Chapter 52 Heavy Rain, Water Hyacinth
After the swimming pool was scrubbed clean, the rain quickly filled it up.
Avoid stagnant water from being polluted and breeding a large number of parasites.
Everyone searched the entire yacht and finally found all the materials. Under the guidance of Jiang Linhai, they sealed the swimming pool.
Jiang Linhai also found some pipe faucets from the warehouse and connected them to the kitchen and bathroom, making water use more convenient.
Jiang Linhai turned on the faucet and the swimming pool water successfully came out of the kitchen. Jiang Linhai then used tools to connect the water to their homemade filter.
The filtered water is crystal clear and can be drunk simply by boiling it.
The electrical appliances cannot be used and there is no earthen stove on the boat, only a charcoal stove.
The warehouse contained coal and alcohol blocks, as well as fuel for the yacht's propulsion.
But, one day it will run out.
There were lifeboats and inflatable boats on the yacht, so everyone chopped up the wooden boats that had not been completed before into wood, and kept the other fuels until absolutely necessary.
From time to time, some driftwood would float around the yacht. When the rain was a little lighter, everyone would brave the rain to pick up the wood and keep it as reserve fuel.
Grandma planted the flower beds with Chinese cabbage, leeks, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes and strawberries.
Niuniu, who had personally distributed strawberry seeds, looked eagerly at the small green sprouts and asked Zhang Qingfang, "Grandma, when can we eat strawberries?"
Apart from the cactus fruit Qin Shen gave her last time, she had never eaten any other fruit.
Zhang Qingfang smiled and said, "It takes about three months from flowering to fruiting. If we take good care of her, Niuniu can eat delicious strawberries earlier."
Niuniu's eyes lit up as she said happily, "Then I'll help grandma fertilize, water, weed, and catch insects!"
Zhang Qingfang patted her head and said, "Our Niuniu knows a lot. That's great! She will definitely never go hungry again."
Niuniu smiled shyly, looked at Lu Zhifeng and said, "Dad taught me all this."
If Jiang Si and the others had not rescued him and his daughter with a lifeboat, there was no way he could stand safely on the yacht and see Niu Niu's sunny smile.
Lu Zhifeng regarded Jiang Si's family as his saviors and said to Zhang Qingfang sincerely, "Aunt Zhang, aren't we growing enough vegetables and grains? Do you want to get some soil and expand the area to plant more?"
The yacht is surrounded by transparent tempered glass, which provides sufficient lighting conditions for growing grains and vegetables, so we can indeed grow more.
Zhang Qingfang smiled and said, "Well, when the rain stops, we can dig some fertile soil, hatch some chicks and raise them on the boat. Then we can eat eggs more often in the future."
Jiang Si tried to hatch eggs with an incubator in the space, but there could not be any living things in the space, so he never succeeded once.
Now there are only eggs but no chickens. If you want to hatch chicks, you have to use the old method.
Fortunately, everyone in the family is quite knowledgeable. They used a large cardboard box, put a small cardboard box inside it, and padded cotton around it. There were four hot water bottles under the cotton. Then they put eggs soaked in disinfectant water into the small box, and the nest for hatching chicks was ready.
But this is only the first step. The temperature of the box must be maintained at 38.5 degrees in the first week, and the eggs need to be turned every two hours. On the eighth day, the temperature needs to be lowered to 38.2 degrees, and the egg-turning time should be changed to every three to five hours.
In order to ensure the chicks came out smoothly, everyone took turns on duty and patrolled for dangers, turning the eggs over at regular intervals.
The first thing Niu Niu does when she wakes up every day is to run to see if chicks have hatched from the eggs.
The incubation lasted for seven days in a row, and the heavy rain continued. The yacht drifted downstream, in danger of running aground at any time. Except for Jiang Si and Qin Shen, no one else could steer the yacht. So the usual survival training had to include one more item - steering!
When the rain was too heavy, they had to hoist the sails, which they later modified based on the actual situation of the yacht, imitating the pirate ship in the Pirates of the Caribbean.
This way, they have more control over the yacht.
During the second week of the chicks' incubation, if you look at the eggs under sunlight, you can faintly see red blood vessels. Over the next few days, the number of blood vessels gradually increases.
The yacht moved downstream and entered the southern city area. Finally, green spots could be seen on the water surface. They were water hyacinths with purple flowers.
Water hyacinth was originally a very ornamental plant. It was introduced into China for viewing because of its ability to purify water.
However, its reproductive capacity is extremely strong, which once caused the flooding of river sections and ponds, leaving no living space for fish, and everyone began to desperately try to salvage it.
When Jiang Si was in elementary school, the Longquan River was also invaded by water hyacinths, but they soon disappeared like a flash in the pan.
Shen Baoying saw that the green plant was water hyacinth and said happily, "Sisi, water hyacinth is a good thing. It can be made into feed fertilizer and used to feed chickens, which saves food!"
Zhang Qingfang added: "The flowers and young leaves of water hyacinth are edible. They taste and taste like pakchoy. We ate them a lot in those years."
Jiang Linhai said excitedly, "Sisi, we can use floating ropes to mark an area and grow water hyacinths on the water surface. This will give us another wild vegetable."
Lu Zhifeng also said: "Water hyacinths reproduce quickly and will not die even if they are brought ashore for a few days. If they are washed away, they will grow a lot again after a while. They are really good for use as fertilizer and feed."
Niuniu was delighted and clapped her hands, saying, "Then we must raise it!"
Jiang Si smiled and said, "The water here is too strong, and the yacht keeps pouring down. We'll wait until the yacht finds a place to stay before we raise it. However, tonight you can try how delicious water hyacinth is."
Everyone used a net bag to scoop up some water hyacinths, and specially kept a few that grew particularly well and planted them in a basin of water.
Chen Baoying picked some water hyacinth flowers, coated them with egg flour and a little salt, forming a thin layer, and fried them in a frying pan. The tempting aroma immediately wafted into everyone's nose.
The water hyacinth flowers fried until golden brown look like a perfect work of art. Paired with tomato sauce, they are both beautiful and delicious.
Wash the tender stems and leaves of water hyacinth, blanch them in boiling water, and rinse them in water to remove most of the bitterness.
Shen Baoying planned to make one cold dish and then stir-fry the other.
Add shrimp and fungus, put chili oil, sesame oil, ginger, onion and garlic and mix it together. It is full of color, aroma and taste.
Chop the scallions into small sections and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the dried tofu and water hyacinth and stir-fry. The sizzling sound is pleasant to the ear.
The three dishes that came out of the pot were all delicious and appetizing under Shen Baoying's careful cooking.
Niuniu swallowed her saliva and praised, "Auntie's cooking skills are really good."
Shen Baoying pinched her chubby little face: "Eat more later."
Shen Baoying likes to cook. Now that there are many people, she makes four dishes and one soup for every meal and never repeats them.
After eating dishes made from water hyacinth, everyone is more interested in growing water hyacinth.
Niu Niu even suggested that we put a few more basins of water on the boat to grow water hyacinths.
Everyone thought it was a good idea and was about to take action when the yacht was unknowingly surrounded by water hyacinths.
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