Siheyuan: At the beginning, I can integrate everything!

Qin Huairu, like a lost soul, slipped back to the central courtyard, hugging the wall.

She ignored what Xu Damao and Yan Bugui were whispering about in the backyard.

Her mind is filled with thoughts of medical bills and the joke about her becoming mentally challenged; she has no interest in meddling in other people's business.

We still have to get through this.

As December arrived, the temperature in Beijing plummeted, dropping lower and lower each day.

On the day of the Great Cold, the temperature plummeted to below minus ten degrees Celsius.

Water droplets freeze instantly.

The communal well in the courtyard was frozen solid long ago.

To save a few briquettes, each household dared not even leave their stoves burning open.

The whole family, wrapped in tattered quilts patched upon patched, huddled on the kang (a heated brick bed), shivering.

"This awful weather is freezing cold!"

By the pond in the front yard.

Yan Bugui was wearing a black cotton-padded jacket that had been passed down for generations, and a fur-lined hat on his head.

His hands were tucked into his sleeves, his nose was red from the cold, and his snot was almost frozen.

He was using a pickaxe to painstakingly chisel away at the frozen ice in the pool, trying to get some water to make breakfast.

"Clang! Clang!"

The pickaxe struck the ice, making my hand ache, and ice shards flew everywhere.

While sniffling, Yan Bugui looked up at the east wing across the street.

The two thick, solid wood doors were tightly shut.

"I wonder what that little rascal is doing inside. It's so cold, and not even a chimney is smoking."

Yan Bugui muttered to himself.

In those days, you could tell whether a family in a courtyard house was cooking or not just by looking at their chimney.

The chimney in Zhang Huaimin's house has been silent for the past few days, which means that there is no stove burning inside.

"Hmph, what's the use of money? You're still freezing like a grandson."

Yan Bugui felt a pang of bitterness, as if seeing Zhang Huaimin freezing made his tattered cotton-padded coat feel a bit warmer.

However, he did not know.

Inside the east wing, however, lay a scene that would completely overturn his understanding.

Zhang Huaimin sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed), his small hand supporting his chin as he looked at the dazzling array of icons in the system's shop.

"The weather is getting colder and colder, even though I have a 'perfectly constant temperature constitution' and am not afraid of the cold."

"But Brother Chen and the others are still on guard outside, and it's cold and uncomfortable inside."

Zhang Huaimin secretly made plans in his mind.

Burning coal is too troublesome; it produces dust and is unsafe.

What he wanted was a fully automated, environmentally friendly, and highly efficient constant temperature system.

My gaze swept quickly across the system panel, finally settling on an icon that was flashing a dark red light.

[High-level geothermal energy conversion characteristics].

"This is it."

Without any hesitation, Zhang Huaimin clicked to redeem.

[Ding! 2000 Shock Points consumed, exchange successful.]

[Should this trait be integrated immediately? Target locked: The overall architectural structure of the east wing.]

"Merge!"

With Zhang Huaimin's command.

A dark red energy wave, imperceptible to the naked eye, surged out from his body in an instant.

Like an invisible net, it quickly covered the walls and floor of the entire east wing, and even the roof tiles were not spared.

"Buzz—"

A very slight low-frequency vibration echoed in the room.

Followed by.

A miraculous scene unfolded.

This energy wave did not change the appearance of the house, but instead penetrated directly into the depths of the ground.

It acts like a super pump, continuously drawing up the vast and turbulent geothermal energy from the Earth's interior.

Then, this high-temperature, magma-like heat energy is released through the reorganized molecular grid within the building structure.

It transforms perfectly into a gentle, comfortable, and continuous warm current!

The warmth flowed evenly through the walls and floor tiles, permeating every corner of the room.

Less than a minute had passed.

The temperature in the east wing, which was originally as cold as an icebox, began to rise sharply.

Zero degrees...ten degrees...twenty degrees...

Ultimately, the indoor temperature remained steadily at a very comfortable 26 degrees Celsius!

The dryness without a stove.

There was no pungent smell of coal smoke.

The air even carried a hint of earthy freshness.

The whole house has been transformed into a super warm and comfortable room that feels like spring all year round!

"Comfortable."

Zhang Huaimin stretched out a big, satisfied yawn.

He felt that the red cotton-padded jacket he was wearing was getting in the way.

Divide it in no time.

Zhang Huaimin immediately took off his heavy cotton-padded coat and trousers and threw them aside.

She was only wearing a bright red little bib and a pair of baggy blue cloth shorts.

They ran around barefoot on the floor tiles.

"Brother Chen! Come in and warm up!"

Zhang Huaimin called out towards the door.

The door was pushed open.

Chen Bing walked in wearing a heavy military overcoat, bringing with him a chill.

As soon as Chen Bing entered the room, he was stunned.

"Why is it so warm in here?"

Chen Bing stared wide-eyed at Zhang Huaimin, who was shirtless and running around on the ground, his jaw nearly dropping in shock.

He looked around.

There was no stove lit, no fire pit lit.

There isn't even any heating equipment!

But the temperature inside this room is even hotter than in summer!

"Huaimin, what kind of magical technique did you use this time?"

As Chen Bing wiped the sweat from his forehead, he quickly took off his heavy military overcoat.

"Just a little trick, Brother Chen. From now on, you can stay inside when you're on night duty; it's too cold outside."

Zhang Huaimin didn't explain further.

He took out half of a chilled watermelon, which had been cut up a couple of days ago and was still emitting a slight chill, from the small freezer in the system space.

Pick up a spoon.

He scooped out a large piece of red flesh and happily stuffed it into his mouth.

Sweet! Icy! Refreshing!

In the dead of winter, when temperatures are below -10 degrees Celsius, I was wearing a red bib and shorts, sitting in a heated room eating chilled watermelon.

This life is so good, I wouldn't trade it for even a god!

"Gulp."

Chen Bing watched Zhang Huaimin eat watermelon and couldn't help but swallow.

That's some serious enjoyment!

Just then.

Yan Bugui, who was chiseling ice by the pool, was so cold that he couldn't stand it anymore.

He rubbed his hands together, trying to find a sheltered spot to warm up.

Before I knew it, I had wandered to the window of the east wing.

The windows of the east wing are usually covered with thick cotton curtains.

But today, because it was too hot inside, Zhang Huaimin deliberately lifted a corner of the curtain to let in some air.

Yan Bugui was just about to lean against the wall and rest for a while.

Out of the corner of my eye, I inadvertently caught a glimpse of the open crack.

"What's that little rascal doing inside?"

Driven by curiosity, Yan Bugui approached the window and secretly peeked inside.

Just one glance.

Yan Bugui was completely stunned, frozen in place as if struck by lightning.

The beady green eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses widened instantly, the eyeballs almost popping off the windowsill.

What did he see?!

In this awful weather where even a drop of water freezes instantly.

In the compound, every household wanted to wrap themselves in all the clothes they could wear, freezing like little kids.

And that five-and-a-half-year-old Zhang Huaimin.

She was only wearing a thin red bellyband and a pair of big shorts!

Barefoot, he swaggered around in the spacious, bright room.

He was holding a spoon in his hand.

They're digging out half of... a chilled, icy watermelon?!

"Holy crap..."

Yan Bugui had never sworn in his life, but at this moment, a phrase from a national treasure slipped out of his mouth.

He could even feel the sweltering heat of summer emanating from the room through the cracks in the window!

This doesn't look like people are trying to get through winter.

This is practically the Jade Emperor vacationing at the Summer Palace!

A tremendous visual impact and a drastic reduction in quality of life.

This shattered Yan Bugui's calculating and stingy heart, which had been shrewd all his life, into a pile of broken glass.

envy!

A maddening jealousy gnawed at his internal organs like a venomous snake.

On what grounds?

My family and I were so cold that we couldn't even get a full night's sleep.

But this kid can comfortably eat watermelon indoors!

Is there any justice left in this world?!

Yan Bugui swallowed hard, his mouthful of saliva mixed with snot, feeling a sour taste in his mouth, as if he had drunk ten pounds of aged vinegar.

He knew he couldn't afford to offend Zhang Huaimin.

He could only stomp his foot in frustration, then turned around and prepared to go back to his ice-cold room to suffer.

however.

The moment he turned around.

Yan Bugui's gaze suddenly passed over the gate of the courtyard house and landed at the entrance of the alley outside.

"Huh? Who's that?"

Yan Bugui stopped and frowned suspiciously.

Two strangers were sneaking into the alleyway.

Both men were wearing high-end black trench coats, which were extremely rare for that era, and wide-brimmed hats.

He also wore two large black sunglasses on his face.

This outfit, in the hutongs of Beijing, is as conspicuous as a searchlight in the dark.

They're just like those spies in the movies!

The two looked around.

Then, with extremely fast steps, he walked straight towards the gate of the courtyard house.