Chapter 136: Big Brother, You're Not Dead?
"Shen Que, how's the fire coming along?"
After dealing with the rabbits, Meng Ci took out two small heaters, plugged them in, and placed them beside Shen Que.
"Almost there."
After coming out, Shen Que found it inconvenient to light the fire with gloves on, so he took them off, leaving his hands red from the cold.
The heaters provided much-needed relief.
Seeing this, Meng Ci thought about boiling a pot of water from the space later to let Shen Que soak his hands, to prevent them from getting frostbitten again.
Soon, the fire in the stove, aided by coal, started burning, and the temperature in the room gradually rose.
Meng Ci took a thermometer and stood on the balcony to measure the temperature.
Minus sixty-two degrees.
It was two degrees warmer than when they had entered the space.
It seemed that the extreme cold was slowly ending.
It took over an hour for the room to warm up.
Meng Ci and Shen Que gradually recovered from the cold, and the baby rabbits, feeling the warmth, came out from their mother's belly and ran around the room.
Knowing that rabbits eat and defecate a lot, Meng Ci and Shen Que caught all the rabbits and put them back in their nest, then closed the fence tightly.
With the increasing number of rabbits, the pen they had built before seemed too small.
They still had to stay here for more than a month, and several female rabbits showed signs of pregnancy. Meng Ci thought it was necessary to expand the pen.
Meng Ci took out two cups of hot milk tea from the space, one for each of them.
Shen Que actually didn't like milk tea, but he didn't want to refuse Meng Ci, and drinking it did make him feel much warmer.
Once they adapted to the outside temperature, Meng Ci and Shen Que decided to go out and check if Zhang Mingtian and Yun Jingcen were okay.
Considering the sudden drop in temperature, they thought someone might have caught a cold, so Meng Ci took out two types of cold medicine from the space, packed them into two portions, before heading out.
They first went to Yun Jingcen's house.
Knock, knock, knock.
The door opened after two minutes.
Fang Shurui opened the door, wearing a mask and dressed warmly.
"Meng, Shen." Fang Shurui's voice sounded a bit nasal, and he sniffed a few times.
"Teacher Fang."
"Are you both alright?" Meng Ci asked.
Fang Shurui sniffed again before answering, "We're fine."
"We're all alive, but we've all caught some colds."
Then, Fang Shurui added somewhat embarrassedly, "Everyone is sick, so we won't invite you in to avoid spreading the illness."
Fang Shurui was the least affected among them, while the others were lying in bed, feeling dizzy and feverish.
Cheng Yu's temperature was almost forty degrees.
Fang Shurui found it surprising, as Cheng Yu was the healthiest among them, yet he was the most severely affected by the cold.
Meng Ci nodded, understanding their situation, and then handed the plastic bag to Fang Shurui.
"This is some cold medicine. Teacher Fang, take it back and share it with the others. See if it helps."
Fang Shurui refused, "No need, we can tough it out."
"You should keep the medicine."
It had been months since the apocalypse, and medicine had become a luxury, something valuable but hard to come by. Fang Shurui naturally couldn't accept it.
Meng Ci crumpled the plastic bag and rather rudely threw it at Fang Shurui.
Out of reflex, Fang Shurui caught it.
"Medicine is meant to heal people. Since you can use it, you should take it."
"If you feel bad about it, you can pay me back when you have the chance," Meng Ci said.
Thinking about the high fevers of the others, Fang Shurui finally accepted the medicine and promised, "Thank you, Meng, Shen."
"We'll definitely return it when we have the chance."
Occasional coughs could still be heard from inside the room, so Meng Ci and Shen Que didn't stay long, said their goodbyes, and left.
Then, the two of them went down to the sixteenth floor and knocked on the door of 1606, where Zhang Mingtian and his family lived.
This time, no one answered the door even after three or four minutes, causing Meng Ci to frown.
"Could it be that the Zhang Mingtian family all froze to death!" Meng Ci asked uncertainly.
Although he had only met Zhang Mingtian during the apocalypse, the man was very righteous, and Meng Ci found it hard to accept the idea of him being dead.
Shen Que was also uncertain.
Then the two began to discuss whether they should try to break into Zhang Mingtian's house.
After all, they had known each other for some time; if Zhang Mingtian and his family were indeed dead, they could at least give them a proper burial.
"Brother!"
Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind them. Meng Ci and Shen Que quickly turned around and saw Zhang Mingtian, his eyes slightly red, looking pleasantly surprised to see them.
"Brothers, you're not dead!"
Zhang Mingtian walked over, visibly moved. If it weren't for Shen Que being there, he might have already hugged Meng Ci and jumped with excitement.
Meng Ci said, "Of course we're not dead."
"I knocked on your door for several minutes just now, but no one answered. I thought you had passed away."
Hearing this, Zhang Mingtian sighed.
"My wife and mother both have a bit of a cold. They must have been lying in the house and didn't hear the knocking."
Zhang Mingtian's own voice was also a bit hoarse.
Meng Ci nodded, "As long as everyone is safe."
Meng Ci originally wanted to say that a cold wasn't a big deal, but then he remembered that there were no medicines available now, so people had to tough it out. He decided not to mention it.
He then took out the medicine he had prepared and handed it to Zhang Mingtian.
"This is some medicine we saved earlier. Take it home and use it."
Zhang Mingtian naturally didn't refuse, but under Meng Ci's persuasion, he finally accepted it with red eyes.
"Don't cry, man!"
"It's so cold outside. If you cry, the tears will freeze on your face," Meng Ci said hurriedly.
Besides, it wouldn't be fitting for a grown man like Zhang Mingtian to cry.
Zhang Mingtian knew it was too cold to cry, and he was more touched than anything else. After all, since Meng Ci gave him the rubber boat, he had been helping them.
"Thank you!" Zhang Mingtian suddenly bowed deeply to Meng Ci.
Meng Ci quickly pulled him up, then suddenly remembered, "Is everything okay with your wife's pregnancy?"
Zhang Mingtian shook his head, indicating that everything was fine.
"Pregnant women shouldn't take medicine casually," Shen Que suddenly interjected.
Hearing this, Meng Ci and Zhang Mingtian also realized that pregnant women shouldn't take medicine lightly.
"In my house, I planted some ginger that I had before. I'll go dig it up later and you can boil it for your wife to drink," Meng Ci suggested, remembering that he still had a few baskets of ginger in his storage.
Meng Ci didn't particularly like ginger, but he had bought some when stocking up because it was needed for marinating fish and other meats.
"Alright," Zhang Mingtian's voice choked with emotion.