Chapter 130 New Journey
*
The overwhelming blizzard has finally died down, and the temperature has quietly broken free from the shackles of winter, like spring bamboo shoots accumulating strength in the mountains and forests, slowly breaking through the ground and gradually warming up.
The sky was gray and the clanging sounds of bells echoed on the sea early in the morning.
The boats that rise and fall with the waves are filled with people coming and going. People are holding shovels and hammers, removing ice and snow, busy preparing for the end of the cold winter and the beginning of the journey.
Small ships have their advantages. The Giant and Yongyue had just started to clean up, and the deck of Fengyi had already been cleaned. Liang Zhao and Xu Xinghe, who had some free time, carried sacks, while Gu Mengran and Zheng Yijie carried foam boxes and climbed the gangway to board the Giant.
The gangway was slippery and difficult to navigate, and the four men were carrying heavy objects, so it took them more than ten minutes to climb the short flights of stairs before they successfully reached the top.
Zheng Yijie and Xu Xinghe came back to the Giant for the first time. Standing on the shoulders of the Giant, the open deck that was several times larger than a football field came into view. They were both stunned and stunned.
The huge monster is parked right next to us, and we can see it every day when we open our eyes.
Looking from below, it seemed huge, unimaginably huge. But when they actually stepped onto the deck, the azure sea was completely blocked by the hull, and the flat, open deck stretched as far as the eye could see. It was as if the disaster had not happened and they were still standing on land.
"My God, it's really... what a big ship."
There were a lot of adjectives in his mind, but when he opened his mouth, he turned it into a huge ship. Zheng Yijie was about to make amends when he heard Xu Xinghe's voice trembling with excitement: "Is this really a ship? It feels like a moving castle, so big, so cool, so domineering!"
So cool and domineering...adjectives that are similar in meaning.
It seems that no food can be produced, and Zheng Yijie feels relieved.
Attracted by the majestic Giant, the two stood still and could not move.
As they walked, they realized that two people were missing. Gu Mengran turned around and saw Zheng Yiji and Xu Xinghe still standing at the entrance of the gangway, looking around curiously like children entering a big city for the first time.
The box of soil was so heavy that his arms were sore. Gu Mengran shouted helplessly, "What are you two doing? Are you going to leave or not?"
The two men woke up as if from a dream, and ran after him carrying their things.
Completely forgetting what they were here for, Zheng Yijie looked at Gu Mengran eagerly as he stepped forward, panting and saying, "Gu Mengran, can we take a look at the Giant first? This is the first time I've seen such a big ship, and I'm really itching to go there."
Like a kid seeing Transformers for the first time, Zheng Yijie was excited and thrilled, but Gu Mengran was not going to satisfy him. He strode forward and said, "Let's get down to business first. I'll take you to a better place to visit later."
Zheng Yijie hurriedly asked: "What place——"
"Xiao Gu, Xiao Liang! Why are you here?"
As they approached the stern deck, more and more people were working around. One of the familiar crew members saw them and waved and greeted them from afar.
After all, they had lived on the Giant for some time, so most of the residents recognized Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao. As soon as they finished speaking, the busy people on the deck stopped what they were doing and stretched their necks to look over.
"Xiao Liang and Xiao Gu, what have you been busy with recently? I haven't seen you two for a long time."
"Hello good morning, what did you get?"
"Hey, how come you have time to come to the Giant today? Have you finished removing the ice at home?"
…
The three ships were all busy with their own things and we hadn't seen each other for some time.
The residents were more enthusiastic than each other, so Gu Mengran could only stop and respond one by one: "Good morning! Like you, I've been busy catching fish and crabs recently. As for us? The Wind Wing has packed up, and it was packed up before dawn. These things? Keep it secret for now, you will know later."
"Wow, so mysterious?" The middle-aged man looked at the sack on Liang Zhao's shoulder with great curiosity, grinning and smiling wickedly, "It looks heavy, do you want help?"
"I'll do it!"
A young man stood up.
Gu Mengran quickly shook his head, "No, no, you guys are busy."
"Okay then, Brother Gu, you're looking for the captain, right? They're in the wheelhouse. The elevator is open today, so you can take it up."
"Okay, thanks."
The things in his hands were too heavy, so Gu Mengran did not stay for long. He thanked them and walked straight to the stern deck with the three of them.
Ding Pengyi had contacted Captain Ding in advance via high frequency, and he specially arranged for the crew to wait for them on the first floor. Although he was familiar with the Giant, Gu Mengran did not refuse. After all, it was not good for outsiders to walk around in someone else's house without the owner's company.
As soon as they entered the stern deck, they ran into the crew. The man was an old acquaintance, a young crew member who had brought them back in the lifeboat.
After greeting and chatting for a while, the man led them through the corridor and to the elevator entrance with ease.
Fortunately, the elevator just stopped on the first floor. Gu Mengran walked into the cabin holding the foam box. Somehow, looking at the elevator that was so ordinary before the disaster, he inexplicably felt as if he was in another world.
City roads, tall buildings, cars and airplanes...
Everything seems to have happened in the previous life.
"bite--"
They arrived at the top floor, and the cab was next to the elevator, but Gu Mengran and his team did not go in directly. Instead, they placed the sacks and foam boxes at the elevator door and asked the crew to help call Captain Ding out.
Ding Pengyi arrived very quickly. Before he could catch his breath, the door opened. Captain Ding walked briskly to Gu Mengran with his signature smile, "Here comes Mengran, Liang Zhao, and here are two little brothers, little, little..."
Having only met them two or three times, Ding Pengyi couldn't remember the names of Zheng Yijie and Xu Xinghe. Gu Mengran was about to introduce them, but Ding Pengyi raised his index finger and shook it twice, saying with great confidence: "Xiao Zheng, Xiao Xu!"
"Wow, Uncle Ding has a good memory. He actually still remembers us." Zheng Yijie's little mouth was filled with honey and he came up to call him uncle.
Ding Pengyi was fooled by this, and patted him on the shoulder, saying cheerfully: "How could I not remember that you two, like Meng Ran and Liang Zhao, are both good guys."
The chat didn't last long because Ding Pengyi saw something piled on the ground.
Ding Pengyi glanced at two bulging sacks and two foam boxes covered with black plastic bags, then frowned and looked at Gu Mengran, saying rather unhappily, "Didn't I tell you on the high frequency just now? You can talk about things, and I welcome you to come over, but don't bring anything."
"Do you think your uncle Ding is a vegetarian? You know how much seafood we can catch once we drag the net down." Ding Pengyi pretended to be disgusted and waved his hand, "We don't need you to do that. You can take it back later. You won't feel tired carrying it around."
Obviously thinking that they had delivered the seafood, Gu Mengran chuckled and hurriedly explained: "Uncle Ding, this is not--"
"Uncle Ding, if you say no, then you don't want it."
Being interrupted, Gu Mengran decisively glanced at the side. Liang Zhao, who had successfully received the signal, bent down, quickly untied the rope tied to the sack with one hand, and opened the black plastic bag on the foam box with the other hand.
A touch of emerald green suddenly entered his sight, and Ding Pengyi's pupils shrank suddenly. As Liang Zhao opened the sack, revealing a pile of round, ping-pong-ball-sized potato eggs, he staggered back half a step, so excited that he almost forgot to breathe.
After two minutes of silence, Ding Pengyi swallowed his saliva, pointed at the sack, and asked stutteringly, "Where did this come from? Potatoes...potatoes?"
It can be seen that potatoes have not been seen for some time.
Gu Mengran leaned over and picked up two potatoes from the sack, then handed them to Ding Pengyi with a smile, "They are potatoes, we grew them ourselves, Uncle Ding, take a look at them."
"Did you grow them yourself?" Ding Pengyi took the small potato and looked at it closely. "It really is a potato! When did you grow it? How did you grow it? Where did you get the seeds?"
After three or four questions in a row, Gu Mengran was not panicked at all and responded calmly: "To be honest with you, Uncle Ding, I bought some seeds while stockpiling supplies before the disaster. I bought a little bit of all kinds of fruit and vegetable seeds."
"A year ago when we were still in Fengjin Lake, we had no vegetables to eat, so we thought about growing some. We got some soil from the nearby hillside and put it on the boat." Gu Mengran kicked the foam box with his toes, "Just like this, plant it directly in it."
As he spoke, Gu Mengran raised his hand and pulled Zheng Yijie, who was doing nothing next to him, over to introduce him to Ding Pengyi solemnly: "Xiao Zheng, this is Zheng Yijie, he graduated from the Agricultural University and can be said to be an expert in plants. Although it has been raining since the high temperature, under his guidance, we have been able to grow vegetables."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Yijie's face instantly turned red, and he waved his hands repeatedly, "No, no, no, I only know a little bit, I'm not an expert."
Gu Mengran ignored him. "Anyway, we have never lacked vegetables since then. This batch of potatoes was planted with other vegetables about four months ago. Then the weather turned cold and the Wind Wing ran out of fuel. The power was cut off for a while, and it was the only one that survived by chance."
Ding Pengyi gradually recovered from his shock, pinched his chin thoughtfully, and muttered to himself, "Can vegetables be grown without the sun? These potatoes are not big, but the yield is still amazing! Two whole sacks, such a small foam box can actually grow so many potatoes?"
"This is only half of it. We kept the other half for ourselves to eat." Gu Mengran touched his nose and said calmly.
Ding Pengyi suddenly raised his head, grabbed Gu Mengran's hand, and said urgently: "Mengran, do you have a lot of seeds? Can you give us some? We will exchange them with you for fuel and seafood!"
"Uncle Ding, what are you talking about?" Gu Mengran held Ding Pengyi's hand and frowned in dissatisfaction. "If you hadn't provided the fuel, we would have frozen to death long ago. How could we have a chance to grow vegetables? Don't say such polite words."
Without giving Ding Pengyi a chance to speak, Gu Mengran continued, "Grandpa wanted to tell you this before, but I think soil is hard to find now. Plus, the weather was cold a while ago, and the vegetables planted in the cabin were basically frozen to death. Only the potatoes survived by chance. I'm afraid it's just a false alarm."
"Now that the weather has warmed up, the potatoes have started to grow again after being raised for a while. They are growing well and the yield is very good. We are here today not only to give you potatoes to eat, but also to use these potato lumps to prove that growing vegetables on a ship is really possible."
Ding Pengyi: "Okay, okay, this is really great news!"
"We're leaving today. It would be best if we can find land in the Pacific Ocean. We can grow vegetables and fish and be self-sufficient. If we can't find any, it doesn't matter. Our ship is big enough. We can still grow a lot of vegetables with more soil. We don't have to worry about not having enough seeds. Many vegetables can be saved for seeds when they mature. We won't have to worry about that in the future!"
Ding Pengyi became more and more excited as he spoke. He held Gu Mengran's hand tightly, his face flushed red, and his body trembled slightly with excitement.
Talking about the future, a faint smile appeared in Gu Mengran's eyes, "Yes, Uncle Ding, don't worry, and there are many varieties of fruit and vegetable seeds, so you don't have to worry about getting tired of them."
"You are really smart. You know how to buy seeds." Ding Pengyi smiled from ear to ear and patted Gu Mengran on the shoulder. "Yes, no matter how much food there is, it will be eaten up one day. It's not okay to have only spending and no income. Why didn't I think of it at the beginning?"
Gu Mengran smiled, "You thought of that, too. Didn't you teach us how to fish?"
Ding Pengyi laughed out loud, his eyes glancing at the green potato leaves on the ground. He tilted his head and looked puzzled, "By the way, why did you bring these two boxes of potatoes here? Are you worried that I won't believe it when I see the potatoes, and I have to see how they are grown before I believe it?"
"That's not the case." Gu Mengran shook his head. "These two boxes are for you. There are potatoes that haven't been dug yet. Please explain it better."
Ding Pengyi: "Who should I explain to?"
Gu Mengran: "The crew and residents of the Giant."
"Oh, right!" Ding Pengyi suddenly realized and nodded, then asked, "Then why did you put a black plastic bag on the box? Isn't it good news that the potatoes have grown? Are you afraid that people will see it?"
Gu Mengran smiled and met Ding Pengyi's gaze. He stared at him for a full half minute before slowly speaking: "We are still short of soil, so growing vegetables cannot be implemented for the time being. As for whether to tell them and when to tell them, Uncle Ding, you are the supreme commander of the Giant, and we cannot make decisions on our own."
After saying that, Ding Pengyi suddenly became serious. He looked at Gu Mengran for a long time with complicated eyes and sighed sincerely: "Not bad, Gu Mengran. You have the demeanor of your grandfather back then. You have a bright future!"
…
The Giant is a large ship and it will take some time for the main engine to warm up, so they cannot leave for a while. Therefore, after finishing their business, Gu Mengran and the others did not rush back.
With Captain Ding's permission, Gu Mengran fulfilled his previous promise and brought the curious kids who were boarding a supertanker for the first time to the best viewing platform on the Giant - the cockpit, where they felt what grandeur was and experienced what it meant to be lonely at high places.
But the two curious kids, Zheng Yijie and Xu Xinghe, were still not satisfied. After finishing the work, they had to drag Gu Mengran to take a walk on the deck. Thinking that it was still early, Gu Mengran accompanied them. The result was -
"Gu Mengran! Does it take so long to deliver something? What on earth are you doing? You don't even want to work anymore. Are you going to live on someone else's boat and never come back?"
The intercom rang, and the old man's angry voice soared into the sky.
Gu Mengran looked at the three people without saying a word, then turned around and ran towards the gangway in tacit understanding.
The water tank is full, the fuel tank is full, the Fengyi is preheated and can set sail at any time. Gu Mengran really can't think of what else he has to do, but this doesn't stop him from walking in front and being the first to run back to the Fengyi.
But when he rushed into the cab in a hurry, Gu Mengran was dumbfounded again.
"Three."
"I can't afford it."
"I want it, I'm on Q!"
A small folding table was placed next to the driving console. The old man, who was angry just now, and the two sisters sat around the table, smiling, holding a handful of playing cards in their hands.
That’s right!
They were playing cards, chatting and laughing, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.
Seeing them push the door open, the old man even raised his chin with a smile, "Are you back? Go to the warehouse and get a stool yourself."
Gu Mengran: ...Was that shout just now just an illusion?
"Grandpa?" Gu Mengran walked up slowly, stood beside the old man, and asked tentatively: "You called us back in a hurry, what else is there?"
"Oh yeah!"
The old man seemed to have finally remembered. He slapped his thigh and stood up. He stuffed the playing cards into Gu Mengran's hand and immediately pressed him down on the stool. "I have to go to the bathroom. You play for me. Don't lose this good hand to me, Gu Mengran."
Before he finished speaking, the old man rushed out of the cab.
Sitting at the table with poker cards in hand, Gu Mengran was still a little dazed, and it took him a few seconds to come back to his senses.
That's it? Calling them back in such a hurry was just for this?
After spreading out the playing cards and taking a look, Gu Mengran's eyes went dark.
A good hand that is not worth even three!
It should be to avoid the bad cards that could not connect straights or pairs. Gu Mengran had just lost a game when the old man finally came back.
Not caring at all about the outcome of the previous game, the old man picked up Gu Mengran and sat down to continue playing by himself.
There was no entertainment after the disaster, and playing poker was one of the few ways to have fun. Zheng Yijie and Xu Xinghe also became interested, and hurriedly brought back a few stools and joined in excitedly.
Gu Mengran was not very interested. He walked to the window alone and looked at the misty sea in front of him through the windshield.
The time they were alone was no more than two minutes. The hand hanging by his side was wrapped in a touch of warmth. Gu Mengran's mouth corners slightly raised, and when he glanced away, a pair of eyes full of concern came into his sight.
"What are you thinking about?"
The others were so absorbed in playing poker that they had no time to pay attention to them. Liang Zhao held his hand as if no one was around, his knuckles unscrupulously digging into the gaps between their fingers, interlocking their fingers.
A warm feeling surged in his heart. Gu Mengran was no longer afraid of being seen. He gently held Liang Zhao's hand back, with a deeper smile in his eyes. "I'm thinking about - our future."
"Oh? Have you thought about it? What will our future be like?" Liang Zhao lowered his eyes and smiled, and asked with interest.
Gu Mengran did not answer but asked: "What do you think?"
"Our future is bright." Liang Zhao held Gu Mengran's hand tightly, his tone firm.
Gu Mengran looked at the sea ahead and chuckled, "The road ahead is unknown, a road we have never walked before. How do you know that it must be bright?"
"because of you."
Gu Mengran looked at the sea, and Liang Zhao looked at Gu Mengran.
Gradually, an invisible force pulled them together, and their eyes met and intertwined in mid-air. Time seemed to stand still at this moment, and everything around them slowly disappeared, leaving only each other in their eyes.
“Woo, woo, woo, woo—”
The melodious and deep whistle sounded like the roar of a sea beast, shaking the earth.
The dark clouds rolled like thick ink, and the long-brewing rainstorm in the sky was about to come.
On the boundless sea, roars rang out one after another, reverberating like a huge bell. The high-speed rotating propellers broke through the water, splashing water everywhere, and the three ships lined up in a row, like arrows shot from a bow, stepping on the white waves to embark on a new journey.
There is an unknown ahead, and there is also a future ahead.
Go and have a look.
Wind Wing, Ever Leap, Giant—set sail!
--over--
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