Power Outage Again!
The air conditioner stopped working. Outside, the sun baked the earth, slowly raising the temperature inside the house as well.
Chu Yian was sweating all over, and worst of all, she still had a thick quilt wrapped around her. Half-asleep and drenched in sweat, she threw off the quilt and rushed down to the basement.
She spread out her mattress and collapsed onto it.
The coolness down there let her sleep comfortably until noon.
Above the basement, the generator roared loudly as it worked.
When Chu Yian came back upstairs, she saw Teacher Lu (Lu Qingyuan) sitting in the living room, once again on the phone. She couldn't catch what he was saying, only that he mentioned where something should be put and that he would pick it up at night.
Yawning, Chu Yian squinted and headed into the bathroom to freshen up.
Half-drowsy going in, then waking hot and bothered.
The air conditioner in the kitchen faced both the kitchen and living room; those two places were the only ones where the temperature remained bearable.
She opened the fridge, ready to cook.
Suddenly, Teacher Lu looked up and said, "Water, electricity, and gas—all three are out today."
Chu Yian wasn't sure how bad it would be if those three went out for others, but for them it wasn't too bad for now.
They had two generators for power.
If gas was out, they could still use the electric rice cooker.
As for water, the well had plenty. Chu Yian grabbed a bucket to fetch some, but once she stepped outside, waves of heat slammed into her.
Today's temperature had risen again!
For a moment, she even felt like she couldn't breathe and broke out into a sweat all over.
So hot!
She ran quickly toward the well with her bucket. This time she lowered the rope about a meter more than usual—and the well water seemed to have dropped?
It was just too hot outside for her to think much. She grabbed the bucket and dashed back inside.
A cool breeze greeted her in the kitchen, blowing through the kitchen and living room—a sharp contrast to the heat outside.
She hurriedly drank a bottle of Huoxiang Zhengqi Shui (Herbal Qi-Reviving Drink).
Fetching water, cooking food.
The kitchen was not too hot, which gave Chu Yian motivation to make more dishes. She pulled out the beef she had bought earlier from the fridge.
Braised beef brisket with potatoes, plus a pot of rice.
After cooking, she took two chilled drinks out of the fridge's preservation compartment.
"Teacher Lu, time to eat."
The soda was cool and refreshing.
The beef brisket was fragrant and tender.
Pouring the savory sauce over the rice, Chu Yian polished off two bowls.
Satisfied and full, she sat on the sofa and started scrolling on her phone.
Although the power was out, her phone still worked.
She opened a social forum, where the topics were all about the heatwave and power outages:
[Heatwave lasting forever]: Outdoor temperature 50°C, my god, you could fry an egg on the street!
[I want ice jelly]: Power outage again! Just got five hours of electricity last night. My god, this is going to kill people!
[Someone save me]: Crazy! First power outage, now water and gas cut too. Is this not letting people live?
[Lonely man]: Heat, plus no gas, no power, no water—this is truly unbearable. Our whole family is planning to flee to the countryside.
[Country little field fish]: It's hot in the countryside too, no water or power. The only advantage is we have a well, so we won't die of thirst.
...
As Chu Yian ate, she read these complaints online. They had two generators and lots of diesel bought earlier, so they could still run the air conditioner and enjoy cold drinks.
At the same time, many people in high-rise buildings in the city were stuck in rooms like steaming ovens. No water, no power, scarce food—living in what felt like a sea of fire, enduring the hardship.
People in the city were fleeing en masse.
Shopping malls with air conditioning, flowing riversides, bridge tunnels, underground malls—anywhere even slightly cool was already packed with people.
Seeing this, Chu Yian's sense of crisis grew.
"Teacher Lu."
She looked at Lu Qingyuan.
He raised his eyebrows. "What is it?"
"Teacher Lu, have you seen the basement downstairs?"
"Hmm."
Chu Yian sat down in front of him.
"Although we have generators and diesel, we don't know how long this heatwave will last. If we keep staying upstairs, our diesel might get tight…"
"So you want us to move downstairs?"
"Yes, yes, exactly!"
Chu Yian nodded emphatically. That was exactly what she meant.
"The basement is very spacious, even for the two of us, it's more than enough."
"Okay."
Lu Qingyuan agreed surprisingly quickly. The two immediately moved the sofa from the first floor downstairs. Not just the sofa—fridge, air conditioner, generators—everything went down.
With so much stuff, the basement became cluttered again.
Lu Qingyuan looked at the simple partitions she had built. "Can we still get these building materials?"
"I bought them at that construction site I passed earlier, but they've already stopped work there."
So she wasn't sure if she could get more.
"No problem. I'll go check this afternoon."
7:00 p.m.
The heat was still intense, like the sun at three or four in the afternoon.
Their planned time to head out was delayed. After dinner, Chu Yian took out a pineapple and peeled it.
She mashed it into juice, then poured it into two large 1-liter cups. Besides pineapple juice, she filled the rest with ice cubes.
This was for their trip outside.
At first, she wanted to add some Huoxiang Zhengqi Shui but thought the taste might be hard to accept, so she gave up.
After all, she'd be drinking it too—no need to torture herself.
Teacher Lu was outside modifying the vehicle.
He had removed all the back seats, clearly preparing space for something.
At eight o'clock sharp, they set off.
Lu Qingyuan drove into the city on a route Chu Yian had never taken before.
He arrived at a warehouse, found a key under some cement blocks beside it, and opened the warehouse door.
Inside were many sky-blue boards about 70 cm wide and 120 cm long.
Flame-retardant boards?
Chu Yian remembered Teacher Lu's phone call yesterday and curiously touched one.
"Load these onto the car. Tonight we'll bring all these flame-retardant boards home."
No wonder he removed the back seat.
Chu Yian helped load the boards onto the vehicle. Every place on the back seat and roof that could hold something was packed full.
Even so, it took three trips to move all the boards.
No time to rest.
Teacher Lu then took her to another warehouse, where a large black unopened cardboard box awaited.
"What's this?"
"M78J emergency generator."
Another generator?
That made three total.
Besides generators, there were many fire extinguishers inside.
Looking at what they'd brought back today, except for generators, the other two items were fire-related.
With the heat this intense, fires were a real risk. It made sense to stock fire safety equipment.
While Chu Yian was thinking this, Teacher Lu parked the car by the road.
"So this is the construction site you got the building materials from?"