Chapter 11
The power outage was like a signal, indicating that the disaster would not end easily.
Almost on the same day, Ji Yang noticed that the number of people leaving the community to gather supplies had increased. Originally, there were close to two hundred people from all the buildings combined. After the power outage, Ji Yang roughly counted the people coming and going, and there were eight or nine hundred.
Most of them were entire families.
This probably accounted for eighty to ninety percent of the community’s residents.
This was a new residential complex, and it was during the New Year period. Most people would have returned to their hometowns. A small portion who didn’t would stay in the city to pay New Year’s visits, and at the same time, they would host some relatives who came to visit.
If they were then unfortunately trapped by the blizzard, they could only continue to live here.
If there was no hope of the snow disaster stopping in the short term, then they could only hoard more food, at least enough to feed so many mouths for half a year.
Food was actually not the biggest problem. Rice, flour, and the like could all fill a stomach. But with the weather getting colder and colder, once the electricity was out, heating would become a headache, as would the problem of cooking. Gas stoves were used for stir-frying, but most people used electric rice cookers to cook rice.
And since the electricity was out, who knew when the gas would be cut off?
So, they all had to prepare.
This community was considered to be in a relatively good area, so most of the shops on the street were for food, drink, and entertainment. There were no shops nearby that might sell fuel, so they had to search further away.
The temperature was very cold now, but it was only minus twenty degrees, not the coldest it would get.
Ji Yang didn’t go out. She just stayed by the balcony, setting up a small stove with a grill on top. Beside it was an old-fashioned enamel mug filled with homemade milk tea, heated at the edge of the stove to keep it from getting cold.
In the middle were various pieces of meat, mostly pork belly.
Beside the stove were various seasonings for barbecue.
As the weather outside grew colder, Ji Yang always wanted to eat something hot. While organizing her supplies, she remembered that she had bought a batch of stoves of various sizes. She immediately took out the smallest one for afternoon tea.
Originally, it was for roasting chestnuts, walnuts, and the like, but she preferred to eat large mouthfuls of meat, so she decisively swapped the nuts for barbecue. The charcoal was good quality, which she had bought at a high price abroad. She had checked it when she received it in her space, and there was no deception.
Therefore, it wasn’t long before it was burning vigorously. The heat from the small charcoal stove raised the temperature on the balcony quite a bit. Sitting beside it, Ji Yang could feel the warmth on her face.
She moved back a little, picked up a piece of sizzling, oily meat with her chopsticks, dipped it in the sauce bowl, and took a bite. The skin was slightly crispy, the inside was soft and tender, and it was coated with a salty, fragrant, numbing, and spicy sauce. It was to die for!
While eating, she held her binoculars to look.
By noon, no one was going out anymore, and no one had returned.
So, Ji Yang ate this barbecue on and off, occasionally lowering the back of her chair to lie down for a while, eating until three or four in the afternoon.
When she was really getting tired of it, she put away the charcoal stove and began to observe the people returning one after another.
The first group to return had joyful expressions, and they were carrying large and small bags. The few things that were visible allowed Ji Yang to see that they were gas canisters and the like.
Then came the second group, the third group…
They were carrying either fuel or food, and the quantities were not small.
Of course, they weren’t huge either, not like the people who had gone out to procure supplies at the very beginning, with large and small bags.
They all managed to get something?
Ji Yang was quite puzzled. She took out her phone to check. Although the power was out, it wasn’t a completely desperate situation yet. Many people had power banks, computers, and other things at home, which could be used to charge their phones.
As soon as she opened the property management group chat, she saw a message: [Brothers, go quickly, the army has been deployed! We ran into the army helping to transport goods when we went out. Many supermarkets have things to sell now, including gas canisters, charcoal basins, and charcoal! The prices are a bit high, but you can still pay with your phone. Bring a charger, there’s a place to charge over there.]
[Holy crap?! Where, where!]
[It’s at Youda Supermarket. We searched for a long time and didn’t see anything, then we ran into the army transporting supplies. We went over and asked, and that’s when we found out that all the major supermarkets are being restocked now!]
[I’m crying, as expected of our country. I love it, I love it.]
[Thanks, brother. I was just about to come back empty-handed. I’m going now.]
[A reminder, it’s limited quantity. It’s best if you have more people in your family go.]
[Thanks! [Fist palm salute]]
Then, Ji Yang saw another group of people emerge from the building, but this group was not young.
The army helping with transportation immediately eased everyone’s anxiety.
For a time, even the public opinion online leaned towards the disaster ending soon.
All sorts of positive videos and posts appeared one after another.
Probably because many signal towers were having problems, the internet speed was very slow. Ji Yang still managed to scroll through a few. After silently watching them, she opened the comment section, which was filled with a stream of crying emojis.
Only she, although her heart was touched, was not moved much.
Her emotions had been worn down too much in those five years. Just being able to maintain a life like a normal person was already very good.
Not to mention, she also knew the future.
—
This grand spectacle lasted for half a month, until the government issued a notice that the supermarkets would no longer be open, and further details would be announced later.
The frantic hoarding period was finally over. Only a small number of people with a strong sense of crisis still insisted on going out. The rest planned to hibernate for the winter.
Ji Yang herself never went out.
One person couldn’t eat that much. A bag of rice could last her a month. Not going out for a long time wouldn’t arouse suspicion.
The people across the hall were nice and knew their limits. Apart from asking her the first time, they never came again.
Ji Yang was happy to be left in peace.
Of course, she wasn’t idle either.
In less than a month, the pasture grass had grown to almost calf-high. Ji Yang entered the space to test it. Although the soil was softer than ordinary land, it was much firmer overall than before.
After confirming this, she immediately used her consciousness to control a lawnmower and cut all the grown pasture grass.
The lawnmower was electric. Ji Yang had dozens of large batteries. By using the batteries directly, she could use electrical appliances in the space, which was convenient and fast.
After the pasture was cut, with a thought, all the grass was automatically stored in the static space. Then, she swiftly moved all the poultry over.
The original area was now empty. She was about to sow pasture seeds directly, but found that the soil had been compacted by the calves and pigs. She had no choice but to start tilling with a hoe.
Fortunately, this also only required consciousness control, without her having to go in personally.
The efficiency was high. An hour later, the fifty-square-meter plot of land was re-tilled. The soil was loosened, and finally, grass seeds were sown. To be safe, Ji Yang also watered it.
She used the water she soaked her feet in every night, without any additives. It was cooled in the living space and then sprinkled directly. It was quickly absorbed by the soil.
The poultry that had been moved to the new pen were also very happy. The new pen had the smell of fresh grass, and the soil was much firmer than before, making it more comfortable.
Especially the lambs and calves, they seemed to love this pasture. Even though only a short stubble was left, their mouths were constantly nudging, trying to nibble a bit.
Seeing them like this, Ji Yang generously divided the pasture into two portions and placed them in the cattle and sheep pens. Immediately, the little ones rushed over, bleating and mooing, while munching on the fresh grass.
For a moment, they even looked down on the feed she gave them.
Ji Yang almost thought, Why not just raise them like this for now, and use the other side specifically for growing pasture?
But looking at the livestock that had grown a lot in a month, she gave up the idea. They ate well and slept well in the space, but they couldn’t move around freely. When they grew bigger, it would be too cramped.
So, after another half a month, when the newly planted pasture had grown to calf-high, Ji Yang re-planned the entire living space.
The one-hundred-square-meter open space was divided in two by a line down the middle.
Then, according to their sizes, it was divided into six pens of varying sizes. The living areas for the cattle and pigs were the largest, followed by the sheep, and then the ducks and geese.
Finally, there were the chickens, and the button quails and quails.
Ji Yang didn’t calculate the exact square footage for each, but she made sure they had enough room to live.
By this time, the snow disaster had been going on for more than two months.
The temperature had also dropped to over minus thirty degrees.
With the cold wind and blizzard, there were far fewer people going out than before. Part of the reason was that they had hoarded a lot of supplies, and another part was that it was too cold to bear. Thinking that they still had enough to eat at home for a while, they decided not to go out.
Therefore, when Ji Yang sat on her balcony and looked out every day, she could no longer see many figures in the community. But when she looked further, she could still see some people.
Until one day, she woke up from a nap. As soon as she opened her eyes, she found that the sky was dark and gloomy.
It’s gotten dark so quickly?
She took out her phone to check the time. It was exactly four in the afternoon.
That’s not right.
Ji Yang quickly walked to the balcony. Xixi was already standing near the balcony, its tail tucked, looking warily at the overcast sky.
When it had snowed before, the sky wasn’t this dark. The consequences of the snow disaster were terrifying, but the snow itself wasn’t. But now…
As time passed, the sky visibly grew darker. The surrounding trees also began to sway. Later, the howling wind picked up countless snowflakes and scraped past. Many snowflakes stuck to the glass and refused to come down. Some even drilled in through the crack she had opened for ventilation, quickly forming a pile of snow on the floor.
Ji Yang quickly went over and closed the crack. Instantly, the howling sound from outside was reduced to only a tenth of its volume. A layer of fog quickly formed on the glass, and visibility dropped rapidly.
Suddenly, there was a crisp “crack” sound.
Ji Yang took out her binoculars and saw a tree in the community being snapped in half. The huge treetop fell to the ground and was quickly buried by the snow.
With another glance, a tree next to it was lifted into the air by the wind and smashed directly into the window of a household opposite.
“Crash—”
“Ah!”
Screams instantly spread, chilling countless people to the bone.
The blizzard had arrived!