A string of tags for Wang Liping immediately followed in the chat.
"Don't worry, everyone. The weather will clear up soon!" Wang Liping typed in the group chat to soothe everyone's anxiety.
Chen Momo knew the weather wouldn't clear up soon. In fact, it was only going to get worse. Based on her experiences from her past life, the temperature would plummet in the middle of the night. It was better to be safe than sorry and take out their winter gear now.
She took out two cotton quilts from her spatial dimension—one for her and one for Xiao Bao. She also brought out two fully charged hand warmers and laid out a pre-heated electric blanket for the both of them. Then, she turned on the air conditioning and electric heaters in the house and boiled some hot water in advance.
What should they have for dinner?
Chen Momo thought for a moment before taking out a bowl of beef noodles from her space for Xiao Bao. He was a growing boy and needed to eat more. Afraid he wouldn't get enough nutrients, she added an extra portion of beef and a fried egg on top of the noodles. As for herself, she kept it simple: a peanut butter sandwich and a glass of milk she warmed up on the induction cooker.
"Xiao Bao, come eat dinner," Chen Momo called out to her son in the bedroom.
"Okay, Mommy!" a sweet, childish voice replied, followed by the PITTER-PATTER of a tiny figure happily running out of the room.
Mother and son sat on the floor around a small table. On it sat a bowl of beef noodles, a peanut butter sandwich, and a glass of milk.
Xiao Bao took a bite of his beef noodles and immediately went into praise mode. "Mommy, your beef noodles smell so good and taste so yummy!"
Chen Momo couldn't help but laugh. This little guy was such a sweet talker; even if she put a glass of plain boiled water in front of him, he would sing its praises to the heavens. Smiling, she tucked his little bib closer to his neck. "If it's yummy, eat a little more, okay?"
Xiao Bao nodded happily. "Yeah! I'm gonna eat all my beef noodles up!"
Chen Momo picked up her sandwich and was just about to take a bite when she suddenly heard the doorbell ring. She instantly grew alert. Glancing at her son, she said, "You eat first, Xiao Bao. Mommy will go take a look."
She stood up, walked over to the door, and asked, "Who is it?"
Xu Xiaoka's voice came from outside. "Sister, I figured the weather's been pretty bad these past few days, and it might be inconvenient for you to take Xiao Bao grocery shopping. I bought some extra vegetables and brought them over for you so you won't have to go out tomorrow."
Looking through the peephole, Chen Momo saw Xu Xiaoka huddled outside. He was bundled up in a black down jacket over a pair of cotton pajama pants, his neck shrinking into his collar as he held up a plastic bag of green vegetables.
Chen Momo rejected him without hesitation. "No need. I also stocked up on vegetables beforehand. I still have plenty left!"
Even though she knew Xu Xiaoka meant well, taking favors bound you to the giver, and she didn't want to owe anyone anything. Not to mention, she already had an abundance of food stored at home.
Relieved to hear that Chen Momo had stocked up, Xu Xiaoka let out a breath. "Oh, oh, that's good! Sister, I won't bother you anymore then. You and Xiao Bao rest up early!"
Through the peephole, Chen Momo watched Xu Xiaoka turn around and scurry back to his apartment, his neck tucked in and his teeth CHATTERING from the freezing cold.
After they finished eating, Chen Momo suggested, "Xiao Bao, how about we practice some taekwondo?"
Xiao Bao's eyes sparkled. "Okay!"
Chen Momo laid a mat out on the floor, and the mother and son started sparring. Of course, her main goal was simply to help Xiao Bao exercise.
Around ten o'clock that night, the wind stopped, but the hail transitioned into a heavy snowstorm. The snowflakes fell in massive clumps, as large as wads of cotton. Because of the heavy snowfall, the pitch-black night—which had previously been so dark you couldn't see your own hand in front of your face—took on a white glow.
Peering out the window, Chen Momo saw several heavily dressed adults downstairs having snowball fights with their kids. At this moment, the temperature was only around minus ten degrees Celsius, which was still within the range of normal human tolerance.
After playing with her son a while longer, it was soon time for bed. Once Chen Momo settled Xiao Bao into sleep, she sat up in bed and began scrolling through the news on her phone. All kinds of reports had begun popping up in the media:
"A Once-in-a-Century Phenomenon! Unexpected September Snow Spectacles Occur Nationwide"
"Sudden Blizzards! Experts Claim It Is Normal Atmospheric Convection, No Cause For Alarm"
"Experts Predict Snow Will Last Seven Days Maximum, Urge Citizens Not To Panic"
Chen Momo sneered. Experts? More like expert scammers. They certainly lived up to their reputation.
She then opened her WeChat Moments. Her feed was flooded with people excitedly posting about the September snow. Some even uploaded pictures of themselves playing in the snow with their children. Very few realized that a catastrophic disaster had already descended upon them.
A small handful of farsighted individuals sensed something was wrong and had braved the snow to stock up on everyday essentials at the supermarket. The vast majority, however, were still immersed in the sheer joy of seeing a heavy blizzard in September.
Chen Momo also saw a post from Huang Yuqing. The photo showed her family of three snuggled together, a lavish dinner spread on the table in front of them. Her ex-husband, Yang Shunsheng, smiled greasily as he flashed a peace sign at the camera.
Huang Yuqing's caption read: "With you by my side, all four seasons feel like spring."
At first glance, one might mistake it for a melodramatic quote written by an elementary school student. Chen Momo scoffed. Those two really did look quite well-matched. She sarcastically wished them the best, pulled up her covers, turned off the lights, and went to sleep.
Based on Chen Momo's past experience, the temperature would plummet drastically in the middle of the night. By tomorrow, the heater would basically have to be kept on all day long, and even indoors, people would need to wear thick padded coats. To prevent her son from freezing awake in the night, she hadn't just turned on the heating mode for all the air conditioners in the house; she had also placed an electric space heater in both his room and hers. This would guarantee the rooms stayed warm.
Sure enough, she and her son slept soundly through the night without the cold waking them up.
But when Chen Momo woke up the next morning and checked her phone, the tenants' group chat already had over 99 new notifications. She tapped it open and saw everyone complaining about the sudden drop in temperature.
"I woke up freezing in the middle of the night! I had to pull out two extra quilts!"
"If I'd known it would be this cold today, I would have unpacked my winter clothes earlier!"
"My child caught a cold. With this heavy snow, there's no way to go see a doctor. I don't know what to do."
As Chen Momo was scrolling through the chat history, a "Friend Request" notification suddenly popped up on her screen. She tapped on it. The profile picture was a cute little internet cartoon girl, and the attached note read, "Xu Xiaoka."
Chen Momo hesitated for a moment, the image of Xu Xiaoka huddled up to deliver vegetables flashing before her eyes. In the end, she tapped "Accept."
Soon, Xu Xiaoka sent over a cute sticker, followed by a message. "Sister, it's Xiao Ka! Thank you so much, otherwise I definitely would have frozen to death last night!"