Today, the temperature reached forty-five degrees. Tomorrow, it could hit fifty.
The chives in the yard were instantly scorched limp.
The motorcycle at home was even more frighteningly hot to the touch.
Without air conditioners or electric fans, the house with its doors and windows shut was like a sweltering, giant steamer.
The average summer temperature in Longquan Village was never more than twenty-eight degrees. Right now, Jiang Si felt like a kernel of popcorn about to burst.
Jiang Chengwu and Jiang Linhai, wearing the special ice-pack vests Jiang Si had made, raced against time to cover the roof with thick insulation panels.
Her grandmother and mother were in the kitchen, slaughtering the chickens and ducks. In this heat, keeping them alive was just making them suffer.
The kitchen wasn't visible to outsiders, so Jiang Si directly covered all the water vats and buckets with ice. The temperature plummeted, making it a different world from the outside.
Their house had a large footprint, making the installation of the insulation panels quite laborious. The ice-pack vests on Jiang Chengwu and Jiang Linhai wouldn't last long.
So, Jiang Si held up an umbrella and provided a dedicated cooling service.
Standing on the rooftop, she had a panoramic view of the entire village. Qin Shen, her neighbor who had just returned, had gotten a large flatbed cart from somewhere and was unloading supplies at his house.
There wasn't much food, probably only enough for a few months.
Jiang Si narrowed her eyes. 'I have to be wary of him.'
The young people who fled back from the city immediately told their families that the city was in chaos, there were no relief supplies, and the apocalypse had truly arrived!
The villagers completely panicked. They grabbed sickles and hoes to rush-harvest the crops in the fields and charged to the only small store at the village entrance, shouting for it to open.
Luo Qiang wasn't an idiot. The situation was clearly not right. How could he possibly sell his supplies to everyone in exchange for a few pieces of useless paper money?
He wouldn't open the door, so the villagers kicked the security door until it clanged loudly, acting no different from a pack of crazed bandits. It forced him to throw firecrackers from his roof to drive them away.
And this was just the beginning of the apocalypse, when every household still had some food stored away.
After the insulation panels covered the roof, the indoor temperature dropped significantly. Even without using ice, it could stay around thirty degrees. With another layer of insulating paint, the temperature could reach a comfortable twenty-five degrees. When the outside heat eventually rose above sixty degrees, the house at least wouldn't become unbearably stuffy.
After her father and grandfather finished their work, they wanted to slaughter the pig without a moment's rest.
Everyone had been spinning like tops, busy for over ten hours. The house was safe for now. Jiang Si persuaded him, "Dad, we can slaughter the pig tomorrow. There's no need to rush."
Jiang Linhai was still on edge and couldn't sit still. He said, "The sky isn't getting dark anyway. I'll go to the vegetable patch and bring back the cabbage. Your mom can pickle it."
Jiang Si nodded. "Everyone else is out rush-harvesting their crops. If our family doesn't go, it'll raise suspicion. Grandma, Grandpa, and Mom should stay home. I'll go with you!"
"We'll go too!"
"No, I'm afraid someone might sneak into our house to steal things. You all stay home and take turns resting. We need to get into the habit of standing guard."
Jiang Si's extreme caution showed just how dangerous the apocalypse was. Everyone listened to her arrangements. A short while later, Jiang Si and Jiang Linhai went ahead to the cornfield, carrying baskets on their backs.
It was clearly their family's cornfield, yet several people had snuck onto their land and were brazenly picking their corn.
When they saw Jiang Linhai and Jiang Si appear, they actually sped up their picking.
Jiang Si raised her sickle. "Who told you you could touch our family's corn? Anyone who moves again, I'll cut you down!"
What trouble could a young slip of a girl like Jiang Si possibly cause?
They paid her no mind. Li Cui, who always loved to take advantage of others, even laughed shamelessly, "We're just picking a few. It's not like they're made of gold!"
Just as Jiang Linhai was about to get angry, SWOOSH—the sickle in Jiang Si's hand flew out without hesitation, accurately slicing off Li Cui's topknot.
The top of her head suddenly felt light. A chill ran down Li Cui's spine, and her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in fright.
'What if Jiang Si's hand had been unsteady just now and she'd sliced my head off!'
Just as she was about to start screaming curses, Jiang Si pulled two butcher knives from her back basket. Her eyes glinted dangerously. "Are you going to get lost or not?"
'That damn girl, Jiang Si!'
The others sensibly ran off. Li Cui stayed put and shouted, "Jiang Linhai, your daughter is trying to kill me! Are you going to do something about it or not!"
Jiang Si's attitude was Jiang Linhai's attitude. Li Cui meant nothing to him.
Jiang Linhai took the knife from Jiang Si's hand and said gently, "A young lady shouldn't be fighting and killing." Then his tone turned crazed. "Leave it all to Dad! Watch me hack her to pieces!"
Li Cui stared in disbelief as Jiang Linhai's face twisted into a ferocious expression. He raised the glinting knife and charged at her.
Li Cui shrieked in terror, and the corn from her basket scattered all over the ground.
'This father and daughter pair must be crazy! Crazy!'
Jiang Si gave Jiang Linhai a thumbs-up. "Dad, you're amazing! Let's see who dares to bully us now!"
By establishing a reputation for being difficult to mess with, the villagers wouldn't think of them first when they started running out of food and clothes.
After several days of rush-harvesting, the temperature gradually reached fifty degrees. The cycle of day and night was completely thrown off balance; no one knew if the next moment would bring daylight or darkness.
The ground steamed under the sun. Livestock in the village died in large numbers, and families who couldn't bear to throw them away cured the meat to save for later.
After just a short while under the sun, Jiang Si's skin would burn with a fiery pain.
She had prepared sunscreen with an extremely high SPF for the whole family, and they also wore breathable, sun-protective clothing, guarding against the corrosive effects that could come with the drastically rising temperatures.
The temperature rose too quickly, and combined with the high-intensity rush-harvest, several elderly people died suddenly.
Many of the younger people also suffered from heatstroke, showing symptoms like dizziness, headaches, and difficulty breathing.
Her grandmother and grandfather were old, and her mother always kept a stock of medicine at home—something many people in the village knew.
Jiang Si warned her entire family, "If anyone comes to the door asking for medicine, you must not give them any, understand?"
"Once you open that door, there will be an endless stream of people coming to ask."
"You have to learn to be ruthless to survive in the apocalypse."
The whole family readily agreed. Suddenly, a panicked shout echoed from the village, "The Longquan River has stopped flowing!"
The entire village's power had been cut, and the tap water had stopped as well.
The Longquan River, which ran past the village, was their only source of drinking water.
If the water was gone, they wouldn't be able to survive on food alone.
The terror in everyone's hearts instantly reached a new peak. Every household began digging cellars in their homes.
If they didn't store water now, who knew if the source would suddenly dry up tomorrow?
Jiang Linhai picked up a carrying pole and said, "I'll go fetch water too."
Jiang Si stopped him. "Dad, it's too hot. Just wait until the sun is about to set, go out and let people see you, and that'll be enough. Our family isn't short on water for now. Your health is more important than anything else."
Jiang Linhai nodded. "Okay, I'll listen to you."
The words had barely left his mouth when a KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK sounded on the large iron gate. Luo Fengjiao's voice shouted, "Bao Ying, I know you're home! Can you give me a box of heat-relief medicine? My son is sick!"