Chapter 55 Chapter 55 Acquaintance
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"Wind Wing, Wind Wing, Giant 5 calling, please reply!"
The high frequency was still ringing. Gu Mengran returned to the control panel with the telescope. He subconsciously looked at Liang Zhao, but did not take the next step.
It was not strange to call out the Wind Wing, after all, the name of the Wind Wing was written on the bow. But the other party's tone was strange, with surprise, disbelief, and a bit of urgency, as if... did he recognize the Wind Wing?
Seeing the doubt in Gu Mengran's eyes, Liang Zhao did not move the high frequency.
His bony fingers tapped the tabletop until the high frequency sounded again. Liang Zhao raised his eyes slightly and said hesitantly, "Big Engine 5, have you heard of this name? Is it possible that he is an acquaintance?"
Gu Mengran shook his head quickly, "I haven't heard of him. We don't have any acquaintances on the ship, but I just saw a man on the deck, and he did look familiar."
"The Wind Wing set sail just before the disaster, and we didn't meet many people along the way," Liang Zhao raised his eyebrows, "Could it be those we rescued at the anchorage during the earthquake--"
Before she finished speaking, the high frequency sounded again. This time, it was no longer ambiguous or formal. The female voice turned into a male voice, and the tone was excited:
"I see you, Wind Wing! I'm Xu Xinghe, do you remember us? My sister's name is Xu Xingran, and our previous ship was called Heng Rongsheng! You saved us in Anchang Port!"
Xu Xinghe, Hengrongsheng——wheat!
The almost forgotten memory revived. Gu Mengran hesitated for a moment. Driven by curiosity, he picked up the high-frequency pager and responded: "It's you. Why did you run to the front and change the boat? Where is Heng Rongsheng?"
"Reply, reply! I'll tell you, you're too formal. Now is not the same as before. Who dares to respond to the high frequency without authorization?"
"Stop yelling and give them a reply."
The sound of a man and a woman talking came, and then Gu Mengran heard that Xu Xinghe deliberately cleared his throat: "Heng Rongsheng is broken, it's a long story, and I've suffered a lot on the way here. Brother Gu, we are not far away, how about meeting?"
Gu Mengran did not answer immediately, but subconsciously looked up at Liang Zhao.
Liang Zhao's eyes darkened slightly. He leaned over to the pager in Gu Mengran's hand and asked casually, "Are you taking someone else's boat? How many people are on board?"
"Hey, the voice has changed, is that Brother Liang?"
"Um."
Xu Xinghe greeted Liang Zhao politely and got back to the point: "Well, it belonged to someone else before, but now it belongs to us. There are not many people on the boat, just me, my sister, and a little sister."
"There are still cargoes on the ship? What are they?" Liang Zhao asked immediately.
The reply was no longer immediate. The high frequency fell silent. After nearly 20 to 30 seconds, Xu Xinghe stammered, "Let's not talk about this on the high frequency. Brother Liang, can we meet? We can go to the Fengyi, or you can come to our ship."
Xu Xinghe's caution made Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao realize that the cargo on the ship was not simple. It was an oil and chemical ship, and chemicals were useless to ordinary people, so there was only one possibility left - fuel oil.
Does this count as handing over a pillow when you are sleepy? Gu Mengran felt a little itchy, so he said "wait a moment" and let go of the pager. He turned his head and raised his chin towards Liang Zhao, "What do you think? Do you want to make this trip?"
"The boat is most likely filled with fuel. The waterline is very low, so the amount is quite large. He was very happy to see the Wind Wing and seemed eager to meet with us. I guess they either want to exchange supplies or repay a favor, so they can make this trip."
"But just in case," Liang Zhao paused, looked through the windshield at the gradually brightening sky, and said in a deep voice, "I can go alone."
Gu Mengran snorted coldly and said unhappily: "If we want to go, we should go together, otherwise, don't go at all."
Liang Zhao smiled helplessly at the tone that left no room for doubt. "Okay, then shall we sail over there in a small boat?"
Gu Mengran glared at Liang Zhao and ignored him, pressing the pager again: "Juqing 5, we will drive the diesel boat over later, you guys prepare the crane."
"Okay, okay, please tell me before you leave, Brother Gu."
"OK!"
I said I would wait, but in fact I waited for more than half an hour.
After waking up the sleeping old man, he explained the situation and comforted him. Finally, when he took a diesel boat down to the river, Gu Mengran was so sleepy that he yawned continuously.
With the fuel hanging in front of him as a carrot, Gu Mengran forced himself to stay awake. He took out a box of wind oil from the space and applied it on the temples on both sides. Only then did he gradually wake up a little.
The distance was not far, and Liang Zhao drove very fast. In less than three minutes, the diesel boat was parked steadily on the left side of the Giant 5, under the deck near the bow.
After giving advance notice, the crane slowly came down with a roar as the boat stopped. Liang Zhao started the boat to adjust the angle, while Gu Mengran held two cables and quickly connected the boat to the crane.
“Buzz buzz buzz…”
The crane hoisted the diesel boat and slowly rose up, gradually becoming level with the deck. Gu Mengran glanced over casually, and the complete Giant Engine 5 came into view.
The J-5 is indeed about the same size as the Wind Wing, both weighing 3,000 tons when fully loaded, and the red and green colors are almost the same. But the two different structures give people a completely different visual experience. It looks more majestic and handsome than the Wind Wing, and even a size bigger.
Her superstructure only exists at the stern, while the bow and hull are like an open runway, smooth and flat. People standing on it look particularly small, making it even more spectacular.
But it is only a spectacular, useless glass mallet.
Because it is an oil and chemical tanker, all kinds of pipes are crisscrossed on the deck and cannot be moved or touched. The space for activities is ruthlessly compressed, with only a narrow aisle on each side edge.
The diesel boat landed on the bow deck. Xu Xinghe, who had been waiting for a long time, came hurriedly along the aisle with a well-behaved young girl.
“Brother Gu, Brother Liang!”
After not seeing each other for many days, Xu Xinghe looked visibly more haggard. Although he still had a bright smile on his face, he was a teenager of eighteen or nineteen years old, but he grew into an adult overnight.
Gu Mengran nodded to him and greeted him politely: "Long time no see, how are you doing recently?"
"It's OK, it's not bad." Xu Xinghe led the girl onto the deck, making way for the aisle that was only wide enough for one person to pass through, and greeted the two of them warmly: "Let's go this way to the poop. It's too hot on the deck, not a place to talk."
The aisle leads directly to the stern deck and no one is needed to lead the way.
Gu Mengran didn't bother to be polite with him and took Liang Zhao into the aisle first.
The aisle was very narrow, and the tanker was equipped with a sprinkler, which kept spewing water from both sides of the deck to cool the oil tank. Walking along the aisle all the way to the stern deck, the sneakers that Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao had specially changed into were soaked with water.
The shoes made a "crunching" sound when they stepped on the ground, and the boat owner finally discovered the problem, but there were no extra shoes on the boat, so he could only apologize to the two people awkwardly.
Gu Mengran, who only wanted to sleep, didn't care. However, after twists and turns in the stern deck and entering someone else's clean and tidy living room, Gu Mengran was somewhat reluctant to step on it with his wet shoes.
The poop is actually a multi-story building at the stern of the ship, which is used as a living area for the crew. The interior area of the Juqing 5 is relatively spacious compared to ordinary river boats, but it cannot be compared with the Fengyi, which covers almost the entire deck.
The living room is about 30 to 40 square meters in size and adopts a loft design. There is no floor above the living room, which is nearly two stories high. The visual effect is open and the overall design is bright and transparent.
The J-5 is not a new ship, and its interior facilities are also slightly old, but it is fully equipped with furniture and appliances such as televisions, air conditioners, sofas, etc. The decoration style is in warm colors, and you will be surrounded by a warm and comfortable atmosphere as soon as you enter the door.
"Come on, Brother Gu, Brother Liang, sit over here!"
Walking into the living room, Xu Xinghe finally realized that he was the host. He hurriedly walked to the front and stood in front of the sofa to greet Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao.
Gu Mengran did not hide his curiosity. He looked around and walked to the sofa slowly and sat down. He praised casually, "Your new boat is really nice. It's big and new, and the facilities are complete. Where did you get it?"
The original intention was to get to the point as soon as possible, but who would have thought that Xu Xinghe would become polite.
He stood there and laughed foolishly for a few seconds, then said with a chuckle, "Not bad, right? My sister and I are also quite satisfied. Although it's not as good as your Wind Wing, we are lucky to have a boat to stay on at this time."
The last three words were completely forgotten. Gu Mengran didn't want to show too much urgency. He looked around and then retracted his gaze. He asked awkwardly, "By the way, how did you escape the flash flood? Did you make it to the shore?"
Speaking of this, Gu Mengran still felt a little guilty. He had not anticipated the flash flood caused by the breach of the barrier lake, and had insisted on persuading the siblings to go upstream. Now that he thought about it, if they had really followed the advice and driven the diesel boat upstream, their bodies would probably be cold now.
I didn't expect to meet him again. Thinking about his attitude towards the brother and sister back then... Gu Mengran felt more and more awkward. The soft sofa inexplicably became a little hot on his butt.
The heartless Xu Xinghe seemed to have forgotten all those little things.
He sat down next to Gu Mengran with a smile, as if they were old friends who had known each other for many years, and supported his shoulders very naturally. "The flash floods were so exciting. I'm scared just thinking about it. It's like a brush with death!"
Just as he was about to start a good chat, Xu Xingran came down the stairs quickly. She was holding an old-fashioned kettle in one hand and a bag in the other. Seeing this, Xu Xinghe hurried over and took the kettle from her.
Hot tea, canned food, spicy meat jerky... the empty coffee table was gradually filled with food. The brother and sister were very sincere and probably took out all the snacks from the bottom of the box. Gu Mengran even saw two unusually wilted apples on the table.
Foods that were disdained before the disaster have become rare items after it.
All the food was spread out on the table, and Xu Xingran sat down slowly, picked up two cans and stuffed them into Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao's mouths, and greeted them sincerely: "Long time no see, eat something first, how are you doing recently, is Grandpa Meng in good health?"
"It's fine. You can eat and run, and you're very energetic." Gu Mengran did not refuse her kindness. He took the can of oranges with a smile and played with it in his hands.
"That's good." Xu Xingran nodded, pursed her lips and chuckled, "I didn't expect to run into you guys again. This must be fate, right? I was in a hurry to leave at that time and didn't have time to thank you properly. Now that we run into each other again today, we have to have a meal together."
Compared to her brother who only knew how to chat, Xu Xingran was much more reliable. She could see that the two of them had not slept all night and were obviously not sitting here just to listen to these words of thanks.
So after a brief greeting, she stopped beating around the bush, raised her chin and looked at Gu Mengran, and said seriously: "I specially invited you to meet not just for a meal. I believe you can see that the Juqing 5 is carrying cargo. You are not outsiders, so I will tell you directly that the cabin is loaded with No. 0 diesel."
No. 0 diesel, which is used by most inland ships.
I thought it would be direct, but I didn't expect it to be so direct. Gu Mengran raised his eyebrows in surprise, and did not hide the fact that he had already guessed. He smiled and teased: "Sister Xu is straightforward. You told us just like that. Aren't you afraid that we might have bad intentions?"
Xu Xingran smiled and shook his head, his eyes were firm and his tone was firm:
"You saved my life and Xinghe's life. I believe in you."
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