saw
After receiving Shen Yingchang's instant reply "OK", Tao Chu looked at Wen Yunsheng, who was staring at his phone with a serious expression.
Tao Chu didn't have time to stay here and deal with his inner turmoil.
Wen Yunsheng heard the sound of her pushing the chair away as she got up, and he suddenly looked up at her uneasily.
"Tao Guohua has something urgent to discuss with me."
She picked up her bag, turned around, and left without giving Wen Yunsheng time to stop her. He grabbed his phone and quickly followed.
Seeing this, Li Yue downed his drink in one gulp and narrowed his eyes into slits.
Cen Le gestured to the waiter to pour him wine, then picked up his own glass and gently touched it to his.
"This drink is to apologize for not answering the phone last night," Cen Le said softly.
Li Yue was in high spirits and readily tilted his head back to down the glass.
Cen Le's eyes lit up: "President Li has a good capacity for alcohol."
"The wine here is so-so. It'll be much better when we get to sea tomorrow." He paused, a smug smile spreading across his face. "There'll be a good show to watch."
Cen Le's heart skipped a beat. She rested her chin on her hands, blinked, and asked, "What kind of show is it? I want to see it too!"
Li Yue raised an eyebrow and put on airs.
"Not just anyone can board the 'Sea Chaser' – it depends on your sincerity."
Cen Le got goosebumps from his unwavering gaze.
That lecherous bastard, who knows if Tao Chu will get on board? He can't just throw himself into it first.
Cen Le pretended to be temperamental and turned her head away: "I wasted my breath praising your magnanimity—it seems you're still angry with me and are deliberately making things difficult for me."
Li Yue could tell she was being coquettish, so he leaned closer, put his arm around her slender waist, and pinched it: "If you make me happy, I'll take you on the boat next time."
Upon hearing "next time," Cen Le immediately realized something was wrong. Ignoring the fact that he was taking advantage of her, she leaned closer to him.
"Why do we have to do it again next time?!" She twisted her shoulders in his arms, making Li Yue's heart flutter.
He lowered his head to smell her rich, sweet fragrance, and gently nibbled on her ear: "I have something to do this time, be good."
Suppressing her nausea, Cen Le continued, "Was it about the argument you just had with President Wen? He had no manners at all, unlike you—"
Afraid of asking too obviously, she quickly gave him another sweet treat, hooking the collar of his shirt inside his suit and pulling him even closer.
"He was so rude to you just now, I was angry for you."
After saying that, she suddenly loosened his collar and smiled seductively.
Hearing her stand up for him made Li Yue even happier. He playfully flicked her nose and said, "Don't worry, he'll suffer a lot later—do I look like the kind of person who would suffer in silence?"
“It doesn’t seem like it.” Cen Le shook her head. “People just want to see how you handle people.”
She implied again that if Li Yue still refused, the closed and dangerous nature of the "Sea Chaser" was self-evident—Tao Chu absolutely could not board the ship.
Sure enough, Li Yue pretended not to understand and just said some flirtatious nonsense: "I'll deal with you first."
After saying that, he leaned down to kiss Cen Le, but Cen Le pushed him away, half-jokingly.
"That sounds nice," Cen Le said in a soft, teasing tone, "Aren't you going out to sea tomorrow? Who knows if you'll even remember me when you come back?"
Before Li Yue could say anything more to coax her, Cen Le took the opportunity to get up and leave.
Before leaving, she winked at him and said, "If you're really interested, contact me again when you get back."
Li Yue's arms suddenly felt empty. He stared blankly at her graceful figure and chuckled to himself.
This Di Ying is quite interesting.
Cen Le entered the emergency exit, hugged his arms to wipe away the goosebumps on his body, and then shakily took out his phone to call Tao Chu, but no one answered.
"Big sister, Wen Yunsheng is in dire straits himself, don't waste your time arguing with him..." she muttered softly.
Tao Chu had already shaken off Wen Yunsheng—when she stood at Tao Guohua's door, Wen Yunsheng was relieved to confirm that she wasn't going to see Shen Yingchang.
He told Tao Chu that he was going to make a phone call on the deck and would come back to pick her up later.
Tao Guohua opened the door and his eyes lit up when he saw Tao Chu's attire: "Hey, that's more like it! It's almost seven o'clock, haven't you gone to see Wen Yunsheng yet?"
Tao Chu's tears welled up: "Dad, they want you to come with me to the 'Sea Chaser'!"
Tao Guohua's expression immediately changed, and he pulled her aside, asking, "What's going on? What...what was I supposed to do?!"
Tao Chu gestured for him to come into the room to discuss the details, but after glancing around, he realized that neither Xu Jing nor her daughter were there.
“I went to see Wen Yunsheng as you suggested, and he promised to take me off the ship and leave. But Li Yue suddenly came and threatened me, saying…”
She started sobbing, ruining her makeup.
Tao Guohua was extremely anxious, pacing back and forth, asking, "What exactly did they say?!"
Tao Chu sniffed twice, looking at him with teary eyes: "You must come to sea with me, otherwise Xu Jing and Xu Lingling can forget about returning to Jianglin."
Tao Guohua was struck dumb. He had heard of the Li family's methods, but he never expected Li Yue to threaten him so blatantly.
What kind of place is the "Sea Chaser"? They say they're sending him there with Tao Chu, but isn't that just to take him hostage?
Tao Chu is more useful to him; what if Tao Chu survives, but he doesn't make it back...?
However, if they don't go, Xu Jing and Lingling might be in danger.
Tao Chu saw that he was pale and distraught, and knew that he was frightened.
"Dad, I never imagined I'd drag you into this. I shouldn't have gone back to Jianglin." She cried bitterly. "I begged Li Yue to let me board the ship alone, so you could all return home safely..."
Tao Guohua glanced at his daughter, swallowed hard, and asked her, "Will this work?"
"We have to give it a try—this isn't their territory, so they shouldn't dare to be too reckless."
Tao Guohua's expression softened slightly, but Tao Chu's next sentence was:
"However, you replied to Jiang Lin..."
Tao Guohua sighed, took out a pack of cigarettes, and went to the window to smoke.
Before any evidence could be found, trouble came too quickly, and Tao Guohua was filled with regret.
It's no use looking for Sui Liyong now. It's still far from being settled, so why should we use resources to protect his family?
Now he had no choice but to find a way to get off the ship himself. He turned to look at his daughter, whose face was streaked with tears.
"Chuchu, think about it. If something happens to us at sea, Xu Jing and her family, being orphans and widows, are powerless and won't be able to help us get justice. If we split up, I'll go back to Jianglin first. The Li family is wary of my social status and influence, and you'll be safer at sea. Doesn't that make sense?"
You have no social status or influence whatsoever.
If something really happened to him, Tao Guohua probably wouldn't even utter a sound; he would immediately bury his head in the sand and hide.
At the slightest sign of trouble, the whole family would move away from Jianglin.
Tao Chu cursed inwardly for two minutes, while Tao Guohua stared at her anxiously until the cigarette ash burned his hand.
He gasped and shook his hand, while Tao Chu said tearfully, "Dad, you are my closest relative, and I can't bear to let you take such a risk. But I'm really scared too; I don't dare to go out to sea alone."
Tao Guohua wanted to persuade him further, but Tao Chu continued, "How about this, Shen Yingchang is still on the 'Dream Seeker on the River,' I'll go and ask him to come with me. But I don't know if Li Yue will agree to replace him..."
Tao Guohua's eyes lit up. He threw the cigarette butt out the window, slammed the window shut, and excitedly rushed to Tao Chu.
"That's a great idea! Go find Shen Yingchang right away—get your makeup redone! If Li Yue doesn't agree to change people, I'll make a huge scene here, and nobody will get away with it!"
Ha, now they're willing to go all out.
However, that was exactly what Tao Chu wanted to hear. It would only work if Tao Guohua offered Li Yue a price. In order to save his life, he would always find a way to get Li Yue to agree.
Otherwise, it would have been difficult for her to bring Shen Yingchang onto the ship if she had only suggested it herself.
Now we're just missing Wen Yunsheng.
She wiped away the smudged eyeliner, removed most of her eye makeup, and her red-rimmed eyes made her look aggrieved and pitiful.
When Wen Yunsheng saw her, he rushed forward and asked, "Why are you crying?"
“Li Yue threatened Tao Guohua. Tao Guohua told me that I had to get on the ship and not implicate his family.”
"I've already sent people to watch over your grandmother—who cares about Tao Guohua's family of three, whether they live or die?"
“But Tao Guohua has evidence from back then. He said that if I don’t go to the ‘Sea Chaser’, I can forget about getting the evidence to avenge my mother.”
Tao Chu covered his face and wept, crying until his voice was hoarse.
Wen Yunsheng held her in his arms, feeling her trembling, and his heart broke as well.
How desperate and helpless she must have felt, being used and coerced by her own father in this way.
Unfortunately, I couldn't help her escape...
He had just called his father, Wen Tao, and his father gave him a hint, from which he roughly guessed the true purpose of the "Sea Chaser" fifth anniversary celebration.
Based on his prior knowledge of the scale and cost, it wasn't hard to guess how big and fat the fish were this time.
With his father, Li Pengcheng, and Zhou Bingcheng all boarding the "Sea Chaser," this event absolutely had to succeed; failure was not an option.
Variables like Tao Chu will definitely be firmly controlled by them.
He couldn't possibly change Tao Chu's decision to be taken onto the ship by his own strength.
He was also plunged into a deep sense of powerlessness, and could only hold his girl tightly in the cold winter wind.
"Brother Yunsheng, I know you did your best," Tao Chu said in a muffled voice.
Her voice calling "Brother Yunsheng" has appeared in his dreams countless times over the past eight years.
At this moment, those four words felt like needles piercing his heart.
Did he really try his best?
Why should we just stand by and watch her step into unknown danger?
The praise and flattery made him forget his own worth; when faced with the mighty wheel of power and violence, he was but a small boat.
He held her even tighter, not daring to respond to her.
"There are some roads I can't escape," Tao Chu said to him, but also to himself.
"Since I have no other choice, I'll give it a try." Her voice was soft, but firm. "What if it works?"
She used a little force to break free from his embrace.
“I will find a way to survive—Shen Yingchang is a foreigner, and his identity is rather sensitive, so it would be safer to bring him on board.”
Under her gaze, Wen Yunsheng couldn't bring himself to say anything jealous. Since he had broken his promise, he had no right to interfere with her decision.
He raised his hand to wipe away the tears on her cheek and whispered, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
"You'll still protect me, won't you, Brother Yunsheng?"
She clasped her hands together, looking at him anxiously, wanting a promise.
Wen Yunsheng nodded, feeling extremely guilty for her trust, and hugged her again.
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