In the warm basement, the red-burning stove continued to release warmth while also providing the only lighting.
Regardless of the long and narrow windows around the basement or the glass windows in the rooms on the surface, they have been tightly covered by the iron-covered wooden baffles hung up by Wei Ran and others, which also blocked the weak, but still powerful
It could attract the fire of a deadly aerial bomb.
In the basement, the children who had just sung sat around with their bare feet on the soft, dry and warm sponge mats, waiting obediently for Kona to fill their bowls with oily broth.
Lydia distributed the weighed black bread to them, and waited for Wei Ran to cut the shaped aspic into long strips, put them on various small enamel plates, and handed them to each child one by one.
.
Until Lydia, who was the first to finish her work, picked up the baby Galina and brought the bottle containing hot milk and a little honey to her mouth. The already hungry children immediately began to enjoy their own food.
dinner.
"We need some tables."
Lydia said while breastfeeding the baby Galina, "I think those metal shelves against the wall are good. We can dismantle the upper part and only use the bottom layer, so that the children can have food."
table."
"I'll take them to do this tomorrow." As Kona spoke, she picked up a strip of aspic and stuffed it into Lidya's mouth. "How do you like it?"
"It tastes better than what Victor made," Lydia said with a smile. "The bitterness is gone, and the sweetness of honey is gone."
"I can't bear to put honey in it," Kona said, pointing to the top of her head. "Those horse livers have been hanging on the chimney on the first floor all day. I think they are ready to eat."
"Let's give each of the children a piece later."
Wei Ran ate the black bread, which was definitely not delicious, in a few mouthfuls, and drank the broth in the cup in another gulp, before continuing, "But just one slice is enough. Horse liver can supplement some vitamins."
After saying that, he also picked up a strip of aspic and threw it into his mouth. Indeed, as Lidya said, the aspic made by Kona did not add bitter liver and honey, so it did taste pretty good, but that
A faint fishy smell is unavoidable.
After finishing his portion of aspic in two or two mouthfuls, Wei Ran left the basement alone and walked through the partially covered wooden boards to the first floor, which was much colder.
In this small concrete house, the windows on all sides were also tightly covered by iron-clad wooden boards. Only the upper edge of the window closest to the basement entrance was blowing in the cold wind.
But instead of blocking the air outlet, Weiran deliberately left the iron house, braved the strong wind and blizzard, and beat all the snow at the air outlet clean.
The cold wind that pours into the house from the first floor is a vital source of ventilation. If this place is blocked, the children in the basement will probably die of carbon monoxide poisoning in just one night.
Returning to the concrete house again, Wei Ran locked the iron door, carefully patted the snow off his body, and then walked in using the red light from the basement entrance and exit, stepping on the cement steps.
Under the expectant and secretive gazes of the children, Wei Ran took out his British army kettle from his arms with a smile, unscrewed the lid, and slowly poured the sticky honey into an enamel kettle that had been emptied in advance.
It wasn't until the sticky honey covered the bottom of the pot that he picked up a pot of boiling water that had been cooled in advance, slowly poured it into the enamel kettle, and washed away the water that served as a bed.
Honey before milk.
A glass of honey water every night before going to bed, and a small piece of chocolate every morning when getting up. This is what Weiran has given to all the adults and children in these days, including Kena and Lydia and even the deceased Mrs. Via.
Habit.
So almost when he closed the lid of the enamel kettle, the nearest little guy subconsciously raised the enamel cup just used to hold the broth with his thin little hands.
Seeing this, Wei Ran smiled and gently poured a cup full of sweet honey water for him.
While he was busy pouring water for the children, Kona also gave each child a small piece of horse liver that had been roasted and lost its moisture.
Finally, the cups of Lydia, Kona and myself were filled with extra honey water, and the enamel kettle just emptied all the inventory.
After drinking up the honey water with floating oily flowers in one gulp, Wei Ran refilled his cup with a cup of slightly hot boiled water. He took all the remaining honey and oily flowers from the broth into his stomach, and then stood up and came again.
Go upstairs and use an ax to chop off a small section of the army horse's spine that can barely fit into the pot.
The large pieces of meat on the spine have been removed, but there is still some meat and marrow in the gaps between the bones. As long as you throw this bone into the pot and cook it overnight, there will definitely be more in the broth the next day.
A lot of oil and minced meat.
Before he finished his work, Kona and Lidya also came up one after another.
"Tomorrow I plan to take Alexander and the others around to collect firewood."
Kona stood by the chimney extending from the basement and said, "We only have enough firewood to burn for two more days at most. In such a cold weather, the children will definitely freeze to death without firewood."
"I will also find a way to get some coal back tomorrow." Lidya then made her promise, but there was not much confidence in her tone.
"What are you two going to say?" Wei Ran looked at them puzzled and asked.
"I think we should go outside the city and get some firewood back," Lydia and Kena said in unison.
"this..."
"I know it's not worth it for the firewood."
Lydia hurriedly explained before Wei Ran could say the words, "Compared with pulling the same amount of firewood, it is definitely not as cost-effective as pulling the same amount of entrails of military horses.
This chapter is not over yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! But just eating is not enough. I have never encountered such cold weather in winter in my whole life. Victor, we must deal with the low temperature.
Just store enough firewood."
"I'm going to let Alexander and Alyosha go out of the city with us."
Ke Na expressed a more dangerous idea, "We have been able to eat for two consecutive days. The two of them can definitely pull a sledge together. Lidya and I each pull a sledge, and you also pull a sledge. This way
We have four sledge trucks available, even if their trucks can only be loaded with..."
"What if we are in danger?"
Wei Ran interrupted the other party's idea and asked, "The target of four sledge trucks is too big. Once discovered by the German plane, we will not be able to escape at all."
Seeing that the two girls fell into silence, Wei Ran made a promise while using a saw to cut the spine of the army horse that had just been chopped off, "I will find a way to solve the fuel problem. The next time we and Comrade Matvey go outside the city
When collecting the corpses of the army horses, you two will go with me, but for now, help me hold down this bone."
Hearing this, Lidya and Kona's faces immediately showed expressions of surprise. They hurriedly came forward and worked together to hold down the huge spine placed on the table.
"in addition"
After Wei Ran hesitated for a moment, he pulled the saw back and forth while making a new request, "Let's take another group photo tomorrow afternoon."
"It wasn't before... Well, let's take another photo." Halfway through her words, Lydia changed her mind.
Seeing this, Wei Ran did not explain in detail, but patiently sawed the spine into four halves, and then threw it into the enamel pot on the stove in the basement.
This night, the children who were full again finally no longer frowned to fight against the hunger in their dreams, because every time they breathed, they could smell the particularly rich aroma of broth.
In the blink of an eye, early the next morning, the wind outside stopped, but the snow continued to fall. As a result, it became extremely difficult for Lydia to go out to work or to find something to eat or use.
But even so, Wei Ran was still the same as yesterday. After giving each of the children and two girls a piece of chocolate, he pulled Lidya on a sledge and walked step by step towards the ruins of the nursing home.
"Let's go back together in the afternoon," Wei Ran said before Lidya left, "I'll wait for you in the basement."
"I'll find you there after I finish work."
Lydia said, she had already left the sledge, wrapped her coat tightly around her and walked towards the distribution office a street away.
Watching the opponent's back disappear, Wei Ran checked the surroundings and pulled out the 13 rat traps one by one from the gaps in the ruins buried in snow.
This time, 13 cages only captured three rats that had frozen to death.
Although the number is a little small, each of these three mice can be said to be fat and strong. Even the smallest one is more than half the size of a mineral water bottle excluding its tail.
Still disemboweling him on the spot, mixing the frozen entrails with honey as bait, Wei Ran put the three mice into a sack around his waist, cleared his footprints as usual, and dragged the sledge truck to the basement where Mrs. Via was buried.
direction.
It had only been one night, but already a thick layer of ice and snow had accumulated in the cracked basement, and even the simple tomb made of bricks was mostly buried.
Seeing this, he was completely relieved. He left the almost completely collapsed building and casually changed directions, aimlessly searching for any available resources.
"Give it to me! Give it to me!"
Just as he walked into a building that had mostly collapsed, he heard a feeble scramble.
Taking a few quick steps and bypassing a broken wall, Wei Ran saw at a glance that a woman was trying to snatch something from the arms of another thin man, but the one who was robbed did not fight back, but just held on tightly.
He held the object of contention in his arms.
"What are you grabbing for?" Wei Ran raised a Nagant revolver while speaking.
"That's what I found!" The man who was robbed still hugged the thing in his arms tightly, and at the same time looked at Wei Ran hopefully, hoping that he could help him.
"This used to be my home, and that's my thing!" the woman said angrily, "Give it to me quickly!"
"So what exactly is it?" Wei Ran came closer and cocked the hammer at the same time.
"If you want to shoot, just shoot!"
The woman who grabbed the thing said nonchalantly, "Either give it to me quickly! Or kill me."
"I can't give it to you!"
The young man who was robbed said weakly, "My sister needs this potato, and I can't give it to you!"
"My kids need this potato too!"
The woman who had been trying to snatch away the potatoes collapsed without warning. She knelt down among the broken bricks and tiles, covered her face and sobbed, "My husband died on the battlefield outside the city, and my child had two pieces broken yesterday."
Fingers, doesn’t he need some nutrition? He’s only five years old and he’s about to starve to death!”
Hearing this, the young man who was holding the potato tightly in his arms trembled, and slowly placed the potato he had been holding on a piece of broken brick, then took out a small knife from his own boot, and with great effort
He cut the dark, wrinkled potato in half and handed one half to the woman.
"I...I can only give you half"
The young man said with a cry of guilt, "My sister has had a fever for several days. She really needs this potato. I'm sorry, I..."
But what kind of potato is that?
Wei Ran slowly lowered the revolver used for intimidation. Even if the potato that was fought over was not cut in half, it was probably not as big as the bullet chamber of the revolver in his hand!
Sighing secretly, he put away the pistol under the cover of the blanket, "Madam, where is your child?"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "What are you going to do?" the woman grabbed the potato and held it in her arms and asked warily.
“I have some food here”
"Give it quickly..."
"But let me see your child first."
After Wei Ran finished speaking, he looked at the young man who also stuffed half a potato into his arms, "And your sister, let me see her, and I can give her some food."
"Do you really have something to eat?" the young man asked immediately.
"I'm also a veterinarian and I have some emergency medicine."
"Come with me!" After saying this, the young man struggled to get up, holding on to the wall and staggering out as he said, "I'll take you there. Come quickly, come with me."
"What about you?" Wei Ran was not in a hurry to leave. Instead, he looked at the woman who had been protecting her chest.
"I don't believe you"
The woman said warily, "If you really want to give my child something to eat, just ask him to give me the other half of the potato!"
"Are you willing to believe me?" Wei Ran looked at the young man who was about to walk outside.
"If you lied to me, could you kill me and my sister with your gun?"
The young man turned around with difficulty and said with a cry, "I don't want to starve to death, and I don't want my sister to starve to death, but I don't have the courage to commit suicide."
"Give her the potatoes."
Wei Ran sighed, turned around and walked out of the ruins, and the young man, after a brief hesitation, took out the half of a wrinkled potato in his arms and gently placed it on the broken wall.
"Where do you live?" As Wei Ran spoke, he had already stuffed a piece of chocolate into the other person's mouth.
"This is..."
The young man bit the chocolate subconsciously, but after reacting, he immediately took out the chocolate with dirty hands, then licked the remaining sweetness on his lips, and then bent down to pick up the piece of chocolate that Wei Ran had just thrown away.
Before the tinfoil could become infected due to the low temperature, he rewrapped the piece of chocolate with tooth marks in his hand, and then put it into his coat pocket.
Seeing this, Wei Ran didn't say anything, but asked again, "Where do you live?"
"There." The young man raised his finger with great effort and pointed in the direction. "There are two crossroads from here."
"I'll pull you over"
With that said, Wei Ran helped the young man onto his sledge truck, "What's your name?"
"Pavel" the young man responded weakly, obviously very hungry.
"The piece of chocolate just now is compensation for the half potato."
As Wei Ran spoke, he took out another piece of chocolate and handed it to the other person, "If you eat this piece of chocolate, you can get another piece later, otherwise, you won't have it."
"Are you a candy factory employee?"
Pavel asked feebly, and at the same time he immediately took out the chocolate he had bitten, tore open the foil and threw it into his mouth. The second piece Wei Ran gave him was stuffed into his pocket.
"You guessed it right, I am indeed an employee of the candy factory."
Wei Ran said, already pulling the sledge towards the direction of the two intersections, "Help me show you the way, I don't know where your home is."
"Let's go forward"
While sucking the melted chocolate in his mouth, Pavel said weakly, "Turn right at the second intersection. There is a four-story building on the left. There is a burned truck downstairs. We live on the dark side of the second floor.
s room."
Hearing this, Wei Ran immediately increased his speed slightly, and at the same time he did not forget to ask, "How did you find that potato?"
“Discovered by accident”
Pavel explained weakly, "I was just looking for a pair of warmer shoes, and I accidentally found the potato, and then the woman appeared."
Hearing this, Wei Ran didn't say anything, but speeded up again.
It took him almost twenty minutes to get to the location directed by the other party. However, when he found the burned truck and tried to ask Pavel where to go upstairs, he found that the other party seemed to have fallen asleep.
"Wake up"
Wei Ran gently patted the other party's shoulder, and then, the skinny young man fell sideways from the sledge onto the snow with a "pop"!
After coming back to his senses, Wei Ran immediately helped the other person up. However, when he tremblingly put his hand to the other person's nostrils, he discovered that at some point, this young man who didn't even look 20 years old actually...
Has stopped breathing.
Aren't you cheating...
Wei Ran shook his head bitterly. He didn't realize until he helped the other person up that the other person's clothes were far thinner than he thought. Even his feet were only wearing a pair that was not warm at all, and the size was obviously much larger.
leather shoes.
Sighing secretly, he tied the body of this young man whom he had only met once to the sledge truck with a rope. After searching for it, he pulled him up to the second floor along a staircase with the handrail removed.
.
Without any effort at all, he found a locked room.
First, he knocked on the door. After receiving no feedback, Wei Ran groped around Pavel's body again, and finally pulled out a leather cord from his neck, and used the key threaded on the leather cord to successfully open the locked door.
iron gate.
Pulling Pavel into this cold room with a sledge, Wei Ran soon saw a small bed propped up next to the fireplace that was still burning with embers. On the bed lay a girl covered with a quilt. On the quilt, there were
There were two slices of black bread and a mouse that seemed to be roasted.
Walking over gently, Wei Ran first touched the girl's forehead, but the cold temperature made him stagnate. Then, he put his fingers under the nostrils, and even opened it without giving up.
The quilt was pressed against the girl's heart.
After a while, Wei Ran sighed secretly, stood up silently, untied Pavel's body and placed it on the sofa not far away, took out the chocolate from his pocket, and tore off the tinfoil outside.
, and placed it in the hand of the little girl whose name she still didn’t know.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Sitting on the sofa tiredly, Wei Ran took off his gloves and scarf and rubbed his face vigorously. After a long time, he stood up, put on his gloves again, and tightened them again.
With the leather aviator hat on his head, he had time to focus on this small room.
As far as the eye can see, except for the sofa under Pavel, there is almost nothing in this room that can be used to burn, but it is next to the fireplace, next to the window that is blocked by wooden boards and quilts.
, but on the wooden chair, some components and a speaker that was removed from somewhere were fixed with screws and nails. On the back of the chair, there was a small hand-operated generator.
Thanks to the radio course at Hongqi Forest Farm, he recognized at a glance that this should be a homemade simple radio.
Gently shake the crank handle of the generator and the speaker fixed on the leg of the chair, and immediately say in passionate Russian, "The heroic Legler will never fall! It will never fall! We will surely
The war against the evil Dharma Susi will surely achieve a great victory..."
Wei Ran slowly stopped shaking the handle and glanced at the thick wire that served as the antenna. After thinking for a moment, he wrapped the chair in a blanket and placed it on the sledge truck at the door.
Finally looking at the brother and sister lying by the fireplace, Wei Ran silently locked the door, put the key in his pocket, pulled the sledge and the only windfall on the sledge, and left step by step.
This building returns step by step to the ruins where Pavel met.
It's a pity that the woman who once snatched potatoes from Pavel has disappeared. After the series of messy footprints extended to the street, it was completely mixed with the other footprints, leaving Wei Ran to find the capital.
There is no way to find it.
Continuing to wander around, Wei Ran found nothing but unexpectedly picked up a set of two beautifully bound volumes of "War and Peace".
Pulling the sledge back to the abandoned basement where Mrs. Weiya was buried, Wei Ran frowned when he was still far away. There was a series of footprints here, one pointing to the basement and then leaving the same way, the footprints of a man!
Running quickly into the basement, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the grave bag was intact, but then he noticed a greeting written in conspicuous red chalk on the wall on one side, "You guys
Are you okay? Where have you been? I will come back tomorrow at noon - Matvey"
After looking at the red chalk tip stuck in the crack of the wall, Wei Ran hesitated for a moment and picked it up, leaving a message on the wall: "We are still alive. See you tomorrow, comrade breeder."
