Chapter 324 Clearing the Road
Zhao Yeqing leaned over and observed it carefully. "Is this a camphor tree?"
Mu Xi nodded: "It seems so."
Zhao Yeqing explained: "It's not surprising that camphor trees are evergreen, but they prefer warm and humid environments and have weaker resistance to cold."
The specific cause of death is still unknown. Zhao Yeqing pulled the bushes next to him and found that even the bushes buried in the snow were dead.
Logically speaking, the accumulation of snow can keep the roots of plants warm to a certain extent, and the probability of all of them dying is relatively small, so the two cannot tell whether it is because of the low temperature or because there has been no sunlight for nearly half a year.
Mu Xi carefully walked down the gentle slope and came to the side of the camphor tree. He observed the fracture of the trunk and touched it with his hand. He found that the inside was already 70% to 80% dry. He said:
"It snowed in the winter and the weather was dry, plus there was constant wind, so the trees must have dried up to the point where they would break if pulled."
Zhao Yeqing pointed to another tree behind Mu Xi, "Then take a look at the tree behind you to see if it's dead?"
Mu Xi raised his hand and pulled it, so it didn't break like the camphor tree before. But he could clearly feel the weight was wrong when he pulled it. He walked forward and pushed the trunk, and sure enough, the trunk broke.
After an extremely cold night, most of the plants we see have died. The only good news is that
They should have no shortage of firewood.
Many camphor trees have died, but there are still some trees that are still alive, such as fir, pine and cypress.
These trees are very cold-resistant. So far, they have only lost all their leaves, and some of their branches have dried up and broken, but they are still tenaciously alive.
Mu Xi broke off the broken branches and put them in a pile, and also pulled out the dead bushes on the ground.
The branches of the bushes are very small, basically as thick as fingers. The two men didn't want this kind of firewood before, and at most used it to start a fire. Now they can't be so picky, and they have to pick up all the firewood.
When they came out, the two of them took shovels to clear the snow.
While Mu Xi was getting firewood, Zhao Yeqing started clearing the way back.
There is no need to shovel away all the snow. Even if there is still a thickness of more than ten centimeters left, it will not affect your walking. You only need to clear part of the snow, and the cleaning process will be faster.
The straight-line distance to home was only about 1 km, and Zhao Yeqing felt hot all over as he shoveled.
This kind of small firewood can be carried on the firewood rack on the back. Mu Xi also brought it with him on this trip. After filling the firewood rack, he came over to help Zhao Yeqing.
It was past 11 o'clock when the two reached the gentle slope. It was now past 1 o'clock in the afternoon, and two hours had passed.
About half of the road had been cleared, and it became easier to walk on after that. Mu Xi turned around and went back to the gentle slope, put the rack of firewood on his back, and walked back.
It took less than ten minutes to go back and forth and return to Zhao Yeqing.
"We can clean up the rest in the afternoon. Now go back and drink some hot water to warm yourself up so you don't catch a cold."
Zhao Yeqing didn't feel cold, but he was feeling the changes around him, as if the wind was about to blow again.
My body is warm now, but if the wind blows over, I will feel unbearably cold. The alternation of cold and heat will make it easier to catch a cold.
He nodded in agreement and walked back along the same path he came from.
As soon as I got home and put down the firewood, before I even entered the house, the cold wind started to blow.
The two of them hurried back to the house. The stove was still burning, and it was still warm when they entered the room.
The coverings on the windows have been pasted back on, and now electric lights are still used for lighting, so the windows still have to be sealed to keep it warmer.
Turning on the light in the house, the dim interior was illuminated, and several dogs came running over to greet the two. The door was not closed yet, and Mu Xi was knocking on the snow embedded in the soles of his shoes at the door. If he didn't clean it up before bringing it in, it would soon turn into water in the house.
The cold wind coming in through the gap in the door made the dogs sneeze at the same time.
Zhao Yeqing hurriedly blew them away, hoping they wouldn't catch a cold.
After returning to the house to have lunch and resting for a while, they waited until the wind outside gradually stopped before going out to clear the snow.
Mu Xi tested it and found that one rack of firewood can burn for about 6 hours, and the whole day's firewood consumption is about 4 racks.
This is a lot of numbers, but it also has something to do with the tree species on the gentle slope. The firewood here is thinner and easier to burn, so it is consumed faster than the hardwood that was cut before.
But it was only a short distance of about 1km, but the two of them had to walk for so long. Now there was no way to go to the previous forest to find more suitable firewood, so they could only make do with what they had here for the time being.
After clearing the road, the two had to spend most of the day collecting firewood.
If there was a sudden wind while they were collecting firewood, the two would hide behind the gentle slope. Mu Xi dug a hole in the snow at the bottom of the slope, and the two would hide in it when the wind blew.
Compared to staying in the house during the winter, going out to look for firewood after dawn is definitely more tiring, but Zhao Yeqing enjoys it and feels like he has endless energy every day.
When she got up in the morning, she would first make sure it was daylight outside, then she would get up humming a song, eat and drink, and prepare to go out to chop wood again.
When the temperature on Mu Xi's watch finally began to change, the two of them had stored nearly half a month's worth of firewood on the inside of the brick wall.
Now the temperature on the watch jumps around 60 degrees during the day.
In just ten days from dawn to now, the perceived temperature has risen by at least ten degrees.
Judging from the data, everything was indeed moving in a good direction. However, the two did not encounter any living creatures during the time they were chopping wood. In addition, the vast expanse of white all around always made Zhao Yeqing feel that they were the only family left alive in the world.
At such times, Mu Xi would tap her on the head and say, "What nonsense are you thinking about? It's so cold, what animal would be willing to come out and wander around?"
That’s true.
It is also because this winter has lasted too long. It is almost August now, which should normally be the hottest time of the year, but the temperature is still dozens of degrees below zero.
The family's firewood reserves were sufficient for the time being, so the two began to deal with the things in the yard that were damaged by the wind.
There were the shelves that had been blown off, the tiles that had been blown onto the snow, and the several wolf heads that had been thrown randomly onto the snow in the yard.
The two men did not have the habit of hanging wolf heads on the eaves as decorations. They were not hunters or bandits and had no interest in that regard.
Mu Xi said, "Just throw it in the yard. If the wolves come back to attack, this will scare them off."
It’s true, the deterrent effect does exist, but it doesn’t deter those wolves.
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