After nightfall, the village became even quieter than it had been during the day.
Rows of thatched mud houses stood silently in the darkness. Every so often, the straw mats covering the windows were lifted by the bitter wind, allowing the freezing air to rush into the already frigid homes.
The people inside reacted quickly, grabbing the flapping mats and weighing them down again with stones or whatever else they could find.
They repeated this routine several times each night.
At this very moment, nearly every family in the village was crowded together on a single heated brick bed.
They lay on scratchy straw bedding, wrapped themselves in every piece of clothing they owned, covered themselves with the paper quilts distributed by the government, and pressed tightly against one another to steal whatever little warmth they could from the cold night.
These were the fortunate households.
Poorer families had already burned their straw bedding as firewood during the colder days before, leaving them with nothing but the icy earthen bed beneath them.
The residual heat left in the brick beds from the evening meal was slowly fading away.
On nights like these, no matter how exhausted people were, they simply couldn’t sleep.
The bowl of millet porridge with pickled vegetables they had eaten at dusk wasn’t particularly tasty. To save fuel, only the surface of the porridge had been heated; underneath, it was still lukewarm and cold.
After drinking it, it felt as if a cold stone sat heavily in their stomachs, leaving them both uncomfortable and chilled.
Even so, it wasn’t a meal they could afford to eat their fill of.
Many people unconsciously pressed a hand against their sunken bellies.
No matter how hard they tried to ignore it, the gnawing pain of hunger remained—a cold ache deep inside their stomachs.
Lying on the bed, they stared blankly into the darkness, counting the days until this brutal winter would finally end.
The entire village was cold and lifeless.
Yet among the houses in the middle of the village stood one mud house that looked much like the others.
The straw mats over its windows still fluttered wildly in the wind.
The rooms on either side remained dark and cold.
But the main hall glowed with warm yellow light and radiated heat.
The frostbite ointment had already been absorbed into her skin.
With thick cotton socks on her feet, Xu Qinghe sat beside the brazier. Warmth spread through the soles of her feet, and her toes flexed comfortably inside the soft fabric.
She held a hot water bottle in her arms while contemplating what to eat for dinner.
Her space contained plenty of prepared meals, but she felt like someone sitting atop a mountain of gold without being able to enjoy it.
She was certain that if this severely malnourished body ate anything too greasy or heavily seasoned, she would spend the next day suffering in the latrine.
In the end, she chose a bowl of hot shredded chicken noodle soup and a bowl of steamed egg custard with minced meat.
Protein, carbohydrates, and dietary fiber—it had everything she needed.
And most importantly, both dishes were easy to digest.
Healthy and delicious.
The noodles were still as hot as if they had just come off the stove.
Unable to wait, Xu Qinghe picked up the bowl and took a sip of the chicken broth.
There was nothing more comforting than drinking a bowl of hot soup on a freezing winter day.
The slightly scalding warmth slid down her throat and settled into her stomach, warming her entire body.
Her expression softened.
She finished every last drop of soup and every strand of noodles.
Not a single bite of the steamed egg remained.
Compared to lunch, she ate until she was about seventy percent full.
Thanks to the original owner’s malnourished body and deprived taste buds, even the simplest foods tasted incredible to her now.
A plain bowl of shredded chicken noodles felt like a state banquet feast.
After eating, warmth spread continuously from her stomach throughout her body.
She felt wonderfully cozy.
Although it was already dark, it was still early.
She couldn’t go to bed immediately after eating, so it was the perfect time to organize the newly expanded land in her space.
Before starting, she placed a carbon monoxide detector on the table.
Given how drafty the house was, the chances of carbon monoxide poisoning were low.
Still, better safe than sorry.
She first transplanted more than a dozen fruit trees and some sugarcane from the existing fields, planting them along the boundaries between different zones as she had done before.
After dividing the areas with fruit trees, she moved the solar power equipment over, connected the commercial water purifier to the power and water supply, and built an earthen stove for cooking.
Once her stockpile of prepared food ran out, she planned to cook directly inside the space.
That way, she wouldn’t have to worry about neighbors smelling food from the mud house.
She also built two earthen stoves in the livestock area for preparing feed.
As for the remaining land, she sowed medicinal herb seeds and staple crop seeds.
She had planted only part of the two additional mu when sleep overtook her.
The desk lamp on the wooden table cast a warm yellow glow over half of her sleeping face.
Wrapped snugly in a thick, soft quilt, Xu Qinghe looked peaceful.
A layer of white ash covered the burning coals in the brazier.
Whenever the wind blew through the room, the ash shifted aside, revealing the glowing embers beneath.
The winter night was silent.
Outside, the wind howled.
Inside, even the soft crackling of the burning coals sounded distinct.
The entire house was enveloped in an atmosphere of quiet warmth and comfort.
…
On the second morning after her arrival, the sun had fully risen outside.
Inside the house, Xu Qinghe remained curled beneath the blankets, with only her eyes peeking out.
Surely no one could fail to understand how difficult it was to leave a warm bed in winter.
It was one truth universally acknowledged by people from both northern and southern regions.
The coal had burned out during the night.
Although daylight now filled the room, the temperature remained bitterly cold.
If anything, the morning dampness made it feel even colder.
Her folding bed stood beside the water jar, backed against the wall of the right-hand room.
The back of her uncovered head could already feel the chill seeping through the earthen wall.
She wrestled with the question of whether to get up.
Finally, she made a decision.
She stretched one hand out from under the quilt, tossed two pieces of coal and a handful of straw into the brazier, pulled it closer with the fire tongs, lit it, then pushed it back again.
There was nothing urgent to do.
Why get up?
Sleep.
Completely at peace with her choice, Xu Qinghe drifted back to sleep.
She was eventually awakened by an urgent need to use the bathroom.
By then, the main hall had warmed up a little, making it easier to leave the bed.
Shivering, she climbed out from under the blankets.
The cold intensified her need to urinate.
She looked around the three rooms while stamping her feet, trying to decide where to set up her toilet.
The main hall was out of the question.
It was warm and offered decent privacy, but in her mind, it had already become a temporary bedroom and dining room.
Who used the bathroom in their bedroom or dining area?
The left room was no good either.
That was destined to become her permanent bedroom.
Which left only the right room.
The right room was the coldest of the three.
She put on a cotton hat, hugged her hot water bottle, rushed into the room, secured the straw mat over the window, and quickly took out the portable toilet before sitting down.
Afterward, she stored it away again.
Thinking back to the smell she’d noticed when pulling down her trousers, she decided she should wash herself afterward.
In this era, ordinary people used only a handful of options for cleaning themselves after using the toilet.
Ever since arriving here, she had deliberately avoided thinking too deeply about it.
She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to handle the reality.