Chapter 55 Chapter 55 Acquaintance

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"Wind Wing, Wind Wing, Giant 5 calling, please reply!"

The high frequency was still ringing. Gu Mengran returned to the driving platform with the binoculars in his hand. He subconsciously exchanged a glance with Liang Zhao, but hesitated to take the next step.

It was not strange to call out the Feng Yi, after all, the name of the Feng Yi was written on the bow. But the other party's tone was strange, with surprise, disbelief, and a bit of urgency, as if... did he recognize the Feng Yi?

Seeing the doubt in Gu Mengran's eyes, Liang Zhao did not move the high frequency.

His bony fingers tapped the tabletop until the high frequency sounded again. Liang Zhao raised his eyes slightly and asked hesitantly, "Big Engine 5, have you heard of this name? Is it possible that he is an acquaintance?"

Gu Mengran shook his head quickly, "I haven't heard of it. We don't have any acquaintances on ships, but I just saw a man on the deck, and he did look familiar."

"The Wind Wing set sail just before the disaster, and didn't encounter many people along the way," Liang Zhao raised his eyebrows, "Could it be those who were rescued at the anchorage during the earthquake--"

Before she finished her words, the high frequency sounded again. This time, it was no longer ambiguous or formal. The female voice turned into a male voice, and the tone was excited:

"I see you, Feng Yi! I'm Xu Xinghe, do you remember us? My sister's name is Xu Xingran, and our previous ship was called Heng Rongsheng! You saved us in Anchang Port!"

Xu Xinghe, Heng Rongsheng——Wheat!

The almost forgotten memory revived. Gu Mengran hesitated for a moment, and then, driven by curiosity, he picked up the high-frequency pager and responded, "So it's you. Why did you run to the front and change the boat? Where is Heng Rongsheng?"

"I replied, I replied! I told you, you are too formal. Now is not the same as before. Who dares to respond to high frequency?"

"Stop yelling and call them back."

The sound of a man and a woman talking came over, and then Gu Mengran heard that Xu Xinghe deliberately cleared his throat: "Hengrongsheng is in trouble. It's a long story. I've suffered a lot on the way here. Brother Gu, we're not far away, how about we meet?"

Gu Mengran did not answer immediately, but subconsciously looked up at Liang Zhao.

Liang Zhao's eyes darkened slightly. He leaned over to grab the pager in Gu Mengran's hand and asked casually, "Are you taking someone else's boat? How many people are on the boat?"

"Hey, the voice has changed, is that Brother Liang?"

"Um."

Xu Xinghe greeted Liang Zhao politely and got back to the point: "Well, it belonged to someone else before, but now it belongs to us. There are not many people on the boat, just me, my sister, and a little sister."

"Is there any cargo on the ship? What is it?" Liang Zhaojin asked.

The reply was no longer immediate, and Gao Qun became quiet. After nearly 20 to 30 seconds, Xu Xinghe hesitated and said, "Let's not chat about this on Gao Qun anymore. Brother Liang, can we meet? We can go to the Feng Yi, or you can come to our ship."

Xu Xinghe's caution made Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao realize that the cargo on the ship was not simple. It was a petrochemical ship, and chemicals were useless to ordinary people, so there was only one possibility left - fuel oil.

Is this considered a pillow for someone who is sleepy? Gu Mengran felt a little itchy, so he said "wait a moment" and let go of the pager. He turned his head and raised his chin towards Liang Zhao, "What do you think? Do you want to make this trip?"

"The ship is most likely filled with fuel. The waterline is very low, so the amount is quite large. And he was very happy to see the Wind Wing and seemed to want to talk to us. I guess they either want to exchange supplies or repay a favor by going on this trip."

"But just in case," Liang Zhao paused, looked through the windshield at the gradually brightening sky, and said in a deep voice, "I can go alone."

Gu Mengran snorted coldly and said unhappily: "If we want to go, we should go together, otherwise, don't go at all."

Liang Zhao smiled helplessly at the tone that left no room for doubt. "Okay, then we should sail over there in a small boat?"

Gu Mengran glared at Liang Zhao and ignored him, pressing the pager again: "Juqing 5, we will drive the diesel boat over later, you guys prepare the crane."

"Okay, okay, please tell me before you leave, Brother Gu."

"OK!"

I said I would wait, but in fact I waited for more than half an hour.

After waking up the sleeping old man, he explained the situation first, comforted him, and finally took a diesel boat down to the river. Gu Mengran was so sleepy that he yawned continuously.

The fuel was hanging in front of him as a carrot. Gu Mengran forced himself to stay awake. He took out a box of wind oil from the space and applied it on his temples on both sides. Only then did he gradually become a little more sober.

The distance was not far, and Liang Zhao drove very fast. In less than three minutes, the diesel boat stopped steadily on the left side of the Giant 5, under the deck near the bow.

After giving advance notice, the boat had just stopped and the crane slowly descended with a roar. Liang Zhao started the boat to adjust the angle, while Gu Mengran held two cables and quickly connected the boat to the crane.

“Buzz buzz buzz…”

The crane lifted the diesel boat slowly up and gradually made it level with the deck. Gu Mengran glanced at it casually and the complete Giant Engine 5 came into view.

The J-5 is indeed about the same size as the Wing, both weighing 3,000 tons when fully loaded, and the red and green color scheme is almost the same. But the two different structures give people a completely different visual experience. It looks more majestic and handsome than the Wing, and even a size larger.

Her superstructure only exists at the stern, while the bow and hull are like a wide runway, smooth and flat. People standing on it are particularly small, making it look even more spectacular.

But it is limited to a glass mallet that looks good but is not practical.

Because it is an oil and chemical tanker, all kinds of pipes are crisscrossed on the deck. They cannot be moved or touched. The space for movement is ruthlessly compressed, with only a narrow aisle on each side edge.

The diesel boat landed on the bow deck. Xu Xinghe, who had been waiting for a long time, came hurriedly along the aisle with a well-behaved young girl.

"Brother Gu, Brother Liang!"

After not seeing each other for many days, Xu Xinghe looked visibly haggard. Although he still had a bright smile on his face, he was just an eighteen or nineteen-year-old teenager who had grown into an adult overnight.

Gu Mengran nodded to him and greeted him politely: "Long time no see, how are you doing recently?"

"It's OK, not bad." Xu Xinghe led the girl onto the deck, making way for the aisle that was only wide enough for one person to pass through, and greeted the two of them warmly: "Let's go this way to the stern deck. It's too hot on the deck, not a place to talk."

The aisle leads directly to the stern deck and no one is needed to lead the way.

Gu Mengran didn't bother to be polite with him and took Liang Zhao into the aisle first.

The aisle was very narrow, and the tanker was also equipped with a sprinkler, with water constantly gushing out from both sides of the deck to cool the oil tank. Walking along the aisle all the way to the stern deck, the sneakers that Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao had specially changed into were soaked with water.

The shoes made a squeaking sound when they were stepped on the ground, and the boat owner finally discovered the problem. However, there were no extra shoes on the boat, so he could only apologize to the two people awkwardly.

Gu Mengran, who only wanted to sleep, didn't care. However, after winding around in the stern deck and walking into someone else's clean and tidy living room, Gu Mengran felt a little reluctant to step on it with his wet shoes.

The poop is actually a multi-story building at the stern, used as a crew living area. The interior area of ​​the Juqing 5 is relatively spacious compared to ordinary river boats, but it cannot be compared with the Fengyi, which covers almost the entire deck.

The living room is about 30 to 40 square meters in area and adopts a loft design. There is no floor above the living room, which is nearly two stories high. The visual effect is open and the overall atmosphere is bright and transparent.

The J-1 is not a new ship, and its interior facilities are also slightly old-fashioned. However, it is fully equipped with furniture and appliances such as televisions, air conditioners, sofas, etc. The decoration style is in warm tones, and you will be surrounded by a warm and comfortable atmosphere as soon as you enter.

"Come on, Brother Gu, Brother Liang, sit over here!"

Walking into the living room, Xu Xinghe finally felt like the host. He hurried to the front and stood in front of the sofa to greet Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao.

Gu Mengran did not hide his curiosity. He looked around and walked slowly to the sofa and sat down. He praised casually, "Your new boat is really good. It's big and new, and the internal facilities are complete. Where did you get it?"

My original intention was to get to the point as soon as possible, but Xu Xinghe turned to being polite.

He stood there grinning for a few seconds, then chuckled, "Not bad, right? My sister and I are quite satisfied. Although it's not as good as your Wind Wing, we are lucky to have a boat to stay on at this time."

The last three words were completely forgotten. Gu Mengran didn't want to show too much urgency. He looked around and looked back, and said awkwardly: "By the way, how did you escape the flash flood? Did you get to the shore?"

Gu Mengran felt a little guilty when talking about this. He had not anticipated the flash floods caused by the collapse of the barrier lake and had urged the siblings to go upstream. Now that he thought about it, if they had really followed the advice and driven the diesel boat upstream, their bodies would probably be frozen by now.

I didn't expect to see him again. Thinking about his attitude towards the siblings back then... Gu Mengran felt more and more awkward. The soft sofa inexplicably felt a little hot on his butt.

The heartless Xu Xinghe seemed to have forgotten all those little things.

He sat down next to Gu Mengran with a smile, as if they were old friends who had known each other for many years, and naturally supported his shoulder. "The flash flood was so exciting. I'm scared just thinking about it. It was like a brush with death!"

Just as he was about to start a conversation, Xu Xingran came down the stairs quickly. She was holding an old-fashioned kettle in one hand and a bag in the other. Seeing this, Xu Xinghe hurried over and took the kettle from her.

Hot tea, canned food, spicy pork jerky… The empty teacup was gradually filled with food. The brother and sister were very sincere and probably took out all the snacks from the bottom of the box. Gu Mengran even saw two unusually wilted apples on the table.

Foods that were not valued before the disaster have become rare items after the disaster.

After all the food was spread out on the table, Xu Xingran sat down slowly, picked up two cans of food and stuffed them into the mouths of Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao, and greeted them sincerely, "It's been a long time since we last met. Eat something to fill your stomach. How are you doing recently? Is Grandpa Meng in good health?"

"It's fine. I can eat and run, and I'm very energetic." Gu Mengran did not refuse her kindness. He took the can of oranges with a smile and played with it in his hands.

"That's good." Xu Xingran nodded, pursed her lips and smiled softly, "I never thought I'd run into you again. This must be fate, right? I was in a hurry to leave at that time and didn't have time to thank you properly. Now that we meet again today, we have to have dinner together."

Compared to her brother who only knows how to chat, Xu Xingran is much more reliable. She could see that the two of them had not slept all night and it was obvious that they were not sitting here just to listen to these words of thanks.

So after a brief greeting, she stopped beating around the bush, raised her chin and looked at Gu Mengran, and said seriously: "I specially invited you to meet not just for a meal. I believe you can see that the J-5 is carrying cargo. You are not outsiders, so I will tell you directly that the cabin is loaded with No. 0 diesel."

No. 0 diesel, which is used by most inland ships.

I thought it would be direct, but I didn't expect it to be so direct. Gu Mengran raised his eyebrows in surprise, and did not hide the fact that he had already guessed it. He smiled and teased: "Sister Xu is a straightforward person. You told us just like that. Aren't you afraid that we will have bad intentions?"

Xu Xingran smiled and shook his head, his eyes were firm and his tone was resolute:

"You saved my life and Xinghe's life. I believe in you."