Chapter 86 Distributing Cotton-padded Clothing and Bedding Causes Rapid Temperature Drop
A heavy snowfall caused the temperature to drop by more than ten degrees Celsius instantly. Cheng Zhiyu was shivering all over from just opening the window.
Cheng Mo quickly came over, closed the window, and held his hand to warm it.
Cheng Zhiyu frowned: "It's so cold, the base is probably going to suffer a disaster. No, we have to go out and check."
Cheng Mo frowned.
Cheng Zhiyu: "I'll wear something thicker. There are clothes and shoes made from the mutated cotton in the closet. Take them out."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Mo immediately went to the closet to find some clothes. The clothes made of mutated cotton felt warm to the touch, and because they could continuously generate heat, they instantly warmed up when worn.
Cheng Zhiyu's stiff fingers felt much better, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the mutated cotton was useful. The warehouse now had a lot of quilts and clothes made from the mutated cotton, which was enough for his needs.
He immediately went downstairs to go out. Downstairs, Cheng's mother and the others had obviously been woken up by the cold. When they saw Cheng Zhiyu come down, Cheng's mother shivered from the cold: "Zhiyu, where are you going? Why is it so cold all of a sudden after it snows?"
Cheng Zhiyu explained briefly and told his mother to quickly put on the clothes with the mutated cotton.
Then Cheng's mother remembered: "Oh dear, I almost forgot, I'll change right away."
Cheng Zhiyu and Cheng Mo went outside and, sure enough, they saw that many houses had their lights on.
The snow is falling so heavily; in just a short while, it's already above our ankles, making the road very difficult to walk on.
Cheng Mo transformed into his beast form and said to Cheng Zhiyu, "Come on up."
Cheng Zhiyu quickly sat down, thinking that if others found out... but then he thought again, no one would ask him.
He didn't want to talk about it, and no one dared to ask.
With Big Black around, the journey was much faster, and they arrived at the broadcasting room in no time. He opened the door, tapped the microphone, and told everyone not to panic. He explained that the base had stored some quilts and clothes made of mutated cotton, which could be collected by contributing points.
Although these are emergency supplies, they cannot be given away for free. If the base is to develop, we cannot allow everyone to develop lazy habits.
If people find that everything can be taken for free, some will stop working properly, which is unfair to those who don't try to cheat or shirk their duties.
Moreover, the contribution points won't be too high. Recently, the base has been busy with construction, and every household that isn't lazy has accumulated some contribution points, enough to buy bedding and clothes.
Originally, everyone was at home, watching the heavy snow and the sudden drop in temperature, feeling extremely panicked.
The kang (heated brick bed) that was warm when they went to sleep at night is now ice cold. They usually use firewood to heat the kang, mainly dry firewood, much of which is wheat stalks left over from the wheat harvest.
These heaters used to keep the kang (a heated brick bed) quite warm, but now that the temperature has dropped sharply, they're completely useless.
At this temperature, it's impossible to sleep. How can you not be scared when you wake up?
Fortunately, Cheng Zhiyu's calm voice came over the loudspeaker. He showed no panic and explained the current situation, which reassured everyone.
“Yes, I also made a quilt made of mutated cotton before. It was so warm that I was unbearably hot when I made it at night.” Someone immediately remembered.
"That's great! This weather is terrible, but thankfully Captain Cheng made preparations in advance. I feel much more at ease now."
"Who said we were making those useless things? I'm glad we didn't listen to him. I remember everyone spent half a month making quilts and clothes from the mutated cotton. That should be enough."
"Anyway, I didn't say anything. Oh, stop with the nonsense and let's hurry up and go to the place we were notified to change our blankets and clothes."
“Let’s go slowly together. Didn’t you hear Captain Cheng’s warning? The road is very slippery. It would be terrible if you fell.”
"Yes, yes, let's go slowly."
Over here, Cheng Zhiyu breathed a sigh of relief after making the notification and prepared to tell the people to get ready quickly.
Lin Kang's voice came from outside the door: "Hey, what's this!"
Big Black was lying outside the door. When Lin Kang saw such a big dog, he was so scared that he almost fell on his backside.
Dahei glanced at Lin Kang with a cold expression, barely paying him any attention.
As soon as Cheng Zhiyu came out, Dahei immediately went over and gently nuzzled him.
Seeing this, Lin Kang patted his chest and said, "This..."
Cheng Zhiyu explained with a smile, "This is my dog, Dahei. By the way, you know the current situation, so hurry up and make arrangements."
Lin Kang snapped out of his daze, forgetting his shock, and nodded.
The place to collect supplies was in the warehouse, where everything was stored. Cheng Zhiyu had someone make ginger soup in an empty warehouse next door. People in line could go there to wait, and drinking the ginger soup would warm them up a bit. Otherwise, if they lined up outside, they would definitely freeze.
Soon after, someone arrived, accompanied by a person with superpowers, in case anything unexpected happened on the way.
Everyone orderly used their contribution points to exchange for blankets and clothes.
"Try to give each person a set of clothes at home. The sizes are different, and the contribution points required are also different, so they may not all fit. Go back and find someone to alter them." The person in charge of exchanging supplies said, "As for bedding, if there are fewer people at home, you can exchange fewer. There are many people in the base, so try to give each family a set of bedding."
The person who came to exchange the bedding nodded quickly: "Okay, there are five people in my family. I'll exchange two sets of bedding. My parents will need one, and we'll share one set. My child is too young, so one set will be enough. I'll also exchange five sets of clothes."
The other person gave the approximate height and weight of their family members, and someone nearby handed them a size that they could fit into.
"Put your clothes on first," someone reminded them, "so you don't catch a cold when you go back. There's ginger soup next door, go and have a bowl."
The other person nodded, too touched to say anything. At times like this, everyone is uneasy, but being cared for like this makes them feel inexplicably warm and a little like crying. He kept thanking them.
The people in line behind were all like that; some of them started wiping away tears after receiving a few words of concern.
I feel so good about my own base that I'm staying up late to serve them.
The lights were on all over the farm, and the livestock were shivering from the cold. The farm workers, dressed in clothes made of mutated cotton, quickly began to tend to the animals.
The temperature was below -10 degrees Celsius at night before, but these animals could still withstand it. Perhaps their physical condition has become much stronger due to the impact of the apocalypse.
But now the temperature has dropped by more than ten degrees, and they can't stand it; they're almost frozen stiff.
The group quickly used the mutated cotton blankets as curtains to block out the cold wind from outside, and also laid out mutated cotton in the animals' dens.
Han Tingting was particularly concerned about the sows, which were already more than two months pregnant and would give birth in about a month.
We can't afford any accidents.
Fortunately, after a lot of work, the pigsty finally got warm.
Although sealing it like this makes it difficult for the smell to circulate, there's no other way; it's better than freezing to death.
The geese no longer guarded the house outside; instead, they gathered together with the chickens and ducks, huddling in the mutated cotton nests for warmth.
The aunt who was incubating the eggs went into the chicks' house, but it wasn't as warm as usual. The chicks huddled together, shivering from the cold, and some of them had even frozen to death, which broke her heart.
I quickly called my son to spread the mutated cotton on the ground. The chicks seemed to sense something and ran to the bright red cotton with their short legs. After a while, they stopped shivering and lay down on the cotton to doze off.
Seeing this, the aunt breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the frozen corpses of the chicks, she sighed, cleaned up the bodies, and then cleaned the house.
After cleaning the house and replacing the food with clean ones, the aunt checked on the chicks again. The fluffy little chicks were all anxious and had already fallen asleep with their eyes closed.
With the mutated cotton present, the room has clearly become warmer.
The aunt touched the heated, mutated cotton and smiled. This is really a good thing.
Outside the gate, the livestock farmer and several others were busy settling the animals in. Seeing that they were in good condition and there would be no problems for the time being, they left with peace of mind.
The farmer, wrapped in his clothes, walked to the door of the chicks' shed and called inside, "Mom, are you done with your work? Let's go home quickly if you're done."
He definitely had to go home with his mother; otherwise, he wouldn't feel at ease with the snow on the road being so thick, and it wouldn't be good if he accidentally slipped and fell.
In this cold weather, falling down could be quite serious.
The aunt agreed, and after making sure nothing was left out, she left.
It was very cold outside, so the aunt quickly closed the door behind her, afraid that the cold wind would blow in and freeze the chicks.
As a result, she herself was shivering from the cold.
The farmer quickly handed her the clothes and urged, "Mom, put them on right away."
In just a short while, the aunt's fingers were frozen stiff. Without asking any more questions, she quickly took the clothes. As soon as she held them in her hands, she felt that the clothes were warm. When she put them on, they instantly blocked out the cold wind, and she felt warm all over.
"Oh my, is there mutated cotton in here?" The aunt asked with certainty as she touched her warm clothes while walking back with her son.
"Yes, that's right." The farmer nodded. "Hasn't the base started exchanging cotton-padded clothes and quilts?"
The aunt nodded; she had naturally heard the announcement too. However, she asked, "Weren't you busy tending to the livestock outside? Who picked up these clothes?"
The farmer smiled and said, "There's no need for us to collect them. When the leaders heard that we were all coming to the farm, they probably didn't have time to collect them, so they sent someone to deliver them to us directly. They also delivered the bedding to our homes."
"This is such a hassle for them," the aunt said, but a smile couldn't help. "I was thinking that if we went to get the clothes and bedding after we finished our work, it might be too late, and they might not be able to provide them anymore. I didn't expect their manager to be so thoughtful and bring them to us directly. By the way, what's the exchange rate for these clothes?"
My aunt is used to being frugal, and she always asks about the price before buying anything.
The farmer smiled and said, "We're employees of the farm now, and these clothes are an employee benefit, so don't contribute anything."
The aunt was surprised: "I just started working here and I already have this?"
The farmer nodded: "Yes, but if the rest of our family members need clothes, they'll have to contribute some. We also offer one free bedding per person."
"Of course, of course." The aunt felt that they had saved all the contribution points they were supposed to spend, which was great!
The auntie's face glowed: "Let's have something nice to eat tomorrow!"
Actually, it's just that the food is a bit thicker, but for people in the apocalypse, these are very good days.
Countless people outside are starving and dying every day.
They live a life they never dared to dream of.
When they got home, the aunt's grandson was already wearing clothes made of mutated cotton, his face flushed, looking like a little penguin.
Seeing this, the aunt asked her grandson, "It's so late, why aren't you going to sleep?"
Grandson: "My mom said she's worried about you two and told me to wait until you come back before I go to sleep."
The aunt said to her daughter-in-law, "You're really something. What could possibly happen between him and me? The child is growing up, so don't let him stay up late. Besides, isn't it cold sitting here?"
Although she complained, she had a smile on her face. She wasn't really blaming her daughter-in-law; her daughter-in-law was worried about her and her son, so how could she really blame her?
The grandson immediately said, "It's not cold, Grandma. I'm so hot, but Mom won't let me take off my clothes."
"Your mom is right," the aunt said. "You can't take it off. You have no idea how cold it is right now. If you take it off, you'll freeze into an icicle!"
The grandson shuddered in fright and dared not say he wanted to take off his clothes again. In fact, he didn't want to take them off; he just wanted to unzip his zipper a little.
Now I'm too scared to unzip my jacket.
The auntie was relieved to see this, but it was not easy to take off. She had almost frozen when she wasn't wearing this dress, but now she was sweating slightly.
This clothing is so warm!
As employees of the breeding department, each of them could receive a free quilt. The aunt's husband had died, so she slept with her grandson, while her son and his wife slept with him, which meant they didn't have to change the quilt anymore.
Back inside, I quickly closed the doors and windows, laid out the mutated cotton bedding, and prepared everything before daring to take off my cotton-padded clothes.
Even so, I shivered from the cold and quickly crawled into bed, where I instantly felt warm.
The aunt patted her grandson's back and coaxed him to sleep, feeling fortunate that Captain Cheng was there; otherwise, who knows how difficult things would have been.
Forget about freezing to death, they've probably already starved to death.
Those on the periphery were a little uneasy when they heard the broadcast. They had only been there for two months and were afraid that they wouldn't get any of the clothes and bedding made from the mutated cotton.
"Why does God have to be so cruel to people!" someone said, wiping away tears.
"We've finally gotten better, why are you torturing us again? It's so cold, are you trying to freeze us to death?" someone said with a look of despair.
"Didn't you say we could exchange for quilts made of mutated cotton? I sewed quilts before, and they were so warm. Can we exchange for those too?"
"We've only been here for two months. Even if we get a replacement, we won't have enough contribution points."
After they arrived, they lived frugally, but because they lacked this and that, even if they saved, their contribution points were spent like water and they couldn't save any at all!
How can I exchange items now that I don't have contribution points?
They had finally felt that life was getting better, and no matter what, as long as they worked diligently, they could at least have enough to eat.
But ultimately, they couldn't withstand natural disasters.
As they were talking, Liu Ping'an came over. The group exchanged trembling glances and said, "Why don't we go ask Liu Ping'an? Captain Cheng is his nephew!"
This statement was met with unanimous approval.
Some people previously thought that Liu Ping'an's nephew was the highest leader of the base, but it turned out that the other party moved to the periphery and did the same work as them. It seemed that he was not doing much better than them, so they felt that Liu Ping'an and his nephew were not very close.
Seeing Liu Ping'an now, they were actually somewhat relieved, because Liu Ping'an was on the periphery, and they could still get some information from him.
So everyone crowded around and started asking questions all at once.
Liu Ping'an looked surprised: "Why didn't you go get your clothes? Your faces are all blue from the cold."
"We don't have enough contribution points, how can we redeem them?" They looked distressed, shrugging their necks as if trying to keep warm.
Liu Ping'an slapped his forehead: "That explains why you didn't go over there. Team Leader Cheng said that given the special circumstances of everyone on the periphery, we can pay on credit first, and then pay back slowly as we work."
In front of outsiders, he didn't address Cheng Zhiyu as his uncle, but instead called him "Captain Cheng".
Everyone's eyes lit up, and they all asked at once, "Can you really buy on credit?"
"Oh my god, that's great! Let's hurry up and go, or we'll miss out."
"Yes, yes, let's go, let's hurry up! Great, we can buy on credit!"
"We have to thank Ping An for letting us know!"
"Absolutely, it's better than us just sitting here speculating."
Liu Pingan shook his head: "They will definitely announce it over the loudspeaker."
Sure enough, the announcement came over the loudspeaker as soon as he finished speaking.
The inner circle is almost finished, now it's the turn of the outer circle.
It's not about treating everyone differently; sending them all at once would be inefficient. It's better to notify them separately.
After hearing the specific announcement on the radio, everyone felt more at ease and had no worries about buying on credit.
Regardless, let's get the clothes and bedding first. Without these, we'd probably freeze to death. What's there to worry about buying on credit?
Besides, the Xiahe base is different; it recruits workers every now and then, and as long as they are willing to work, they can always earn contribution points.
When we arrived, the warehouse was brightly lit, and there was hot ginger soup. After taking a sip of the ginger soup, I felt much better.
When they returned, they had clothes and bedding in their hands.
Wrapped in warm cotton, smiles appeared on their faces.
I was in the mood to chat and laugh when I got back.
Everyone is saying that it's fortunate they didn't stay in the mountain valley and came to the Xiaohe base instead, otherwise they would have either starved to death before the snow or frozen to death after the snow.
Unlike now, life is full of hope.
Meanwhile, Chi Hongyi and the others living in the small building also received the delivered bedding.
They were the special recipients of the base's care, and they didn't even have to go to collect them themselves.
Chi Hongyi stood by the window, wearing a cotton-padded coat, but didn't dare to open it. The temperature was so cold that she was still apprehensive. She just looked out the window at the people coming and going in the snow.
With the arrival of the cold wave, even large bases would likely freeze some people to death, but at the Xiaohe base, everyone was still laughing and chatting, their faces full of hope for survival.
Chi Hongyi exhaled, the glass in front of her blurred by the steam, and she slowly revealed a smile.
That's great! The Little River Base is really great, unlike any other base.
"Achoo!" Cheng Zhiyu was signing a document when he suddenly sneezed.
Cheng Mo immediately leaned over, frowning as she took his hand: "Let me see, are you alright?"
His hands were warm, and after touching his forehead, he was relieved to find that he didn't have a fever.
Cheng Zhiyu said, "I guess someone was talking about me. I don't feel uncomfortable."
“Who said that about you?” Cheng Mo frowned.
Cheng Zhiyu: "...Go away, I'm busy."
Cheng Mo glanced at him with displeasure, but still withdrew her hand.
Cheng Zhiyu sensed his resentful gaze, but still gritted his teeth and finished signing the remaining documents.
After it was over, he let out a breath and smiled: "I can sleep in tomorrow."
Cheng Mo, who was just about to express his anger, immediately asked upon hearing this, "Really?"
"Hmm, what do you think I'm doing?" Cheng Zhiyu yawned. "I figured since I'm already here, I might as well get the work done."
What he didn't say was that the snow had been falling non-stop, and by tomorrow morning it would probably be very thick, making it inconvenient to come over.
But Cheng Mo was obviously happy to hear that he didn't have to get up early tomorrow. Ever since Cheng Zhiyu became this administrator, he has been getting up very early every day.
Once the other person gets up, he doesn't want to go back to sleep, which means he hasn't been able to sleep in late for a long time.
Cheng Zhiyu said several times, "You don't have to stay with me. You can sleep whenever you want."
Cheng Mo didn't want to sleep; he couldn't fall asleep at all once Cheng Zhiyu left.
Before returning, Cheng Mo transformed back into his beast form, and Cheng Zhiyu sat on his lap without his feet touching the ground.
Cheng Mo walked slowly at first, while Cheng Zhiyu lay on top of him, taking a deep breath. It was such a big dog, it felt really good to suck on it.
Just as I was feeling sentimental, Big Black, who had been walking slowly, suddenly became excited and ran home at lightning speed.
Cheng Zhiyu didn't dare to straighten up, just lying there in the other's fur, not worried about the cold wind hurting his face.
He said in a muffled voice, "Slow down, or you might accidentally bump into someone."
On the way, because of the snow, people walking back were walking very slowly. Then it felt like a dark shadow was flying by like the wind.
Everyone: "?" What was that just now?
They were moving so fast they couldn't even see it.
Once they arrived at the courtyard, Cheng Mo immediately changed back to his original form and pulled Cheng Zhiyu upstairs.
Cheng Zhiyu: "?"
When Wu Cheng's mother heard the noise, she put on her clothes and came out to check. Seeing that it was them, she was relieved and said, "Go back to sleep quickly."
The two agreed and entered the room. Cheng Zhiyu was pressed against the door. Before he could react, Cheng Mo leaned in and gave him a passionate kiss that was mixed with the smell of wind and snow.
The kiss was exceptionally passionate; Cheng Zhiyu even broke out in a sweat. He thought to himself, "It can't be that bad, can it? All I did was lean on the other person's back and take a breath."
"You're not taking this seriously." Cheng Mo released him, staring at Cheng Zhiyu with eyes full of dissatisfaction.
Cheng Zhiyu quickly put his arm around the other person's neck: "I'm very serious."
After saying that, he leaned in and kissed the other person.
Cheng Mo was satisfied and returned the kiss with a smile.
In the end, the two only kissed and did nothing else. Cheng Zhiyu had been up all night and was too tired, so he decided to go to sleep.
It was too cold to take a shower that day, so Cheng Mo used his water-based supernatural abilities to quickly wash him. Before Cheng Zhiyu could even feel it, his body was already dry and refreshed.
He quickly put on his pajamas and crawled into his warm bed.
Cheng Mo's gaze darkened. He slipped in from the other side, snuggled up to Cheng Zhiyu, hugged him, and let out a satisfied sigh.
Cheng Zhiyu coughed lightly: "Um, you don't have to be like this, do you?"
He asked Cheng Mo to help him take a bath using water-based supernatural abilities, and the result excited him even more.
Cheng Mo hummed and rubbed against his neck, "I don't want to either, but I can't control myself when I see Zhiyu."
Cheng Zhiyu: "..."
Cheng Mo looked pitiful: "Zhiyu, you won't dislike me, will you?"
Cheng Zhiyu: "...Can you stop pretending?"
Cheng Mo denied it: "Where did I pretend?"
Cheng Zhiyu was speechless. Didn't he know Cheng Mo well enough?
Cheng Mo gently nuzzled him with her head, her ears peeking out, her face innocent: "I'm telling the truth."
Cheng Zhiyu's heart was pounding: "..." That's a bit unfair!
Cheng Zhiyu's Adam's apple bobbed, and he coughed lightly: "Well... I'll help you out, it's not comfortable sleeping like this."
Finally, Cheng Mo helped him out again.
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