October 4, 2011
The boat roared through the white waves, leaving the city further and further behind, their destination was Xiaofudao Island.
"Zhao Xinli, take a photo for us."
Upon hearing the shout, Mr. Zhao squeezed out a pained smile on his pale face.
"Xiaoyu, I’m seasick, don’t make it hard for , let Mr. He take the photo for you," he groaned.
To prove his point, Mr. Zhao leaned over the railing and began to vomit, and Mr. He kicked him before walking toward the three girls.
"I asked you if you get seasick, and you bragged about driving more cars than I’ve seen patients. You’ve participated in countless off-road races, how could you possibly get seasick? Do you want to take a commorative photo for you now?"
Mr. Zhao waved his hand weakly, part of him felt absolutely powerless; his stomach was churning, and he had no energy left to banter.
"Bro, I was wrong, please treat , or I’m gonna die."
Mr. He laughed, helped Mr. Zhao up, and pointed at an island that was drawing closer.
"See the lighthouse? We’re almost at Xiaofudao."
Mr. Zhao strained to glance, noticing indeed the lighthouse was getting closer; he nodded and slightly lifted his hand.
"Mr. He, if we’re brothers, let’s not take this kind of sightseeing yacht on the way back. It goes too far out of the way and bounces around too much; my poor life nearly ended. Please, spare ."
Shancun laughed and handed him so water, and at that mont the boat began to approach the dock.
Having disembarked, the group shouldered their camping gear; six people landed on the island. Mr. He held up his phone, which had a guide written by their colleagues who had previously visited, and of course, a map as well.
"Let’s go, we’ll climb straight from the dock to the lighthouse. There’s a high platform below which is a vantage point. Not many people co here to play, and we also had to make a reservation in advance.
After all, there are only two people who manage the lighthouse living on the island all the ti. It’s not really a tourist spot; no one is responsible for cleaning. Be careful with your backpack, Mr. Zhao, it contains fresh water. When we leave, we must take our trash with us."
No one had any objections. They distributed the backpacks, and everyone began the hike towards the lighthouse.
The island didn’t look very big, but it was full of rolling reefs. The altitude difference from the dock to the lighthouse was nearly a hundred ters, yet the whole island was no more than five thousand square ters. Only upon reaching the top did they realize it was a plateau, and from a distance, the whole island looked like a mountain.
At the mountain’s peak was the lighthouse, standing tall despite the howling sea waves, with seagulls constantly circling overhead.
Zhou Xiaoyu seed very happy, dragging Xia Momo and Zhu Xingxing to run around on the platform, looking around and exclaiming in amazent at how the lighthouse was built atop such a rocky reef.
The duty personnel ca over once for registration.
At Zhou Ning’s suggestion, Mr. Zhao gave them quite a bit of food. Although the person demurred, this kind gesture still fostered goodwill, leading to an unplanned chat with Zhou Ning’s group.
"Actually, the scenery on this island is very beautiful, and there are many schools of fish around. The water is clear, which is great for diving and fishing. However, the island is too small; there’s no freshwater supply and no guest houses.
Moreover, Dafu Island is nearby, which is larger and not just made of rocks. There are residents on the island, and its developnt for tourism is quite good. Here, the lighthouse is still off-limits, so very few people co up to play."
"We chose this place precisely because it’s less crowded. Rest assured, when we leave, we will take our trash with us. We will invite you to join us for the barbecue tonight, let’s have a gathering."
Even though Mr. Zhao was not feeling well, he still managed to make arrangents effectively. The person on duty gladly departed, and Mr. He and Zhou Ning put up two large tents; next to one of them was a pavilion-like structure.
There were already various barbecue tools arranged there. Mr. Zhao filled two barbecue stoves with charcoal and neatly set up the food ingredients and a portable cooler.
Brushing the dust off his clothes, he noticed his hands turned black. Zhu Xingxing handed him a wet wipe, but it didn’t help much. Mr. Zhao waved it off and picked up a collapsible bucket.
"Just wait here, I’m going to wash up by the seaside, and then I’ll bring up a bucket of seawater."
Xia Momo approached Mr. Zhao, considering he had recently been as good as incapacitated.
"You’re not seasick anymore? Otherwise, let fetch the water. Xiaoyu and I planned to take pictures by the northern seaside anyway; although there are many rocks, the slopes are gentler there."
Mr. Zhao kept shaking his head and grinned at Xia Momo.
"Just go have fun with Xiaoyu. This is the kind of physical work for n; I’ll be back soon."
With that, he headed to the northern seaside. Indeed, this side wasn’t as steep. Reaching the water’s edge did not exhaust him, but standing on the edge of the reef, he couldn’t reach the water; only the waves crashed against it.
Mr. Zhao observed for a bit, jumped across a few rocks towards the sea, squatted down to wash his hands clean, and filled a bucket with seawater. As he was about to stand, he spotted a few modest-sized wandering fish. He tried to catch them, but they simply swam away.
Mr. Zhao turned and shouted up to the others:
"Co on down and play, there are lots of wandering fish here. Didn’t we bring a fishing net? Bring it down quickly!"
Mr. Zhao’s booming voice was indeed loud, particularly with the northerly wind. Those above heard his shouts, but the content was fuzzy. Pulling out his phone, Mr. Zhao dialed Zhou Ning’s number.
"Hey, why don’t you all co down here with the fish net? The water is crystal clear and there are a lot of parrotfish swimming around. Let’s catch so fish, prepare them on the spot and then grill them. Wouldn’t that be great?"
Zhou Ning naturally had no objections, as their preparations were already complete. He conveyed Mr. Zhao’s suggestion, and Xia Momo and Zhou Xiaoyu were especially eager to try, as they were going to take photos with their gear. The five of them quickly made their way down.
By this ti, Mr. Zhao had already stripped to the waist and was standing in a shallow bay between several rocks. The constant thrashing in the water indicated there were fish, and probably quite a few. He Shancun rushed over, intending to remove his shoes, but Mr. Zhao imdiately stopped him.
"I doubt your credentials as a doctor. This isn’t a sandy beach; it’s full of rocks. There are lots of oyster and clam shells around, and you’ll get cut if you step on them. What if you get infected with Vibrio vulnificus and end up needing an amputation?"
Mr. He paused for a mont and hurriedly put his shoes back on.
"You with your bad on, always looking on the dark side of things, huh?"
Everyone laughed, and soon they had caught more than a dozen parrotfish. Mr. He volunteered to clean the fish on the rocks, but was t with disdain from Xia Momo and the others, who told him to move further away. Left with no choice, Mr. He reluctantly ran off to a distance.
As he leaped onto a rock, Mr. Zhao pointed in his direction with a look of surprise and ran over.
"Mr. He, don’t move yet."
Mr. Zhao’s words drew everyone’s attention, and Mr. He obediently crouched on the rock. Mr. Zhao jumped closer, climbed onto the highest rock in front of Mr. He, pointed at a rock ahead and shouted to the others:
"I thought we said this place doesn’t get many visitors, so why is there a suitcase here?"
At this point, Zhou Ning joined them, and sure enough, from Mr. Zhao’s vantage point, he could clearly see a silver-gray suitcase on the rocks. However, the suitcase was enclosed in a cage-like structure similar to those used for air conditioner external units, with a thick iron chain, as thick as a thumb, tied around the bottom and locked.
The iron chain, the lock, and the cage were all covered in rust, and the suitcase itself also bore so dents and rust marks.
The suitcase was 29 inches, not the usual 22-28 inch size, with hand-painted images of Conan in just black and blue, quite lifelike, indicating that the owner must be a Conan fan.
But how could such a large suitcase suddenly appear on the rocks?
Wrapped in a cage and secured with chains, the whole thing looked very strange. Zhou Ning’s gut feeling was even worse.
Mr. He, with visible interest, bumped into Zhou Ning.
"What are you thinking? Could this be soone’s lost property? Let’s get the suitcase up here and open it to have a look," he said.
Seeing the naivety in Mr. He’s eyes, Mr. Zhao sighed.
After all, given Zhou Ning’s serious expression, it was evident he shared the sa suspicion as Mr. Zhao—that there might be sothing unpleasant inside the suitcase, especially with Zhou Xiaoyu here, Mr. Zhao didn’t want to frighten Xiaoyu.
But now that they had found it, they couldn’t just ignore it completely, leaving Mr. Zhao in a dilemma.
Zhou Ning waved his hand, signaling Mr. He to back away.
"Don’t look so excited. The appearance of such an object on a deserted reef is definitely not a good sign. Back off and take Xiaoyu straight to the shore," he said.
Mr. He was startled, and seeing the seriousness on Zhou Ning’s face, he blinked and waved his hands nonstop.
"Now, Zhou Xiaozhou, it’s your holiday. Don’t bring the vibe from your work into everyday life. What, you think you’re Conan, stumbling upon cases wherever you go?
It’s just a suitcase with so extra protection outside. And look at the rust—it must have been in the sea for who knows how long."
Mr. Zhao rolled his eyes at him and took photos around the suitcase on his own before gesturing for Mr. He to co over.
"Not afraid, huh? Alright then, co on, let’s carry it to the shore. Watch your step," said Mr. Zhao.
He Shancun coughed and quickly stepped forward, joining Mr. Zhao on one side of the suitcase to lift it. As they moved, the iron chains swung to one side, and Xia Momo and the other girls approached.
Zhou Xiaoyu was excited, gathering her flowing hair.
"What is this?" she asked.
Mr. Zhao then approached the suitcase and sniffed it. He pushed aside the iron chains horizontally, and with no horizontal barrier on top, the cage was laid on its side. Mr. He ca over to help lift the cage, and the suitcase slid out easily.
Mr. He was now nervous; after all, he had just felt its weight.
Mr. Zhao crouched down to look at the suitcase and nodded towards Zhou Xiaoyu.
"Turn around, close your eyes, and don’t turn back no matter what you hear. Only when I call you can you turn around," he instructed.
Zhou Xiaoyu appeared confused but was already being pushed around by Xia Momo, as Zhu Xingxing approached Mr. Zhao curiously. However, at this mont, the ever-curious Mr. He had already opened the suitcase, and a foul stench imdiately assaulted He Shancun.
He glanced down and suddenly shouted.
"Ah!"
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