Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 533 Congo's Miracle Fruit
"Water?" Lin Yuan was a little unbelievable.

This is the Congo jungle in the tropics, and Gary told him there's a water shortage?
"There's no other way. There are no small rivers near Xiala Village to get water. If we want to walk to the big waterfall to get water, the distance is more than 9 kilometers," Gary explained.

Lin Yuan nodded in understanding. After all, the sound of the water in the Boyoma Falls was too loud, and the constant noise was unbearable if they were too close.

Xiala Village is 9 kilometers away from the Boyoma Waterfalls, which is a very close distance.

However, if they had to go back and forth 18 kilometers to fetch water, it would be too much pressure on these logistics personnel.

There are more than 400 people in the camp who need water, but there are only 200 able-bodied men in the logistics staff, who are also responsible for the construction of the camp, so the manpower is indeed stretched.

It is worth mentioning that at the film screening in the Barkawi slum last night, Lin Yuan also promised to recruit 200 staff members with a monthly salary of US$400 to US$1000.

Although the main job of these staff members is to cooperate with the film screening team and repair the roads leading to the villages where the films are planned to be screened, the work will be dispersed and not all of them will come to Xiala Village.

But at least 100 people will come to Xiala Village to assist in the construction of filming facilities here.

When these 100 people arrive, the demand for water will inevitably increase further, enough to make the water shortage in the camp even worse.

"How do we get water now? To what extent can we guarantee water supply?" Lin Yuan asked.

"Currently, 50 people are arranged to walk 18 kilometers back and forth every day to fetch water, which is barely enough for 250 people," Gary replied.

What Gary said is absolutely correct. Assuming that each person carries 16 kilograms of water, then 50 people can fetch 800 kilograms of water in one trip.

For a camp of 400 people, assuming that each person consumes 3 liters of water per day outdoors, 1 liter of water weighs 1 kilogram, which means the consumption is exactly 1200 kilograms.

Only two-thirds of the minimum water demand was reached, which is why Gary said it was barely enough for 250 people.

When camping outdoors, 3 liters of water per person per day is not much.

The climate in tropical regions is hot and water consumption is high. An adult needs to replenish 1800 to 2200 ml of water a day. Add to that the simple consumption of brushing teeth, washing face, and washing hands before meals, and 3 liters of water can be said to be barely enough.

But the crew is not camping for a short period of time after all, but will be filming here for a long time, for one or two months.

The later stage group needs a lot of water to cook and wash dishes. If camp members take a shower every day, they also need a lot of water. Water is also needed to wash the picked fruits and other forest products!

Taking all this water consumption into account, the current manual water extraction method may not be enough to meet the comfortable water needs of 50 people, and the water shortage level exceeds 90%.

Under normal circumstances, a person consumes 40 to 60 liters of water when taking a bath.

It is definitely impossible to be so extravagant in Xiala Village. After all, it takes one worker to collect only 16 liters of water a day. How can we tolerate such water usage?
But even if it is just a simple flush, calculated based on 10 liters, or even just 5 liters, it is still a considerable consumption.

No wonder Gary said there was a serious water shortage.

But Lin Yuan knew that Gary had tried her best. As she said, not to mention that there was not enough labor now, even if all 200 able-bodied men were used to fetch water, it might still not be enough.

As for increasing the number of trips to fetch water? Or increasing the weight each person carries?

This is also not feasible.

For example, there is a very famous physical training program in the military: the 5km armed cross-country race.

The standard weight that soldiers who have received professional physical training can carry is about 25 kilograms.

These logistics personnel who fetch water are already carrying 16 kilograms of water, which is quite heavy.

In the old days, people carried water to drink, usually carrying 30 to 50 kilograms of water on a shoulder pole.

But considering that these logistics personnel have to walk a distance of 18 kilometers, and that it is a rugged forest road, it can be said that one trip a day is already the limit.

"Have you considered using vehicles to fetch water?" Lin Yuan asked.

As soon as he opened his mouth, Lin Yuan knew that it was not realistic.

In order to ensure sufficient water supply in the camp, at least 8000 liters of water will be needed every day. If we take into account the people who will arrive in the future, it will require about 10000 liters.

To store this much water in 2-liter cans, you would need 5000 cans.

In the absence of professional water trucks, it would take an unknown amount of time to fill these 5000 cans, and transporting them back and forth would be even more of a headache.

Sure enough, the next moment Gary replied: “We don’t have a professional water truck, the workload is too heavy.

There's no road to the river either. I've surveyed the nearby forests, and they're so dense that building a road to the river wouldn't be possible in a short period of time."

"What about digging a well? Have you considered digging a well? This is a plain area, so it should be easy to get water by digging a well, right?" Lin Yuan asked.

According to Lin Yuan's experience, groundwater extraction in plain areas is relatively easy. Generally, water can be obtained by drilling about 10 meters, and at most water can be obtained by drilling 30 meters.

As long as we dig a few more wells, we won’t have to travel far to fetch water.

But Lin Yuan's beautiful expectations were soon shattered by Gary.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Lin, we don't have the professional tools for digging a well," Gary said. "The village chief of Xiala Village told me that they've tried to dig a well before, but there's a very hard layer of granite underground that they couldn't penetrate."

After hearing this answer, Lin Yuan could only say that all options were blocked.

It turns out that this place is not a Feng Shui treasure land. Apart from the rich resources in the jungle, the lack of water is definitely a major flaw.

But the question is, how do the local villagers solve the water problem?

Lin Yuan had long experienced the laziness of the Xiala villagers. It was impossible for them to be diligent and walk 18 kilometers every day to fetch water to drink, right?
So he asked, "How do the villagers of Xiala use water?"

Xiala Village also has 500 residents, and they didn’t die of thirst. Does that mean there is a way to solve the problem?

"Mr. Lin, please follow me." Under Gary's guidance.

Lin Yuan and others came to several large pools surrounded by earth. Each pool was quite large, exceeding 200 square meters, but not deep.

The pool was filled with turbid muddy water, which, after settling a little, flowed into an oversized wooden barrel at a lower location on the side.

Several extra-large wooden barrels were lined up in a row, filled with water flowing from the pool.

Even after being filtered, you can still see the mud and sediment at the bottom of the water and the fine soil foam floating on the surface of the water.

"We can only learn from the villagers of Xiala and use this earthen pool to filter muddy water," said Gary.

"Where does the muddy water in this big pool come from?" asked director Eastwood.

Gary pointed to the sky and said, "It rains every afternoon. The reason this pond is so large is to have as much surface area as possible to collect rainwater."

Now the old director understood and decided to use a large pool to collect rainwater and then let it settle for later use.

This is indeed the working style of the villagers of Xiala Village. They would never go to the river to fetch water. Wouldn't it be better to lie down and wait for rain from the sky?

But can the muddy water that settles out like this really be used as domestic water?

"Give me a glass of boiled water." Lin Yuan said.

Gary asked confused.

"I want to taste what this water tastes like after it's boiled," Lin Yuan replied. "Do you have any ready-made?"

"Of course, but it doesn't taste very good. Mr. Lin, if you are thirsty, you can drink the water we fetch from the river." Gary replied.

"No, the river water is just a drop in the bucket. This kind of sedimented muddy water is the main source of water for the camp. Let's try it and see what it tastes like. Director, are you interested?" Lin Yuan asked.

"Of course, I'm not that rich, so I want to experience the most authentic local life." The old director also replied with a smile.

Seeing how persistent the two were, Gary had no choice but to bite the bullet and bring two glasses of water. "The taste might be a little hard to swallow, so why don't you just not drink it?"

"It's okay, try it. We are not that delicate." Lin Yuan comforted.

After saying that, he took one of the cups. It looked okay to the naked eye. Although there were still some impurities at the bottom of the water, it seemed acceptable.

He brought the cup to his lips and was about to drink.

"puff!"

Director Eastwood on the side came out first.

"Cough cough cough~"

This was followed by a violent cough.

Seeing Lin Yuan looking at him, the old director said embarrassedly: "The taste is a bit strange, I couldn't help it. This water is not suitable for drinking, you'd better not drink it."

Lin Yuan naturally knew how unpalatable this muddy water was.

He jumped over the Hukou Waterfall of the Yellow River. He drank a lot of Yellow River water in the muddy Yellow River.

The feeling of having the fishy smell of mud in my mouth is still fresh in my memory.

What’s even more uncomfortable is that after drinking this mud water, sand may get stuck between your teeth, and when the upper and lower teeth collide, a "crunching" sound is heard, which is really maddening.

This is also the reason why Lin Yuan insisted on trying this muddy water. He had to confirm whether he could tolerate it.

When Lin Yuan took a sip, he was immediately shocked!

Although I was mentally prepared that it would be very unpalatable, I didn’t expect it to be so unpalatable!

Not only does it have the signature earthy smell of the Yellow River water, but it also has an indescribable fishy smell, like something rotten.

No wonder the old director spat it out immediately after taking a sip.

Where does this fishy smell come from?

Lin Yuan immediately had the answer in his mind. The pool used to store water was made of mud.

The soil in tropical jungles has an extremely high humus content, which is the source of the fishy smell in the water.

"Are you going to drink this kind of water?" Lin Yuan asked in surprise.

He knew that Gary would definitely give priority to supplying the clean water from the river to the crew.

Naturally, they could only use this muddy water.

But such water is simply hard to swallow, how is it possible to drink it?

Gary nodded and said, "Mr. Lin, don't worry. Although this muddy water has a strange smell, it's still very hygienic to drink after boiling it. There's no need to worry about any health problems."

"But you have to be able to drink it. Drinking this water is like torture." said the old director.

"It's not that unbearable. The locals have the wisdom to solve this problem." After saying that, Gary took out a handful of red fruits from his pocket on the table beside him.

This red fruit looks like a small tomato and a bit like a red grape, each weighing about 5 grams.

"Try this." Gary handed the red fruit to them.

"How do you eat it?" asked GAKKI, who had been following behind silently without saying a word.

"Ms. Aragaki, you can eat it by peeling the skin like this." Gary picked up a fruit to demonstrate.

This red fruit does not have a thin peel like cherry tomatoes and red grapes. Instead, it has a thick peel like a banana. As the peel is peeled, you can clearly see a lot of flesh still clinging to the peel, just like a peeled banana.

The flesh inside is white, but also like half of a banana, it does not look very smooth, nor is it very juicy, and has a somewhat sticky texture.

Lin Yuan and others followed Gary's example, peeling the fruit and putting it into their mouths.

As soon as Lin Yuan put the fruit in his mouth, he felt a very special fragrance, but this fragrance was fleeting, and was followed by a slightly sweet and sour feeling, which was not particularly amazing.

"Be careful not to bite through the core, it tastes very bitter." Gary reminded.

The core was very large, taking up about three-fifths of the entire fruit. Lin Yuan quickly ate up all the flesh and spat out the gray-black core.

"Two more should be enough," Gary suggested as they continued.

So Lin Yuan and others ate two more red fruits.

After they finished eating, they all looked at Gary.

"Just wait about 5 minutes." Gary said.

Five minutes passed quickly. At this time, Gary picked up the mud and water that Lin Yuan and the old director had just put down and handed it to them.

"Try again," Gary encouraged.

Director Eastwood took the cup of water with some trepidation. The last sip had left him with some psychological trauma.

But the old cowboy refused to give in and took another sip.

"Gudong!" He swallowed a mouthful of water smoothly.

"It's sweet! It's like drinking sugar water, and there's no fishy smell at all! It's amazing!" the director exclaimed in surprise.

After hearing what the old director said, Lin Yuan had already guessed what kind of fruit Gary had given them to eat.

This should be the famous "miracle fruit".

"Miracle fruit" is also called "taste-corrected fruit" or "flavor-changed fruit". The origin of this "miracle fruit" is in Congo, Africa, and it is a tropical fruit.

As long as you eat this fruit, everything you eat will taste sweet.

Even the raw lemon that is so sour that makes your teeth soften, or the bitter melon that is so bitter that makes you frown, will only taste sweet after eating the miracle fruit.

What’s even more amazing is that the higher the sourness, the stronger the odor, and the stronger the sweetness. It can be said that it is definitely an odor "corrector".

Lin Yuan knew that the miracle fruit contained a flavor-changing protein, also known as miracle fruit protein or miracle fruit extract.

This substance itself has no sweetness or very little sweetness. When the pulp is chewed in the mouth, its solution can temporarily change people's taste, turning the unpleasant smell into sweetness, and it can last for a long time.

I have always heard that "miracle fruit" is magical, and today I finally have the opportunity to experience firsthand how magical it is.

Lin Yuan also picked up the water cup and drank a mouthful of the muddy water that had just tasted extremely fishy.

sweet……

A very strong sweetness came from the taste buds. Lin Yuan felt that this sweetness was probably even sweeter than full-sugar Coca-Cola.

What is even more surprising is that the earthy and rotten smell in the water has now completely disappeared, leaving only the purest sweetness.

Miracle fruit really lives up to its reputation.

"The locals rely on this miracle fruit to drink this muddy water?" the old director asked in surprise.

“Yes, we also learned from the locals,” Gary replied.

"But fruits are seasonal after all. How can they drink muddy water without the miracle fruit season?" the old director continued to ask.

"Miracle fruit can bloom and bear fruit three times a year, or even have a small amount of flowers and fruits appear throughout the year. That's why it's also called 'four-season flower fruit'. You don't have to worry about there being no miracle fruit season." Gary explained patiently.

"Such a magical fruit can be produced in all seasons, but why is it not common in Europe and the United States? Wouldn't it be a good thing to introduce it for cultivation?" the old director asked curiously.

"Because the miracle fruit tree can only be grown in tropical areas, it cannot survive outside the tropical climate," Gary explained.

The world's economically developed countries are mainly located in temperate zones, with a small number in frigid zones.

There are no industrially developed countries in the tropics, so neither Europe, America, nor East Asia can grow miracle fruit trees on their own and can only import fruits from tropical regions such as Africa.

"Moreover, the miracle fruit tree grows very slowly. It takes more than five years for the trees to bear fruit. In the first three years, there are very few fruits, and the yield of a single tree is only one and a half kilograms." Gary continued.

Lin Yuan nodded. This yield was truly low. Even if one planted 300 trees per acre in Africa, the annual yield per acre in the first three years of fruit production would only be 500 kilograms.

If the first five years of growth are also included, it means that only 1500 kilograms can be harvested per acre in eight years, which is an outrageously low yield.

This does not take into account the production reduction caused by pests and diseases and natural disasters. The actual output is even lower.

The result of low production is that the miracle fruit introduced to the European and American markets is very expensive!

The price of each pound is as high as $100, and a small fruit costs nearly $1.

Perhaps because of its high price, the sales of miracle fruit in the European and American fruit markets are not satisfactory.

People just bought a small amount to try it out and never bought it again. There was no repurchase behavior at all.

This is actually not difficult to understand, because the miracle fruit itself does not taste very good and is so expensive.

As for the most magical function of changing taste, it is actually useless.

After spending so much money, it just turned out sweet.

If you want to eat something sweet, why not just eat sweets?
After all, in Europe and the United States, junk food like sweets is so cheap that you can't even imagine.

It seems that the miracle fruit is destined to be just a curious fruit and cannot become a popular fruit that is popular all over the world.

At this point, Gary has fully explained to Lin Yuan the difficulties she is currently facing and the efforts she has made. It is now up to Lin Yuan to solve the problem.

Lin Yuan thought for a moment and said, "The water problem must be solved. It's not advisable to use miracle fruit to trick your mouth and then drink muddy water.

Even if the odor of drinking water can be solved, what about bathing? What about cooking?
These are things that miracle fruit can’t solve.”

"Yes, Mr. Lin, I am also quite troubled by this," Gary replied.

"I have two solutions. One is a short-term solution for emergency handling. The other is a long-term solution to address the root cause," said Lin Yuan.

"The short-term solution is to store rainfall for use, but stop using these earthen ponds. I'll contact Kano and have him expedite the delivery of cement.

We use cement to build the pool, so we don’t have to worry about sedimentation and mud when storing water,” Lin Yuan continued.

"That's great! I've thought about this problem before, but I didn't know where to find cement. It would be great if you could get some cement, Mr. Lin!" Gary said happily.

Seeing Gary so happy, it seemed that the problem had been completely solved, but Lin Yuan knew that was not the case.

The problem is not with the cement pool. In fact, using cement to make water reservoirs is quite common in China and is even a mainstream practice.

After cement solidifies, it does not release harmful substances into the water body and is a very qualified reservoir material.

We know that many public drinking water storage tanks are made of reinforced concrete. It can supply drinking water to the public. There is no problem with safe drinking, and it can fully meet the standards of drinking water.
But the problem is that cement pools generally used as water reservoirs require a top cover.

Otherwise, dust, insects, and even dead branches and leaves that fall in will still bring in a lot of medicinal substances.

In addition, cement water tanks are originally stagnant water, which can easily breed various bacteria and viruses.

If a large pool is to store precipitation, it must not be covered. Instead, the exposed area must be as large as possible so that it can receive more rainwater.

Therefore, after comprehensive consideration, we can only resort to using a cement water tank without a roof.

Doing this is only slightly better than drinking muddy water, but it can only be used as a temporary emergency solution. For long-term water safety, there must be a better solution.

So Lin Yuan continued, "I will try to get the cement tomorrow, but this is just a transitional solution for one or two weeks.

Ultimately, I still hope to dig a well, which is the ultimate solution that will solve the problem once and for all."

"Mr. Lin, I agree with your idea, but what about the equipment?" Gary asked.

“You mentioned that the village’s attempt to dig a well failed, which means that the Kisangani area may not have the right equipment and professional teams.

Then it might not be helpful for me to ask Kano for help, so I plan to ask President Kabila directly for help.

I believe Kinshasa has sufficient equipment and technical teams." Lin Yuan replied.

As President Kabila Jr., who controls Congo's richest capital, Lin Yuan believes he has the ability to solve this problem.

It's not a big deal, he should be willing to help.

Hearing Lin Yuan's words, Gary was overjoyed: "Great! Mr. Lin! This will really solve the water problem. You are really amazing!"

Amazing?
Lin Yuan knew that there was nothing special about how he handled water use.

Couldn't Gary come up with these solutions?
It’s just that she doesn’t have resources like Lin Yuan.

However, Lin Yuan could easily get cement from Kano, which was in short supply in Congo after the war.

We can also ask President Kabila for professional drilling equipment and technical teams.

Behind all this, it all comes down to the fact that Lin Yuan has a lot of resources that can be used for exchange, which is why he can gain the support of these local tyrants.

Now Lin Yuan suddenly remembered an event from the past.

That is when Chen Long once said to the host in an interview with a smile: "You can name any place in the world and I can immediately find someone to take care of you."

When he said this, he was full of arrogance and pride.

But Lin Yuan knew that although Chen Long was very prestigious in many places, such as Europe, Saudi Arabia, and Dubai...

Lin Yuan naturally knew that the Prince of Dubai lent him a luxury car for filming, and this incident even made many Chinese people feel proud.

But Chen Long doesn't really have influence everywhere.

At least since Lin Yuan filmed "Jungle Bully", he has arrived in Tukamba Village, Kisangani, and Xiala Village. I'm afraid Chen Long will not be able to find someone to take care of you.

but……

Lin Yuan suddenly discovered that he already had an influence far beyond Chen Long's.

In a few years, he might be able to confidently say, "Name any place in the world, even Antarctica, and I'll find someone to take care of you."

And this is exactly the global influence that Lin Yuan has always pursued.

Now, this terrifying influence is becoming a reality step by step thanks to Lin Yuan's efforts.

(End of this chapter)