Chapter 29 Snowball

After solving the problem, Li Teng didn't return to the Snow Cave but stood on the small platform to stretch his muscles and bones.

Curled up in the Snow Cave, although not cold, he hardly had any space to move, and now he was quite sore and achy in the waist and back.

After a while, Li Teng remembered something, so he dealt with the part of the snow wall he had contaminated the night before, took some snow from the bed to reinforce and made a new snow wall to patch it up.

Humans are higher beings, and one must not act in a way that is inferior even to a cat.

Even in such dire straits, one must not lower one's standards for the quality of life.

The snow kept falling, it was truly boring to stay outside, and it was also not possible to lie in bed.

The main issue was the cold.

Li Teng had no choice but to crawl back into the Snow Cave.

If he didn't know about the existence of Film and Television City, he would surely be in absolute despair by now.

Despair to the point of wanting to commit suicide.

Knowing there was such a place as Film and Television City was like a candle in the night. Though its light was faint, it showed Li Teng a path, gave him the belief to persevere, a direction to channel his efforts. He knew that through hard work, it was possible to improve his current situation.

In extreme situations, belief is most crucial. Without it, one is truly doomed.

And so a day passed by.

After nightfall, the snow finally stopped.

Li Teng was certain the snow had ceased because the moon had come out, and the sky was no longer that dim and hazy.

But it was still very cold, and the blankets and mats had frozen solid in the snow, so he had to spend the night in the Snow Cave.

Before going to sleep, Li Teng ate a snowball that hadn't been contaminated.

It tasted very bad, but it helped him replenish some water.

"I hope tomorrow is a sunny day," prayed Li Teng before closing his eyes as he lay down.

...

Sometimes Li Teng felt he was rather lucky.

Just like now, his dream had come true.

When he went to sleep last night, he had hoped for a sunny day today.

And indeed, today was sunny.

The weather atop the stone pillar was utterly unpredictable and made no sense.

The sun had come out.

And there was no wind.

But sometimes dreams coming true isn't a good thing.

Take Li Teng when he woke up in the morning, for instance.

After the sun came out, it suddenly became very hot.

So hot that even the snow piled on the bed and the top of the stone pillar began to melt.

Turning into water, it dripped and dripped downwards.

Li Teng was soaked through and through.

The clothes he bought from Film and Television City, along with his pajamas, all worn on his body were now thoroughly wet.

Fortunately, the sun had appeared, and against all logic, the temperature had risen. At least he didn't have to worry about freezing to death now.

Not worried about freezing to death, but with the abnormal rise in temperature, Li Teng quickly became concerned about the problem of drinking water.

He had to take precautions against a rainy day.

Li Teng gathered all the uncontaminated snow he could find on top of the stone pillar and on the bed into one place, making a large snowball to hide under the bed.

After the battered blankets and mats warmed up in the sun and were no longer so hard, Li Teng covered the large snowball beneath the bed with them.

This snowball was now his treasure.

If all the snow on top of the stone pillar melted away in the sun, and if it didn't rain in the next few days and he couldn't return to Film and Television City, this snowball would be his only source of water.

Without tools, and with the stone pillar being extremely hard, otherwise, Li Teng would have wanted to dig a pit on top of the stone pillar to preserve this large snowball.

After securing the large snowball, Li Teng took off all his wet clothes and draped them over the bed's headboard to dry.

Then, he kept an eye on the large snowball under his bed from time to time.

Although the snowball was covered with a blanket, under the scorching sun, it continued to melt away, occasionally causing water to seep out from underneath the blanket, flowing down the edge of the stone pillar.

Li Teng was quite distressed, but he had no way to prevent any of this.

If the heat remained as intense tomorrow, the large snowball probably wouldn't last until noon.

Today was the third day since returning from Film and Television City.

They said the interval between two performances generally ranges from three to five days, and the day of return isn't counted within these three to five days, so the earliest he could reenter Film and Television City would be the day after tomorrow.

Just keep enduring.

...

The day was very hot.

The night, however, was very cold.

Although it didn't rain or snow.

There was wind.

Li Teng gave his quilt to Snowball and could only curl up on the wooden bed.

Fortunately, his clothes were dry, with pajamas inside and clothes bought from Film and Television City on the outside, which was a slight improvement over just having pajamas before going to Film and Television City.

Next time I return to Film and Television City, I must buy a thick piece of clothing.

This kind of cold was really unbearable.

It made his bones ache.

...

Li Teng didn't know how he made it through the night.

Most of the time, he was conscious.

It wasn't that he wanted to stay awake.

It was the cold that kept him very awake.

This cold, colder than the cold in a Snow Cave, was even more unbearable.

The wind wasn't strong, but it was enough to blow away the little heat left in his body.

The next day dawned, and when the sun came out, Li Teng felt like he was on his last breath.

According to the rules of Film and Television City, it was definitely impossible to return there today, only tomorrow held hope.

When the sun finally made Li Teng's hands and feet warm up a bit, he came down from the bed and with his somewhat disobedient hands, he opened his quilt.

Inside, Snowball had shrunk to a third of its size from yesterday.

It likely couldn't last until noon.

Li Teng grabbed a few chunks of snow and forced himself to eat them.

It served as both breakfast and a drink.

As long as his body had water, he could live a few more days, make it until the next trip to Film and Television City.

With Snowball smaller, he could wrap the quilt around it several more times.

If wrapped thick enough, perhaps a little bit of Snowball could be preserved until tomorrow.

Bathing in the sun the whole day, Li Teng almost lay motionless on the wooden bed.

Of course, he did this to conserve energy and preserve strength.

Even so, by evening, Li Teng was still so hungry that he started to see illusions.

How he longed for just a bite to eat!

After a day in the blazing sun, aside from hunger, Li Teng was also very thirsty.

But he persisted in not touching Snowball.

Opening the quilt in the burning daytime sun, bringing the heat inside, would cause great loss to Snowball.

Right now, this Snowball was his life.

As the sun set and the temperature on top of the stone pillar dropped, Li Teng carefully opened the quilt under the bed and felt around inside, overwhelmed with surprise for a while.

Inside, there was still half of Snowball left, about the size of a fist!

The snow, which Li Teng had originally packed tightly, had also softened quite a bit.

Li Teng figured Snowball wouldn't last until tomorrow, so he carefully took it out and devoured it.

His parched body from a day in the sun finally received replenishment and moisture.

If it doesn't rain or snow tomorrow... there would be no water source.

He should be able to return to Film and Television City tomorrow, right?

He hoped to return to Film and Television City tomorrow.

He wanted to eat delicious porridge, he wanted to eat steamed buns with pickled vegetables.

Li Teng, drooling, lay down on the wooden bed.