Chapter 5 Snowfall and Venturing Out

Shang Yun wrapped herself in a thick coat and opened the window of the room, placing the thermometer outside. She watched as the temperature gradually dropped from over 40 degrees Celsius to minus 10 degrees.

At around 1:30 AM, snowflakes began to lazily drift down from the night sky in Yun City.

Once she was sure the temperature wouldn't drop further, Shang Yun closed the window. The room had become somewhat cold from being open for so long, and she couldn't help but shiver. She turned on the room's air conditioner and then quietly approached the bed, lying down without saying a word.

She spent the night dreamlessly.

Shang Yun came downstairs at 8 o'clock in the morning.

Shang Bancang, who should have gone to work at the company, Shang You, who should have been going to school, and Ye Rou, who should still have been asleep at this hour, were all sitting upright in the living room.

A clear, standard male voice was coming from the TV:

"Affected by the South Ocean Current, this year's summer has seen intense clashes between warm and cold air masses. The low-level cumulus clouds containing ice crystal snowflakes are being pulled down to the ground by the airflow, resulting in this snowfall during summer. Although this summer snow is unusual, there have been records of it in history. We hope that all citizens will take measures to keep warm and prevent the spread of the flu. Furthermore, we would like to remind everyone not to panic about this anomaly. Regarding the large-scale snowfall in many southern cities, our station will continue to monitor and report..."

Hearing these pompous words, Shang Yun couldn't help but chuckle.

She had seen such statements too many times before. They could only temporarily calm people's hearts.

Ye Rou belonged to the type of person who was calmed by such statements.

"Oh, so that's what happened. I woke up and found it was snowing outside, which really startled me. But it's okay now. I'll take You You to school, and dear husband, you can go to work."

Picking up the glass of milk on the table, Ye Rou elegantly took a sip, and her previously unsettled heart gradually calmed down.

Shang You was still young and didn't feel any sense of crisis about the sudden drop in temperature. Instead, he was excited to see the snow outside, which he had never seen before.

Only Shang Bancang looked at his phone in silence.

As far as he knew, historical summer snowfalls were only localized in small areas, and they ended quickly. But unlike now, the northern regions had broken historical high temperatures multiple times in the past few days. He had heard that many rice paddies had started to wither, and farmers had to harvest their crops ahead of schedule when the temperature dropped slightly at night.

Meanwhile, many cities in the south were suddenly experiencing snowfall, and the snow had been falling since last night without any sign of stopping.

He had also seen many discussions in the employee group chat. The sudden drop in temperature after yesterday's high daytime temperatures caught everyone off guard.

Overnight, hundreds of elderly people living alone in Yun City had fallen asleep and never woken up. This morning, all hospitals in Yun City were experiencing unprecedented crowding, with many people falling ill with fever and colds due to the cold night.

"Why is everyone staying at home?"

Adjusting her expression, Shang Yun came downstairs wearing a thin white down jacket, snow boots on her feet, and holding a scarf and a cotton hat in her hand.

Seeing Shang Yun dressed for winter, Ye Rou was first stunned, then jokingly rolled her eyes and walked over:

"Yunyun, you're awake. Our little lucky cat just happened to hit a dead mouse. I thought those down jackets you bought were taking up space, but who knew they'd be useful so soon?"

With that, Ye Rou stood up and turned to look at Shang Bancang and Shang You:

"You two wait here. I'll go get the down jackets our daughter bought for you to wear before we go out."

"You You, go upstairs and help your mom bring down some cotton shoes, scarves, and hats."

Seeing his daughter calmly preparing to go out, Shang Bancang, full of questions, spoke up and diverted Shang You's attention.

"Okay."

Shang You, who was eager to go out, quickly got up and ran upstairs with his short legs.

"Do you have anything you want to say?"

Previously, his daughter had renovated the house with heating and coal, and the negative floor was filled with all kinds of necessities. He didn't understand it, but after being fooled by Shang Yun several times before, he stopped asking too many questions. Under today's circumstances, he seemed to understand Shang Yun's intentions a bit more, but he still didn't fully comprehend.

"The end is coming."

Shang Yun looked at Shang Bancheng with a very calm tone.

In her memory, Shang Bancheng belonged to the category of people with a keen sense of smell, and he had indeed made a lot of preparations in advance. But the whole family did not think that this disaster would last for so long at once, and helped some relatives and friends. In addition, like Shang Bancheng and his daughter, they were both well-known philanthropists in Yun City. When their neighbors were in trouble, they couldn't help but lend a hand. As a result, when the apocalypse showed no sign of stopping, Shang Bancheng could no longer produce any extra supplies. This attracted the attention of malicious individuals who scaled the walls to rob their house, resulting in their tragic deaths.

Hearing this explanation, Shang Bancheng's pupils momentarily contracted. "How is that possible? And how did you know?"

"I had a dream half a month ago. When the apocalypse arrived, you had already sensed something unusual and hoarded a lot of supplies. But you raised too many wolves in sheep's clothing, and in the end, it naturally didn't end well."

This explanation seemed too surreal to Shang Bancheng. But inexplicably, he found himself somewhat convinced, though he maintained a tough exterior.

"It's just a dream. What if the snow stops tomorrow and everything returns to normal?"

"Then you'll see tomorrow. If you believe me then, sell those useless things in your garage and buy a decent RV. In a while, they'll just be a pile of useless scrap metal. I'm going out to see if there's anything else I need to buy. If there's anything you need me to stock up on, let me know, and I'll try to get as much as possible. I'm heading out now."

After hearing the commotion upstairs, Shang Yun wrapped her scarf around her neck, put on her hat, and left the house.

Watching Shang Yun's figure disappear, Shang Bancheng squinted slightly. Although his daughter seemed no different from usual this time, he felt that something was off. Her previously chatty demeanor seemed to have become more reserved and aloof.

Today, the taxis in Yun City were unusually busy. Sitting in a small van that had been arranged two days ago, watching the vehicles coming and going, and the excitement of people playing in the snow and taking pictures on the street, Shang Yun's eyes were calm.

It was another start like this.

The apocalypse was not like the scenes described in movies, where a sudden disaster brought everyone to hell together. It was more like boiling a frog in warm water, slowly ensnaring everyone without any defenses. When everyone began to realize that something was wrong, the true veil of hell would be completely revealed.

Finally, Shang Yun and the driver got off at an animal trading market on the outskirts of Yun City.

Although there was a lot of meat in the space, she also needed to raise some live poultry. By then, she could consider crossbreeding to increase her reserves of food and so on.