Chapter 59 Seafood Feast
Senior technician Mr. Tan quietly finished the drawing and waited for the next instructions.
Tan Lao's full name is Tan Tianhua. He has participated in hundreds of large-scale tomb excavations and archaeological work in China. As a key member of the field investigation team, his eyes are like a ruler. Only after he has seen and experienced something can he deduce and reconstruct the true situation of the underground tomb.
So when Xia Ming suggested going into the water himself, Lao Tan offered to go with him.
He had long been impatient, even though Comrade Yang and others had tried their best to describe the situation below; however, some fields are like mountains, and they had to witness it firsthand and obtain sufficient and accurate data before they could proceed with the next step of the plan.
"Old Tan, are you sure you're in good health?"
As the oldest member of the team, Lao Yu was very worried, but the current situation forced some of them to go into the water.
"Sure, no problem!" Old Tan said firmly.
Xia Ming, being the youngest among them, had some advantages, as he had learned scuba diving from Yang Anguo before leaving Beijing.
Lao Zhuang and Lao Hu were both in a dilemma. Logically, Lao Hu should have gone down with them, not only because he could help in his field of expertise, but also because he was the youngest. However, his health was not as good as the others.
"Brother Tan, my health is failing me; I'm truly a burden to you all!"
"What are you saying? This is my job, and I'm determined to go. Don't try to persuade me, Lao Xia!" Tan Tianhua looked at Xia Ming, afraid that he would make a firm decision against him.
Xia Ming waved his hand, "I won't try to persuade you, but if you're going, you have to be prepared." After all, he was risking his old bones, and he knew that besides the two of them, the other three were the ones who were suffering the most.
Everyone came with a mission, knowing that the mission was heavy, the time was tight, and the difficulty was even greater. But seeing them risk going into the water, the rest of us were also conflicted and worried.
"I'll pick two skilled people to protect you. Once the time is up, you must drop everything and come up here immediately!" Yu Jingtong finally made his decision and told the two his bottom line.
"Okay, I promise I'll go down there and do whatever they say!"
Xia Ming agreed, and then handed over other tasks to Elder Yu and the others.
When another opportunity to go into the water came, everyone saw that the two of them were dressed in full clothes and ready to go down themselves.
James and the others standing nearby were stunned!
His face showed surprise and shock. "Mr. Xia, I must remind you that the underwater world is fraught with danger, and the physical condition of both of you will definitely be at risk."
Hatcher looked certain and kindly advised, "I suggest you don't go down. Let the experienced ones go underwater; it could really be dangerous."
Yang Anguo, who was leading the team, stiffened and looked at them with concern.
"Thank you for your kindness, Mr. James and Mr. Hatcher. We have made all the arrangements, so please don't worry!" Xia Ming thanked them politely, then patted the tall, burly man beside him.
"Young comrade, I'll have to trouble you to be patient with me later."
The man nodded, his gaze resolute.
Beside Old Tan was a tall, well-equipped figure, and Luo Yin's gaze unconsciously fell on that exceptionally outstanding physique.
At this time, everyone had to wear a form-fitting wetsuit to go into the water. Compared to their usual physiques, this person's body was truly amazing!
He's very tall, with long legs, broad shoulders, and thin muscles, but you can't really see his face clearly.
"Alright, get ready to go into the water!"
Soon, one by one, they dived to the bottom of the water like dumplings being dropped into a pot.
The person guarding the shore became Old Yu, and the person taking notes beside him changed from Old Tan to his apprentice.
As time passed, Loin noticed that many people were missing from the deck.
Apart from Xia Ge and Sister Yuan, whom I had met several times, many other people had disappeared.
Luo Yin was surprised to find that neither Old Man Chen nor that other person were there.
Her heart inexplicably raced, and for some reason, she went into the cabin. There was another group of people on board, and everyone tried to stay close together. Those who couldn't find room were the soldiers.
Luo Yin thought of that figure again and silently walked towards the innermost room.
Go through this side and turn right to find the nicer suites.
We converted two of the rooms into meeting rooms, one for large meetings and the other for smaller meetings.
Just as she was about to step over, she noticed that the door to the small conference room was ajar.
Intermittent voices could be heard coming from inside; the voices sounded familiar—it was Sister You Lizhu.
Who is she talking to here?
For some reason, she slowed her pace slightly and subconsciously leaned closer, her head throbbing.
Sure enough, several different people were speaking inside. Their voices were very low, but a few words still came out.
What underwater, what time, what to put?
Luo Yin didn't understand, but she knew that besides her, there were two other unfamiliar male voices.
Who are those two people, and what do they mean by this?
Could it be a bad guy who came here to cause trouble?
As she was lost in thought, a hand suddenly reached out from behind and placed on her shoulder!
For a moment, Luo Yin felt as if her soul had flown away.
"Aa ...
"There's a ghost!!"
The loud shouts startled the people in the small conference room.
The person behind her was also startled and quickly covered her mouth.
After realizing his intention, Luo Yin struggled desperately and subconsciously bit his hand.
"Hey, hey, you little brat, stop talking!"
Yulizhu, the first to run out, saw the two of them and asked, "What...what happened to you two?"
After Chen the Blind Man spoke, Luo Yin realized she had misunderstood, but she still tried to calm herself down, still feeling lingering fear.
Upon seeing the other two men emerge, she glanced at them several times before lunging at Old Man Chen with a furious expression.
"People can scare each other to death. Luckily you dodged quickly, otherwise I really would have bitten you a few times." She bit down hard, looking regretful.
Blind Chen silently stepped back. "Hey, stop messing around. What time is it? You family girl, quickly take this crazy girl away. What's all this commotion? I have important business to attend to."
The old man pretended not to know and groped his way to the small room.
The two people beside her glanced at Yulizhu, nodded to Luo Yin, and followed her inside.
You Lizhu comforted her for a few words, patted her on the back, and only spoke after she calmed down a bit.
"Little sister, you weren't eavesdropping outside just now, were you?"
Luo Yin was embarrassed. She hadn't realized that Old Man Chen was in cahoots with them. Looking at the knowing look in their eyes, she said, "I was just passing by. I heard something over there, and since I didn't see you, I wanted to see what you were doing!"
Yu Lizhu raised an eyebrow. "What a coincidence! That's great, everyone's here now. Shall we go in and listen together?"
When Luo Yin saw that she was being pulled away, she quickly dodged and stepped back.
"No need, Sister You. I just remembered I have some things to do, so I'll be going now. You guys go ahead and do your work. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about this today. It's a secret!" After she finished speaking, she took off running, completely unaware that Sister You was smiling behind her.
He had no intention of pursuing her at all, and then turned and left.
"That girl didn't come in?"
Old Chen saw people come in, but didn't hear any extra footsteps.
"Yeah, she got scared away! Honestly, why did you scare her like that? You'll have to coax her later."
"Yeah, Old Chen, that girl's shout just now really scared me. Luckily, the few of us didn't let anyone else hear it," said Du Yuetian, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, in a simple and honest manner.
"Tsk tsk, that girl's bad behavior is a good thing. It's good to scare her a little." She's really bold, even daring to eavesdrop.
"Alright, they've made their move, so we need to get ready too. Now that the three of you are up here, your families have already given you their instructions, right?"
The three looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
"Since we've agreed, I'll make the arrangements. Lizhu and Yuetian will be in charge of surveying the location and confirming the underground position. Xiaomeng, you're good at fighting, so you'll be mainly responsible for protecting them. Also, the task of putting the things away at the end is yours. Is that alright?"
"Can!"
"No problem."
Blind Chen nodded, then pulled out a stack of yellowed papers covered with numerous lines.
"These are all for your reference. Remember not to make decisions on your own. Just mark the points on the list first."
Then the old man stopped caring, put his feet up in a corner, and dozed off leisurely.
The three people next to them exchanged a few glances, and then lowered their heads to get busy.
Fortunately, these men came from families with a strong academic background, and they were among the most capable of the younger generation, so they were somewhat prepared to deal with Old Man Chen's tactics. If it had been anyone else, they probably would have been completely at a loss.
Old Chen doesn't care. He'll leave these things to them and then take a break. He needs to take good care of his health!
The first group of swimmers has already come aboard. Old Xia and Old Tan, who were pulled up first, collapsed onto the ground as soon as they got on.
It was clear that they had reached their physical limit, but they immediately called over their assistants and apprentices, verbally describing the situation and data, while the people around them began to write it down furiously.
Old Yang and the other two people who were protecting him went ashore. This time, Old Yang also noticed that they had noticed him.
But he wasn't worried; he knew he would have his chance to contribute eventually.
Professionals should do professional things.
At this moment, Luo Yin noticed that Huo Sen had appeared out of nowhere.
Her eyes darted around, trying to see who the person was, when she saw him glance at her a few more times, as if he were glaring at her.
No, what does this mean?
Could it be that I've misread it?
She looked back in confusion, and Hosen, feeling somewhat regretful, quickly looked away. What did she mean by that? She had been staring so passionately just now. He wanted to tell her not to be so direct; many people on the ship already knew.
But he held back and held back, still too embarrassed to tell her face to face.
But he couldn't help himself, so he could only tell her with a cold face, "I already know, you'd better watch out!"
Loin, however, did not understand and misunderstood him.
"These are all the data we have so far. Write them down. We'll need to go down and have more opportunities to complete the data," Old Tan suggested to Xia Ming.
Xia Ming took a while to catch his breath before being helped up, staggering.
"Yeah, but we need to be careful. Next time we go into the water, we need to be properly prepared."
Old Tan nodded. He had indeed come up here on his last legs, and he didn't dare to go down immediately, not because of himself, but because he was afraid of dragging down his comrades. He believed that if anything happened to him and Old Xia, the two comrades protecting them would definitely stay and help.
Taking responsibility for yourself is taking responsibility for others!
The two old men looked at each other, and both saw the same words in each other's eyes.
"Alright, it's good to have made some progress. Let's rest and talk again when the weather is better this afternoon."
Yu Jingtong quickly comforted them and then had someone take them down to rest.
He then led the remaining people to integrate and analyze the existing data, speculating on the size of the sunken ship and all other possibilities.
Although the data available at present is limited, Mr. Yu brought with him all the information on ocean-going vessels from the Guangdong Provincial Library before he came. According to their judgment, the last remaining ships in this sea area may be those from the Maritime Silk Road during the Song Dynasty. However, it is unknown whether the specific situation is accurate.
They had a thorough understanding of the ship, and they listed and explained in detail the items they speculated about that might be on board and the potential for corrosion.
Compared to Lao Xia and Lao Tan's underwater investigation, Lao Yu led the remaining dozen or so people in a much larger and more demanding task.
We are used to not fighting unprepared battles, so once we have accepted the task, we must strive for perfection.
These hardworking comrades never imagined that their perseverance, tenacity, and determination would open a new chapter and a new field in underwater archaeology.
This has created a remarkable feat that has shocked the world!
From that day on, Luo Yin avoided them for a whole week.
She had secretly speculated about these people, but in the end, to be on the safe side, she didn't dare to move forward rashly. So she stayed by Sister Yuan's side, helping her copy information and write data, which was also a way of helping out.
Shao Shilan, who was standing next to her, noticed her unusual behavior, especially since her relationship with You Lizhu seemed strained these past few days.
But she was also busy, with a lot of data verification on her hands, so she didn't have time to manage it.
It rained at sea that day.
They worked non-stop all day, but since they couldn't work underwater, they spent their time either resting or holding meetings.
As soon as the meeting ended, Old Joe, who was in charge of the kitchen, rushed out.
They said the warehouse was out of seafood, and asked if they wanted to get some.
Jiang Cong readily agreed, told Huo Sen to keep an eye on their safety, and led a few people into the rain.
People who have been training for a long time will always feel uncomfortable if they don't move.
The most physically demanding work on the boat is going into the water, but that's not his job; he can just cast his net and fish whenever he wants.
James and his friends, who were enjoying red wine and steak, had just finished dinner when they heard a lively commotion upstairs.
They went up the stairs and saw a large pile of seafood lying on the deck.
Big fish were still thrashing about, plump crabs filled large basins, and octopus, large shellfish, and various kinds of shrimp were caught and brought ashore.
"Ugh~"
Some people ran away as soon as they smelled the odor, but James remained calm.
He looked at them, remembering the taste he had experienced that time, and didn't move.
"Captain, I'm leaving now."
"I can't take it anymore, I need to lie down!"
Soon everyone behind him left, leaving only him and Price.
"This is delicious!"
Price pointed to a large yellow croaker and gave a thumbs up; he had eaten this fish before and found it quite delicious.
Chef Qiao had an expression that said, "Of course."
"Our stir-frying, pan-frying, and other cooking methods are all delicious."
"Everyone, hurry up and help us get this downstairs. We're having a seafood feast tonight!"
"well!"
"We're having a feast! Let's eat a feast!"
Everyone's excitement was immediately heightened, and they quickly restored the deck to its usual state.
Then many more people were sent to help, and the seafood feast was completed in less than an hour.
Because they were cooking a lot this time, Chef Qiao simply put it in a basin and arranged it on a plate. Everyone could take what they wanted, making it seem like a different kind of seafood buffet.
Braised sea fish, steamed crab, boiled sea shrimp, braised sea fish with tofu, yellow croaker braised in cooking wine, and the freshest seafood soup are all hearty dishes served!
The cafeteria was packed today, with everyone grabbing their lunchboxes and lining up neatly.
One by one, people started with their favorite dishes. Some scooped up two fish, three crabs, a bunch of shellfish and shrimp, and a full bowl of seafood soup.
Luo Yin ate the entire meal, and it completely satisfied her.
She ate several crabs, and the crab roe inside was absolutely amazing!
If she weren't so full, she would have loved to break open a few more crab shells, cook some noodles, and eat to her heart's content.
The result of this meal was that many people had to go to the toilet the next day.
After a few trips, people with stomach problems gradually got used to it; Luo Yin, on the other hand, missed the milk tea, milk skin, and milk candy from home.
She didn't have much stock left; she only had a dozen or so meat strips, which she had saved up to the last time she had eaten them.
I wonder if Ani will get anxious and upset after her mother receives the letter?
Luo Yin thought to herself that Hada from the forest farm had taken leave and was heading to the grasslands.
He had recently received a phone call from his younger sister, and the subsequent letter gave him a headache. The girl only mentioned in the letter that there were arrangements, but she didn't say a word about where the job would be. This made him feel at ease, but how could he feel at ease?
After discussing it with his wife, he decided to go back and take a look.
As soon as the end of the month was over, he took the things he bought and went home.
Despite rushing all the way, they arrived home just as darkness fell. Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar yurt, Hada was filled with mixed emotions.
His melancholy interest vanished in an instant; he had barely gotten close when he saw someone coming out of there.
Who is it?
"Mother, it's me, Hada, who's back!"
Urina's wariness turned to joy, and she hurriedly peeked out from the darkness. "Why are you back at this hour? Are you all alone? Where's my grandson?"
“The mother and daughter haven’t come back. I just received a letter from my younger sister. What happened to her? I can’t even concentrate at work because I’m so worried!”
Ani from next door lit a lamp and called them in to talk.
The grandfather and granddaughter sat together, while Urina busied herself starting a fire to brew tea.
Hada inquired about the details and learned that it was related to Ani.
"So now that my younger sister has a job, she still won't be able to come home for at least three years. What about her school? Will she have to drop out?"
Urina was both worried and happy. "The Education Bureau said they'll keep her student status so she can continue her studies when she comes back."
Ani sighed, "They recently sent over the wages for the past few months, saying that Loin asked them to bring it back."
Hada listened silently, and actually breathed a sigh of relief.
Each of these arrangements looks pretty good; it doesn't seem fake.
Isn't that right? The treatment my mother mentioned is better than what he, as the group leader, receives. But what exactly does she do? She's so young and doesn't seem to have any special talents.
"Ani, will my little sister be in danger?"
Mao Yixi shook his head. "She agreed to it. This girl has perseverance and ideas; the grasslands can't hold her back."
After thinking about it for a long time, Ani finally understood that if Luo Yin was destined to go through this in the future, then why stop her? Let her go and take the plunge!
Urina chimed in, "Yes, that's what I'm worried about. This girl didn't even say she'd come back to see us."
Seeing the worried looks on their faces, Hada quickly reassured them, "I think my sister said they should have already left. They're busy with business trips all over the country, so they definitely won't have time. You're worried too. She also said she would write to us if she had the chance."
"Yes, I know, I'm just worried about her."
After exchanging a few more words, Hada handed over the clothes, shoes, and socks he had bought, which finally distracted the two men.
Hada stayed at home for a few days, helping to finish most of the physical labor, and inquired about her father's condition before leaving again.
Meanwhile, Luo Yin was dragged to the conference room.
Old Chen leaned back in his seat and gave the order: "Lizhu, when you go into the water this time, take her with you!"
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