"Hurry up, hurry up, once we're done we'll go back, sell the goods, buy some wine and meat, and have a good meal together."
Zhu Liwen was also very happy. He quickly finished collecting the three sets of goods. With dawn approaching, he wanted to finish collecting the goods as soon as possible, so he accelerated and drove towards the fourth set.
Thinking of the grouper ahead, he couldn't contain his excitement and couldn't help but steer the boat to its maximum speed.
Grouper, here I come.
Just then, suddenly...
Bang!
A muffled thud came from the bottom of the boat.
Immediately afterwards, the ship began to rock violently, catching everyone off guard and causing them to fall to the ground. The third brother fared even worse; he was standing on the edge of the deck smoking when he was suddenly thrown into the sea.
The baskets of fish that had just been neatly arranged were also thrown out, some spilling onto the deck and some returning to the sea.
After a brief, violent jolt, the ship finally came to a stop.
Zhu Liwen cried out in pain, a large bump appearing on his forehead from the impact, and his arm was also cut by the broken glass.
What's wrong?
"Big brother, the third brother has fallen into the water."
Behind me, I heard my two brothers calling out urgently.
He forced himself to stand up and looked down. He saw that the third brother had been thrown into the sea about ten meters away from the fishing boat. Just as he poked his head out, a wave rolled over and pulled him back under the water.
Fortunately, the wind wasn't too strong at sea today, and soon, the third brother emerged from underwater.
"Big brother, save me!" The third brother swam toward the fishing boat with all his might.
"Throw life rings! Throw life rings right now!"
Zhu Liwen shouted loudly, staggered to the side of the boat, found a lifebuoy, and threw it overboard to the third brother.
Fortunately, they weren't far from the boat, and the third brother quickly grabbed a lifebuoy and crawled inside.
"You two pull him up, let me see what's wrong with the boat?"
Once Zhu Liwen calmed down, he finally had time to see what had happened.
The deck was covered with the fish they had caught earlier, and he watched helplessly as two groupers jumped back into the sea.
This is all money.
He didn't have time to check the boat's condition; he bent down and started collecting the fish, bringing back everything still on the deck.
The third brother was also pulled up, collapsing onto the deck, looking terrified.
"Brother, what happened? Is there a problem with the engine, or did you hit something?"
The second and fourth brothers were filled with doubt and panic.
"Stop yelling and calm down," Zhu Liwen snapped, calming the two down before starting to walk toward the bow of the ship.
He could feel that the bow of the boat had hit something.
He leaned over the bow of the boat and looked out, and couldn't help but gasp.
A big hole.
There was a large hole at the bow of the ship, bigger than a fist.
It's still underwater, and seawater is now rushing into the cabin.
There's a dark object faintly visible beneath the surface; it must have run aground.
He was so focused on harvesting that he didn't pay any attention to the reefs. He wasn't familiar with this area either, and yet he was driving so fast.
If you drive slower, you'll likely only get a slight dent.
No, this won't do. This hole has to be fixed, or the whole ship will be doomed.
He stood up and said urgently,
"The boat is leaking; quickly find blankets or something to plug it up."
Upon hearing that the boat was leaking, the brothers hurriedly grabbed their blankets, towels, and other belongings and jumped into the cabin.
"Brother, it's all water."
"Block it up first!" Zhu Liwen shouted, but then, still feeling uneasy, he jumped in himself.
The cabin was already flooded, and water was still pouring into the holes. If this continued, the ship would sink in less than ten minutes.
Zhu Liwen grabbed a blanket, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into the hole, finally blocking the inlet. Seawater could only slowly seep in through the gap.
Zhu Liwen was already covered in sweat, and the seawater in the cabin had reached above his calves.
"Brother, what should we do? Will our boat sink?"
“That’s right, brother. This boat is the only thing our family can make money from. If we lose the boat, how will we go out to sea?”
"Big brother, what should we do?"
The three brothers were completely panicked; they weren't afraid of fighting or brawling.
But now they are facing the ocean. What can they do? Fight the sea?
They always listened to their eldest brother, and now they all looked to Zhu Liwen for advice.
All the fierceness on Zhu Liwen's face vanished; now all he wanted to do was save the ship.
“You guys stay down here and watch, try to get some water out, then I’ll go throw everything into the sea to lighten the weight and see if we can make the hole surface.”
"Brother, do we not need to throw those fish away?"
"Yes, it's all money."
Zhu Liwen's facial muscles twitched a few times, and a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes.
"Money or life? If we lose the fish, we can get more. But if we lose the boat, we're finished."
After saying that, he climbed out of the cabin and threw the fish and basket into the sea. The boat only swayed slightly when the more than 100 pounds of fish were thrown out, and it didn't rise much.
"Third brother, you go upstairs. Second and fourth brothers, you stay downstairs. Bring the water out of the cabin. I'll steer forward a bit and get to a shallower spot."
He remembered there was a small island to his right. If he could hold out until he reached the island, the ship would definitely not sink. Then he could slowly repair and fix the ship. There was always a way.
If it sinks here, it's all over. Salvage would cost so much money, it's simply not worth it.
My three younger brothers have already started working. As long as we can buy time to get to the island, the losses won't be too great.
He carefully started the boat, and after a few rumbles, it started moving again. This time, he didn't dare to go at such a high speed, but just slowly moved forward.
Underwater, a group of dark shadows occasionally flashed by; they were reefs. Why were there so many reefs here?
Fortunately, it was already daylight, and with his careful driving, he managed to carve out a path through the reefs.
"Brother, how much longer? The water in the cabin is starting to overflow."
"We can't scoop out much with our spoons."
The third brother was really exhausted; this thing was too tiring.
The second and fourth sons below weren't much better off; neither of them could raise their hands.
Zhu Liwen looked at them and encouraged them.
"Hold on for another ten minutes, and I'm sure I'll be able to drive out."
"Ten more minutes!" the three cried out in despair.
At least there was a definite time. The three of them glanced at it, then shook their arms vigorously and got back to work.
The boat moved forward slowly, and at this speed he was sure he could reach the island, which put his mind at ease.
The only thing that bothered me was that there was a longline fishing line right next to the boat, within easy reach, but I just didn't have time to reel it in. It was such a pain.
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