She could vaguely hear the sound of an ambulance, or perhaps a fire truck; Zuo Ling couldn't distinguish between the two sirens.
The extreme cold arrived 5 days earlier, coinciding with Lunar New Year's Eve. Chinese people have the custom of staying up all night on New Year's Eve, so many fewer people should have died than in the previous life.
On New Year's Eve, which should have been filled with the sounds of firecrackers, only the sound of falling snow could be heard.
Zuo Ling stared at the TV screen, slowly and methodically eating her food. Waterfall, feeling indignant, ran over and stomped on Zuo Ling's foot.
He scooped it up, put it back on the dining table, and cursed:
"You're still angry? I'm even angrier. You've ruined our home, and you're not even allowed to say anything?"
The waterfall patted its belly, looking utterly aggrieved.
Put some food on its plate:
"Alright, alright, eat up. I was wrong, and you were wrong too. We're even now. Don't do that again. If it happens again, I really won't want you anymore."
The waterfall rolled its eyes, but its temper couldn't overcome its belly, so it grumbled and stuffed food into its mouth.
Zuo Ling takes a long time to eat a meal.
Five large plates of thirteen-spice crayfish, two plates of stir-fried crab, two pounds of braised beef, two roasted pig's trotters, two beggar's chickens, one candied sweet potato, one sausage stew, and thirty pieces of sushi.
I drank from a whole young coconut, not even leaving a piece of coconut meat, plus a large fruit platter.
After eating, I patted my belly and felt like I could still eat a little more.
I glanced at the time, it was 11:40, almost midnight, time to eat dumplings for New Year's Eve.
Dumplings are a homophone for "jiaozi" (交子), which means "the new year begins," symbolizing the arrival of wealth and prosperity in the new year.
There were frozen dumplings in the refrigerator, so Zuo Ling immediately went to cook them.
Five blessings and six fortunes, 11 were cooked, Waterfall ate 1, and she ate 10.
When the dumplings were served, Waterfall held a plump white dumpling in its two paws and ate it in a cute and adorable way.
The TV noise intensified, the picture started to show static, the host's speech quickened, the singer's voice trembled, the dancer's movements became distorted, and the comedian's mouth was slurring...
Everyone seemed to have pressed the accelerator button; the anxiety on their faces was impossible to suppress.
The camera focuses on the stage, and all interaction with the audience is canceled.
As the clock struck midnight, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
The male host spoke clearly and distinctly:
"Dear viewers and fellow Chinese compatriots, as the clock struck midnight, we welcomed the new year..."
The image freezes, the sound stops, and the smiles on the faces of all the cast and crew are frozen...
Five seconds later, the screen filled with snowflakes and merged with the snow scene outside the window.
Ten seconds later, the power went out.
Zuo Ling didn't draw the curtains so she could see the snow outside.
Outside the window, the snow is white, the night is quiet, with only a few scattered stars.
The waterfall, unaware of what had happened, stretched its claws toward Zuo Ling, whimpering as if in fear.
He scooped it into his arms and coaxed it:
"Don't be afraid, I'm here."
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