Chapter 130: The Planting Hut

Chapter 130: The Planting Hut

That evening, Shu Fu had dinner on Yao Ruoyun's new raft.

When visiting someone else's home for a meal, one certainly couldn't go empty-handed. She took this opportunity to gather a large box of supplies to bring to them, mostly items that were currently rationed on land: fresh poultry, pork, and beef, fresh seafood, fresh vegetables and fruits, as well as comfort items like milk tea, coffee, desserts, and snacks, along with some daily necessities.

Hua Qiong and Yao Guofan felt awkward accepting her gifts, declining several times, insisting that they were just hosting her for dinner and didn't need such valuable presents. To their family, her presence alone was extraordinary, and they felt they should be the ones giving her gifts, not the other way around.

But to Shu Fu, these items were no big deal: "You can't show up at someone's place empty-handed, and besides, I'm not just eating here today; I'll be coming often in the future. Lastly, these are also a welcome gift for towing the raft, since from now on, your raft is under my care."

Even so, Hua Qiong and Yao Guofan knew perfectly well that they were the sole beneficiaries in this entire situation.

Because of her, their raft now had a protective shield, allowing them to use it openly on the open water without fear of any natural disasters or attracting unwanted attention and envy; because of her, their once barren raft now had a planting area, letting them grow whatever vegetables and fruits they wanted...

And without her, they couldn't even imagine what would have happened to their daughter, whether she would have survived the low-temperature snowstorm or safely reached Zhicheng.

In their eyes, Shu Fu was like the CEO of a multinational corporation, while their family of three had no real skills, yet somehow held honorary positions in this company.

Every month, the company covered their social security and benefits and provided each of them with a generous salary, and now, the CEO was even giving them a grand opening bonus, leaving them speechless.

"Just say thanks!" Finally, it was Yao Ruoyun who accepted, looking at her with utmost sincerity, "Thank you, Senior! From today on, my raft is under your command. I'll work hard to grow vegetables and fruits, and strive to upgrade so I can grow grains too. I will never give up halfway! In the future, all the vegetables and fruits you need will be my responsibility! I'll be your personal gardener, tending to your land forever!"

Shu Fu was at a loss for words.

The first floor of the double-decker house was further divided into several areas: a living room with an open kitchen and dining area, two rooms, and a bathroom with a shower stall.

**

Though the space was compact, it wasn't too small, roughly equivalent to a 60-square-meter apartment.

But this small apartment was equipped with simple yet modern furnishings, large wooden lattice floor-to-ceiling windows with excellent natural light, a big step up from the bare-bones wooden cabin.

Yao Ruoyun's mismatched furniture was put away, leaving only the essentials.

Since planting required electricity, the second shared function was quickly decided: "Electric Energy." After equipping her Drift Island House with an electric card, Yao Ruoyun's raft immediately gained power, and the battery panels on the glass greenhouse and the second-floor triangular glass roof began charging rapidly.

As for the third shared function, after Yao Ruoyun's raft was equipped with the "Special Upgrade Set," it seemed to have been assimilated by Shu Fu's Drift Island House in some way. The black technology that made sewage disappear in the storm drains was gone, and in the kitchen and bathroom of the double-decker house, sewage tanks of a certain capacity appeared.

For now, sewage could still be stored in these tanks, but once they were full, it would become a problem. Thus, the third shared function was quickly decided: "Sewage Treatment."

All of this could be viewed on the electronic screen next to the front door of Yao Ruoyun's cabin. This screen appeared after the raft was successfully towed, similar to Shu Fu's functional panel.

However, Yao Ruoyun's electronic screen was small, about twice the size of a phone, and could be detached, being very lightweight in hand.

On this screen, the available functions were pitifully few, with only three options: "Tow," "Announcement," and "Planting."

Opening the "Tow" option allowed one to view the cumulative towing time of the raft and the already selected "Shared Functions."

Clicking on "Shared Functions" revealed the currently available functions. The first was the protective shield, which could only be viewed; no operations to turn it on or off could be performed on this screen.

If Shu Fu turned off the protective shield, Yao Ruoyun's raft's shield would also be turned off. If Shu Fu's raft's shield automatically activated due to extreme weather, Yao Ruoyun's raft's shield would also activate.

Shu Fu's raft held absolute administrative authority.

The second was electric energy, which displayed whether the raft was in a powered or unpowered state—indicating whether Shu Fu's raft was equipped with an electric card. Yao Ruoyun could choose to "turn on" or "turn off" the power on her raft.

The third sewage treatment function was identical to that of Shu Fu's Drift Island House.

In simple terms, Shu Fu's raft was the master switch. Only when the master switch was on did Yao Ruoyun have the option to choose.

Fortunately, her raft was equipped with the "planting" Upgrade Set, so the solar panels could store a large amount of electricity when powered. This electricity could not only power the plants but also meet her family's daily needs.

Unfortunately, the raft currently only supports three shared functions, and the tap water purification feature hasn't been unlocked yet. The kitchen and bathroom sinks, as well as the shower, are currently non-functional.

They still have to place large water storage containers in the bathroom and manually use water.

But this is just a small inconvenience. After all, for every 100 days of cumulative towing time, the raft unlocks an additional shared function, and there are various functions waiting for them in the future!

For Yao Ruoyun's parents, using an induction cooker in the electrified kitchen to whip up dinner today felt like a leap from primitive to modern.

The second function, "announcement," is even simpler. Clicking on it opens a simple page with just four words: No Announcements Yet.

After seeing this, Shu Fu returned to her raft and tried it out, finding the option to post announcements in the "towing" section of the function screen.

Announcements can be posted in two ways: text and voice. It's like creating a group where she's the admin, and everyone else is muted, allowing only her to unilaterally post notices in this "group."

After she posts an announcement, a notification sound will play on the function screens of others, reminding people on other rafts to check the new announcement.

Text announcements need to be checked, while voice announcements will automatically play from Yao Ruoyun's electronic screen after being posted, like a broadcast, which is pretty cool.

This function is quite convenient, letting her send messages or shout to people on other rafts with just one click when she has something to do but is feeling lazy, not only saving effort but also saving on satellite phone fees.

As for the third "planting" option, it should be a unique function after the raft is equipped with the Upgrade Set, including details and options for planting, harvesting, and upgrading, which they need to explore and understand gradually in their future planting.

This part isn't Shu Fu's problem.

Mainly, she doesn't want to manage it; it's too brain-consuming, and she's lazy.

The dinner was lavish, featuring Hua Qiong's signature dishes like boiled fish and fried chicken wings. Yao Guofan also whipped up two signature dishes: fish-flavored eggplant and sour and spicy shredded potatoes. Hua Qiong also pulled out a big pot of pork bone soup and a flat tray packed with bubble wontons from her backpack grid, telling Shu Fu to store them first.

There were five flat trays in total, each quite large, with each tray containing over a hundred raw bubble wontons, and the pork bone soup was already sprinkled with chopped green onions. Just like when she packed them at their store before, whenever she wanted to eat, she just needed to take them out, boil the bubble wontons herself, scoop them into a bowl filled with pork bone soup, and they were ready to eat.

Shu Fu's eyes were practically glued to the food, almost wanting to cook a bowl right then and there.

However, Hua Qiong seemed to anticipate her reaction and took out ten kraft paper takeout bowls from her backpack grid, containing already cooked bubble wontons.

She also explained that now takeout boxes are in limited supply, so she didn't have many. Otherwise, she could've cooked all the raw wontons and stored them in the backpack grid for easy access.

Shu Fu didn't care about these details; seeing so many bubble wontons, her eyes lit up with joy.

A year and a half ago, when she reluctantly got up early to check in and pack at Yao Ruoyun's family's wonton shop to complete a mission, she really didn't expect that one day, the Yao family's bubble wontons would become her special supply!

She didn't hesitate and quickly stored the large pot, flat trays, and those takeout bowls, leaving just one portion to serve as the main dish for dinner.

Yao Ruoyun also took out drinks from her backpack grid, even pulling out a few cans of beer, happily suggesting to Shu Fu that they could toast and drink a little today, while subconsciously glancing back at her mother's expression.

This is her mother from both worlds, and having seen her serious and angry expressions many times in memory fragments, Yao Ruoyun has become even more obedient in front of her mother.

"Today is a good day; we should drink a little," however, Hua Qiong was not angry. For her, both her life and her precious daughter's life were saved from the brink of death by Shu Fu.

Since she discovered her abnormality, although she was very surprised by the appearance of a special ability, she was also plunged into nightmares every night because of the gradually clearer memory fragments.

In her dreams, she is always trying to grab her daughter's hand.

She doesn't know what happened. It seems like just a very ordinary day. She came home from overtime work and heard something unusual from her daughter's room.

Then the scene changed. Her daughter seemed to be caught in a huge vortex of light and shadow, a completely unreasonable scene, but at that time she couldn't think of anything, just reached out and grabbed her tightly, not letting her be swallowed by the vortex of light and shadow.

However, the vortex of light and shadow seemed to have a suction force, continuously swallowing her daughter, and most of her body had already disappeared into the light and shadow. She looked at her, showing a fearful and helpless expression, crying and continuously calling for her mother.

Hua Qiong also cried, feeling her strength ebbing away, her heart filled with despair and reluctance.

Why, why couldn't she hold onto her daughter!?

As her daughter's hand slowly slipped from hers, she seemed to let out a desperate scream, a sound that seemed alien to her. She was fighting against an unknown terrifying force, even if it meant her death in the next instant, she absolutely would not let go of her daughter's hand!

If she couldn't pull her back, then she would join her!

...

Then, Hua Qiong woke up startled. After awakening her special ability, she had encountered several memory fragments, but perhaps because this particular memory was too profound and intense, she had dreamt of it several times, each time waking up just before the vortex of light and shadow was about to consume her daughter, the memory thus interrupted.

In the memory, the face looking at her, tear-streaked, despairing, and fearful, was not exactly the same as Yao Ruoyun's current appearance. It seemed younger, thinner, with a slightly sallow complexion, and the features were not as attractive and vibrant as they are now.

The current Yao Ruoyun is like the polished version of her daughter's former appearance, as if viewed through a beautifying lens, transforming every aspect of her daughter's previous looks into something more beautiful. If shown to others, they would appear to be two different people. But she knows, the Yao Ruoyun by her side now is the daughter from the memory fragments, whom she would hold onto and protect even at the cost of her own life!

She had no idea how she came to this world, but clearly, she succeeded, even if it meant crossing from one world to another, she never let go of her daughter's hand!

She thought this was a secret only she knew, and she had resolved to keep it to herself, deciding to move to a smaller, safer town by the water, to stay by her daughter's side, to accompany and protect her as they carried on with their lives.

But she didn't expect that her daughter also had a special power, and not only that, she had also recovered some memory fragments, and she too remembered her.

When she held her and called her "Mom" again, everything took on a new significance.

She understood, this word "Mom" had bridged two worlds, no matter where, whether in times of peace or in the apocalypse, she was her mother, and would always protect her by her side.

**

After dinner, Hua Qiong led Shu Fu alone to the glass greenhouse on the front deck, saying she wanted her help in choosing some vegetable and fruit seeds she liked, so they could plant the first batch.

In truth, it was because she had learned some things from Yao Ruoyun, knowing that around Shu Fu, there were other special people like her and her daughter who possessed special abilities.

She sensed that her memory fragments might be of some help to Shu Fu, but these memory images had always been her nightmares, too harrowing to ever share with Yao Ruoyun. So today, she took this opportunity to tell her alone, hoping she could keep it a secret from Yao Ruoyun.

This was a mother's love for her daughter, and Shu Fu, of course, agreed.

The memory fragments described by Hua Qiong were indeed immensely helpful to her.

If her intuition was correct, that scene was probably the process of people from another world crossing into this one. How it started and ended was still unclear, but this process already contained a lot of information.

For example, awakened persons should all be physically crossing over, and this process, if someone happened to be nearby, could be captured by their sight, but such opportunities wouldn't happen to everyone, given the myriad of factors like time and place, it's impossible for everyone to be so coincidental.

Moreover, the change in Yao Ruoyun's appearance was similar to Lu Zheng's, the two worlds were not the same, while Hua Qiong remained the same as her, maintaining her original appearance, indicating that when entering this world, the female time traveler might be able to choose the appearance they present.

Each person's situation is different, some might choose to change their appearance due to certain concerns or other reasons.

Lastly, if Hua Qiong's memory fragments are accurate, then these female time travelers should all be physically crossing over, and it was an involuntary random event, thus ruling out planned consciousness crossing.

The issue here refers to whether the memory fragments have been tampered with, but Shu Fu thinks it's unlikely, because if even the authenticity of the memory fragments can't be confirmed, she might as well give up and stop seeking the final answer.

In any case, another piece of the puzzle has been added.

**

That night, after returning to her Drift Island House, she took a lavender-scented bubble bath.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the rain had turned into a downpour, the sky above the mountains was lit with flashes of lightning and thunder, occasionally purple-blue thunderbolts streaked across the sky, splitting into spider-web-like arcs of light, the arcs descending from the sky struck the trees among the mountains, exploding into dazzling flames, but were quickly extinguished by the waterfall-like rain.

Another night of thunderstorms had arrived, her raft could withstand such catastrophic weather, but Yao Ruoyun's raft might not, fortunately now the use of the protective shield is unlimited, under the protection of the shield, the two small houses on the raft were as safe as a secluded fortress.

After her bath, sitting on the sofa watching variety shows, Yao Ruoyun came over, she had also taken a bath and changed into her home pajamas, seeing her open the door, she asked if she was ready to sleep?

It was only a little past nine in the evening, Shu Fu, now completely relaxed, naturally wouldn't sleep so early.

After receiving a negative response, Yao Ruoyun cheerfully took out a stainless steel square basin from her backpack compartment, filled with a generous serving of freshly grilled barbecue.

"My dad heard I wanted to come over to play with you and just prepared this barbecue for me. Want some for a late-night snack?"

Shu Fu, who had overeaten at dinner and originally planned to just sip water while watching variety shows tonight, was speechless: ...

A moment later, the glass balcony of the Drift Island House now featured two reclining single sofas, a small round table, and a large tablet on a floor stand.

Shu Fu and Yao Ruoyun each leaned against a sofa, just like they did during the snowstorm, watching variety shows, discussing the games, and laughing at the celebrities' amusing reactions, occasionally reaching for the barbecue on the round table.

Even though Yao Ruoyun still couldn't enter her eave area, with the protective shield in place, both the balcony and the deck had become their cozy spot for late-night get-togethers.

Especially on such a night with torrential rain outside, they were sheltered under the protective shield, fresh from a bath, dressed in light clothes, and slipping on sandals to visit each other.

The raft served as their home, with each person having their own little house, and friends' and relatives' houses nearby. They could relax and do as they pleased in their own spaces, or drop by each other's places for a chat whenever they felt like it.

Although their rafts drifted in the waters of this planet, possibly reaching new, unfamiliar places daily and facing various scary disasters, because of the safe, familiar, warm home, and friends nearby, they always felt secure and at ease, no longer anxious or afraid of what tomorrow might bring.

Around eleven o'clock, Yao Ruoyun ended her visit and returned to her own raft.

The lighting was poor at night, so she made sure to use a flashlight to light her path when crossing between the two rafts. Although the gap between the two rafts was small, the right rear side of Shu Fu's raft was still empty, so she had to be careful, otherwise, if she stepped in the wrong direction, she would directly go into the water.

This also made her particularly look forward to who Shu Fu's next towed raft would be.

After towing, which upgrade set would the other raft choose?

After all the rafts to be towed are towed, will Shu Fu take them out to the deep water area?

Wow, just the thought of it gets me so excited!

...

Before going to bed, Shu Fu checked the satellite phone again. There was a message from Lu Zheng reporting the progress of the journey from the previous day, and a message from Chen Fa saying he would stay in Kangsu County for two more days, but still no news from Zheng Feifei.

She sighed and sent another message to the other party, hoping this time to receive a reply.

After that, she half-leaned on the pillow, took out the map panel, set the nearest water area to Gongmang County as the destination, set the drifting speed to 40, and then turned off the light to sleep.

The lights in the raft houses on both sides were turned off, and the people in both houses fell into a beautiful dream.

Above the Yinsha River, the two rafts, under the protection of the protective shield, began to drift quietly and steadily, from north to south, ready to welcome the next long-term towed raft of the Drift Island House.