Chapter 110 Chapter 110 Yellow and Blue
*
When the snow fell, the weather became even colder.
After taking a shower and crawling into bed, Gu Mengran's hands and feet were cold and he couldn't sleep warmly no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't sleep hard even when he held Liang Zhao in his arms. The biting cold spread throughout the cabin. He always felt that the quilt was leaking and the cold air was coming from all directions.
After tossing and turning for more than half an hour, Gu Mengran pulled Liang Zhao up again, laid an electric blanket on him, and replaced the quilt on him with a thicker cotton quilt.
After finishing his work, he lay down again. The electric blanket began to heat up. The thick cotton covered his body tightly, and Gu Mengran felt comfortable all over. He lay on his side with his head resting on Liang Zhao's arm, curled up in his arms, and fell into a deep sleep soon.
When I opened my eyes again, the person sleeping beside me had disappeared, and the boat anchored on the water began to move again, swaying and rising and falling with the waves.
The quilt was soft, comfortable and warm. Gu Mengran was sealed as expected. He climbed up from the bed but fell back down again. He tried to get up many times but failed every time.
My mind was still struggling with my body. Liang Zhao, who heard the noise in front of me, took sides. "It's cold. It's nothing. If you don't want to get up, don't force yourself. Are you hungry? I'll bring you breakfast."
"No, I'll eat by myself."
These words almost destroyed his psychological defenses. Gu Mengran gritted his teeth and used all his strength to pull the quilt away.
The chilly air invaded him, and his lost rationality gradually returned. He became sober. Gu Mengran immediately sat up and hurriedly put on his clothes, complaining to Liang Zhao through the curtain: "Stop making trouble every day. What if you make me lazy? You will be the one who suffers."
"I'm happy to do that." Liang Zhao chuckled. "What's wrong with taking a nap?"
"Who said it's okay? I'm busy today." Gu Mengran put on a sweater and a cotton jacket, then slowly moved to the end of the bed to put on his socks.
Liang Zhaorao asked with interest, "Oh? What are you planning to do?"
After putting on a pair of thick velvet socks, Gu Mengran walked on the carpet to tidy up the bed sheets. Then he walked back to the end of the bed, grabbed the two corners of the quilt and shook it hard, spreading the messy floral quilt flat on the bed.
“Sizzle—”
The curtain was pulled open, and Gu Mengran walked out in high spirits.
He walked slowly to the middle of the cabin and looked around before answering Liang Zhao's question: "We are almost at sea. Although the sea is calm now, who knows what it will be like when we enter the sea. I think we need to reinforce our boat."
"Besides, the weather is getting colder day by day. The cabin is like a freezer. I want to add another layer of insulation inside."
The idea was good. Liang Zhao looked back at him and suggested, "Reinforcement is quite troublesome. Why don't you drive the boat and I'll do it."
"No need." Gu Mengran refused decisively: "Drive your boat well. I'll call you if I need help."
Liang Zhao shrugged helplessly, "Okay. The milk is in the thermos, it's still hot, and there's oatmeal nuts in the bowl next to it. Just soak them in milk and you can eat them. Fill your stomach first so you have the energy to go on."
"I know."
…
After washing his face and brushing his teeth, and drinking a bowl of hot oatmeal milk, Gu Mengran was completely awake. He roughly tidied up the cabin, took out the insulation pad, scissors, glue and ties from the space, and started working.
Adding a layer of insulation pad is not a hassle. You just need to cut the insulation pad to the appropriate size and stick it along the edge of the cabin and the endurance board with glue. Although it is a bit time-consuming, it is generally a simple job that does not require any thought or effort.
After two hours of hard work, the polycarbonate board was tightly wrapped in a layer of gray thermal insulation pad, blocking out the light and cold. The room became noticeably darker, but fortunately some light could still come in through the skylight and the windows on both sides.
The effect of the thermal pad is also immediate. Once the windows on both sides are closed, the temperature in the cabin rises sharply. The heat emitted by the little sun is locked in the room and cannot escape. The room is warm, as if the air conditioner is on.
The rustling rain outside turned into snowflakes, splashing onto the water surface.
Gu Mengran sat on a stool to take a break, enjoying the snow scene and drinking a cup of hot tea.
After drinking the hot tea, Gu Mengran took out a raincoat and labor protection gloves from the space and put them on. Then he greeted Liang Zhao and crawled out of the warm and comfortable cabin through the left window.
It was cold, as if he had walked out of the air-conditioned room and immediately entered a freezer. The moment he left the cabin, the huge temperature difference made him shiver. The biting cold wind blew in his face, and Gu Mengran's hair stood on end.
A sunroom was built on the cabin, and there was no place to stand on the outer hull. Gu Mengran grabbed the window and repeatedly adjusted the position in the cold wind. After a long time, he finally squatted on the outer hull with difficulty.
Heavy rainfall has continued for more than a year, and the rivers, land and ocean seem to be no different. However, the scary thing about the ocean is not the water, but the unpredictable storms and waves are the most terrifying.
The diesel boat is always too small. Its draft and stability do not meet the standards for entering the sea. It cannot even get close to the coast. A slightly larger wave can overturn it at any time, not to mention a terrible storm.
Increase stability, increase buoyancy...
Gu Mengran had figured out how to reinforce it, but the hull was small and narrow, so it was a bit difficult to implement.
Taking an anti-collision tire prepared for the Fengyi, Gu Mengran squatted on the edge of the boat, and took out a roll of two-finger-thick rope from the space, fixed one end of it to the anti-collision tire and the other end to the side of the boat.
The hull and sides of the boat are equipped with tool buckles, which saves you the effort of welding the buckles yourself. However, crash-proof tires, like car tires, cannot be fixed with just a cable.
In order to fix the other end, Gu Mengran hung on the edge of the hull with his head almost submerged in the water. It took him twenty minutes to install an anti-collision tire, and he had to pay back the energy he saved every minute.
It was cold, tiring and dangerous. Liang Zhao was terrified watching from inside the cabin. After he installed the anti-collision tires and sat back down, Liang Zhao immediately stopped the boat and climbed out of the window to replace him.
There was no place to put the tools outside, so they could only take what was available. Gu Mengran decisively rejected his request for a replacement, but with Liang Zhao's insistence, the number of people installing the anti-collision tires increased from one to two.
There are three on the left side of the ship, three on the right side, and one each at the front and back.
The two worked from morning to afternoon and did not even have time to eat lunch. Finally, eight sturdy, wear-resistant, donut-shaped anti-collision tires were firmly fixed around the boat.
Anti-collision tires are made of rubber and have natural floating capabilities. They are usually installed on large ships to cushion the impact and avoid damage to the ship. Installing them around small boats is actually equivalent to putting a large swimming ring on a diesel boat.
The density of seawater is greater than that of freshwater. After entering the sea, the boat will definitely float up a little. At that time, the weight of the cabin will be added, and the "swimming ring" will be immersed in the water, which will increase the buoyancy and stability.
Of course, the result of all the hard work can only deal with small winds and waves. If the big winds and waves come, you can't stop it and it will capsize.
Gu Mengran also thought about installing a set of fins on the boat, but...
It’s too cold. I don’t know if the fins can be installed yet. I’ll definitely catch a cold if I go swimming in the water now.
After staying outside for too long, the raincoat was unable to protect me from the falling snow, and my clothes got wet anyway.
Hurrying back to the cabin, Gu Mengran closed the window, quickly took out two sets of dry clothes from the cabin and changed into them with Liang Zhao, then the two of them went to the sun, one in front and one behind, and busily warmed themselves by the fire to thaw themselves.
"Oh my god, this weather is so horrible! It feels like it's several degrees lower than yesterday. I was frozen when I went out, and I couldn't even feel my hands."
There was no falsehood in what he said. Gu Mengran was very close to the little sun. He was so busy talking that his fingers were almost inserted into the gap, but he did not feel any heat at all. He even felt that the temperature was just right.
Liang Zhao frowned, "It's not hot like this even if it's cold. Be careful not to burn your hands."
After saying that, Liang Zhao grabbed Gu Mengran's hand and pulled it back a little, then held the pair of ice-like little hands in his own, rubbing them up and down with his palms repeatedly to keep them warm.
After warming himself by the fire and rubbing his hands, Gu Mengran's hands soon regained consciousness and gradually warmed up. Then he followed Liang Zhao's example, holding his hands and rubbing the backs of his hands repeatedly.
"That's a good idea. How about that? Are you warmer now?"
Liang Zhao curled his lips and smiled, "Much better, don't just rub your hands, get something to eat, you'll feel warm after eating."
"Yes!"
Once reminded, Gu Mengran realized that he was still hungry and hurriedly took out food from the space.
Just as Liang Zhao said, eating is faster than warming up by the fire. Two home-cooked stir-fries and two bowls of rice fill your stomach while you feel warmth spreading from the inside out, gradually warming up your body.
But what comes with it is... sleepiness.
It was past three in the afternoon. It was too early to go to bed and too late to take a nap. Gu Mengran wanted to hold it in, but when the boat started moving, the cabin started to shake, and he felt even sleepier...
Gu Mengran's eyelids began to droop, and he sat on a small stool with his back against the cabin, his head nodding. Just as he was about to fall asleep, Liang Zhao's somewhat anxious voice rang out:
"Meng Ran, come here Meng Ran."
"Ah?" Gu Mengran opened his hazy eyes and was a little dazed for a moment, almost forgetting where he was.
It was not until Liang Zhao called him again that he finally regained his consciousness from the chaos. He stood up by holding onto the cabin wall and staggered towards the cockpit.
But when he came to the driving platform and looked at the water in front of him through the transparent endurance board, his sleepiness disappeared and Gu Mengran became awake instantly.
To the right front of the boat, a shabby red and blue fishing boat was floating on the water. From a distance, the paint peeling and rusty hull could be vaguely seen. The mechanical arm on the boat was broken and the flagpole was crooked. It looked like a weathered and completely abandoned empty ship.
The fishing boat was almost still, occasionally swaying with the wind and waves.
Obviously, the ship had no power. Gu Mengran looked at the ship and then at Liang Zhao, and couldn't help but say, "Red and blue, it must be a fishing boat. How could a ship without power appear here? Should we go over and take a look?"
"No hurry." Liang Zhao looked at the water in front of him intently, with a smile of joy on his face. "Take a closer look, is there anything special on the water?"
What's special?
Gu Mengran was a little confused, his brows slightly wrinkled, and he still looked at the water obediently.
All his attention had just been drawn to the fishing boat. Now Gu Mengran paid more attention, looked around the water carefully, and soon found the problem.
Looking far away, where the water and the sky meet, the rain mixed with mud and sand is blocked by an invisible barrier, like a smooth yellow ribbon, across the middle of the water, while at the other end, a deep and rich blue is particularly dazzling.
Snowflakes are flying, and two completely different colors are converging in the boundless waters. Yellow and blue collide and blend with each other, yet they are clearly separated and always maintain their original colors.
The end of the water is the sea.