Chapter 111 Chapter 111 Small Fishing Boat
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"Closer."
"A little more to the right, OKOK!"
The heavy snow was drifting down, and the air seemed to be frozen by an invisible chill. The clear water surface was calm and without waves. Occasionally, a small boat would splash water and make a rustling sound.
With one command and one operation, the exquisite and warm diesel boat sailed slowly and steadily to the right front, and soon stopped next to the dilapidated fishing boat.
The anti-collision tire hit the hull with a muffled sound. Gu Mengran rubbed his hands excitedly, immediately opened the window, and bent over to crawl out of the window.
As soon as he stuck his head out of the cabin, a hand suddenly wrapped around his waist, pulling him back irresistibly. With his back against the man's warm and strong chest, Gu Mengran chuckled helplessly, "What are you doing? You have to go in front when there's danger?"
"Yeah." Liang Zhao hugged his waist and kissed Gu Mengran's neck softly and wantonly, "I'm your boyfriend."
It felt like a feather brushing against his neck, making him itch. Gu Mengran shrank his neck and said seriously, "I find that you are a bit chauvinistic, Liang Zhao. You are my boyfriend, so I am not your boyfriend?"
"I am an adult man after all. Don't treat me like a helpless child. It's not right for you to take care of everything for me. Besides, I have space at hand and I have the ability to protect myself and you. Sometimes it is safer and more secure for me to take the lead than for you to take the lead."
Gu Mengran analyzed seriously, as if he wanted to make a point, but Liang Zhao just said "hmmmm" and perfunctorily, "I know, I'll do it next time."
Given the difference in height and size, Liang Zhao tightened his arms, hugged the man and lifted him up. Gu Mengran, who was not short, was like a little chick and was easily lifted aside by him.
Liang Zhao was particularly persistent in this regard. Gu Mengran knew that he could not win, so he stood quietly by the side and waited for Liang Zhao to climb over the window and walk out of the cabin before he followed him out.
Fishing boats are several times larger than diesel boats and much taller.
Climbing up from the bottom was extremely strenuous. The two could only climb onto the awning of the small boat by stepping on the crash-proof tires, and then move sideways along the awning little by little, risking falling into the water to climb onto the deck of the fishing boat.
Both of them left to prevent their small boats from being pushed away by the wind and waves. After successfully boarding the fishing boat, Liang Zhao immediately tied the rope that tied the small boat to the railing of the fishing boat, and then he and Gu Mengran looked around with peace of mind.
The fishing boat was badly damaged. Its rusty hull and messy deck showed that the boat had encountered a strong storm and lost power, drifting in the water for some time.
Not hoping to search for supplies on the ship, Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao took a quick walk, walked along the edge of the deck to the bow, and pushed open the unlocked door of the cockpit.
The cab was also in a mess, with the windshields on both sides shattered, and glass fragments and dirt from nowhere scattered on the floor. There was a thick layer of mud on the ground, and Liang Zhao didn't pay attention to his feet and almost stepped into it, but fortunately Gu Mengran grabbed him in time.
One of them changed into a pair of rain boots, and the other two hurried into the cab, checked the equipment on the bridge, and tried to restart the ship.
The result was predictable. The boat couldn't start at all. But Gu Mengran was lucky. After confirming the fuel used by the fishing boat, he decisively went to the deck to find the oil hold and very luxuriously added half a barrel of fuel into it.
Returning to the driver's seat, Gu Mengran rubbed his frozen hands, looked at Liang Zhao fiddling with instruments in front of the driver's seat, and subconsciously held his breath.
Success or failure depends on this one move, so if we succeed, it won’t be a waste.
Fuel supply, air intake, ignition——
"Boom boom boom..."
The ship swayed slightly, and a sharp explosion echoed. Gu Mengran's lips curled up and he grabbed Liang Zhao's arm and shook it left and right, "It's done! Liang Zhao, you are really capable! You can even hit this!"
No matter how well a diesel boat is modified, it cannot compare to a fishing boat that belongs to the ocean. Even if the fishing boat is shabby, its ability to withstand wind and waves is several times better than that of a small river boat.
The small boat should be driven first, and the fishing boat should be put in the hold first. If there are strong winds and waves, the fishing boat will be used to sail, so as to reduce the sailing risk as much as possible.
This is also the reason why Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao insisted on boarding the fishing boat to take a look.
Liang Zhao didn't rush to open champagne with Gu Mengran at halftime. He tried turning the propeller and other equipment. Seeing that everything was normal, he turned around with relief and smiled at Gu Mengran, "It works. There's nothing wrong with this boat. It can still be driven."
The afterglow of the excitement had not yet faded, and Gu Mengran did not hesitate to praise him: "My Xiao Liang is really great! He can even handle a sea vessel."
"Don't flatter me. This is a small boat, similar to a river boat." Liang Zhao wanted to rub his head, but when he raised his hand, he found that it was rubbed with a lot of mud on the cockpit, so he waved his hand at him and said, "Let's go and take a look at the cabin."
After saying this, Liang Zhao turned off the engine of the ship and quickly walked out of the cockpit.
Gu Mengran chased after him and asked in confusion, "Why go to the cabin? We're just using it to resist the wind and waves and get through. It's fine as long as it can be used. The cabin's condition is not important."
Liang Zhao disagreed with this and shook his head, "What if there is someone else?"
"How is that possible!" Gu Mengran retorted, "We made such a big noise, someone would have come out to stop us a long time ago, it's almost like a ghost."
Liang Zhao chuckled and teased him deliberately, "The ship on the sea... it's hard to say."
After hearing just a few words, Gu Mengran shuddered for no apparent reason, and goose bumps instantly covered his arms.
In the deserted waters, the fishing boat drifted with the current, the mottled hull, the dilapidated deck, the messy cockpit, the strange cabin...
hiss--
"What are you thinking about?"
A slightly hoarse voice interrupted his thoughts. Gu Mengran raised his head subconsciously, and his forehead hit Liang Zhao's shoulder.
When they arrived at the entrance of the ship, the guide had already stopped. Gu Mengran rubbed his forehead and smiled dryly, "No, nothing."
Liang Zhao looked at him suspiciously, but without asking any more questions, he just said "Watch your step" and walked up the stairs towards the dark cabin.
The cabin of the fishing boat was inside the belly of the ship. The dark and damp stairs slanted downwards, like an unfathomable abyss with no end in sight.
Gu Mengran swallowed his saliva and followed Liang Zhao closely. The suffocating silence was unbearable. After taking a few steps, Gu Mengran took the initiative to bring up the topic: "You said you wanted to be a sailor before, so have you heard of some...ocean legends?"
"For example?" Liang Zhao asked him back.
"Ahem," Gu Mengran cleared his throat, "something like sea monsters, ghost ships, etc."
After he finished speaking, the man standing on the stairs suddenly stopped moving, his shoulders trembling slightly.
Gu Mengran felt an inexplicable chill on his back, and hurriedly took a half step forward and grabbed Liang Zhao's arm, "What are you doing——"
Before he could finish his words, Liang Zhao burst out laughing. Gu Mengran then realized that he had been tricked. He was so angry that he pinched his arm hard.
The kitten's scratching didn't hurt or itch. Liang Zhao held Gu Mengran's hand, hiding the smile in his eyes, and comforted him softly: "Don't be afraid, the ocean legends are all fake. Even if there is a ghost ship, it is in the deep sea. We just entered the sea, how can we encounter it."
"Who's scared? I, I was just saying it casually." Gu Mengran's face turned red. She wanted to shake off Liang Zhao's hand but she couldn't match his strength, so she could only let him hold her.
However, Liang Zhao's comfort obviously eased Gu Mengran's nervousness. Near the sea, near the sea. They had just entered the sea. Where did the ghost ship come from? They were just scaring themselves.
His tense nerves gradually relaxed, Gu Mengran held Liang Zhao's hand and followed his steps to move slowly. When he walked down the last step and was about to take a closer look at the cabin, a slightly cold hand suddenly covered Gu Mengran's eyes.
"Don't look, turn around and leave Meng Ran."
Liang Zhao covered his eyes without him seeing anything, and Gu Mengran's curiosity was immediately aroused. He didn't rush to push Liang Zhao's hand away, nor did he rush to leave. He lowered his voice and asked carefully, "What? I don't want to see, tell me."
Liang Zhao was silent for nearly two minutes before he slowly said, "Corpse."
"Ah? That's it? It's not like I haven't seen it before."
"Meng Ran!"
Ignoring Liang Zhao's obstruction, Gu Mengran decisively pried his hands apart.
Although he was mentally prepared, Gu Mengran was still stunned the moment his eyes, which had adapted to the darkness, touched the corpse.
In the corner on the left side, away from the wind, a skinny young woman sat on the ground wrapped in a quilt, holding a little boy of five or six years old tightly in her arms. She lowered her head slightly, her expression was extremely calm, and her sunken eyes were tightly closed.
The child's small body was wrapped in an ill-fitting cotton jacket, his face was pale, his eyes were closed, as if he was asleep. The woman's stiff hand rested on his head, her dark lips slightly parted, as if she was singing a nursery rhyme to lull the child to sleep.
"Is it really a corpse? Why do I feel like..."
The voice stopped abruptly. Gu Mengran squinted his eyes and took a closer look, and saw purple-red corpse spots on the back of the woman's hand.
It's not scary or eerie, just sad.
A hand covered his shoulder, and Liang Zhao's gentle voice rang in his ears: "Don't look anymore, the person is dead. They should have been dead no more than two weeks ago. They just stayed here like this. I don't know if they were frozen to death or starved to death."
The person is gone, how he died is not important.
The important thing is... Gu Mengran frowned and looked back at Liang Zhao with some confusion, "Then, then should we still take this ship? What should they do?"
"Take it." Liang Zhao patted Gu Mengran's shoulder and said seriously, "They don't need it. In the end times, the living are the most important."
In the end times, the living are the most important thing. Although they hesitated, Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao finally chose to pack up the fishing boat and take it away.
If you take away someone's home, you must give it back to them.
The fishing boat disappeared into thin air, and an orange raft appeared on the calm water. The "sleeping" mother and child lay down peacefully on it. Carrying a thick quilt and the child's favorite yogurt and jelly, they continued to sail with the current.