Chapter 52 Chapter 52 Are you reborn?
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The remaining coolness in the room disappeared. Just as Liang Zhao said, it was roasting on top, steaming in the middle and boiling at the bottom. It was only 10:30 in the morning and the sun had just come out for a short time, but the cab was already too hot to stay in.
The red strawberries and cherries were placed on the steering platform but no one was eating them. The old man at the helm was sweating profusely, and his tank top was soaked. Liang Zhao, who was sleeping, was not much better. Although he was sleeping, his breathing became more and more rapid and heavy.
Zheng Yijie sat beside the old man, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan very quickly. He fanned the old man twice as well, but he couldn't keep quiet. He kept complaining while fanning, "No, no, I'm dying of heat!"
"Who isn't hot?" Gu Mengran lay leisurely on the moon chair, wiped the sweat off his forehead with a wet tissue, and exhaled a hot breath, "Talk less, drink more water, take a rest."
Zheng Yijie looked unconvinced: "Oh my god, it feels like it's being burned by fire. Can this be solved without saying anything?"
Without waiting for Gu Mengran to retort, he looked at the old man eagerly and almost begged, "Grandpa Meng, can we open the window to get some fresh air? At least there should be some breeze."
"Open the window for ventilation? Hahaha... Of course it works. Try opening a crack and feel it first." The old man was so happy that he laughed with his mouth wide open.
Gu Mengran did not stop him, but raised his chin towards him and kindly reminded him, "Drive on the left, don't let the black dust float in."
The wildfire is burning on the right side, so it would be better to open the left window.
Zheng Yijie looked at him suspiciously and hesitated for a long time. His reason was no match for the unbearable heat. He stood up, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan and walked quickly to the window on the left.
I turned the handle and pushed it gently, and the window opened a crack.
Zheng Yijie stretched his neck to get closer, waiting for the cool breeze from the river to blow towards him. But the next moment, a scorching heat wave hit his face, like the steam from a pot lid just opened. Zheng Yijie quickly retracted his neck, his face felt like it was burned, burning with pain.
“What the hell!”
After screaming twice, Zheng Yi hurriedly closed the window, rubbing his cheeks repeatedly with both hands, and said in shock: "This is too horrible! Is it just like being fried in a frying pan? I almost got fried as soon as I opened the window, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside!"
Gu Mengran suppressed his laughter and said, "You've been in the greenhouse for too long. Do you know what a good life you've had now? We're the ones doing all the dirty work."
Maybe it was because of the hot wind or because he was embarrassed, but Zheng Yijie moved his hand away, his cheeks slightly flushed.
He didn't get angry because of being fooled. He looked at the old man, then at Gu Mengran, adjusted his black-framed glasses, and laughed, "I'm not an ungrateful person. I will repay you. When I learn from Grandpa Meng, let me do the dirty work."
"Good boy, it's not in vain that I taught you." The old man was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling.
It was hot! The cooling effect brought by the neck fan was minimal. Gu Mengran had originally wanted to do some work, but he was sweating profusely even when sitting still, let alone moving.
This is not a solution. He could hide in the space to enjoy the cool and plant some things, but his grandfather, who is already old...
Gu Mengran thought about it for a long time, but finally couldn't help it. He quietly took out an outdoor power supply, a socket strip, and two large floor fans from the space.
People were almost melting from the heat. Zheng Yijie stared at these things with his eyes wide open. He pointed at a pile of outdoor power supplies and questioned Gu Mengran: "Why didn't you take out this good stuff earlier? You kept us in the heat for so long."
Gu Mengran didn't say anything, but just connected the power strip to the outdoor power supply, and then connected the fan plug to the power strip.
The two floor fans were pressed to third gear respectively, and strong breezes blew out. Gu Mengran stood up and adjusted the angles, with one fan facing his grandfather and Zheng Yiji, and the other facing himself and Liang Zhao.
At the same time, he did not forget the outdoor power supply. He took out a small stool, placed the power supply on it, and moved it to a corner where the fan could reach.
Zheng Yijie saw this action. He opened his lips slightly, as if he understood something. He chased after Gu Mengran to confirm: "Is this thing unsafe?"
"You're smart for once." Gu Mengran tilted his neck to enjoy the breeze and expressed his concerns: "The temperature is too high. I heard that thing can explode easily if it overheats, so I didn't dare to take it out at first."
The old man's mouth twitched, and a sneer escaped from his lips, "Hear? It's such a long time ago, and you still believe these rumors. I've seen your power supply before. It uses a lithium battery. Overheating may indeed cause an explosion, but as long as it is produced by a regular manufacturer, 200 degrees or 500 degrees is no problem."
Gu Mengran was choked by his grandfather and muttered softly: "Why do you say that I look like an old man who believes in rumors?"
"Isn't it? Your thinking is more conservative than mine." The old man teased him.
Gu Mengran pretended not to know what he was talking about, and decisively retorted: "What were you doing earlier, Grandpa? It's not like you didn't know there was an outdoor power source in the space, and you kept us warm for so long."
Meng Gaoyang was furious: "Go to sleep, we still have to sail tonight!"
After a good night's sleep last night, Gu Mengran was not sleepy at all. It was impossible for him to sleep, but Gu Mengran did not intend to argue with his grandfather anymore. He sat aside quietly and took out two large stainless steel basins from the space.
I haven’t stocked up enough cooked food, but since I’m free anyway, I might as well use this time to make some cooked food that doesn’t require cooking, such as air-dried beef.
He took some beef tenderloin, beef shank and beef hind leg and filled a full basin, then filled another basin with clean water. Gu Mengran sat on the ground and began to wash the meat.
Just make a fuss in the cab like this?
The two people standing next to him were stunned. The old man was worried that he would dirty the cab and wanted to stop him, but thinking that he could eat the ready-made food without doing anything, Meng Gaoyang swallowed his words.
Zheng Yijie was just simply curious. He was curious about what Gu Mengran was making without using fire or electricity. He kept craning his neck to look. Until he heard Gu Mengran mention the dried beef, Zheng Yijie immediately became interested and ran over to help.
The work became much easier for the two of them. Zheng Yijie was responsible for cleaning, while Gu Mengran took out the chopping board and knife and cut the beef into strips along the grain.
Soon, a pot full of fresh beef strips was ready. Gu Mengran immediately took out ginger, onion, garlic, dried chili peppers, peppercorns, star anise and other seasonings from the space, and added them one by one. Finally, he stirred them evenly and set them aside to marinate for two hours.
I have to say that the space is also very convenient and practical for cooking. After finishing the work, the cab is still clean and spotless.
We couldn't cook on the boat for the time being, so we simply had buns for lunch.
After a short rest after the meal, seeing that the beef was almost marinated, Gu Mengran took out a roll of thin wire and called Zheng Yijie for help. He tied the wire above the glass on both sides of the cab, and then folded the marinated beef one by one and hung them up.
In order to prevent the marinade and excess water from dripping onto the floor, Gu Mengran laid a circle of cardboard on the floor after he finished his work.
Under the scorching sun and the burning wildfire, even behind glass, the beef would be completely dry in a few days. Of course, it would dry faster if it was moved to the deck to dry, but the smoke and dust would turn his beef into smoked meat.
After working until around three in the afternoon, Gu Mengran was tired and lay down on the mat with the fan on. After a while, he fell into a drowsy sleep.
As soon as the chatterbox fell asleep, the cab suddenly became quiet.
The old man looked at the densely packed beef strips above his head, then glanced at Gu Mengran, who had his eyes closed and was unconsciously approaching Liang Zhao, and a hint of joy appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Regardless of whether he is his grandson or not, having such a positive, optimistic and energetic person accompany him along the way can give people a glimpse of hope for the future even in a cruel and desperate end of the world.
Everything is good, except this kid... he has something hidden in his heart!
The alarm clock rang on time. When Gu Mengran turned off the ringing sound and got up from the bed, Liang Zhao and his grandfather had already finished their dinner, while Zheng Yijie was lying alone in the corner, diligently doing push-ups.
Gu Mengran didn't even pay attention to what his grandfather and Liang Zhao were eating. He was obviously stunned and looked at Zheng Yiji intently. A trace of imperceptible panic flashed in his sleepy eyes.
"Aren't you... hot? Do you keep doing this every day?"
After hesitating for a while, Gu Mengran opened his mouth and asked his question.
Sweat dripped down his body. Zheng Yijie finished a not-so-standard push-up, sat down on the ground, wiped the sweat off his face, and looked back at Gu Mengran, "It's hot, it's so hot! I do it every day after I got on the ship, but I lack exercise, so I can't do more than 200 a day. I'm still practicing."
"That's good, that's good." Gu Mengran patted his chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
Zheng Yijie: "What's good?"
"Well, well, actually..."
It's really hard to say. Gu Mengran stopped talking halfway, turned to look at Liang Zhao, and gave him a look for help.
He thought that the kind-hearted Liang Zhao would stand up to help him out, but unexpectedly Liang Zhao curled his lips in a smile, gave him a meaningful look in return, then lowered his head to eat, as if he saw nothing.
How unfair!
Gu Mengran glared at him angrily, then turned back to continue thinking about Zheng Yiji's matter.
A casual joke was taken seriously. Although push-ups help to exercise and are a good thing in general, this cannot be based on teasing. A joke that others don't find funny is not a joke.
They are already companions, and he is trying very hard to integrate into this group. Gu Mengran wants to tell him the truth, but does not want to lose face in front of his grandfather and Liang Zhao.
So he quickly put on his slippers and stood up, waving at Zheng Yijie mysteriously: "Come, follow me."
After saying that, Gu Mengran walked quickly towards the aisle. Zheng Yijie didn't understand why, so he wiped the sweat off his forehead and followed closely.
The aisle was hotter than the cab. There was no electric fan and not even a breeze. It was like walking into a steam room in the hottest summer. It was so stuffy that it was hard to breathe.
Gu Mengran didn't plan to stay for long. Seeing Zheng Yijie approaching, he quickly organized his words and said directly but stutteringly: "Well, well, even if you do 200 push-ups every day, you... won't awaken your superpowers. I just made a joke at the time, but I didn't expect you to take it seriously."
Zheng Yijie, who was about to stand against the wall, was stunned for a moment.
Without giving him time to buffer, Gu Mengran said frankly: "Actually... we don't have any so-called supernatural powers. Space is an unknown accident, and Liang Zhao can't see the future. Everything really came from a dream, a very ordinary and very real dream before the disaster."
Being teased, normal people would get angry to some extent, but Zheng Yijie didn't. He stared at Gu Mengran intently, with no anger of being teased in his eyes, only confusion and disbelief.
After a brief silence, as if he couldn't wait to confirm with Gu Mengran, he asked quickly: "Whose dream is it? Your dream? You only dreamed of it once?"
"Mine, just once." Gu Mengran nodded.
As if all his strength had been drained, Zheng Yijie leaned against the wall limply, a smile spreading across his eyes. He then stared into Gu Mengran's eyes and spoke word by word, "Gu Mengran, are you reborn?"
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