Chapter 75 Snow Disaster (Part 2)
When Jiang Rong and the others arrived at the activity center, the ground was covered with a thick layer of snow, reducing visibility to less than ten meters. Guan Shao threw two pieces of wood into the fireplace in the conference room, while Jiang Rong found a cardboard box and placed it by the fireplace. Inside the box was a kitten wrapped tightly in a towel.
Feeling the warmth, the kitten's frozen body gradually warmed up, and its meows became louder than before. Jiang Rong made it some milk powder, and after drinking it, the kitten curled up in the corner and fell asleep.
Looking at the kitten sleeping soundly in the cardboard box, shivering, Jiang Rong couldn't help but sigh, "I wonder how many lives this snow will freeze to death."
In his past life at the Peace Base, Jiang Rong dared not sleep during the days when the temperature dropped. He was terrified that if he fell asleep, he would never wake up again. After the snow disaster, three or four people who had frozen to death were carried out of the basement where he lived. He later heard that more than 200,000 people had frozen to death in the Peace Base because of this snow disaster.
When I spoke with Meng Liang last time, he already mentioned the snow disaster. I hope Meng Liang will take this seriously and prevent a tragedy like the one in my past life from happening again.
The snow outside was falling heavier, and a small pickup truck drove into the activity center through the snow. A moment later, Chu Qiang and Pan Pan, their heads covered in snow, entered the meeting room. As soon as they entered, Pan Pan shivered: "It's so cold outside..."
Chu Qiang leaned closer to the heater and stretched out his frozen hands: "Panzi and I just went to inspect a few nearby villages. The able-bodied men in the villages have already organized themselves. When the snow gets heavier, they will organize themselves to shovel snow."
Jiang Rong responded, "What about the houses? Are there any dangerous houses that have collapsed under the weight of the snow?"
Pan Pan, inhaling the cold air, bravely gave a thumbs up: "Don't worry, our reinforced house can withstand it!" The house reinforced by metal and earth elemental ability users is not a dilapidated building constructed by unscrupulous developers. Even if the snow doubles, the house can still hold up.
As they spoke, the team members arrived at the meeting room one after another. As soon as they entered, they began to discuss the current situation at the base. Jiang Jinhu said, "I heard that the temperature will drop to minus twenty degrees Celsius in a couple of days, so we changed the antifreeze in the vehicles in use at the base."
Meng Weixian was more concerned about the road conditions: "Large snowplows are ready and will clear the snow from the main roads every three hours."
Wang Chunlan was more concerned about the frostbite and the subsequent flu: "I have already distributed cold medicine and prescriptions to the village chiefs, hoping that not too many people will get sick this time the temperature drops."
Everyone chimed in with their own opinions, clearly already somewhat confident about the impending snowstorm. Only Zheng Zhanqing seemed conflicted, hesitatingly saying, "Captain Jiang, there's a question I'd like to raise."
Jiang Rong responded, "Hmm? What is it?"
Zheng Zhanqing said, "Bawang told me this morning that it smelled a very unusual odor in the air."
Wang Ting laughed and said, "Is it the smell of cold air?"
Zheng Zhanqing shook his head. "Even the Overlord can't say for sure. It just talks a lot and makes a lot of noise. It's probably some kind of animal approaching our base."
Upon hearing that animals were approaching the base, everyone immediately thought of mutated rats. A chill ran down their spines: "A rat? Can Tyrant even tell directions?" If it really was a mutated rat, they could prepare earlier.
Zheng Zhanqing frowned: "It shouldn't be a rat, but it's hard to say exactly what kind of tyrant it is."
After thinking for a while, Jiang Rong looked around and said, "Then I'll have to trouble everyone. Please keep a close eye on the monitoring during this period, and remember to report any abnormalities in time."
Just then, the conference room door opened, and the last member of the team, Ruan Hanyu, braved the wind and snow to enter. Upon seeing her, everyone laughed: "Hanyu, aren't you wearing a bit too many clothes?"
Ruan Hanyu was bundled up in layers of clothing—hat, scarf, gloves, earmuffs, mask… the slender young woman had practically turned herself into a ball. Besides her clothes, her hands were tucked inside hand warmers, leaving only her eyes showing.
Hearing everyone teasing her, Ruan Hanyu apologized, "I'm most afraid of the cold, and I can't stand it in winter. I'm sorry everyone, have I bothered you?"
This is quite strange; the person who is most afraid of the cold has awakened an ice-based ability. Seeing how she usually raises her hand to create icicles, it's hard to believe she's afraid of the cold.
Everyone quickly made room for her closest to the stove. Leilei said with a smile, "No, I'm cold too. Sister Hanyu, it is indeed a bit cold for you to live alone. Why don't you move back?"
The base treated those with superpowers well, and after Ruan Hanyu advanced to a level two superpower user, she moved back to her original home from Chu Qiang's house. To her, no matter how good Chu Qiang's house was, it couldn't compare to the house she had grown up in.
Living alone can lead to some unexpected little problems. For example, this morning, Ruan Hanyu discovered that the cured meat she had left hanging outside the window had been gnawed on by something, leaving only a layer of skin.
Ruan Hanyu smiled and said, "No need, Aunt Chu and the others are already very busy, I won't go and cause trouble."
Just before Ruan Hanyu was about to sit down, Jiang Rong called out to her: "Hanyu, would you like to keep a cat?"
Without hesitation, Ruan Hanyu replied, "Yes, I do." Ever since moving back to her own home, she had been keeping an eye out for kittens. She didn't want a mutant kitten; she just wanted a normal one. However, in this world, even people were struggling to survive, let alone ordinary cats and dogs. Therefore, despite her observations, she hadn't found a suitable kitten yet.
Jiang Rong pointed behind her: "There's a box behind you with a kitten inside. Xiao Heng and the others found it by the roadside this morning. See if you'd like to keep it. If you like it, take it home and raise it."
Ruan Hanyu turned around in surprise and immediately saw the sleeping kitten nestled in the towel. After a moment of silence, she carefully removed her hands from the hand warmer and cradled the kitten's body.
Sensing the warmth, the tiny kitten, no bigger than a palm, shifted its body and slept even more soundly. Ruan Hanyu, her eyes red-rimmed, forced a smile and held the kitten tightly to her chest: "So cute, I love it so much."
Leilei then noticed the kitten in the room. She happily approached Ruan Hanyu and exclaimed, "Wow, it's a black and white cat! Sister, let's name it? How about 'White and Black'?"
Everyone: ...
Leilei is indeed a doctor's daughter; she even named her pets after medicine.
Ruan Hanyu nodded: "Good name, let's call it Bai Jia Hei (White Plus Black)."
*
A pleasant melody rang out from the loudspeaker, and Jiang Xiaoheng and Jiang Hao's voices came out: "Hello, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, grandpas and grandmas in front of the radio. We are the hosts of Little Stars Can Talk. I am Xiaoheng/Xiaohao."
"Today we've brought you letters from our students. They want to say a few words through our program. We hope you enjoy them!"
After a rustling sound, Jiang Hao's voice came through, "Hello everyone, my name is Miao Sicong, I'm eight years old, and I live in Room 508, Building 3, Longjing Community, Hehuachi Street, New District, D City. My dad's name is Miao Ling, and my mom's name is Xie Shufen. When the crisis started, my dad went on a business trip. Dad, I want to tell you that Mom and I are still alive, and we're currently living in Xinqiao Second Village at Xinghuo Base. Dad, if you can hear my voice, you must come and find us. Mom and I are waiting for you here, so please come and find us!"
The next letter was read by Jiang Xiaoheng: "Hello everyone, my name is Sun Weiwei, and I am six years old. My family used to live in XXX, but now we live in XX Village of Xinghuo Base. When the Great Crisis started, my parents did not wake up. I don't know my grandparents' names, I only know that they live in J City, Jiangbei. Grandpa and Grandma, I am Weiwei, how are you? If you can hear my voice, remember that I love you."
I thought the children would bring laughter today, but instead they brought letters filled with longing. The children don't even know many characters; most of the letters they gave to Jiang Xiaoheng and his friends were written in pinyin.
There's no fancy language, no perfect parallelism, and some sentences might even be grammatically incorrect. But the message is the same: they are still alive. They are hoping their loved ones will hear their voices, hoping that one day the survivors can reunite.
Jiang Xiaoheng and his friends didn't know many characters, so they had a lot of trouble reading the letters.
The last letter came from a child in Miao Miao's kindergarten class who had become an orphan. Jiang Xiaoheng and the other child had obviously read the letter beforehand; its contents were so heavy that it took both children working together to read it.
"Hello everyone, I want to say a few words to my parents in heaven: Mom and Dad, are you doing well in heaven? Are you eating enough? Are you wearing warm clothes? Don't worry about me, I'm doing fine now. I have new teachers and classmates, and the people at the base are very kind to me. Mom and Dad, I'm doing well in everything, but I miss you so much..."
The innocent voice of a child evoked memories of loved ones in everyone. As the last sentence faded, listeners in front of the radio had tears in their eyes. Given a choice, who wouldn't want to be reunited with their family?
This damned world has destroyed so many families, leaving so many broken homes, lives, and broken families. Will they ever have the chance to see their loved ones again? Will they ever be able to hug their spouses and children again?
*
After leaving the activity center, the snow was already ankle-deep. Jiang Rong and Guan Shao each carried a child on their backs and walked towards home. Jiang Xiaoheng, clinging to his father's back, buried his face in his father's scarf and said in a soft, sweet voice, "Daddy, I love you so much."
Jiang Rong smiled: "Dad loves you too. What's wrong? Did you feel sad while reading the letter?"
Jiang Xiaoheng responded, "Yes, but I'm alright. Brother Xiaohao is upset." He was always with his father, so he didn't feel it too much. But Brother Xiaohao witnessed his grandmother's death, and his eyes reddened when he read the letter.
Jiang Rong turned her head to look at Guan Shao and Jiang Hao. Jiang Hao was lying on Guan Shao's back with his eyes closed, seemingly asleep.
Guan Shao said slowly, "It's alright." Jiang Hao is a strong child. Like his biological father, he is not good at expressing himself, but he knows everything.
The snow was falling heavier and heavier, and the snowballs felt surprisingly heavy when they hit us. Jiang Rong quickened her pace. "Let's go back soon. By the way, what do we want to eat tonight?"
Before Guan Shao could speak, two angry tiger roars came from the direction of their house. The two men exchanged a glance. Had some foolhardy person sneaked into their yard?
They had only run a few steps when a rustling sound rang out in the sky; something flew overhead. Jiang Rong looked up and saw a flock of... chickens flying overhead.
From their silhouettes, they looked like a flock of chickens, but upon closer inspection, they were not chickens at all! They were clearly mutated sparrows the size of chickens!
The sparrows, their cheeks adorned with two black patches, flew headlong towards Jiang Rong's house. The dark flock of sparrows obscured the snowflakes, their imposing presence unstoppable.
Jiang Rong hesitated for a moment: "Could it be that Junjun is fighting with them?" Sparrows are very good at fighting in groups. If hundreds of mutated sparrows attack Junjun at the same time, can Junjun win?
Guan Shao's eyes narrowed and he quickened his pace: "Let's go!"
Author's Note:
I passed by the pharmacy today, and wow, they were all out of Banlangen (Isatis root)... QAQ
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