Chapter 51: Finally Fatty Ye’s Turn!
After comforting Wu Xie, Lin Yan returned to the cabin for some more sleep. Sleeping on the ship was ultimately not as good as on land, but he had been extremely tired before. However, he still felt his limbs somewhat sore and weak, and his head a bit groggy. He didn’t know how Wu Xie, who had also narrowly escaped death from the ghost ship, had the mind to think about those things.
He dozed off in a half-asleep, half-awake state for an unknown amount of time, and was woken up by Fatty’s loud shouting. He didn’t know where Fatty got such a loud voice from; probably the whole ship could hear his profanity.
The noise outside had been going on for several minutes, and he really couldn’t sleep anymore, so he got up and happened to see Wu Xie still fiddling with that tattered notebook.
“What time is it now? What’s the commotion outside?”
Wu Xie snapped out of his thoughts and glanced outside: “Not sure, probably around evening? From the sound, it’s Fatty asking the ship captain for fish. He was clamoring to eat seafood before.”
Lin Yan put on his clothes and went out. His impression of the ship captain was still stuck at the amazing moment when one shot scared off the sea monkey, plus the composed command during the previous storm; he couldn’t imagine him being dragged into a pointless argument by Fatty.
Then he almost laughed his stomach out.
The ship captain’s reluctant, bitter-faced look as he unwillingly went to get the fish was too amusing. His Mandarin was fairly fluent, but his speaking speed couldn’t compare to Fatty’s at all. He tried several times to interject during Fatty’s speech gaps but failed, and in the end, could only have the crew member bring over a fish stew made from the seafood they had caught.
Even when taking the money from Fatty, that expression was still reluctant; it was really unimaginable.
When the fish was almost ready, Wu Xie also came out drawn by the fragrance: “This is… dinner?” He stared at the fish in the pot, his gaze unable to move away. Fatty struck first, scooping toward himself while calling out: “Everyone eat, eat! This fish smells too good!”
Now everyone in the cabin couldn’t hold back, and the air was filled with the fresh fragrance of seafood.
After a frantic scramble for food, Fatty lay half-reclined on the ground, clutching his stomach: “This is what seafood is!” He then pulled out a bottle of erguotou liquor from somewhere in his backpack: “How can you have fish stew without liquor?” Ignoring Wu Xie’s shocked objection, he poured a cup for everyone present, then raised his chopsticks to grab more food: “Eat and drink well! This meal is on me, Fatty Ye!”
The people beside them all laughed and said Fatty Ye was generous, but only Wu Xie glared at Lin Yan’s hand reaching for the cup.
Lin Yan noticed Wu Xie’s gaze and quickly poured most of his cup over to Wu Xie, sheepishly raising the tiny bit left at the bottom: “I’ll just taste it.”
Wu Xie figured it didn’t seem like they were arriving at the place anytime soon, and a little of this probably wouldn’t make him sleep a whole day, so he agreed.
Lin Yan was overjoyed and immediately downed the rest in one gulp.
“It’s pretty fragrant.”
Wu Xie sighed, and taking advantage of no one paying attention, put Lin Yan’s hand on his shoulder and quietly helped him back to the cabin, tossed him onto the bed, patted his hands, and went back to drink and eat fish. Lin Yan’s alcohol tolerance was poor, but his was fine; two mouthfuls of erguotou wouldn’t knock him out.
They ate until the moon was high in the sky before stopping. When Lin Yan woke up, not only had Wu Xie long gotten up, but it was almost noon outside.
He was still woken up by hunger. He had only grabbed food in the first half yesterday before passing out—how could he have eaten his fill!
Wu Xie was already dressed in his waterproof wetsuit, studying the notebook. Hearing the movement, he turned his head and pointed beside him: “You’re finally awake. If you didn’t wake up soon, I was going to call you. Get your equipment on; we should be close to the place.”
Lin Yan looked and saw that beside him, besides the familiar wetsuit, there was also a fairly large backpack: “What’s inside this?” He hefted it; it was a bit heavy.
Wu Xie stood up and picked up the one beside him: “Just some standard equipment—nylon rope, searchlight, fire starter, first-aid kit, and so on; one set per person. Yours has the military shovel packed in it. I figured you wouldn’t use the black donkey hoof much, so I kept it here.”
Lin Yan frowned and rummaged through it; there was only a water bottle, no food in sight: “No dry rations?”
Wu Xie gave him a strange look: “I brought some here, enough for us. Besides, we’re only going down for a day; why so many dry rations?”
Lin Yan glanced at him: “You forgot how long we stayed below Lu King’s Palace?”
Wu Xie thought about it, and his face paled a bit. Damn, that made sense! If they didn’t bring more dry rations and something unexpected happened, they might all starve down there!
“You’re right; I’ll go ask them for some right now!”
However, A Ning’s side didn’t have extras either. In the end, Wu Xie went to the ship captain and bought some of their dehydrated vegetables and canned food for sea voyages before calling it quits. The already full backpack was now even more bulging.
Wu Xie shouldered it and felt his shoulders sink: “This must be twenty pounds or so!” Lin Yan didn’t feel much; he thought his strength had actually increased now—at least carrying equipment didn’t feel heavy. He stood behind Wu Xie and lifted his: “Want me to carry it for you?”
Wu Xie shook his head: “Nah, if I really can’t manage later, then we’ll talk.” Lin Yan shrugged indifferently: “Alright, don’t push yourself.”
When they went out, some people were already working outside, with several divers going up and down. A Ning was standing at the bow watching.
Wu Xie asked her: “How’s it going?” Looking around, he didn’t see Fatty and the others, so he asked again: “Where are Fatty and them? They gone down too?”
A Ning turned around, saw it was them, and smiled: “You guys are finally up? They reported a suspicious spot last time; they’re down checking it now.” She pointed toward the stern: “Mr. Wang and them are over there.”
Wu Xie thought if they could find it, that would be great—best if he didn’t have to do anything—and took Lin Yan to chat with Fatty and the others.
As soon as Fatty saw Lin Yan, he started grinning mischievously: “Young comrade, you left way too early yesterday, huh?”
Lin Yan’s face flushed red instantly. Could he help his poor alcohol tolerance! He hadn’t wanted to either!
Wu Xie bailed him out: “Alright, Fatty. What did you discuss before we came out? No changes to the diving plan, right?”
Fatty shook his head: “Nah, same as before. I’ll take the lead, you experts in the middle, A Ning and them bringing up the rear.”
Lin Yan gratefully glanced at Wu Xie. Wu Xie glared at him, signaling him to listen carefully—this was a matter of life and death; no slacking.
At that moment, someone sent by A Ning came running to call them: “Everyone, they’ve found the place over there. Miss A Ning wants you to come.”
The group walked over while loosening up their limbs and arrived beside A Ning, seeing her sorting her equipment, ready to go down.
“What’s the situation below?” Fatty asked her.
While checking her oxygen tank, A Ning said: “We’ve found the tomb-robbing hole. The cave entrance had some collapse; it’s been secured now. Check your equipment; we’re heading down.”
“Great!” Fatty was overjoyed; finally, it was time for him to show off his skills (make money)!
(Second update!)
