Chapter 340: Struggling Through

The Old Song Family seemed to think every young man was a great guy.

They found everyone they met quite agreeable...

’I wonder if they’re just judging by looks.’

After Xie Ning finished her silent complaints, the family joyfully went off to prepare dinner.

The conversation was lively and enthusiastic as they ate.

"How about this: from now on, you can leave the farming to me, your uncle," Song Youzhi volunteered. "I’m the best farmer here."

"Get outta here." The old man didn’t hesitate to snatch away this cushy job. "When it comes to farming, can any of you compare to me and my old wife?"

"Ningning, don’t you worry. Just leave the vegetable patch to us. Your grandma and I will look after it for you."

"Okay," Xie Ning agreed with an obedient nod.

Song You’ai said with a smile, "This is for the best. The temperature outside really is too low these days. If my parents can live in Ningning’s farmhouse Space, we can make sure they won’t suffer from the cold."

After all, it was a huge hassle when the elderly got sick. It wasn’t like with young people who might be able to fight it off and recover even without medicine.

The immune systems of young Superpower Users were much stronger than those of ordinary people, so their resistance to the damp and cold was certainly greater as well.

"Alright then. From now on, Grandpa and Grandma can stay active in the Space during the mornings and evenings. They can come out in the afternoons to get used to the outside environment."

"But just in case... I’m saying, *just in case* my Space Ability suddenly disappears one day, everyone needs to be able to adapt."

"True strength comes from within. We can’t become too reliant on external objects."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

And so, the family began their six-month-long winter life in the cellar.

Of course, when the two elders came out each afternoon, the others could enter the farmhouse Space to enjoy some leisurely comfort.

However, they had to take turns entering the farmhouse Space each day.

A single chance to enjoy it came only once a week, and it was limited to four hours each time. Everyone could only say that happiness was fleeting.

The happiest one of all was probably the gaudy, camouflaging, color-changing mutant pig.

Due to the sudden drop in temperature, the gaudy pig had been under Su Xiyue’s care for days, listlessly huddled under thick blankets.

It did nothing but eat all day, lazing about.

After Xie Ning brought it into her farmhouse Space, the creature was instantly revitalized, kicking up its heels and running all over the place.

Worried its dirty trotters would trample her fields, Xie Ning tossed it into her two-story cottage.

The pig climbed onto the plum tree outside the second-floor window, settled in comfortably, and began its cushy, retired life.

Xie Ning silently grumbled to herself.

Gazing out the window, she could see her grandparents leaning back in rattan chairs by the edge of the fields, chatting idly.

’Looks like the number of animals doesn’t affect how many people can enter or exit.’

Xie Ning took a photo of her grandparents with her phone, then closed her door and took a nap.

When she woke up, she started training her Gold Ability. Next to her metal cottage, she constructed another four-story building for the others to use.

Three months after the ice age began, Xie Ning would occasionally take the two kids, push open the partition door, and go up to the main house’s roof to shovel snow.

The three of them discovered that the snow and hail had stopped.

The entire world was a vision in silver, as if encased in a vast sheet of ice. The landscape was a boundless white, with almost no signs of life.

It was as if someone had pressed a pause button; everything had fallen silent.

In fact, the people who had managed to move into the underground shelter before the ice age arrived were relatively lucky.

In many places beyond their sight, a large number of people had simply stopped breathing in their sleep, shivering, the moment the massive cold front hit.

Compared to the tragic fate of those people, the ones who managed to survive in the underground shelter were, it had to be said, miraculously lucky.

For everyone struggling to survive in the shelter, the most difficult thing to endure was probably the chaotic mix of smells underground.

Although they used mechanical ventilation every six hours, it often came with a downside.

The half-hour of ventilation caused many elderly people and children with weak immune systems to fall ill from the cold, and medical resources were extremely scarce.

Zuo Li came to their door every half a month to ask Yu Tianfeng to go to the underground shelter to help treat patients.

Yu Tianfeng would be gone for the entire day each time, and when he returned, Old Song and the others couldn’t help but feel their hearts ache for him.

The young man looked as if he’d been ravaged by illness himself. Every time he came back from treating patients, he needed three to four days to recover.

Even so, he always managed to persevere.

Seeing his miserable state, Xie Ning would take an old hen from her farmhouse Space once a month to make a nourishing soup for him.

Time passed day by day in a tug-of-war against the ice age’s cold wave.

Her boyfriend was usually very busy, but he was diligent about visiting the courtyard house.

He made a trip basically once a week, delivering some Crystal Cores and trading for vegetables and fruit from Xie Ning.

Sometimes he would even come twice a week, and his relationship with everyone in the Old Song Family grew closer and closer.

Another three months passed. Xie Ning felt the barrier to her Gold Ability’s energy source, which she trained daily, begin to loosen.

But Xiao Gu brought some bad news. "The meteorologists are predicting that the ice age might be extended by another three months or so."

"Then what about Captain Zuo’s side? Is their food supply still adequate?"

"It’s holding up for now, but the base commander has already adjusted the daily meal distribution. It’s gone from two meals a day down to one."

"This doesn’t apply to the Superpower Users who go out on missions."

"The Superpower Users who can go outside now have to be at least Third Rank," Gu Chen said with a serious expression. "Otherwise, the moment they step out, they’ll be completely overcome by the cold before they can even do anything."

"Zuo Dazhu’s thinking isn’t entirely without reason."

"The meteorologists say it will be extended by three months, but in reality, no one knows if the ice age will actually end in three months."

"All we can do now is slowly endure," Gu Chen said in a low voice. "Compared to other places, our Golden City Base is still relatively well-supplied. I’m afraid other small bases will have a hard time surviving this nine-month ice age."

"Chaoyang Base sent a telegraphic request for aid three days ago."

Xie Ning raised an eyebrow. "What did the base commander say?"

"In this situation, everyone is struggling to fend for themselves. It’s impossible to travel that far to provide aid."

"The temperature outside is holding at around fifty degrees below zero. The base has already conscripted some Third Rank and higher Superpower Users to shovel snow and break ice around the perimeter every day."

"This can’t go on forever," Xie Ning sighed softly. "Waiting is what makes people most anxious."

Especially when there’s no hope in sight.

"Keep a close watch on the able-bodied workers in the underground shelter," Xie Ning reminded him quietly.

"You think the young, able-bodied men might be looking for a chance to riot?"

"Never test the limits of human nature."

When food resources are squeezed again and again, some people are bound to start getting other ideas.

In a place like the underground shelter, if some irreversible unrest breaks out, it won’t be just one or two people who die.