Ren Yuanyang uncovered a Fluorescent Cactus, and the inside of the shipping container lit up again.
The veins of the cordgrass on the side were sparkling. He immediately walked over and found that the cordgrass plant had already secreted a layer of glistening salt.
"This thing secretes salt really efficiently!" Ren Yuanyang remarked. He dabbed a little with his finger and put it in his mouth to taste.
’So salty!’
Picking up a bowl and spoon, he carefully scraped the salt off the cordgrass, then gave the plant some fresh water.
To make the cordgrass continuously secrete salt, he had to provide it with saltwater. The salt it secreted didn’t just appear out of thin air.
The sky quickly darkened, and Ren Yuanyang called Lu Jiamei down.
With the night and the heavy rain, she couldn’t see anything up there anyway, so he just called her down.
Seeing Ren Yuanyang holding a Boning Knife, Lu Jiamei couldn’t help but take a step back.
Ren Yuanyang pointed at the alligator to the side and offered her the handle of the Boning Knife.
"I’ve never even seen one of these up close, so I’m counting on you to butcher it!"
Hearing this, Lu Jiamei was stunned, then looked troubled. "I’ve only ever eaten it. I’ve never seen how the kitchen staff breaks one down!"
"Well, you’ve at least eaten it, right? Give it a try. You’re still way better off than me, who’s completely in the dark!" Ren Yuanyang shoved the Boning Knife directly into her hands.
’This was like being thrown in at the deep end!’
Lu Jiamei looked helpless. ’What can I do? He’s the boss!’
’And I have to obey the boss’s orders!’
Steeling herself, she started to cut. ’Might as well start with the limbs!’
Thankfully, the Boning Knife was quite effective. Lu Jiamei easily removed one of the alligator’s legs, but a lot of blood flowed onto the container floor.
Lu Jiamei glanced at Ren Yuanyang. "What do we do about this?"
They couldn’t just dump the blood into the sea outside; it would be trouble if it attracted even more powerful carnivores.
Ren Yuanyang also looked helpless. "Just find some old clothes to wipe it up for now!"
His ex-girlfriend’s family had sent over plenty of clothes, after all.
"This alligator just died not long ago. Shouldn’t we drain its blood first?" Lu Jiamei asked.
They had no experience preparing this kind of ingredient and only realized it after they had already started cutting.
"Right. Go get the biggest jar you collected earlier!" Ren Yuanyang ordered.
Lu Jiamei nodded, went out, and quickly returned with a plastic bucket of about ten liters.
Ren Yuanyang poured purified water into it and washed it several times before setting it aside.
He didn’t know if alligator blood was edible, but what if it was? So he washed the plastic bucket very thoroughly!
They used a rope to hang the alligator up inside the container. Although they didn’t know where the alligator’s main artery was, as long as the spot they stabbed bled, it was good enough.
For the next two or three hours, Ren Yuanyang and Lu Jiamei stabbed the alligator until it was riddled with holes!
"Looks like we need a chef!" Ren Yuanyang said, looking at the alligator they had mangled beyond recognition.
Hearing this, Lu Jiamei’s heart skipped a beat. She hesitated for a moment before speaking up, "Boss, actually, my mom is a great cook. She’s been learning how to make all sorts of dishes from culinary experts..."
She had never asked Ren Yuanyang to rescue her family. It was already a huge kindness that he had taken her in; she couldn’t press her luck.
Besides, they currently had no way to propel the container, so even if Ren Yuanyang agreed to a rescue, they had no means of getting there.
Ren Yuanyang was slightly taken aback, then replied, "If your mother is willing to come over, I have no problem with it. But we can’t move right now, and we don’t know where she is!"
Hearing this, Lu Jiamei brightened up. At least Ren Yuanyang was willing to accept her mother. Then she asked, "Boss, could you help me look for my mom on your phone?"
Ren Yuanyang nodded, took out his phone, and asked, "What username would your mom use?"
"Nian Mei, or Jiajia Cuisine," Lu Jiamei replied excitedly.
Ren Yuanyang immediately started searching in the ’Add Friend’ screen.
After finding an ID for Nian Mei, Ren Yuanyang looked at the excited Lu Jiamei and asked, "Is there something only you and your mother would know? We need to verify it’s her!"
Lu Jiamei suppressed her excitement, thought for a moment, and replied, "Yes!"
Following Lu Jiamei’s instructions, Ren Yuanyang distilled the key information into a message and sent it. But the other person clearly had no idea what he was talking about, replied with "You psycho," and immediately blocked him.
"That probably wasn’t her," Ren Yuanyang said, shaking his head slightly. He then continued to search for Jiajia Cuisine, but this time, he couldn’t find anything at all.
"Are there any other possible usernames?" Ren Yuanyang continued to ask.
Lu Jiamei suggested many other usernames her mother might have used. Some yielded no results, and the ones that did weren’t her mother.
Even though she knew from the start that the flood was merciless and her mother had likely perished, she had still held onto a sliver of hope. But now, that hope was starting to crumble.
Lu Jiamei’s expression turned sorrowful.
Ren Yuanyang comforted her, "No news is good news, actually. Don’t be too pessimistic!"
Lu Jiamei composed herself and nodded. "I understand. Thank you for being willing to help me find my mom!"
"Don’t mention it. It was no trouble at all," Ren Yuanyang said with a wave of his hand. "Let’s just leave the alligator hanging here. You go rest first. I’ll take the first half of the night, and you can take the second."
At night, human activity was minimal, but there might be aquatic creatures moving about. Keeping one person awake meant they could react immediately if a problem arose.
Lu Jiamei nodded and returned to the other side.
Although she was incredibly worried after failing to find any news of her mother online, she forced herself to fall asleep as quickly as possible. She needed to be fully rested to keep watch, as the safety of them both depended on it.
’I’ll only have a chance to find my mother if I stay alive!’
With that thought, Lu Jiamei fell asleep.
Ren Yuanyang sat in a chair, searching his memories. In this world, he was an orphan. He had poured all his energy into his ex-girlfriend, to the point that he didn’t have a single friend.
"Simping really does leave you with nothing in the end!" Ren Yuanyang remarked again. But that was fine, too. At least he had no attachments in this world.
’It was just that other world...’
Ren Yuanyang shook his head. ’Better not to think about it.’ His mission now was to survive. Maybe he’d have a chance to go back in the future.
He picked up his phone and continued to browse the chat in the regional channel.
The world channel had a posting limit—only five times a day, non-cumulative—while the regional channel had no such restriction. So, most people chatted in the regional channel.
"What’s going on? I think something underwater is bumping against my raft!"
"It’s the middle of the night, don’t scare me!"
"I’m serious, I’m not kidding!"
"For real? I’ve been floating for over three months and I’ve never run into anything like that!"
"I’m gonna go down and see what it is!"
"Don’t! It’s the middle of the night, it’s too dangerous to get in the water!"
Seeing their discussion, Ren Yuanyang thought for a moment before typing, "It’s probably some kind of fish."
Seeing this message, everyone was stunned for a moment.
"What bullshit are you spouting? What kind of fish could hit my solid wood door hard enough to make it go THUMP THUMP? Wouldn’t it just kill itself?"

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