After washing the dishes, Jiang Yue read for a while. Studying has become a habit now. She can't remember much of what she learned in bits and pieces over the past few worlds. Now she just makes a table in her notebook and looks at it from time to time. She also draws a progress bar based on her intuition. At 10 o'clock at night, she puts away her book, says goodnight to Hua Hua and Da Hei, and goes to sleep.
The next morning, Jiang Yue got up and opened the curtains to find it was snowing outside. She looked at the thermometer and saw it was -35°C. Oh my god! I'm not going to freeze to death today. She checked the group chat and all the messages were just to be careful on the road and to stay at our posts. Sigh, even a poor working person like me doesn't want to do this anymore. After washing up, eating breakfast, and petting the cat, she set off.
In the past, the first thing the station did was collect snow. Now, snow can't be wasted. It can be collected and melted into water, which can be used. Even if you don't drink it, you can boil it to wash dishes and clothes. After collecting snow all morning, Jiang Yue finally collected all the snow near the station. She straightened up and stretched her body. The surrounding residents were also collecting snow, with stiff smiles on their faces.
After returning to the office and having just drunk some hot water, the station chief came over. Jiang Yue, Lin Xiao, and Zhou Xue all had to go out on patrol. There was a shortage of manpower, so they all had to fill in. The three of them were assigned to a group to patrol several residential areas around the police station. As the group leader, Jiang Yue was also equipped with a pistol in case of any special circumstances.
Jiang Yue set off in her car, first going to the neighborhood office. Nowadays, people call the neighborhood office first for any issues, only calling the police for serious matters, much like in the 1970s and 80s. After driving around several neighborhoods, nothing major happened. The only serious case was someone who had an asthma attack. He didn't have much medicine at home, and he was too old to go to the hospital in this weather. He asked Jiang Yue and her colleagues if they could help him get some medicine. Jiang Yue and her colleagues didn't refuse, registered his information, and went to get the medicine for him.
When Jiang Yue arrived at the hospital, she looked around. It wasn't very big, and most of the doctors there were young. There was a severe shortage of doctors, and many doctors were learning while treating patients. Jiang Yue told Lin Xiao and Zhou Xue to wait outside while she went in to queue up for medicine. After buying the medicine and delivering it to the patient, she informed the neighborhood office about his condition, as winter is a high-risk season for asthma, and asked the staff there to take some time to check on him.
After finishing this task, the three of them resumed their patrol. The radio in the car was playing the latest news: the five permanent members of the UN Security Council held a summit and signed some agreements on patent exchange and technology sharing; the civil war in Africa was getting worse; and several countries were still condemning China and demanding that we return the grain. Jiang Yue scoffed when she heard this, thinking, "What are you thinking?"
Furthermore, the prices of energy sources such as oil, coal, and natural gas have been soaring. Energy price increases are inevitable, as heating and power generation both require these resources. Previously, many oil and natural gas resources were not developed due to technological costs, but now they have no choice but to be developed because other countries are no longer selling to them, or they are offering very harsh conditions. It's a last resort.
After patrolling twice, we returned to the station. We didn't have to stay outside all the time. When we got back, we saw several of our patrol colleagues escorting a few illegal immigrants back. Refugees from several surrounding countries are flocking here, and they can't be repatriated now. No one from the local government cares. The people in the station are just detained for a few days to see if they are criminals. If not, they are taken to build civil defense projects or greenhouses, so at least they can have something to eat.
This is the only way to deal with it now. We've tried communicating many times, but it's no use. The response is just to deal with it however we want. The country can only garrison a large number of troops at the border to intercept them as much as possible. If they still manage to get across, they'll be forced into hard labor. They could work on construction sites for a few years and then get a temporary household registration and receive food and wages. Right now, it's like being in prison, with only food provided. They're stuck in a fixed place and can't go out. They have to do heavy work every day, and yet so many people still come here.
When she got home after a busy day, her car was so frozen it almost wouldn't start. When she got there, she saw it was -40°C. No wonder her face was sore from the cold. Jiang Yue opened the door, shivering, and didn't dare to go straight into the room. She stayed at the door for a while, otherwise the sudden change in temperature would easily make her catch a cold. After waiting for more than ten minutes, she finally went into the living room.
As soon as Jiang Yue entered the house, Hua Hua and Da Hei ran over, meowing and cuddling for a long time. Jiang Yue hugged the cats to warm them up before putting them down. Once she felt warmer, she took off her coat and lay down on the sofa to rest. She didn't feel like cooking today, so she took out a bowl of rice noodles and milk tea from her storage space and put some cat food and dog food in the bag for Hua Hua and Da Hei. She had bought the cat food and dog food at the market before, but she hadn't bought too much; she had just bought a few bags for emergencies.
Time flies, and it's already January 1st. The temperature is around -40℃ to -50℃ every day now. What's really amazing is that it doesn't change with the region. Except for special places like the North and South Poles, the temperature in Northeast China is usually like this, and the temperature in Hainan is also like this. It's as if it's being manipulated. Scientists have been studying it for months but haven't figured it out.
Fortunately, the temperature dropped slowly rather than suddenly. Because the heating facilities here are complete, no one has frozen to death. In the past few days, Jiang Yue has not had to go to work every day. She is on a shift for several days at a time. There are only a few special vehicles. Even if they all go, they can only stay in the bureau and cannot leave the building.
Today, Jiang Yue cleaned up the house. The electric heater was a bit too hot, so she lit the fireplace. Because the fireplace was specially designed, the fire was strong and the temperature rose quickly. However, it was a bit of a waste of firewood. On such a cold day, Jiang Yue wanted to eat something different, so she found a piece of beef and a few tomatoes in her storage space and decided to try making tomato beef brisket.
After preparing the meal, she found two bottles of fruit wine and shared some of the food with Hua Hua and Da Hei, treating it as a treat for the whole family. After eating, she took a nap and felt refreshed. It's so great to be at home every day! Jiang Yue was even starting to not want to go to work anymore. She carefully considered whether she should change jobs. The situation had stabilized somewhat, and working at the institute was getting a bit boring. But where else could she go? Jiang Yue hadn't decided yet. Oh well, she'd just have to make do for now.
In the evening, Jiang Yue splurged on a bath. Normally, she saves water by just rinsing, but after the bath, she used the wastewater to wash Hua Hua and Da Hei as well. Then, instead of throwing the water away, she put it into the recycling system for filtration, and then used it to mop the floor and so on. She made the most of it.
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