Early the next morning, Gu Yanlin got up early and put on warm clothes in his room.
The living room hadn't had the heat turned on, and as soon as Gu Yanlin stepped out of his room, he felt the temperature had dropped again. Looking out from the living room window, he saw that it had started to snow lightly outside.
Gu Yanzhi hurriedly turned on the heater in the living room, then took out the breakfast from the refrigerator in the kitchen that he had put in last night. The refrigerator didn't need to be powered on because, in this weather, places without heating are natural refrigerators.
The steaming soy milk from last night had turned into a lump when taken out.
The buns were frozen so solid that one could kill a person if they were dropped.
Gu Yanlin turned on the electromagnetic stove to heat the breakfast, then boiled a pot of hot water. Before heading out, he found his thermos and filled it with a whole pot of hot water.
He put on his down jacket, got his hat, gloves, and scarf ready, then put the thermos in his hiking bag, also packed two self-heating hot pot meals as lunch.
Before going out, he hesitated and strapped an axe onto himself since he wasn't sure if the government would provide tools.
As soon as he stepped out, Gu Yanlin couldn't help but sneeze. This damned weather was so cold.
Even though the living room didn't have the heat on, it was much warmer than outside.
Gu Yanlin quickly adjusted the temperature of his clothes, and finally felt comfortable.
On the way downstairs, he happened to run into Xiao Lin and Gao Zhi coming out when he was on the 16th floor.
"Brother Xiao Lin, Brother Gao, Sister Sisi, morning," he greeted.
"Morning, Yanlin," they replied.
The three of them were all dressed in thick down coats, wrapped up like penguins, and started shivering as soon as they stepped outside.
"This damned weather, it's too cold," Liu Sisi kept exhaling, rubbing her hands, and stomped a few times on the stairs, making a dull sound, complaining.
"Really doesn't let people live," Xiao Lin nodded, complaining with them.
Thus, the group complained all the way downstairs. Uncle Zhang on the 13th floor heard the noise and quickly came out of his room to welcome them in, "No need to change shoes, come in and find a place to sit."
"Warm up inside a bit, and we'll leave once everyone is here."
Uncle Zhang's living room had two stainless steel basins set up, burning wood they found the day before. This was the heating method for most families now.
At this time, Zhang Qian and Aunt Zhang were also dressed warmly, gathering around the fire basin, warming their hands.
Seeing Gu Yanlin and the others, Zhang Qian waved to them, signaling them to sit over.
Aunt Zhang made space for the young ones, moving to the side to the fire basin with Uncle Zhang, listening to the young folks talk and laugh.
Soon enough, the rest of the group arrived.
Uncle Zhang tamped out the fire in the basins to ensure they wouldn't rekindle, and then everyone headed out the door.
Team 532 left one person to take care of Chu Guodong, and the rest went out with them.
They were also assigned tasks today, and since they were staying in Building 10, their recent tasks were all arranged around the Songshan area.
The hospital's work hours started earlier than those of regular jobs, so in the morning, Team 532 sent two people to escort Zhong Junfeng and Yin Meng to the temporary hospital, and they also had to pick them up in the evening.
Tao Qi had his own work and couldn't visit Chu Guodong every day.
Now, Zhong Junfeng and Yin Meng were considered Chu Guodong's dedicated doctors, needing to change his dressings twice daily and report on his condition in real-time to Tao Qi, who adjusted the treatment plan based on their descriptions.
Therefore, for their captain, Team 532 voluntarily took on the responsibility of protecting Zhong Junfeng and Yin Meng.
When they headed out, the morning was lightly snowing but soon turned into thick, heavy snowflakes, fluttering down and making the weather seem even colder.
The group braved the wind and snow, arriving at the Songshan District Government, where yesterday's registration line had been transformed into four windows: two recruitment windows each set up separately, a shelter window, and an information window.
Once here, Team 532 left to carry out their task.
Gu Yanlin took a look around and noticed each line had a considerable number of people, shivering with slightly purple lips. They rubbed their hands, trying to warm themselves.
After nearly an hour of waiting, it was finally their turn. The staff at the ice-cutting window first apologized to them, as today's snow forced the cancellation of the ice-cutting job, leaving only the woodcutting task available.
According to meteorologists' predictions, today's snowfall would be substantial, making ice-cutting difficult. Once a hole was made, it would immediately clog with snow, significantly increasing the challenge, so the task was temporarily canceled, leaving only woodcutting.
Each group required 10-15 people, and excluding Zhong Junfeng and Yin Meng, Building 10 had exactly 11 people, fitting the requirement for forming a team. After a whispering discussion, everyone decided that they had already come this far, so they might as well go for it.
Uncle Zhang, as team leader, confirmed with the staff that they would take on this task.
They were told someone would lead them to the designated woodcutting location shortly.
The staff also asked if they needed tools.
Ropes were provided for free, but axes needed to be rented. The price was quite reasonable; one axe could be rented for one split log, and they could even credit the first day, settling the account in the evening.
Out of the 11 people from Building 10, only Gu Yanlin and Uncle Zhuang brought axes, so they rented 9 more axes.
The person showing them the way happened to be an acquaintance, the very Zhao Rui from Team 532.
Their squad's following task was to lead onsite working teams; they themselves couldn't remain idle, so they needed to participate in the group's work, receiving the same compensation as the team.
Under Zhao Rui's guidance, the Building 10 woodcutting team walked for another hour to Song Mountain, by which time many teams were already working there.
Zhao Rui greeted familiar people and chose a less populated spot to set as Building 10's woodcutting site for the day and began working.
Meanwhile, Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao slept in until after 12, then played around in bed for a while before finally getting up feeling refreshed.
When they got up, it was almost 2 o'clock, and the heavy snow outside had already reached the ankles.
The heater in the living room had been intentionally turned on by Gu Yanlin when he left in the morning, so the living room was now cozy. Neither of them needed to change clothes; they just came out of their room in pajamas.
They couldn't clearly distinguish whether they were having breakfast, lunch, or dinner, but anyhow, it was a sumptuous meal.
They chose four dishes: braised pork, roasted eggplant, stir-fried green beans, and a stir-fried green dish, a favorite among the residents of City C.
After the meal, Gu Yanzhi brought out two cups of milk tea, popcorn, and some miscellaneous snacks, and the two of them lay on the couch, cuddled together, and found a movie to watch.
They enjoyed a rare moment of leisure.