Chapter 14

Dog Bite Dog

After that moment of discomfort, Ye Xingchen simply smiled and kicked the ball back to Liu Qilong.

“Well, I have to thank Uncle Liu for reminding me in advance to stock up on supplies. Unfortunately… I might not be able to share these supplies with you all. I’ve already promised my classmate Chen Rou’er. I’m sorry, everyone. Maybe you can ask Uncle Liu if he has what you need. After all, it was Uncle Liu’s reminder that prompted me to prepare early!”

Sending out this message, Ye Xingchen let out a cold snort. He wanted to play tricks on him? Let the dogs bite each other!

Sitting curled up at home, Liu Qilong was stunned by the fact that Ye Xingchen had turned the tables on him in the group chat. While some people were still complaining that Ye Xingchen was not showing neighborly feelings, more and more people started privately chatting with him.

Some were even resentful, wondering why Liu Qilong hadn’t informed them earlier about the severe cold wave.

Naturally, Liu Qilong’s house was stocked with supplies, as he had an elderly mother to care for. Therefore, he had a slightly larger stockpile of medical resources compared to regular households.

However, no matter how much he had stored, it wouldn’t be enough against these people’s “borrowing” habits. Who knew how long this cold wave would last!

Liu Qilong hated Ye Xingchen in his heart. He had initially planned to mention this in the group chat, so that everyone would ask Ye Xingchen for items and he could also take advantage of the situation.

He hadn’t expected that this guy would kick the ball back to him!

Sitting on the couch, Liu Qilong gritted his teeth. He was simultaneously deflecting the neighbors who were asking for supplies and cursing Ye Xingchen, “This Ye Xingchen is so selfish. He clearly stockpiled so much, but he’s unwilling to share any of it…”

“No, I must think of a way to make him give up some of his supplies. And I can’t do it myself. Otherwise, this brat will probably trick me again.”

The group chat was filled with complaints, while Zhang Yi had already organized people to go out and clear the snow.

Ye Xingchen sat on the couch, yawning out of boredom. While others were struggling with hunger and cold, he was living more comfortably than before the apocalypse. The building materials used for his home could isolate extreme temperatures. The thick walls separated him from the outside world, creating a temperature-controlled isolated space.

With fuel reserves that could last several lifetimes, Ye Xingchen could stay in this warm and comfortable environment for a lifetime. He didn’t need to do anything else; his only task was to make his days as comfortable as possible.

Turning on the TV, there weren’t many interesting programs left. Ye Xingchen took out a pair of dumbbells from his dimensional space and started flipping through the channels with the remote control.

Most live broadcasts from various places had been shut down due to the extremely low temperatures. Even if there were people willing to film in such cold weather, the cameras couldn’t withstand these temperatures.

Ten minutes passed, and the TV was broadcasting news after news, appealing to citizens to stay at home unless absolutely necessary and to wait for official notifications.

Finding it uninteresting, Ye Xingchen took out the recipe book that he had previously stored as entertainment in his dimensional space and started studying it.

Even in this post-apocalyptic world where he no longer needed to worry about work or social interactions, learning more things was always good. Having additional skills would increase his chances of survival.

Half the afternoon went by, and he had already read half of the recipe book he’d randomly picked from the dimensional space. Glancing at the time, he realized it was already 7 PM.

The temperature displayed on the TV screen was now at minus 42 degrees Celsius.

Through the screen and using the surveillance cameras to look outside, the accumulated snow had reached approximately waist height for pedestrians. Fortunately, in order to stay updated about the outside situation, Ye Xingchen installed cameras on top of every streetlight in the villa area when constructing this safe house. He had also implemented a heating system to ensure that these cameras wouldn’t freeze before their batteries ran out.

However, it was unfortunate that without a power source, only the two closest cameras to the safe house would likely continue functioning.

Ye Xingchen took out a serving of Cheesy Baked Oysters from his storage and also grabbed a portion of Mapo Tofu and dumplings to go with rice, quickly finishing his dinner for the night.

Despite skimming through half of a recipe book, Ye Xingchen still hadn’t developed the desire to try cooking. After all, this was the apocalypse; if he ended up preparing food that was undercooked and got himself into trouble, it would be troublesome indeed.

The news on the TV served as background noise. Many TV stations had halted their broadcasts due to the heavy snow and low temperatures, leaving only those that could still function to broadcast official work and motivate people on the official channels.

“Rare Millennium Snow Disaster! Unite and Aid in Disaster Relief!”

“As of now, due to inadequate prevention and control of the snow disaster, 70 million people in Emirecan have been trapped in the snow, with 30 million people suffering severe frostbite and succumbing to their injuries.”

“The development of the snow disaster in our country is within a controllable range, and everything is progressing positively.”

“Dear citizens, please don’t panic. Believe in the power of the authorities!”

“Shortages are occurring in supermarkets everywhere. We urge citizens not to excessively hoard!”

“Our country is experiencing an unprecedented snow disaster. Schools have suspended classes. We hope parents will supervise their children.”

Listening to one piece of news after another, Ye Xingchen couldn’t help but shake his head.

How could this snow disaster be so easily controlled? Even in his previous life, enduring a heavy snowfall for three months, he hadn’t heard of any solution provided by the authorities or received the anticipated “rescue.”

Even though the authorities were working hard to mobilize various departments to address this cold wave, the power of humanity was minuscule in the face of nature. This calamity brought forth by nature was insurmountable, and even if the authorities were proactive, they couldn’t lead all of humanity to escape this disaster.

Looking through the monitor, he saw the open area that Zhang Yi and his group had cleared gradually being covered by snowfall again.

No matter how many people were helping diligently, their efforts were no match for the snowfall’s pace.

After a full afternoon of work, those people walked back with their shovels, feeling disheartened. They probably realized that with just a few of them, it was impossible to clear a path, let alone create a passable road for vehicles.

And even if they managed to clear a path, what difference would it make?

The outside was completely covered by this snowstorm.

With such thick snowfall, only specialized, large snowplows could gradually clear it away.

But this was the southern region; even snowfall itself was a rare occurrence, let alone such professional snow-clearing equipment.

Fortunately, the snow accumulation hadn’t reached a point where it was impassable, so there was still time to go shopping for supplies.

At this moment, Ye Xingchen’s phone received another message.