Turning Point (Part 3)
It was past 3 a.m. when Sorkov lifted the soaking wet Zhou Zeyu onto the hovercraft.
His prediction was remarkably accurate. Due to the low-lying terrain, the first floor of the airport was indeed quickly flooded, and the water level soon rose to the second floor. As the water level rose higher and higher, the voices of the crowd grew softer and softer, until eventually everyone had to stand tightly on chairs, and the entire second floor had fallen into a desolate silence.
Before things got really bad, he could pretend to be nonchalant and chat and laugh, but now that disaster is imminent, of course he can't laugh anymore.
The airport did its best to provide appropriate assistance, but as the passerby said, this negligible assistance was practically useless. Besides, Zhou Zeyu had never had any hope for public assistance from abroad, and now he was even more disheartened.
She placed her suitcase on the chair, then stood on it with Coach Xu, the two of them huddled together cautiously, constantly worried that the suitcase beneath their feet would shatter into pieces.
Maintaining this stiff posture, Zhou Zeyu gritted his teeth and endured until midnight. The power system had long since failed, and the room was pitch black, with only the faint sound of flowing water audible. Everyone felt exhausted and thus maintained a terrifying silence.
She didn't know when she was dragged onto the boat. When she woke up from her drowsiness, Sorkov's face suddenly appeared in front of her, and he grabbed her arm without saying a word.
By the time she realized what was happening, she was already sprawled out on the hovercraft. Of course, Coach Xu was also caught off guard.
The middle-aged man's energy was certainly not as good as hers. He had been exhausted by this ordeal and was sighing and groaning. He almost fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes on the boat, but the rain outside was still pouring down hard on his face, so he definitely couldn't sleep.
Zhou Zeyu wiped the rain off his face, then refused the raincoat that Sorkov offered him: "It makes no difference whether you wear it or not, you can wear it yourself."
Sorkov let out a short, almost empathetic laugh, but Zhou Zeyi somehow detected a hint of melancholy in it. "I don't need to wear it anymore either."
After hearing his words, Zhou Zeyi narrowed his eyes and took a good look at him. He hadn't noticed it before because he was in such a hurry, but now he realized that Sorkov's condition was even worse. There wasn't a dry spot on his body, and his clothes were so wet that they could be squeezed out of the water. He looked as disheveled as if he had just climbed out of the water.
She was startled. "You can't possibly fall into the water, can you?"
Sorkov suddenly chuckled inexplicably a few times. "Have you forgotten that I'm a swimmer?"
Zhou Zeyu pursed her lips, speechless at his sudden and obviously inappropriate dry humor. She reached out and patted him hard on the shoulder, indicating that he shouldn't joke at a time like this, and that it wasn't funny at all.
Okay, just a tiny bit.
For some reason, she recalled the scene she had just witnessed, and the image of Sorkov, fully equipped with a swimming cap and goggles, braving the rapids in this terrifying river flashed through her mind. She found it too horrifying and quickly shook her head, forcing herself to stop thinking about it.
Are you cold?
Zhou Zeyu: "It's very cold."
Are you hungry?
Zhou Zeyu: "I'm very hungry."
Are you sleepy?
Zhou Zeyu: "I'm very sleepy."
She propped her head up with a ridiculously large black hat tied around her head, which was said to be a unique local rain gear, just like a straw hat, but obviously it was useless on the hovercraft going against the current, as she was almost full of rainwater.
Why are you asking these questions?
Solkov, busy maneuvering the ship, didn't even turn his head. "Nothing much, because I'm just like you."
Zhou Zeyu said "Oh," and replied, "I thought you could help me achieve that."
"What am I, a river god?"
She pursed her lips, trying hard not to laugh out loud, "I wish you were really a river god."
"The river god might not be able to save you."
“The river god won’t come, but didn’t kind-hearted Sorkov come?” she said casually.
Zhou Zeyu closed her eyes, so sleepy she wished she could bang her head on the ground. She lowered her head to prevent the slanting wind from hitting her face, but the angle caused rainwater to slide down her neck and onto her back, making her shiver and fully awake.
When she looked up, she happened to meet Solkov's gaze. He seemed to smile, but quickly looked away and continued to diligently steer the boat.
She turned her head and suddenly noticed that his face was unusually red. Without thinking, she blurted out, "Why is your face so red?"
"I got caught peeping, so I feel very embarrassed."
Zhou Zeyi gave him a strange look several times. "Have you realized that your humor went a little too far today?"
"I thought you were used to it."
"I don't."
"That was my fault."
What did you do wrong?
“You’re overestimating your vulnerability,” he suddenly said. “I thought you would be very scared in this situation.”
Zhou Zeyu then belatedly realized: "You weren't just trying to make me laugh, were you?"
“I thought it was obvious.”
Is it obvious...?
Zhou Zeyu gave an awkward, hesitant look, "Actually, not everyone can accept your dry humor."
"Ah, don't mention that word, I'm unusually cold right now."
Zhou Zeyu was startled and reached out to touch his exposed arm. It was indeed very cold, so she quickly took off her coat and put it on him.
"I swear this is my last joke."
Just as the damp coat was about to touch Sorkov's shoulder, he suddenly blurted out this sentence.
Zhou Zeyu was speechless and choked with emotion. He desperately suppressed the urge to fight him seriously, took a few deep breaths, forced himself not to beat up this hero who had saved him from danger, held his breath, put his clothes back on, and vowed that he would not say another word.
She made up her mind and began to look around at the roadside. They had unknowingly driven into an unfamiliar place, which seemed to be in the suburbs, but it was not very flooded.
The area most severely flooded was the airport area, but as the terrain rose higher, the water level gradually receded. Zhou Zeyu hadn't noticed this while looking down, but now he was aware of it and felt a little more at ease, at least he didn't have to swim in the water anymore.
Anyway, she can't swim.
Thinking of this, as if by telepathy, Solkov turned to look at her again, this time with a hint of suspicion in his eyes. She looked ahead and, sure enough, there were several burly men swimming rapidly forward in the water.
She clicked her tongue. "What are you looking at? Is it illegal not to know how to swim?"
Sorkov seemed to roll his eyes discreetly. "It's not illegal, but it could easily lead to death."
Before she could finish speaking, she swallowed the rest of her words, and Sorkov, unusually, didn't respond. The two of them suddenly fell silent.
The reason is obvious: even though they say "next time," the most likely scenario is that there will never be a "next time."
She didn't know what to say, so she simply remained silent. But it was Solkov who broke the silence first.
His voice was very soft, almost a whisper. If Zhou Zeyi hadn't happened to hear those few fragmented words, he certainly wouldn't have been able to tell what he had just said.
She knew that Sorkov sometimes acted this way. When he encountered something he really wanted to say but didn't really want others to hear, he would lower his voice and say it. The noise in the environment became the best disguise, and he didn't have to pay any more price for such honesty.
This had happened many times before, but even now, there was one thing Zhou Zeyu hadn't told him: her hearing was exceptionally good.
So, she easily caught this sentence, which was intended to be masked by the sound of water and engine roar.
She looked at his profile and lowered her voice, speaking in a volume barely loud enough for him to hear, "I thought you would come to see me off when I was leaving."
Sorkov remained silent, and Zhou Zeyu wasn't sure if he had heard what he said, but he continued talking to himself.
“I don’t know why, but I really wanted to see you before I left. But then I thought, you probably have your own things to do. Busy people have so many things to worry about, so it’s not a big deal if we don’t see each other. I don’t want to hold you back.”
"Actually, you're wrong about one thing. I'm not that fragile, but I'm not that strong either. I was also very scared when I was waiting for you at the airport. I can't say exactly what I was scared of. Maybe I was just afraid of dying. But then I thought, you probably wouldn't let me die here."
"Sorkov, you've made me say so much for you, but that's not fair. You should have said just as much back to me, that's how it should be."
But no, the wind and rain gradually subsided during the brief moments of dawn, and Zhou Zeyu did not receive his reply. Perhaps he did not hear her words at all; she had only spoken them to herself.
Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep leaning on Coach Xu's shoulder, but Solkov pinched her cheek mercilessly, pulling her out of her sleep, and simply said, "We've arrived."
Zhou Zeyu sat up groggily and saw the familiar little garden of the Elberlint family. The elderly couple, wearing rain boots and holding a large umbrella, were waiting at the door.
The airport was in the western part of the city, where the flooding was most severe, while the Elberlint family happened to be in the eastern part of the city. Fortunately, they were not greatly affected. Their garden was completely destroyed by the floodwaters, and the couple's hard work was ruined. The muddy water was only ankle-deep, but the second floor was unaffected.
After disembarking, Coach Xu, seething with resentment, went to exchange pleasantries with Professor Elberlint, muttering something unintelligible. Zhou Zeyu, having squatted on the boat for too long, nearly fainted when he stood up, and it took considerable effort for him and Sorkov to help him off the boat.
However, the moment she took his arm, Zhou Zeyu felt that Sorkov also seemed to stagger a step, so she quickly let go of his arm, not daring to put her weight on him, but Sorkov just silently shook his head to indicate that he was fine.
"Are you really alright?" she asked in a low voice.
From the moment he stepped off the ship, Sorkov seemed to grow increasingly haggard at an alarming rate. His face turned deathly pale, his steps became unsteady, and he remained silent, his lips pressed tightly together, almost like a walking corpse. Zhou Zeyi even suspected that he had been forcing himself to drive the entire way, and that he had finally reached his breaking point.
She seemed to remember something and paused, then said, "You're not kidding me, are you?"
Sorkov looked at her, his eyes narrowing gently, a hint of mockery lurking in his weary gaze. "Of course not."
After saying that, he left. Even though he had to lean against the wall to rest after walking a few steps, he still politely declined Mrs. Elberlint's request for assistance and staggered upstairs.
Zhou Zeyu stared blankly at his back, frozen in place by his words.
No joke, which means he really did swim in that murky water for a long time, and he was indeed cold, hungry, and tired. He didn't really need to do all that, but he still braved the rain and showed up at the airport in the middle of the night, and then spent half the night bringing her back to a safe place.
As if something heavy was pressing on her heart, making it hard to breathe, she stared blankly in the direction Solkov had left, and suddenly felt a strong urge to chase after him.
She was probably really too tired, so without thinking for a moment, she made a decision in a flash, and rushed up the stairs in a few quick steps.
The wind rushed past her ears. She had never felt so agile before. In the blink of an eye, a surprised Sorkov appeared behind the door. Zhou Zeyu belatedly loosened her grip on the doorknob and hurriedly rubbed herself a few times.
"Um...can I interrupt for a moment?"
Sorkov turned to look at him, his half-raised clothes falling limply to the ground. He squeezed out a muffled sound from his throat, a sound that could only be described as utterly powerless to argue, and then bit his lip bitterly. "You've already bothered me."
Zhou Zeyu closed her eyes and lowered her head tightly. Although she knew it was too late to lower her head now, it was still better than staring at someone's body, which looked like she was a pervert.
It was clear that the other person had been angered by her, but fortunately, they had also lost the energy to get angry. They waved their hand, signaling her to come in quickly and stop standing like a statue at the door.
Zhou Zeyu was overwhelmed with shame, feeling that he was exceptionally wicked. He lowered his head further and further, almost prostrating himself to confess his sins: "I'm sorry."
Sorkov was silent for a while. Just as she could no longer bear the terrible silence and hesitantly raised her head, trying to steal a glance at his reaction, she suddenly came face to face with him. After their eyes met and she couldn't help but look away, Zhou Zeyu was certain that he was absolutely amused by her.
He casually tossed his clothes over his shoulder, crossed his arms, and seemed to want to laugh for a moment, but his lips twitched and he couldn't manage a smile.
“Zhou Zeyu, you don’t look like you have any ill intentions at all.”
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