Trembling in the Skies

Chapter 29: Snowball

After resolving the issue, Li Teng didn’t return to the snow cave; instead, he stood on the small ledge and stretched his limbs. Huddling in the snow cave hadn’t been cold, but there had been almost no room to move, and now his back and waist ached quite a bit. After a while, Li Teng remembered something, so he fixed the section of the snow wall he’d soiled the previous night. He scooped up some snow from his bed, packed it down firmly, and built a new section of snow wall to patch the spot. Humans are higher life forms; in this regard, one must never stoop to a level where even a cat would be better. Even in such dire circumstances, one must not lower one’s standards for quality of life. The snow kept falling; staying outside was truly boring, and he couldn’t lie in bed either. Most of all, it was cold. Li Teng had no choice but to crawl back into the snow cave. If he hadn’t known about the existence of the film studio, Li Teng would surely be in a state of despair right now. So desperate that he’d want to take his own life. Knowing about the film studio was like a candle in the dark—though the light was faint, it still showed Li Teng a path, gave him the conviction to persevere, and provided a direction for his efforts, letting him know that through hard work, it was possible to turn his current situation around. For someone in a desperate situation, belief is the most important thing; if even that is lost, then one is truly doomed. The day passed just like that. As night fell, the snow finally stopped. Li Teng was certain the snow had stopped because the moon had come out, and the sky was no longer so gray and murky. But it was still very cold, and his blanket and mattress had frozen solid in the snow, so he had no choice but to spend the night in the snow cave. Before falling asleep, Li Teng ate a snowball that hadn’t been contaminated. It tasted awful, but it helped him replenish some fluids. “I hope tomorrow is a sunny day,” Li Teng prayed after lying down before closing his eyes. Li Teng sometimes felt he was still quite lucky. Take now, for example—his wish had come true. Last night, as he was falling asleep, he’d hoped today would be a sunny day. And sure enough, today was a sunny day. The weather atop the stone pillar is completely unpredictable and defies all logic. The sun was out. And there’s no wind. But sometimes, having a dream come true isn’t necessarily a good thing. Just like Li Teng when he woke up this morning. Once the sun came out, it suddenly got very hot. It was so hot that the snow piled on the bed and atop the stone pillars melted. It turned into water and dripped down drop by drop. Li Teng was soaked from head to toe. He was wearing all the clothes he’d bought at the film studio, along with his pajamas—and now they were all soaked through. Fortunately, the sun had come out, and the temperature had risen to an unusual degree, so he no longer had to worry about freezing to death. He wasn’t worried about freezing to death, but with the temperature rising so abnormally, Li Teng would soon have to worry about water. He had to plan ahead. Li Teng gathered all the uncontaminated snow he could find on top of the stone pillar and on the bed, shaped it into a large snowball, and hid it under the bed. Once the tattered quilt and mattress pad had been warmed by the sun and were no longer so stiff, Li Teng draped them over the large snowball beneath the bed. This huge snowball was now his most precious possession. If all the snow on top of the stone pillar melted away in the sun, and if it didn’t rain for the next few days and he couldn’t return to the film studio, this snowball would be his only source of water. Without any tools—and given that the stone pillar was incredibly hard—Li Teng would have dug a hole on top of it to store the giant snowball if he could. After securing the large snowball, Li Teng took off all his wet clothes and hung them on the bedrail. Then he kept an eye on the large snowball under his bed from time to time. Although he’d covered the snowball with a blanket, under the scorching sun, it continued to melt steadily, with water occasionally seeping out from beneath the blanket and trickling down the edge of the stone pillar. Li Teng felt a pang of sorrow, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. If it’s this hot tomorrow as well, the giant snowball probably won’t last until noon. Today marked the third day since they’d returned from the film studio. He’d heard that the interval between performances was usually three to five days, and the day of their return wasn’t counted toward that period, so the earliest they could return to the film studio would be the day after tomorrow. He’d just have to hang in there. It’s hot during the day. But it’s cold at night. Although it didn’t rain or snow. But the wind picked up. Li Teng gave his blanket to Xueqiu, so he had no choice but to curl up on the bed frame. Fortunately, his clothes had dried—he wore his pajamas underneath and the clothes he’d bought at the film studio on top—which was just a tiny bit better than wearing only pajamas before he went there. Next time I go back to the film studio, I’ll definitely buy a thick jacket. This kind of cold is just unbearable. It’s so cold it hurts right down to my bones. Li Teng didn’t even know how he’d managed to get through the night. He was awake most of the time. It wasn’t that he wanted to stay awake. It was the cold that kept him wide awake. This cold was even more unbearable than the cold inside the snow cave. The wind wasn’t strong, but it was enough to blow away what little heat remained in his body. By dawn the next day, when the sun rose, Li Teng felt he was on the verge of death. According to the film studio’s rules, there was no way he could return today; his only hope was to hold out until tomorrow. When the sun finally warmed Li Teng’s hands and feet a little, he got out of bed and used his somewhat uncooperative hands to pull back his blanket. The snowball inside was now only one-third the size it had been when he’d made it the day before. He figured it wouldn’t last until noon. Li Teng scooped up a few clumps of snow and forced himself to eat them. It served as both breakfast and a drink. As long as his body still had some moisture, he could survive a few more days and hold out until his next trip to the film studio. Now that the snowball had shrunk, he could wrap the blanket around it a few more times. As long as it was wrapped thickly enough, he might even be able to preserve a tiny bit of the snowball until tomorrow. After basking in the sun all day, Li Teng had spent almost the entire time lying motionless on the bed frame. Of course, this was to conserve energy and preserve his strength. Even so, by evening, Li Teng was so hungry his vision was blurring, and he was even starting to hallucinate. He really wished he had something to eat! After a full day in the sun, Li Teng was not only hungry but also quite thirsty. But he held out and didn’t touch the snowball. Opening the blanket in broad daylight when the sun was so scorching would let the heat in and cause significant damage to the snowball. Right now, that snowball was his lifeline. Only after the sun set and the temperature atop the stone pillar dropped did Li Teng cautiously open the quilt tucked under his bed. He reached inside to feel it and couldn’t help but feel a surge of delight. To his surprise, more than half of the snowball was still there—about the size of a fist! The snowball, which Li Teng had originally packed very tightly, had softened considerably by then. Li Teng figured the snowball wouldn’t last until tomorrow, so he carefully took it out and devoured it in big bites. His parched body, baked by the sun all day, was finally replenished and refreshed. Tomorrow… if it doesn’t rain or snow tomorrow, there won’t be any water left. We should be able to return to the film studio tomorrow, right? I hope we can return to the film studio tomorrow. He wanted to eat some delicious congee; he wanted to take big bites of steamed buns with pickles. Li Teng lay down on the bed frame, drooling as he did so.