Ch78 In The Space, Earth is Infinite
"Thump thump thump!"
The sound of knocking echoed from the iron gate outside. Meng Ci opened the door to find Yun Jingcen holding a bag.
"Meng, these are the fish we caught earlier. They're already cleaned. Take them home and hang them up-they'll keep for a long time."
Seeing Yun Jingcen's persistence, Meng Cl accepted the bag.
"Thank you, Teacher Yun."
Yun Jingcen shook her head. "You're welcome."
She glanced outside and remarked with emotion, "The rain has stopped. I believe the floodwaters will recede soon, and everyone can return to their normal lives."
Meng Ci noticed little genuine happiness on Yun Jingcen's face, realizing she likely didn't truly believe it.
"Not necessarily."
"Perhaps the torrential rain was just the beginning, with greater disasters yet to come."
"After all, the world is unpredictable."
Yun Jingcen gave a soft laugh. "Truthfully, we feel the same way."
"Still, we hold onto a sliver of hope."
Before the downpour, environmental crises had been mounting relentlessly.
Whether it was R Country dumping nuclear wastewater into the ocean, M Country secretly dumping chemical waste into the sea, or that nation's nuclear leak....
Environmental problems grew increasingly severe, while the weather became ever more unpredictable.
For three consecutive years, summer temperatures climbed higher and higher, while winter temperatures dropped lower and lower...
When the downpour first began, Yun Jingcen and the others joked it might signal the end of the world.
After all, this torrential rain engulfed the entire planet simultaneously.
Thus, Yun Jingcen held little optimism for what lay ahead.
Meng Ci said, "Teacher Yun, don't dwell on it so much."
"We've overcome such difficulties before. No matter what comes next, we can't give up."
Yun Jingcen chuckled softly. "Look at me-I'm an elder, yet I'm letting you console me."
"Alright, hurry inside. Isn't it cold out here?"
"Yes, okay." Meng Ci maintained a polite smile, though inwardly he couldn't help but roll his eyes.
Teacher Yun was only seven or eight years older than him-how could she be considered an elder?
After bringing the fish back, Meng Ci didn't share any with Shen Que, and Shen Que didn't ask why.
The reason, of course, was that these fish might have eaten human flesh.
So Meng Ci shoved Yun Jingcen's fish into a corner of his spatial storage, then pulled out fish from his own stash. After marinating them, he hung them up to dry.
That afternoon, Meng Ci prepared spicy braised fish chunks. This time, however, he chose a smaller fish. After eating it for several days straight, even the most delicious fish could become cloying.
One dish was spicy and numbing potato slices, the other was cumin-spiced ham sausage.
All three dishes were spicy, perfect for washing down rice.
Meng Ci grabbed a can of Coke, Shen Que a can of beer-both procured from Brother Hu.
"Shen Que, do you think this abnormal weather's over?" Meng Ci asked, belching from the Coke.
Shen Que shook his head. "No idea."
Meng Ci chuckled softly, taking a bite of sausage. "Even if it hasn't, It's fine. Our life isn't so bad."
"Cheers!" Meng Ci raised his Coke to clink glasses with Shen Que.
"Let's give thanks for the food Brother Hu sent us."
After the meal, they each returned home.
Meng Ci retrieved two glass jars from his storage space and placed them in the room where bricks and sand had been stored.
Tomorrow's acid rain would be nothing more than a light drizzle, yielding little to collect. The day after tomorrow would be the prime time for gathering.
Previously, Meng Ci had only entered his storage space to quickly shower before leaving. Now, he suddenly remembered the greens he'd planted inside and decided to take a look.
Everything stored in the space remained frozen in time. He wasn't sure if vegetables could actually grow there.
Though Meng Ci had stockpiled many supplies before the apocalypse, neatly shelved so much space remained unused.
Reaching the former vegetable patch, Meng Ci was stunned by the sight before him.
The soil he'd found earlier was limited, so he'd only placed about three square meters of soil in the space, sprinkled fertilizer, and planted vegetable seeds.
Fortunately, the greens had sprouted and were thriving.
But that wasn't what surprised Meng Ci most. What astonished him was the small mound of soil piled over a meter high in the corner.
Meng Ci picked up a nearby hoe and dug up some soil.
Unexpectedly, the mound behaved just like the scenes from Journey to the West where dogs licked flour and chickens pecked at rice-the moment soil was removed, it quickly filled back up.
This discovery struck Meng Ci as utterly novel.
Soil was the most scarce
resource for vegetable cultivation. Now that the spatial pocket had solved that problem, the only question was the soil's fertility.
Therefore, Meng Ci brought over six flower pots, filled them with soil, and then accessed the
space.
He added fertilizer to three of the pots and left the other three unfertilized.
This time, Meng Ci planted chili peppers, tomatoes, and snow peas.
After watering them, he placed the pots around the stove, waiting for them to sprout and bear fruit.
However, the time accumulated within the space was far too little.
He could only accumulate one hour per day. Sometimes, just stepping in for a shower wasted ten minutes.
Since that inexplicable ejection from the space, he had only accumulated over thirty hours.
Initially, Meng Ci had thought he could retreat into the space to escape extreme cold or heat, shutting out the world.
Now, that seemed impossible.
The acid rain would persist for ten days, though intermittently-falling for roughly two hours before pausing.
And ten days later, on December 28th, the entire world would be engulfed in blizzards until the following May.
Floodwaters that had reached the fourth floor froze solid overnight.
Blizzards raged for five months, piling snow up to the tenth floor.
Overnight, temperatures plummeted to below minus thirty degrees Celsius. Many unprepared residents froze to death in their sleep.
Meng Ci recalled that the majority perished in that initial freeze.
This time, however, the outcome might be different. Most residents were now in refugee shelters, where the military would likely provide proper care.
Meng Ci retrieved a small generator from his storage space and placed it in the bedroom. After setting it up, he plugged in the electric blanket.
He stuffed both nightstands full of heat packs.
Five charged hot water bottles were placed in the bedroom, while five filled hot water bottles were set in the living room.
Thermal underwear, sweaters, down jackets, fur coats...
Meng Ci stuffed the wardrobe to bursting, leaving no empty space.
Two heavy quilts, each weighing five jin, were laid out as mattress pads. Two cotton quilts, each weighing ten jin, were set aside for use before the heavy rain.
He also grabbed ten bags of coal and placed them next to the glass tank.
Even if Shen Que came to Meng Ci's place, he wouldn't casually rummage through things, so Meng Ci wasn't worried about him discovering anything.
With these preparations complete, Meng Ci entered the spatial pocket, took a hot shower, and placed the changed clothes into the washer-dryer combo for washing.
His main concern was that winter might be too cold, and his stored clothes might not suffice.
These garments had only been worn once and were still usable.
Stepping out of the spatial pocket, the electric blanket had already warmed the bedding. Meng Ci crawled in contentedly.