"Attention all citizens. Tonight, we will experience the most powerful cold snap in the history of Blue Star. Please take all necessary protective measures."
"We advise all citizens to store an appropriate amount of heating supplies. This severe cold front is expected to last for approximately ten days."
"All districts are to cooperate actively and take effective action to ensure there are no interruptions to water and electricity supplies."
"We urge the public not to panic and to reduce all non-essential travel..."
...
Chen Yuan sat on the sofa, a remote in his hand, flicking through the channels. Every screen flashed with the same emergency broadcast, all of them announcing the global cold snap.
He leaned his head back, letting it sink into the sofa cushions. A grimace settled on his features. It wasn't because of the historic cold front, but because he couldn't understand why he was here at all.
He scanned his surroundings. The apartment was just as he remembered it, but the door to the second bedroom in the two-room flat was shut tight. The landlord had called it a storage room.
But he distinctly remembered having a roommate.
He picked up his phone and dialed the number.
「We're sorry, the number you have dialed does not exist...」
"So, it's true..." Chen Yuan murmured to himself. He walked to the window.
Looking down at the familiar streetscape below, he knew he probably wasn't going back. This world, this "Blue Star" as they called it, was like a parallel universe to the one he had lived in. In other words, of all the people he knew, none of them were here, except for the landlord.
No, to be precise, he probably didn't even know his new landlord.
Chen Yuan stood at the window until his legs grew numb, only then pulling himself from the chaotic swirl of his thoughts.
It was already dusk. The golden sunlight streamed through the window, but he couldn't feel a trace of its warmth.
"The south, in July... so strange."
Chen Yuan frowned, finally accepting the cruel reality. If he truly couldn't go back, he had two things to consider now.
Surviving, and surviving.
The first kind of survival meant finding a job to support himself; he had just over thirty thousand yuan left in his bank account.
The second kind meant he had to go procure some warming supplies.
Having grown up in the south, he had never experienced temperatures below freezing. But according to the news from yesterday and today, this cold snap was global, with temperatures expected to plummet by as much as thirty degrees Celsius. He had never heard of such a terrifying temperature drop and still held a degree of skepticism.
He scratched his head and turned to head outside.
On the stairs, he saw several people hauling large bags and packages home. It was obvious these were not his old neighbors. To avoid suspicion, he tugged the brim of his baseball cap down, obscuring most of his face.
Out on the street, what should have been a congested rush-hour road was eerily quiet, with only a few cars speeding past. The sidewalks were just as sparse, with the occasional pedestrian hurrying along, their faces etched with worry.
Seeing this scene, the doubt in Chen Yuan's heart only grew. This was a first-tier city. Why did it feel so desolate?
He followed the sidewalk for about a kilometer until he saw the supermarket from his memory. It was a massive, three-story building that sold everything.
The plaza outside was already packed with cars. A constant stream of people poured out of the supermarket doors, panting for breath and clutching bags, as if they had just fought a pitched battle inside.
With a sense of unease, Chen Yuan squeezed through a side entrance.
The scene before him left him momentarily stunned.
As far as the eye could see, there were people. Everyone was clutching various foods and warm clothing. Some were even hoisting uncommon electric heaters and wood-burning stoves over their heads. The aisles were completely gridlocked, and at the checkout counters, arguments had broken out among customers over line-cutting, their faces red with anger.
Chen Yuan stared at the pandemonium, the words of the emergency broadcast echoing in his mind. He rubbed his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Was this an overreaction from the public? Or was the announcement to be believed?
As a newcomer to this world, he would rather trust the announcement.
He pushed his way through the dense crowd. By the time he managed to squeeze his way to the food section, he found that only a few packs of mints and chewing gum remained on the shelves. Biscuits, bread, and anything of substance had been completely stripped bare.
A pang of regret hit him. Why had he stood by the window all afternoon? If he had come earlier, couldn't he have bought something? But then again, to accept the reality of transmigration in just one afternoon—wasn't that already fast enough?
"What do I do..."
A dark premonition began to form in Chen Yuan's heart. He now understood the worried expressions on the faces of the pedestrians he had seen earlier.
He quickly turned and pushed his way back outside. The moment he was free of the supermarket doors, he broke into a run.
He ran for a full kilometer, back to his apartment building, then took a sharp turn into an alleyway. According to his memory, there was a grain and oil shop at the end of this alley. If he couldn't buy prepared food, he could at least survive on rice and flour. It was only for ten days. At worst, he could eat plain boiled noodles every day.
Sweat soaked through his back. When Chen Yuan, panting for breath, finally reached the grain and oil shop, he was utterly dumbfounded.
Through the half-open metal shutter, he could see that the interior, which should have been piled high with sacks of rice and flour, was now empty.
He refused to give up and knocked on the door. The metal sheet rattled with a thump, thump.
"Boss? Is everything sold out?"
"You're too late, young man," a voice replied from within. "The announcement went out two days ago. Everything was cleared out long ago."
The owner was an old man with an unfamiliar face, lacking the shrewd look of a typical businessman. He was sitting behind the counter, smoking a hand-rolled cigarette.
Chen Yuan frowned. "Is there nothing left at all?"
The owner's smoking paused. He looked the young man up and down. Seeing him breathing heavily, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead like rain, he shook his head with a sigh.
"Forget it. I'll sell you a bag of flour. Wait a moment."
With that, he rose and shuffled to the back. A moment later, he returned, carrying a five-kilogram bag of flour.
"Here. This is all I can give you."
Chen Yuan stared at the bag on the counter, a small puff of white powder rising from it. He nodded gratefully. "Thank you. How much?"
"Sixty. It used to be fifty."
"Done!"
He paid without hesitation, took the flour, and left the shop. After taking only a few steps, he heard a loud rattling clang behind him. He looked back to see that the grain and oil shop had already shut its heavy metal door.
In that moment, he finally believed it. This cold snap was real, just as the announcement had said. Drastic measures were needed.
He looked down at the flour in his hands, giving it a slight bounce. Five kilograms. If he ate sparingly, it should be enough for ten days.
But what was he going to do for warmth? From the way people were acting, this kind of event wasn't a first. They all had experience.
But he had none.
Gritting his teeth, he decided to take the precious flour home first, then come back out to try his luck.
By the time he had made the round trip, it was already seven in the evening.
Chen Yuan left his apartment with half a loaf of bread, eating as he jogged through the alleys. The storefronts that used to sell discounted clothes or small goods were all shuttered. He searched for an hour without seeing a single soul.
Standing at an intersection, he felt a wave of frustration. A slight breeze blew past, carrying a biting chill. He tightened the collar of his windbreaker, but still felt the cold air seeping through the fabric, drilling into his skin. This was his thickest piece of clothing. If the temperature kept dropping like this, he probably wouldn't get far before he started shivering uncontrollably.
He walked for ten minutes without being able to flag down a single taxi. Even his ride-sharing app requests went unanswered.
In that moment, a wave of despair washed over Chen Yuan.