Su Nian planned to make a trip to the bathroom.
Even though she knew the pipes must have frozen by now, she couldn't openly use the toilet.
But even if she had to use cat litter, Su Nian still intended to go to the bathroom.
Using the restroom definitely required going to the bathroom; there had to be a sense of ceremony!
Su Nian put on her mask and hat, even changed into gloves with separated fingers, before opening the bedroom door.
With all the doors and windows tightly shut, there was no wind indoors.
Yet, as she opened the door, a chilling breeze greeted her, cold enough to make Su Nian feel pain with every breath.
Su Nian hesitated slightly at the doorway before quickly closing the bedroom door and heading towards the bathroom.
Three minutes later, Su Nian emerged from the bathroom, trotting back to her bedroom.
She took out her toiletries, brushing her teeth while thinking that although using the bathroom required ceremony, she could forego the ritual of washing up.
Imagining trying to wash up in the bathroom, Su Nian felt that not only would the toothpaste fail to foam, but it might even turn into ice flakes.
Just thinking about it made Su Nian's mouth ache.
After washing up, Su Nian diligently applied face cream and hand lotion to herself.
Even though the temperature in the room wasn't so low, precautions still had to be taken.
For breakfast, Su Nian had steaming millet and red date porridge, a basket of steamed dumplings, and a boiled egg.
With some warmth in her body after eating, Su Nian became interested and approached the window, pulling back the curtains to look outside.
It had been a year since Su Nian last looked out at daylight. Seeing the brightness outside now, with an unobstructed view, made her feel somewhat dazed.
But soon enough, Su Nian snapped back to reality.
Though there was no scorching sun or harsh sunlight, the swirling snow outside still trapped everyone indoors, with not a soul to be seen outside.
One night had passed, and the wind and snow were fierce. The snow outside had already accumulated to about ten centimeters thick.
Listening to the biting cold wind howling, Su Nian thought of the old lady on the fifth floor.
The cold had finally arrived, albeit late. She wondered how the old lady was feeling at this moment.
It wasn't until the next day that Su Nian learned some news from Jing Mo.
Although the base had been notified in advance of the temperature drop, the specific timing had not been communicated.
The sudden drop in temperature that night had caused a lot of suffering for those who were outdoors at the time.
Fortunately, most people had already prepared their winter clothes in advance and managed to rush home to put them on, so most of them were fine.
Some people didn't take the base's notification seriously and hadn't prepared warm clothing. They ended up with frostbite or even froze to death, but they had only themselves to blame.
If this was the situation inside the base, then outside the base would be even worse. Who knew how many lives this sudden temperature drop would claim?
Su Nian didn't dwell too much on this issue.
Her abilities were limited, and she didn't have any aspirations to be a savior. She just wanted to live her life alone.
---
Two days passed in the base, and seeing the snow and wind outside not letting up, and the temperature dropping further, people lost any sense of luck they might have had.
The extreme heat had finally ended, but extreme cold had arrived.
More than a year ago, who would have believed that it would snow heavily in June or July, with temperatures dropping to minus fifty or sixty degrees?
The Earth was no longer the familiar Earth, and the climate was no longer the accustomed climate.
But no matter what, no one wanted to die like this. Everyone wanted to struggle to survive.
Eating cold food in hot weather might feel refreshing, but in this temperature, without eating something hot, there would be no warmth in the body, and survival would be impossible.
Eating hot food was just the most basic requirement. To survive in this weather, people needed to find a way to keep warm.
The base had been converted from a scenic area, so only some places had air conditioning, and most places had neither air conditioning nor heating.
The house Su Nian rented didn't have air conditioning or heating either.
If people wanted to keep warm, they could only use the most primitive method: burning fire.
During the day, Su Nian could see more people gradually becoming active outside.
These people were bundled up tightly, looking like bears from a distance.
Wearing thick layers would hinder movement, and coupled with the strong wind and heavy snow, the snow on the ground had already reached knee height, making movement even more difficult. They moved very slowly.
Their goal was clear—to head towards the trees in the base.
Due to the abundance of water in the first base, although the flowers and grass had withered due to the heat, most of the trees were still alive, albeit barely.
With the sudden cold weather, in just two days, the few drooping leaves left on these trees had all rapidly turned yellow and fallen off.
Looking at those bare branches, Su Nian knew that they wouldn't last long either.
Su Nian didn't know how many people were in the base, but there were definitely a lot of them.
Even if there were many trees in the base, they couldn't withstand the logging of so many people.
Of course, Su Nian didn't think there was anything wrong with these people logging trees, even though many of these trees were valuable ancient trees that had been alive for many years.
But when people couldn't survive, who would care about the origin of a tree?
Su Nian didn't intend to go out and compete with these people for survival resources.
She had fuel and food in her house, and could be self-sufficient indoors; there was no need to go out and compete with these people.
As for going out to show off or anything like that, that was even more unnecessary.
Previously, she and Jing Mo had moved so many boxes upstairs together. Except for Jing Mo, no one knew what was inside, so whatever she said was what it was.
What Su Nian didn't expect was that while she didn't intend to go out and compete with others for survival resources, there were people who wanted to come and snatch her survival resources.
One midnight, Su Nian was sleeping when she heard banging sounds.
At first, Su Nian didn't pay attention and just turned over, intending to continue sleeping.
But the sound became clearer, as if it was getting closer to her.
In the darkness, Su Nian slowly opened her eyes, devoid of sleepiness, only alertness.
The room was pitch black, but Su Nian could hear more clearly. The sound was clearly someone dismantling the iron grille door.
Confirming the source of the sound, Su Nian sat up, putting on clothes one by one.
Because she was going outside, Su Nian didn't wear pajamas. Instead, she put on a sweater, then wore a down jacket inside, and put on a green military coat outside.
She didn't wear snow boots but black leather boots.
Putting on a mask, leather hat, and leather gloves, Su Nian then opened the
bedroom door and walked out.
Arriving at the front door, with just a door separating her from the outside, the sounds became even clearer.
"Son, be quieter. Don't wake that girl up! If she finds out, we'll be in trouble!"