the Zhao family did not mind having too little. They took the medicine and divided the fever reducer in half for the elderly person with a fever to take.
After taking the medicine, the two elderly people's symptoms finally improved.
Over the next few days, if the weather was good and there was no wind or snow, a small bag of supplies would be dropped in through the window by a flying vehicle; if the weather was bad, there would be nothing.
The family carefully managed their resources.
Zhao Yan was so hungry that her stomach was cramping. Ever since the heating was turned off, she had been staying in such a cold environment. Actually, everyone had caught a cold, but her grandparents and maternal grandparents had more severe symptoms. She and her parents were young and healthy, so their symptoms were relatively better than those of the elderly.
Nasal congestion, headache, hunger, cold.
And endless despair.
Zhao Yan didn't know why her pleasant trip had turned into this.
*
"Coco, the ammonia-hydrogen polymer for the thermostatic suit has been successfully extracted!"
"Really? I'm coming right away!"
Xia Ke didn't care that it was midnight. She jumped out of bed, didn't even change her clothes, just threw on a down jacket over her pajamas, and ran to the company.
"Professor Dong, where is ammonia-hydrogen polyphosphate extracted from? Is the extraction process difficult? Once ammonia-hydrogen polyphosphate is extracted, can thermostatic garments be mass-produced?"
As soon as Xia Keren arrived, a series of questions were thrown at Dong Hezhou.
"The gas produced by adding sodium hydrochloride to the egg's inner membrane and biological hair follicles contains ammonia-hydrogen polyhydride. The extraction process is not difficult. As long as ammonia-hydrogen polyhydride is purified from the gas produced, the thermostatic garment can be produced in principle. However, we have no clue about the conversion of light energy. This is also easy to solve. The initial version of the thermostatic garment can use electric energy catalysis. Although frequent charging will be more troublesome, it will not affect the use effect."
"We have to thank Lao Zhao's department for the extraction of ammonia-hydrogen polyhydride. They have many members with medical and chemical expertise, and it was they who helped extract the ammonia-hydrogen polyhydride."
"Great! That's wonderful! Everyone has worked so hard these past few days!"
Over the past two days, Xia Ke has seen many videos online of people trapped in the heavy snow calling for help. Whenever she sees children crying loudly from hunger or elderly people shivering from the cold despite being bundled up in thick clothes, she feels very sad.
Only areas with internet and electricity can send out distress videos; she couldn't believe what people in those areas without internet and electricity were suffering.
Dong Hezhou also knew that the current situation was urgent, and countless people trapped in the disaster area were waiting for thermostatic suits to save their lives.
So even though it's late at night, he didn't mention resting and immediately threw himself back into work after talking with Xia Ke.
At six o'clock the next morning, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, the first temperature-controlled suit independently developed by Hongqi Piao was unveiled.
Except for the fact that this thermostatic suit is powered by electricity, it is exactly the same as the thermostatic suits purchased from the system.
Xia Ke has been at the company since last night. She doesn't understand research and development, but she doesn't want to go home and sleep while everyone else is working hard on the thermostatic suit.
I found a place where I wouldn't disturb others to work and think about how to earn points from the system.
Hearing the cheers, Xia Ke immediately jumped up, and the sleepiness from not sleeping all night completely disappeared.
After confirming the thermostatic clothing's function, Xia Ke immediately called Chen Ying.
"What? You said the thermostatic suits have been produced? Okay, I'll have someone prepare what you need and send it to Hongqi Village."
*
"Why isn't the snow stopping?"
Zhao Yan heard her mother's hoarse voice and hugged her mother, who was also starting to have a fever, tightly, hoping that her body temperature would make her feel a little more comfortable.
It's snowing and windy again, so we've probably run out of supplies for today.
Without rescue, her family won't be able to hold on...
Suddenly, she heard a commotion coming from outside the window.
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