Read Novel Full Chapter 242: Four Seasons In One Day
Chapter 242: Four Seasons In One Day
Before going to bed, Jiang Ning took out a quilt. “Doudou, if it gets cold at night, use the quilt.”
There were timely reports on the radio, but theres no announcements from He Tianming’s loudspeaker yet. It might be that the radio was out of power. Huo Yishen conveyed the message: “The meteorological department has notified us that the polar day is here. The temperature difference between morning and evening is significant.”
So, the loudspeaker sounded again, reminding the members to wear more clothes and cover themselves to prevent catching a cold.
This was no joke. If someone got sick and couldn’t recover, it could be fatal.
After a good night’s sleep until dawn, Jiang Ning woke up to find a blanket covering her.
Jiang Ning glanced at the thermometer on the wall: 20 degrees.
The spot beside her was empty; Huo Yishen was gone.
Pulling back the curtains, she saw him exercising on the terrace with the dog, even Doudou was there.
Ugh, she had fallen behind.
In the morning it was 20 degrees, by noon it was 37 degrees, and at night it was 18 degrees, with temperatures like a roller coaster.
The darkness was delayed until 9 PM.
Day after day, besides eating, there was nothing to do. She was tired of watching TV. The sparring lasted only for less than two hours, and reading made her restless.
Being a couch potato wasn’t easy.
Seeing how bored she was, Huo Yishen suggested, “How about making something to eat?”
Now, since the detached houses are far apart, cooking wouldn’t allow the smell to spread.
In the future, when they moved to the new city area, even the villas wouldn’t have such wide spacing.
Jiang Ning agreed, “Shall we make buns and wontons?”
This time, it wasn’t about being busy; they were just passing the time, making food whenever they felt like it.
Meat buns, vegetable buns, flower rolls, red bean buns, steamed buns, wontons, dumplings, stuffed rice cakes, leek boxes, noodles…
Perfecting their craft, everything looked great.
After a month, they still had a lot stored up.
By this time, it was only 1 AM when it got dark, and it was light again by 5 AM, with daytime temperatures reaching 30 degrees and nighttime temperatures only 10 degrees.
Because of the polar day, survivors had to change clothes every two hours.
If they went out, they didn’t need anything else; their backpacks were only filled with clothes for all seasons.
A small mistake, and they’d catch a cold.
This crazy weather left the dog confused, not knowing whether to grow or shed its fur.
Jiang Ning put a temperature regulating clothes on the dog.
Even though it was the polar day, the three of them still maintained a regular schedule. If the sunlight was too harsh, they could simply close the curtains without disturbing their biological clocks.
There were some benefits to the polar day: longer daylight hours accelerated crop growth, and shorter nights reduced crime rates.
However, this didn’t concern the couch potato Jiang Ning.
But Doudou was very happy. “Sister-in-law, the peanuts I planted have sprouted.”
The little kid loved planting and growing not only peanuts but also vegetables.
The dog helped dig the soil nearby, ignoring Dream’s passionate calls from downstairs.
Jiang Ning realized it: the flowers fell intentionally, but the flowing water was heartless!
Standing on the terrace, she saw the carpenters at Building 3 making furniture.
Curious, Jiang Ning went over in the evening while fetching water. “Master Tu, can you make a boat?”
“A boat?” Master Tu, a local, had been an apprentice at a dragon boat factory when he was young. “A small boat is no problem.”
Fengcheng, a land of fish and rice with an intricate network of waterways, had wooden boats in every old local household and it’s used to navigate these waters.
Master Tu was curious, “You want to make a boat?”
Jiang Ning nodded, “My rubber boat hardened during the extreme cold. If there’s a flood someday with this crazy weather, I’d have nowhere to hide. Can you make me two?”
“To make a boat, you need old fir wood and tung oil.”
He had tung oil, but securing the wood was difficult, and without many tools, the boat could be at most 1.8 meters wide and 3 meters long. Any bigger and it would be problematic.
Jiang Ning thought it was okay. If they ever had to drift at sea, rubber boats and motorboats could easily break. Wooden boats were more durable.
Though there were yachts and cruise ships, who would mind having more resources?
Chatting with Master Tu, Jiang Ning found out that he also made wooden basins and barrels, so she decisively ordered seven or eight sets.
Carpentry takes time, and Master Tu requested 150 pounds of sweet potatoes as payment.
Jiang Ning feigned hesitation before agreeing.
Two days later, she drove a truck back and unloaded the necessary timber at the entrance of Building 3. “My friend also wants wooden boats, and some barrels and basins.”
As time went on, many high-tech products became unusable, and they needed traditional items to fill the gap.
Master Tu was thrilled to earn 300 pounds of sweet potatoes, his face wrinkling with joy, and he called his son to help.
They agreed to deliver the order in two batches: the first in half a month, the second in a month.
It had to be said that the wooden boats were not only sturdy but also smoothly polished, with even the paddle coated in tung oil.
Jiang Ning tested them in water and confirmed they were watertight.
She went back to Master Tu, “My friend resold the wooden boats and wants to order six more. Make sure the quality is top-notch, there might be more business in the future.”
The Tu family was delighted with the new order, and they were one step closer to stockpiling grain and buying a house.
By this time, there was no night at all. After adjusting their biological clocks, the residents of Aoyuan were used to it. The patrol teams worked in shifts, mainly keeping an eye on the crops.
The herbs planted in the black soil garden grew well, and herbs like river yellow grass grew particularly fast.
Jiang Ning had propagated them several times. She plants several square meters. In a while, they could be harvested and dried.
Dragon grass was growing more slowly, but it had also begun to spread out, with new shoots emerging from the soil.
Jiang Ning took photos of it regularly, documenting its growth and comparing it to images in medical books.
Hmm, it was becoming more similar.
However, there were still differences.
Huo Yishen was confident, “It’s definitely it, no doubt.”
Okay, if he said so, she would trust him. After all, he was always dependable, never one to talk nonsense.
Having identified one type of herb, there was still another to find.
Jiang Ning asked, “Where did you find the herbs back then?”
“Dongqiao Mountain.”
Dongqiao Mountain is one of the province’s four famous mountains, a Daoist sacred place with high altitude and steep terrain, often shrouded in clouds. It’s located in a county under Huicheng’s jurisdiction.
Jiang Ning was surprised, “It’s several hundred kilometers away. How did you end up there?”
“The smog made the environment worse. The professor searched everywhere nearby and finally decided to try Dongqiao Mountain.”
Unexpectedly, they found it.
Now, with the polar day, traveling was relatively safer. Jiang Ning felt tempted, “How about we go there?”
If even he could get infected, she and Doudou were certainly at risk.
Jiang Ning didn’t want to cough her lungs out.
Huo Yishen was silent for a moment, “I’ll go alone. You and Doudou should stay here.”
“Why?”
“Though the earthquake didn’t collapse Dongqiao Mountain, the terrain is still very dangerous. One wrong step and it could cause landslides or falling boulders.”
In his past life, three members of the escort team had died during the herb search.
Huo Yishen didn’t want Jiang Ning to go through that.
“That’s precisely why I need to go with you. If something goes wrong, we can still escape into the space.”
Just because he was lucky last time didn’t mean they’d be as lucky this time.
However, Huo Yishen was adamant.
Jiang Ning’s eyes flickered, and she compromised, “Let’s check out Jinshi Mountain first. If we don’t find anything, we’ll reconsider.”
Jinshi Mountain is another one of the province’s four famous mountains. There is an extinct volcano with a distinctive landscape that supports a variety of plants and animals. Unlike the dangerous Dongqiao Mountain, it’s located within Fengcheng and is only about 80 kilometers from the city.
Huo Yishen didn’t want to discourage her, “We searched there last time and found nothing.”
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