"Xiao Lin, how's the adjustment of your 'nutritional cocktail' formula?" Xiao Zhenxi picked up a piece of pickled radish, which is the only vegetable on the island that can be preserved for a long time.
"The pH is still a bit high." Lin Nan pushed his glasses. "But I found that the seaweed collected by the old squad leaders is rich in humic acid. Perhaps..."
Before he could finish his words, there was a sudden clatter of dishes. Zhang Tiezhu, the head cook, stood at the serving window with his hands on his hips and said, "Listen up, everyone! Whoever wastes food today will have their kitchen quota doubled next week!"
Amidst the laughter, Xiao Zhenxi noticed that new recruit Li Hao in the corner had only half a bowl of porridge. He picked up his pickled vegetables and walked over: "What's wrong? Northern stomachs can't handle fish sauce?"
"Report to the Colonel, I..." Li Hao stood up hurriedly.
"Sit down and talk." Xiao Zhenxi pushed the pickled vegetable dish over. "When I was a new soldier in Karakoram, I was so hungry during a patrol that I had to eat ice chips. Do you know what the most valuable thing on the island is now?"
"Fresh...fresh water?"
"It's the ability to turn salt water into fresh water." Xiao Zhenxi knocked on the water storage barrel under the dining table. "Come with me this afternoon to inspect the desalination station."
The desalination station roared under the scorching sun. Xiao Zhenxi lifted the rusted inspection cover, and the 40-degree heat, wrapped in steam, hit him in the face.
"Was this designed by your grandfather's company?" Li Hao stared at the words "Huaguang Environment 2005" on the nameplate.
"This technology is from twenty years ago." Xiao Zhenxi knocked on the condenser with a wrench. "Back then, producing five tons of water a day could earn you a third-class merit. Now..." He suddenly stopped and listened attentively to the unusual noises from the machine.
"Prepare for a shutdown! Notify all companies to activate their backup water sources!" he shouted at the top of his voice. In the distance, where the sea and sky met, dark clouds were rolling in.
Amidst the typhoon sirens, Xiao Zhenxi was dismantling a faulty pump in the equipment warehouse. Lin Nan rushed in, tablet computer in hand: "Captain, the South China Sea salinity change model you requested!"
"Just in time!" Xiao Zhenxi wiped the oil off his face. "Look at the worn surface of the impeller, combined with the seaweed element you mentioned earlier..."
The sound of the wind and rain pounding against the windows drowned out the discussion. As the backup generators came on, they finally drew up a design for a new filter layer—one that would use coral flakes instead of expensive ion exchange resins.
Seven days later, when the first stream of improved fresh water gushed out of the pipe, Zhang Tiezhu, who was squatting at the outlet, suddenly jumped up and said, "Sweet! This water will definitely make delicious porridge!"
Xiao Zhenxi turned his head and looked at the vegetable field.
In the morning mist, newly transplanted saplings are stretching out their tender leaves on the saline-alkali beach. They are the seeds he brought from his hometown.
Farther away, the branches of red willows rustled in the sea breeze, like whispers between the northwest desert and the blue waves of the South China Sea.
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