CHAPTER 77: CHAPTER 77: THE COLD WAVE APPROACHES, UNITED WE STAND AGAINST THE CHILL

Pei Shu’er was momentarily stunned and quickly opened her eyes.

Facing her directly was Tang Zan’s godly handsome face, and those deep, dark eyes that seemed like a deep pool.

Unexpectedly giving Pei Shu’er an illusion of gentleness.

Pei Shu’er shook her head: "A bit cold."

Then, she suddenly sat up, her eyes showing obvious panic.

The original book mentioned a massive cold wave would hit here.

By then, countless exiled prisoners would freeze to death, and even few officials could survive.

Pei Shu’er said to Tang Zan: "Tang Zan, the cold wave is coming soon."

Tang Zan was a bit stunned, then looked at Pei Shu’er with clear confusion in his eyes.

"How do you know?"

Pei Shu’er could only fabricate.

"Earlier, when I passed by the Second Master’s room, I heard him say there would be a cold wave on the night four days later. I didn’t believe it initially, but considering his skill in observing the weather, I had to believe it."

"And now it’s suddenly so cold."

After saying that, Pei Shu’er didn’t go back to sleep. As soon as she got out of bed, she shivered violently.

She hurriedly ran to Lu Qing and the others, telling Lu Qing about her discovery with the same explanation as before.

Lu Qing immediately sounded the gong and then said to everyone, "Be alert, the cold wave is coming soon."

As he spoke, it felt even colder, and some people were shivering around the fire, but the flames were getting smaller.

Everyone quickly gathered, but no matter how they tried to warm themselves, it was still cold.

Pei Shu’er quickly said, "Everyone, get up and move around. Yinxing, go boil some hot water in a large iron pot."

However, everyone was so cold that some already had purple faces and were on the verge of fainting.

Pei Shu’er quickly had people help them and gave them a sip of Spiritual Spring Water.

Since she could help now, she wouldn’t watch these people die.

That person regained some strength and joined the others in moving around by the fire.

At the same time, Pei Shu’er asked Yinxing Zhang, Lai Fu, and Wangcai to bring some straw mats and the wood from the wheelbarrow.

They were to build a larger simple straw shelter around the fire to cover all sides.

They also needed to secure all sides with something.

Tang Zan saw these people clumsily struggling and unable to get it right.

He stood up, enduring the cold, and helped everyone build the straw shelter.

There were similarities to setting up a military tent, and with Tang Zan’s help, it was completed quickly.

There were two hours left before the cold wave mentioned in the original book, so Pei Shu’er immediately had Zhang Chao and the others collect some firewood.

On such a cold night, the firewood couldn’t be extinguished.

Lin Yu and Lin Hong were sent to fetch water; hot water was essential too.

The others, seeing this, all pitched in to collect firewood or fetch water, if they still had strength.

Even so, with the cold wave not yet arriving, some people had already collapsed.

After finishing all this, Pei Shu’er looked at everyone’s seating arrangement and spoke up.

"Everyone, sit closer, preferably next to this straw shelter."

"Also, if your family has straw mats or curtains, you can set up a straw shelter. It blocks the wind, makes the fire burn brighter, and keeps everyone warmer."

Everyone followed Pei Shu’er’s instructions. Several small straw shelters in the camp were also built by referring to Pei Shu’er’s design.

Li Fugui, Mrs. Li, and the members of the big family secretly felt dissatisfied.

Pei Shu’er, who was no longer the Heir’s wife, was still giving orders here; it was disgusting.

But they were disliked by the group now, so they didn’t dare speak up at this moment.

Pei Shu’er, indeed, held great prestige; offending her could likely lead to trouble from her supporters.

And there were some people, naturally weak, who didn’t have much strength even sitting by the fire.

Lu Qing evidently saw this too, and as the temperature dropped further, if the cold wave indeed came, the weak ones might freeze to death.

Pei Shu’er saw this wasn’t working and walked over to Lu Qing to discuss.

"Lu Jieguan, this won’t work. Everyone’s body is too weak, and without a proper meal, they won’t get warm. We need to feed everyone; otherwise, more than half might die tonight!"

If someone else said this, Lu Qing would have the government officer take them out for a beating, not knowing their place.

But it was Pei Shu’er speaking, Pei Shu’er who had repeatedly saved everyone in crises.

Lu Qing nodded, "Okay."

There was no time to make porridge, and it wasn’t filling enough.

He immediately took out the wheat cakes Pei Shu’er had prepared earlier and had them torn and cooked in a large pot.

He also had the government officer give everyone a bowl of wheat cake soup.

After eating a bowl, everyone started to regain some strength.

The efficiency of collecting firewood and building the straw shelters significantly improved.

Simultaneously, Pei Shu’er took out the bandits’ cotton quilts stored in the wheelbarrow.

She had Lai Fu and Wangcai distribute them, but seeing the limited number of quilts, she didn’t let them give any to those troublesome rebels.

They were strong enough to survive the cold without quilts.

Pei Shu’er raised her voice.

"Everyone, make do for now, squeeze together to share the quilts."

The people Pei Shu’er gave quilts to were the weak.

Pei Shu’er’s generosity prompted immediate gratitude on bended knee.

As for those with Pei Shu’er, the benefits were self-evident.

The quilt exteriors were still cotton, but the insides were replaced with large, thick, warm quilts from her space.

There was also a warm large coat, products Pei Shu’er had altered.

After putting them on, those who were freezing became warm immediately.

Completely different from those outside shivering, with faces turning blue and purple.

Amid this, several more people died.

At this point, Lin Yu and others returned, pouring water into the large pot.

After about fifteen minutes, the water in the large pot boiled again, and Pei Shu’er had everyone come for hot water.

Simultaneously, she quietly filled a thermos with some of the hot water and stored it in her space.

The government officers were also boiling water in a large pot, ensuring enough for so many exiled prisoners.

Once this batch of hot water was fetched, Lin Yu and others poured two more buckets into the pot.

As everyone was dozing off around the fire, Pei Shu’er immediately widened her eyes.

"Don’t fall asleep, everyone; the cold wave is here!"

It was her first time seeing a cold wave with the naked eye.

A layer of white frost rapidly covered the stones and ground, even the firewood stacked by the fire.

The temperature dropped sharply from a few degrees above zero to several degrees below zero!

Pei Shu’er felt her cheeks go numb with cold, and she even saw the hair and eyelashes of several exiled people on the edge covered in white frost, their faces turning blue and purple instantly.

Pei Shu’er also felt a surge of cold, but fortunately, she was at the innermost side of the straw shelter, with a large rock behind her blocking some of the chill.

The flames within the straw shelter diminished somewhat.

But the flames outside were nearly extinguished!

Many people were directly frozen stiff.