Chapter Twenty-Six: Extreme Cold! The Apocalypse Arrives
At first, Mu Qingrong was very puzzled. The temperature had been rising since noon, but the installations and modifications her sister asked him to make were all for keeping warm.
Although he didn't understand, he didn't raise any objections. Around 11 PM, Mu Qingrong noticed the temperature was starting to drop.
"Sister, the weather seems to be getting colder." Mu Qingrong opened the window and looked outside. As soon as she opened the window, a blast of cold air rushed in, causing Mu Qingrong, who was still wearing short sleeves, to gasp. She quickly closed the window again.
"My God, why is it suddenly so cold? Isn't it June?" he exclaimed.
Meanwhile, Mu Qingyu had already started sleeping on the floor in Mu Qingrong's room. When the houses were being renovated, the master bedrooms in both buildings were the most fully furnished.
Firstly, it's to save on renovation costs, and secondly, it's to avoid wasting resources. Heating two rooms would consume the power of both rooms, so after tonight, the most precious things will be all kinds of supplies.
For at least the next decade, even industrial products will become non-renewable resources.
"The weather might get even colder, so I'll sleep on a makeshift bed on the floor in your room tonight," Mu Qingyu said as she tossed her belongings, which she had moved out of her room, onto the floor.
Mu Qingrong stared blankly at the pile of thermal pads, down jackets, down comforters, polar sleeping bags, and other items scattered on the ground.
"Stop spacing out." Mu Qingyu glanced at her younger brother: "Go check if all the doors and windows are closed properly, and then check if the heating equipment in the room and the heater you just installed are working properly."
"Oh, oh," Mu Qingrong nodded hurriedly and did as Mu Qingyu instructed.
When Mu Qingrong returned after checking outside, Mu Qingyu had not only prepared the bedding on the floor, but also arranged thick down comforters and polar sleeping bags and other warm products on his bed.
The room has underfloor heating, and the bed is similar to a kang (heated brick bed) but completely different. It is also powered by fire, but it is more modern.
It heats both the bed and a circulating water tank. Fire is both thermal and kinetic energy, allowing the water in the tank to circulate through the floor and walls, creating a circulating heating system. Furthermore, an outward-facing chimney ensures that no smoke escapes even when a fire is lit indoors.
Mu Qingyu placed six heaters in her room, intending to use them for as long as possible before the power went out.
It was unexpectedly discovered that Mu Qingrong possessed modification skills, which meant her battery could then be put to use.
She had Mu Qingrong modify the heaters so they could be powered by batteries. She also had Mu Qingrong set up a small air circulation system, ideally allowing for some exchange of air between the room and the outside to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning and to avoid excessive heat loss from opening doors and windows.
She has a lot of things in her space, and many of them can be taken out and modified.
It's not troublesome at all. Mu Qingrong respects her and has never entered her room, so if she needs anything, she can simply take it out of her spatial storage, put it in her room, and then move it out again.
It was past midnight.
The apocalypse has begun!
Global temperatures plummeted simultaneously, and City A, where Mu Qingyu lived, dropped to zero degrees Celsius almost instantly. And the temperature continued to fall.
At this time, all the heating equipment in the master bedroom of room number 3 had been turned on, and some lighting equipment and medicines had also been prepared.
The temperature had already dropped below zero when Mu Qingyu led Mu Qingrong, both of them wearing thick polar cold-weather suits and carrying large and small bags of things, to the next room.
Knock on the door, and the person who opened it was Xiao Ai, the girl who couldn't speak. She was also wearing a thick cotton-padded coat, but she was still shivering from the cold.
When Xiao Ai saw Mu Qingyu, she made a gesture, but unfortunately Mu Qingyu couldn't understand sign language.
"Xiao Ai, go and call Aunt Mei down. I've brought some things over." Mu Qingyu had no choice but to ask Xiao Ai to go and call her.
"The weather suddenly changed, are you two alright?" Aunt Mei rushed over after a while and asked anxiously as soon as she saw you.
Upon closer inspection, she saw that both children were fine, and while she breathed a sigh of relief, her anxiety returned: "Xiao Mo suddenly developed a high fever. What should we do in the middle of the night? Can we still take her to the hospital? Or is there a pharmacy nearby?"
"Aunt Mei, don't worry, I brought some medicine with me." Mu Qingyu said, handing over a medicine packet: "This contains cold medicine, fever reducers, antibiotics, and other commonly used medicines. I brought it to you as soon as possible because I was worried about something unexpected happening when the weather suddenly turned cold."
Aunt Mei breathed a sigh of relief. They had moved to the suburbs, and they were unfamiliar with the area and didn't have a car. The weather outside had also suddenly turned abnormally cold. They hadn't brought many clothes with them. Although Mu Qingyu had prepared quilts and sheets for them, they had brought their own clothes.
Xiao Mo suddenly developed a high fever. Aunt Mei had previously been reluctant to trouble Mu Qingyu with everything, after all, Mu Qingyu was still just a child in her eyes. She had been thinking of calling to check on the siblings next door once Xiao Mo's condition stabilized, just in case anything had happened.
As a result, the siblings came over first to deliver the items.
Mu Qingyu also chose her time to deliver the items. The things she prepared in the storage room of room number 4 were mostly food and water.
The wardrobe in room 4 also contained cotton and down comforters. However, such conspicuous items as polar cold-weather clothing were not included.
The temperature has dropped to below minus ten degrees Celsius, so it's just right to deliver it now.
"I also brought two down comforters and three sets of winter clothes for you. By the way, the master bedroom in this house has underfloor heating and a heated kang bed. I'll have Xiao Rong teach you how to use it. I also brought two modified heaters. In case of a power outage, these things can be powered by batteries. Don't worry, we'll charge them as soon as the temperature drops tonight," Mu Qingyu continued to say to Aunt Mei.
Looking at the large pile of things Mu Qingyu had prepared, Aunt Mei's eyes welled up with tears. She and her mother had dedicated their lives to charity, never expecting anything in return from the children…
“Xiaoyu…” Aunt Mei held Mu Qingyu’s hand tightly, choking up for a moment, not knowing what to say.
"Please come upstairs quickly. Give Xiao Mo her medicine first, and then you should all change into your winter clothes. I'll have Xiao Rong turn on the underfloor heating, the heated kang bed, and the heater. Don't sleep separately tonight; just squeeze into the master bedroom for now."
Actually, the master bedroom is over 40 square meters, and it's not crowded at all for three people. In the past, in shared rental apartments, landlords would have managed to partition it into three or four rooms.
"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you." Aunt Mei quickly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and said.
"Also, there are two boxes of charcoal in the storage room, and I had someone pile up a lot of firewood for the stove in the kitchen, and there's also a lot of firewood piled up on the first floor. I'll bring you two more boxes of coal later, let's get through tonight first," Mu Qingyu continued to instruct.
Besides nodding in agreement, Aunt Mei couldn't say anything else.
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