When Shiyue returned to Whale Island, it was a little after 5 p.m. It wasn't dark yet, but the sun wasn't as strong anymore.
At this time of year, children who are usually kept indoors to avoid the sun should be out having fun.
Even when boats docked, they didn't attract any attention, and no one came to watch the spectacle.
This situation struck Shiyue as very strange.
She greeted the soldiers on the patrol boat that brought her back, and then disembarked.
Even though she had already put some things into her space, Shiyue still carried large and small bags.
Upon seeing her, several young soldiers patrolling the island immediately ran over to help her with her things.
One of them was an acquaintance of Shiyue's, Liu Zhan, who had been responsible for delivering vegetables to her house for a period of time.
Shi Yue immediately called out, "Liu Zhan, where are the people on this island? Why does it feel so quiet today?"
Liu Zhan was carrying two large bags and was also going to take the bundle that Shi Yue was carrying on her back.
She was still a little unwilling after being rejected by Shiyue.
He said, "Sister Shiyue, let me carry you, I'm very strong. Look, I've gained weight these past few days!"
As he spoke, he puffed out his chest.
Seeing how dark and thin he had become due to the excessive exertion he had recently endured, Shiyue smiled but did not expose him.
She continued with her previous question: "Where has everyone gone? Where's Jiajia? Have you seen her?"
"Yes, they're all over on the rocky beach!" Liu Zhan finally replied.
Upon hearing that it was on a rocky beach, Shiyue frowned: "What's she doing there? Who's she with? Aren't she afraid of falling?"
He quickened his pace as he spoke.
Liu Zhan explained with a smile, "Sister Shiyue, don't worry, they didn't go by themselves. There are a lot of people at the rocky beach right now!"
You haven't been on the island these past few days, so you wouldn't believe how busy everyone's been collecting resources!
"Data collection? What kind of data collection?"
"It's about collecting seafood, fruits, wild vegetables, and the like. There are a few brothers from the Sixth Iron Battalion who come from fishing families; they learned how to prepare seafood back home."
The leaders said that in the future, the collection and production of reserve grain should be included in the daily work schedule and made a regular item.
They said they would never allow a situation like the previous food shortage to happen again.
Upon hearing this, Shiyue nodded in agreement.
The previous food shortage was indeed partly caused by natural disasters. But to be honest, it was also related to the island's lack of preparedness.
Because the supply ships delivered the goods in time, and the people on the island were not vigilant enough about the approaching storm, all the food was destroyed, leaving the people completely unprepared.
This situation could actually be completely avoided.
For example, the current practice on the island of storing food separately, and the proactive approach of preparing dried fish, seafood, wild vegetables, and fruits in advance as a precaution.
There is no shortage of food on Whale Island.
Under normal circumstances, even if food is destroyed, people wouldn't actually go hungry.
However, the reason that situation occurred at the time was that the possibility of danger was indeed ignored.
At that time, both units were frantically rushing to complete the project. Not only were all the engineers working overtime, but even half of the Sixth Iron Battalion was sent out to dig and transport materials.
Everyone has overlooked the importance of grain reserves.
Fruits, vegetables, and seafood were all eaten fresh; no one really thought about how to store them, and there were absolutely no reserves.
Then, there were so many days of strong winds and heavy rain.
The boats could not go out to sea and could not catch any fish; a large number of fruits on the mountain were ruined by the wind and rain, and some places could not be accessed due to geological reasons such as landslides.
The only relatively flat beach on Whale Island, where people often gathered seaweed and crabs, has also been submerged by the sea...
Upon hearing that the camp had issued such an order, Shiyue naturally couldn't wait to raise both hands in agreement.
After Liu Zhan and the others helped Shi Yue take her things home, they left.
After quickly washing up, Shiyue headed towards the rocky beach, wanting to see what was going on.
Even before they reached the rocky beach, Shiyue heard a group of children shouting and yelling, including her daughter Jiajia's voice.
It seems to be accusing someone of not paying attention to safety and preventing people from going any further inside.
Shiyue quickened her pace and, sure enough, she soon saw Xiaofei, Huzi, Jiajia, and the others.
The children were obedient and stood on the outer edge of the rocky beach, not venturing further in. Only Tiger held his head high, standing on tiptoe and looking ahead, looking eager to try.
Shiyue immediately called out, "Jiajia!"
Jiajia suddenly turned her head and immediately broke into a big smile when she saw Shiyue.
She bent down and took two dark, larger-than-her-palm-sized objects from the basin of water beside her feet, then ran toward Shiyue.
As she ran, she loudly boasted, "Auntie, Auntie, look! These are the oysters I picked up. Aren't they big?"
Seeing the little girl running on the rocky beach, Shiyue was so frightened that she quickly ran after her.
I was afraid she might accidentally fall again.
As she got closer, she saw the two oysters in Jiajia's hand and couldn't help but smile, praising, "Jiajia is amazing, each one must weigh half a pound, right?"
At that moment, several other children ran over.
Tiger ran away, protesting, "You didn't pick it up, Xiao Fei knocked it down."
"Brother Xiaofei told me to pick it up!" Jiajia retorted without backing down.
At this moment, Shiyue's attention was drawn to the pots and buckets that the children were carrying.
She had no idea there were such large oysters on this rocky beach!
The two that Jiajia just brought over are nothing compared to the ones in Xiaofei's bucket.
Each of those in the small flying bucket weighed more than a pound and looked incredibly plump.
"Xiaofei, what did you use to dig it?" Shiyue asked.
"A hammer." Xiao Fei proudly held up the tool in his hand: "My mom found this for me. It's really fast for digging oysters!"
Tiger, who was standing to the side, pouted even more when he heard this.
They don't have a hammer at home; if they did, he could dig up a lot too!
Shiyue asked Xiaofei about it again and then learned that the camp was now encouraging everyone to "be self-reliant and have enough to eat and wear".
Anyone who has the time and energy to make their own food on the island, as long as it doesn't interfere with their regular work, will be encouraged.
No need to hand it over to the government.
If you don't know how to operate the equipment or how to prepare the seafood you find, you can go to the camp and ask the experienced people for advice.
Even if they dug up their own food and didn't want to cook it, they could ask the cooks to cook it for them. As long as they paid a small processing fee, the cooks would cook it for them when they weren't busy.
Shiyue could sense that the leaders were trying their best to help the people on the island replenish their nutrition, hoping that everyone could make up for the physical deprivation caused by the previous food shortage as soon as possible.
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