Chapter 160: Global Extreme Cold 3
Because Lu Qingyuan was afraid of losing face, Chu Yian successfully bought a down jacket.
The salesperson, who had just closed a five-figure deal, was practically beaming and couldn’t help but flatter Lu Qingyuan, “Sir truly loves the young lady; your relationship is so good.”
Who knew that flattery would backfire?
“We have no relationship.”
“He’s my boss.”
They spoke in unison, one with a terribly sour expression, the other with a sweet smile.
A handsome and wealthy but unlucky boss and his cunning subordinate… it seemed a bit shippable?
By the time they returned, it was already night.
When Chu Yian got out of the car, the cold air that greeted her made her shiver.
“Good evening, dear listeners and friends. This is the weather forecast channel. We interrupt this program with a news update: Due to the East European Hurricane, various regions across the country will experience strong temperature drops of varying degrees. All citizens are advised to prepare for the cold.”
On the projector, news about the low temperatures began to play.
Lu Qingyuan had turned it on.
He and Chu Yian had gone out, and seeing her buy things for winter, he initially thought she was foolish. But upon returning, he specifically turned on the TV to show her the next day’s weather.
However, when he saw this news report, he felt like he had been proven wrong.
“You knew the temperature was going to drop?”
“Of course.”
Chu Yian glanced at the dignified and serious anchor on the TV, “Aren’t you already watching the weather forecast?”
Just a weather forecast?
Lu Qingyuan looked at her belongings piled up inside the house. Chu Yian’s preparations didn’t seem like she was getting ready for winter; it was more like she was preparing to flee.
But none of that mattered anymore; he would make her move out tomorrow.
Late at night, Chu Yian was still awake, almost at midnight.
She sat in the room, looking at the supplies she had bought: food, warm down jackets, down quilts, hand warmers, and a thermos. But these were still too few. There were also shoes, thermal underwear, hats, and scarves.
Chu Yian thought of all the warm items she could, then wrote them all down line by line in her notebook.
The book said they also needed to flee to Oasis, and transportation was essential.
She had seen in the villa that Teacher Lu had many cars, so she didn’t need to worry too much about that. She might need to prepare a bit more fuel and gasoline.
As she was writing things down, her fingers started to feel a bit frozen.
The temperature had dropped again.
Chu Yian took out her phone and checked the weather forecast; the current temperature was surprisingly only 8 degrees Celsius. Because this game round involved cold weather, Chu Yian had specifically paid attention to temperature changes. When she first entered the game, the temperature was 38 degrees Celsius; in just ten hours, it had dropped by thirty degrees.
She rubbed her slightly cold fingers and added “gloves” to her already completed notepad.
On the second day of the game, there was frost outside.
The villa’s handrail was covered with a thin layer of ice. Chu Yian wore the new down jacket she bought yesterday, but her lower body still had thin jeans and sneakers.
It was cold, but not unbearable.
Lu Qingyuan had left early, leaving her alone in the villa. Chu Yian wasn’t idle either; she took her backpack and went out, preparing to buy the things she had planned for yesterday.
She still didn’t have enough money, so she still had to sell Grandpa Treasure Box.
With money, she headed straight for the Shopping Mall.
The temperature had dropped so quickly that major Shopping Malls still displayed summer clothes; warm clothing was out of the question.
Chu Yian couldn’t find thermal underwear at the Shopping Mall and ran to several wholesale markets before she managed to grab the boss’s leftover stock from last year.
“Thickened, self-heating. Don’t worry, sis, these can let you wear them straight to the South Pole. Our S City is like spring all year round; it was only because this thermal underwear was too thick that it didn’t sell last year.”
“Then you’ll definitely sell out this year.”
“Hahaha, thank you for the good wishes, sis.”
The boss smiled.
Most people didn’t believe that last night’s news and today’s abnormal weather would last long.
Chu Yian bought all the sizes she could wear and the largest men’s sizes, dragging a large package that made her look quite struggled as she walked. Fortunately, her treasure box had expanded enough to fit all the thermal underwear.
At the boss’s recommendation, Chu Yian also successfully bought super thick gloves, fleece socks, hats, and windproof earmuffs.
When it came to cotton shoes, she hesitated.
She knew her own shoe size, of course, but she didn’t know Lu Qingyuan’s.
Just then, Lu Qingyuan, who was preparing to sign a contract online, received a call from Chu Yian. He had just said “hello” when her voice came through the phone, “Teacher Lu, what size shoes do you usually wear?”
“45, why?”
“Wow, big feet.”
The other end didn’t tell him why, just hung up the phone directly.
Lu Qingyuan looked at his phone screen, which showed a 30-second call duration, and took a deep breath—why did he even bother with her?
Chu Yian ran back and forth four or five times, buying many things. She had almost spent all the money from selling the treasure box before she returned to the villa.
By then, light snow had already begun to fall, but Lu Qingyuan had not yet returned.
She called him again, but he didn’t answer. She called him twice more, but couldn’t get through.
This time, however, he sent a message.
“In a meeting, don’t bother me.”
Alright.
Chu Yian put down her phone, cooked something for herself to eat, then took a shower and prepared for bed.
Game Day Three
She was woken up by the cold.
Outside the window, the ground was covered in a blanket of silver. She could vaguely hear the cheerful laughter of children and girls; it had snowed.
The rare heavy snow in S City, a once-in-a-century event, excited the city’s residents. Some people even braved the cold, running outside to build snowmen and have snowball fights.
Chu Yian’s first thought upon waking was Lu Qingyuan. He hadn’t returned all last night, but she had managed to get through to him on the phone.
“I have something going on recently. I’ll be staying at the company for the next two days.”
“Teacher Lu, you’d better come back soon.”
If he froze to death outside, it wouldn’t be worth it.
Chu Yian didn’t say the rest directly, choosing a more subtle approach, “You probably didn’t bring thick clothes, did you? Staying at the company makes it easy to catch a cold.”
“The company has heating.”
Lu Qingyuan said indifferently, “By the way, why are you still at my house?”
After saying that, he glanced at the weather forecast playing in the company Cafeteria. There would be a strong temperature drop for a while, estimated to last another three days.
Never mind.
“You can stay at my place for now, but don’t wander around freely, except for the living room and guest rooms.”
Teacher Lu was indeed harsh in words but kind at heart.
Chu Yian sighed, then put on her thick down jacket and went out. Yesterday, she had bought warm clothing, fuel, and some outdoor survival gear. Today, it was time to buy medicine and things to ward off the cold.
On the other side, Lu Qingyuan, after hanging up the phone, looked at his secretary beside him. He suddenly remembered a question—
Chu Yian was also an employee of his company. The boss was at work, so why wasn’t she?
