Arctic survival, starting in hell at minus fifty degrees Celsius

Sun Chengwu pressed his fingertips against the frozen phone screen, his fingertips aching from the friction, but the screen remained dark and unresponsive.

Su Wanqing asked, "Is it possible that it's too cold and won't turn on?"

The inability to power on when the temperature is too cold is a common problem with lithium batteries. Upon hearing Su Wanqing's figure, Sun Chengwu suddenly calmed down.

Yes, his phone used to freeze and wouldn't turn on in winter.

He took a deep breath and shoved his phone into the inside of his close-fitting cotton coat.

A chill ran through his chest, and Sun Chengwu couldn't help but shiver. His lower abdomen tightened, and he felt the urge to urinate.

About fifteen minutes later, Sun Chengwu slowly took out his phone.

The frost on the phone screen melted into tiny water droplets. He pressed the power button, and the screen finally lit up with a faint light.

"It's done!" Huang Shi shouted excitedly.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

However, the phone battery is down to less than 30%, and it will probably run out of power after two more attempts to light it.

The other people's phones weren't in much better condition either.

Cold weather can increase battery consumption on your phone.

They had to find a way to store fire, and the dumbest way was to always have someone stay at the camp to keep the fire burning.

But this method is too clumsy; if they want to leave, they can't take the fire with them.

Sun Chengwu knew that fire folding machines existed in ancient times and that they worked on the same principle, but he didn't really know how to make them.

In short, I know it, but not completely.

While he was thinking, Sun Chengwu's hands didn't stop moving.

He inserted the lighter, brought it close to the pile of pine needles, and with a flick of a spark, the pine needles instantly ignited.

The crackling flames ignited the dry branches, and thick smoke carrying pine resin rose up, spreading warmth through the forest.

The crowd immediately gathered around, reaching their hands to the fire, and their fingertips, which had turned purple from the cold, slowly regained their color.

Sun Chengwu took out the iron box they had picked up earlier, filled it with clean snow, and placed it on the fire. The snow melted with a hissing sound and quickly began to steam.

Lin Can broke off a few fresh needles, rubbed off the snow on the surface, and put the needles into hot water.

She smiled and said, "Pine needles contain vitamin C, which can provide some nutrition, but the taste is a bit off. Just make do with it. Don't be picky about food at this time."

The joke made everyone burst into laughter.

Huang Shi laughed and said, "At a time like this, who's picky about food? Even if you gave me stinky tofu, I could swallow it."

Lin Can snorted, "Stinky tofu is delicious, it's just that you don't know how to eat it, you have no taste."

Huang Shi spat, "If I give that kind of stuff to my cat, he'll bury it in the litter box. Only my dog ​​likes to eat it."

Lin Can rolled his eyes. "Too bad, now you can't even eat stinky tofu."

After exchanging a few words, the hot water boiled.

The hot water was cooled to a suitable temperature, and the five of them shared it.

After drinking hot water, Wang Hai's pale blue complexion improved slightly, and his face finally regained some color.

Perhaps because he hadn't eaten anything good in the past few days, Sun Chengwu miraculously found that the water boiled with pine needles had a slightly sweet taste in his throat after the initial astringency.

He put the tin can aside, opened his suitcase, and poured out the last bit of food.

Several packets of crushed instant noodles, two pieces of chocolate, and half a bag of biscuits.

Sun Chengwu poured the instant noodles and biscuits into a tin can, broke the chocolate, and gave everyone a little.

With something in his stomach and his body warmed up, Sun Chengwu wiped his mouth. "Sitting here all the time isn't a solution. We need to go into the woods to find something to eat. Any nuts or wild fruits we can find would be great."

After packing their things, the group left some firewood to guard the campsite and followed the snow tracks in the forest.

The snow was up to my thighs, and it crunched underfoot. The forest was quiet except for the sound of my feet crunching in the snow and the occasional chirping of birds.

After walking for about 15 minutes, Sun Chengwu suddenly saw a gray figure ahead. He immediately raised his hand to make a shushing gesture and pointed to the snow in front of him.

A grayish-brown Arctic squirrel was crouching on the snow, its two front paws holding a pine cone, its round eyes scanning its surroundings warily, and its bushy tail sweeping the snow.

Huang Shi's eyes lit up, and he was about to rush up to chase the squirrel.

Lin Can grabbed his arm and whispered, "Don't be impulsive!"

This thing is very clever; it runs away as soon as it senses something is wrong. It's a fast climber; let's follow it and see.

Upon hearing this, Huang Shi stopped and lay down again.

The squirrel seemed to hear a noise, raised its head and looked around for a while. Seeing that there was no danger, it continued to nibble on the pine nuts.

The group crouched down, hiding behind a spruce tree, and kept a close eye on the squirrel from a distance.

The squirrel took a couple of bites of the pine cone, then scurried down the tree trunk to the ground, and dashed off towards a large, thick pine tree not far away.

They used their front paws to dig through the snow under the tree, stuffed pine cones inside, and then shoveled snow to fill the hole.

Lin Can's eyes lit up, and he said, "That should be where he stores food for the winter, let's go!"

Everyone rushed toward the squirrel.

However, because the snow was too thick, the squirrel heard the noise and darted up the tree.

A few rustling sounds came from overhead, several birds took flight, and snow fell from above.

Huang Shi cursed, "This little thing runs so fast!"

Lin Can ran to the tree where the squirrel had just sold pine nuts and reached down to dig.

Soon, a hole that had been gnawed out of the tree was revealed below.

Lin Can reached into the tree hole and pulled out a bunch of nuts.

The pine cones, hazelnuts, and pine nuts weighed a full two pounds.

These foods are rich in fats and oils, making them essential for keeping warm.

Huang Shi exclaimed in surprise, "Good heavens! This little thing has hidden so much food!"

Sun Chengwu said with a smile, "I reckon this squirrel will go hungry this winter."

Lin Can gathered the nuts together and wrapped them in the cloth he had brought. "Squirrels hide food in more than one place. If we leave some here, and the hiding place is discovered, it will definitely move the remaining food with it. Maybe we can even find food with it."

Sun Chengwu nodded. "You're the smartest one."

The group picked out the plump nuts and filled most of the bag, then covered the rest with snow and restored the original state.

Su Wanqing picked up a pine nut, peeled off the shell, and smiled: "Now, at least I won't go hungry for a few days."

Back at the camp, the firewood had almost burned out, so Sun Chengwu added some more dry firewood and placed the nuts on the ground.

Sun Chengwu reminded everyone, "Share these nuts and eat them sparingly. Keep the rest with you. If you get separated or lost in any accident, the nuts could be a lifesaver."

Huang Shi was just about to enjoy his meal when he heard these words. He put half of the nuts into his pocket and zipped it up.

By this time, Wang Hai had already fallen asleep leaning against the tree.

Sun Chengwu walked up to Wang Hai and checked his physical condition.

Upon seeing Wang Hai's rosy complexion, Sun Chengwu's expression immediately turned serious.