Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly. This growth rate was indeed astonishing, but it was precisely because of this that they might be able to rely on the Banyan Forest to withstand the wind and waves.
"Boss, when can we plant the seeds we traded for from Captain Wang Jun?" Lu Jiamei asked tentatively.
Xin Wan had asked her to inquire. As a chef, knowing they had new ingredients, she was naturally concerned. Otherwise, cooking porridge every day did nothing to showcase her worth.
Ren Yuanyang glanced up at her. "What, getting tired of porridge lately?"
"Not at all. I’m already very satisfied just being able to have my fill of porridge," Lu Jiamei immediately replied, shaking her head. "It’s just that I heard we have new food, right? I wanted to ask about it, and also see if there’s anything to get rid of any gamey taste."
"Did Xin Wan put you up to this?" Ren Yuanyang asked in return.
"Yeah. For a great chef like her, just cooking porridge every day is a bit of a waste of her talents. We didn’t have the resources before, but now that we do, she’s naturally concerned about these things," Lu Jiamei admitted openly.
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly. "Let’s wait one more day. We’ll let the outer Banyan Forest grow a bit more, and then we can mark off some areas in the middle for planting."
"Okay!" Lu Jiamei replied, a little excited.
"However, although Captain Wang Jun gave us fifty types of plant seeds, many of them are the same type," Ren Yuanyang said, shaking his head helplessly.
"Huh? Didn’t we ask him for fifty *different* types of seeds?" Lu Jiamei asked, confused.
Ren Yuanyang shrugged and asked, "Let me ask you this: round eggplants, long eggplants, dwarf eggplants, six-leaf eggplants—are those all the same species or different ones?"
That left Lu Jiamei stunned.
If you said they were the same, well, they all looked different. But if you said they weren’t, they were still all eggplants!
"What a total ripoff!" Lu Jiamei couldn’t help but complain.
"It’s actually not that bad. At least he didn’t give us fifty different kinds of eggplants," Ren Yuanyang replied.
There are over 1,500 known varieties of eggplant, so coming up with fifty would have been very simple.
From that perspective, it seemed Captain Wang Jun was actually being quite decent.
"Uh, are there really that many kinds of eggplants?" Lu Jiamei was shocked.
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly and gave her a quick lesson on the subject.
While they chatted, Ren Yuanyang finished his dinner. Lu Jiamei cleared away the bowl and chopsticks, and he stepped out of his room. The sea breeze blew against his face, making him feel completely refreshed.
Ren Yuanyang walked two laps around the banyan tree and found that its aerial roots were already as thick as his thighs, and the leaves and branches above were starting to flourish.
’Looks like we’ll be busy tomorrow.’
Previously, clearing the aerial roots of a single banyan tree was relatively easy for the four of them, but tomorrow they would have to face the aerial roots of many banyan trees.
In the future, the banyan trees would multiply, and the area they covered would expand. Relying on just the four of them would become difficult.
They would also be planting many crops, fruits, and vegetables soon. Manpower was really going to be a problem.
’Looks like we’ll just have to plant less for now,’ Ren Yuanyang thought to himself, then headed back toward his room.
Just then, Qin Haonan steered his speedboat over, stopping beside the Duckweed platform.
"Boss, that kid sent me a message!" Qin Haonan shouted as he leaped from the speedboat, landing on a giant patch of Round Duckweed.
Ren Yuanyang raised an eyebrow. "Didn’t you say you never gave him your contact information?"
"Of course I didn’t. But he found me in the regional channel and said he found a plant!" Qin Haonan immediately handed over his phone.
Ren Yuanyang took it and skimmed the messages, finally understanding what had happened.
It turned out the boy had posted in the regional channel, saying he had found a plant and hoped to contact the "big brother" who had traded with him the day before.
Qin Haonan had been monitoring the regional channel while on patrol, and when he saw the message, he contacted the boy immediately.
But the other party was extremely cautious, asking a few questions before even requesting a video call.
Via the video call, the boy finally confirmed that Qin Haonan was the person he was looking for.
The boy then excitedly showed him a plant with a few green leaves.
Qin Haonan told him to wait, as he needed to check with his boss first.
That’s when he had rushed back with a screenshot of the plant.
"Boss, take a look. Do we need this thing? If not, I’ll just turn him down!"
As Ren Yuanyang saw the screenshot, a system prompt immediately sounded.
[Bamboo seedling discovered...]
"We’ll take it! Go over there right now!" Ren Yuanyang said in a deep voice, having learned the plant was bamboo.
"Huh? You want me to go right now?" Qin Haonan was a little surprised.
"Of course. The sooner, the better. Delays breed new problems," Ren Yuanyang said with a nod.
Of course, the more important reason was that the smaller a plant was, the less Mental Energy it consumed to enhance. Getting it a day earlier would save some Mental Energy.
"Okay, Boss!" Qin Haonan acknowledged, then turned, hopped onto his speedboat, and sped away.
After glancing at the coordinates the boy had provided, Qin Haonan realized he wasn’t at his original location anymore.
So, while piloting the speedboat, he sent the boy a message.
"You’re not at your old spot?"
"That’s right. After you left, the other survivors were eyeing us like prey. Anyway, the Level 2 wind zone is huge with lots of space, so we started moving in the direction you left," the boy replied instantly. "We found this plant while we were moving. Big brother, do you guys want it?"
"Of course we want it. Don’t move for now. Stay where you are. I should be able to get there within three hours," Qin Haonan replied, saying no more.
Seeing Qin Haonan’s reply, the boy immediately grew excited.
"Grandpa, that big brother is heading our way!"
"Mm. Let me be the one to negotiate with him later. Just follow my lead."
"Okay, Grandpa."
「Three hours passed quickly.」
In the darkness, the sound of a speedboat cutting through the water came from the distance.
The boy, who had been bored out of his mind, immediately stood up.
A beam of light in the distance rapidly approached, finally stopping near them.
"Big brother!" the boy shouted, waving his hands.
Qin Haonan emerged, also holding a rifle. He gave the boy a slight nod and asked, "Where’s the plant? How much food are you looking to trade for this time?"
The old man also stood up, cupped his fists toward Qin Haonan, and said, "Young man, we don’t want to trade for food this time. We’ll just give you this plant. If you hadn’t arrived in time the other day, my grandson and I probably wouldn’t have survived until now."
Hearing this, the boy was taken aback. He hadn’t expected his grandfather to just give the plant away instead of trading it for food.
Qin Haonan was also stunned for a moment, his brow twitching. "I was just passing by last time. I never intended to save you. Are you sure you want to give me this plant?"
"I’m sure. However, I do have a presumptuous request," the old man continued.
"Let’s hear it," Qin Haonan said with a slight smile, gesturing for the old man to continue.

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