Chapter 168

Chapter 168

It felt like an eternity, and Lu Mingzhu truly experienced the sensation of time dragging by.

Gradually, the cruise ship stabilized.

The violent tremors ceased, and the rocking motions diminished.

Yet, the wind and rain outside persisted.

Soon, a bodyguard came to inform them: "Young Mr. Xie, Miss, we’re about to get off the ship."

Lu Mingzhu was shocked: "What’s happening?"

As she asked, she picked up a suitcase she had with her, leaving everything else behind.

"It must be an emergency landing; something’s wrong with the ship," Xie Junyao said, picking up another suitcase while rolling up the bedding on the bed and slinging it over his shoulder, urging her to go down first.

The bodyguard carried a box with a gold bar inside.

Gold is compact, and the box wasn’t large, so most of the gold was kept in Lu Mingzhu and Xie Junyao’s cabin.

As he hurried forward, he explained: "In the storm, the ship lost its bearings, veered off course, and entered an area of undercurrents. Though we eventually escaped, the ship’s hull hit a submerged reef, and water started leaking in. Luckily, there’s a tiny island nearby where the ship can dock."

It was indeed a very small island.

In the storm, the island was barely visible, about the size of five or six football fields, covered in greenery, with no tall trees or caves for shelter.

Near the water’s edge, there were many rocks of various sizes, though they were hard to make out.

The ship docked by the island, and everyone got off and went ashore. Most were soldiers sent by Zhang Zhenxing earlier to escort Lu Mingzhu and her group, each shouldering boxes of gold.

Some tossed the boxes onto the shore and hurried back.

Seeing this, Lu Mingzhu wiped the rain off her face and shouted: "Everyone, look after yourselves first! Gold and silver are just material things! Get ashore, all of you, get ashore!"

A young soldier, about eighteen or nineteen years old with a simple and honest appearance, smiled and said: "That’s not an option! It’s all gold and silver! Comrade Zhang said you’re taking it to buy farms, grow grain, and ship it back to the mainland to help the people. When I was a kid, we faced a famine, and my grandparents hanged themselves to save food for my brother and me, so we could live. If we face such hardships again, with your help, elders like my grandparents won’t starve."

Ordinary folks depend on the weather for their food, and in a lifetime, they’ll face many droughts and floods. You can’t have a good harvest every year, so food shortages will surely happen again. Even now, with good weather, food is scarce!

After saying this, the young soldier was about to run back.

Hearing this, Lu Mingzhu felt a sharp pain in her heart, overwhelmed by an indescribable feeling.

"Wait!" she said, taking off her life ring and slipping it onto him.

He tugged at it, scratching his head: "This thing’s in the way."

"Take it," Lu Mingzhu insisted.

Like today, accidents can happen out of nowhere, and she wasn’t comfortable.

After the young soldier ran off, Xie Junyao said to Lu Mingzhu: "The ship is stranded, so the danger’s minimal now. It might just be leaking. I’ll go help. You head further inland, away from the shore. I’ll come back and look for a tent."

Lu Mingzhu grabbed him: "Don’t go."

The life ring had been given to that young soldier.

Xie Junyao smiled and said, "Don’t worry, I’ve always been careful about my safety. I still want to grow old with you, so how could I risk my life? If I see a lifebuoy, I’ll grab another one."

He asked several Caucasian bodyguards to take good care of Lu Mingzhu, then returned to the ship to pack up the paper and pens that Lu Mingzhu hadn’t had time to put away into a suitcase to protect them from the rain.

Everyone else was busy, but the Caucasian bodyguards weren’t.

They had all brought out their belongings, still holding umbrellas or wearing raincoats, clearly concerned about their safety, and they were puzzled about going back to move the gold and silver.

"Why go back? It’s dangerous," one Caucasian bodyguard said, holding an umbrella over Lu Mingzhu’s head.

Lu Mingzhu was on edge too.

She deeply regretted joining this treasure hunt, thinking that if someone got hurt, she would feel guilty for the rest of her life and never forgive herself.

Compared to precious lives, gold and silver were nothing!

Although the original intention of the treasure hunt was to save more people in the future, it would be terrible to harm the innocent.

She couldn’t bring herself to go deeper into the island and could only watch as everyone moved through the storm, first carrying the gold and silver boxes onto the island, then moving food, fresh water, and cooking utensils under the prepared oilcloth shelter.

Finally, they moved their own sleeping gear.

Lu Mingzhu hurried over to help.

The soldiers’ bedrolls were drenched, but you could still see the patches on them, and among themselves, only one in ten had clothes without patches.

Once everything was moved, they let out a loud cheer, their faces, dark and full of smiles.

The young soldier turned to Lu Mingzhu and asked, "If my fellow villagers run out of food, will you really help them through it?"

"Yes," Lu Mingzhu replied firmly.

After a pause, she looked at everyone, her eyes glistening, and said word by word, "I live at 7 Peak Road, Victoria Peak, Hong Kong. My name is Lu Mingzhu. No matter what difficulties you face in the future, send me a letter directly, and I will do my best to help."

The young soldier was deeply grateful. "Thank you!"

"I’m the one who should thank you," Lu Mingzhu said, her voice slightly choked, and she gave a deep bow.

The young soldier was flustered. "It’s our duty, it’s our duty."

Many soldiers didn’t take their conversation seriously, but none of them realized at the time that Lu Mingzhu’s contact information would indeed become a lifeline for many of them.

As the storm eased, the mood lifted.

Everyone was safe, and the gold and silver were untouched. Their mission wasn’t cut short, so how could they not be happy?

Worried about the tide, they shifted the gold and silver boxes further inland. Lu Mingzhu overheard the young soldier mutter, "We’re still within our country’s waters, right? This is our territory, right? After we return, we should report it and send people to guard it, so those Japanese invaders can’t claim it’s theirs."

His comrades, all young, nodded in agreement.

Lu Mingzhu gave a small smile.

One of them, presumably the leader, a bit older, around twenty-five or twenty-six, took out a bright red flag from his chest, unfolded it, and tied it to the tallest tree on the island.

In the storm, it still fluttered.

The other soldiers stood at attention and saluted the flag as he tied it, until he came down from the tree.

Lu Mingzhu and Xie Junyao were deeply shaken.

Xie Junyao's clothes had been soaked since disembarking, his hair plastered to his scalp, looking completely disheveled.

He tightly held Lu Mingzhu's hand, intertwining their fingers, his face still showing signs of lingering fear. "I found a tent, we'll set it up later. You go in and change your clothes, don't catch a chill."

"No rush," Lu Mingzhu, confident in her strong physique, didn't pay much attention.

As soon as she finished speaking, she sneezed.

"See what I mean?" Xie Junyao quickly found a spot for the bodyguards to set up the tent, spread out a felt mat taken from the cruise ship on the ground, and pushed Lu Mingzhu and the suitcase of clothes inside.

"I'll keep watch at the door," he said.

It was almost May, and being in the southern region, it wasn't that cold.

Lu Mingzhu took out two large towels, one to dry her hair and then wrap around her head, the other to quickly towel off after undressing, then changed into underwear and a green military jumpsuit.

When she came out, the storm had cleared, and a rainbow appeared.

"You go change your clothes too," Lu Mingzhu said to Xie Junyao, but saw him holding a bowl of brown sugar water. "Where did that come from?"

Xie Junyao smiled, "While the cruise ship hasn't sunk to the bottom of the sea yet, someone ran back and got the hot water pot. I made you a bowl, drink it while it's still warm."

Lu Mingzhu held it in her hands, "The sky is clear now."

Xie Junyao nodded.

After changing his clothes, he first found a spot to air out the bedding they had taken from the ship.

The rocks were very useful.

Drying clothes and bedding, everyone was busy as beavers, after all, they would be needed at night.

The ship's first and second mates and crew members were all busy with their own tasks on the island, only the chefs, assisted by the soldiers, set up stoves to cook, first making soup for everyone to drink.

To ward off the cold.

Then, they cooked meals for everyone.

After eating, the soldiers' wet clothes were dry, a few guarded the gold and silver, while most wandered around the small island looking for edible food.

Old habits are hard to break.

Soon, six hours after hitting the reef, the cruise ship, a giant in everyone's eyes, slowly sank to the bottom of the sea after running aground, making everyone even more thankful for their narrow escape.

Xie Junyao was annoyed, "We didn't have time to send a distress signal to Hong Kong!"

Where are we?

They weren't quite sure.

The captain wasn't as worried, optimistically saying, "We're within the East China Sea. I sent a distress call to the company, but I don't know if it could be received in the storm. Everyone, don't worry, our food and fresh water are plentiful. Because Young Mr. Xie and Miss Lu chartered the ship, there are fewer passengers, allowing us to bring more food and fresh water, and the prices on the mainland are cheaper, so we loaded a lot, enough for everyone to eat for more than ten days. The shipping company, not hearing from us for so long, will surely send someone to search."

As he spoke, he glanced at Lu Mingzhu and Xie Junyao.

Others' lives might not be precious enough, but these two certainly are, and the others will benefit from it too!

The cruise ship belongs to Hui Shipping Company, he knew a lot about it.

Lu Mingzhu sighed and said, "I hope so."

She gazed up at the clear blue sky dotted with white clouds, basking in the warmth of early summer. It was hard to believe that just hours earlier, they had been in a life-threatening situation on the cruise ship.

Xie Junyao reassured Lu Mingzhu, "Don't worry, we'll all make it to Hong Kong safely."

Lu Mingzhu nodded in agreement.

But no one could predict the future, so they settled for soup instead of a full dinner that night. The soldiers slept around the treasures, while Xie Junyao and the bodyguards shared Lu Mingzhu's tent, the only one they had.

The soldiers set up night watches, with each person taking two-hour shifts in groups of four, keeping an eye on the tide.

Lu Mingzhu had a restless night, haunted by nightmares of the ship's ordeal. She woke up early the next morning to find the soldiers lined up in perfect formation, silently going through their drills.

Xie Junyao was also up early, which was unusual for him.

"We need to save fresh water. Come, I'll take you to rinse with purified seawater," Xie Junyao said with a smile.

His smile was contagious, and Lu Mingzhu couldn't help but smile in return.

After a quick rinse and a simple breakfast, Xie Junyao took Lu Mingzhu, along with a few bodyguards, to the beach to fish with the gear they had brought.

Some passengers enjoy fishing on cruises and bring their own gear. The ship also provided fishing equipment and nets.

Occasionally, the crew would cast nets into the sea to haul in seafood.

The morning tide had left behind plenty of seafood on the small beach. Some, like mantis shrimp, blood clams, razor clams, and mussels, were familiar to Lu Mingzhu, while others were completely unknown to her.

She eagerly went over to gather them.

With these, no one would have to skip meals like last night to conserve food.

Lu Mingzhu walked barefoot on the sand, feeling the fine grains slip between her toes, some falling away as she moved, others clinging stubbornly to her feet.

Before long, the bucket was brimming with seafood.

As she rinsed her feet in the seawater, Lu Mingzhu suddenly spotted something white floating near the reef.

It bobbed in the waves, and she couldn't make out what it was.

"Junyao, look!" Lu Mingzhu pointed. "What's that? It's caught in the reef."

"I'll check it out," Xie Junyao said, curious.

He had a hunch about what it might be.

Lu Mingzhu waited, and moments later, he returned with a large, irregular white waxy object that reeked of fish.

But beneath the fishy smell, there was a faint hint of something fresh and sweet.

Lu Mingzhu's eyes lit up, "Ambergris!"

One of the four famous incenses, ambergris, which is more valuable than gold, is essentially the excrement or vomit of sperm whales.

Xie Junyao smiled, "Yes, it's ambergris."

He shifted his shoulders and said to Lu Mingzhu, "This piece of ambergris weighs at least seventy to eighty kilograms. I've never seen such a large piece before, and its color is as white as a candle, making it a top-grade specimen. It must have been drifting in the sea for a hundred years."

Lu Mingzhu beamed with joy, "We are so lucky." A gift from the ocean.

It brings both danger and gifts.

"Yes, we’re really lucky," said Xie Junyao, crediting Lu Mingzhu. "It’s a bit heavy to carry. I need to get it inside quickly. It’ll smell great once it dries."

Lu Mingzhu picked up the bucket. "Let’s head back together."

No one recognized its value, so they weren’t interested in what Xie Junyao brought back. They even thought he was weird for hauling back such a stinky thing.

Lu Mingzhu handed the bucket to the apprentice chef. "I only grabbed stuff I know we can eat."

The apprentice looked. "Not bad at all! Good find!"

It’s unheard of for a young lady like her to be picking up seafood on the beach.

He scooped a handful. "Blood clams? And a lot of them too. Miss Lu, I’ll cook these up for you. They’re great for your health."

"Thank you," Lu Mingzhu said gratefully.

With all the food everyone collected, lunch was a feast. The chefs cooked several large pots of seafood soup, steamed rice, and prepared a lot of seafood, saying to the soldiers affectionately, "It’s all free, so dig in!"

Even with Lu Mingzhu covering food and shelter, they stayed frugal on the ship.

Their utensils were so clean they barely needed washing.

Xie Junyao’s bodyguards caught a net full of large yellow croakers, all steamed, and Lu Mingzhu enjoyed them.

Wild large yellow croakers! They’re really expensive.

There were also blanched shrimp, straight from the sea.

The boiled blood clams were okay—nothing special, but very fresh.

With time on their hands, everyone fished daily for extra food.

Since seafood is low in fat, no one gained weight despite eating a lot. But the soldiers looked healthier, unlike their previous sallow, thin selves.

With fresh water running low, Lu Mingzhu grew more anxious about shortages.

She had some water stored in her space, but not much.

Her space was limited, so she only packed essentials, not a huge stash. She had just twenty 18-liter barrels of mineral water.

Not even enough for a hundred people for a single day.

Fortunately, the sailors were more experienced and used some tools they had brought from the ship to convert seawater into fresh water using old methods. They had just enough for drinking and cooking, but no extra for washing or bathing.

Their clothes ended up wrinkled, washed in seawater, dried, and then shaken out.

By the sixth day, Lu Mingzhu sat on the reef and sighed.

"Has no one noticed we’re missing yet?" Did the shipping company not receive the signal?

For the first time, Lu Mingzhu hated the inconvenience of communication.

If only she could call Hong Kong from Shanghai instead of contacting them after arriving in Hong Kong, she would have definitely informed her father to pick her up at the dock on time before she left. That way, if he didn’t see her, he would know something had happened.

What are we going to do now?

Six days have passed, and not a single ship has passed by, not even a single fisherman from our own country has been spotted.

Xie Junyao comforted her, "We’ll be found eventually."

"But how long will that take? There’s no helicopter search and rescue right now, and neither my godfather in Shanghai nor my father in Hong Kong knows about my accident. How will they find out?"

Just as Xie Junyao was about to speak, a cruise ship’s horn suddenly sounded from the sea.

It was far, but it was there.

They both jumped up, startled, "A ship is passing by!"

All they could think was that it was passing by, even the bodyguards and soldiers who were fishing by the sea stretched their necks, looking in the direction of the horn sound, desperately hoping to be spotted.

A young soldier suddenly climbed up a tree, untied a red flag, tied it to a fishing rod, raising it high and waving it vigorously.

Soon, they saw the cruise ship approaching as they wished.

A cruise ship larger and more luxurious than the one they had been on, gleaming in silvery-white, countless waves rolling under its hull, not affecting the ship's speed at all.

Since it couldn’t get closer, the cruise ship lowered a lifeboat, and someone came ashore in the lifeboat, then landed on the island.

Lu Mingzhu and Xie Junyao went to meet them.

"Godfather! Are you here to rescue us?" Lu Mingzhu was stunned to see it was He Yun, and she pulled Xie Junyao, running towards him in quick steps, feeling overwhelmed with emotion.

Although He Yun looked exhausted, with bloodshot eyes, he immediately examined Lu Mingzhu, and finding nothing wrong with her, he breathed a sigh of relief, "It's good that you're okay."