Chapter 109 Chapter 109 Cooling Down
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"Hiss, it's so cold, why is it so cold?"
It was almost dusk, Gu Mengran put down the novel he was reading halfway, and reluctantly got out of bed. When he lifted the quilt, he shivered in the sudden chill, and hurriedly blew on his hands and took out thick clothes from his underwear.
The temperature dropped sharply. In just 20 days, he changed from short-sleeved shirts to long-sleeved shirts, and then to fleece jackets. Now the fleece jackets were no longer enough, so Gu Mengran decisively found two long cotton jackets and took out a small sunshade for warming himself.
Gu Mengran put on his cotton coat, carried his clothes and the sun, opened the curtain and walked out. As he started walking, Liang Zhao obviously heard the noise and looked back at him with a smile, "Have you finished reading the novel? You finally decided to let it go."
"You've been staring at me all day?" Gu Mengran walked quickly forward, put the little sun on the ground, and rubbed Liang Zhao's head with his idle hands.
He was about to pull his hand back after rubbing it for a while, but Liang Zhao was not happy about it. He grabbed his hand that was about to be pulled away and rubbed his palm with his cheek. "You are my boyfriend. If I don't pay attention to you, who should I pay attention to?"
Soft lips brushed across his fingertips. Gu Mengran pulled back his hand and patted him, chuckling, "Why didn't I realize before that you are still a love-brained person? What, love is enough, and you don't need to eat or wear clothes if you have a boyfriend?"
"Really?" Gu Mengran spread out another black cotton coat and draped it over Liang Zhao's shoulders, nagging like an old mother: "Pay more attention to yourself. It's cold weather and you didn't even ask me to get some clothes. You just bear with it? What if you catch a cold?"
Liang Zhao raised his hands and put on his clothes obediently, with the corners of his mouth rising uncontrollably, "Fortunately, it's not that cold."
Before he finished speaking, he felt a touch of warmth on the back of his hand, and Gu Mengran's voice exploded: "My goodness, it's like an ice cube, this is not cold? I'm afraid you've been frozen silly."
Gu Mengran glared at him angrily, then plugged in the stove, turned on the switch, and sat on a small stool waiting for the temperature to rise.
The stove heated up fairly quickly, and in less than two minutes, the dim warm light spread like spring sunshine, enveloping the cockpit. The warmth followed like a shadow, bringing a touch of warmth to the cold cabin.
The rain was still falling. After more than 20 days of sailing, the boat had long left the turbulent waters. The current waters were like an endless mirror. Although there were occasional storms, most of the time they were calm and gentle, very similar to the sea.
The cold air came in forcefully, and the temperature dropped by more than 10 to 20 degrees in a short period of time, and it was still going down. Not knowing where he was, not knowing the exact month, Gu Mengran sat by the fire, looking at the endless water in front of him, and a deep feeling of powerlessness came over him.
"Be careful, your clothes are getting burnt!"
A scream interrupted Gu Mengran's thoughts. He looked down and saw that the clothes were clearly some distance away from the stove, and there was no sign of them being burnt for half a day.
Gu Meng reacted belatedly, stretched out his hand and pinched Liang Zhao's arm, and said with a smile: "What's the matter, are you worried that I'm imagining things?"
Liang Zhao didn't move and just hummed softly.
Gu Mengran shrugged his shoulders in disapproval, put his hands next to the sun to warm them, and said to himself: "I don't have time to think about random things. I'm thinking about things. The weather is getting colder and colder, and I always feel that something is wrong. Although it was cold for a period of time in my previous life, but... is it this cold?"
Liang Zhao shook his head. "No. The cold last life was not very noticeable, just like a normal winter. We didn't even have two thick clothes at that time, and we managed to survive by hiding in the cabin. Now the temperature is still dropping, and it feels a bit unbearable."
"Yeah, I was saying." Gu Mengran rested his chin on his hand and pondered, "What's the reason? Could it be that our rebirth has produced a butterfly effect, causing this life to be different from the last life?"
"Swish."
Liang Zhao laughed out loud.
Gu Mengran frowned, "Is it funny?"
“Not funny.”
Liang Zhao pursed his lips and shook his head, saying gently: "The two little butterflies are too small. At most, they can only affect people. Even the shadows left by their wings can't affect the weather. I think it's a regional problem. In our previous life, we were in the South China Sea area, which has a tropical monsoon climate and a smaller temperature difference. The East China Sea has a subtropical monsoon climate and is a little colder in winter."
Does it affect anyone?
Gu Mengran was suddenly led astray and unconsciously thought of the Ever Leap.
If the Ever Leap's trajectory is the same as in its previous life, then according to the time, the Ever Leap encountered Shi Jincun first and Gu Mengran later.
After boarding the ship, Gu Mengran saw not the villagers of Shijin Village, but the lively Dong Hongbo. Does this mean that Shijin Village failed in the previous life? There was no familiar person in the village, and it was very likely that the whole army was wiped out.
It's because of them.
Their rebirth changed the ending: Dong Hongbo died and the Yongyue changed hands.
Back to the point, Gu Mengran shook his head suddenly, pulling back his thoughts, and continued Liang Zhao's words: "Subtropical monsoon climate? It will be a little colder. But the temperature has dropped too fast recently. It's getting colder and colder. I feel like this winter is not going to be easy."
"Yeah, I feel like the temperature will continue to drop." Liang Zhao nodded in agreement and asked casually, "What's the temperature now?"
The multifunctional watch that each person had was broken long ago. Gu Mengran wanted to raise his hand to check the temperature, but he suddenly remembered when he saw his empty wrist.
He took out a brand new watch from the space, turned it on and fiddled with it repeatedly. After five minutes, Gu Mengran finally saw the current temperature.
"-1° is considered normal."
As he was talking, Gu Mengran sighed, "Ah, I don't know when I can meet them. The Fengyi is estimated to be running out of fuel. If the temperature drops further, what will grandpa and the others do?"
A tin box that is hot in summer and cold in winter, with no fuel for heating...
That was extremely difficult.
It was impossible not to worry. Liang Zhao glanced at the small compass on the cockpit, his eyes fixed on the endless water ahead, and said softly, "It will be soon. We will be near the coast in a day or two, and we will find them easily."
Gu Mengran didn't say anything, but just grinned.
In fact, he and Liang Zhao both knew that reaching the East China Sea was only the first step. It would take a long time to find a ship in the vast ocean unless they were extremely lucky.
Worrying too much will only hurt yourself. Gu Mengran slapped his thigh and stood up, puffing his cheeks and saying, "I'm hungry. It's so cold, let's eat something warm tonight. How about hot pot? Didn't you want to eat it before?"
Liang Zhao was very supportive: "Well, I really want to eat it. I'm just worried that the place is too small and the chef won't be able to show his skills."
"No, it's much more convenient to cook hot pot in the cabin than to stir-fry vegetables. At least there is not so much smoke."
Gu Mengran was really hungry, so he set up the folding table, put a chopping board and knife on it, and sat down on a small stool to start working.
Take a piece of fresh beef shank, wash it, cut it into strips, add chili powder, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and other seasonings, mix well, wait for it to be marinated, and a spicy and chewy chopstick beef is ready.
Cut the salted egg yolk horizontally and vertically to divide it into four parts; after the packaged shrimp paste is thawed, put it into a bowl, Gu Mengran put on disposable gloves and skillfully rolled the shrimp paste balls, trying to stuff each ball with half a piece of salted duck egg yolk.
Shrimp meatballs with egg yolk, beef with chopsticks, beef tripe, tripe, fish balls, squid tentacles... There were seven meat dishes and only three vegetarian dishes. Gu Mengran used a shredder to shred potatoes and lettuce, and finally cut a plate of lotus root slices, and that was it.
The side dishes are all ready, except for the base.
Gu Mengran stood up and stretched, then put the side dishes on the table back into the space, tidied up the table, and moved a multi-function electric hot pot out from the space.
Plug in the power, pour clear spring water into the pot, wait for the water to boil, put in a whole block of hot pot base, and simmer slowly. After boiling again, Gu Mengran put some green onions, ginger, garlic, dried chilies and other ingredients in.
In fact, the hot pot base should be fried with some oil and other ingredients to make it taste more fragrant, but the conditions are limited. The cabin is neither ventilated nor breathable, and Gu Mengran doesn't want to sleep under a quilt that smells like hot pot at night.
I bought two oil dips. The bottom of the pot was already very fragrant. When the lid was lifted, the rich spicy aroma wafted into my nose. The taste was in no way inferior to that of a hot pot restaurant.
The folding table was too small to hold all the side dishes. Gu Mengran first poured the long-lasting pickled mustard greens into the pot, then placed the remaining side dishes, licked his lips and sat down.
"Master Liang, it's time to eat!"
“I am here.”
It was a little later than usual for dinner, and Liang Zhaoming was obviously hungry. In less than a minute, he sat down next to Gu Mengran, picked up his chopsticks and reached into the pot, "I saw you put the beef tripe in, it should be cooked, right?"
"It's cooked. Just blanch it and you can eat it." Gu Mengran picked up the chopsticks and turned his head to Liang Zhaoyang and raised his chin. "Pick up the bowl and don't drip oil on the table."
Liang Zhao paused, and obediently picked up the oil dish and bowl and moved it to the side of the pot. However, he did not put the beef tripe he picked up from the pot into his own bowl. Instead, he used the bowl to pick up the oil soup, turned it around, and slowly put it into Gu Mengran's bowl.
"Eat yours. I know how to pinch it myself."
Having said that, the slightly raised corners of Gu Mengran's mouth betrayed him.
Seeing this, Liang Zhao picked up another egg yolk and shrimp ball and handed it to him, "You like this. Our chef Gu has worked hard all afternoon. Eat more."
"Heh." Gu Mengran was not to be outdone, and he stuffed the squid tentacles and duck blood into Liang Zhao's bowl. "Our Master Liang is the one who works hard. He drives the boat during the day and works hard at night. I'm afraid his body can't take it. He needs to eat more."
"Replenishment?"
Liang Zhao was speechless, raised his eyebrows and looked at him playfully, "Stop making trouble and eat your meal."
The wind is biting outside the window and the air-conditioning is raging, but nestling in a cozy little house and eating a steaming hot pot is simply too comfortable.
Chewy and smooth meatballs, spicy and chewy beef, crispy and delicious beef tripe... It's great to cook by yourself. They are all your favorite dishes. Gu Mengran picked up the bowl and ate them relishingly. He couldn't stop at all.
I originally thought that the two of them couldn't finish the seven delicacies and three vegetables, but Gu Mengran obviously underestimated himself and Liang Zhao. They finished all the seven delicacies and three vegetables, and even added some frozen meatballs at the end.
After eating and drinking, the table was left with a mess.
Liang Zhao was a diligent man, and he started to clean up as soon as he put the bowl down. Gu Mengran rubbed his belly and watched from the side. Looking at the solidified butter on the rim of the bowl, he couldn't help but remind him, "Don't bother, it's greasy and hard to wash. I'll put it back in the space and wash it slowly when I get back to the Wind Wing."
"It's okay. I'll heat some water and wash it in a moment." Liang Zhao cleaned up on his own.
Gu Mengran wanted to say something more to persuade her, but the next moment, his eyes glanced out the window inadvertently, and the words he was about to say were stuck in his throat.
The gray sky seemed to be torn apart, and the crystal snowflakes fell down one after another. The snowflakes melted instantly when they landed on the water, leaving only tiny water marks. In the distance, the horizontal plane connected with the sky, and it was a vast expanse of white, as if countless white butterflies were dancing on the water.
"Liang Zhao, Liang Zhao, come and see, it's snowing!"