The speedboat must have noticed someone on the deck. As it tore through the rain between Windwing and Heng Rong Sheng, it decisively chose Windwing as its target.
“Vroom—Vroom—Vroom—”
With the throttle pushed to the max, the boat sliced through the downpour, carving streaks of white foam across the gray, choppy lake.
It closed in fast, showing no signs of slowing. Just ten meters away, the white speedboat suddenly veered sharply, executing a sleek water drift before coming to a dramatic stop alongside Windwing, spraying up a curtain of water in its wake.
The engine’s roar gradually faded, and the heavy rainfall reclaimed the night.
The boat had come to a steady halt on Windwing’s right side, its sharp bow aimed directly at Gu Mengran and Zheng Yijie on the deck. Yet, it kept a cautious five-to-six-meter distance, deliberately not approaching any further.
Gu Mengran’s palms were slick with sweat beneath his grip on the high-pressure water gun, though the rain quickly washed it away. Raindrops pelted his face, but he didn’t so much as flinch. Eyes narrowed, he kept his unwavering gaze locked onto the white boat.
The darkness and rain blurred his vision—at seven or eight meters away, all he could make out was a vague outline. He was debating whether to grab a pair of binoculars when, amidst the ceaseless patter of rain, a loud, clear male voice rang out.
“Hey, can… …? Tune &￥ to machine @#409 fast!”
The words were disjointed, barely intelligible. The speaker was obviously using a loudspeaker, their voice cold and devoid of emotion, repeating the message over and over.
“Tune what? 409? What the hell are they saying?” Zheng Yijie strained his ears, listening several times, but still couldn’t make out the full message. He instinctively turned to Gu Mengran for answers.
Sensing the expectant stare, Gu Mengran wordlessly handed Zheng Yijie the water gun, then reached into his soaked pocket, pulling out a plastic-wrapped walkie-talkie. As he unwrapped it, he translated smoothly, “They want us to tune the walkie-talkie to public channel 409. Quickly.”
Zheng Yijie’s eyes widened. “You actually understood that?”
Gu Mengran didn’t even glance up. “A mix of guessing and deduction. They didn’t come all this way just to take a peek at us. I don’t know what they want, but if they’re willing to talk, that’s better than nothing.”
Zheng Yijie wasn’t convinced. He shook his head furiously. “No way, man. Don’t forget the people at Lingjiang Port. They were the ones who reached out first too.”
Gu Mengran hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah… you have a point.”
The plastic bag was thick, making it clumsy to operate the device. He tried twice to switch channels, both attempts failing. The rain was too heavy—if he unwrapped the walkie-talkie now, water would seep in for sure.
Standing out in the downpour wasn’t ideal either. Gu Mengran quickly scanned his surroundings before turning to Zheng Yijie and giving him a slight nod. Then, holding his breath, he made a dash for cover under the eaves.
He had intended for Zheng Yijie to follow him out of the rain, but the guy seemed to have misunderstood. Still gripping the high-pressure water gun Gu Mengran had handed him, he stood firmly in the downpour, eyes determined—like he’d just received some kind of mission.
Gu Mengran: …
There was no time to deal with him.
Gu Mengran tore open the plastic bag and quickly tuned the walkie-talkie to 409MHz. Just as he was about to press the PTT button to respond, the exact same voice from the loudspeaker crackled through the device.
“Hello! Can you hear us? Windwing and… Heng… uh, what was it again?”
A second voice chimed in from the other side. “Brother Duan, is this really gonna work? Shouldn’t we just get closer? What if they ignore us? How long are we supposed to wait here? My mom’s expecting me for dinner.”
“Eat, eat, eat—that’s all you ever think about! Look at you, round as a bear. What if we pull up too close and scare them off?”
“H-How is that my fault?”
The two bantered back and forth as if no one else was there, making it impossible for Gu Mengran to cut in. He cleared his throat lightly, hoping to get their attention.
“We got sound! We got sound, Brother Duan—”
“Shut up.”
After throwing a verbal punch at his companion, the man’s tone softened when addressing strangers. His voice was polite and patient. “Is this the Windwing or Heng… Heng Rong? Are your two ships traveling together? Where did you come from?”
They came all this way just to ask about their origins? Gu Mengran mulled it over for a moment before responding with a question of his own. “This is the Windwing. Mind telling us who you are and why you’re asking?”
“Us? We’re residents from around Fengjin Lake. You came from Huangjiang, right? Upper stream or downstream? We just need to confirm something.”
The man’s tone remained steady—patient, even—but as his last word fell, Gu Mengran caught the faint sound of an impatient tsk.
No time to dwell on attitudes.
Confirm… Gu Mengran turned the word over in his mind, a vague sense of unease creeping in. Lying wouldn’t be the smart move here. After a brief hesitation, he decided to be upfront. “Yeah, we came from Huangjiang—downstream.”
“Damn it! I knew it.” The man’s tone flipped in an instant. It sounded like he had even thrown the walkie-talkie, the impact followed by a loud clatter.
A short fuse, huh? Gu Mengran thought dryly.
After a brief silence, the device crackled to life again. This time, a different voice—timid, hesitant, and a little slow. “Y-You really came from downstream? Is anyone on your ship running a fever? Do they have red rashes?”
There it is. Feigning surprise, Gu Mengran asked, “What happened? Why would people have fevers and rashes?”
“Don’t play dumb with me!” The short-tempered man cut back in, his voice sharp. “You came from downstream—don’t tell me you have no idea what’s going on. Just answer the damn question!”
Gu Mengran let out a light chuckle. “We’ve been pushing full speed ahead. Honestly, we haven’t paid much attention. Fevers and rashes… Oh! You mean like chickenpox?”
A brief pause. Then, the voice on the other end said, “Explain.”
There was no need to lie about this part, so Gu Mengran told the truth. “When we were approaching Lingjiang Port, we suddenly noticed a lot of dead fish floating on the river. We had no idea what was going on, so we kept moving upstream. Then, when we got to Lingjiang Port, a group of people stopped our boat. They were covered in blisters—huge, terrifying ones, like severe cases of chickenpox.”
“And then?” The short-tempered man asked. “How did you get past them?”
“We pushed through.” Gu Mengran replied matter-of-factly. “The way they looked was horrifying. We didn’t dare to stick around or get too close. You should be able to see for yourself—our boat has several dents from the impact.”
The other side didn’t acknowledge his explanation and instead got straight to the point. “Are you absolutely sure you didn’t come into contact with them? No one on your boat has a fever or rashes?”
The only person who had been infected had already recovered. Gu Mengran’s expression remained neutral as he responded. “No one.”
“It’s not up to you to decide that.” The man’s voice hardened. “Do us a favor—right now, immediately—get everyone on both ships to stand on deck so we can check for ourselves.”
Gu Mengran took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay patient. He softened his tone. “It’s pouring rain, and we have elderly people on board. How about… you come aboard to check instead?”
“Fine! Wait there, I—”
“Brohter Duan!”
Silence. This time, it dragged on so long that Gu Mengran started to think they wouldn’t respond at all.
Then, the walkie-talkie crackled back to life. The short-tempered man’s voice was noticeably calmer, giving out firm instructions. “Listen up. From this moment on, no one on either of your ships is allowed to disembark.”
“I don’t care if you’re just passing through Fengjin Lake or planning to stay here—we’re enforcing a mandatory seven-day quarantine. If anyone develops a persistent fever or starts showing rashes, you are to notify us immediately.”
Gu Mengran raised an eyebrow. “And what exactly will you do if that happens?”
“What do you think? Stop wasting time with pointless questions! We’ll bring you medicine and a doctor, obviously!”
That response caught Gu Mengran off guard.
What was going on with these people? Enthusiastic and hospitable villagers? Before Gu Mengran could figure it out, the short-tempered man launched into another rapid-fire rant.
“Hey! Toss down a rope. We brought some antiviral medicine—everyone on your ship needs to take a dose. Also, how many people do you have on board? Do you have enough supplies? Food? Water? Hurry up and answer!”
The barrage of words left Gu Mengran momentarily dazed. It took him a second to process before he cautiously tested the waters. “Who doesn’t need food? Are you saying… you don’t?”
“We can barely take care of ourselves, and you think we’ve got time to worry about others? Quit the nonsense and just toss down the damn rope.” The man sounded impatient, but there was a faint hint of satisfaction in his tone.
……
Ten minutes later, two soaking-wet men returned to the cockpit, carrying half a bag of equally drenched supplies. Without a word, they set the bag down by the door and turned to leave, leaving the old man and Liang Zhao staring in bewilderment.
Gu Mengran’s skin was wrinkled from the rain. After taking a hot shower and changing into dry clothes, he stepped back into the cockpit, where his grandfather and Liang Zhao were crouched next to the bag, inspecting it through the plastic wrapping.
Water still dripped from his hair as Gu Mengran wiped it with a towel. He raised an eyebrow at his visibly curious grandfather. “If you’re that curious, just open it.”
The old man and Liang Zhao had heard the commotion of the approaching speedboat, but they hadn’t known exactly what was going on. Before they could even step outside to check, two people had returned carrying half a bag of supplies, leaving them completely baffled.
The transparent plastic bag was wrapped in multiple layers, swollen like a balloon, sealing the contents tightly inside. From the outside, it was impossible to tell what was inside. But judging by the unique wrapping style, one thing was certain—this wasn’t their own supply stash.
After staring at it for a while without making sense of it, the old man looked up and shot Gu Mengran a glare. “Well? Are you going to explain what the hell just happened?”
Gu Mengran chuckled and relayed the entire conversation with the short-tempered man, word for word.
From the earthquake until now, they had always been the ones giving away supplies. Receiving aid from someone else? This was a first.
The old man was stunned. It took him a long moment to snap out of it, staring at the bag of supplies as he muttered, “What… what’s the meaning of this? Just handing over medicine and supplies for no reason? Could it be a trap?”
“Probably not.” Gu Mengran shook his head. “That guy had a pretty rough way of speaking, and he never actually said anything about ‘helping’ us. It felt more like…”
He had a vague idea, but when he tried to put it into words, he couldn’t quite articulate it.
At that moment, Liang Zhao picked up where he left off, speaking slowly and thoughtfully. “I think… this place might be safer than we expected.”
“They don’t seem to be struggling for food and water, they likely have a stable shelter, and they know about the virus—at least enough to ask where we came from right away. The moment they heard we were from downstream, they got nervous. Maybe they’re afraid we’ll spread the virus around.”
The old man couldn’t help but ask, “And what does that have to do with giving us supplies?”
Liang Zhao chuckled, patiently explaining, “It’s been raining non-stop. Who would willingly wander around if they had enough to eat and drink? Giving us supplies keeps us in place—it’s their way of making sure we follow their rules. It’s also a way of showing us who’s in charge.”
“Hah…” The old man sucked in a sharp breath and clicked his tongue. “City folks sure are cunning. Who knew half a bag of supplies came with so much meaning? So, what do we do? Return it?”
Gu Mengran shook his head. “No need. Just because they’re asserting control doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing.”
“Since they’re not driving us away, we’ll just stay put, finish our ‘seven-day quarantine,’ and see how things unfold. If they turn out to be decent people… well, following their lead might not be such a bad idea.”
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