Chapter 53: Torrential Rain, Poison Guava Tree

As far as the eye could see, the hazy mist and the returning green tones looked like a Monet oil painting, enchanting and intoxicating.

Scooping up the water hyacinths yielded dozens of pounds at a time. The dense growth slowed the yacht’s movement through the water.

Zhang Qingfang looked regretfully at the floating hyacinths.

“Sigh… If only the rain would stop. If the weather were even a little better, we could dry them to make feed and store it.”

Jiang Zhenwu laughed,

“There’s so much fresh water hyacinth right now—why are you already thinking about feed? We haven’t even hatched our chicks yet.”

Zhang Qingfang shot him a glare,

“Anything could happen. If we store more now, we’ll be more prepared. And besides, our chicks are about to hatch. There’ll be more in the future. We might even raise ducks, cows, sheep, or pigs. They all eat a lot—none of them can do without feed.”

“Ducks and chickens, maybe. But cows, sheep, and pigs? You’re dreaming big. You haven’t even learned to swim yet!”

Grandma Zhang grew annoyed,

“You’re talking about me? You’re not even as good at steering the yacht as I am!”

The old couple bickered, and Jiang Linhai and Shen Baoying hurried to intervene.

“Mom, Dad just wants you to learn to swim quickly—it’s not anything else. Look around; it’s all water. It really is dangerous if you can’t swim.”

Grandma glanced at her sheepish husband and proudly declared,

“I’ve almost figured it out.”

The yacht’s luxurious bathtub was big enough for several people. Since she hadn’t been able to practice at home before, she took advantage of the better conditions—and Jiang Si’s professional guidance—to learn fast.

She not only mastered a decent-looking breaststroke, but also picked up freestyle pretty well.

Niuniu raised her hand,

“Niuniu can testify—Grandma swims really well!”

The atmosphere lightened. Realizing his mistake, Grandpa quickly followed up,

“Yes, Grandpa needs to learn from Grandma and try to master diving soon too!”

Grandma wasn’t actually angry. She smiled,

“I’ll definitely learn faster than you.” Then she added seriously,
“If only the sun would come out, then we could finally make the feed.”

Her concern wasn’t without reason. The storage space was a great tool for survival, but they couldn’t rely on it forever.

There had been a couple of times when her condition flared up, and she feared that if something happened to her, the family would lose their main backup.

That’s why she always pushed to teach everyone all sorts of survival skills.

Until they found a safe place to settle, this yacht was their only home. The resources surrounding it were their only means of survival.

They had to make the most of them.

Jiang Si had downloaded tons of agricultural knowledge onto her tablet. After searching for two hours, she finally found a method for turning water hyacinths into feed without needing to dry them.

All they had to do was wash the roots thoroughly, drain the water, chop them up, and add a fermentation starter. The result: silage, a type of fermented feed. It even reduced the risk of parasites in poultry.

Jiang Si shared the method, and everyone jumped into action. They strung up ropes along the yacht’s corridor to hang the hyacinths and let the surface moisture drip off.

This fermentation process worked quickly. Before long, the few plastic barrels they had were completely filled with silage.

Meanwhile, the red veins on the surface of the eggs darkened into black shadows—the chicks were almost ready to hatch.

Everyone was buzzing with excitement.

This meant that soon, they’d have their own supply of meat and eggs—true self-sufficiency.

They watched the eggs for an entire day, but still no chicks emerged. Niuniu became anxious and asked,

“Big sister, can I help the chicks break the shell?”

Jiang Si patiently explained,

“Chicks need to break the shell on their own. That’s how their blood starts circulating and their bodies become full and strong. If we help them, they might come out too weak to survive.”

Niuniu nodded in understanding,

“Then I’ll be like a little chick and learn from them.”

Lu Zhifeng felt a wave of bittersweet pride.
If not for the apocalypse, Niuniu would still be a carefree little girl in elementary school.
Now, just to survive, she was learning self-defense with Jiang Si—yet never once complained of pain or exhaustion.

After waiting patiently, the chicks finally began to hatch.

One… two… three…

Out of fifteen eggs, ten fluffy chicks successfully hatched.

Right after hatching, chicks need water to flush out residual fluids in their intestines. To boost their health, Jiang Si even added a bit of brown sugar to the water to replenish their strength and immunity.

Niuniu watched the damp, fuzzy chicks slowly fluff up and asked excitedly,

“Big sister, shouldn’t we feed them something too?”

Jiang Si replied,

“They can’t eat right away. Their digestive systems aren’t ready. Just water for now. In two days, we can give them softened rice and some feed.”

Niuniu nodded enthusiastically,

“Then I’ll feed them!”

Everyone laughed,

“Thanks, Niuniu!”

As the chicks grew stronger, they started incubating duck eggs too.

Ducklings take about ten days longer to hatch than chicks, so while waiting, the yacht approached a lush green grove up ahead.

Due to the extreme heat, most trees had withered. Only a few resilient species were still thriving after the downpour.

Water hyacinths were one. Cacti were another. And now this tree with walnut-sized fruits covering it seemed to be a third.

As the yacht drifted into the forest, Jiang Si realized she didn’t recognize this fruit tree. Not a single water hyacinth grew beneath it. Something about the stillness of the forest felt ominous and eerie.

Niuniu asked excitedly,

“Daddy, can we eat the fruit?”

Lu Zhifeng smiled,

“They look like green dates. Probably edible. I’ll pick a few and check.”

But if they were edible—why hadn’t any birds come to peck at them?

Just as Jiang Si was about to speak, a raindrop from the tree fell into her raincoat. It touched her neck—and a sharp, corrosive pain followed instantly.

Lu Zhifeng, who wasn’t wearing his hood while picking the fruit, felt the burning pain even more intensely.

Qin Shen shouted before Jiang Si could,

“The tree is poisonous! The toxins are water-soluble—get back to the boat, now!”

Everyone panicked and rushed back into the yacht, tearing off their raincoats—but it was too late.

The rainwater that had touched their skin caused symptoms like leprosy—a burning, corrosive pain, as if acid had been poured on them.

Even Dahei and Xiaohei, their dogs, had to be bathed when they came back from the rain. Luckily, they hadn’t stepped on deck and avoided getting hurt.

Lu Zhifeng suffered the worst. While everyone else had red rashes, his face was swollen with large, red, tumor-like lumps. Niuniu cried uncontrollably in his arms, calling out softly in fear,

“Daddy… Daddy…”

Despite the searing pain, Lu Zhifeng comforted her. He looked at the others with eyes full of pleading and desperation.

The most urgent thing now was to identify the tree so they could treat the poisoning.

Jiang Si rushed back to her room and searched on her tablet. Before long, she found the answer:

They had stumbled upon an extremely toxic tree—the Poison Guava Tree.