25th-Floor Tough Guys

At half past ten, the system's notification sounded in Ming Jiu's mind.

[Host, someone is knocking outside.]

The system immediately pulled up the surveillance feed from the smart door lock.

Ming Jiu looked at the light screen. There were indeed quite a few people outside, but she only recognized one—Auntie Zhang from unit 02.

The apartment door and bedroom door she had chosen were high quality, and the system's later modifications had made them exceptionally soundproof. With both doors shut, she could not hear the pounding on the door from the master bedroom at all.

"Xiao Rong, I'm going out to take a look. Watch Black Girl and Black Rice."

Ming Jiu took an extra-long down coat from the wardrobe, one that reached her calves. She put up the hood and wrapped herself in a scarf before opening the door and heading out.

It was below minus thirty degrees outside. Skin exposed to the air for more than ten minutes would suffer frostbite.

The moment she opened the door, cold air hit her head-on. Ming Jiu glanced at the thermometer installed outside the bedroom door. Without heating or any warming equipment, the indoor temperature had already dropped to below minus ten degrees.

Ming Jiu opened the door and instantly began shivering, stomping her feet in the hallway alongside the neighbors.

There was some acting involved, but not much. It really was freezing.

"Auntie Zhang!"

"You finally came out. Is everything okay at home?"

Ming Jiu said, "I'm fine. I was looking for clothes to put on. Why did it suddenly get so cold?"

Two people stood beside Auntie Zhang, presumably her husband and son. Both father and son were tall.

Four people stood outside unit 03—two men and two women, wrapped in a haphazard assortment of thick clothing.

Auntie Zhang said, "There wasn't any warning about a cold wave. What's going on?"

"I saw it!"

A girl in a fluffy brown bear-ear hat suddenly spoke up, the screen of her phone glowing.

"It's trending. City B suddenly got hit with a temperature drop and blizzard... and S Province, H Province, L Province, G Province too?!"

Auntie Zhang's son spoke. "So the whole country got hit with a temperature drop and blizzard?"

"We're done, Mom. The apocalypse is really here."

Auntie Zhang shot him a glare. "Don't talk nonsense!"

The girl in the fluffy hat was about to say something else when her phone screen flickered and shut off completely.

"It was clearly still over seventy percent. Why did it shut down?"

The boy beside the girl took her phone and tucked it into his pocket.

"It's too cold. Phones lose battery quickly in this weather. My iPhone can barely even turn on."

Another man asked, "What did property management say?"

The fluffy-hat girl said, "Everyone on our floor is okay. Should we go downstairs and alert the others?"

Just as she finished speaking, the amplified sound of a loudspeaker surged up through the stairwell.

"Attention, attention! Residents, please take note! Dangerously low temperatures, dangerously low temperatures!"

"Building 12, anyone who is awake, hurry and knock on your neighbors' doors to warn each other! Property management is holding a meeting. Please keep an eye on the group chat for updates. If you have any issues, call the property management office!"

"Property management will come door to door later to take stock. Please remain calm!"

Very soon, Ming Jiu heard the sounds of doors being knocked on from every floor.

"Property management! Property management! My dad fainted! I can't get through to emergency services!"

The loudspeaker sounded again. "Property management is organizing vehicles. Those who need emergency transport to the hospital, gather in the underground parking garage in half an hour! Half an hour! Keep warm, and put more clothes on the patients!"

The hallway descended into another bout of chaos.

Auntie Zhang said, "What is all this?"

"It's too cold. We should all go home. It's warmer inside."

The man beside Auntie Zhang spoke.

"Isn't there a neighborhood grid group? We should all keep an eye on it. Let's exchange contact information when we get back, then make a small group chat. We can keep each other informed of any news. A close neighbor is better than a distant relative."

No one objected. They returned to their respective homes, and the hallway fell quiet again.

Ming Jiu returned to the master bedroom and headed straight for the window. The outdoor thermometer read minus thirty-three degrees.

She had deliberately chosen the thermometer's location when installing it, so the goose-feather snow outside had not fallen on it.

The master bedroom's temperature remained steady at around ten degrees above zero. Ming Rong was curled up under the blankets with Black Girl and Black Rice in her arms. When she saw her sister return, Ming Rong lifted a corner of the blanket and patted the mattress hard.

Ming Jiu did not stand on ceremony. She took off her down coat and slipped inside.

Ming Rong pushed her tablet over.

[What happened?]

Ming Jiu said, "Nothing. The neighbors came knocking. Everyone on our floor is okay."

As she spoke, she took out her phone. Sure enough, WeChat had a long string of friend requests waiting for her.

There were 99+ messages in both the neighborhood grid group and the residential owners' group.

Ming Jiu carefully added notes and accepted them one by one.

Soon, Auntie Zhang's son—Gao Xiaoshan—added her to a group chat.

[25th-Floor Tough Guys]

Ming Jiu: ...

[Gao Xiaoshan: Brothers and sisters, could you update your nicknames?]

[Zhang Juanxiu: What kind of awful name is that?]

[Gao Xiaoshan: Mom, you don't understand us young people. Everyone gets it anyway.]

Two minutes later, the group name was changed.

[25th-Floor Mutual Aid]

Ming Rong leaned over curiously, poked Ming Jiu's arm, then pointed at Gao Xiaoshan's profile picture and signed one word: Beaten up.

Ming Jiu nodded. It was hard not to agree.

[Ding Yaxian: Should we introduce ourselves? I'll go first. My name is Ding Yaxian, and my boyfriend is @Hu Shao. You can call me Xiao Ya.]

[Hu Shao: Hello, everyone. Just call me Xiao Hu.]

[Gao Xiaoshan: Hello, brothers and sisters. I'm Gao Xiaoshan, an utterly ordinary high schooler.]

[Meng Meng: Hello, everyone. My name is Meng Meng.]

[Guo Yao: Guo Yao. Other than Sister Zhang from 03 and Brother Gao, I'm probably the oldest here. I'm twenty-nine. You can call me Old Guo or Brother Yao.]

[Ming Jiu: Hello, everyone. My name is Ming Jiu.]

[Gao Zhixing: Gao Zhixing, @Gao Xiaoshan's dad. I'm a junior engineer. I can fix appliances and such.]

[Ding Yaxian: Did you see the neighborhood grid group? The person who shouted in the hallway that his father had fainted... it seems he died before they could get him to the hospital.]

[Guo Yao: That serious?]

[Zhang Juanxiu: You young people will probably be fine, but for older people with heart or cerebrovascular issues, this kind of sudden drastic temperature drop is very dangerous.]

[Guo Yao: It's too cold. Even the air conditioner won't start. Does anyone know what the temperature is outside right now?]

[Gao Zhixing: Stay warm. Electric radiant heaters and space heaters can still be used. If you have them, squeeze together and keep warm.]

[Image]

[Gao Zhixing: My home has an outdoor thermometer. It's already minus thirty-three degrees. I don't know how long the heating can hold up. At this temperature, people can really freeze to death.]

[Ding Yaxian: Thank you!]

[Ding Yaxian: I have an electric blanket.]

[Guo Yao: I have a space heater.]

[Meng Meng: I have an electric blanket too. Do you want to come to my room? Mine is the smallest.]

[Ding Yaxian: Sister Meng Meng! Then we won't stand on ceremony!]

[...]

The group was still chatting, messages scrolling rapidly.

No one dared to rest after the sudden temperature drop. Chatting could at least ease their anxiety.

Ming Jiu put down her phone and hugged Ming Rong.

"Are you scared?"

Curled up in her sister's arms, Ming Rong typed.

[I'm not scared.]

[Will it always be like this from now on?]

"The temperature will keep dropping. Do you remember when we went to the Northeast one year, to Ice and Snow World? It's about as cold outside now as it was then, but it'll get even colder later."

"But things will get better."

Ming Rong looked thoughtful.

[But Ice and Snow World was really fun.]

Ming Jiu said, "In many places in the Northeast, winter temperatures can drop to minus thirty or forty degrees at their coldest. The locals have adapted to that climate. They know how to protect themselves in low temperatures."

[How cold will it get here? Will lots of people freeze to death?]

"It will, but we'll be fine. I promise."

In her previous life in City G, the temperature had dropped to minus thirty degrees at its coldest. It had been nothing less than a devastating blow.

There was no central heating, the buildings had poor insulation, and the city had almost no experience dealing with cold waves.

At minus twenty degrees, the housekeeper and her son had frozen to death in the second bedroom of her home. She and Ming Rong had survived only because of the gear they had stocked up on during their trip to Ice and Snow World.

City B's lowest temperature should reach around minus fifty degrees. Before long, there would be two more waves of gradual temperature drops, leaving devastation everywhere and countless casualties.