Chapter 157: Chapter 157: Digging a Hot Spring Channel and Riding a Moose
Seeing Shen Baoying’s delight, Qin Shen astutely offered, "Let me make you another set."
Shen Baoying quickly shook her head. "No need. You can teach your uncle. He knows how, so just have him do it."
Jiang Linhai laughed. "In that case, I’ll definitely do a better job than him!"
Shen Baoying said with a smile, "What’s the point of competing with a kid? You’re not young anymore."
Qin Shen smiled. "Uncle’s skills are exquisite. They are indeed worth learning from."
Jiang Linhai’s chin immediately shot up. "That goes without saying," he said proudly. "You won’t lose out by learning from me."
Suddenly, Jiang Linhai noticed the space Qin Shen had left for pipes in the kitchen and asked, "What’s this for?"
Jiang Si said, "Qin Shen and I are planning to try and pipe the hot spring water into the house."
Jiang Linhai had thought about it before, but the distance was a bit far, and burying pipes wasn’t as easy as one might think.
He asked, "You’ve figured out a way?"
Jiang Si pointed to the half-dug reservoir outside. "Instead of burying pipes, we’ll just dig a channel to bring the hot spring water over."
Such a simple solution. How had they not thought of it before!
Jiang Linhai said excitedly, "That’s a great idea! Then I can design adjustable showers for everyone’s houses."
Niu Niu was eager to learn. "Uncle, the hot spring water is very hot. How do you control the temperature?"
Jiang Linhai explained, "All you need is a shower mixer. It draws in cold water and hot water, and you can control them at the same time to get the water temperature you want."
"However, we’ll still need to build a reservoir for cold water to make it convenient to use."
Lu Zhifeng said with a smile, "That’s really great. It’ll be so much more convenient to use water in the future."
Jiang Linhai nodded. "You bet. Hauling ice blocks before was a real pain."
Niu Niu said, "So are we taking the monkey troop to dig the hot spring channel now?"
Jiang Si pinched her little cheek. "What’s the hurry? We’ll go after we eat."
The house was designed with a wood-burning stove, a charcoal brazier, a coal stove, and a gas stove.
Cooking was very convenient.
They had a lot of frozen food, including lemons and chicken feet. The mint Grandma had planted in the Icebreaker’s greenhouse was ready, so Shen Baoying picked some to make a lemon mint cold-dressed chicken feet dish for everyone.
It sounded like a very appetizing and refreshing dish, and it was even more refreshing to eat.
The vegetables in the greenhouse were also growing very well: tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, bok choy, water spinach... It was more than enough for the eight of them; they couldn’t possibly finish it all.
Shen Baoying often had to secretly work extra hours processing the food from Jiang Si’s space. Once everyone moved into their own houses, they would have more privacy. At least then, she could take food directly out of the space and mix it in with the things from the greenhouse.
Lunch was incredibly lavish. The lemon mint cold-dressed chicken feet were just the appetizer. Braised pork belly, sweet and sour pork ribs, mapo tofu, fish in chili oil, fresh meat with bean sprouts, yellow-braised chicken, seafood congee in a clay pot, and blue crabs covered the entire table.
Jiang Si picked up a blue crab and asked, "Where did these come from?"
Ever since they learned that chiseling through the ice could lure sea snakes from the ocean floor ashore, everyone had become extremely cautious when going out to fish and cast nets.
The moment it was time, they would retreat in a hurry, sealing the hole in the ice to prevent any sea snakes from slithering out.
Everyone started laughing in unison, their eyes turning to Qin Shen.
Jiang Si looked at Qin Shen. "You got these?"
Qin Shen nodded frankly. "Yeah."
Everyone knew Jiang Si loved crab. Today was the first day in their new home, and to make her happy, everyone had seen Qin Shen come back early in the morning carrying crabs.
This feeling of being constantly thought of by someone other than family was actually quite nice. Jiang Si was almost getting used to it.
She smiled at Qin Shen, a silent thank you.
After a cheerful meal, they started giving tasks to the monkey troop.
They split into two groups: one to work on the houses, and the other to work on the hot spring channel.
Jiang Si hadn’t actually planned on ordering Zhang Aihua and his group to help with the construction.
’Once I start using them, it’s like I’m obligated to take care of them.’
’But on second thought, since they’re staying here, aren’t I already responsible for them?’
Their helping with the hot spring channel could be considered a form of repayment, so Jiang Si accepted it calmly.
The water in the hottest spring pool could reach the boiling point of 100 degrees Celsius.
By simply digging a channel without reinforcing it with bricks or stone, the flowing water wouldn’t freeze over again.
They had thought it would take a long time.
But with the monkey troop working on one end and Zhang Aihua’s group on the other, the hot spring water was channeled into the reservoir Jiang Si’s group had dug beforehand in just three days.
To be able to circulate the water, Qin Shen also imitated the ancients and built a large, rotating water wheel, bringing the hot spring water to life.
Watching the large water wheel start to turn, Niu Niu exclaimed in admiration, "It’s so beautiful!"
Suddenly, Jiang Chengwu pointed at the transparent fry at the bottom of the water and said, "Look, a school of little fish has arrived."
Everyone looked carefully into the reservoir and sure enough, they really did spot some small fish of various sizes.
If it weren’t for their shadows, it would have been impossible to notice them swimming.
Shen Baoying immediately suggested, "These fish can survive in the hot spring. Why don’t we dig another big hot spring pool and raise them separately?"
Jiang Linhai laughed. "Aren’t there enough fish in the sea for you to eat?"
Shen Baoying said, "I still have a vivid memory of the hot spring fish we ate last time. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to catch and eat them whenever we want, right at our doorstep?"
Jiang Si smiled. "These fish probably have a long growth period. Let’s just forget it. If you want to eat some, you can just go get them from Zhang Aihua’s group. Raising them would be too much trouble. The key thing is, they don’t look easy to keep alive."
"Alright, we won’t raise them then!"
They were indeed already raising quite a few things: Big Black, Little Black, three moose, a flock of chickens, a flock of ducks, and an entire troop of monkeys.
The baby moose were already old enough to be taken out for walks, making it the perfect time to tame them. The moment Jiang Si patted the small white moose and climbed on, it became agitated and tried to throw her off.
Jiang Si specifically told Qin Shen not to suppress it, as she wanted to see if her old skills were still there.
Grabbing the moose’s neck, it leaped up, nearly sending Jiang Si tumbling backward.
Everyone was very nervous.
If even Jiang Si couldn’t tame it, it would be quite difficult for the rest of them.
Moose could reproduce. Unlike machines that could stop working at any moment, the moose were their equivalent of vehicles. Learning to ride them was one of their essential skills.
A moose’s greatest weakness is its gluttony.
Especially in this frigid world where food was scarce, food was the key to making them obedient.
But these two young moose had been fed by Jiang Si and the others since they were little. They had never lacked for good food and didn’t know what hardship was.
Jiang Si’s riding it made it uncomfortable, so it struggled. It struggled and struggled until it was exhausted and too lazy to resist anymore. Only then did Jiang Si take out its favorite carrots, feeding one to it as a reward.
Now the little moose understood: if it obediently let Jiang Si ride it, it would get delicious carrots.
Seeing Jiang Si successfully urge the little moose to run two laps, the others were eager to try.
Jiang Si placed a pre-prepared saddle on the other small moose’s back before she dared to let Jiang Linhai get on and try it.
After all, she had experience taming moose barehanded, but Jiang Linhai had none.
