Chapter 77 My Shoulder Is Yours to Lean On
Hao Ke actually arrived in Guangzhou the day after the closing ceremony of the Canton Fair, but she had to go through various procedures, so she rushed to the Qiongtan Island training base the day before the typhoon arrived.
What surprised her most was that the training base was actually located in Hongqiding Brigade under Jianghui Town, very close to the military region where Pei Jiuyan and his team were located.
However, a typhoon hit on the afternoon of her arrival, so she could only come to see them the next day.
She originally wanted to come directly to find Pei Jiuyan, but remembering her previous phone call with Chi Donglin, she forcibly suppressed her restless heart. She couldn't act impulsively anymore; if she did, she would really have no chance at all.
Finally, after the damned typhoon passed, Hao Ke forced herself to calm down and happily went to find Chi Donglin and Song Yunlai. With the two of them there, especially Chi Donglin, although he had spoken so resolutely that day, she was sure that if she just acted a little coquettishly, he would definitely put in a good word for her with Pei Jiuyan. From childhood to adulthood, Chi Donglin had always listened to her the most.
But when she rushed over full of anticipation and asked someone to call them out of the office, there was no warm embrace as she had imagined. When they saw her, they just gave a perfunctory greeting and then turned to go back to the office!
Hao Ke called out to them from behind, somewhat annoyed: "Donglin, Alai! I finally made it here, and the four of us can finally be together again. Is this your attitude? Besides, isn't today a day off? What are you busy with? Hurry up and go find Ayan. I'll treat you to dinner at the state-run restaurant!"
Hao Ke's silence only made things worse. Upon hearing her words, Chi Donglin and Song Yunlai's expressions turned grim. They glanced at her, and Song Yunlai finally managed to utter five words with difficulty: "Ayan is missing."
These five words struck Hao Ke like a bolt of lightning, turning her face deathly pale.
After thinking for a full half minute, she suddenly screamed, "Ayan is missing? How could Ayan disappear? Don't you two always do everything together? What were you doing when he disappeared?"
Chi Donglin looked up at her, then quickly lowered his head again without saying a word.
Song Yunlai's expression grew increasingly grim.
Realizing her lapse in composure, Hao Ke quickly grabbed Chi Donglin's hand: "Brother Donglin, listen to me. I was just too anxious. After all, we all grew up with Ayan. I know you're all worried about him now that he's in trouble. I'll help you figure out a solution!"
Chi Donglin lowered his head and gently removed her hand from his: "Keke, Ayan's matter needs to be kept secret. You are an outsider and it is not convenient for you to get involved. You should go back first."
After saying that, he and Song Yunlai left directly.
Hao Ke stood there, somewhat at a loss. Before coming to Qiongtan Island, she had called Chi Donglin. She knew Chi Donglin's feelings for her, so she proposed to date him with the intention of getting married.
Chi Donglin was very happy at the time, but he did not agree immediately. He said that he should be the one to confess his feelings, and that they should wait until she came to Qiongtan Island to discuss everything.
But now that she's here, why has his attitude changed?
Did Ayan tell him what happened in Beijing?
No, she wouldn't. She knew Ayan's personality; she would never do anything unnecessary.
So Chi Donglin and Song Yunlai's attitude must be because they are too anxious about Ayan's disappearance, that must be it!
In the office, Song Yunlai's brows were so furrowed they could kill all the mosquitoes on Qiongtan Island. His two good brothers were in trouble: one had disappeared, and the other had been emotionally manipulated by a woman. It was truly a headache.
He turned to look at Chi Donglin, who was engrossed in studying the map, then walked over and kicked him: "Alright, stop pretending. If you're upset, just cry. You can lean on my shoulder."
Chi Donglin gave a wry smile. Not only did Pei Jiuyan and Song Yunlai know that he liked Hao Ke, but Hao Ke herself also knew. Before A-Yan told him about what had happened in Beijing, he was genuinely happy. The girl he had liked for many years had proposed to him. He felt that all the good luck in his life had come to him; it was even more exciting than winning the lottery.
But now...
Chi Donglin sighed. He and Ayan were brothers who grew up together, went on missions together, and had a life-or-death bond. They were people who could completely entrust their backs to each other. But he also had a childhood friendship with Hao Ke. His unrequited love over the years—no, it should be said that he had an open crush on her—had somehow become a tangled mess.
His mind was in turmoil, so he stopped thinking about it and turned to kick Song Yunlai: "Hurry up and get down to business! Although I know this was a scheme set up by Ayan himself, the typhoon is a variable. Now that the island is flooded, I don't know if that brat is still alive!"
*
On the other side, shortly after Pei Jiuyan and Qin Suisui discovered the "treasure" cave, it started raining again.
Fearing complications, Qin Suisui had Dahei drag the group of people who had fainted on the beach into the cave, and then activated a mechanism to close the cave door.
This cave is located at a higher elevation than the one they had previously repaired, and in addition to weapons, gold and silver antiques, and a telegraph machine, it also has ready-made cots, and even a dozen cans of fruit and meat.
It's obvious that someone is looking after these supplies here.
Qin Suisui opened the cans and ate heartily. Not only did she eat them herself, but she also gave one can each to Pei Jiuyan and Dahuang and Dahei. The gold, silver, jewelry, antiques, and paintings were to be handed over to the state, but she could certainly eat as much of these canned foods as she wanted, right? She didn't know when the rain outside would stop or when the tide would recede. How could she have the strength to keep going if she didn't eat her fill?
The rain after a typhoon is always particularly heavy, and the wind howls. But in the safe cave at night, with Pei Jiuyan beside her, Qin Suisui quickly fell asleep. Although she was safe in the space last night, she had worked all night to distract herself and hadn't slept. She had also experienced some danger during the day, so she was naturally very tired.
When she woke up the next morning, Pei Jiuyan, Da Huang, and Da Hei were all gone, even the group of traitors she had drugged were nowhere to be found. She was startled and quickly jumped off her cot, only to find a note at the foot of the bed:
"The rain has stopped. I'm taking Dahuang and Dahei out to find food and see where the tide has gone. Don't be afraid when you wake up. Don't come out. Just wait for me to come back."
The handwriting is vigorous and powerful, just like those letters from those years.
Qin Suisui couldn't help but laugh, and secretly put the letter into the small wooden house in her space, into a small box under the dressing table in her original room.
Thank goodness, thank goodness it wasn't a dream, thank goodness she wasn't alone on this deserted island.
Before Pei Jiuyan returned, Qin Suisui quickly went into her space to brush her teeth and wash her face. Even the cleanest person will inevitably have some bad breath if they haven't brushed their teeth and washed their face for two days. Qin Suisui couldn't stand herself like that.
After brushing her teeth, she took out a few sage leaves from her spatial storage, intending to give them to Pei Jiuyan to chew on later. This herb is excellent for cleaning the mouth; she couldn't be unclean, and neither could her man! (Friendly reminder: Sage is not suitable for pregnant women or those with epilepsy!! Please brush your teeth properly and don't imitate this!)
Pei Jiuyan returned quickly, carrying a prepared pheasant and rabbit, two sea fish whose names he didn't know, and a bunch of bananas.
Sure enough, on this resource-rich island, as long as you have the skills, you won't go hungry.
Upon seeing her wake up, Da Huang and Da Hei were the first to happily rush in, laughing and playing around her.
While stroking the two little ones, Qin Suisui glanced at Pei Jiuyan. Up until now, he hadn't asked about the two little ones. Was he really not curious, or had he already discovered her secret?
Before Qin Suisui could investigate further, Pei Jiuyan had already broken off a banana, peeled it, and handed it to her, raising an eyebrow: "We'll roast the fish and rabbit, and use the pheasant to make beggar's chicken?"
Qin Suisui frowned: "Are we going to finish this meal in one sitting? Aren't we going to eat this afternoon?"
Pei Jiuyan smiled and said, "The water level has receded quite a bit, and I expect someone will come to find us this afternoon."
Pei Jiuyan was right. It was almost noon when the roar of a ship could be heard outside the cave, followed by the rough voices of Song Yunlai and Chi Donglin carried on the sea breeze: "Ayan! Are you still alive? If you are, make a sound!"
The two were quite surprised to see Qin Suisui.
"Sister? What are you doing here?"
"Ayan, I'm not trying to be mean, but why did you bring your sister along on such a dangerous mission? Are you crazy?"
The probing questions from his two good brothers did not cause Pei Jiuyan the slightest disturbance. He merely glanced at the two men and then pointed to the location of the cave: "The people and the things are all there."
Upon hearing this, the two knew that the mission had succeeded. They didn't bother to question Pei Jiuyan about "bringing his wife on a mission" and immediately led their men into the warehouse to move things.
Before noon, Qin Suisui had secretly taken Big Yellow and Big Black into her spatial storage under the pretense of sending them back to the mountains.
The water on the reef hadn't receded yet when Qin Suisui followed their boat back around the island from the sea.
Standing on the deck, looking out at the island, part of the eastern part is still submerged in water, and the original white sand beach has not yet "seen the light of day" again.
Qin Suisui remembered what Aunt Tang had said. No wonder the people here don't come to the island often; once the tide comes in, they can't go back.
Moreover, the tropical forest on the island is a treasure garden for her, but for ordinary people, it contains countless dangers and is not easily entered.
As the boat was about to round the island and Qin Suisui could see the spot where she had landed earlier, she noticed that a small boat had somehow stopped in front of the entrance.
She squinted slightly and looked more carefully before realizing that there was a person standing where she had landed. Who else could it be but Sun Ruwen?
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