mesbooks Chapter 62 Stone Dune
Chapter 62 Stone Dune
"I'm sorry, Teacher Chen, Teacher Wang, it's all my fault." At Wang Manni's home, a young boatman in his forties stood in front of Chen Yu and Wang Wenwen, apologizing repeatedly.
The weather was getting a bit chilly. After being rescued, the three of them went back to Wang Manni's house to change their clothes. The two boatmen came to check on the situation and also to apologize.
Chen Yu asked in a deep voice, "What exactly happened? Why did the ship suddenly start rocking?"
"It's a long story." Behind the young boatman was his father, an older boatman. Zhong Xiaoqin and Wang Manni were on his boat, while the young boatman was carrying Chen Yu and Wang Wenwen. "At the place where you had the accident, there's a bridge pier. We all know it; we deliberately avoid it when navigating. Over sixty years ago, a stone bridge was supposed to be built there. During construction, an accident happened, and two workers fell into the water and never reappeared. The project was forced to stop. Later, when construction restarted, another accident occurred. One worker fell into the water and, although he was rescued, he inhaled a lot of water, leaving him with serious health problems. After that, no one mentioned restarting the project. A few years ago, someone suggested knocking down the pier, otherwise, if you accidentally hit it, the boat would inevitably be destroyed and you'd fall into the water. But when they tried to knock down the pier, another accident happened, and the pier has just been left there; no one dares to touch it."
Although Chen Yu found it very strange, the world is a big place and there are many strange things.
Wang Wenwen also asked the young boatman, "You knew there were stone blocks there, so why did you still move closer to them?"
"I...I don't know why? I was a little dazed at that time, and I felt like my body was out of control, like I was sleepwalking. I just vaguely steered the boat over there! And after I realized it, I immediately turned to leave, but it was too late. The hull scraped against the stone pier, or the bow would have hit it." The boatman was also a little scared. Thinking about the history of the stone pier, he probably would never go near that body of water again in his life.
“I accept the apology, but the matter cannot be waived. We will report the situation to the vehicle and vessel operators. Please leave.”
"Yes, we're mainly here to apologize, and we won't deny any punishment that's due." Both boatmen were very sincere. From now on, any customer not wearing a life jacket will be refused service; this will be a strict rule that the two will adhere to.
After the two left, Chen Yu looked at Wang Wenwen and said, "I'm sorry, Wenwen, I can't swim, so I couldn't save you and put you in such a dangerous situation!"
"Brother Xiaoyu, there's no need to say that. Neither of us can swim, so there's no one who owes anyone anything!" Wang Wenwen fell into the water, and there happened to be a mineral water bottle next to her. It was an empty bottle that she and Chen Yu had just finished drinking on the boat. Since there was no trash can, it had been left at her feet. She picked up the mineral water bottle and barely managed to keep breathing. When Wang Manni brought Chen Yu ashore, the boatman also found a life jacket and a life ring. He swam over and helped Wang Wenwen put the boat back on, and then pulled Wang Wenwen back to shore with her life ring.
Zhong Xiaoqin was also shaken. "Brother Xiaoyu, we should thank Manni. Without her, we would have been in danger!"
Without Wang Manni, Chen Yu might have drunk too much water and sank.
The system didn't say when he could leave this world, nor did it say whether he could safely return if he died unexpectedly. But Chen Yu guessed that he might be able to return when the story ended.
"Manni, I really have to thank you. I owe you so much this time! And when you saved me, I almost dragged you into this mess. I'm so sorry!" Chen Yu sincerely thanked Wang Manni.
Wang Manni smiled and said, "It's okay. I'm a very good swimmer. I grew up by the river, haha."
Chen Yu used to think Wang Manni's smile was fake, a standardized, professional fake smile. But looking at Wang Manni again this time, he found that her smile had a unique charm. It would be even better if she didn't wear such heavy makeup.
The three of them didn't discuss the stone pier and the boat again after that. But Chen Yu kept wondering, was there really such a thing? Could it be related to him being a time traveler? However, these questions clearly had no chance of being answered! He could only keep them silently in his heart.
After what happened, everyone lost interest in sightseeing, and since it was getting late, they started preparing dinner. Wang Wenwen and Zhong Xiaoqin went to the kitchen to help. Wang Manni's parents didn't agree to let the two of them help, but the three of them had eaten at Wang Manni's house more than once or twice, so they felt bad about just eating and not cooking. They insisted on helping with the cooking, and only then did the two elders reluctantly allow them to do some light and clean work.
Chen Yu's lungs are still a little uncomfortable, which is a sequela of choking on water. He went to the town hospital and there was no major problem. He was told that he would be fine once the water was expelled or absorbed. He was also told to take some anti-inflammatory drugs to prevent infection and that he would be better in a couple of days.
The next day, Chen Yu and his two companions indeed witnessed the long table banquet. Neighbors brought out their own tables, chairs, chopsticks, and plates and placed them in the middle of the street to form a long banquet table.
Wang Manni sat at the very beginning of the long banquet table. Friends, relatives, and neighbors frequently came to congratulate her with red envelopes. Chen Yu felt this long table banquet was somewhat similar to the Western-style long table set up for Gu Jia's birthday, but it was more lively and had a more festive atmosphere.
Zhong Xiaoqin and Wang Wenwen also brought red envelopes for Wang Manni, saying, "Happy birthday, Manni!"
"Thank you."
Zhong Xiaoqin turned around and looked at the long banquet table. "Your birthday celebration was so lively! It was even more exciting than ours. I'm so envious!"
“Then come celebrate your birthday here next year, and we’ll give you a birthday like this too!” Wang Manni replied with a smile.
Wang Wenwen interrupted Zhong Xiaoqin's reverie and asked, "Manni, we're going back after dinner. Are you going to stay home for a few days?"
"I'll stay home for two days before going back. I'll see you out of town later."
"No need to see us off, you're quite busy here too, we can walk by ourselves." Wang Wenwen shook her head, "We have GPS, it'll be fine, don't worry."
Wang Manni accepted this explanation, "Alright then, take your time on your way back and be careful."
After the banquet ended, Chen Yu waved to Wang Manni and returned to Shanghai with Zhong Xiaoqin and Wang Wenwen. Wang Manni watched Chen Yu's retreating figure, pursed her lips, and looked on with a complex expression.
Back in Shanghai, Chen Yu decided to learn from his experience in the small town and start learning survival skills. After all, even if he didn't need them in this world, he might travel to other movies or TV shows in the future, and who knows when he'd need them? He'd wasted the past few years focusing solely on making money and dating, without considering the future at all.
First, he found Zhou Hong, the captain of the security team. Zhou Hong was a retired female soldier who looked ordinary, but when she got to work, she was steady, accurate, and ruthless, without any hesitation. Chen Yu explained to her what he wanted to learn, and Captain Zhou Hong recommended one of her comrades, who had started a gym in Shanghai after retiring from the military, and the business was doing quite well.
Led by Zhou Hong, Chen Yu met the gym manager, clarified what he wanted to learn, and bought a gym membership. The manager was somewhat surprised by the amount of knowledge Chen Yu wanted to acquire, but given the eccentricities of the wealthy, he didn't think much of it and readily agreed. Swimming, martial arts, knife fighting, stealth, tracking, reconnaissance, wilderness survival… he could teach anything if the student wanted to learn. However, before that, he'd first report them to see if they were a walking 500,000!