I stood at the doorway, without even moving, yet I could feel the cold air constantly enveloping my body from all directions.
This was completely unexpected, because we had anticipated that winter might come to this deserted island, but we didn't expect it to come so suddenly.
Just two days ago it was sunny and bright, but last night a cold wind blew and it snowed.
This place is really strange...
Even Yang Rui, who is usually very clever, was clearly a little dazed at this moment. He stared blankly at the snow around him and then looked at the air.
"What are we going to do? Our current food supply obviously won't last through the winter, but after it snows, all the animals will hibernate. It's a real food shortage at this time. Where are we going to find food?"
Wang Ping was also sighing, but after thinking about it, I still looked at them and offered my condolences.
"Don't worry. Even if it's cold and some animals are hibernating, these wild boar herds are still traceable. If we can find them and kill a few, we won't go hungry this winter."
Chen Jian still looked worried after hearing what I said: "The food is still pretty good. We brought back so many fish yesterday. When we have some free time later, we'll go down the mountain to clean them properly and dry them. Although it's cold, there will always be sunshine. It's just that the gaps in our wooden houses are too big. Last night, Qi Ji was shivering from the cold while sleeping. If this cold winter lasts for several months, I'm afraid the children won't be able to stand it."
Chen Jian's problem is indeed a headache for us right now.
After all, our wooden house was originally just for sheltering from the wind and rain, but even if it was for sheltering from the wind, there were still many gaps.
When the weather was warm, these gaps weren't a problem; in fact, they allowed a cool breeze to occasionally drift in during the sweltering summer, making people feel refreshed. But in winter, these gaps became a real headache.
As the weather gets colder, the wind blowing into the house through these gaps can easily make people feel dizzy and hot.
Winter is already a time of scarcity, and if someone gets sick, the cold winter will be even harder to endure.
When Chen Jian mentioned that he wanted to get some jade to make windows, I was thinking that if these jade stones could actually be inlaid into the wooden frame to serve as windows, that would be fine. But in the current situation, even if we got these jade stones, how much wind could they block?
But the wolf and lynx pelts we have are meant to be used as blankets, not for blocking the wind.
In addition, we haven't changed our clothes since we were stranded on this deserted island. For a whole year and a half, we've practically turned into savages.
Their clothes were already tattered and torn; some male colleagues even wrapped themselves in leaves to avoid embarrassment.
In the summer, we would wrap ourselves with leaves, but thankfully, leaves are obviously unusable in winter.
I also felt extremely dizzy and had a terrible headache, but at this point, I had to think of a solution.
I sighed. "Alright, let's eat something first, and then we'll think of another way."
Chen Jian nodded, but the campfire from last night had long been extinguished, so everyone worked together to rebuild it.
Xiao Qiang and the others then busied themselves setting up the pot with several foreign women and fetching water from the waterwheel.
Fortunately, the waterfall below is still flowing, but I wonder how cold the winter here really is.
If the temperature really drops to minus 30 or 40 degrees Celsius, then it will be truly unbearable.
For breakfast, I had seafood soup with some shellfish and sea cucumber. I cooked three big pots of it. Although this soup wasn't very filling, it at least kept my stomach warm in this cold weather.
After we finished eating, I immediately told Xiao Qiang and Xu Wei to take the foreign women back to the wooden house; keeping warm was the most important thing.
Xiao Qiang told me not to worry. They had caught a lot of wild rabbits down the mountain to make clothes for Liu Jiaojiao's child. They still had a few wild rabbits they were raising, but many of them died when the lynx attacked.
Besides making dried meat from the dead wild rabbits and storing it, they also carefully collected the remaining rabbit fur.
Although these rabbit pelts aren't very big, they're enough to make a pair of shoes for colleagues who don't have any.
Wang Xiaoxiao's body felt increasingly heavy. I was worried that she was overworking herself, so I told her to go and rest first. She and Liu Jiaojiao stayed in Chen Jian's wooden house.
There was a stove inside the house, so the temperature was quite good.
We were also planning to build a stove in this room, but it was delayed due to some issues. Now it seems we need to hurry up and get it ready.
The foreigners' wooden house at the foot of the mountain didn't have any partitions; everyone slept in one place. When they make the mud stove, one stove should be enough for all of them.
We still need to collect some more firewood, because if it keeps snowing, collecting fuel will be a headache.
Fortunately, my injuries have almost healed, and I've been helping out these past few days. Besides filling all the gaps in our house with small wooden splinters, I've been working on making a clay stove.
The weather is getting colder and colder, and it's no longer possible to eat outside, so I didn't build a large warehouse-like house at the foot of the mountain.
Firstly, a campfire can be kept inside, so the person keeping watch won't get cold.
Secondly, we can raise some rabbits inside, since rabbits are afraid of the cold.
If kept in a warm place, they can live longer.
Another advantage is that being in this house while eating can help keep out some of the cold wind.
By the time everything was finished, the snow had started to fall heavier and heavier. Even during the day, it was snowing heavily outside, and a cold draft greeted you as soon as you opened the door.
Over the past two days, Wang Xiaoxiao and her friends used their spare time to make a pair of small shoes, similar to socks, for each of them using rabbit fur and leopard fur.
The thread we made from the clothes we tore up before, though rough, was still warm enough.
The rabbit skins have almost all been used up; these foreigners each had some bedding when they were at their camp.
But when we arrived at our camp, the bedding wasn't as plentiful, and the weather was getting colder and colder, which the women obviously couldn't handle.
Chen Jian and Wang Ping were frowning every day, and sighs filled the camp. After all, no one had expected that after being stranded on this deserted island, they would suffer so much hardship and have to endure the cold winter here.
Before, I was always thinking about when I could leave this awful place.
But now my only hope is that we can survive this cruel winter and live to see next spring...
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