Ice Age: I can control plant growth

Chapter 1: Shopping for Supplies
September 2024, 9, Lin'an City.

Li Mu sat by the window, looking at the heavy snow falling outside and the rapidly falling pointer of the indoor thermometer. He still couldn't understand what was happening before his eyes.

Ten minutes ago, he was woken up by the cold!

The temperature was still 32 degrees yesterday. Li Mu turned on the air conditioner when he slept, otherwise he would be sweating profusely in ten minutes.

At this moment, he was awakened by the cold, and there was heavy snow falling outside the window.

Who in the family understands?

Li Mu climbed out of bed with difficulty and began to check what was going on.

Looking around, I found that all the electrical appliances had stopped working, my cell phone was turned off and couldn't be turned on, and there was a burnt smell lingering in the room, as if something was on fire.

The circuit breaker tripped, but there was no power when he pushed it on. Li Mu had no choice but to ask the other two people living in the room what was going on.

"Chengcheng, Ah Sao, wake up!"

After graduation, Li Mu came to Lin'an and shared a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment of more than 90 square meters with two high school classmates.

On weekdays, I play games and brag, and when I take a break, I can drink and eat barbecue. My life is quite comfortable.

Today is a weekday, and Li Mu hopes that they have not gone to work yet.

"What is it?"

The person who opened the door was Cheng Cheng, who was wearing pajamas and looked sleepy.

"Is your phone still working? I don't know what's going on outside. The snow is heavier than back home. Wake up!"

Li Mu said anxiously.

"Oh shit! Why is my phone not lighting up? What time is it? I'm going to be late."

Cheng Cheng's exclamation was heard from the room.

"What are you arguing about so early in the morning? Can't you let me sleep?"

Asao pushed open the door and shouted speechlessly.

"Both of you should check what's going on outside. You are still sleeping."

Li Mu rolled his eyes and couldn't help but complain.

"Fuck."

"What's going on? All the cars on the road are not moving. I'm afraid I can't go to work."

"Why is it snowing so heavily outside? Did I sleep until winter?"

Both of them looked shocked.

“I can’t check my phone, so I don’t know what time it is. Judging from the position of the sun, it should still be morning.

Strange, why is the sun so dark? "

"You two should quickly put on your clothes and follow me to the supermarket at the entrance of the community to buy some things."

Seeing that the two had finally come to their senses, Li Mu gave orders calmly.

"What to buy?"

Asao asked doubtfully.

“How long has it been since the epidemic ended? Have you forgotten the days when you could only eat instant noodles?

Looking at the current situation, transportation and communications are paralyzed, and I guess I can only stay at home.

In order to prevent ourselves from going hungry in the future, we have to hurry to the supermarket to buy enough supplies. If the snow continues for another half day, we probably won’t be able to leave the house. We don’t know how long we will have to stay at home.”

Although the three of them usually cook and there are still potatoes, eggs and other things left in the kitchen, the quantity is not much.

"By the way, everyone should wear something warmer, it's probably quite cold outside."

More than a year later, the two recalled the fear of being dominated by instant noodles during the epidemic. They put on their down jackets in a minute and waited to set off.

When they went out, they found that the elevator had stopped. This was the 20th floor, so the three of them could only climb the stairs slowly.

Only when they reached the first floor did they realize how cold it was outside. It was conservatively estimated to be more than ten degrees below zero.

"How long has it been snowing? How come the snow is already half a meter deep? If you know, this is Lin'an, but if you don't know, you might think it's the Northeast!"

Asao said in surprise.

“Our phones don’t work, how can we pay?”

The three of them walked on the road, one deep and one shallow, and Cheng Cheng suddenly remembered that his cell phone was no longer usable, so how could he pay? "Maybe the one at the supermarket next door can still be used, we can use their cell phone to log in to WeChat, if their cell phone is also broken, I still have a way."

Hearing Cheng Cheng's question, Li Mu took out a dozen banknotes from his pocket.
"Luckily the New Year's money is in cash! This should be enough for us."

"Nubi!"

"can!"

Ah Sao and Ah Cheng were amazed when they saw the cash in Li Mu's hand.

They know the importance of cash during this special period.

On the way, they witnessed some panicked residents arguing with the property management, demanding that the property management clean up the snow quickly.

However, when has Lin'an ever had such heavy snow? The property management was powerless and could only comfort the homeowners helplessly.

After arriving at the supermarket, they found that there were not many people buying things, so they asked the supermarket owner and several people who were buying things about the mobile phones.

Only then did we realize that everyone's cell phones and electrical appliances were unusable. A young man speculated that it might be due to the impact of a strong geomagnetic storm, and all electronic devices were scrapped.

Li Mu told the boss that they had cash and guaranteed that the boss's account would not be shortchanged. Only then did the supermarket owner allow them to buy things.

After a brief chat, the young men also used cash to buy a large bag of snacks and drinks and several barrels of mineral water, and left.

Even after chatting for a while, there were still not many people coming to buy things. Most people were afraid of the cold and didn't want to go out, or they thought it was just an ordinary natural disaster that would soon pass.

But is this really the case?
Li Mu and his friends just don’t want to live the hard life they did during the epidemic lockdown.

So they began to purchase large quantities of rice, instant noodles, canned food, solid alcohol, as well as pots, chocolate, compressed biscuits and other daily necessities.

After shopping at the supermarket, I went to the fruit store and vegetable market next door.
Vegetables, fruits, meat, hot pot base
In the end, they didn't know how much they had bought. They only knew that the supplies had piled up into a mountain and all the money had been spent.

There were too many things, so they could only ask the fruit shop owner for a few large unpacked cartons, put the supplies on the cartons and slowly drag them back.

On the white snow, three narrow paths were drawn by the cardboard.

After much effort, the three finally dragged the supplies downstairs, panting from exhaustion.

After a short break, I continued to move things upstairs.

It took the three of them more than an hour to move all the supplies back home from the twenty-story building. After arriving home, the three of them sat down on the chairs, too tired to say a word.

I rested for about ten minutes before I recovered.

The three of them were already hungry after being busy all morning, so they immediately prepared something to eat.

“Sizzle~da.”

"The gas was also cut off, which was terrible."

Asao looked at the gas stove that couldn't be ignited, with an anxious look on his face. He hurriedly turned on the faucet, but found that the water had also stopped.

"Don't worry, we bought solid alcohol and a matching pot, so there should be some water in the water heater."

Li Mu comforted in a calm tone.

"Let's cook some noodles first, and then add some ham and eggs."

Li Mu suggested.

"Okay." Cheng Cheng agreed.

Soon, the water boiled and instant noodles, ham and eggs were added, and the aroma filled the air.

They sat around the fire, eating steaming instant noodles, and felt that life was not so bad.

The three of them smiled at each other, without words, they understood each other.

"Lao Li, Chengcheng, would you like a cigarette?"

After the meal, Ah Sao took out a pack of Liqun from his pocket and gestured to the two of them.

"Have one." Neither Li Mu nor Cheng Cheng refused. They were both in a heavy mood at the moment. Even Cheng Cheng, who usually didn't smoke, made an exception and smoked one.

The three of them stood on the balcony, looking at the heavy snow outside the window, and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Lao Li, Ah Sao, what do you think is going on at home?

Are mom and dad okay? "

Cheng Cheng suddenly asked, his eyes filled with confusion about the future.

(End of this chapter)