Zuo Ling stood there without moving, so Professor Jin had no choice but to take two steps forward, get closer to Zuo Ling, and say in a low voice, "Miss, I heard what you said that day, and I also feel that the situation is not good, and I feel that it may get worse in the future."
Zuo Ling was confused. What day was that?
“In the square, our car is opposite yours. What are you saying to the people in the RV next to us?”
Oh, I vaguely remember.
Everyone was dressed thickly, bundled up like bears, so you couldn't see their faces. I saw people getting out of the car across the street twice to clear the snow, but I didn't know they were my neighbors from the 21st floor.
"I know a place with supplies. If we find something, how about we split it 50/50?"
Zuo Ling asked in bewilderment, "Why are you looking for me? Can't you go by yourselves?"
The elderly woman appears to be in good spirits and health. She can drive a motorhome and has no shortage of transportation options. Hiring her would clearly be a losing proposition.
The elderly couple exchanged a glance, and Aunt Tang said:
"We're getting old, and the journey is quite long; we're worried about our safety on the road."
Professor Jin replied, "We know you have a van; it should be able to hold quite a lot of things."
Zuo Ling found it amusing. What made the two elders think they would be safe following a young woman like her?
Shouldn't it be safer to find a young, strong man for this kind of thing?
That's what she thought, and that's what she asked.
The elderly couple smiled at each other, and Aunt Tang said:
“Girl, we’ve been keeping an eye on you ever since you moved here. You drove out on the fifth night of the Lunar New Year and came back perfectly fine on the sixth. With such a huge disaster happening outside, not only did you come back unharmed, but you also drove back in a super luxurious RV. It’s clear you’re quite capable.”
Zuo Ling remained silent. People leave traces as they pass by, and swallows leave sounds as they fly by. As long as you are attentive, there is no flaw that you cannot see.
"When we were taking shelter in the square a couple of days ago, you cleared the snow around your own RV and then cleared the snow from the RVs on both sides as well. This shows that you are a kind-hearted girl who doesn't like to hold grudges. We won't misjudge you."
Zuo Ling: "..."
Could she say that she just wanted to avoid conflicts with her neighbors and, incidentally, stock up on some snow?
Zuo Ling was wrapped up so that only her eyes were visible, making it difficult to discern much of her emotion.
Aunt Tang said cautiously:
"Young lady, you'll help us, right? Don't worry, you won't suffer any losses. We're almost out of fuel at home. Otherwise, we wouldn't be bothering you."
Zuo Ling has no shortage of supplies, and to be honest, she doesn't want to go.
She had to go out to find supplies in temperatures below -70 degrees Celsius, and she also had to take her elderly relative with her. If anything happened to her, she couldn't bear the responsibility.
Zuo Ling remained silent, but Aunt Tang's disappointment was impossible to hide:
“We chopped up all the furniture and flooring in the house to burn for firewood. The weather is getting colder and colder, and we don’t know when it will end. My wife has searched everywhere we could think of in the surrounding area, but we really can’t find anything to burn. We dare not go to any far places, for fear that we won’t be able to come back…”
Her voice grew softer and softer as she spoke, and she looked like she was about to cry.
The night was extremely cold, and heavy snow fell.
During the Lunar New Year, the food is fine, as we have plenty of supplies at home. However, the underfloor heating is not working properly, and it would be freezing cold.
After living in peace for so long, with heating and air conditioning readily available, who would bother to stock up on charcoal in a high-rise building?
On days with electricity, it's fine; we can use air conditioning to raise the temperature.
Her house is also a doomsday fortress-style house, but she regrets that in order to save money, she usually uses electricity from the storage box.
Who would have thought that the extreme cold would arrive? The underfloor heating wasn't working properly, so we had to turn on the air conditioner every day to keep warm, and the electricity in the power storage box was running out quickly.
Now that we're using electricity from the power company, we're terrified of power outages. If we can't find firewood, the electricity in the storage box will run out, and the elderly couple will freeze to death at home.
"Meet here at 5:30 tomorrow morning. Go early and come back early."
Before the elderly couple could react, Zuo Ling turned and went upstairs.
She told herself, "I'm not pitying them; I'm only doing this because there are supplies available."
Otherwise, who would go out in the freezing cold and suffer like that?
Aunt Tang was overjoyed: "Okay, okay, okay, we'll be ready to wait for you at 5:30 tomorrow."
Back home, Zuo Ling sulked for a long time.
A few kind words were enough to persuade her. In the end times, the worst thing is to be soft-hearted; if you're not careful, you could lose your life.
I wanted to back out, but I couldn't bring myself to say it. Oh well, I'll just consider it good karma for my grandma.
Nothing was said that night.
Zuo Ling got up before 5 a.m.
A bowl of Eight Treasures Soup and two steamers of xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) for breakfast made me sweat profusely.
It got up too early and Waterfall was listless and didn't want to eat, so Zuo Ling gave it some milk to drink.
After finishing the meal, put on thermal underwear, stab-proof vest, down jacket, military overcoat, scarf, hat, gloves, mask, snow goggles, mid-calf leather boots, and stick on a few hand warmers.
He wore a bulletproof bag with a waterfall-shaped back in front of him, and a backpack stuffed full behind him for cover, making sure he was completely covered up before leaving the house.
As soon as we arrived at the fire exit, Professor Jin and his wife were already waiting downstairs.
"Good morning, young lady."
Professor Jin was more covered up than yesterday, but Zuo Ling still felt that he was dressed too lightly.
"It's too cold outside, aren't you dressed too lightly?"
Professor Jin smiled and said, "It's not cold. The thermal underwear I'm wearing is specially made and very warm."
Zuo Ling was curious about what kind of thermal underwear was so good, but she didn't ask any further questions.
Seeing that Aunt Tang seemed to be going too, he said:
"Auntie, please don't go. It's cold outside, and you might encounter some danger on the road. You should just stay at home."
"Exactly, we told you to stay home, but you wouldn't. Look, that's what other girls are saying too."
Professor Jin disagreed with his wife going with him, but he couldn't persuade her otherwise.
Zuo Ling then said:
“The cab is small, and three people can’t fit in. We can’t let you sit in the truck bed, it’s too cold, you won’t be able to stand it.”
"Yes, yes, the driver's cab is too small, there's not enough room. Let's go back quickly, I'll be right back."
Aunt Tang was reluctant to part with her husband, fearing something might happen to him; her eyes reddened slightly.
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