Chapter 53 - 52: Asking for Trouble

Chapter 53: Chapter 52: Asking for Trouble

His feet had been freezing in the snow and ice for twenty minutes and were on the verge of losing all sensation. Then, they had been heavily smashed by a hammer. His feet were probably going to be crippled now!

"Sun Hu, Gao Xiang..." Liu Fei suddenly called out to the two of them from behind.

Sun Hu and Gao Xiang turned their heads in unison to look at Liu Fei. They saw his face was filled with terror, his eyes wide with fear, and his features contorted. Sun Hu and Gao Xiang had never seen Liu Fei look so twisted.

Gao Xiang asked in surprise, "Liu Fei, what’s wrong?"

Liu Fei slowly extended a hand. "Look..."

He opened his palm, and a frozen ear lay right there!

As it turned out, Liu Fei hadn’t worn any winter gear on his head, leaving it completely exposed to the bitter cold. After trekking all night and waiting in the severe cold for twenty minutes just now, Liu Fei only felt a slight itch on his ear. He subconsciously reached up to rub it, never expecting that the entire ear would be rubbed right off...

Sun Hu and Gao Xiang were startled when they saw the ear. When they looked up and saw Liu Fei missing an ear like some monster, they were even more terrified!

"Ah!" Sun Hu screamed on the spot.

Gao Xiang’s heart wasn’t very strong. After enduring these two sudden frights, his face suddenly turned purple, and he collapsed straight to the ground.

"Gao Xiang might not make it!" Sun Hu yelled. "Hurry and save him!"

Liu Fei couldn’t even care about his missing ear anymore. Together with Sun Hu, he hurriedly carried Gao Xiang away.

"Those three finally left," Xu Xiaoka said. Peering through the peephole, she watched Sun Hu and Liu Fei limping away as they carried Gao Xiang. She breathed a sigh of relief and put down the fruit knife in her hand.

Chen Momo finished her last round of the game, turned off her iPad, and said to Xu Xiaoka and Chen Xiaobao, "You both saw what happened today, right? From now on, try not to play outside. It’s too easy to be targeted by bad people. Luckily, those three didn’t pose much of a threat to us today, but if more people came, we’d be in real trouble."

"Sister Momo, it’s all my fault," Xu Xiaoka said, blaming herself. "I shouldn’t have taken Xiao Bao outside to have a snowball fight. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been targeted by those three."

Chen Xiaobao also proactively took the blame. "Mommy, you can’t blame Sister Xiao Ka for this. If you have to blame someone, blame Xiao Bao! I was the one who wanted to play in the snow, so Sister Xiao Ka just went with me."

Seeing that her son, despite his young age, didn’t shrink back at all when it came to admitting his mistakes, Chen Momo felt extremely satisfied. She said to Chen Xiaobao, "Mommy will let it slide this time, but you have to be more careful in the future."

Xiao Bao said with a serious face, "Mommy, I know now! I won’t clamor to play outside ever again!"

Over the next few days, it only snowed occasionally, about once every two or three days.

Chen Momo checked the outdoor temperature; it was minus 58.7 degrees Celsius. This was simply not a temperature suitable for human survival. She then checked the indoor temperature: eighteen degrees. The villa was too large; maintaining eighteen degrees was already quite good. Of course, it wasn’t as warm as the small house they used to live in. Even in the coldest weather, the indoor temperature of their old place had remained above twenty degrees. Fortunately, the two large fireplaces in the villa were incredibly efficient, providing excellent heat. Chen Momo only needed to turn them on and add fuel, and the entire living room would become toasty and warm. Otherwise, a living room this big would probably need about a dozen electric heaters just to maintain the temperature.

As for the bedrooms, they continued to use a combination of electric heaters, electric blankets, and hot water bottles to stay warm. Sleeping under three heavy quilts at night, they didn’t feel cold at all. During the day, wearing thermal underwear with loungewear over it was enough to go about their daily lives comfortably.

Ever since the incident with Sun Hu, Chen Xiaobao and Xu Xiaoka stopped going outside to play in the snow. The two kids started playing a new game inside the villa—Gomoku. Whoever won got to draw a line on the loser’s face with a watercolor marker. Even though Xu Xiaoka was much older than Chen Xiaobao, she was no match for him when it came to playing games. She frequently ended up getting her face drawn on like a painted cat by Chen Xiaobao.

While binge-watching a TV show, Chen Momo looked over at the two of them and couldn’t help but smile and shake her head. These two really knew how to have fun. They could find joy in even the most boring life.

Chen Momo still turned on the radio every day to listen to the signal from the mysterious channel. Although she hadn’t seen the progress of the shelter base in person, she could hear the full construction updates through the radio:

"The snow at Guan Shan Kou Men’s Vocational Technical College has been cleared.

"The snow in the underground passages has been removed.

"Installation of cables and heating devices has begun.

"The process of converting each classroom into living quarters has started..."

Under Gu Rongjin’s command, the task of building the shelter base was proceeding in an orderly manner. Chen Momo checked the date. Based on her experience from her previous life, the shelter base would be finished in another half a month!

They couldn’t stay in the villa for too long. Even though living there was very comfortable, for one thing, it didn’t belong to her, and the owner might return at any time. For another, the apocalypse was full of disasters. Right now, it was only a snowstorm, but who knew what other catastrophes might happen later? Living isolated in the villa meant they would have nowhere to seek help if an accident occurred. Therefore, Chen Momo decided that as soon as the base was built, they would head over and secure a room early on. If they went too late, there wouldn’t be any left!

So, Chen Momo said to Chen Xiaobao and Xu Xiaoka, "Xiao Bao, Xiao Ka, pack your things first. Don’t leave anything behind. In two weeks, we’ll be leaving for another place."

Although Xu Xiaoka didn’t know why they were moving, she remained steadfast in following Chen Momo, holding absolutely no doubts about her plans. As for Chen Xiaobao, he had already packed his small suitcase early on. Despite his young age, Xiao Bao still retained memories of the cruel experiences from the apocalypse. That was why Xiao Bao had packed his suitcase so early, always ready to relocate to the shelter base with his mommy.

Over the following two weeks, there were five heavy snowstorms in total, and the temperature consistently hovered around minus fifty degrees. Two weeks later, Chen Momo woke up early and suddenly noticed that a large loudspeaker had appeared on the big tree at the front of the villa district at some unknown time. Around nine o’clock in the morning, the loudspeaker began broadcasting on a loop.

"Emergency notice! Emergency notice! The Han City shelter base has been completed. All citizens who hear this announcement, please head to the shelter base to assemble. The shelter base is located at Guan Shan Kou Men’s Vocational Technical College in Han City..."

Upon hearing the announcement, Chen Momo immediately said to Xu Xiaoka and Chen Xiaobao, "Grab everything you need to take. We’re getting ready to head out!"