Yao Wei gave Lu Xi'an a deep look without speaking.
She thought of something—if she agreed to Lu Xi'an, then she would be tied to him from now on.
The mechanical dog belongs to Lu Xi'an, if she parted ways with him, then the air conditioning installed in the car would inevitably become useless.
If she wanted the air conditioning to keep functioning, she would have to ensure Lu Xi'an and the mechanical dog stayed in the car.
Or someday, she could modify the car's circuit system so her car could power the air conditioner by itself.
To her, that was a fantasy.
Yet, rejecting Lu Xi'an right now, she felt reluctant.
The temptation of the air conditioning was too great; in this world that occasionally became extremely cold, a functioning heating system could be a matter of life.
She had survived until now, always luckily without incident, but who knows if she might freeze to death tomorrow?
The temperature rising in the room due to the operation of the air conditioning gave her a strong sense of security in this extremely cold weather.
"I don't know how much more Freon is in this air conditioner or how long it can last? I think no matter how much there is, we can install it in the car first, and remove it when it's used up."
Lu Xi'an spoke again.
Yao Wei didn't understand: "Freon?"
"Chlorofluorocarbon,"
Lu Xi'an explained, "The refrigerant in the air conditioner, cooling requires this stuff."
Listening to Lu Xi'an, Yao Wei exhaled in relief but also felt inexplicably disappointed. Instantly alert, she cleared this emotion from her heart and then said, "Alright."
A long-term mutual aid relationship had a time limit due to conditions, which was good for her, aligning with her always independent survival habits.
Therefore, that disappointment was absolutely unnecessary.
Yao Wei was fully aware that this emotion stemmed from an inexplicable dependency sprouting unknowingly in her heart.
No matter if this dependency was big or small, light or heavy, for her, it shouldn't exist.
Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down.
She was curious why Lu Xi'an understood so much about the air conditioning, an item from the old world, and knew about Freon, but didn't ask.
She was sure that knowing too much about this man was of no benefit to her, and these things were of no use for survival. So, it was okay to bury the curiosity in her mind without asking.
Thus, the two stayed inside the bedroom on the second floor of Jiang Yu Road 272 villa, waiting for the cold to pass.
In such terrifying weather, neither humans nor other animals ventured outside, instead staying hidden away in their shelters to avoid freezing.
They were no different; it wasn't safe to drive in such cold weather.
Therefore, they were temporarily safe here, waiting for the weather to change once again.
Neither spoke, quietly enjoying the warmth brought by the air conditioning in the bedroom.
Lu Xi'an lay directly on the bed, closed his eyes, and enjoyed the comfort brought by the soft mattress in the villa.
This was what he had planned to enjoy early on, but unfortunately, before getting a chance to sleep, Yao Wei showed up, holding her ground with him all night.
Back again at the same place, he naturally wanted to make up for what he couldn't enjoy before.
Indeed, bed is comfortable!
He relaxed his mood and body, completely enveloping himself in the mattress, and said to Yao Wei: "Do you want to come up and lie down too?"
Yao Wei glanced coldly at Lu Xi'an, then sat against the bed edge on the ground, hanging her head and closing her eyes.
The side of the bed she leaned against was the farthest from Lu Xi'an, choosing the foot end on purpose, seemingly wanting to stay as far from Lu Xi'an as possible.
Lu Xi'an opened his eyes and turned his head for a glance, mentally grumbling: "This woman really doesn't know how to enjoy." Then he continued resting by himself.
This round of cold lasted two days. On the second day, when Lu Xi'an checked the car, the wild boar meat in the trunk was already frozen solid.
Some meat frozen to this extent can have its parasites and pathogens eradicated completely and can be eaten directly. But some meat can't be treated this way.
In the past, Inuit used this method to process seal meat, freezing it into jerky in the icy snow and slicing it into pieces with a blade to eat.
Ancient minced fish, and today's sashimi, if you want to eat with peace of mind, must undergo special freezing treatment.
Unfortunately, Lu Xi'an wasn't used to eating cold raw food, and Yao Wei didn't seem to understand this common knowledge.
So the meat stayed in the car as refrigerated reserves, not consumed.
If they really needed to eat cold raw food, it wouldn't be a problem; they had Gou, who could confirm whether the meat was edible.
They had already taken their backpacks from the car, storing a generous amount of food. Lu Xi'an had instant noodles and bread; Yao Wei astonishingly even had canned food and chocolate, which made Lu Xi'an envious.
Yao Wei was grateful and reciprocated generously; she had received much assistance from Lu Xi'an before, and now offered him half a can to eat and gave Lu Xi'an a piece of chocolate to keep, for emergency use.
She also took down a toolbox, containing various models of screwdrivers and wrenches, hand pliers, hammer, utility knife, tape measure, and more, causing Lu Xi'an to envy again.
Really, it's hard to guess where Yao Wei got these treasures in this era.
The mechanical dog was powering the air conditioning, and Lu Xi'an, extremely bored, picked up Gou to study it.
He whimsically thought of attaching toy motorcycle tires he had collected earlier onto the dog legs in place of hooves; would this work?
Of course, it was just a thought.
He wasn't a professional, and wouldn't dare casually dismantle the parts of Gou in case they couldn't be reassembled.
Moreover, outfitting a precision instrument with toy tires was a ridiculous idea.
However, unexpectedly, while he was measuring the toy tire beside Gou's leg, something miraculous happened—
A pivot seemed to connect Gou's dog leg to the metal hoof, and now it apparently sensed something, twisting slightly, thinning out so that the metal hoof plopped off.
What's going on?
Lu Xi'an was utterly confused yet contemplative, moved the toy tire over.
The pivot axis miraculously shrank the edge, automatically adapting to the tire.
"Click—"
Gou's dog leg locked into the tire, substituting toy tire for metal hooves.
This sophisticated mechanical dog fitted with cheap, inferior toy tires looked so mismatched.
But why did it happen?
Lu Xi'an couldn't comprehend.
"What's happening?!"
Yao Wei was also puzzled.
"I don't know."
Lu Xi'an could only shook his head in response.
This change made Lu Xi'an feel as if Gou was innately equipped to use various fitting accessories, designed to adapt to this post-apocalyptic scavenging environment.
He proceeded to place the other three toy tires near the remaining three metal hooves of Gou, which automatically completed fitting, swapping out the hooves.
Lu Xi'an could only admire this magical Gou, yet had to wait for Gou to finish supplying power to the air conditioning to see the effect of the toy tires.
Considering several factors, Lu Xi'an did not discard the four metal hooves disassembled from Gou's legs but kept them.
If the tires weren't suitable, these hooves might have to be swapped back.
Besides, even if the tires fit, parts removed from toys generally aren't as sturdy as original components. After they wear out, and no suitable replacements can be found, the hooves may need to be reinstalled.
Two days later, the weather abruptly warmed up. Yao Wei retied her leather jacket around her slender, firm waist, while Lu Xi'an took off his thick clothes and packed them into his backpack.
He turned off the air conditioning, unplugging the power supply, Gou regained its freedom, then immediately glided out of the bedroom and bumped into the railing.
Fortunately, it seemed like this contraption could perform intelligent analysis of its component status, quickly mastered new body parts, controlling the four wheels on its legs to glide freely, indeed moving smoothly, not wobbling anymore.
Then—
"Thud, thud, thud—"
Gou, unaware of special road condition driving rules, rolled directly down the stairs.