Chapter 47
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Chapter 47: Deep Winter
For the next period, Luo Ji practically buried himself in hard work on the pulley system, while also contemplating the city gate design blueprints.
He felt like his brain cells were dying every day.
Life was both fulfilling and maddening.
As these maddening days passed one by one, the weather also grew colder day by day.
One day, early in the morning, Luo Ji, who was in deep sleep, suddenly shivered.
“So, so cold…”
Subconsciously pulling his animal hide blanket tighter, Luo Ji was almost bundled up like a cocoon, but he could not fully dispel the sweeping cold.
This sudden significant drop in temperature in the early morning completely woke up the Mirror Tribe under the night sky.
Wrapped in his thick animal hide, the moment Luo Ji drilled out of his tent, the howling cold wind that greeted him was like ice blades.
The feeling of it scraping across his face was no longer just cold, it was pain!
This pain, where his skin felt like it was about to be frostbitten and cracked, made Luo Ji, who had gradually adapted to the ice and snow, clearly feel the harshness of the living environment in this era once again.
It was not yet dawn, but almost everyone in the tribe had been frozen awake.
Faint cries of children could still be heard.
Luo Ji gritted his teeth tightly, the growing sense of unease in his heart driving him to shout.
“Quickly move out all the coal we stockpiled before and start fires.”
“Then cook several more pots of radish soup.”
With the temperature this low, there was no way to sleep.
If they continued to sleep, they might not wake up!
Under Luo Ji’s command, one fire after another quickly burned throughout the Mirror Tribe.
The heat generated by the burning coal slightly raised the temperature within the tribe, but Luo Ji could not be optimistic at all.
It was too cold.
Even sitting beside the fire, he felt like he was about to freeze solid.
Even breathing became painful.
After the radish soup was cooked, he drank two bowls consecutively, finally feeling a bit better.
“Cook more.”
“Make sure everyone in the tribe gets a bowl of soup.’
“After the soup is finished, boil hot water.”
“Do not stop.”
After speaking, Luo Ji, wrapped in animal hide, stood up from beside the fire.
“Everyone, do not sit, stand up and move around more near the fire.”
“This way your bodies will warm up a lot!”
Luo Ji was very afraid.
He was afraid that some of his tribal people would freeze to death, or get sick.
The illness might show symptoms of spreading, and sick people could not work, which would lead to a decrease in the tribe’s work efficiency and development speed.
Then, food supply and wood fuel would also become insufficient due to the decline in work efficiency.
Everyone would start to be unable to eat their fill, and their bodies would consequently become weak.
More and more people would get sick, completely falling into a negative cycle, and finally, heading towards destruction…
He forcefully shook his head, shaking that terrible guess out of his mind.
Luo Ji’s gradually perfected development plan was instantly disrupted by this ruthless nature.
What could he do now?
Besides having people start fires, cook soup, and reminding his tribal people to move their bodies and maintain body temperature, what else could he do?
A deep sense of powerlessness arose spontaneously.
“Think of a way! Quickly think of a way!”
Sitting by the fire, Luo Ji almost forced his brain to start working.
The weather was too cold, making it impossible for people to sleep, but living people could not possibly not sleep, right?
At the same time, if they could not get enough rest, where would the energy to work the next day come from?
This was simply the entrance to a negative cycle!
Therefore, the problem of sleeping and resting must be solved!
“Start a fire in the tent?”
As soon as this thought arose, Luo Ji himself crumpled it up and threw it into the non-recyclable trash bin.
He must have been frozen foolish.
The gas produced by burning coal was a harmful substance.
He still knew this common sense.
Starting a fire in the tent would make it warm, but it would also be close to death.
No, it was too cold.
He felt like his brain was about to stop thinking.
“Damn it!”
“I really want air conditioning and floor heating…”
This thought was even more nonsensical than starting a fire in the tent.
He was just thinking about it casually in his head.
However, before he could even mock himself, the expression on Luo Ji’s face suddenly froze.
“Wait, floor heating?”
There was a flicker of inspiration vaguely in his mind.
This was a very subtle feeling, but Luo Ji knew that he had probably found a breakthrough!
His mood clearly lifted slightly.
Luo Ji called over two tribal members and quickly drilled into his tent.
He motioned for the two of them to dig a rectangular shallow pit in the ground inside the tent.
Then he told them to take two wooden sticks, pick a few pieces of burning hot coal from the fire outside, and throw them into this shallow pit.
Immediately after, they filled the shallow pit, and finally spread animal hide over it.
Done!
After waiting for a while, Luo Ji burrowed into the animal hide bedding.
Holy cow!
Is this heaven?!
No one bother me, I am spending this winter here!
However, the actual situation was that the next morning, Luo Ji still got up early as usual, even earlier than usual.
Worried about the condition of his tribal members, he simply could not sleep soundly.
Coupled with the sudden situation early this morning, he was clearly sleep-deprived at the moment, and his entire spirit seemed a bit listless.
After dawn, with the rising of the sun, the temperature warmed up slightly, making people feel much more comfortable.
Luo Ji, who had temporarily heard no bad news, breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Thinking carefully, he actually did not need to be too pessimistic.
His response measures yesterday were quite timely.
People living in ancient times, having endured the test of so many harsh environments, should not have physiques so weak that they could not even withstand that much.
However, thoughts aside, when everyone gathered together for breakfast, Luo Ji still specially emphasized to everyone that if anyone felt unwell, they must speak up immediately.
At the same time, to be safe, Luo Ji also forcefully changed the original two meals a day to three meals a day, adding an extra meal of hot soup to ward off the cold at noon.
Although this would significantly increase their tribe’s food ingredient consumption, as long as the manpower was preserved, a way could always be found to solve the food problem.
Furthermore, what still worried Luo Ji slightly was the situation at the Black Rock Tribe.
Because of this sharp drop in temperature, the importance of coal increased again, and the demand also increased accordingly.
Although Luo Ji had been stockpiling the coal mined at the Black Rock Tribe during the previous period, based on the consumption last night, he really did not know how long it could last.
In this situation, their tribe’s top priority had to change.
Luo Ji had the members of the logging team temporarily put down their work.
Then he divided them into two groups.
One group temporarily joined the mining team and hurried to the Black Rock Tribe to speed up the mining of coal.
The other group hurried to the farmland where the white radishes were discovered and had them dig up more white radishes or other vegetable food to bring back.
The entire tribe’s development focus began to shift towards food and coal.
