South of Xia Province lies Qing Province, where many people raise yaks.
During the initial climate change, they gradually slaughtered the animals they had raised.
Some nomadic herdsmen, whose entire wealth was their cattle and sheep, preserved salted meat for survival by boiling large amounts of water from salt wells to make brine.
For some cautious families who lived in seclusion, preserving meat meant more than just salting it.
After some people ran out of food, they set their sights on these families. Protecting their possessions depended not on reason, but on arms.
Not only were people eyeing them with malicious intent, but bears and wolves were also attracted by the scent.
A few people built fortified houses like bastions in the deep mountains, where members of the same clan guarded their settlements.
Humans devised various means of survival after the great calamity, persisting as long as there was a slightest chance.
Wen Qian had envisioned how to live in different regions time and again when browsing the Survivor Forum.
People in different areas had distinct ways of subsisting, relying on mountains or seas accordingly, just as the disasters they faced varied.
Sometimes, looking at the resources she had printed from the internet, she wondered about those who had long prepared for extreme survival environments.
Were they living better than the unprepared? The answer was a mixed bag.
The so-called precaution meant that some "prepared clans" were aware of their own stockpiles, known only to themselves and family.
Yet other prepared clans were notorious, their hoarding behavior observed by others, like people watching hamsters stuffing their cheeks.
This meant that in a crisis, when people sought resources, the prepared clans would be the first targets.
Just like in times of famine, people would eventually raid the landlords' granaries.
Those who had made fortunes and built luxurious mansions in their hometowns were among the first to be plundered.
The saying "a famous person dreads fame, a fattened pig dreads growing stout" likely refers to this.
Whether wealthy in the past or holding food now, one should keep a low profile. Otherwise, in a crisis, others would come knocking first.
Wen Qian chose to live alone, fearing she might inadvertently reveal her space, and then it wouldn't be as simple as just taking her food.
The winter of that year arrived early. Before the first snowfall, Wen Qian had already prepared everything.
As the snowflakes fell, Wen Qian cooked a bowl of dumplings she had made earlier.
Sometimes, when she didn't feel like eating or cooking complex meals, she would make semi-finished products in advance.
That way, she could quickly heat up or steam them, especially suitable for her since she often worked until exhaustion.
So, after winter arrived, she started making dough and rolling out wrappers again.
She had a small pasta machine that could roll out wrappers of different thicknesses by turning a handle.
Then she would cut them into noodles of various widths and make different kinds of flatbreads. Since she was quite bored, she sometimes experimented with different dough-making and rolling techniques to create diverse flatbreads.
She would then portion out the different noodles and flatbreads, taking them out to eat when needed. She might make enough for three to five days at once.
When tired of one task, she would switch to another, keeping herself busy throughout the lifeless winter.
In the distant mountain range where Wen Qian had seen bears before, they had died.
Hibernation is a lengthy process, but after waking up and starting to feed the following year, they lacked sufficient energy reserves when winter arrived.
The bears' poor condition led to their demise during hibernation.
Similarly, some animals could not endure the climate change brought by the volcanic winter.
A decline in one species' population would lead to crises in the food chain above and below it.
Wen Qian had only anticipated a drastic population drop in Xia Province, without much awareness of the surrounding wildlife.
In fact, she no longer needed to guard against bears, wolves, or wild yaks, at least not in her current dwelling.
The place where she lived was originally quite desolate, and after all these years, even fewer creatures could be seen.
Of course, she still spotted rats occasionally, but the already scarce birdlife had dwindled further.
The distant forest bird nests she had observed through binoculars were gradually abandoned over the years.
Wen Qian wondered if the birds, with their wings, might have flown to warmer places to nest, perhaps returning when the temperature recovered.
The originally dreary and silent place had become even more desolate, with only the sound of wind and snow, punctuated by the occasional "crackle" from the burning firewood in the stove.
After cooking, Wen Qian would open the window to air out the room for a while, as the food did have a smell.
Even if she grew accustomed to it after staying indoors for too long, Wen Qian still habitually ventilated.
When opening the window or door, the indoor warmth would quickly dissipate, so Wen Qian would dress warmly in advance to avoid falling ill from the temperature difference.
In winter, bathing and washing hair was quite difficult, which is why Wen Qian kept her hair short.
Long hair was troublesome to clean, and though she had a shower cap, she had a lot of hair, making braiding it heavy.
Usually, she would just change her underwear frequently and wipe her body with warm water daily.
Each bath was a major undertaking. She had to boil water to fill her hot water bottle and bring out her red bucket.
After washing with soap, she would soak in the bucket.
These red plastic buckets were previously used as rice bins or water barrels in her hometown.
Wen Qian's small stature meant she could comfortably squat in the bucket for a bath, with a plastic mat underneath to prevent her feet from touching the icy ground.
After soaking, Wen Qian would scrub herself with a loofah.
Originally living in An Province, she was unfamiliar with exfoliating until people recommended how refreshing it felt, prompting her to try it.
She grew to love the stress-relieving sensation of exfoliating.
However, Wen Qian had to gauge the scrubbing intensity herself, as overly vigorous rubbing could cause reddish abrasions that stung afterward.
Back in An City during the summers, she sometimes couldn't scrub off the grime, leaving small red spots or bumps from excessive scrubbing.
Now without summers, Wen Qian didn't bathe and exfoliate daily.
During this time, she had to maintain the bathroom's temperature, resulting in a steamy haze.
Living alone, she had to be extra mindful of her bathing duration, lest she faint from staying too long.
When living by oneself, many tasks required extra caution, whether bathing or walking, to avoid injury without anyone to lend a hand.
