"I rendered some oil from the crocodile fat. It’s enough to stir-fry a couple of dishes," Xin Wan replied with a smile.
Ren Yuanyang paused for a moment, then nodded. "You’re the expert when it comes to cooking, so I’ll leave it to you!"
Xin Wan took the potatoes and bok choy back to the speedboat and started preparing breakfast.
Hua Lingfang found Ren Yuanyang and handed him the seeds they had harvested the previous night.
"Sir, it’s been raining constantly. These seeds are all too damp, I’m afraid they won’t store well!" Hua Lingfang said with some concern. "And those soybeans, if they keep getting drenched like this, they might sprout right on the stalk!"
"The rain is definitely a problem," Ren Yuanyang replied. "Once the bamboo is bigger, we can build awnings over the planting areas to keep the rain off. As for the dampness, we have a plant dryer, so there’s no need to worry too much."
"A plant dryer?" Hua Lingfang was taken aback again.
"They didn’t tell you about that plant?" Ren Yuanyang asked, surprised. But then he immediately figured it out.
’This thing is only used for drying ears of rice, so it’s understandable that the others forgot to mention it.’
Ren Yuanyang then explained the Dripping Lotus’s Flame-shaped Inflorescence, and Hua Lingfang had an epiphany. "Just like an Arisaema! The Arisaema used in traditional medicine also heats up when it blooms!"
Ren Yuanyang paused, then nodded. "That’s right. The Dripping Lotus is also in the Araceae family. The Flame-shaped Inflorescence is a unique feature of plants in that family!"
"That’s wonderful!" Hua Lingfang hesitated for a moment before cupping his hands. "Sir, might I be able to use that plant dryer to dry our clothes and bedding?"
"Of course. How could I have forgotten about that?" Ren Yuanyang said, slapping his forehead. "The crops are being dried inside the shipping container now, so just bring the clothes over! Once I’ve cultivated more Dripping Lotuses, I’ll give a few plants to each of you."
"Thank you, Sir!" Hua Lingfang replied happily, cupping his hands again. Then he asked, "Should we plant more bok choy?"
"Of course. We’ll plant them now. That’ll save you from having to get up in the middle of the night again," Ren Yuanyang said with a nod.
It was just past seven o’clock. With bok choy’s 12-hour growth cycle, it would be ready for harvest at exactly seven in the evening, eliminating the need to get up in the middle of the night.
Ren Yuanyang immediately strengthened the seeds in his hand, then gave them to Hua Lingfang, telling him to sprout them into seedlings first before planting them in the water.
The bok choy seeds were too small. If thrown directly into the water, even the creeping stems of the bitter grass wouldn’t be able to hold them in place.
"Breakfast is ready! Come and eat, everyone!" Xin Wan called out to Ren Yuanyang and the others from the deck of the speedboat.
Hua Lingfang spread the bok choy seeds evenly over a water-soaked cloth, sprinkled a little more water on top, and then headed for the speedboat.
The moment he entered the speedboat’s cabin, the fragrant aroma of shredded potatoes and bok choy wafted over.
"It smells amazing!" Qin Haonan exclaimed, taking a deep whiff of the aroma that filled the air.
They had been eating nothing but plain congee recently. Today, with the addition of potatoes and bok choy, their mouths were watering despite the lack of seasonings.
Xin Wan had already dished out the stir-fried potatoes and bok choy onto everyone’s plates. Hua Lingfang and his grandson also received two plastic cups of different sizes.
The tableware Ren Yuanyang’s group used was also a mismatched collection.
"Alright, let’s dig in! Try some of Xin Wan’s cooking," Ren Yuanyang said, picking up his chopsticks and starting to eat.
Qin Haonan immediately lifted his plate and shoveled the shredded potatoes into his mouth, mumbling how good it was as he chewed.
Hua Wen, who had barely touched vegetables before the flood, was now savoring the bok choy.
Qin Haonan devoured the food on his plate in a flash, gulped down his congee in one go, and then let out a loud burp.
"People are still eating. Could you show a little restraint?" Ren Yuanyang shot him a glare.
Qin Haonan grinned. "Alright, I’ll be more careful next time."
After breakfast, Hua Wen said quietly, "It would be great if we could eat food like this every day!"
Ren Yuanyang responded with a smile, "I’m afraid you’d get sick of it if you ate it every day!"
"I won’t! Sister Wan’s cooking is so delicious, I could never get tired of it!" Hua Wen immediately shook his head.
"Since when did you learn how to suck up?" Qin Haonan asked in surprise.
"I... I was just telling the truth," Hua Wen stammered, his face turning bright red.
"Alright, stop teasing him," Ren Yuanyang said, coming to Hua Wen’s rescue. "This morning’s task is the same as yesterday’s: clearing out the new aerial roots. Let’s get to it, everyone!"
"Yes!" everyone replied in unison.
Qin Haonan piloted the speedboat to the perimeter. When they saw that the Banyan Forest had expanded by another ring, they couldn’t help but gasp in amazement.
"It’s only been two days, and it’s already expanded outward by more than ten meters! That’s incredibly fast!" Hua Lingfang still remembered where the edge of the Banyan Forest was when he’d first arrived two days ago.
"If it’s not fast enough, how will we defend against Level 7 gales in the future?" Qin Haonan replied with a laugh. "Let’s get started. We’ve got even more to do today than yesterday!"
Everyone took out their combat knives and started clearing the unwanted aerial roots.
Ren Yuanyang continued strengthening various seeds and plants until he had completely exhausted his Mental Energy. Then, he opened his phone.
"Something big just happened!"
"What’s going on? Is the rain finally stopping? The flood receding?"
"To the guy above me: I know the sky’s dark, but it’s still daytime. Not the time for dreaming!"
"What’s the big news? Spit it out already!"
"Screw the riddles! I hate people who talk in circles and don’t get to the point!"
"Chill out, I’m just about to post some pictures so you can see for yourselves what’s going on!"
After posting that message, the survivor did indeed upload a few photos.
The photos showed many people lifting sheets of plastic and wooden planks out of the water.
"What are they doing?"
"The Aircraft Carrier Base ran into trouble with their ocean farming. They’re trying to salvage the seeds they just planted!"
"What kind of problem?"
"Fish. Massive schools of them. They’ve destroyed at least a fifth of the seeds that were just planted!"
"Holy shit, are they that aggressive?"
"Anyone planting their own crops needs to watch out. All kinds of underwater creatures might peck at the roots or even pull the entire plant under!"
Reading this, Ren Yuanyang couldn’t help but feel relieved. Fortunately, he had already harvested some dizzy fish grass. To stop fish from pecking at the plants he was growing on the water’s surface, he had specifically enhanced the grass’s fish-repelling properties.
The discussion on the regional channel continued.
"So the Aircraft Carrier Base must have taken a huge loss, right?"
"I see it as an opportunity for the Aircraft Carrier Base. They can harvest a ton of fish!"
"Can’t argue with that."
At that very moment, the Aircraft Carrier Base was indeed organizing people to fish. The survivors who had joined them later were also doing everything they could to catch fish.
"There are too many! We can’t catch them all! There’s no way! This one haul will solve my food problems for the next several days!"
"Hey, guy above me, you might want to think about how you’re going to cook all that fish."

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