An Qing stared blankly at Chen Xiang, who was behaving strangely, and felt a sense of doubt. The more he thought about it, the more something seemed wrong, so he pulled Zhu Wen aside and discussed it in a low voice.
"Zhu Wen, is the eldest brother possessed? Doesn't he hate children the most?"
"Don't be so suspicious. Xixi is such a cute child."
Zhu Wen was displeased with An Qing's nonsense, glared at him fiercely, and quickly went to Chen Xiang's side, making faces to amuse Xi Xi.
Xi Xi looked at Zhu Wen with embarrassment, as if he were a fool, while her eyes inadvertently fell on An Qing.
Seeing him staring intently at her, she forced a smile, matching Zhu Wen's funny face, and deliberately laughed.
However, Anqing found Xixi even more suspicious and walked towards her with narrowed eyes.
When Xixi saw Anqing approaching, she felt even more guilty, as if she had been seen through.
As Anqing pulled her to his side, Old Lady Zhu came out of the cabin, waving happily.
"Dinner's ready!"
Everyone got excited at the mention of food and quickly ran towards the cabin.
Xixi successfully returned to Liu's side and breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at Anqing's retreating figure.
[That was close! We almost got caught!]
Why does Anqing keep staring at her?
He grew up in a fishing village and knows the most about things at sea.
Instead of focusing on Xixi, we should think more about how to defeat those sharks.
As Liu carried Xixi into the cabin, she overheard Xixi's mutterings.
She followed Xixi's gaze to Anqing's disappearing figure, silently making a mental note of the incident.
After entering the cabin, everyone looked at the rice and ordinary stir-fried dishes on the table and were all moved to tears.
"I haven't eaten rice in so long, I've almost forgotten what it smells like!"
Wang Haocheng excitedly approached the long table, surprised and delighted by the food before him.
"Grandma Zhu, where did all this food come from?"
He remembered there was no food in the kitchen, so how did these foods suddenly appear?
Grandma Zhu smiled as she set out the bowls and chopsticks, then delivered the speech she had prepared beforehand.
“These were discovered by my brother Anqing. I suspect that someone may have stayed on the boat and forgot to take the food with them before leaving.”
Upon hearing this, Wang Haocheng simply smiled and gestured for everyone to sit down, without exposing Old Lady Zhu's statement.
Only he knew that Hengyang Town had been suffering from a food shortage since the beginning of the year, and that every household had very little food left.
Even if someone stays in the cabin, they will never forget to take the food with them.
The reason he didn't say it was because he felt that after going through so much, he was already prepared.
He had long since given up on getting to the bottom of things; he just wanted to live a good life and reach the border smoothly.
The others, who had initially been puzzled, no longer hesitated to pull out chairs and sit down after seeing Wang Haocheng sit down.
Liu was the last to enter the ship's galley and deliberately sat next to Anqing.
Seeing that Liu was having difficulty moving around, Anqing quickly got up to help her pull out a stool and served her a bowl of rice.
Liu smiled and nodded to Anqing, "Thank you."
During the meal, she deliberately glanced at Anqing and said with a smile.
"Young man, where are you from?"
"I'm going to Anyang County, Caoyang."
Anqing focused intently on his meal, offering only perfunctory replies.
Upon hearing this, Liu feigned surprise and looked at him curiously.
“Anyang is by the sea, so you must be very familiar with things at sea.”
After Liu reminded him, Chen Xiang suddenly remembered what Xi Xi had mentioned about sharks.
He also feigned curiosity and asked, "Oh right! How could I forget about you? You grew up by the sea and are familiar with things at sea. Why don't you tell everyone what we need to be careful about?"
"No problem, feel free to ask me anything." Anqing didn't notice the hidden meaning in their conversation, and continued eating his rice heartily, nodding heartily.
Are there any terrifying monsters at sea?
Upon hearing that An Qing was from Anyang, Wang Haocheng inquired in a gossipy tone.
He was actually just using Anqing to make everyone pay attention to the shark that Xixi was talking about.
We're about to enter the deep sea for enlightenment, so there are some things we need to prepare in advance.
After finishing all the rice in his bowl, Anqing wiped his mouth and looked at everyone.
"Yes! I heard from the old folks that after entering the deep sea, you will encounter a singing woman. This woman is half human and half fish, and she is very beautiful. When she lures the fishermen to the vicinity of the reef, she climbs onto the boat and attacks the fishermen."
The more Zhu Haowen listened, the more uneasy he felt, and he swallowed hard before asking a question.
"Knowing that sharks are so terrifying, why go there in the first place? Why not just sail away?"
"I heard that the mermaid's song can bewitch people, and that's how the fishermen were drawn to it."
Anqing looked at the crowd, who were already pale with fright, with feigned mystery, and said in a low voice.
When everyone heard the legend about the shark, they all turned pale, looked at each other in bewilderment, and dared not utter a single word.
Even Chen Xiang and Wang Haocheng looked ashen-faced, bowing their heads in silence.
Xixi noticed that everyone was in a low mood, so she waved her hands and made some cooing noises.
[Sharks aren't scary at all. Just plug your ears as soon as you see a green glowing area, and you won't be fooled.]
Compared to the terrifying sharks, Xixi thinks storms are far more frightening.
[You can fight off sharks, but you can't fight off natural disasters.]
[It's easiest to get lost after a storm; even a compass won't work.]
If we can find dolphins, there might still be a glimmer of hope.
The group, who had been feeling dejected, cheered up after hearing Xixi's ramblings intermittently.
"Brothers who have finished eating, come with me. We'll continue inspecting the bottom of the boat."
Wang Haocheng was the first to pull himself together, quickly getting up and leading his men out of the kitchen.
Even Chen Xiang dusted himself off and stood up, waving at An Qing, "An Qing, come here for a moment, I have something to ask you."
Anqing looked at the crowd with a puzzled expression as their emotions changed rapidly, then got up and followed Chen Xiang away.
Only after the two left did Old Mrs. Zhu silently and melancholically clear away the dishes.
Seeing her mother-in-law's worried expression, Tao asked her cautiously.
"Mother, are you worried about the shark?"
"Yes, you said we can run on land, but at sea we really have nowhere to retreat!"
Remembering Xixi's reminder about the storm, Old Lady Zhu worried that the boat wouldn't be able to withstand the massive storm.
After hearing what her mother-in-law said, Tao began to worry, frowning and sighing.
"Mother, are we really at our wits' end?"
"Alright, stop thinking about it. Good people are always protected by heaven. Our lives are now in the hands of Manager Wang and his crew. All we can do is take good care of them."
Grandma Zhu knew she didn't understand things at sea, so she didn't dare to interrupt. All she could do was make sure everyone was fed.
Upon hearing her mother-in-law's reminder, Sun remembered Wang Pozi's earlier warning. She quickly took the acupuncture needles and went out, talking as she went.
"Mother, I'm going out to give Manager Wang's crew members a medical check-up."
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