from my heart [last days]

It is not far from Zhengzhou to Beijing, passing through Handan, Shijiazhuang, and Baoding, and the ground road is less than [-] kilometers. If it goes well, it will only take three days.

However, there are very few things in this world that can go smoothly, and it is always inevitable that there will be some twists and turns at the end of the day. On November 2028, 11, the night of entering Handan, the first cold wave in the north came violently, and it snowed heavily one after another.

Perhaps it was because of the large-scale cessation of industrial emissions. This time the temperature drop was particularly fierce. It was already dark before four o'clock. Everyone stayed in a nearby private house, and they obviously felt the temperature drop when they were eating dinner. Break through the sub-zero mark.

There is no heating, and the weather like this is really unbearable. I feel like my face is freezing after washing, let alone taking a bath.

Xie Congxin was so cold in the bathroom that his skeletal muscles were trembling all over, gritted his teeth and put on his clothes one by one, and dried his hair thoroughly before going out in response to the lingering heat.

There is a wall-mounted air conditioner in the master bedroom, but unfortunately, the heating effect is very poor. After blowing it for a long time, there is no hot air. Seeing the cold bed, Xie Congxin couldn't find the courage to lie in it, so he dragged his slippers and walked to the window. Looking out of the glass covered with ice crystals, the three-storey private houses in the suburbs, the field of vision is not wide, and you can't see much at ordinary times, and it is even more vast at this moment.

The phantom of the city was shrouded in the night and covered under the increasingly dense snow. The faint light from their building was the only light source in the field.

The door opened behind him, Xie Congxin turned around, it was Pei Ze.

The other party was very resistant to the cold, Xie Congxin was shivering all over in a heavy cotton-padded jacket, but he was wearing a coat that was neither thin nor thick, and he only wore a sweater inside. It's not much, but it gives people a feeling that it looks very warm.

He approached and handed over a bean paste red hot water bottle.

I want Xie Congxin to grow up with Su Shiqing. From a young age, he was well-clothed and well-fed, and the places he went in and out had enough air-conditioning and heating. This kind of product of the last century is really unprecedented, and I don't know where Pei Ze found it.He reached out to take it and asked, "Can I go tomorrow?"

Pei Ze said, "It's fine when the snow stops."

Xie Congxin nodded, and asked again: "What about them?

"It's on the second floor." Pei Ze turned around to make a bed for him, folded a quilt in three to look like a burrito, and then adjusted the wind direction of the air conditioner.

Xie Congxin looked at his back, took the hot water bottle and stuck it on the tip of his nose that was a little red from the cold.

Speaking of which, he and Pei Ze haven't been alone for a long time.

When he was in Zhengzhou, there were many people around him, so he didn't need to deliberately avoid him. In addition, Pei Ze seldom talked, and he didn't feel much presence when standing quietly in the corner. Xie Congxin suddenly felt a strange feeling of reunion after a long absence, as if It was a long, long time ago that he had such a close relationship and dialogue with Pei Ze.

Xie Congxin walked over, "Isn't Captain Pei sleeping?"

There are two bedrooms with two beds in total, he occupies one, Cheng Yinshang and Peng He have one downstairs, Pei Ze folded the quilts like this, obviously he has no plan to sleep here——

"I'll keep watch." Sure enough, Pei Ze replied, took the hot water bottle, and put it under the bed for him.

Xie Congxin nodded, took off his coat, and lay down in a sweater and trousers, with a hot water bottle inside. The pain of this process relieved most of the pain. Fearing that the quilt was not thick enough, Pei Ze covered the quilt with the coat for him.

Then Pei Ze turned off the bedside lamp, and Xie Congxin heard the sound of him opening the door in the darkness. His footsteps were very soft, and he did not go far, just outside the door.

Xie Congxin closed his eyes inside, while outside Pei Ze leaned on the handrail of the stairs and lit a cigarette.

The conversation between them in the past two weeks may have been less than ten sentences. Xie Congxin was alienating him, and Pei Ze could see it.

As for the reason, he was not completely unable to guess.

The premise of keeping a distance is that the previous distance was too close. Xie Congxin thought that they should not continue to move forward, so Pei Ze cooperated with him to stop, and the initiative was in Xie Congxin's hands from the beginning to the end.

When Cheng Yinshang came up with a thermos cup, the smoke had just burned to the end. Pei Ze stomped it out, and took the dark green commemorative cup of the power station. Cheng Yinshang was also shivering from the cold, wrapped in his coat and asked in a low voice: "Academician Xie?" What, are you asleep?"

Pei Ze nodded.

Cheng Yinshang said again: "Then when Peng Peng comes to change shifts with you at twelve o'clock, drink this Nuannuan first."

Pei Ze unscrewed the lid and filled the cup with red date tea for two weeks. After washing the cup several times, there was still a faint sweet smell, which diffused into the cracks of the cold winter night along with the water vapor.

In the past, he didn't know that he could do such a gentle thing, but in the process of taking care of Xie Congxin, all the reactions were natural and natural.

He bowed his head and took a sip, Cheng Yin said: "Then I'll go down first, if the snow stops tomorrow, I have to install snow chains on the car."

"En." Pei Ze stared at the thin metal cup rim, and replied.

However, misfortunes never come singly, before twelve o'clock in the middle of the night, the lights in the corridor suddenly went out.

Pei Ze went downstairs and woke up Cheng Yinshang and Peng He. The three found the electric box outside the back door of the kitchen with flashlights. They checked it in the wind and snow. The fuse was not broken and the switch was not tripped. Cheng Yinshang said : "It should be that the external circuit is broken, and it may be caused by snow."

It doesn't matter if the electricity is cut off and there is no lighting. The main reason is that the air conditioner has also stopped, and the temperature in the bedroom will soon be equal to that of the outdoors.

The weather was nearly five degrees below zero, and the strong wind made the windows slam. Cheng Yinshang searched the whole house and only found a blanket.

"The zombies can't move in this weather, and the captain should stop keeping watch at night, go to sleep," Cheng Yin said, "I'll give you the blanket, I and Peng Peng don't need it."

Pei Ze nodded, and went upstairs with the blanket and hot water bottle, intending to exchange the remaining hot water for Xie Congxin's hot water bottle.

Xie Congxin used to sleep lightly, but recently he lost a lot of blood, which made him not in good spirits, and he slept a lot at night.He didn't wake up when Pei Ze entered the room, he was curled up in the quilt, the hot water bottle was no longer hot, Pei Ze touched his cold ankle when he took it out.

Pei Ze went to the bathroom to change the water from the hot water bottle and stuffed it back into the quilt, shook off the blanket and covered it, then reached out and touched his forehead exposed outside the quilt, it was too cold.

Pei Ze posted it for a while.

Xie Cong's heart was peaceful in his sleep, and the spikes that stood up on weekdays were restrained properly. Pei Ze felt that the wrinkles under his palms were his brows that had been furrowed because of the cold.

Relying on his own body temperature, no matter how many quilts were covered, it would not be able to heat up. Pei Ze got up, carefully tore off half of the corners of the quilt that was under him as much as possible, took off his shoes and sat down next to him, not moving much. , but the cold wind poured in, Xie Congxin finally woke up, feeling a heat source beside him in a daze, "Pei Ze?"

"It's me," Pei Ze put the quilt back on, leaned against the head of the bed, let Xie Congxin's forehead rest on his legs, and explained, "The power is out, go to sleep."

"..."

The temperature transfer between each other quickly warmed up the cold blanket, and Xie Congxin closed his eyes again.

In fact, his consciousness was clear for a moment, and he hesitated for a very short time, whether to push Pei Ze away.

But on such a night, such darkness, such a degree of intimacy that does not cross the border, with an irresistible allure, Pei Ze just sat, did not lie down, and did not touch him, Xie Congxin couldn't find a way to push him away reason.

In a trance, they returned to the days when they first arrived in Zhengzhou. They slept in each other's arms, sharing body temperature and breathing with each other.

It was dawn when he woke up, Pei Ze wasn't there, but the bed was still hot, Xie Congxin got up and found a pair of waterproof mid-calf boots on the ground, he put them on, washed and went downstairs.

The thermos cup on the table in the dining room was still filled with jujube tea, and breakfast was hot on the portable stove. He took two custard buns and ate them, and put the thermos cup in his pocket before going to the front yard. The other three were there. He stepped on a jack, while Cheng Yinshang held several bundles of anti-skid chains.

With the first snowfall, the world is covered in snow, and all the blood is covered under the snow, clean as a newborn.

The snow in the yard has been swept away, Xie Congxin took a breath of cold and clean air and walked over, Cheng Yinshang was the first to spot him, and greeted him with a smile: "Morning Academician Xie, the power was cut off last night, did you sleep coldly?" ?”

"It's okay." Xie Congxin subconsciously glanced at Pei Ze. He was half kneeling on the ground with a cigarette in his mouth. He was wearing a thin black sweater with sleeves rolled up to the elbows. He was wearing a pair of dirty gloves and was pulling the chain Wrap it up little by little.

"Have you had breakfast?" Cheng Yinshang walked to him and explained, "It will take a while here, if you don't pay attention, it will be dangerous if you slip along the way."

"I've eaten," Xie Congxin nodded, "There's no rush."

Xie Congxin's attitude was so good, Cheng Yinshang was a little surprised, and said, "Go inside and wait, it's too cold outside."

"It's okay." Xie Congxin waved his hands that were tucked into his sleeves, "Don't worry about me."

Cheng Yinshang looked at him for a while, and suddenly laughed.

Xie Congxin: "...what?"

"No," Cheng Yinshang said, "I just feel that Academician Xie is different."

Xie Congxin frowned: "What's the difference?"

Cheng Yinshang shook his head and said with a smile, "It's nothing, then Academician Xie will wait."

"..." Does this person know that half-spoken words are annoying?

Now that the first tire was installed, Pei Ze took off his gloves and stood up, looking back at Xie Congxin.

Peng He groaned and carried the jack to lift another tire. Pei Ze suddenly walked towards Xie Congxin, stopped less than a step away, stretched his hand over his shoulder, and wiped the big thong on his padded jacket with Xie Congxin's raised eyebrows on his face. The hat is pulled up, the hood is lowered, and the tie is pulled up to prevent the wind from blowing the hat off.

"..." Xie Congxin looked up at him.

The mist from burning cigarettes filled the cold air, blurring the vision of both parties. Pei Ze withdrew his hand, took the remaining chain from Cheng Yinshang, and said, "Two ten minutes."

"……Um."

Xie Congxin lowered his eyelids and covered the ups and downs before the smoke cleared, but he just missed Cheng Yinshang's wink at Peng He not far away, and Peng He's grinning response.

After that, Pei Ze sped up his movements, and in less than 15 minutes, he completed the assembly of the remaining three tires.

Everyone packed their luggage and boarded the car one by one, and set off again towards the next stop, Shijiazhuang.

Beijing is within easy reach.