Since there had been no disasters in between, Wen Qian had planted two waves of vegetables, and the crops were still growing.
During this time, she also went to cut down quite a few trees from far away, stockpiling firewood - not something that only began before winter, but an activity she carried out year-round.
Even after winter passed, the night temperatures were not high, so Wen Qian still needed to burn the heating stove.
The historical two-year-long "Year Without Summer" had already made human life difficult, not to mention the consecutive five years of global cooling.
The human population had dropped dramatically, and many towns disappeared, with the once prosperous cities never to return.
Therefore, the growth of plants and animals in this environment was also very difficult, but Wen Qian knew that in places with reduced human activity, the recovery of plants was very rapid.
As long as the temperature rose a little, that place would become a paradise for plants and animals.
When would that day come? Wen Qian, now 33 years old, was pondering this question. According to previous data predictions, the impact could last for ten years.
In ten years, Wen Qian would already be 38 years old.
However, having endured only half of that period, Wen Qian had already outlived many others who died from viruses, severe cold, and violence among their own kind.
After the collapse of the social medical system, the production of drugs, vaccines, and the like ceased, and they could only consume the existing stockpiles.
As a result, patients with basic illnesses deteriorated bit by bit without medication to control their conditions.
Some common newborn diseases were also difficult to prevent due to the lack of vaccines.
Humans are a remarkable species that developed rapidly in a short period of time, even extending their footsteps to the moon, and their living standards were refreshed every now and then.
However, nature is also merciless, and people were fragile in the face of natural disasters, with all their possessions vanishing like clouds, and all kinds of diseases, severe cold, and hunger returning.
It was as if the previous prosperity and stability were an illusion, and those who had enjoyed peace and stability before the natural disasters would reminisce about the past with such sentiments.
Under such circumstances, few people would be willing to have children, and only in areas near bases with decent medical and health conditions would there still be newborns; elsewhere, it was basically not worth considering.
In August, Wen Qian harvested quite a few pumpkins. She herself did not really like eating them, but she stored them in her space as reserve food.
The wax gourds were coated with a thick layer of white frost, a variety from her hometown, truly huge wax gourds.
Wen Qian felt that dividing one wax gourd into many portions and eating it every few days would take a long time.
She kept three loofah gourds that had ripened early, allowing them to age naturally.
If she kept the loofah gourds too late, she was worried that they might rot before aging due to the temperature drop, so these three had already become very typical old loofah gourds by now.
Wen Qian picked them, the old loofah gourds were light and airy, with the pointed ends gone and the holes in the middle would have the seeds slowly knocked out.
She wrapped them in paper to use as seeds for the following year. Back in her hometown, if there were too many seeds knocked out, aside from leaving some as seeds, the rest would be fried as gourd seeds.
The pumpkin seeds were also treated this way back home, with the seeds scooped out, the pulp washed clean, and the seeds sun-dried. Both kinds of seeds were quite fragrant when eaten, but now Wen Qian could not bear to waste them.
After putting these away, Wen Qian began harvesting her crops. The foxtail millet and wheat she had planted this year were the first time in two years she had grown them.
Since in the previous two or three years, Wen Qian either did not plant or planted very little, this time could be considered a year with relatively abundant grain.
However, she still put everything into her space after harvesting, without immediately processing all the grain.
She only took out a small portion to taste the freshness when harvesting, as she was eager to savor the fruits of her hard work over several months.
The days passed, year after year, like this.
After another three years, when Wen Qian was 36, she recorded that the temperature began to rise, and the winter duration started to shorten a bit.
This phenomenon could be seen from the condition of the surrounding vegetation and small animals.
The gloom of the previous years gradually dissipated, and there were more sunny days, but the levels had not yet returned to before.
However, during this period, people had declared the failure of synthetic starch production, and controllable nuclear fusion technology had not been breakthroughed either.
Or rather, since the onset of the Volcanic Winter, people had not been able to achieve any more breakthroughs.
If it were based on the scientific research standards and supply capabilities before the Volcanic Winter, perhaps they could have succeeded.
However, after the turmoil caused by the Volcanic Winter, there was a lack of experimental materials, equipment, and researchers in various aspects.
Scientific progress had also stagnated, and many researchers realized that the peak might have been before the Volcanic Winter.
If the world could not return to its previous level of prosperity, there would be no more scientific breakthroughs in the future.
At the end of the eighth winter, Wen Qian began to consider whether she needed to move to a different place to live.
The next location where she settled might be the place where she would remain for the rest of her life, so the environment needed to be relatively better.
Although her current location was livable for one person, she knew it was not the best place suitable for growing crops.
Otherwise, when she first arrived here, there should have been human settlements here.
Therefore, Wen Qian prepared for one last round of sowing in the spring, and then planned to head north in July when the weather was better.
She might stay here for the ninth and tenth winters, but after that, she would leave.
She dug out her old books and maps, including provincial maps and information related to vegetation environments from back then.
Although a long time had passed, some places might have changed, but the general data could still be useful.
Once the Volcanic Winter ended and the period of great biological prosperity arrived, it would not be suitable for Wen Qian to live here anymore.
Her first choice was still the second safe point by Jade Lake, surrounded by mountains, with a lake formed by melting snow.
That place would be more suitable for grazing, and if one wanted to grow crops, they could go down the mountain and plant in the nearby areas.
Moreover, it was very likely that people would survive and gather around Jade Lake in the future, and where there were people, goods could be exchanged, and news could also be shared.
Another possibility was to continue further north, from Xia Province to Ning Province or even farther places, with the target always being northward.
In those areas, the altitude would be slightly lower, with forests and rivers, and the grass and water would be more abundant than in Xia Province, making it more suitable for both grazing and farming.
Not to mention, the variety of fish alone would be greater than in Xia Province.
Regardless of whether human or animal, in order to survive in the future, the chosen place would definitely need to have abundant food.
This was also the reason why Wen Qian wanted to leave this place. As she grew older, she wanted to plant as many crops as possible while she was still able to move around.
Previously, her first choice of location was based on having fewer people around, avoiding humans.
Now that the population has drastically decreased, her next choice of location is primarily based on having an abundant food supply, with low population being the secondary condition.
