Chapter 50 - 50 A Place to Stay
Bi Fang took out a piece of clothing from his backpack, tore it into two halves, and slipped them onto his hands as a makeshift pair of gloves.
“Because I need to dig a hole soon, I have to make some preparations and create a pair of gloves. Otherwise, my hands might freeze. Don’t underestimate frostbite. If it persists for a prolonged period, our muscles can die, and then we’re looking at amputation.”
The audience was startled when they heard “amputation.” Just the thought of their fingers being severed was enough to send shivers down their spines.
[Stop it, it’s too real, my fingers are starting to hurt.]
[Here we go, the classic Master Fang move.]
[Why do I feel like Master Fang brought a lot of clothes this time?]
[Cotton blend gift to the host, flying ship*i—another fine detail.]
“Now that I have found a good location, next I will dig an entrance on this steep slope. The slope needs to be deep enough to carve out a tunnel, and the width must allow for easy entry and exit.”
With that, Bi Fang began to excavate the cave, tossing out handfuls of snow. The process, though seemingly simple, was incredibly time-consuming and physically demanding.
This task went on for a good half-hour before he had dug out a rough tunnel.
“Since cold air sinks, I’ll build a snow platform half a meter to a meter above the entrance. The platform should be flat and large enough for someone to sleep on it comfortably, and considering that it might shrink due to the snow setting, I need to allow enough extra space in advance.”
As Bi Fang dug, he smoothed and flattened the ceiling, shaping it into an arch. This not only optimized the structural integrity, preventing the snow cave from collapsing, but it also prevented dripping water.
“When using a snow cave as a shelter, you must follow the cold principle. The outside temperature must be below freezing, so the snow cave remains sturdy and the snow does not melt. Otherwise, the people inside would get wet from the melting snow.”
“For this reason, snow caves are not suitable for multiple occupants, as more people means more heat emission, causing the temperature to rise above zero degrees Celsius, putting everyone in danger.”
“Generally speaking, if you can’t see your breath anymore, it means the shelter is too warm.”
The arch-shaped area of the dwelling was approximately three times the volume of Bi Fang’s body, a ratio which was ideal for easy heating and avoiding cramped conditions.
[It feels like Master Fang is indeed experienced; many nuggets of knowledge seem to come naturally to him.]
[Master Fang: Basic operations, don’t fuss.]
[I respect no one but Master Fang!]
As the netizens were snacking on popcorn, gradually, a cave took shape under Bi Fang’s hands, and he finally carved a ventilation hole at the top of the cave to prevent suffocation.
“If you ever truly get stranded, and also need to set up a clear mark outside, it helps potential rescuers to possibly find you. But survival by this method relies on luck and isn’t something you can learn from, so I’m not going to do that right now.”
After everything was finished, Bi Fang crawled into the snow cave and used his backpack as a pillow.
“Phew, I can finally rest today. This is my first day surviving in Mohe, and I’ve built a snow cave as a temporary shelter. Lying here now, I feel pretty good. If the temperature drops to minus twenty degrees tonight, then inside the snow cave it should stay around zero.”
[Work of a genius!]
[Brother Fang is incredible!]
[It still seems a bit cramped, can’t really make any big movements.]
[I feel secure now.]
[Secure? This tiny space is triggering my claustrophobia.]
“Haha, if you really have claustrophobia, then you’ll just have to endure it. In the harsh cold, having a place to stay is already the greatest luxury.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many branches or fallen leaves here to lie on; otherwise, it would be even warmer.”
Bi Fang took out the Yagda berries he had picked earlier from his bag and started to eat them, as he had not consumed any substantial food for the whole day and was now feeling a bit hungry.
Although each bite was very sour, it at least ensured a basic energy intake, and whenever he came across one that was less sour or even sweet, Bi Fang became very happy.
After finishing all the berries, Bi Fang prepared to end the live stream; there was no helping it, he had been too tired today. Walking in the snow without snowshoes was difficult, as each step into the snow and then pulling his foot out took a lot of effort, and after that, the digging of the snow cave had left him with very little energy.
After slightly concealing the entrance to the snow cave, Bi Fang turned off the live stream amid the reluctance of his viewers, but not before he took a last look at the backstage data.
The peak number of viewers was fifty-six thousand, the popularity had exceeded four hundred thousand, and his followers had reached seventy-eight thousand. All these were real platform metrics, without any inflation.
In terms of gifts, he had received several tens of thousands just in donations, and many viewers, even though they didn’t have much money, had given their long-treasured Wolf Brushes, with the gift-to-viewer ratio nearly reaching one to ten!
Which meant that for every ten viewers, there was one donation, far exceeding ordinary broadcasters, and now the zeros in Bi Fang’s account balance were a sight for sore eyes.
No wonder it was a featured recommendation; the first day had already been explosive.
Considering it was the weekend, this was only his debut on Wolf Fang TV, and the time slot was during the day, far from the bustling evening hours for live streams, there was still a lot of potential to be tapped. With this, there was no need to worry about completing the task anymore.
For Bi Fang and Wolf Fang TV, today was destined to be a day worth celebrating, but for Shark TV, they didn’t feel the same at all.
In fact, the atmosphere over there was quite oppressive.
Although Bi Fang’s popularity of four hundred thousand was far from Lu Wentao’s peak of eight hundred thousand, there were many implications in between.
On one hand, this growth momentum was too fast; on the other, this was four hundred thousand on Wolf Fang TV. What if it were on Shark TV?
How much would it be? Five hundred thousand or six hundred thousand? And how long would it take to reach eight hundred thousand in popularity?
What was even more infuriating was that there were already messages in the live chat saying that Lu Wentao was not as good as Bi Fang on Wolf Fang TV!
These issues deeply troubled Wang Weifeng, who then transferred the conflict onto the Tami Association.
The Tami Association had been cultivating the outdoor scene for so long that the ground was practically tilled to death, yet they still couldn’t compare to a new broadcaster?
What about the promises made at the beginning?
Is this it?
As a result, the Tami Association pushed the pressure downstream, spreading it to Lu Junming and Lu Wentao, who now had panic written all over their faces.
The two of them could see that Bi Fang was genuinely remarkable. Daring to dodge death once could be explained by luck, but what about twice?
And these were things they couldn’t pull off. Could they really let Lu Wentao go head-to-head with a Black Bear? Or hang in Glacier Valley struggling for survival?
This Bi Fang, why push so hard? Did he have to drive his peers to death? Could society no longer be kind?
Lu Junming and Lu Wentao now saw Bi Fang as a thorn in their side, a pain in their flesh!
It was another sleepless night for them as they had to urgently come up with the content and location for their next live broadcast. It was no longer enough to just imitate; they had to have their own unique features!
The next day, after resting for the night, Bi Fang opened his eyes, yawned, and was about to crawl out, but the moment he poked his head out, he was driven back by the cold air and retracted back into the cave.
It seemed that it was still quite early, the sun had just risen, and the snow had yet to fully absorb the heat, resulting in very low outside temperatures. It would be best to wait a bit longer to avoid the risk of frostbite.
But he could start warming up the live stream in advance.