It turned out the RV had already been completely remodeled last month. Chu Zhuohua had acted all mysterious, keeping the final details close to his chest and saying there was still one part of the project unfinished. Since Jing Shu was busy with the sudden responsibilities of her new position, she hadn't paid much attention to it, letting the weeks slip by in a blur of medicinal herb logs and meetings.
In any case, as long as the RV was ready before the next migration, or at least before the earthquake expected next year, that would be enough. After all, when the quakes came, they would have to flee to open, flat ground to avoid danger as the structures around them crumbled. Compared to squeezing into a cramped, damp tent with her family, Jing Shu much preferred living in the armored comfort of the RV.
Another reason she insisted on the RV was the temperature.
These days, daytime temperatures had already dropped to twenty degrees Celsius, the air holding a persistent, biting edge, and it would get even colder in the coming year. News reports kept harping on the same issue: although Earth had returned to its original orbit, the disruption of the seasons still hadn't been resolved.
Everyone knew Earth's rotation affected day and night, and right now Earth was still happily spinning on its own.
But Earth's revolution affected the seasons, and that is where the trouble lay. Because of orbital issues, Earth's revolution had been disrupted. In the past, it circled the sun at 1,670 kilometers per hour, completing one orbit in a year. Now, the speed had shortened by several times, and it was moving like it was dancing disco; sometimes it lunged forward, sometimes it jerked backward, and sometimes it regained a semblance of normality. As a result, each season lasted almost as long as an entire year, stretching the misery of the climate indefinitely.
According to reports, the United Nations and Chinese experts were developing bold new research, planning to influence the moon's gravitational pull to correct Earth's problems. Not only was the artificial sun a money-burning project, but this was an even more extravagant one that threatened to bankrupt nations.
In her previous life, Jing Shu had no idea about any of this. It was only in this life, when Su Xiangnan and Qian Duoduo; two super energy tycoons; constantly cried poverty, that she couldn't take it anymore and asked. She had never understood why, with China so rich in resources; especially Wu City, which held one-third of the country's natural gas; ordinary people still couldn't access power and energy.
Now she knew. The nation had been silently pouring every available watt into such projects. That saying was true: if you live safely and soundly, it is because someone is silently shouldering the burden behind you.
Some of those glamorous tycoons carried heavy responsibilities as well. Of course, there are also corrupt parasites thriving in the apocalypse, but the weight of survival fell on a select few.
Worse still, after Earth's orbit returned, the sky had been shrouded in a thick, suffocating veil of dust and ash from repeated meteor impacts, blocking the sun.
Because of the lack of sunlight, temperatures should have plummeted instantly. Yet they hadn't, thanks to the thick blanket of cosmic dust acting as insulation, slowing the rate of decline. The world was still getting colder, just more gradually. And unless sunlight returned to pierce the gloom, the downward trend would never stop.
How low the temperature would ultimately fall, no one knew.
But the scientists had been right. Each day was colder than the last, the chill seeping into the marrow.
By next year, Wu City's daytime temperature would already be below zero. At night, it would drop to minus ten or lower. Wu City, being in the northwest, had winters reaching minus thirty. But back then, every household had floor heating, and buses, companies, and shopping centers all had heating, so people barely felt the cold as they moved between buildings.
Now, with heating gone, the northwest was no better than the freezing south, the humidity making the cold feel twice as sharp.
In her previous life, her Eldest Uncle's son, Su Long, hadn't been able to bear sleeping out in the public square. It was too cold, the frost coating his blankets, so he went home to sleep. That choice cost Su Long's family of three their lives when the roof came down.
So no matter what, even if her family had to camp in windproof tents, at minus ten they would still freeze to death. With an RV, they could burn fuel for heat. Who would choose a tent? Having lived through one lifetime already, Jing Shu had no intention of suffering that way again.
The RV had been driven back by a man named Da Shi, one of Su Xiangnan's people. Since Jing Shu had just become a Vice President of the Medicinal Herb Association, she had to put in appearances there, which kept her busy until her feet ached.
When she received the phone call, she rushed back from the Association to Banana Community. The cold, stormy rain couldn't dampen her excitement, but the community gate certainly did; because the RV couldn't fit.
The entrance was grand: an eight-meter-wide, five-meter-tall stone archway. Magnificent indeed.
But the remodeled RV couldn't pass. The original was 3.9 meters tall, a single level. Now, with an added second floor, the giant stood at about 5.5 meters. This wasn't an RV anymore; it was a rolling mansion that towered over the surrounding cars.
Still, apocalypse migration vehicles don't need to move fast, so perhaps it wasn't that dangerous to have such a high center of gravity. Probably.
The second level of the German MAN RV had originally been an open terrace. Now, Jing Shu's light-steel construction had fully enclosed it, creating a sealed second floor. On top of that, twelve streamlined storage pods protruded from both sides, welded firmly in place. At night, she even noticed wing-like patterns etched into the metal. Did it symbolize a twelve-winged angel? Was it meant to fly?
What now? The RV couldn't enter. Jing Shu called over Li Yuetian and the community manager, the rain drumming on their umbrellas. After slipping each of them two cigars, the manager looked at the archway and said, "Tear it down. We were planning to move it anyway to block the floodwaters."
"Alright, I will bring a team to tear it down."
And so, the top of the archway was demolished, the stone crashing down into the mud. After all, in the apocalypse with no sun, aesthetics didn't matter anymore.
Inside the community, there are a few height-restricting barriers, but those too were removed, the metal chains clattering to the asphalt. Anyone standing in her way would be crushed; whether god or Buddha.
Luckily, temperatures had already dropped to twenty degrees. The icy rain kept the streets deserted as the massive vehicle rumbled through.
But Jing Shu felt like she was in a horror film, seeing pale faces peeking out from windows of surrounding buildings, watching the commotion. Eyes glimmered with strange emotions; envy, fear, and desperation; as they gazed at the enormous monstrosity. Jing Shu saw in them a reflection of her past self.
At last, she escorted her colossal RV into the custom-built garage. Fortunately, it had been constructed tall enough, or else she really would have cried after all that effort.
"Where is Chu Zhuohua?"
"Miss Jing, he said he had other matters to attend to and left me to explain everything. Here is the user manual for the RV, and also the surprise our Boss Su prepared for you."
When the garage lights clicked on, illuminating the radically altered German MAN RV, Jing Shu's mouth dropped wide open. She couldn't help but blurt, "Holy shit."
"Please, follow me. Let us start with the front of the vehicle."
Jing Shu quickly shut her mouth, nodded, and skipped over with barely contained glee, her eyes scanning the new armor plating. "So then, what is Boss Su's surprise?"
Da Shi smiled mysteriously. "First, the latest RSC anti-roll stability system. Your vehicle is tall, and leaning too far risks a rollover. But with this system, even a forty-degree tilt won't topple it."
===
RSC stands for Roll Stability Control. It's an advanced electronic safety system designed specifically to prevent rollovers.
How it works: The vehicle has sensors that constantly monitor its speed, steering angle, and, most importantly, how much it is tilting (its "roll angle"). If the system detects a situation that could lead to a rollover (e.g., a sharp swerve at high speed), it automatically intervenes.