Yao Wei's tone was increasingly melancholy and emotional.
Both of them got into the car, Yao Wei started it and drove along the small road they came from, heading straight towards the villa at 272 Jiang Yu Road.
The cold wind rustled the leaves, and the whole world suddenly lost its vitality.
But this was just the beginning.
Lu Xi'an, who had experienced this kind of weather change countless times, knew that after a while, many leaves on the trees would freeze into fragments, scattered everywhere.
At that time, it was as if all life suddenly disappeared from the world; looking around, no living beings could be seen.
In such extreme conditions, a person's spirit can become particularly downcast, prompting thoughts of questioning the meaning of enduring such a torturous environment day after day. Wouldn't it be better to just perish?
Hence, Lu Xi'an constantly reminded himself to maintain a cheerful mood, believing that as long as he was alive, hope would eventually come.
Thinking about the half piece of wild boar meat still in the trunk, the cold weather would prevent it from spoiling, and at mealtime, it would be a feast again, wouldn't that be great?
Comforting himself in this manner, he turned to glance at Yao Wei.
This car had no air conditioning, the warm air wasn't sufficient, the steering wheel was too cold, and even the engine's warm air couldn't help in the excessively cold weather. The woman continuously switched fingers to control the car, unable to grip with all ten fingers.
She remained indifferent, her demeanor fitting the weather perfectly. How does she regulate her emotions?
The car windows started to fog up, obstructing the view. Yao Wei had to take a cloth to continuously wipe the glass, removing the white fog to regain vision ahead.
"Let me do it."
Lu Xi'an took the cloth from Yao Wei's hand, helping her wipe the front windshield to allow her to focus on driving.
Helping each other like this, the two headed towards Jiang Yu Road.
The cloth in Lu Xi'an's hand soon became cold and wet, but he could only bear the ice-cold task.
Finally, the car arrived outside 272 Jiang Yu Road, and Yao Wei stepped on the brake.
Lu Xi'an first let Gou out of the car to check around, confirming there was no problem before he and Yao Wei got out with the Bottle and went inside.
In the villa, several hyena carcasses were gone, and only some skeletal remains, frozen stiff, were left.
He speculated that the hyenas had returned.
Those scavengers would gnaw on their own kind's corpses when starving.
If his guess was correct, they wouldn't need to worry now.
The hyenas ate their fill and took away the remaining corpses, likely not returning anytime soon.
They walked to the edge of the pool in the yard, fortunately, the pool water had thawed.
Lu Xi'an had Gou check, confirming the water was still fine for them to drink.
Yao Wei hurriedly took the Bottle to fill it with water. Suddenly recalling something, Lu Xi'an left the bathroom and glanced at the wall.
On the wall were black-edged switches controlling the house's various lights. Beside the switches, there was a white control screen, also long covered with dust.
But Lu Xi'an could still see clearly; the control screen had two rows of buttons like switches, mode, adjust, and more.
Lu Xi'an had confirmed before, this was the central air conditioning controller for the villa.
Unfortunately, he tried it and the air conditioning was already broken.
But what's important now wasn't that, nor was it what he remembered.
He quickly went upstairs to the bedroom on the second floor and indeed saw something wrapped in cloth at the corner of the ceiling, not large, elongated with curves.
A pipe as thick as a baby's fist extended from the cloth wrap and out through the wall opening.
Lu Xi'an moved a bedside table over, stepped on it, grabbed the edge of the cloth wrap, and yanked it off.
A cloud of dust swirled and came rushing at him.
Lu Xi'an quickly covered his mouth and nose with his hand, closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, he saw the true form of the object beneath the cloth wrap.
A white semi-circular unit, an open casing revealing a corner of the air outlet below—what else could it be but an air conditioning unit?
Indeed...
But he hadn't expected that this villa with a central air conditioning also had a small, separate air conditioner in the bedroom.
Previously, the temperature was pleasant, and he didn't need the air conditioner, so he hadn't paid much attention to this corner.
Yet although he hadn't looked closely, he still remembered it, allowing him to recall it at this moment.
However, with such cold weather, he wasn't sure if the air conditioner would function...
Lu Xi'an gently exhaled and said, "Gou, go connect the power."
The mechanical dog had followed Lu Xi'an upstairs before, and upon hearing his command, it immediately turned around and wobbled out of the bedroom, going downstairs.
Lu Xi'an turned on the bedroom light switch, listening as the snapping sound gradually faded away, until it disappeared. Then, after a moment, the lights came on.
Lu Xi'an had previously found two remote controls in the bedside cabinet drawer. At that time, he thought they were for the TV and didn't pay much attention.
Thinking back now, one of those must have been for the air conditioner.
But it didn't matter, the batteries in the remote controls had long expired. He had tested them earlier.
Fortunately, the air conditioner had physical buttons for power, speed, direction, mode, and timer arranged in a row.
If this were in his previous life, he would have considered this design unnecessary.
Why would a wall unit need buttons? A remote would suffice. But now, he thought past designers were truly farsighted.
The air conditioner had been plugged into the wall socket the whole time.
Lu Xi'an confirmed it, then reached to press the power button, pressing longer, shorter, and multiple times, but it was completely unresponsive.
Who knew if the circuit had issues or the air conditioner was broken?
Lu Xi'an didn't give up, scrambled down from the bedside cabinet and ran outside the bedroom, leaning against the railing and calling, "Gou, come up."
Unexpectedly, Yao Wei came up first.
She had finished filling the water, and after connecting her and Lu Xi'an's Bottle, she came to see what Lu Xi'an was doing.
The mechanical dog followed behind Yao Wei, wobbling back into the room, and Lu Xi'an picked it up, stepped on the bedside cabinet, and asked, "Can this air conditioner plug connect?"
Gou immediately opened a port on its back, revealing a socket.
Lu Xi'an realized the dog's essence was a power bank, just like Yao Wei's device, and then plugged the air conditioning cord into the dog's back.
"Beep—"
He heard a sound from the air conditioner, eyes lighting up; he quickly pressed the buttons to select heating mode and set the fan speed to maximum.
"Whirr—whirr—whirr—"
The outdated machine, dormant for who knows how long, began to operate again, initially producing a cool breeze that soon turned warm, driving away the cold.
Lu Xi'an instantly felt warm and comfortable, though his nose was filled with the musty smell from the old air conditioner, it didn't impede the enjoyment his body and skin transmitted.
It actually worked!
Lu Xi'an was a bit amazed.
He was just trying it out, knowing in his previous life such cold wouldn't allow air conditioners to work.
This world's air conditioning seemed much more powerful than before.
What good fortune!
"How is it?"
He turned and asked Yao Wei with a smile.
Yao Wei stared blankly at the air conditioner, momentarily silent.
She also felt the warmth.
"Do you think we can take this air conditioner off and install it in your car, how about that?"
Lu Xi'an suddenly whimsically asked.
The weather was too cold, the car's engine warm air wouldn't work, and during breaks, Yao Wei wasn't willing to waste gas keeping the car warm.
Yao Wei seriously pondered for a while, shook her head, and said, "The car wouldn't handle it."
The car's voltage certainly couldn't support such indoor air conditioning.
Lu Xi'an smiled slightly, patting the mechanical dog's head: "But we have Gou, right?"