Chapter 61 Chapter 61 Lingjiang Port

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Everyone was busy, not even Gu Mengran was idle.

He was indeed not fully recovered yet and was not allowed to help on the deck, so he simply strolled to the cockpit, asked Zheng Yijie to go out to help, and stayed in the cockpit himself to assist in operating the crane.

The diesel was still being loaded into barrels. Sitting in the cab, Gu Mengran was idle. He buried his head and fiddled with his fingers for a while. He was really bored, so he picked up the high-frequency and called out, "Xu Xinghe, are you busy?"

"Brother Gu, are you in the cab?"

The other side responded quickly, Xu Xinghe's voice with a hint of joy came: "No hurry, no hurry, I heard you caught a cold, are you feeling better now?"

"Much better. Who is so loud as to tell you that?"

Being bored, Gu Mengran started chatting with the other party about this topic.

Xu Xinghe chuckled. "Brother Zheng said that you were from Juqing, oh no, it's called Heng Rong Sheng 2 now! He said that you fainted after returning from our Heng Rong Sheng 2, caught a cold and had a heat stroke, it was terrible."

"It's a bit tragic." Gu Mengran sniffed, "Why did you suddenly change the name? Heng Rong Sheng 2 is okay."

"Haha, the name I thought of is not bad, right? The reason for changing the name is because of Brother Liang. He said that the Juqing series is a ship under the CMA CGM Group, and those who have been sailing for a long time will know it, so we found paint overnight and changed the name."

Gu Mengran nodded thoughtfully, "So that's how it is. Liang Zhao knows quite a lot."

"I think so too." Xu Xinghe agreed with a smile.

He paused for a moment, then moved the pager closer and deliberately lowered his voice, "I want to ask you something, Brother Bei. Brother Liang used to work on a ship in Huangjiang, right? How old is he this year?"

As soon as these words came out, an alarm immediately sounded in Gu Mengran's mind. After being silent for nearly a minute, he asked back, "Why are you asking this?"

Xu Xinghe didn't notice anything unusual and said with a smile, "It's like this, our two families are allies, I think our relationship can be even stronger."

"Look, Brother Liang is single, and my sister is single too. If they become a couple, then Heng Rong Sheng and Feng Yi Hao will be a family, right?"

Gu Mengran paused for a moment while holding the pager, and chuckled, "An alliance isn't enough, and you want a marriage? You have a pretty good plan."

Xu Xinghe's expression changed very quickly. He first smirked, then sighed, his voice a little depressed, "Ah, it's because I'm too useless. Just like today, I was supposed to work on the deck, but I was just a summer intern and didn't know anything. My sister had to do everything herself."

"She has always been the one who gave in to me and took care of me since I was little. I really want to do something for her, but I am such a waste. She lives a very tiring life, and is always dragged down by her brother, so -"

"So you want to find a brother-in-law to help her share some of the burden?" Gu Mengran interrupted him coldly, his tone was not friendly.

Xu Xinghe hesitated: "I just have this idea."

Gu Mengran was furious and scolded him: "What the hell are you thinking? I think there is something wrong with your brain."

“I, I—”

Xu Xinghe tried to explain, but Gu Mengran didn't give him the chance. He said sarcastically, "What do you mean by 'you'? Are you a giant baby? You have hands and feet, but you can't learn if you don't understand? Even if you learn, you can't help? You know how to take shortcuts and find a brother-in-law to continue sucking your blood. What do you think of your sister? Is she your tool?"

Xu Xinghe was confused by what he said, and while Gu Mengran was taking a break, he hurriedly explained: "Brother Gu, you misunderstood, that's not what I meant. I am studying, and I am also trying to help my sister share the burden. Finding a brother-in-law is not to suck my blood, I, I..."

After hesitating for a long time and being unable to say anything, Gu Mengran said, "Tsk, does your sister know that you want to find a brother-in-law for yourself?"

"No, I don't know." Xu Xinghe said with a guilty conscience.

His anger didn't subside, but Gu Mengran calmed down a little and explained the situation to him seriously: "Whether it's to improve our relationship or to help your sister share the burden, it's not something you can decide for her to find a partner, do you understand?"

"I understand. I just wanted to ask you first and then ask her."

Gu Mengran sneered: "How should I tell her? Help her analyze the pros and cons of finding a partner, and then convince her with the advantages of finding a partner? Is that what she really thinks? Are you sure she won't sacrifice herself to make it easier for you?"

The other party was silent, white noise was "hissing", and Xu Xinghe said nothing.

Gu Mengran sighed silently and said earnestly: "I believe that you are not completely intending to suck my blood, but your idea is stupid. If you feel sorry for your sister, then work harder and stand on your own feet as soon as possible. If she can't even trust her own brother, how can she trust other men?"

I don't know how long it took, but Xu Xinghe's voice came again amid the rustling white noise, his voice was hoarse and weak, "I'm sorry, Brother Gu, I get it."

"You haven't done anything wrong to me. It's just that I, an outsider, feel embarrassed to be preaching to you here." Gu Mengran laughed at himself.

"No, no, no, I really understand what you said, Brother Gu." Xu Xinghe said quickly, "My sister is indeed the kind of good sister who would sacrifice herself for me. I didn't consider this point, and it was like selling my sister for glory."

"You're right. It's better to rely on yourself than on others. I have to stand up for myself first. Otherwise, if I meet a father like this and a brother like this, I'm sure I'll become averse to men!"

Instead of giving up because of Gu Mengran's accusation, Xu Xinghe suddenly became ignited as if he had been injected with chicken blood.

Gu Mengran chuckled softly and was about to hang up the radio to end this unpleasant chat when he suddenly thought of a key issue.

"Xu Xinghe." Gu Mengran lowered his voice and said, "I have a question."

"Brother Gu, you tell me."

Hearing him speak so seriously, Xu Xinghe thought he was going to say something serious, so he sat upright, waiting for Gu Mengran's next words.

Unexpectedly, after a moment, Gu Mengran coughed lightly and said embarrassedly: "I'm curious, why did you choose Liang Zhao to be your brother-in-law?"

"Ah?" Xu Xinghe was stunned for a moment, and answered truthfully: "First of all, Brother Liang is handsome, and you can see that he can endure hardships. He is the kind of man who does more than he talks, is very reliable, and loves his wife very much."

Love my wife...

Gu Mengran chuckled and said, "How do you know he loves his wife?"

"Men who don't talk much usually love their wives." Xu Xinghe said seriously.

Gu Mengran asked again: "Have you ever considered others?"

"I've considered it, I've considered Brother Zheng, but he, he..." Xu Xinghe's voice was getting smaller and smaller: "Don't tell him, he's too short, and he's nearsighted. I'm worried that his glasses will break and he won't be able to tell the difference between humans and animals after driving ten meters!"

Don't mention it, it's really possible. Gu Mengran wiped away the gloom and smiled for a long time with his hands covering his mouth.

Just when Xu Xinghe wiped his sweat and thought that the topic was finally over, Gu Mengran asked again: "What about me? Didn't you consider me?"

Xu Xinghe's body trembled, and he said in shock: "Brother Gu, stop teasing me!"

"How am I teasing you? I'm not a man?" Gu Mengran asked in confusion.

"It's a man, but, but..." Xu Xinghe stammered, "You, you seem to like men too."

The smile froze on his face, Gu Mengran straightened his back and asked, "Is it so obvious?"

Xu Xinghe was almost choked to death by his saliva, and he patted his chest and coughed, "No, brother, can you stop being so honest?"

Gu Mengran shrugged, "Honestly or not——"

"Driver, driver, get ready to operate the robot arm!"

Before he could finish his words, the intercom on the console rang. Gu Mengran said to Xu Xinghe, "Let's talk again," then put down the pager, went to the control console and started working.

Just as Gu Mengran had estimated, the robotic arms of the two ships operated simultaneously and worked until six o'clock in the morning, transferring nearly 300 tons of diesel to the Fengyi.

The Fengyi was not equipped with a spray cooling device, so all the oil drums were piled up in the first floor lobby and covered with heat-insulating tarpaulins. But the quantity was too large, and Gu Mengran was still worried, so he put most of them back into the space under the tarpaulin.

300 tons may sound scary at first, but for the Heng Rong Sheng 2 which is fully loaded with 3,000 tons, it is only unloading one-tenth of the weight.

Although Xu Xingran wanted to bring more evenly, and Gu Mengran also wanted some more, there were no extra oil barrels, and they couldn't catch the diesel with their bare hands.

The river surface littered with dead fish was too eerie and no one wanted to stay there too long, so after breakfast, a little after eight o'clock, the Feng Yi circled to the front and continued sailing with the relieved Heng Rong Sheng 2.

Two days passed in a flash, and when we arrived at Lingjiang Port on the morning, everyone got up early without any prior arrangement.

When Gu Mengran walked into the driver's seat wearing a mask, everyone was already there.

Liang Zhao, who was on night shift, sat in the captain's chair with a tired look on his face, while the old man and Zheng Yijie, wearing long sleeves and long pants and masks, wrapped themselves tightly, stood side by side beside the windbreak to observe the situation on the river.

"How's it going? Can you see the port?"

Apparently he had just arrived. The old man was looking through a telescope, but hadn't figured out what was going on yet. Zheng Yijie tiptoed to the side and asked anxiously.

The old man said impatiently, "Don't be impatient, don't touch me. I finally found the port, but it's gone once you touch me."

"Master Meng, you are old and your hands shake easily. Let me do it."

"What are you doing here, you bespectacled guy? Do you understand what I am saying?"

He was a little nervous at first, but the two of them sang the same tune and he lost all his tension. Gu Mengran chuckled and walked straight to the windshield. He took out another telescope from the space and looked out at the harbor through the glass.

The distance was not too far, and the colorful containers on the dock could already be seen with the naked eye. He adjusted the magnification of the telescope and moved his arm slightly, and the dock was easily within his sight.

Just like a passing typhoon, the earthquake caused a thick fog at Lingjiang Port. All the densely packed containers on the dock were overturned and lay on the ground in a mess.

The orange cranes and mechanical arms standing on the dock were uprooted, and the approach bridges were broken or cracked, with almost nothing spared.

Not seeing anyone, Gu Mengran moved the telescope to the shore and casually saw the water service area that Liang Zhao mentioned.

Although it is called the water service area, it is actually on the shore. It is not as exquisite as the shore service area. It looks like a factory built with steel decks, neatly lined up along the shore.

After a quick look, there seemed to be nothing unusual, but Gu Mengran had a vague sense of foreboding. He took a deep breath and slowly aimed the telescope at the calm river surface in front of him.

The Lingjiang Bridge broke in the middle, and a large section of the bridge deck disappeared. The steel bars sticking out of the cross section were supporting heavy concrete blocks, hanging in the air and swaying as if about to fall, with the risk of secondary collapse and falling at any time.

Further ahead, dozens of ships of different sizes were parked across the river, like a steel wall, tightly blocking the increasingly narrow waterway.

Rotten fish and shrimps were floating on the surface of the river, and as the telescope moved, Gu Mengran could occasionally see some large floating objects.

Close to the harbor, he initially thought that it was garbage from the shore or a sunken ship that had floated up, and did not pay much attention to it. But just as he was about to put down the telescope, the lens shook slightly, and a bloated and rotten human head suddenly appeared in his sight.