stonecrandall Chapter 189 Thoughts
Chapter 189 Thoughts
She leaned the trailer against the wall next to her, using her body to slightly shield herself. Then, using the heavy backpack in front of her as cover, she subtly took out a 1.5-liter thermos filled with boiling hot water from her storage space.
She unscrewed the lid, and a plume of white steam burst out, quickly dissipating into the cold air. She carefully and slowly poured the enticingly hot water evenly onto the keyhole and the most severely icy areas in the door cracks.
"Hiss..." The hot water made a soft, continuous sound as it came into contact with the ice. The white frost melted quickly and flowed down as water. However, the temperature of the area on the door panel where the water flowed was extremely low, and the water began to refreeze almost instantly, forming new white frost.
She had to seize the moment, melting the ice enough to unlock the door before the hot water completely cooled or evaporated. She patiently poured the ice little by little, keeping a close eye on the keyhole and the door gap, while covering the doorknob with gloves and holding the key in her other hand, occasionally trying to carefully insert it and turn it forcefully.
The process took nearly five minutes, and most of the hot water was used up. Just when she felt her fingertips were about to freeze and lose all feeling, the lock finally made a slight, reassuring "click" sound! Overjoyed, she seized the opportunity and used all her strength to twist and pull hard. "Squeak—" The door was finally opened!
She didn't dare to delay for a moment, quickly pulled the trailer leaning against the wall into the house, then slammed the door shut behind her, plugged in the old metal latch, and pulled the inner door chain.
"It's so difficult to even get into a house..." she murmured softly, her voice ringing out clearly in the quiet room, filled with exhaustion and a hint of complaint. "If I hadn't boiled water beforehand and carried it with me, and even used a special method to preserve it, I probably would have had to run somewhere else to boil water before I could even get through this door."
Putting aside these chaotic thoughts, she didn't bother to organize the cartload of miscellaneous items she had just brought back, nor did she bother to change out of her heavy, damp, and cold clothes. The first thing she did was head straight for the stove of the makeshift kang (heated brick bed).
She skillfully cleared the ashes from the stove from the previous night, filled it with dry pine needles and small matches, and then carefully lit it with a lighter. The orange-red flames were initially very weak, but as the pine needles were ignited, the fire gradually grew larger, making cheerful "crackling" sounds, and licking the thicker pieces of firewood.
The orange light illuminated her blue face from the cold and brought the first real warmth. She greedily approached the stove, feeling the rising heat wash over her cheeks and hands, and her cold, stiff limbs seemed to slowly begin to revive.
"It's so cold today..." She rubbed her hands, which were gradually regaining feeling. For someone who grew up in the relatively warm south and was used to damp cold but rarely experienced this kind of dry cold that was often below -10 or -20 degrees Celsius, "hibernating" was the wisest and most suitable mode of living for her.
Once the kang (heated brick bed) was burning brightly, the heat it emitted gradually dissipated the chill in the room through the bricks and adobe bricks, raising the room temperature from a bone-chilling cold to a barely tolerable level. Xu Xiaoyan's tense nerves finally relaxed a bit, and she finally had the strength and energy to slowly tidy up the pile of miscellaneous items she had brought back from the factory.
She turned on the lights in the room and began unloading the items from the trailer one by one: a health pot, a stainless steel thermos, an electric kettle, half a box of napkins, a toolbox, insulating tape, utility knife blades, a small saucepan, several multi-tools... as well as a soy milk maker and several boxes of instant coffee that she had secretly put into her space beforehand.
As she sorted through her "spoils of war," her thoughts drifted back to the mountain of sea buckthorn in the room. On the way back, she had a fleeting thought: perhaps she could juice some of the sea buckthorn and preserve it, as the vitamin C would be easier to absorb and convenient to use at any time.
But upon calming down and thinking it over, she realized that juicing would require adding water, which would significantly increase the total volume and weight. For someone who needed to carefully manage storage space, especially considering the precious volume of space, this didn't seem worthwhile. In the end, she decided to make sea buckthorn into sea buckthorn jam! Boiling and mashing the sea buckthorn berries evaporated most of the water, concentrating them into jam, which greatly reduced the volume and made it easier to store for a long time.
Conventionally, a lot of sugar needs to be added when making jam to improve the extremely sour taste of sea buckthorn. However, her sugar reserves were far from enough to be squandered to improve the flavor. In the face of survival, taste had to take a back seat, or even be the least important consideration.
"Fine, I'll just make the original sea buckthorn jam." She quickly made a decision. Although the taste would be much worse without sugar, and it might be so sour that it would be hard to swallow, it would retain the maximum amount of nutrients and could be stored for a long time. When needed, she could scoop out a small spoonful, mix it with hot water, or spread it on dry, hard biscuits as a valuable source of nutrition. As for the taste... she would get used to it. In the apocalypse, having food and nutrition was already a great blessing.
Suppressing these thoughts for the time being, all she wanted to do now was rest. After putting away the last piece of clutter, she was about to climb onto the now warm kang (heated brick bed) and crawl into bed when her phone suddenly rang!
Xu Xiaoyan's heart skipped a beat, and her sleepiness vanished instantly. A call at this time usually meant something bad. She fumbled in her thick clothing pocket and pulled out her phone, the screen emitting a faint blue light in the darkness.
Seeing another unfamiliar caller ID number displayed on the screen, composed of jumbled numbers and letters, her heart sank. She had received this type of number before; it was most likely a group notification issued by the base's official authorities.
She took a deep breath, pressed the answer button, and pressed the cold receiver against her ear.
The voice coming from inside was indeed that synthesized electronic female voice, its tone rigid and hurried:
[Urgent Notice] Attention all residents of Linchuan Base: Recent monitoring indicates a high volume of incoming personnel, increasing public security pressure. We especially remind everyone that if anyone knocks on your door requesting temporary lodging or accommodation under any pretext (such as looking for relatives or friends, shortage of supplies, needing help with heating, etc.), please remain highly vigilant and do not open the door easily. If you notice suspicious individuals repeatedly harassing or loitering, or if you observe suspicious gatherings or unusual movements, please immediately call the official emergency reporting hotline XXXXX to report it. Please inform each other and raise awareness. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
"Beep...beep...beep..."
The call ended, leaving only a short busy tone.