Chapter 27 Extreme Cold is Coming
The temperature dropped to 0°C overnight, and many people were woken up by the cold in their sleep. Some elderly people even froze to death in their sleep.
Overnight, many people in the neighborhood who hadn't gone to the base froze to death, but those who had gone to the base weren't much better off.
The cold woke up countless people in the middle of the night, but fortunately, the refugee camp was crowded, and the carbon dioxide they exhaled prevented them from freezing to death like the people outside.
After being woken up by the cold, they put on all the clothes they could, fearing they would freeze to death.
For Bai Tang and his northerners, it wasn't actually that cold. It's just that everyone had been in a brief period of extreme heat recently, and the sudden drop in temperature caught many people off guard.
Around 4 a.m., Bai Tang and Gu Yanxu were sound asleep when they were suddenly woken up by the cold.
After waking up, I went to call Bai Jiyang and Lin Fan, and told them to wake up and cover themselves with thick blankets.
Bai Tang then put the charcoal that had been burned earlier into the stoves in each of their rooms.
Instantly, every room became warm.
After giving all the instructions, Bai Tang and Gu Yanxu went back to their room for a nap. Gu Yanxu held Bai Tang as they fell asleep, saying that it was warmer to sleep in each other's arms.
They went back to sleep, while everyone else outside was too cold to fall asleep.
The next morning, Bai Tang got up early and prepared breakfast with Gu Yanxu.
She placed several sets of winter pajamas and cotton shoes on the living room sofa; Bai Jiyang, Lin Fan, and the other two each had two sets.
When she distributed the thick clothes last time, Bai Tang had already memorized everyone's size, just like a worried old mother.
Gu Yanxu was busy making breakfast in the kitchen, like a worried old father. Of course, this was just a metaphor; this family couldn't function without anyone.
When Lin Fan and his group arrived at Bai Tang's place from room 2002, they saw the winter pajamas on the sofa as they passed through the living room and exclaimed, "Sister-in-law is the best!"
Lin Zhou joked from the side, "Boss, you must have saved the world in your past life to be able to marry your sister-in-law."
Bai Jiyang joined in the fun: "My older sister is the most thoughtful; she remembered all our sizes."
Bai Tang went over and tapped his forehead: "If I don't remember, do you expect me to let you steal my clothes again?"
At this moment, Gu Yanxu came out of the kitchen carrying breakfast, wearing matching cotton pajamas as Bai Tang.
"Absolutely, my wife is the best. And those of you who want to eat, hurry up and get your food from the kitchen, or you won't get anything to eat."
They busied themselves in the kitchen and took the rest of the breakfast.
While eating, he said, "With this sudden drop in temperature, won't the floodwaters outside freeze?"
"Yeah, then we might be able to walk on the ice."
Bai Tang and Gu Yanxu both knew that the floodwaters outside would not only freeze over, but would remain frozen for two years.
Extreme cold has arrived; a sharp drop in temperature is a sign that extreme cold is coming.
Bai Tang replied to them, "It will definitely get cold. I have a few thermal clothes here. I'll give one to each of you after we eat."
"Heavens above, my sister-in-law is so well prepared!"
"I'm amazed again at the good fortune our eldest brother must have accumulated in his past life."
Bai Tang said, "I bought this thermal clothing from a friend at a high price before the extreme heat. The clothing has a pretty good insulation quality. You can wear it under your coat when the heat comes."
After dinner, while Lin Fan and the others were washing the dishes, Bai Tang thought of making a temperature-regulating garment for Guan Tou. Although it was a stray cat with a fur coat, if the temperature dropped further, even a little kitten like it wouldn't be able to withstand it.
Bai Tang acted immediately, taking out a set of thermostatic clothing, scissors, and some sewing tools from her space. Bai Tang only had twenty thermostatic clothes in total, and each one she used was one less available.
However, we can't skimp on canned food; every member of the family must have one.
Bai Tang first roughly cut out a shape based on the can's shape, but she planned to cut the can a size larger, since its size was growing rapidly.
When I first brought it home, it was only the size of a normal kitten. Now, after only a short time, it's already the size of an adult house cat.
Lin Fan knew about this kind of thing, and he said to Bai Tang, "Sister-in-law, these stray cats can normally grow up to a meter long."
Bai Tang was shocked: "The canned food is such a cute little thing now, and you're telling me it can grow to about a meter long."
However, Bai Tang soon stopped worrying because she knew that many animals had mutated during the extreme cold of her previous life. There were rats the size of kittens, chickens the size of piglets, and very large wild boars, among others.
However, there are too many rats, and some rat groups even eat people; chickens can be domesticated in extremely cold weather, but the survival rate is not as high as that of wild chickens, and wild chickens are not easy to catch; not to mention very large wild boars, they are even more difficult to catch, otherwise the various bases would not have food shortages.
Bai Tang didn't know to what extent the canned food would mutate, so she could only use a set of thermostatic clothing to cut two sets of clothes that the canned food could wear, one a size too big for its current size, and the other two sizes too big.
After all, Canned Food is still a little wild kitten and hasn't grown up yet. These things are just in case. Besides, if Canned Food mutates and becomes less afraid of the cold, this thermostatic clothing would be a bit of a waste.
Bai Tang sewed four small gloves for Guan Tou with the remaining fabric, so that when they went out later, Guan Tou could wear them to get used to the outside air and its feet wouldn't get frostbite.
After cutting and sewing the clothes, Bai Tang looked at the little garment in her hands: Hmm... It's okay, it'll be wearable. Guan Tou won't care if it looks good or not. She overestimated her own skills.
Bring the canned food over and dress it in a special temperature-controlled garment.
Bai Tang suppressed a laugh: "Hmm...not bad, canned food~it's warming."
The canned food wasn't quite used to wearing clothes yet. It tried to pry them off with its paws a couple of times, but when it realized it couldn't get them off, it gave up. The canned food meowed repeatedly.
"Okay, I knew canned food would be a favorite."
Bai Tang showed the others the canned food that had been dressed up.
Bai Jiyang couldn't help but laugh: "Sis, did you tie the canned food up tightly?"
"Meow~" the canned food meowed as if agreeing with Bai Jiyang's statement.
Bai Tang, holding the can, said, "This is called simple and unpretentious. As long as it's warm, that's enough. What do you know?"
Lin Fan chimed in from the side, "Hahahaha! Plain and simple? Sister-in-law, Canned Food is probably thinking, 'Be careful what you do tonight.'"
Bai Tang said, "It's okay, it's a minor problem. I'll get used to the canned food. The clothes are a bit ugly, but they're very warm."
Gu Yanxu couldn't help but laugh as well.
"Tangtang, next time you need to do crafts, just ask me to do them. I'll make clothes for the canned food."
Bai Tang heard Gu Yanxu teasing her, "Hey, you guys look down on me, don't you! Give me back the cotton-padded coats you're wearing before you laugh at me."
They laughed even harder. Bai Jiyang said, "We're not making fun of you, it's just... you did a great job. Let your brother-in-law come next time, you can take a break."
Bai Tang laughed along with them, "Okay, I admit I don't think it looks good either, but you get used to it after a while. Next time, you guys wait for me to make clothes for the canned food."
The canned food let out a resigned meow.