Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Downpour, Water Hyacinth

After the swimming pool was scrubbed clean, the rain quickly filled it up.

They had to prevent the collected water from getting contaminated and breeding parasites.

Everyone searched the entire yacht, finally gathering the necessary materials. Under Jiang Linhai’s guidance, they sealed up the pool.

Jiang Linhai also found some pipes and faucets in the storage room, connecting them to the kitchen and bathrooms to make using water more convenient.

Jiang Linhai turned on the faucet. Water from the swimming pool successfully flowed out in the kitchen. He then used his tools to connect the water line to their homemade filter.

The filtered water was perfectly clear. It just needed to be boiled before it was safe to drink.

The electronics didn’t work. The yacht had no earthen stove, only a charcoal one.

The storage room had coal, alcohol blocks, and fuel for the yacht.

But they would run out one day.

The yacht had lifeboats and an inflatable raft. They chopped up the wooden boat they hadn’t finished building into firewood, saving the other fuels for emergencies.

From time to time, driftwood would float by the yacht. Whenever the rain let up a little, everyone would brave the downpour to fish out the wood and save it as reserve fuel.

Grandma had planted the flower beds full of bok choy, chives, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, and strawberries.

Niu Niu, who had planted the strawberry seeds herself, stared eagerly at the little green sprouts and asked Zhang Qingfang, "Grandma, when can we eat strawberries?"

Aside from the cactus fruit Qin Shen had given her last time, she hadn’t eaten any other fruit.

Zhang Qingfang smiled and said, "It takes about three months from flowering to fruiting. If we take good care of them, Niu Niu might get to eat delicious strawberries even sooner."

Niu Niu’s eyes lit up, and she said happily, "Then I’ll help Grandma fertilize, water, weed, and catch bugs!"

Zhang Qingfang patted her head. "Our Niu Niu knows so much! You’re so smart. You’ll definitely never go hungry in the future."

Niu Niu smiled shyly and looked at Lu Zhifeng. "Dad taught me everything."

If Jiang Si and her family hadn’t rescued him and his daughter with the lifeboat, he wouldn’t be standing safely on this yacht, watching Niu Niu flash a smile as brilliant as the sun.

Lu Zhifeng saw Jiang Si’s family as his saviors. He said earnestly to Zhang Qingfang, "Aunt Zhang, don’t you think we’re a little short on vegetables and grains? Should we get some more soil and expand the planting area?"

The yacht was surrounded by transparent tempered glass, providing enough light for growing crops. It was indeed possible to plant more.

Zhang Qingfang smiled. "Yes. When the rain stops, we can dig up some fertile soil. We can also hatch some chicks to raise on the yacht. Then we’ll be able to eat eggs often."

Jiang Si had tried using an incubator to hatch eggs in her space, but since no living things were allowed inside, she had never once succeeded.

Now they only had eggs, no chickens. If they wanted to hatch chicks, they would have to use the old-fashioned method.

Luckily, the family was quite skilled in this area. They took a large cardboard box and placed a smaller one inside. They padded the space between them with cotton, placed four hot water bottles underneath the cotton, and then put the disinfected eggs into the smaller box. Just like that, the chick incubator was ready.

But this was only the first step. For the first week, the temperature inside the box had to be maintained at 38.5 degrees, and the eggs had to be turned every two hours. On the eighth day, the temperature needed to be lowered to 38.2 degrees, and the turning interval was changed to every three to five hours.

To ensure the chicks would hatch successfully, everyone took turns keeping watch for danger and turning the eggs on a set schedule.

The first thing Niu Niu did every morning when she woke up was run to see if the chicks had hatched from the eggs.

Seven days into the incubation, the torrential rain showed no sign of stopping. The yacht drifted downstream, in constant danger of hitting a reef. Besides Jiang Si and Qin Shen, no one else knew how to pilot the yacht, so another item was added to their regular survival training: steering the helm!

When the rain was too heavy, they also had to hoist a sail. This was a modification they had made later, based on the yacht’s condition, imitating the pirate ships from *Caribbean Pirates*.

This gave them a bit more control over the yacht.

By the second week of incubation, when the eggs were held up to the light, faint red blood vessels could be seen. They grew more numerous over the next few days.

The yacht drifted with the current into the South City region. Patches of green finally appeared on the water’s surface—water hyacinths with clusters of purple flowers.

The water hyacinth was originally a highly ornamental plant, introduced to the country for its beauty and ability to purify water.

However, it was extremely invasive. It had once overrun stretches of rivers and ponds, leaving no room for fish to survive, which led to massive efforts to remove it.

When Jiang Si was in elementary school, the Longquan River had also been overrun by water hyacinths, but they disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.

When Shen Baoying saw that the green plants were water hyacinths, she said happily, "Sisi, water hyacinths are great! They can be made into feed and fertilizer. We can use them to feed the chickens and save on grain!"

Zhang Qingfang added, "The flowers and young leaves are edible too. They taste and feel just like bok choy. We ate plenty of them back in the day."

Jiang Linhai said even more excitedly, "Sisi, we can use floating ropes to section off an area and farm water hyacinths right on the water! We’ll have another wild vegetable."

Lu Zhifeng also chimed in, "Water hyacinths reproduce quickly. They can survive for days after being pulled ashore. Even if some float away, more will grow back soon. They’re really great for fertilizer and feed."

Niu Niu looked delighted. She clapped her hands and said, "Then we have to farm them!"

Jiang Si smiled. "The current is too strong here, and the yacht is constantly being pushed downstream. We’ll farm them once we find a place to anchor the yacht. For tonight, though, we can find out just how delicious water hyacinths are."

They used a net to scoop up some water hyacinths, making sure to set aside a few of the healthiest-looking ones to keep in a basin of water.

Shen Baoying plucked some water hyacinth flowers and coated them in a thin batter of egg, flour, and a sprinkle of salt. The moment she dropped them into the hot oil to fry, a tempting aroma wafted into everyone’s noses.

Fried to a golden brown, the water hyacinth flowers looked like perfect works of art. Served with ketchup, they were as beautiful as they were delicious.

The tender stems and leaves of the water hyacinth were washed, blanched in boiling water, and then rinsed under cool water to remove most of their bitterness.

Shen Baoying planned to make one batch into a cold salad and stir-fry the other.

For the salad, she added shrimp and wood ear mushrooms, then tossed it all with chili oil, sesame oil, ginger, green onions, and garlic. It was a feast for the senses.

For the stir-fry, she sautéed finely chopped green onions until fragrant, then added dried tofu and the water hyacinths. The SIZZLE from the wok was music to their ears.

The three dishes that emerged from the kitchen, thanks to Shen Baoying’s masterful cooking, were all perfect in color, aroma, and taste, whetting everyone’s appetite.

Niu Niu swallowed and praised, "Auntie, you’re such a good cook."

Shen Baoying pinched her chubby little cheek. "Make sure you eat a lot later."

Shen Baoying loved to cook. Now that there were more people, she made a full spread of four dishes and a soup for every meal, never repeating the menu.

After eating the dishes made from water hyacinth, everyone was even more determined to farm them.

Niu Niu even suggested setting up more basins on the yacht to grow water hyacinths.

Everyone agreed it was a good idea. But just as they were about to act, they realized the yacht had, without them noticing, become completely surrounded by water hyacinths.