After Su Nian finished speaking, without waiting for Jing Mo's response, she turned and headed upstairs.
Breathlessly reaching the sixth floor back home, Su Nian closed the door and immediately began fetching things from her storage space.
Considering Jing Mo's car, this time Su Nian didn't bring out the coal-burning stove but instead grabbed a gas stove and two boxes of portable gas. She also took two car heaters and a bucket of gasoline.
After organizing these items, Su Nian carried them downstairs.
Jing Mo was still standing in place. Seeing Su Nian carrying so many things downstairs, he didn't ask what they were but simply put everything Su Nian had placed on the ground onto his back.
"Let's go, let's get in the car first!"
Su Nian agreed and carried the items with Jing Mo to the parking lot.
There was a shed in the parking lot, which seemed somewhat redundant during extremely hot weather but was quite useful now. At least their cars wouldn't be buried in snowdrifts.
Jing Mo's car was bigger than Su Nian's, originally a seven-seater, but the last row had been removed by Jing Mo, making the interior space even larger.
Although the two of them brought a lot of stuff, it was all placed in the back and only took up a quarter of the space.
Looking at the remaining space, Su Nian narrowed her eyes in thought.
Apart from completing the mission this time, they could also look for supplies. With such a large space, they wouldn't worry about not having enough room.
It was not easy to start the car in such cold weather. Jing Mo took out a battery from his backpack, connected it to the car, and preheated it for a while before starting the engine.
Su Nian admired Jing Mo's thorough preparation.
Jing Mo turned on the air conditioner and plugged in both heaters, one facing Su Nian and the other himself.
"I'll go down and put on the anti-skid chains," Jing Mo said, getting out of the car. Without hesitation, Su Nian followed him.
Together, they quickly installed the anti-skid chains.
When they got back into the car, the temperature inside had risen slightly.
Su Nian took out several heat packs from her backpack. "Do you want to put a few on your legs?"
Jing Mo didn't hesitate and accepted them directly. Although the temperature inside the car was higher than outside, the heat packs were still necessary to prevent legs from getting stiff due to prolonged sitting.
"I heard that the base has been researching various heating devices. It probably won't be long before we don't have to bundle up like bears anymore."
This statement made Jing Mo laugh. "I didn't expect to hear such news."
Su Nian hadn't thought she would hear such news either. After all, in her previous life, she had never heard of any heating devices until the extreme cold ended. However, she was in a small base back then, far from the main base, so it was normal not to hear any news.
Su Nian didn't dwell on her past life but looked at Jing Mo instead.
Feeling Su Nian's gaze, Jing Mo found it somewhat strange. "What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I just think it's good to have a neighbor like you."
This wasn't a lie. Jing Mo had many virtues, and Su Nian hadn't discovered any flaws yet. He was already a very good neighbor, especially since he had close ties with the higher-ups in the base, always having firsthand information. This was something Su Nian lacked.
Hearing Su Nian's words, Jing Mo laughed heartily. "I also think it's good to have a neighbor like you."
Smart, beautiful, and strong.
Although he didn't like dealing with people and seemed cold at first, he was warm-hearted once you got to know him. Plus, he brought a lot of good food!
They exchanged smiles, both very satisfied with each other as neighbors.
"Get ready, we're about to set off!" Su Nian fastened her seatbelt upon hearing this.
Even though there were no traffic police or visible speed cameras now, it was still important to wear seatbelts—for their own safety.
The snow on the main roads in the base was cleared daily by snowplows, but with continuous snowfall, the ground couldn't be completely cleaned. The thin layer of snow on the ground was more prone to icing, so driving required extra caution—slow but steady.
What was originally not a very long journey ended up taking more than half an hour.
The assembly point was just outside the main gate of the base. By the time Su Nian and Jing Mo arrived, many cars had already parked there.
Su Nian carefully observed and saw snowplows at the forefront. Some of them had already set off, and the ones at the very front were barely visible dots.
Among the vehicles were buses and canopy-covered trucks, totaling about twenty.
There were also some low-key combat vehicles, and it was obvious that the leaders of this operation were inside them.
Following behind were private cars like Jing Mo's group.
Su Nian counted about twenty to thirty private cars.
In this icy and snowy weather, people sat in their cars, and it was uncertain how many people were in each car. But Su Nian felt sure that there were quite a few.
It seemed that the base attached great importance to this rescue operation, otherwise they wouldn't have arranged so many people.
As Su Nian was thinking, she heard Jing Mo speaking softly beside her.
"The teams going to other bases or the urban area for rescue missions don't have as many people as this."
Sure enough, it was almost as she had guessed!
Su Nian looked at Jing Mo with some complexity.
Sometimes, Su Nian even wondered if Jing Mo was like a tapeworm in her belly or if he had some kind of device that could read minds. How else could he always provide answers before she even spoke them out?
Su Nian didn't dislike this feeling, but she couldn't help feeling a bit weird about it.
Before Jing Mo could continue his thoughts, a person in a green military coat approached and knocked on their car window.
Jing Mo rolled down the window, and the person handed him a walkie-talkie.
"There's news. Keep in contact via the walkie-talkie."
"Okay."
With just these words, the person walked away, apparently going to distribute walkie-talkies to other cars.
With no phones or cell reception, they really could only rely on walkie-talkies to communicate.
Looking at the walkie-talkie, Su Nian suddenly thought of something.
"Has the base considered restoring communication?"
Jing Mo nodded. "Yes."
"Really?" Su Nian asked excitedly.
"Yes, indeed. Efforts had already been made in this regard during the extreme heat period, but the sudden drop in temperature caught everyone off guard. Preventing cold and rescuing people became the top priorities, which delayed this matter. It should continue soon after some time. However, at most, it would only be restored within the base. Restoring it to the previous state is impossible."
Su Nian understood this even without Jing Mo's explanation. Even if communication was only restored within the base, it would still be great! At least then, she could go online and browse around. Although she didn't like interacting with people, she found it interesting to watch others having fun. After all, humans were social creatures, and staying alone without contact with the outside world would inevitably become boring.
Seeing Su Nian's eyes light up with joy, Jing Mo asked, "Do you still have your phone?"
"I do! It doesn't take up much space, so I brought it along."
She not only had a phone but also an iPad and a computer.
"In that case, give me one later."
"You threw away your phone?"
Su Nian was a bit puzzled. Jing Mo had such a big car and could carry so many weapons, yet he didn't even bring a phone?