Her feet carried her into the kitchen on their own, and she deftly turned the stove knob. It didn’t catch the first time, on the second try, the flame leaped out with a whoosh.
Ye Yi looked at the flame and couldn’t help giving herself a smack. Truly foolish, it had been so cold last night, how had she not thought to give it a try? Otherwise she could have boiled some hot water to soak her feet, and she wouldn’t have woken up running a fever this morning.
She turned the tap beside her, not a drop came out. It seemed the water had been cut off.
Thank goodness she’d stored water earlier. Going over to the buckets, she lifted a lid, ladled out some water, put it in the frying pan and started heating it, cut a little shredded ginger with the kitchen knife and added it, ginger tea, done.
She lifted the lid on the other iron pot, washed two portions of rice, put it in, poured in half a measure of water, and cooked herself some plain congee.
Soon the water was bubbling away. She turned the knob to lower the flame, cooked a bit longer, then switched off the ginger tea and poured out a bowl.
A bowl of ginger tea down, and Ye Yi felt warmth spreading through her whole body. She felt much better at once, her stomach cozy and warm.
Remembering the medicine box in the starter pack, she took it out and opened it. Following the label instructions, she found a bottle of fever reducer and two boxes of anti-inflammatories, took them, and drank a little more congee.
After a while, probably the medicine kicking in, she began to yawn without stop, her head fuzzy and drowsy.
Thinking she had no money left to go out and buy supplies anyway, she went back to the room, burrowed contentedly under the covers, wrapped herself up tight, and left only her head poking out.
This time, before she’d even started counting to one, she was in dreamland.
Sleeping until she woke naturally, Ye Yi felt much lighter all over. She reached a hand out from under the covers and touched her forehead, not hot anymore. The fever must have broken.
She sat up and looked out the window. Thick storm clouds filled the sky, giving off a storm-is-coming feeling. Just how long had she slept?
She opened the wristband:
Time: Day 4, 3:00 p.m. Location: Yudu Town, Jincheng Complex Weather: Unknown Temperature: Unknown Humidity: Unknown
Name: Ye Yi
Sex: Female
Age: 26
Survival Points: 150 (100 points frozen)
Current Map: Extreme Cold Blizzard
Random Teammate: Hidden (When your teammate is in danger, their location is automatically sent to you. Rescuing your teammate earns double points.)
Ability: Gathering-and-Crafting System (Lv1: 4.2/50)
This weather looked nothing like three in the afternoon. She really had slept far too long. Weather, temperature, humidity all Unknown, for the days ahead, she had to be ready for the blizzard to arrive at any moment.
Dressed, she went to the living room. The moment she pushed the alloy door open a crack, a gust of bone-piercing cold wind blew in through the gap, and she shivered. “Hiss—” What a cold wind.
Her whole mind cleared in an instant, more bracing than smelling salts.
Ye Yi pushed open a gap wide enough to pass through, squeezed out, and quickly turned back to shut the door. Standing on the balcony, buffeted by the heart-chilling cold wind, with gray storm clouds drifting overhead, she felt she could reach out and touch them.
She looked down, hm? On a day this cold, why were there still so many people outside?
Seized by curiosity, she stuck her head out the window and looked carefully. They were all carrying bags large and small, what had happened?
In this map she only knew Sister Ma’s family. Once she’d eaten, she’d go to Sister Ma’s place and ask whether anything had happened lately.
Ye Yi felt her head had only been out a moment before it stiffened with cold, and with a whoosh she pulled it back in. Eyeing the empty, glassless window, she thought: this wouldn’t do, once the blizzard came, the snow would surely blow right into the house.
Back in the room, she began rummaging through everything, looking for something to block the wind. After a while she found a roll of tape in the coffee-table drawer. She thought of the boards in the system Backpack, which could block the wind, but tape probably wouldn’t stick to wood.
She kept searching and finally, in the bedroom, found a flattened cardboard box. She held it up to the balcony window to compare, the shape and size were about right. She wedged the box firmly into the window frame, then set about the tape method, wrapping until the whole box was covered in tape before she stopped.
With the paper window sealed, she stood and felt for a while, no wind blowing in. This could count as a success.
It would have to do for now, there was no better method at the moment.
Back in the kitchen, she cleaned up the morning’s battlefield and simply cooked a pack of instant noodles. Smelling the tempting aroma, her appetite switched on at once, and she ate with satisfaction.
Sure enough, when you had a cold, you had to eat instant noodles, one bowl and your whole body felt good.
After eating and cleaning up, she went back to the living room and remembered the stove and fire basin she’d bought earlier, which she hadn’t yet tested.
Standing by the sofa, looking at the empty living room, near the coffee table she laid out all the cushions in the house, in case a stray spark set the boards alight during the test, which would be bad. Then she took ten boards from the system Backpack, laid two of them on the cushions, and set the stove and fire basin on top of the boards.
Picking up one of the remaining eight boards, she began to snap it in two with both hands, straining. Fortunately the boards weren’t very thick, so she could still break them. But by the time she’d broken all eight, her palms had turned bright red.
Next, she placed a thick wooden block in the very center of the fire basin, picked up the snapped boards, and leaned them into a triangle over the block. Before long a little pyramid was built.
Finally, she remembered she hadn’t bought any tinder. She glanced around, the white paper on the coffee table could serve. She tore off several sheets and folded them, but worried the paper wouldn’t get the boards burning. She took out the alcohol she’d gathered earlier, sprinkled a little onto the boards, lit the paper with a lighter, and the fire quickly caught.
Carefully pinching the burning paper, she brought it near the alcohol-sprinkled boards, and the flames slowly spread from the paper to the wood.
Yes, lit successfully.
She gave the alcohol a shake, she’d only used a little, and, treasuring it, put it back into the system Backpack.
The fire-basin test succeeded, and the stove was the same, so she didn’t bother testing further. Watching the burning flames and feeling their warmth, she thought that the current temperature was still within a bearable range. Over the next twenty-odd days, the coldest weather hadn’t yet come. She had to use her fuel sparingly, so she hurried to put out the fire.
Setting aside what she’d taken out, the system Backpack still held 18 boards and 11 blocks. This wood definitely wouldn’t be enough to burn for twenty-odd days, she had to hurry out and gather some more before the blizzard hit. Right, and she still needed to go to Sister Ma’s place to ask about the situation.
She checked the bathroom, her shoes were about dry. Before setting out, she went back to the fire basin once more, confirmed every ember inside was extinguished, and only then left, at ease.
Out of the complex, Ye Yi chose a direction with few people and, quietly gathering the broken branches on the ground as she walked, made her way along. What should have been a half-hour walk to Sister Ma’s took her a full hour and a half, all to gather every branch on the road, yet she still didn’t hear the sound of the Gathering System leveling up.
Arriving at Sister Ma’s door, she’d barely raised her hand when she felt a hand pat her on the shoulder. “Xiao Ye, is that you?”
Ye Yi jumped at the sudden hand, then, recognizing Sister Ma’s voice, let out a breath. Sister Ma’s family really did love patting people on the shoulder from behind.
Seeing Ye Yi turn around and confirming she hadn’t mistaken the person, Sister Ma broke into a delighted smile and greeted her warmly, “I thought I’d gotten the wrong person.”
She opened the door with her key, took Ye Yi’s hand, and went on, “You’ve come at just the right time, I was thinking of sending your uncle to look for you in a bit!”
Ye Yi followed her in and asked, puzzled, “Sister Ma, did you need me for something?”
Sister Ma pulled her into the room and shut the door before whispering, “Didn’t you have me tell your uncle last time about that extreme cold and blizzard weather?”
“Your uncle absolutely refused to believe it, so I dragged him out by force and bought a whole lot of food. A lot of things at the supermarket can’t be grabbed anymore now, thank goodness we bought so much in advance.” Sister Ma thanked her happily. “Really, thank you, Xiao Ye, for telling us such important news.”
“No need to thank me, even if I hadn’t said anything, you’d have found out later.” Ye Yi said it sheepishly. At the time she’d only been thinking that Sister Ma had looked after her so well, and she hadn’t even expected Sister Ma to believe her.
“That’s not the same. You don’t know, after the hail yesterday, a lot of people went to the mall to buy things this morning, and everyone was quietly saying under their breath that extreme cold and blizzards were coming, all making preparations for it.” Remembering yesterday’s hail, Sister Ma felt a wave of afterfright. In all her years she’d never seen hail that big.
So many people had been hurt by the hail, and some had even died. Remembering how someone had been struck down right in front of her yesterday, Sister Ma couldn’t stop her fear.
Ye Yi asked curiously, “Do a lot of people know?”
“Seems like quite a lot know. The mall was packed when I looked, and some things you can’t just buy even if you want to.” Sister Ma recalled the dense crowds lined up outside the mall that morning.
Later a group had come who wouldn’t even line up, they charged straight in, swinging steel pipes and smashing things up like mad, hauling whatever they grabbed outside. It had been a truly chaotic scene, and she kept thanking her stars that she’d believed Xiao Ye’s words earlier.
Otherwise how would she have the time to sit here chatting with Xiao Ye? She’d have long since been scrambling to buy grain.
Once yesterday’s hail fell, the wheat and vegetables growing in the countryside were all smashed to pieces, and with the rumors of extreme cold and blizzards on top of that, everyone had rushed to the mall to buy up supplies first thing in the morning.
“That explains why so many people were carrying armfuls of stuff.” Having confirmed the news, Ye Yi felt reassured. If everyone made preparations early like this, their chances of survival would go up a great deal.
The road ahead was up to them now.
“Oh, right, you’ve come at just the right time, saved your uncle a trip.” Sister Ma took two plastic bags out of the cabinet, both stuffed full, and handed them to Ye Yi. “Take these back with you. It’s all food that keeps well, and you can just carry it home.”
“No need, Sister Ma, I’ve prepared these things.” Embarrassed to take them, Ye Yi quickly waved her hands in refusal. She’d come to ask for news, not to take things. Renting such a big place for such cheap rent was already a huge bargain.
“I know. Since you knew news others didn’t, you’re bound to have prepared. But this is a little token from your uncle and me, just take it.” Sister Ma simply stuffed the plastic bags into the girl’s hands, refusing to let her let go, and changed the subject. “By the way, what did you come for?”
Ye Yi had already learned what she wanted to know, the purpose of her visit was accomplished. Suddenly remembering the broken glass, she said awkwardly, “The balcony glass, one pane got smashed by the hail.”
The moment Sister Ma heard “hail,” she cursed angrily, “Those damned hailstones. I’ll have your uncle find someone to fix it in a bit.”
“There’s probably no need. I blocked it with a cardboard box, I just don’t know how long it’ll hold. Everyone’s so busy right now, let Uncle come take a look when he has time.” Ye Yi was about to say something more when the mysterious voice suddenly sounded in her mind: “Your Random Teammate is in mortal danger. Please go and help rescue them.”