Chapter 57: The Observatory
Finally, Heungwoo and Mia walk into the greenhouse. The greenhouse is only about 20 square meters in size, and there is a circle of double-layer flower trellis inside. The flower stand was full of flower pots, but the plants in the pots withered. Miya felt pity in her heart and touched the dead branch, and Xingyu found that the dead branch was not broken under Miya's touch. Xingyu immediately checked the dead branches and found that some of the withered plants in the potted plants had not yet dried their main stems, and they might still be able to be saved. Xingyu didn't dare to water it with ice water, so he immediately ran to the kitchen. Xingyu saw that in the kitchen, there were two kinds of stoves, electric stoves and gas stoves. Seeing the gas stove, Xingyu breathed a sigh of relief, and Xingyu was worried that the observation stations had switched to electric stoves. Xingyu tried to make a fire, but the gas stove caught fire as soon as it turned, and it was all blue fire, and there was no red flame. This indicates that there is sufficient gas. It seems that the staff of the observation station are used to using electric stoves, and the gas stoves are only a backup, so the gas is sufficient. Xingyu then found a large pot to hold water, turned on the tap water switch of the dishwasher, and the tap water flowed smoothly into the pot. Miya looked at this scene in surprise and asked curiously: "The water bottles we bring must be kept close to our bodies so that they don't freeze." Why doesn't tap water freeze? "Xingyu, who reads the machine department, of course understands why it doesn't freeze. Cunningly said, "Hey, hey! You can look at the window and you'll understand. Mia walked to the small round window and saw that the small round window had two layers of pages, inside and outside, which could be opened inside and out. From the interval between the two layers of window pages, it can be seen that the wall is about 10 centimeters thick. When Mia saw the thickness of the wall, she was surprised and said, "The observatory is a metal structure, right?" How could the walls be so thick. "When he first walked into the observation station, Xingyu paid attention to the design of the observation station. Xingyu laughed and replied: "Of course the wall is not all metal, otherwise the eight thin tripods below will not be able to support it at all." The exterior wall of the observatory is made of steel plates on the outside and high-strength plastic sheets on the inside, with heat-insulating cotton sandwiched in between. This works the same way as a refrigerator, which keeps the room warm. And I believe that the water pipes here are wrapped in insulated water pipe jackets. With two layers of protection, tap water is not easy to freeze. Xingyu then opened the cabinet under the dishwasher, and sure enough, he saw that the water pipes were covered with thermal ins.
Heungwoo just wanted to warm the water in the pot a little, so he quickly returned to the greenhouse with the cauldron. Xingyu and Mia carefully watered each plant, hoping to save some of the plants. Although they couldn't tell what kind of plants they were, they just hoped that there were fruit plants in them. After watering, Xingyu began to inspect the greenhouse. Xingyu walked to the middle to check a small 50-centimeter-high, 40-centimeter-square pig iron stove placed there, and the white steel smoke pipe on the stove reached straight to the middle of the glass cover. Mia looked at the stove in amazement and asked, "How can you use such an old stove for heating?" Modern observation posts should be heated! Xingyu, who had already figured it out, replied proudly: "This is a spare stove." The entire observatory is usually heated by heating, and the same is true for the greenhouse. However, only the greenhouse has a pig iron stove for backup. In case of power outages, plants do not get frostbitten. However, this pig iron stove is too small, and such a large space is not enough to keep warm, so it can only be used as a backup. Xingyu looked around and said, "We can sleep here for a while." The other rooms were pitch black, only here was the light. And there is also a stove to keep warm. ”
After inspecting the observation station, Heungwoo and Mia went out to inspect the power station and oil drums. After they walked into the power station, Xingyu wanted to try starting the generator. Xingyu habitually checked the fuel tank of the generator first and found that there was no fuel in it. At this time, Xingyu found that there was a storage room in the power station. Xingyu pushed the door in, but he didn't see fuel, it was full of tools and maintenance equipment. Xingyu remembered the oil tank outside, if there was fuel in the tank, then it would be enough for them to use it for a long time. Xingyu climbed onto the oil tank and opened the lid to check. Unfortunately, there is no fuel in it. It appears that the personnel of the Observatory evacuated with all the valuable and transportable materials. At this time, Xingyu found that the oil tank was also designed to keep warm, and the outer steel plate was thicker than the observation station. After Xingyu climbed down the oil tank, he saw Miya pointing to the bottom frame of the oil tank and said, "What an exaggerated bottom frame!" Xingyu saw the underframe made of thick white steel pipes. Xingyu knew that Miya had misunderstood: "This is a white steel pipe, not a solid white steel bar." However, the design of this base frame is indeed very strong. The oil tank is very heavy when it is filled with oil, so the base frame should be very strong to avoid the tank from going out of shape and breaking. ”
Then, Heungwoo and Mia walked down the ramp to the beach. There are still no animals around, which is not a good sign. Xingyu didn't forget the hole where the steam came out, and he was secretly worried in his heart. Fortunately, you can still see fish in the clear sea. Although they have about a month's worth of food storage. But if there are no fish in the sea, I'm afraid they will have a problem with survival. Xingyu turned to look at the observation post two kilometers away, and thought to himself: "Such a good observation station, but it has been abandoned. There's definitely something wrong here. Unfortunately, without these uncertainties, it may not be impossible to live here for a long time. ”
They walked back down the ramp back to the observation post, and it had been a long time since they had set out from the camp. They feel like it's time to rest. Heung-woo found the coal in the storage room of the observation station, and walked into the greenhouse with the coal, preparing to light a fire in the greenhouse and rest. This kind of pig iron stove has been eliminated for many years, and neither Xingyu nor Miya have used it. The two of them curiously lit the coal, and felt the pig iron box slowly emit hot gas, slowly warming the entire greenhouse. The two of them felt happy and fell asleep in the warmth.
When they woke up, they felt refreshed, and they hadn't slept so comfortably in a long time. Mia looked forward to setting this up as their room. But they still had to go back to the camp and bring the supplies from the camp. Then, they started running on both sides, using wheelbarrows to carry the substance. In the end, how to carry the lifeboat stumped them. If the lifeboat is forcibly towed to the observation post, the distance is far away, and I am afraid that the lifeboat will be damaged before it can be towed. When Heungwoo thought about carrying the lifeboat, he felt that the wind was starting to pick up again. They had to leave the lifeboat in place for the time being, and only find a way to move it later when it was time to leave.
Xingyu and Miya were only halfway through when the wind gradually became stronger. Luckily, after the last storm, they would go outside with windproof goggles and ski hats. And this time they didn't stop to hide from the wind. They have understood that in the cold wind, there is no stop. Otherwise, hypothermia will be faster, so you must keep exercising your body and maintain your body temperature.
The two of them walked hobbly in the wind. Soon after, he walked to the observation post without any danger. After returning to the greenhouse and lighting the fire, although the two of them felt tired. But I didn't feel as exhausted as I did last time. Xingyu watched Miya happily roasting in front of the stove, and Xingyu suddenly felt that it was not bad to make this place his home.