Blizzard Descends

They could joke around all they wanted, but Ming Jiu was actually quite happy.

After learning the truth, Xiao Rong was neither anxious nor uneasy. Her mental state was stable, and she could even tease Ming Jiu in return—just as expected of her little sister!

In the end, Ming Rong did not make the rice balls herself.

Their home truly had no pickled vegetables or preserved vegetable sauces, so Ming Jiu took out some pickled mustard greens and Grandma's Pickled Vegetables from her space.

Ming Rong prepared fillings such as shredded pork with pickled mustard greens, scrambled eggs with Grandma's Pickled Vegetables, and tuna mayonnaise. Under Ming Jiu's insistent demands, Ming Rong only portioned the fillings evenly and strictly set the amount of rice each rice ball could use. Only then did she allow Ming Jiu to store the fillings in the space kitchen and make the rice balls herself.

Ming Jiu: ...

February 7th, the second day of the Lunar New Year.

At around eight, Ming Jiu drove to the old factory building in City L to collect the final batch of supplies—pet food, pet supplies, and the fitness equipment she had ordered online while in City G.

She finished the job before eleven. After walking around the factory building and checking the warehouse, she used a broom to mess up the footprints and tire tracks on the ground. Ming Jiu locked the factory gates and drove back into the city.

On the way, she contacted the car rental company and returned the SUV that had accompanied her through nearly half a month of running around. Then she took a taxi home.

After picking up Ming Rong, the sisters found an open hotpot restaurant and had a hearty meal.

Standing on the street, they were surrounded by streams of pedestrians. The large shopping mall nearby was still running all kinds of promotional events, while lanterns, colored lights, and other decorations adorned the streetlamps and landscaped medians.

Ming Jiu squeezed her sister's hand. "Want to visit a temple fair?"

The temple fairs in City B during the New Year were quite interesting.

Ming Rong shook her head. She wanted to go home.

After returning home, the sisters began tidying up the rooms. Mainly, they moved Ming Rong's clothes and daily necessities into the master bedroom. Unless something unexpected happened, the two of them would have to sleep in the same room for the next half year.

Ming Rong had no objections whatsoever.

Ming Jiu pushed the six-foot bed into a corner, freeing up a large area of space. She moved in a small sideboard and a tea station.

After carefully wiping the floor clean, they covered it with baby crawling mats. Ming Rong moved Black Girl and Black Rice's little beds, favorite toys, feeders, and water dispenser into the master bedroom and placed them against the wall.

The master bathroom and bedroom were separated by a set of L-shaped wardrobes, creating something like a walk-in closet. The bathroom had a dry-wet separation design, and Ming Jiu moved the litter box and dog toilet into the dry area.

Perhaps animals' senses were sharper than humans', but both Black Girl and Black Rice seemed tense.

Black Girl in particular had never caused trouble since coming to their home a few days ago. Yet today, while Ming Jiu and Ming Rong were working, she kept circling their feet and chewing on their slippers.

The sky gradually darkened, and night fell.

Ming Jiu took out the thick clothes she and Ming Rong would need and laid them on the bed: wool thermal underwear, wool socks, thin wool gloves, and a set of flannel pajamas.

After checking the heating equipment one last time, they took a hot shower together. Ming Jiu tucked Ming Rong into bed, then took her phone, pulled open the curtains a crack, and sat on the bed staring out the window.

Tonight's temperature drop was not actually that extreme, and the heating equipment in the room could still be used, but it never hurt to be prepared.

Even though she had made every possible preparation, Ming Jiu could not help feeling anxious now that the moment had truly arrived.

Her phone screen kept switching between Weibo, Xiaohongshu, and Douyin. Ming Jiu did not even know what she hoped to see. She compulsively kept scrolling.

The Weibo trending list refreshed—when Ming Jiu saw the topic "Aliens Don't Want to Deal with Humans," she suddenly wanted to laugh.

She began bothering the system.

[Sys System, is this true? Your world should know Blue Star exists, right? Do you specifically observe us?]

[No.] The system answered. [There is no point in paying attention to worlds that have not undergone Super Evolution.]

[Fine.]

Ming Jiu put away her phone and continued watching outside. A little past ten, a small clump of soft snowflakes stuck together and struck the glass before falling onto the windowsill.

At some point, Black Girl and Black Rice had run out of their beds. Black Rice nimbly jumped onto the bed, while Black Girl kept barking beneath it.

Ming Jiu picked Black Girl up and put her on the bed. Black Girl rushed straight toward the sleeping Ming Rong, nudging and barking as she tried to wake her.

Ming Jiu gave her plan to "stockpile pets" another mental thumbs-up. Black Girl was truly reliable.

The numbers on the outdoor thermometer began changing—minus fifteen, sixteen, eighteen, twenty-two... The indoor thermometer barely changed.

Ming Rong woke up. Ming Jiu took the thick clothes from the foot of the bed, put hers on first, then helped Ming Rong into hers.

Ming Rong anxiously signed: Has it started?

"It has. Get dressed properly, and don't forget your socks and gloves."

The snow fell harder and harder, turning the sky into a vast expanse of white. After getting dressed, Ming Rong pressed herself against the window to look outside, holding both Black Girl and Black Rice in her arms.

The indoor temperature began dropping. In just a few minutes, it fell from twenty-eight to twenty-two degrees and continued falling.

"Xiao Rong, put Black Girl and Black Rice under the blankets first. It's getting a little cold."

Ming Jiu picked up her phone again and called Sister Bai.

Sister Bai truly deserved her title as the queen of closing deals. The call connected quickly. Ming Jiu could hear running water, so the other woman was probably taking a shower.

"Miss Ming?"

"Sister Bai, it's me. Where are you right now?"

"I'm at the new place, the apartment in Yunjing Scenic Area. What's wrong? Good grief, why is it so cold?"

"Look at the temperature alert on your phone. The temperature suddenly started dropping—yes, Black Girl woke me up. It feels strange. Hurry and find some thick clothes or something."

After hanging up, Ming Jiu let out a breath of relief.

Sister Bai was a good person. She must not have anything happen to her just because she happened to be showering during the temperature drop.

Ming Jiu opened WeChat and sent a voice call to the old man who had sold her Black Girl.

The old man had probably been asleep for a while. The call rang for ages before he answered.

Ming Jiu said, "Hello, sir, do you remember me? I bought Black Girl from you."

Only then did the old man remember. "Oh, oh. What is it, girl? Did something happen to the puppy or kitten?"

Ming Jiu used the same excuse. "Black Girl suddenly started acting up. It's snowing heavily outside, and the temperature is dropping really fast—yes, hurry and get up and put on some thick clothes. Something isn't right. Hurry!"

"Oh, oh, it is cold. I'll get up right away. Thank you, girl!"

The old man did not end the call. Ming Jiu heard banging on a door from the other end of the phone—"Wake up, son! Get up, the temperature's dropping! Zhuangzhuang!"

Ming Jiu ended the call. The outdoor temperature had already reached minus twenty-nine. The air conditioner was running and the heater was on, yet the room had dropped to barely over ten degrees.

Another five minutes passed, and the outdoor temperature slowly fell to minus thirty-one degrees.

The air conditioner probably would not hold out much longer either. Ordinary wall-mounted air conditioners reached their heating limit at minus twenty-five degrees. Ming Jiu turned off the air conditioner and took out a system-modified heater from her space as a backup.

The system-modified heater could directly use energy boxes and had much higher heating efficiency, but it was not time to use it yet.