Another half month passed just like that, each day proceeding in the same tense yet peaceful manner.
It's already September, and the weather hasn't changed much.
When will the temperature finally become bearable?
I've been in this county for almost a month now, exploring it every day. I've almost seen the whole place, which isn't very big.
When the topic came up that day, during a break after dinner, everyone sat by the window, enjoying the still-warm breeze, and chatting about everyday things.
“Tell me, what should we do if things continue like this? We’ve pretty much covered this place. Should we go somewhere else?” Captain Yu Yanbin started the conversation.
Once the topic was brought up, everyone started thinking. They'd been pondering this issue for two days now; the space here is limited, so it's time to discuss how to arrange things.
"The weather hasn't changed much. It's already September, so we can't compare it to before. Do you think we should stay here a while longer before heading north?" Yu Yanbin looked around and continued.
"It's nothing like before. It's never been this hot. People were dying from the sun. It's not getting any cooler now, so it's going to be tough." Shao Jie leaned back in his chair, his tone somewhat irritable.
“The temperature hasn’t dropped yet, and there’s not much left here. Should we move to another place?” Xiao Peng interjected.
"Tell me your opinions, which one is the best?"
"Xiaoxiao, what are you thinking?" Tian Tian asked softly as she sat down next to her.
Li Xiao had been thinking these past few days that there was no point in staying here.
She had searched almost every place she could, except for the places she hadn't yet discovered.
There's no point in staying here any longer; it's better to find somewhere else to stay.
Cheng Shaolin didn't care; he could agree to anything Li Xiao decided.
"What's wrong? It's nothing. You can talk about whatever you want." Cheng Shaolin saw Li Xiao frowning and came over to ask.
"Brother, what do you think?"
Cheng Shaolin looked at her gently and said, "There's almost nothing left here, we can move to another place." He lowered his eyes to look at Li Xiao sitting next to him, "Moving to another place is not bad, we can't just stay here."
Li Xiao looked at Cheng Shaolin. Even in the dim light, his gaze was still so intense, like the sunlight during the day. Under such a gaze, one could feel a burning sensation on their skin.
Under such gazes, Li Xiao felt like she was about to burst into flames; she had been burned.
He awkwardly looked away, lowered his eyelids, and sat uncomfortably in the chair.
Seeing Li Xiao fidgeting with her fingers, Cheng Shaolin chuckled to himself, not daring to go too far, and changed the subject.
"If you head north on the map and continue north along Qizhou, there are still some county towns there. Just find another one; it's not a big deal."
Hearing Cheng Shaolin's words, Li Xiao lost her shyness and looked up at him. "Brother, do you mean we should go somewhere else?"
"I think so. This place isn't suitable anymore. Shouldn't we move it?"
Li Xiao and Tian Tian both nodded, so this should be the result; it just depends on when.
Everyone had a guess that the idea of bringing this up now was to set a date.
Li Xiao was right. Everyone seemed to think that there was no point in continuing to live here, and leaving was inevitable.
The final result was to leave this place, find another county town in the north, and stay there for a while longer.
Once you've packed your things, you can leave immediately.
There wasn't much to pack, so Li Xiao could just stuff it into her spatial storage and leave, which was very convenient.
There's no time tonight, so I've decided to prepare for tomorrow and leave first thing the day after tomorrow.
I didn't go out the next day either, just to prepare food for the next two days.
I started working on it as soon as I woke up in the morning, took a 4-hour break at noon, and continued working in the afternoon until evening.
She made several thousand steamed buns and dumplings alone. Li Xiao didn't count the exact number, but there were always fewer.
They had a stove in the living room steaming buns, while Xiao Peng was cooking in the kitchen.
Cold dishes are essential: cucumber salad, seaweed salad, chicken stew with mushrooms, chicken stew with potatoes, braised pork with taro, braised beef brisket with taro, stir-fried greens, mushroom soup, seaweed soup, tomato soup, vegetable soup, mung bean soup...
Everyone was working up a sweat and feeling sticky all over.
Seeing that they were all unbearably hot, Li Xiao quickly took out ice water from her spatial storage to quench their thirst.
I've been too busy to eat properly, so I'll just make do with this steamed bun and some vegetables. I've drunk a lot of water, though; my stomach is rumbling loudly.
Each dish was served in a large basin. Li Xiao had collected quite a few basins and buckets, so now she didn't have to worry about not having anything to hold them.
Looking at the large buckets and basins in the space, filled with still-steaming food, Li Xiao was delighted.
Now I won't have to cook for a long time, and I won't have to do it every day. It's too hot; I'm drenched in sweat every time I cook. Cooking a lot at once only requires reheating once, which is much more comfortable.
Seeing Li Xiao grinning from ear to ear, everyone else laughed too.
It's easier to cook in bulk, and nobody wants to stand by the stove and cook in the sweltering heat.
Everything is ready. Get some rest and we'll set off the next morning.
At 5 a.m., before dawn, everyone was already in the car and had set off.
According to the map, they headed north.
The county they were going to was called Tongshan County, a small county town nestled against the mountains.
This county town was smaller than the current county town, and its economy was not as developed as that of the neighboring county town; it was somewhat inferior.
The closer you get to Tongshan County, the cooler it gets.
It was then that everyone realized that trees that couldn't be seen elsewhere were everywhere on this mountain.
Since it's called Tongshan County, it must have mountains.
Indeed, Tongshan County is a small county town surrounded by mountains on three sides.
Transportation is not very developed, with only two roads in and out. One goes southwest, and the other northeast. One in and one out, two directions.
In the southeast, which is not surrounded by mountains, two main roads extend outwards like two whiskers, facilitating the entry and exit of people in the county town.
They are currently on this southwest road, preparing to enter through it.
Even before reaching the county seat, green plants could already be seen along the roadside.
This was the first time I had ever seen greenery in this city after living here for so long.
Only then did everyone realize that a long time had passed since they last saw the plant.
The distant mountains are also lush and green, not much different from before the apocalypse.
At temperatures of 50 to 60 degrees Celsius, the green color becomes exceptionally deep, closer to dark green, and in some places even resembles black.
The plants along the way were quite tall, and some trees had intertwined roots and strange shapes.
"This looks a little creepy," Shao Jie said nervously, sitting in the passenger seat and watching the trees slowly pass by on both sides of the road.
Li Xiao also felt a little uneasy. She missed the plants when she didn't see them, but she felt a little flustered when she did.
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