Embers Ad Infinitum

It was rare for someone to be willing to listen to his experiences back then. Lao Zhao stood at the door of the warehouse and talked happily while recalling.

But the experiments he participated in were repeated over and over in a certain place in the ice field, where he wore single clothes, thicker clothes, and cotton-padded jackets, stayed there for varying lengths of time, and then entered a simple house to undergo inspections. There were no other tricks, and it was boring and boring.

Jiang Baimian judged based on the ice sheet data provided by the company and collected by himself, that the temperatures Lao Zhao and the others experienced ranged from minus 30 to 40 degrees to above zero 56 degrees Celsius, in various stages, very detailed.

It's already over zero, so what kind of human cold-resistant experiment is this? As a former scientific researcher, Jiang Baimian felt that there was a mismatch between the experimental purpose and the experimental plan.

She suspects the data the company is really trying to capture isn't about cold hardiness.

"What items do you include in your physical examination?" Jiang Baimian asked thoughtfully.

Lao Zhao thought carefully about it for a while:

"Everywhere was checked, head, neck, chest, stomach, hands and feet..."

I can't tell what kind of data I want to collect... Long Yuehong muttered in his heart.

"What impressed you most?" Shang Jianyao always focused on something wrong.

"Aren't all the tests the same?" Lao Zhao didn't quite understand the question, "I just remember that it's still cold in the simple house."

Bang bang bang, Shang Jianyao applauded with satisfaction.

He seemed to want the answer "What impressed me most was the cold."

Lao Zhao was obviously stunned by his applause, and the village chief next to him also looked confused.

Jiang Baimian sighed secretly and explained helpfully:

"My colleague likes to play around, say things that others can't understand, and do weird things."

"Oh..." Old Zhao suddenly realized, "There were people like this among the volunteers at that time."

"Could he be my half-brother? What happened to him?" Shang Jianyao asked eagerly.

Lao Zhao shook his head:

"I don't know, he is from another settlement.

"He was quite calm at first, but later he showed his joking side. Later, after the experiment was over, I returned to the village and I didn't know where he went."

"Some people only show their true selves when they get to know each other well." Shang Jianyao said in a tone of "I can understand it very well."

Jiang Baimian thought for a while and kept this in mind.

She turned to ask:

"How many people came back alive from your experiment?"

Lao Zhao counted the wrenches:

"Sixty to seventy percent, the manager said. The experiment itself would have very few deaths. If it weren't for the fact that many volunteers were recruited from various settlements, their health seemed to be okay, but in fact they were very weak, and they wouldn't have died.

"Hey, most of the living people also have various kinds of frostbite, and some have brain freeze problems and are crazy."

Something wrong with brain freeze? Jiang Baimian has not done any similar experiments, nor has he read the corresponding reports. It is not clear whether this is normal.

She turned her head and looked at Gnawa.

Gnawa, who was wearing a burqa, shook his head and said that he did not have the corresponding knowledge in his database.

Jiang Baimian didn't ask any more questions. First, he was too curious and could easily lead to suspicion. Second, Lao Zhao obviously didn't know much. He should have told almost everything he could remember.

"Being a volunteer is hard work. I remember back then, I..." Shang Jianyao was forcibly stopped from sharing the past.

Jiang Baimian interrupted him:

"Okay, let's go in and pick out supplies."

The village chief was very discerning and immediately said to Lao Zhao:

"Open the door and I will lead the distinguished guests in."

When Old Zhao opened the warehouse door, Jiang Baimian asked the village chief casually about the topic just now:

"Is the company's scientific research team that went to the ice sheet last week large?"

"It's not big." The village chief replied nonchalantly, "There are only five or six cars with about twenty people. It seems that half of them are volunteers."

After finishing speaking, the village chief smiled and said:

"Compared to you, the scale is quite large."

"How many days did they stay in the village?" Jiang Baimian smiled and changed the subject.

"Three or four days, well, four days is less than a little bit." The village chief became more certain as he recalled it.

At this time, the door of the warehouse was opened, and he led the "old tune team" inside.

Jiang Baimian said "hmm":

"We're going to the ice field. They must have replenished a lot of supplies, right?"

"Fortunately, half of their cars are filled with various machines, uh, instruments." The village chief shook his head.

Jiang Baimian suddenly showed a curious expression:

"What kind of cars do they drive? Can they install so many instruments?"

"It's just an ordinary off-road vehicle with a modified trunk." The village chief replied casually.

Jiang Baimian asked several questions about the scientific research team that did not seem to involve confidentiality, and received satisfactory answers.

Then, the "Old Adjustment Team" began to select materials according to needs.

After the corresponding materials were moved out of the warehouse and put on their jeep, Jiang Baimian glanced at the bill given by the village chief and paid the contribution points with his own electronic card.

At this time, there was still some time before noon, Jiang Baimian led Shang Jianyao and others for a walk in Cliff Village.

Most of the villagers went to work in the fields, while a few stayed at home, doing needlework while looking after their children, or dealing with different affairs in the office.

They saw that the "Old Diao Group" was very enthusiastic, and from time to time, villagers wanted to invite Shang Jianyao and others to their homes.

"Young man, little girl, come to my house for dinner at noon!" An old lady, who was older than the village chief, was sunbathing by the window. When she saw the "old tune group" passing by, she quickly got up and walked out of the door, shouting loudly.

Before Jiang Baimian had time to respond, Shang Jianyao said on his own initiative:

"We can't help you join the company!"

The old lady was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said:

“I’m already old, how can I still dare to think about joining a company?

"I'm so happy to see the people in the company. If the company hadn't taken us in and given us a way out, how could I have lived to this age and given birth to several children? Now I don't have to work in the fields!"

Jiang Baimian took a step sideways, stood in front of Shang Jianyao, and said with a smile:

"We appreciate your kindness, but we have other things to do at noon."

She saw that this family was obviously not as well-off as the village chief's family, and she felt embarrassed to feed them.

The old lady waved her hand regretfully:

"You must come to my house for dinner if you have the chance in the future!"

Jiang Baimian and others waved in response.

After walking a little further, Long Yuehong said sincerely:

"The company is really respected and welcomed here..."

In the past, he would definitely have been proud of his status as an employee of "Pangu Biology", but now, thinking about it makes him feel uneasy and melancholy.

Jiang Baimian nodded:

"No matter what the purpose is, the company has done a lot of useful things for settlements like Cliff Village, bringing tangible benefits and clear hope."

"Yes." Bai Chen agreed.

The "Old Diao Group" went to Shuiwei Town specifically this time and found that there have been many good changes there and it is a bit prosperous.

Honest Gnawa analyzed:

"This may be because the conditions in the Age of Chaos and the beginning of the New Calendar were a nightmare for most settlements, like living in hell."

There is gratitude only when there is comparison.

Lao Ge, you don't need to speak so profoundly at this time... Jiang Baimian couldn't help but sneered.

After going around and around, the "Old Tune Group" returned to the office, planning to rest for a while and then have lunch a la carte.

Long Yuehong stood by the window, looking at the mountains and bridges in the distance, and asked with concern:

"Team leader, what should we do next?

"Going to the ice field to track that scientific research team? But they have been gone for more than two weeks. If there are any traces left, they will most likely be swallowed up by the ice and snow."

Jiang Baimian was sitting beside his bed, stretching his legs and stretching his muscles.

Hearing Long Yuehong's question, she smiled and said:

"We will rest here for a week."

"A week?" Long Yuehong and Bai Chen were obviously a little surprised.

Isn’t this too long a break?

Shang Jian Yao suddenly realized:

"You want me to dig out the secrets of the guy in room '506' as soon as possible?"

"This is one reason." Jiang Baimian smiled. "The other reason is that I just calculated that based on the number of people in the previous scientific research team and the supplies they carried, they could not stay on the ice sheet for a full month. Although the death of volunteers will reduce food consumption, the oil that should be used will still be used. Similar scientific research teams will inevitably reserve enough supplies for the return trip to prepare for possible accidents. In other words, they will have another week It's almost time to return to Cliff Village to replenish supplies.

"It's really difficult to track them on the ice sheet, but we can wait for them here."

Bang bang bang, Shang Jianyao clapped his hands.

Only then did Long Yuehong understand the meaning of the questions the team leader had asked before.

Some seemingly insignificant details can play such a significant role!

He was about to say something when he suddenly saw a motorcade coming from a distance across from the cliff village and on the other side of the highway bridge.

Long Yuehong frowned and said to his companions:

"A group of people came to Cliff Village, but they didn't look like they were from the company. The cars were all in tatters."