As the temperature continued to rise, it became faster and faster. When the temperature was below minus 20 degrees, the white fungus no longer grew, and everyone also stopped going out to pick the white fungus. They went out several times to look for supplies with others.
Gu Meng went out the most frequently and indeed found a lot of things back. She also managed to find six air-conditioning fans, one ice-making machine, and even some mosquito repellents and traditional Chinese medicine liquids for summer use.
Bai Shang and several others were guided by Su Yu to take an additional ten water towers and place them on the platform. Now there were ten water towers in the apartment, plus the ones on the platform, there were a total of twenty. All of the clean ice was put into the water towers, which could be used as domestic water. There were also three water towers in the hallway, and seven were placed on the platform. The water towers on the hallway also had ice cubes, but Lin Yiran put filtering tools inside, ready to be used as drinking water. In the kitchen, there was one water tower and two buckets, and in each room, there were piles of pure water and mineral water. This would be enough for the extreme heat.
Lin Yiran was also able to think outside the box. She asked Li Zhun and several others to set up thick tents on the platform. These tents had a sunscreen coating, and the water towers could be moved inside to effectively protect them from the sun. This way, when it was extremely hot, it would not be too uncomfortable to go and fetch water.
Su Yu saw this and praised the male lead for being smart.
Before the ice melted and the temperature reached minus ten degrees, Su Yu suggested to everyone, "The ice is about to melt. I want to go to the reservoir to see if there are any fish. Anyone want to come with me?"
"Will there still be fish alive in this extreme cold?" Li Zhun asked first, looking innocent and foolish.
Bai Shang explained, "Even in the Arctic, where the temperature is below minus 50 degrees, there are still fish alive. Because fish are cold-blooded animals, a decrease in temperature only slows down their metabolic rate, and it won't freeze to death."
After that, he couldn't help but tease Li Zhun, "Didn't you pay attention in class?" Li Zhun scratched his head and smiled, "My old man and I are the same. We want to sleep when we see books. You all know that!"
He had never been the type to study. He was able to barely pass the entrance exam to B University, half because his father hit him, and the other half was because the eldest brother was asked to teach him, through intense training, he just managed to pass by the skin of his teeth.
Qiu Qin and Lin Yiran shook their heads and sighed.
In the end, the "stupid" Li Zhun was left behind by everyone to look after the house, while the rest prepared to go to the reservoir to take a look.
It was already dark when the few of them arrived at the reservoir in the evening. The reservoir was close to the suburbs and the mountains, with few people around. The water in the entire reservoir was frozen, and people could walk on the ice.
For safety reasons, Su Yu stopped at the shore of the reservoir, found a spot, and started to chisel through the ice to make a hole.
Su Yu took out her high-power flashlight and handed one to Gu Meng and Bai Shang each. Then, she took out her Tang knife and cut out a large rectangle, then lifted the thick ice away with the knife. Lin Yiran and Qiu Qin worked together to lift it away.
At this point, a rectangular hole in the ice was formed, and Su Yu scattered some broken rice and shrimp into the water as bait and waited for the fish to come.
Gu Meng nervously came over and asked, "Will there be any fish coming?"
Su Yu nodded, "Yes."
Sure enough, after not too long, bubbles began to appear on the surface of the water, and the outlines of some lively fish could be seen. Bai Shang and Qiu Qin quickly acted, using a self-made fishing net to catch several live and kicking fish and put them in the brought buckets.
Su Yu saw that this method worked, so she said, "I'll make a few more holes and split up to work."
Gu Meng followed her, and Lin Yiran helped her move the ice away. Then, Su Yu took out a fishing net and asked Lin Yiran and Gu Meng to each hold one side, and placed the bait to wait for the fish to take the bait.
Su Yu didn't know that behind her, Lin Yiran had been looking at her departing back until half an hour later, when she turned her head calmly and stared at the surface of the water, not actively looking for a conversation with Gu Meng or interacting with her.
Gu Meng pursed her lips and didn't take the initiative to talk to Lin Yiran either, developing a relationship.
The two of them didn't talk during this period, only notifying each other when a fish entered the net.
"President, the fish has entered the net..." "I know."
Su Yu found three more places and used the same method to break the ice, then used the fishing net to catch fish. She put her hand in the water and kept filling the empty water towers with water.
The water was too cold, and Su Yu had to change hands every two minutes. Back and forth, she collected two water towers of fish and water before Lin Yiran found them. Outside, there were still two buckets left, which also contained some fish inside, just for show.
The few of them worked for two hours, catching nearly 500 pounds of fish.
Gu Meng thought it would be inconvenient to clean the fish when they brought them back, so she and Bai Shang went to deal with the fish nearby. The scaling tools were also provided by Su Yu.
So, the two of them cleaned the fish while the others continued to catch fish.
Su Yu took out a camping stove from her bag, put a pot on it, and cooked a bowl of white fungus noodles for everyone, adding four packs of instant noodles, five pieces of ham, and a pack of tea dries. It was also very delicious. Everyone felt warm after eating.
Afraid that they wouldn't be full, Su Yu boiled five big sweet potatoes after washing the pot. After eating, it was sweet and warm.
Finally, before twelve o'clock, the few of them stopped continuing to catch fish and helped Gu Meng and the others deal with the fish. Then, they put all the fish into the snake skin bags and prepared to bring them back.
They returned to the apartment before twelve o'clock. On the way back, they didn't see anyone, and the apartment building was quiet.
In this way, for two consecutive days, everyone went to catch fish at night, and they caught thousands of pounds of fish unnoticed.
Most of the fish were put in the freezer and frozen. They ate braised fish, sour fish soup, boiled fish, steamed fish, and fish soup every day until everyone's mouths were on fire, so they had to temporarily stop eating fish.
When the freezer was no longer able to fit, Lin Yiran suggested exchanging the fish for supplies with the base, which was agreed upon by everyone.
That night, Lin Yiran, along with Li Zhun and Qiu Qin, went to the base and exchanged four bags of fish for two boxes of canned food and a large bag of anti-heatstroke Chinese herbal medicine, which was supposedly developed by the rescue personnel of the base.
Su Yu knew that there were these Chinese herbal medicines in the base, so she asked Lin Yiran to get more of them if he had the chance. He nodded in agreement.