Time flowed by, and in the blink of an eye, it was October. The autumn air was crisp and refreshing, marking the season when oranges ripened.
In the orange grove, Nami and Nojiko stood beneath the orange trees, picking fruit and placing it into the wooden baskets beside them.
"Let me see how much you've picked."
Not far away, a woman with short, bright pink hair, a cigarette dangling from her lips and a wooden basket on her back, walked over. She set down her basket and looked at the ones the girls had filled. "Nami, Nojiko, you two little rascals are quite capable."
"Aunt Bellemere, you haven't picked as much as the two of us," Nojiko, with her blue hair, said with a hint of pride, crossing her arms and glancing at the basket the woman had placed down.
"That's because there are two of you," Bellemere replied, hands on her hips, smiling. "I'm picking alone, so of course, it's slower."
"But we're just children, and Aunt Bellemere is an adult," Nami chimed in, puffing out her cheeks. "It looks like Aunt Bellemere has been slacking off."
"I haven't been slacking," Bellemere said, giving them a look. "Alright, it's almost noon. Take both baskets back to the room, sort the oranges, line them with fir needles, wrap them up, and then I'll start cooking. We'll eat when it's ready."
"Both of them?" Nami and Nojiko exchanged a look, both showing reluctance.
"Hurry up," Bellemere said, patting them on the shoulders.
"Yes." Nami and Nojiko nodded. They first carried their own baskets into the room where the oranges were stored. However, as soon as they set them down, they discovered that many oranges were already there, sorted and packed.
"What's this?" Nami's eyes widened. She and Nojiko exchanged glances, their faces flushing slightly.
It turned out Aunt Bellemere hadn't been slacking at all; she had already finished picking a basket and packed it.
The two girls slowly returned to the orange grove, feeling a little embarrassed to face Aunt Bellemere. But when they got there, they found she had already gone inside to cook.
"Let's carry them back," they decided. The two girls carried the oranges back to the room, sorted them, and wrapped them with fir needles, which would preserve them for one to two months.
By the time they finished packing, it was noon. Wiping the sweat from their brows, they returned to the dining room and sat at the table.
The meal was ready: grilled fish, tempura, and rice.
"Today's meal is so lavish," Nami exclaimed, her eyes wide at the sight of the dishes. Usually, their meals consisted mostly of vegetables, with meat served only occasionally. But today, there was not only grilled fish but also fried tempura.
"You two worked so hard, so of course, I'll treat you to a good meal," Bellemere said with a smile. "Eat up."
"Okay." Nami and Nojiko immediately picked up their chopsticks and began to eat.
Nojiko picked up a piece of fish, put it in her mouth, her eyes brightening. She then shoveled rice into her mouth with gusto. Nami, on the other hand, picked up a piece of tempura, placed it in her mouth, and bit down slowly, the crisp sound echoing.
As they ate, Nojiko noticed Bellemere only eating rice and couldn't help but ask, "Aunt Bellemere, why aren't you eating?"
"I'm trying to lose weight, so I can't eat these things," Bellemere said with a smile, a grain of rice clinging to the corner of her mouth.
Seeing her smile, a flicker of sadness crossed Nami's eyes. She didn't say anything and lowered her head to continue eating.
After the meal, Nami and Nojiko helped clear the dishes and tidy up. It was a household rule: Bellemere was responsible for cooking, while Nami and Nojiko handled the washing and cleaning.
Once they were done, Bellemere waved her hand. "You two can go rest now."
"Aunt Bellemere, when should we go pick more oranges this afternoon?" Nojiko asked.
"You don't need to go this afternoon," Bellemere said with a smile. "I can handle it alone. There aren't many oranges left, and we need to leave some on the trees."
"Okay," Nojiko nodded, and she and Nami returned to their bedroom.
Their bedrooms were shared, with bunk beds. Nojiko slept on the top bunk, and Nami on the bottom. Nojiko climbed straight into bed and lay down for a nap.
However, Nami didn't go to sleep. Instead, she retrieved a telescope, a notebook, a pen, a ruler, a somewhat old, strange device with fan blades, and a watch from under the table.
"Nami, what are you doing?" Nojiko asked curiously.
"I got an anemometer, and I want to test a new method for measuring wind speed," Nami replied with a smile, packing the items into a worn-out little backpack.
Nojiko looked curious. "Did you buy this anemometer? How much did it cost?"
"I stole these."
Nami stuck out her tongue and said, "Don't tell Aunt Bellemere, she'll scold me."
"I know."
Nojiko nodded and asked, "When are you planning to come back?"
"I don't know either."
Nami said, "Two ships are coming this afternoon, and I plan to observe their sails and draw a dynamic map under the surface effect of the boundary layer. I'll come back at least after the ships dock, but no later than before dinner."
"Be careful and don't go to dangerous places."
Nojiko rested her chin on her hand and said.
"I know."
Nami nodded, put on her backpack, and ran out of the house.
"Nami, where are you going?"
Bellemere's voice came from behind.
"To the seaside," Nami waved her hand.
Bellemere said helplessly, "Don't go in the water, and don't go south, there are schools of sharks there."
"I know!"
Nami shouted loudly and disappeared into the distance.
Arriving at the west coast, Nami went to the shore to the right of the port. A flag was planted here, its fabric fluttering in the wind.
Nami first took out her pen, notebook, and ruler.
The wind was a bit strong, making Nami's clothes rustle. Her notebook was blown open, pages flipping one after another.
Nami held down her notebook, looking at the flag beside her. She measured the angle the flag made with the direction directly ahead, multiplied that angle by 1.6, and divided by four to get a value.
Thirty-three.
This was the speed in kilometers per hour, 33 km/h. She then converted it to meters per second, which was about 9 m/s.
Force five wind.
This kind of wind wasn't considered strong, but one could already feel a significant gust.
Then, Nami eagerly took out her watch and the wind speed meter.
Nami took out the wind speed meter and placed it aside. The fan on it immediately began to spin.
Nami took out her watch, set the time, and then, with her right hand, gripped the switch of the counter on the bottom of the wind speed meter. When the second hand pointed to the 12, Nami pressed the switch.
The wind speed meter's rotation count reset and began to calculate again.
Nami stared intently at her watch, time ticking by second by second. After the second hand completed one rotation, Nami pressed the switch on the counter.
Based on the number of rotations on the counter, she used a curve formula to calculate the distance the fan had rotated, and then divided by sixty seconds to get the speed in seconds.
"9.7 m/s."
It was 0.7 m/s more than she calculated.
Nami recorded this result, then used the flag method and the wind speed meter to measure again separately, taking the average of multiple readings.
The flag method measured the wind speed at 9.1 m/s, while the wind speed meter measured 9.7 m/s.
The error between the two was 0.6 m/s, a not insignificant difference.
It was probably due to the wind direction and the inherent inaccuracy of the flag method itself.
It seemed that measuring wind speed required professional tools.
Nami thought, looking at the wind speed meter, a smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.
This was the first piece of seafaring equipment she had acquired.
Nami walked to a few more places, continuously measuring the wind speed. It could generally be confined within a certain range.
However, as time went on, the wind grew stronger, even reaching 11 m/s, which was already considered a strong wind, the standard for force six.
Moreover, the clouds were dark and low, and fish were surfacing, opening their mouths to breathe.
"It's going to rain."
Nami glanced at the sky, then at the sea surface, and couldn't help but say.
The clouds were one thing, but the fish surfacing was because the low pressure was forcing dissolved oxygen out, compelling the fish to come to the surface.
And judging by the height of the clouds and the change in wind strength, the rain wouldn't be light.
By then, it would be at least force seven winds, along with a storm.
Not only that, but Nami also saw a water column erupting high into the air in the distance, reaching about ten meters.
"Is that a whale?"
Nami raised her telescope and saw, below the water column, a massive head.
When whales exhale, they expel gases like carbon dioxide. This airflow rushes out of their nostrils, carrying the surrounding seawater upward to form a water spout.
A ten-meter water spout. This whale, hidden beneath the sea's surface, must be at least thirty meters long.
What a huge whale.
Nami watched the distant water spout, but just then, it vanished with a roar, and the entire whale was flipped over.
A dark shadow appeared beside the whale, biting into the blue whale.
This dark shadow wasn't as big as the whale, yet the blue whale was completely defenseless. It tried to escape but was caught, slowly being slaughtered until it disappeared beneath the sea.
Before long, blood spread out, turning the sea surface a deep crimson.
"That fish?"
Nami recalled the nameless black fish she had seen eight months ago, the one that hunted dolphins and possessed immense offensive power.
It seemed like the same one that had just hunted the whale.
What a ferocious fish.
Nami looked up at the gloomy sky, gathered her belongings, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and ran towards home.
As she ran, she shouted, "It's going to rain! Bring in the laundry, bring in the laundry!"
Accompanied by Nami's shouts, many residents brought their laundry in from outside.
Everyone in Cocos Village knew that Nami, despite her mischievous nature and penchant for stealing, had never once misjudged the weather.
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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