The reason is actually quite simple.

  People from other places, like Dong Qi, mostly prefer to buy supplies in the urban areas.

  Since each trip is troublesome, they usually make bulk purchases every time they go.

  Locals, on the other hand, basically all have their own land.

  Even if they've switched to cash crops, their families still keep a year-round stockpile of sufficient food.

  As for water usage, that goes without saying.

  Although every household has running water, many courtyards also have wells.

  The vast majority of the underground areas here have groundwater.

  The total cost of drilling a private well isn't much, just under ten thousand yuan.

  When Dong Qi bought the villa, as long as you paid at the sales department, they would dig a well for you as standard.

  Although the water output isn't huge, it's perfectly fine for watering the garden, washing the car, and meeting daily needs.

  So compared to the food crisis in the urban areas, the impact on the suburbs isn't that significant.

  However, in contrast to the city, while survival wasn't greatly affected, this heavy snow caused devastating damage to economic income.

  The crops in the fields, whether cash crops or food crops, were basically all frozen to death after the snow disaster.

  A month-long continuous snow disaster had a huge impact on the whole world.

  Fortunately, the infrastructure in the Great Xia Dynasty is good.

  So even though the blizzard lasted for a month, the vast majority of areas across the entire Great Xia Dynasty did not experience power outages or network failures.

  As for water cuts, since it had been snowing heavily outside, as long as you didn't mind the snow being dirty, you definitely wouldn't die of thirst.

  Moreover, a week after the heavy snowfall, the Great Xia court began disaster relief efforts.

  Therefore, although there were some casualties in the Great Xia Dynasty, the numbers were not as severe as imagined.

  During the snow disaster, Dong Qi wanted to rely on his spiritual power to upgrade his Fatebound Artifact.

  However, the progress could only be described as negligible.

  Because of this minuscule upgrade progress, Dong Qi abandoned the method of upgrading that relied solely on consuming spiritual power.

  On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the heavy snow that had been falling for days suddenly stopped.

  The clear sky made yesterday's heavy snowfall seem like an illusion.

  However, although the blizzard had stopped, most people were not in a hurry to go out.

  After all, as the saying goes, it's not cold when it snows, but it's cold when the snow melts.

  So at this time, unless absolutely necessary, whether they were northerners or southerners, everyone stayed home.

  Just as everyone thought that the snow, over a meter thick, would take several days to melt even with salt...

  In just one night, on the second day of the New Year, all the accumulated snow on the roads had turned into slush.

  And this sudden melting of snow directly caused floods all over the world.

  Most importantly, the sudden snowfall and sudden melting meant many underground facilities did not have time to deploy proper waterproofing measures...

  Especially most subway stations and underground parking lots.

  Even if the drainage facilities were well-built, under the sudden deluge of a large amount of melted snow, it was difficult to avoid water accumulation.

  But compared to the previous snow disaster, this minor flooding and water accumulation at most led to subway suspensions and a large number of water-damaged vehicles.

  For the survival of most people, the impact was not significant.

  The day after the snow melted, the authorities once again dispatched patrol officers to survey the situation of each household in their jurisdiction, and Dong Hao came knocking again.

  At this time, Dong Qi was using a water pump to clear the accumulated water from the basement.

  Even though he had taken preventive measures in advance, due to the large volume of water, there was still a small leak.

  Fortunately, the accumulated water wasn't much.

  Seeing the courtyard gate was open, he just walked in.

  After seeing the water accumulation in the basement, Dong Hao asked directly, "What's the situation here? Any losses?"

  "Luckily, I took precautions in advance, so there's just a bit of water leakage. No big problem. The snow just melted and you're already out on patrol again?"

  "What can I do? I'm responsible for this area. If I don't come, who will? By the way, you've got pretty good luck. You just finished your big shopping spree, and then this snow disaster hit. If the snow disaster had come a few days earlier, or if you had delayed your shopping by a few days, then..."

  Before Dong Hao could finish, Dong Qi interrupted directly: "Then I still wouldn't starve. I went shopping just to restock some consumables. I still have many cartons of vacuum-sealed rice stored at home. Even if the heavy snow had lasted for another two or three months, I wouldn't have starved."

  Hearing Dong Qi laugh and retort, Dong Hao felt somewhat helpless.

  "Don't jinx it. Things aren't that bad around here yet.

  If this keeps up for another two or three months, though,our area will probably end up just like the southern regions.

  Tsk, tsk... what a total disaster."

  Dong Hao's words piqued Dong Qi's curiosity, and he immediately pressed for details.

  "What's the situation down south?"

  Dong Hao didn't beat around the bush.

  "The south has never seen blizzards like this before.

  So, they have zero experience preparing for snow disasters.

  Most households don't even own basic heating equipment.

  With snow this heavy, air conditioners are utterly useless.

  Thankfully, the power stayed on.

  So, lots of people were boiling water just to raise the indoor temperature a bit,

  while others resorted to breaking up furniture to burn for warmth.

  There weren't many casualties during the whole disaster,but the economic losses are beyond calculation.

  After this blizzard passes, I reckon it'll take the average family two or three years just to recover.

  Alright, that's enough about the situation down south. I'm actually here on official business."

  Seeing Dong Hao's tone grow serious, Dong Qi didn't seem too concerned.

  "You're just here for the routine registry update, right?

  What 'official business' could this possibly be?"

  Dong Hao: "Have you heard about the 'Awakeners'?"

  Dong Qi: "The 'what'? Awakeners?"

  Dong Hao: "People like you, before the blizzard hit.

  Those who endured the three-day dehydration without timely rehydration.

  Most of them woke up having awakened some kind of special ability.

  Even though we've been buried under this snowstorm,the imperial research institutes never stopped working.

  So... they've figured out your 'situation'."

  Dong Hao stared intently at him.

  Dong Qi, however, didn't tense up at his words.

  Knowing Dong Hao well, his expression remained unchanged.

  He even smiled and shot back:

  "So what?

  Besides, you're just a lowly patrolman.

  If this were really a big deal, would they even send you?"

  Seeing Dong Qi's dismissive reaction, Dong Hao's expression relaxed.

  "Nothing gets past you, does it?

  Your case isn't unique.

  The court tried to keep a lid on it at first.

  They had planned to assign specialized personnel to handle this,but those plans were completely disrupted by the sudden snow disaster.

  If the blizzard had just kept everyone cooped up at home, it might have been manageable.

  But some of the Awakeners... their abilities actually grew stronger during the disaster.

  They didn't stay put at home during the snowstorm.

  Instead, some of them went out and caused trouble.

  Even though the snow has melted now, given the current conditions, the original personnel assigned to this simply don't have the means to travel to every region immediately.

  The court is worried these Awakeners will stir up more chaos, so they've directly ordered us patrolmen to make house calls.

  After all, we were the ones who did the initial registration rounds.

  To be perfectly honest with you, when they had us filing those initial reports, I had a feeling something was off.

  So, when I submitted my list... your name wasn't on it.

  So, I'm not going to ask what ability you awakened.

  I'm just here today to tell you this:

  For the foreseeable future, lay low at home.

  Just focus on writing your stories.

  Don't go wandering around outside unless you absolutely have to."