Chapter 3

The setting sun burned the sky red, and the sea was rippling with golden light. Qin Yao was waiting in line to check her ticket and board the ship. She was looking at the sea in the distance, crying silently in her heart.

It is said that this journey takes about twenty-four to thirty hours, and the exact arrival time is uncertain.

She had never experienced such a long sea voyage, and just thinking about it was enough to make her scalp tingle and make her back off.

Can I just not go? Turn back to Taipei.

"Go on." Gu Cheng carried her luggage and urged her to move forward. In addition to the two of them, there was a group of educated youth from Guangzhou in the ticket checking queue, including young men and women, who wiped their tears and said goodbye to their relatives who came to see them off.

After checking the tickets, Gu Cheng was the first to board the ship. Qin Yao shouted "Hey!" from behind and was forced to follow him on board.

Standing on the deck, Qin Yao only felt that her whole body was swaying rhythmically. It was not a violent shaking, but a rhythmic shaking, as if it was swaying up and down with the waves, with a slow rhythm, like a melodious violin.

This shaking feeling comes and goes. The more you concentrate, the more obvious it becomes, and there is also a slight sense of weightlessness.

"Wait for me." Qin Yao held Gu Cheng's arm to help him stand steadily, and the two walked towards the cabin together.

The cabin was very simply furnished, with just rows of fixed benches. She and Gu Cheng sat on one bench with their luggage placed aside.

Gu Cheng asked: "Is this your first time on a boat?"

Qin Yao said "hmm".

There were only the two of them in the cabin. The educated youth outside were still standing on the deck, bidding farewell to their relatives and friends on shore in tears. The scene was noisy and lively.

The light was dim, and the glow of the setting sun shone into the cabin through the glass windows and onto Gu Cheng's face. He was wearing light yellow trousers and a white shirt today, with his collar buttons unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He was sitting on a bench, looking lazy as always.

According to him, he was an employee of the island's fishing boat company.

In the early 1970s, all fishing and fishing boat companies were state-owned. From this perspective, he was a formal employee with a stable job, but his daily work required him to go out to sea frequently and he could not go home for many days.

"Here." Qin Yao opened an oil-paper bag and pushed it in front of Gu Cheng. It was filled with amber honey walnut kernels, which were fragrant and crispy. Her family stuffed them into her mouth when she went out. The plump walnut kernels were coated with honey sugar and were so sweet that they were addictive.

Others who traveled back to the 1970s had no food to eat, but she had a lot of snacks in this body.

The honey walnut kernels in her hand were made by her father, a chef. He picked the best walnut meat and used the best wild honey, which is a natural and pollution-free food.

——interfere with her weight loss process.

She had to finish all these snacks before she could start losing weight, otherwise all her efforts would be wasted.

These delicious snacks cannot be wasted, but at the same time, she cannot be a spendthrift and give them away to others for free.

Gu Cheng worked as her porter, which was not a bad thing for him.

"I don't need it." Gu Cheng glanced at the sweet and fragrant walnut kernels and thought to himself, no wonder this little fat girl became fat from eating so much.

He was about to turn his face away, but as expected, the little fat girl took advantage of the opportunity and stuffed a walnut kernel into his mouth.

The corners of Gu Cheng's mouth curled up slightly.

The farewell ceremony outside was over and everyone else went into the cabin. Qin Yao decisively packed up her snacks and stuffed them into her bag. Gu Cheng was in a good mood seeing her efficient and energetic look.

There were several young educated youths sitting in front and behind Qin Yao, who were in their teens like her. After the ship sounded the whistle and set sail, several young men and women held flashlights and started to "organize activities" together.

"We are all young people, let's get to know each other."

"It's a long way to go. We won't arrive until tomorrow. Let's think of some way to relieve the boredom."

"If you have any talents, such as singing or reciting, show them off for everyone to see."

…

After discussing with each other, they talked about organizing a talent show at sea. Qin Yao took the initiative to chat with the young people nearby and even volunteered to be the host.

"Let me be the host. I have hosted many activities at school before." Qin Yao prepared to go to the island. She planned to get to know more young educated youth and have more connections and information so that she could find a job on Island T.

Xu Wei, the bespectacled young man who started the show, asked her, "What's your name?"

"My name is Qin Yao."

"You have a really nice and sweet voice. You're from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and your accent sounds a bit like Shanghai."

Qin Yao shook her head: "No, I came from the North City."

"oh."

Qin Yao was chatting animatedly with the young man named Xu Wei, and even changed seats. She asked Xu Wei about the educated youth going to the countryside, and various things related to middle schools in the 1970s.

Zhou Liang, the young man who sat with Xu Wei, sat next to Gu Cheng. He rubbed his arms and suddenly felt a little cold. He glanced at the face of the young man next to him and felt even colder.

Gu Cheng's face was hidden in the shadows. His sword-like eyebrows were raised, his peach blossom eyes were extremely sharp, and his tall nose was as straight as a bayonet. There was obviously nothing in his mouth, but his upper and lower teeth were colliding with each other.

He sneered, thinking that the girl was enthusiastic and would pester him, but it turned out that she was so enthusiastic towards everyone.

Gu Cheng closed his eyes and rested. He didn't want to care about anything related to Qin Yao anymore, but Qin Yao's voice kept coming into his ears.

The chubby girl has a really sweet voice, her accent is soft and sweet, some of the words are unclear, sticky and very nice to hear.

Just as Xu Wei said, she doesn't look like a native Taipei City person at all.

"Hey, is that so? Does your school have any other..."

Qin Yao asked repeatedly, but Gu Cheng sat up straight at this time, crossed his chest, and opened his eyes. The educated youth around him did not notice that there was something wrong with Qin Yao's words, but he sensed the problem.

Qin Yao looked ignorant and curious, as if she didn't understand anything around her and seemed to be trying to find out something.

What is she doing it for? Did someone ask her to find out?

There was no problem with Qin Yao's identity information, background and letter of introduction. She was traveling south and who knows what she might have encountered on the way, or someone might have promised her some benefits and asked her to find out the news.

Many ordinary people become spies because of the temptation of high interest rates that they are not aware of.

"Okay, next is Comrade Zeng Hong's harmonica performance. Let's enjoy the program "Farewell."

The young people's laughter and fun were heard in her ears. Qin Yao even sang a song along with Zeng Hong's harmonica, which won warm applause from the young people in the entire cabin.

Even though she was a 140-pound fat man, Qin Yao did not show any self-doubt on her face and was easily loved by everyone.

Qin Yao took the opportunity to check the educated youth Xu Wei's favorability towards her.

[He likes you 50 (he thinks you are very likable)]

Qin Yao nodded with satisfaction. After her attempts, she found that it was very easy to raise outsiders' favorability towards her to sixty. However, after sixty, it became increasingly difficult to raise the level.

At least this favorability system has no disadvantages, as it can help her know who has malicious intentions towards her.

"Qin Yao, how much do you weigh? You look twice as big as Lily." A girl named Tian in the third row asked maliciously.

Tian Shuyun couldn't stand Qin Yao chatting enthusiastically with the young man, and secretly laughed at her for being so ostentatious even though she was almost as fat as a pig.

Qin Yao's face certainly couldn't be considered ugly, but her face and figure were like an ordinary girl's, enlarged twice.

Qin Yao was not afraid and said, "One hundred and forty kilograms."

There were gasps and exclamations from the crowd: "Oh my God, 140 kilograms, almost as heavy as twice of me."

"This is too heavy, even heavier than a gay man's."

Some of the female educated youth were thin and small, weighing only 70 or 80 kilograms, but Qin Yao's weight was really enough to make her worth two.

A 1.6-meter-tall young man in the fourth row sneered, "One hundred and forty kilograms, wouldn't that make you a pig? The pigs in the village can be slaughtered when they reach one hundred and forty or five kilograms. Who would dare to marry you if you are such a glutton?"

He was short and thin, and was extremely hostile to tall and fat girls like Qin Yao.

"You are so heavy, let's give you a nickname, call you 'Zhuangzhuang'."

The young man's voice was sharp and sarcastic. The silence in the cabin made his voice even sharper. "Zhuangzhuang, Comrade Zhuangzhuang, this name is really suitable. I knew it was you as soon as I heard it. Comrade Zhuangzhuang, you hosted the meeting very well just now."

Xu Wei at the side raised his hand and said, "This is not appropriate."

Tian Shuyun followed up at this time, her voice was clear and crisp: "Zhuangzhuang? This name is nice and cute. It's just a name. She will definitely not mind. We are young people. Who would be so stingy?"

"Zhuangzhuang, you guys are really cute when you scream."

…

Qin Yao sat there, forcing a smile on her face. She had never been fat before, but now she understood why some people would take extreme measures to lose weight and hurt themselves.

Just because you are fat, you are more likely to be maliciously attacked and humiliated. People will openly give you nicknames as a joke, and if you show your dissatisfaction, they will call you a sensitive person.

There were echoes of "Zhuangzhuang" and "Yaoyao" all around. Qin Yao turned around and heard Gu Cheng calling her "Yaoyao".

His voice was full of the deep and magnetic masculine quality, and his raised Adam's apple rolled after he spoke.

Qin Yao looked at him.

"Yaoyao." Gu Cheng stood up. Among all the men in the cabin, he was the tallest. There was a flashlight in the corner. As he stood up, his shadow quickly lengthened like a giant.

Walking up to the young man who gave him the nickname, Gu Cheng propped his slender arms on the back of the chair, looked down at the young man in front of him, and sneered mercilessly: "You are a man? So short? Short and skinny, like a carrot head, how about giving you a name, how about calling you Short Stool?"

"You--" The short young man naturally could not accept such a humiliating name. He clenched his fists. If any other man said a word, he would punch him out.

Gu Cheng in front of him was tall and thin, but he only looked thin because of his slender figure. His exposed arms were full of hard and smooth muscle lines.

The situation was tense here, and Xu Wei was anxious. He said to Qin Yao, "Comrade Qin, this is your companion. Can you go up and persuade him?"

Qin Yao stood up at this time, and walked to the third row under Xu Wei's gaze. She looked at Tian Shuyun and said in a loud voice: "You are ugly in appearance and ugly in heart. How about calling you ugly? It sounds much better than ugly monster. It suits you."

"Chouchou, listen, isn't it cute?"

Tian Shuyun was stunned, then angrily said: "You are ugly!"

Xu Wei's eyes widened when she saw this. Instead of asking her to go up and persuade them, why did she add fuel to the fire?

Qin Yao smiled and tugged at Gu Cheng's clothes. "Do you think she is ugly?"

Gu Cheng stood up straight and said calmly, "They are all ugly, and the faces are disgusting and ugly."

Some people around laughed and whispered:

"Ugly people are often weird, so they deserve to be given nicknames."

"You only know the pain when the knife cuts yourself. You like to give people nicknames so much. You should be careful with this man and call him "Aideng" more often, so that he won't use the nickname on you next time."

"That woman thought Zhuangzhuang sounded nice and cute, so she called her Zhuangzhuang."

…

The short man and Tian Shuyun looked unhappy. As they listened to what the people around them said, their faces felt like they were burning with anger, and they felt embarrassed and uncomfortable.

Qin Yao and Gu Cheng returned to their seats.

The boat was shaking a little, but Gu Cheng walked very steadily, obviously used to being on the boat. Qin Yao almost fell when she sat down, and Gu Cheng helped her up.

After sitting firmly, Qin Yao looked at the young man beside her with a smile. His profile was hidden in the shadows, and even though his outline was blurred, his handsome jaw line could still be outlined.

The young man from the fishing boat company next to me looks kind and has a good heart.

Qin Yao took out a light pink handkerchief from her bag and handed it to him. Gu Cheng raised his eyebrows, very surprised.

"Thank you for what you did just now. We will be friends from now on." Qin Yao blinked with a smile.

People in the 1970s had the habit of giving handkerchiefs to each other. Many middle school students would give handkerchiefs to their classmates before leaving school.

Before going to the island, Qin Yao is ready to be friends with Gu Cheng. She is also considering making Gu Cheng her marriage candidate. He is handsome, a good person, and an employee of a fishing boat company, which means he is also a state-owned enterprise employee. He has all the good qualities.

As for fishing, it is not impossible to make money in the future.

Gu Cheng accepted her handkerchief. Qin Yao asked him for the address of the fishing boat company, saying that she would visit him when she was free after arriving on the island.

Gu Cheng wrote down the address in a very confident manner and smiled as he handed it to Qin Yao.

Tian Shuyun in the back row couldn't help curling her lips when she heard that Gu Cheng was just a fisherman. She boasted to the strange woman next to her, "I'm different from you. I'm not an educated youth coming to the island. I'm here to visit my distant cousin. She's married to a naval officer. When I get there, she'll introduce me to someone."

After hearing what she said, the other female educated youth couldn't help but ask questions out of curiosity.

Qin Yao subconsciously felt something strange when she heard this.

Could this be the control group for her as the ultimate best friend?