The journey back to Haicheng was smooth and the weather was good. On the way, they encountered a large sea turtle being chased by a shark. Xu Ning saw it on the deck and asked someone to lower the net to catch it, and then prepare to release it after it had passed a certain distance.

The fat fox had never seen a turtle before, so he kept circling around the big turtle out of curiosity.

Xu Ning asked the crew for a small awl, squatted down and helped the turtle clean the barnacles on its shell.

When Jiang Yan and Hai Qing walked onto the deck, they saw Xu Ning completely absorbed in prying off the barnacles.

"Baby, no wonder so many people like to watch videos of prying barnacles, repairing horse hooves and removing pimples. It's really stress-relieving! So cool!" Xu Ning excitedly chatted with the treasure chest while prying barnacles. Xu Ning didn't mind whether the treasure chest responded or not. After all, it was mostly a human-machine.

Seeing that she was enjoying herself seriously, Jiang Yan and Hai Qing did not disturb her and just stood aside and watched.

The big turtle seemed to notice that Xu Ning was helping it. When Xu Ning was cleaning its neck, it automatically stretched out its head, and Xu Ning helped it clean off the barnacles on its head.

It took Xu Ning nearly an hour to clean all the barnacles off the sea turtle. She asked the crew if they had any medicine suitable for sea turtles. When they found none, she searched her treasure chest for some anti-inflammatory medicine for the wound, found some on the boat, and then rubbed it into a powder and applied it to the sea turtle.

Xu Ning stayed on the deck with the big turtle for a few days, and only sent it away the day before docking.

The fat fox was extremely reluctant to leave. It lay on the deck and stared at the big turtle as it swam around on the sea surface for several circles and then sank to the bottom of the sea, but it was still reluctant to leave.

Xu Ning didn't understand how two species with such huge differences could become friends. It definitely couldn't be love.

"Aning, cousin Jiaojiao should have arrived in Nancheng by now. Do you want to go over and meet her?" When getting off the boat in Haicheng, Jiang Yan suddenly told her the news that Pei Jiao had also come to Nancheng.

Ever since Pei Jiao brought people back to Beijing that year, Xu Ning and Pei Jiao had not seen each other again except for occasional letters.

Especially in the past two years, she has been traveling alone and rarely wrote letters back to the Xu family, let alone Pei Jiao.

Xu Ning thought about it and decided that they had to go back anyway, so it didn't matter if they were a few days late. After all, there was still some time before the Mid-Autumn Festival. She might as well pick some things up in the shops in South City and bring some gifts back for everyone.

It's not that she doesn't want to give away the specialties she got from various places, but she has to put some things out in the open. As for specialties, she has a lot in her space. There are even a few sacks of wild vegetables that she didn't finish eating, and the gold mine she dug that has not been refined yet. She will take it out when only her family is left.

Hai Qing stayed in Haicheng to deal with some things, so the few of them separated. Xu Ning rushed to Nancheng with anticipation for Pei Jiao and the others whom he had not seen for many years. Unexpectedly, the first person he met would be Taohua from Jiangyan.

In a pavilion outside the south city gate, a rich lady and a group of servants had been waiting for a long time.

"Xiang'er, is my hairpin crooked again?" A slender white hand adjusted the delicate bun on her head. The maid next to her took a look and immediately joked: "Miss, you have touched it several times. Don't worry, you look very beautiful today. When Young Master Jiang sees you, he will definitely be unable to take his eyes off you."