Chapter 168: Chapter 168: Goose-Feather Snow
Bo Xi was allowed to stay on the ship, which Zhang Aihua found very strange. She suspected Jiang Si and Qin Shen had done something to him.
A couple of days later, when everyone saw Bo Xi riding a moose across the snow, they were filled with envy.
Bo Xi was so capable! He’d actually earned the approval of Jiang Si’s group, and they even let him ride their moose.
Bo Xi’s riding was still unsteady, but thankfully, the moose was very gentle, allowing him to arrive safely in front of Zhang Aihua.
After all, it was Zhang Aihua’s group who had found him, giving him the chance to stay on the Icebreaker and become one of Jiang Si’s companions.
He had come today specifically to thank Zhang Aihua.
After getting permission from Jiang Si, he had brought some of the garden’s bounty. They had harvested so many fruits and vegetables they couldn’t possibly eat them all, but for Zhang Aihua’s group, such things were an unparalleled delicacy in the extreme cold.
Bo Xi handed a cooler to Zhang Aihua. "Thank you all for taking care of me the other day, which gave me the honor of staying on the ship. This is a small token of my appreciation. Please, accept it."
It would be rude to open the gift in front of him, so Zhang Aihua graciously accepted it. Then, she began to subtly probe for details about how Bo Xi had managed to stay.
Of course, Bo Xi couldn’t reveal that his ability was repelling insects. He just smiled and said, "Jiang Si’s group happened to need someone to clean the warehouse. I’m a hard worker, so they let me stay."
Now, not only was he responsible for raising mealworms for the chickens and ducks and breeding earthworms, but he was also Zhang Qingfang’s dedicated assistant.
They planned to grow a vast amount of vegetables and grains in the snow, and some seeds from the seed bank might be viable. However, the labels were all in English. He could sort through them and use a translation device to show everyone what they were.
A flash of envy crossed Zhang Aihua’s eyes. Despite their numbers, none of her people had Bo Xi’s luck.
Living on the ship had to be much more comfortable than living in the cave.
Bo Xi didn’t stay long before heading back.
Zhang Aihua opened the heavy cooler. Inside, to her astonishment, were fresh vegetables and fruits: cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants, water spinach, cabbage, and kohlrabi.
They hadn’t seen such things in so long that for a moment, everyone thought their eyes were playing tricks on them.
Brother Qiu excitedly shook Zhang Aihua’s arm. "They have fresh vegetables and fruit! The ship must have a greenhouse!"
It was so damn enviable.
Zhang Aihua was practically drooling with envy. If only they could live on the Icebreaker, or have a greenhouse of their own.
Zhang Aihua glanced at some construction debris that had been buried by the storms, then turned to Lao Er. "Do any of you know how to build a greenhouse?"
’A traditional greenhouse just needs plastic sheeting, right?’ she thought.
If they could find the raw materials, perhaps they could build one themselves and become self-sufficient.
Another week of peace and quiet passed.
The Vulture Eggs in the sauna finally started showing strong signs of hatching.
As a superpower user with a fear of birds, Bo Xi really didn’t want to go. Fowl of any size had a tendency to attack him for no reason.
But he was also curious about the hatching Vulture Eggs. Since he could watch from behind the glass anyway, he decided to go along with Jiang Si’s group.
The largest Vulture Egg already had a hole pecked in it, and a baby vulture was struggling to break free.
The baby vulture was covered in wet, short, downy feathers. At a glance, it almost looked naked.
It was ugly-cute.
The other little vultures also began to hatch one by one.
There were four in total. If they could be tamed, they would become their future flying mounts.
They would have to wait for the chicks to recover their strength before they could be fed.
Bo Xi asked, a little curious, "Why are you raising vultures?"
"When they grow up, vultures are huge. They take up a lot of space, and they’re not nearly as good as domestic fowl for meat or eggs."
Niu Niu declared proudly, "We’re going to raise them to be big and strong, and then they’ll carry us up into the sky! We’ll be able to go wherever we want!"
Bo Xi was taken aback. He hadn’t realized they had such an outlandish plan.
He offered a compliment. "What’s that saying from your Hua Country? Something about having great foresight?"
Niu Niu laughed. "Yep! Our big sister has amazing foresight. She thought of it the moment she saw the Vulture Eggs."
Bo Xi glanced at Qin Shen, intending to offer a compliment or two, but he immediately met Qin Shen’s gaze and sheepishly looked away.
The food prepared for the baby vultures was a paste made from minced sea fish. Worried about them imprinting on the wrong person, everyone specifically sent Qin Shen and Jiang Si inside.
The two of them were the most powerful. When the vultures were eventually able to fly, the first test flights would be entrusted to them.
Upon seeing Qin Shen and Jiang Si, the baby vultures immediately opened their beaks wide, waiting to be fed.
Jiang Si patiently fed them. Once they were full, they closed their eyes and promptly fell asleep. They were actually quite cute.
Cute as they were, they also seemed to have incredibly fast digestive systems. As soon as they ate, they pooped, making the sauna room reek.
Now that the chicks had hatched, Jiang Si decided to move them to a new location. That way, they could clean out the sauna so people could actually use it again.
Qin Shen and Jiang Si were halfway through scrubbing down the room when Jiang Linhai rushed in, looking frantic. "Sisi, a blizzard has started up again!"
It hadn’t snowed in a long time; in fact, the temperature had been gradually rising.
Everyone had started to think that the extreme cold might be coming to an end.
With the sudden return of wind and snow, Jiang Si frowned. "Is it coming down hard?"
"Extremely hard! It’s a total whiteout, you can’t see a thing! I’m afraid the ship is going to be buried in the snow."
The words had barely left his mouth when the entire ship began to rock violently.
The wind was so strong it felt like it was going to capsize the Icebreaker. It was terrifying.
Jiang Si and Qin Shen went to check the chains and anchors. For now, they were holding firm.
However, if the blizzard intensified, there was no telling how long they would hold.
’If things get truly dangerous, I can retreat into my space, but everyone else can’t,’ she thought. ’The Icebreaker’s safety has to be our top priority.’
But the blizzard outside was too intense. Disembarking was pointless; they would be blown away instantly.
Jiang Si and Qin Shen could only go to the bridge and deploy all the mooring anchors, hoping they would bite deep into the ice and hold the Icebreaker fast.
SNAP! Suddenly, the power went out. The outside temperature plummeted, affecting the Icebreaker’s engine and damaging the electrical system.
With the power gone, the temperature inside the cabins began to plummet.
Jiang Si and Qin Shen rushed back to the others. Working by flashlight, they started the backup generator to restore power to the most essential areas.
They held out until just before dawn, when the blizzard finally began to subside.
Qin Shen and Lu Zhifeng went to inspect the engine. Jiang Si was suddenly overcome with regret. "I should have listened to Dad," she said, her voice heavy. "We should have dug a shelter into the mountainside."
"Then we’d have a place to take refuge in a situation like this."
"A blizzard can’t blow away an entire mountain."
Jiang Linhai consoled her. "You’re not Zhuge Liang; you can’t be expected to predict everything. The snow has let up a little now. We can just start digging a shelter, can’t we?"
