No one knew where Young Liu went in the end, but he never came back.
Life went on as usual for the others, except that Ni Sha's family had a new little girl, who would occasionally be carried by her mother to the village for doctor's injections.
Although she would cry when getting the shots, her mother would give her candy, so the child would quickly be soothed.
The little girl's nickname was Xiao Guo (Little Fruit), as she was born in autumn, and everyone called her Guo Guo.
The youngest neighbor here used to be the Jin family's youngest son, Little Ning, but he was already a grown-up now.
Whenever Ni Sha passed by their place carrying her child, the neighbors would come over to see this adorable little one.
At this time, the child couldn't eat much, otherwise, Wen Qian and the Jin family would have sent her some delicious treats.
Wen Qian had prepared things long ago, but since the child was still drinking milk, she gave the food to Ni Sha instead.
Ni Sha was visibly exhausted from taking care of the child, but her husband was the same. It was clear that both were trying their best.
It was said that things would gradually get better; the most difficult initial period was over.
Wen Qian had heard the old saying, "Raising a child for a hundred years, worrying for ninety-nine."
Raising a child has always been a major project, no matter how well-behaved and obedient the child is, parents will always have plenty to worry about.
Others helped as much as they could. The child's father spent every day either farming or hunting because they had spent a lot on exchanging grain and childbirth.
Now with an heir, he needed game more than ever, either as winter reserves or to exchange for money.
Whenever Ni Sha saw Wen Qian holding the child, she felt that Wen Qian was gentler than she had ever seen her before.
She thought someone like this would also make a great mother. Ni Sha didn't know if Wen Qian's single status was due to the calamity.
She felt that Wen Qian didn't dislike children, was very good at taking care of them, and had a lot of patience.
But she wouldn't say a word more. She was just curious, but for Wen Qian, it might be painful, so she never asked.
Wen Qian, already past forty-five, did indeed like children, but she had no unspeakable wounds. She simply chose not to marry or have children.
She felt she had a fleeting interest because babies are only brought out by their mothers when they're well-behaved. She only needed to experience the cute, angelic side of children.
Even when the child cried, it was the family who soothed her. For an outsider like Wen Qian, there was no need to expend patience; she only needed to appreciate.
As for the brain-wracking matters, those were naturally borne by the parents.
She hadn't thought about marriage for a long time, so naturally, she wouldn't have the chance to have children. She had, of course, considered the consequences of this choice.
She didn't want to marry or have children even before the calamity, and after it, this thought became even more firm.
In her view, even if she regretted it when she got old, it would be useless, just as some people regret having children but can't stuff them back in.
People might regret either choice, and there's no cure for regret.
Some single people who regret it pretend to be tough and say they don't.
Some married with children who regret it say defiantly that they've ruined their lives for their kids.
Children never have the right to choose whether to be born; they are passively born. They didn't come into this world to burden anyone.
Children come because their parents want them, or because of failed or mistaken contraception when parents don't want them.
Yet some parents make their children live with guilt, or even abandon them outright.
Every gain has its loss. Whatever the case, she would bear the consequences with equanimity.
At this moment, looking into little Guo Guo's big eyes, she hadn't yet realized that plans never keep up with changes.
As spring gradually turned to summer, the temperature kept rising. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before it returned to that summer.
Wen Qian wove a straw hat for herself and covered her skin, not to avoid tanning, but because too much midday sun would burn her.
Once the skin turns red from sunburn, it becomes fiery hot, then peels off. Wen Qian had experienced this while working in the summer before.
Later, working in the city, she lacked sunlight, and then came the calamity, making sunlight even rarer.
Even now, with the sun so good and her loving it, she didn't dare stay out too long.
The summer sun made everything grow better: weeds and flowers, fruits and crops, all grew lush.
Therefore, Wen Qian had to be very careful when going out, worried about encountering venomous insects or snakes.
She prepared a lot of insect repellents, some from her space, some exchanged at the market's general store.
When the house got hot at noon, Wen Qian would take snow and put it in a small vat to cool the whole house. It was an excellent method, and only she could use it like this.
With the weather warming up, things spoiled easily. Without refrigerators now, people had many ways to preserve food: salting, smoking, cooling in well or stream water.
There were also homemade refrigerators: a big vat containing a smaller one, the gap filled with damp sand.
Fruits and vegetables were placed in the small vat, lid closed tight, and the sand kept moist.
Wen Qian had tried it and found it did preserve things, but she just tried it out; in the end, everything still went into her space.
If she lost her space in the future, she could scale up and make a bigger refrigerator, which would work great with a cellar.
The temperature changes sparked discussions. Some said if it kept rising, people from the south might come north to escape the heat.
Others said going to the highlands was most reliable for avoiding heat.
Although everyone lived a rather primitive life of hunting and farming, many survivors of this generation were educated and could teach their children to read and write.
Likewise, they told their children about the pre-calamity climate, culture, and more in various places.
People living in the information explosion era probably received more information in a day than these children did in a year.
Besides teaching basic characters, adults taught children more about survival skills.
At a young age, they followed their parents to learn about crops and various animals.
They knew how to set traps for hunting, how to cook food with fire.
Most people in the formerly convenient era didn't know these things. Adults were forced to shift from convenient living to survival mode.
The children, however, had grown accustomed to this way of life from a young age. Without a point of comparison, they had no way to feel wistful. They could only glean their elders' longing for the past from the sighs that accompanied their reminiscences.
Even so, they could never return to those days.
Even if the temperature were to recover and the population gradually increase, it would take a long time to return to previous levels. The generation that lived through this cataclysmic change might not live to see that day.
However, one thing was certain: with a past rich in scientific prosperity, rebuilding would be a little easier than starting from scratch.
