Chapter 56: The Reed Field

In another room, Jiang Si discovered some medicine and gold jewelry.

In addition to that, there was a large generator and some standard household appliances on the steamship.

Jiang Si placed the generator into her storage space. Jiang Linhai, worried about her, came into the cabin and saw the corpses scattered on the floor. His gaze landed on the lifeless face of the ten-year-old girl, and shock and pain surged in his eyes.

Jiang Si didn’t hide the truth and said honestly, “She tried to kill me to avenge her parents.”

The pain in Jiang Linhai’s eyes quickly turned into a complex expression.

It took him a moment to digest the reality, and then he comforted Jiang Si, “You did nothing wrong.”

When those people tried to kill them, who among them had considered their lives? Niuniu was only seven years old—everything that happened was just karma.

Jiang Si had been worried about how Jiang Linhai would see her, but when she saw the sympathy on his face, she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

She then went over to the other steamship. The supplies Qin Shen had collected were even more abundant—there was food, clothing, and daily necessities. Just the rice alone amounted to more than 2,000 catties. This ship also had livestock.

Ten chickens, five ducks, six rabbits, and one large yellow ox.

This group had also been experimenting with indoor farming; several oil drums were filled with sweet potatoes and potatoes, and they had grown a good amount of bean sprouts and chives.

With the supplies on both steamships, had those people planned well, they could have easily sustained their future lives.

But instead, they had chosen the most vile and despicable way.

Jiang Si sighed. After everyone finished counting the supplies on the two steamships, they were visibly cheerful.

Shen Baoying lovingly stroked a fluffy rabbit, overjoyed. “Sisi, what should we do with these two steamships?”

Every army needs one leader. Right now, Jiang Si was the de facto leader of the group.

She had already thought it through and looked at Qin Shen and Jiang Zhenwu. She asked, “Do you two want to take one of the ships?”

Her implication was: Do you want to split off and go independent?

Though the yacht had better facilities, it had no electricity and could only be used like a sailboat. The steamships were faster and about a third bigger than the yacht. They also had sufficient supplies—enough to support Lu Zhifeng and the others if they wanted to live separately.

Lu Zhifeng picked up on her subtext, and both his and Niuniu’s faces turned pale.

Jiang Si would definitely be fair with the supply distribution, but operating a steamship required a few people to work together.

With Niuniu being so young, if anything went wrong, he wouldn’t be able to handle it all alone.

Having more people meant mutual support—taking turns on night watch, cooking, cleaning, planting, raising animals… Life would run more smoothly, and they’d sleep better at night.

Not just for himself, but also for Niuniu, Lu Zhifeng sincerely said, “Niuniu and I have already received so much help from everyone. Now that we have extra ships, we really shouldn’t continue to be a burden. But I can’t manage such a big ship alone, and Niuniu is too young to be happy without everyone. There’s strength in numbers—could we stay with the group?”

After a moment, he added, “It’s okay if not. I understand.”

No one was obligated to take them in.

Suddenly, the always-silent Qin Shen opened his mouth and asked Jiang Si directly, “Can I stay too?”

His deep eyes were like a sharp hook.

If they were to split off, supplies would need to be divided reasonably.

But if they stayed, there was no problem with that either.

As long as they managed farming and raising livestock properly, the supplies from the ships were enough for self-sufficiency.

There would be no need to worry about future conflicts over limited resources.

Besides, Qin Shen’s unique massage technique could relieve her sudden bouts of pain—and she hadn’t learned it yet.

Both Lu Zhifeng and Qin Shen were skilled, resourceful men with good characters, which reassured everyone and would strengthen their team.

Jiang Si smiled. “I was just asking casually so we could divide the supplies better. If no one wants to leave, we’ll just transfer most of the essential supplies onto the yacht, then use the steamships to lead the way. Let’s find a safe place to dock—or drop anchor and fix the ships in place. We can grow vegetables and grain right on the steamships. If danger comes, we’ll sail away.”

So she wasn’t kicking them out!

Niuniu and Lu Zhifeng immediately beamed with joy. “Okay!”

Qin Shen also nodded at Jiang Si.

Everyone got to work, transferring most of the essential supplies to the yacht and leaving backup supplies on the steamships—just in case something happened to the yacht. That way, the other two ships could still support them for a while.

They worked all the way until nightfall. Physically tired but mentally content.

The next morning, Jiang Si had just come down to the yacht’s lounge when Niuniu excitedly ran over to her and said, “Big sister, they laid eggs! The chickens and ducks laid eggs!”

Jiang Si followed her to the first steamship and saw six chicken eggs and three duck eggs.

Niuniu picked one up and held it in her palms with a big smile. “Sister, it’s still warm!”

These eggs carried the hope of survival for everyone, which was why Niuniu was so happy.

Jiang Si gently touched her cheek and said, “Fresh eggs taste the best. How about we eat some today?”

Niuniu shyly blinked and said, “I don’t want to eat them… If we keep them, they can hatch into chicks.”

Jiang Si pointed to the ten hens in the cage. “There’s no rooster. These eggs aren’t fertilized. They won’t hatch into chicks. Let’s eat them instead!”

Niuniu paused and, realizing there was no rooster, finally smiled and nodded. “Okay, then let’s eat the eggs.”

Jiang Si grabbed a basket and collected the eggs and then went to the dairy goat to milk it.

She brought the fresh eggs and milk to Shen Baoying, who joyfully recited several egg recipes and even wanted to make century eggs from the duck eggs.

She got about three jin of goat milk. Shen Baoying made a bowl especially for Niuniu to help her grow strong.

The rest of the milk was used to make milk tea, yogurt, and milk candies.

By lunchtime, Shen Baoying showed off her chef skills and whipped up a delicious variety of dishes using the eggs and existing ingredients.

Seeing a much richer variety of food on the table, everyone ate with joy and satisfaction. They hoped to organize and prepare the steamships as soon as possible—planting more crops and raising more animals.

Now that they had quite a few animals, they had to keep collecting water hyacinths to make feed.

But the consumption rate was too high, especially for the yellow ox—it ate ten catties of grass a day, and couldn’t survive on that alone. Occasionally, it also needed grains.

As the water hyacinths on the lake started to run low, and just when they were wondering whether they should butcher the ox…

They suddenly spotted a vast field of lush, green reeds.