After finishing the work in the fields, Wen Qian began to repair her own roof.
She removed the tarpaulin and started thinking about what material to use. She had some thin corrugated iron roofing sheets she had bought before, but they were very thin and noisy in the rain and wind.
However, using the old tiles from before would also make it difficult to clear the snow in winter, and they might accidentally shift and create gaps, ultimately causing leaks.
In the end, Wen Qian laid out the remaining asbestos tiles. If these were damaged again, she would have to consider making a thatched roof, using wooden boards, mud, and dry grass, a roof that would require annual maintenance.
This winter had started earlier than usual, and Wen Qian felt a sense of unease in her heart. According to her original thoughts, after the major volcanic eruption, there would be a volcanic winter, followed by a period of continued warming.
A more severe volcanic eruption would result in a little ice age, leading to a major extinction of all life on Earth. All beings are equal, so there is nothing much to say about that.
A slightly less severe scenario would be a Year Without Summer, where the Earth would temporarily cool down, and after the volcanic winter ended, it would become warmer again.
The key was to get through the volcanic winter, in order to enjoy the warmth after.
Wen Qian had pondered this issue. She had originally chosen to go to a sparsely populated area to avoid the chaos of a large population.
Under the current circumstances of relatively low temperatures, she could continue living here. But what if one day the volcanic winter ended and the temperature started to rise? Where would she go next?
Once the temperature gradually increased, it would no longer be suitable for her to live here, because in the summers of that time, the place where she was located would no longer be as easy for growing vegetables and crops.
Although the global cooling caused by the volcanic eruption would eventually end, it would still be unable to suppress the trend of global warming.
The volcanic eruption also brought a lot of greenhouse gases, and the volcanic ash would one day be unable to block the sun, but the greenhouse gases would not disappear.
By that time, perhaps even the area of deserts would expand, and Wen Qian's current location would be very difficult for cultivation or grazing, so she might choose to leave.
When leaving the uninhabited area, the first place Wen Qian thought of going was north, crossing the Gobi Desert to the other side, which is a windward and sunny slope.
Previously, many people had lived, cultivated, and grazed there, and the satellite maps showed orderly farmlands.
After the long volcanic winter, there would not be as many people there, and Wen Qian felt it would be better to cultivate using the existing farmlands.
Or she could go to the second safe point in the mountains near Jade Lake.
There, Wen Qian could also live independently, with more vegetation coverage, and even if the temperature rose later, she could live well.
Wen Qian still remembered the photos she had taken before, showing the vegetation and abandoned foundations there.
Although the end of the volcanic winter was not yet in sight, Wen Qian was already thinking about moving again.
Regardless, after the volcanic winter ended, Wen Qian's goal was to head north.
After the volcanic eruption triggered global cooling, people in the Northern Hemisphere had migrated southward.
So when it ended, there would be fewer people moving northward, and the Earth's population would have decreased sharply, not reaching the previous population density.
Perhaps having gotten used to living alone, Wen Qian wanted to continue this way of life.
It started snowing again, and Wen Qian watched the falling snowflakes outside.
Every day, she would pile the snow she pushed off the roof against the walls. When it snowed heavily, she would also build a circle of snow walls around the house.
At this time, it was like putting a warm coat on the house, better able to withstand the bitter cold.
Except for the spot where she needed to come out and set up a ladder, the rest of the walls were lined with a snow wall on the inside.
This way, her little house, along with the walls, seemed to be hidden in the snow, and it might not be noticeable from a distance.
Every time she finished sweeping the snow outside or came back from listening to the radio, Wen Qian would drink the ginger water she had prepared in advance.
Although she had been careful over the years, she still caught a cold once or twice, so she paid extra attention to staying warm and preventing colds, not giving viruses any chance.
She didn't like ginger, but when she was a child and got sick, her grandmother would make her ginger water.
Although the taste was very spicy, drinking a bowl would make her sweat quickly and take effect.
Now that she was grown up, except when she was sick, she wouldn't make the ginger water too strong. Generally, she would just add a few slices to hot water, and having a ginger flavor was good enough.
The radio broadcast went from three times a week to twice a week, and finally, once a week.
There was no news from abroad anymore, only news related to the domestic situation.
There was only one base left in the north, and the reason it was still there was because many research projects and experimental equipment were concentrated there, with few residents.
Under the current conditions, it was not convenient to move all of this to the south.
There were a few more bases in the south, but also more people, so the situation wasn't much better.
At the southernmost point, there was a Sunshine Base, which was currently described as the only place where life could be normal.
Originally a tropical region, it was now the only base that would not experience frost or snow disasters.
After this year of freezing damage, more people from other areas began moving south.
Especially people from rural areas, who had initially avoided the virus and stockpiled more food at home, were now feeling afraid.
They realized that if next year was as cold as this year, they would really starve, so heading south might give them a glimmer of hope.
The radio also mentioned this trend, especially in August and September, when many areas had no harvest during the usual season, so some people turned their sights southward.
The radio explained different migration routes, which would be more time-efficient, and what to pay attention to in the early stages.
Some elderly people probably never expected that after hearing about fleeing famine, they would actually experience something like this, where the yellow earth was buried up to their necks.
Some people had already started heading south in the second year after the volcanic eruption, when the climate changed rapidly.
At that time, the transportation situation was still relatively developed, but now, although more difficult than before, it was still possible to walk.
Except for wintertime, which was not ideal for traveling, other times were possible. After all, the previous roads were not built for nothing, just that those who left later would need to spend more time on the road.
There were also some people who believed the situation would improve, so they didn't follow, and some elderly people who were unwilling to leave their hometowns, determined to die where they lived, like falling leaves returning to their roots.
At this point, Wen Qian was thinking that the population in the highlands and the north would probably keep decreasing.
So far, Wen Qian had not considered leaving, but she also knew that ordinary people without space could not store this much food, even if they had it, they couldn't store it for so long.
