Chapter 534 - 339: Extreme Cold, a Global Freeze, Everyone Holes Up for the Winter
Chapter 534: Chapter 339: Extreme Cold, a Global Freeze, Everyone Holes Up for the Winter
A hot pot restaurant in Yu City launched a "-50°C Challenge Meal," where staff in cold-proof masks performed a trick at outdoor tables: instantly turning tripe into crispy ice shards.
The absurdity of finding heating equipment: A white-collar worker in Shanghai complained on their social media, "Couldn’t get my hands on an electric blanket, so I stuffed my cat in my hoodie as a personal warmer!" The accompanying photo showed a British Shorthair poking its confused, round face out of the neckline, while half-meter-long icicles hung from the window frame in the background.
A mall in Hang City urgently launched a "shared down duvet rental" service. Surveillance footage of the queueing crowd slipping and falling on the icy ground became the meme of the day.
Plenty of videos showcasing strange winter phenomena from around the world also made their way to China. For example, an Indian netizen posted a photo on Twitter of themselves walking on the frozen surface of the Ganges River. Wrapped in five layers of cashmere shawls, they were still shivering uncontrollably. "The yoga heating method is a complete failure!"
An older Russian woman on the social media platform VK shared her "Vodka Fuel Theory": "Comrades, three glasses a day will keep your blood boiling for four hours!" The post was accompanied by a picture of a windowsill arrayed with empty liquor bottles, looking like a castle of ice crystals. The list of likes was flooded with IPs from the Northeast.
...
「Li Family Village.」
In such severe cold, the scenic area had naturally closed for the season. All the employees were on vacation. Paid vacation, at that.
The villagers all said that working for Brother Xiang was like having a government job. This year alone, they had lost count of how many paid vacation days they’d had.
Li Xiang cranked the floor heating and air conditioning in the house to maximum. He and Jiang Cai’Er weren’t bothered by the cold, of course; it was mainly for his grandmother.
Jiang Jianguo and his wife had also moved in, so Li Xiang now called them Father-in-law and Mother-in-law. Since there weren’t many people, having his in-laws move in meant someone could help with the cooking, and it made the house feel more lively. They could even get a full table for mahjong.
The small animals were all huddled for warmth in the heated sheds in the vegetable garden. The sheds were ventilated and equipped with fire basins. The Extraordinary Pets were actually fearless of the severe cold, but Li Xiang’s home also had many ordinary little animals—for instance, there were now over thirty kittens. One fire basin was nowhere near enough; between the several heated sheds, there were seven or eight in total.
Just feeding the small animals each day required cooking a huge pot of porridge.
The steaming hot porridge, mixed with cured fish, cured meat, cured sausage, dried cowpeas, and dried bamboo shoots, needed no extra salt or seasoning. The little animals ate with great gusto.
Li Xiang added Tier One Spiritual Medicine to their porridge, which resulted in the birth of several new Extraordinary Pets. They were all placed under the command of Er Huang and Little Fox.
When Li Xiang was home, he would cook for them himself. When he wasn’t, Uncle Jiang and Aunt Jiang would take over. If they were also busy, Granny Li Xiang would do it.
But his grandmother was getting on in years and sometimes couldn’t manage it all, so Er Huang and Little Fox would come to help. They would do things like help pour rice into the pot or carry firewood in their mouths to feed the stove.
Despite the bitter cold, work on the Underground City had not stopped. A large amount of construction materials had already been stored on-site, and the workers were busy with construction and renovations.
For one, the Underground City was relatively warm. For another, the workers needed the money. They didn’t get paid leave; a day without work was a day without income.
The first phase of the Shelter had originally been a filming location for the movie version of *The Return of the Condor Heroes*. But the film’s popularity had since faded, and Luo Feifei was "gone"—not only had she long since retired from the film industry, but she had also departed from this world.
And with only a few years left before the Apocalypse, Jiang Cai’Er had personally drawn up the blueprints to transform the place into a luxurious mountainside villa. The wood used for the furniture and flooring was all top-of-the-line, globally sourced small-leaf rosewood, golden teak, and pearwood—all exceedingly precious.
In the future, this would be their family’s home.
The second phase of the Shelter contained a clothing factory and the residences for Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui. These were already finished, and renovations had begun on the remaining empty sections.
Except for the residences of Yao Yao and the others, the materials selected for the other areas were ordinary wood and ceramic tile. The investment in the houses for Yao Yao and her friends was substantial. Li Xiang had given them some precious wood and leather, as well as some cashmere blankets, all of which were of first-rate quality with exquisite patterns.
In addition to these soft furnishings, there were also various precious ornaments. The lampshades were formed from crystal, and the kitchen countertops were made of the finest jadeite. This was all the work of Li Xiang’s Crystal Gold Armor, which could reshape these Crystal Stones at will.
In a word: magnificent and utterly extravagant.
’If you have the ability to enjoy life, why not do it?’
The residences for Yao Yao and the others were located in the deepest, lowest corner of the second phase of the Shelter, far from the exit and the central plaza, for better privacy.
The third phase was even more magnificent. It was designed to accommodate around five thousand people, and with construction long since complete, renovations had also begun.
Due to the large number of people, the living quarters were more compact. They were all simply furnished resettlement-style housing, including many dormitories. Public facilities included a commercial plaza, a school, a hospital, a library, communal cafeterias, an underground farm, and more.
There wasn’t just one communal cafeteria; the second phase had three, and the third phase had eight. In the future, it was estimated that very few families would cook for themselves.
For one, energy would be scarce during the Apocalypse.
For another—and this was the most important point—the fire hazard in an Underground City. In such an enclosed, subterranean space, the consequences of a fire would be unimaginable. With so many Extraordinary Beings on Li Xiang’s side, the problem wasn’t as severe. But if a fire broke out in another Underground City, it could burn through a huge area, and evacuating people would be extremely difficult. In a sealed space, the smoke alone would kill a great many people.
The rooms in the third phase of the Shelter all had concrete floors, while the commercial plaza was paved with bluestone slabs. As for the soil in the underground farm, it was all fertile black earth from the Outer Northeast Plain, which Li Xiang had transported over using his warehouse ability.