Chapter 2

The rain poured down harder and harder!

The waves rose higher and higher, and when the third giant wave hit, the fishing boat tilted dangerously from side to side!

At such a critical moment, an accident occurred, draining the color from everyone’s faces.

The dark and oppressive sky deepened their despair and fear. Sun Yuqing, one of the only two girls on board, had already burst into tears.

“What do we do? Are we going to die here, swallowed by the sea?”

Hearing Sun Yuqing’s cries, Uncle Jiang He hunched over instantly, saying nothing as he ran toward the stern.

The others all had red-rimmed eyes, but they didn’t know how to help.

They could only retreat to the cabin and silently huddle together on the deck. If they were going to die, at least they wouldn’t be alone on the road to the afterlife.

Lan Xiruo couldn’t stand seeing them like this. She scowled and shouted coldly:

“What are you all doing with those faces? Isn’t Uncle Jiang He trying to find a way to fix this? Pull yourselves together and help!”

Jiang Dazhu screamed in despair, “What else can we do? We’re doomed!”

Another person wailed, “With waves this big, we don’t even dare to dive into the water to cut the fishing net! What else can we do but wait for death?”

“My family is waiting for me to bring money back to buy rice. If I die, what will they do?

It’s all Uncle Jiang He’s fault! If he hadn’t insisted on retrieving the net, we’d be home by now!” The last local fisherman wiped his tears and blamed Jiang He.

The others remained silent.

Lan Xiruo scoffed. They had all agreed on retrieving the net earlier, yet now they were blaming Uncle Jiang He.

If they had all opposed it back then, Uncle Jiang He might not have insisted.

“Cowards! You can stay here and complain all you want!”

She had no time to argue with them. Pretending to search through her belongings, she actually retrieved a sharp pair of scissors from her bracelet space.

She hadn’t expected that all the supplies she had prepared in her past life had come with her. She had only been testing it out just now.

—-

After all, in her previous life, the bracelet had not recognized her as its owner at this time.

She remembered that after Jiang He died in her past life, A’Dong had wept while steering the boat at full speed. The fishing net hadn’t entangled them back then.

It seemed that after her rebirth, some things had changed.

Holding the scissors, she ran to the stern and saw that Uncle Jiang He had already tied a rope around his waist.

He was about to jump into the water—using only a dull knife with chipped edges!

They didn’t even know how thick the net entangling the propeller was.

—-

In the pitch-black water, Uncle Jiang He was planning to dive in with a useless knife that might not even cut the ropes!

“Uncle Jiang He! Don’t go! I’ll do it!”

Uncle Jiang He’s eyes were red as he roared, “No! I must go! This is my fault!”

He had heard what the others said—it was his mistake, and he had endangered everyone. He had to be the one to fix it.

“I’ll do it! I won’t go underwater! I have scissors! I’m small enough to lie on the opening above the propeller and cut the net!”

Afraid he would stubbornly refuse, Lan Xiruo quickly explained and shook the scissors in her hand.

Then she grabbed the other end of the rope and swiftly tied it around her waist. “A’Dong, shine the flashlight for me!”

“Ah, okay!” A’Dong hurriedly wiped his tears with his sleeve and pointed the light at her.

This was all his fault!

He had seen buoys on the water ahead and, worried about hitting someone else’s net, had turned the wheel to the left to avoid them.

But he hadn’t expected the stern to swing into the downwind direction, where the net got tangled in the propeller.

The boat stopped moving—and got stuck.

He had desperately tried reversing and moving forward to break free, but the net only got more tangled. The boat was completely immobilized.

If he had been a better sailor, they might have already made it back to port!

It was all his fault!

A’Dong was only a sixteen-year-old boy, and in such a crisis, he was so panicked that he could only cry, his whole body trembling.

“Hold the flashlight steady!” Lan Xiruo had only cut one section of the net when the light wobbled, making her shout anxiously.

Uncle Jiang He silently took the flashlight, crouched down, and climbed into the makeshift toilet pit to illuminate her work.

“Ah!”

“Watch out!”

“Lan Zhiqing!”

Another massive wave struck, tilting the boat 40 degrees. Lan Xiruo lost her balance and slipped toward the sea.

Uncle Jiang He’s eyes widened in horror. Then he suddenly remembered that the rope was still tied to him and frantically reached to pull it.

But he was inside the pit, and the rope was too long—he couldn’t catch Lan Xiruo in time.

Seeing her head about to hit the propeller, he screamed, “A’Dong! Grab her!”

At the last second, Lan Xiruo forcefully wrapped her legs around the propeller shaft, using the momentum to lift her upper body and grip the edge of the stern.

She had saved herself, but the boat was rocking violently, making it impossible for her to climb back up alone.

Gritting her teeth, she yelled, “I can’t hold on for long! Pull me up!”

As soon as she finished speaking, she felt hands grabbing her legs. Behind her, Sun Yuqing’s choked voice shouted, “Lan Xiruo, let go slowly! We’ll pull you up!”

Sun Yuqing and A’Dong each held onto the windows for stability with one hand and grabbed Lan Xiruo’s legs with the other, carefully pulling her up.

Uncle Jiang He also climbed out of the pit and started shortening the rope around her.

Together, the three of them finally dragged her back on board.

Lan Xiruo glanced at the dark, stormy sea in lingering fear. If things got any worse, she might have to knock everyone out and hide them inside her bracelet space.

Most of these people had helped her before—she couldn’t just let them die!

“Uncle Jiang He! Let me cut the net!”

Hearing this voice, Lan Xiruo turned her head in surprise.

It was the local fisherman who had just been blaming Uncle Jiang He. Wasn’t his name something like Black Fish?

Seeing her surprised look, Black Fish stiffened and said,

“I’m only slightly bigger than you. Let me cut the net.

If a city girl like you has the courage to do it, how can I just sit back and watch?”

“Uncle Jiang He, I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have said those things earlier!”

His face flushed as he spoke, but luckily, it was too dark to see, and his skin was dark enough to hide it.

Uncle Jiang He waved his hand dismissively, not minding.

Black Fish grew even more embarrassed and quickly reached for the rope on Lan Xiruo.

Lan Xiruo found his awkwardness somewhat amusing.

The waves were too rough, and she lacked experience. Cutting the net was proving too difficult.

She decided not to push herself. She untied the rope from her waist, let Black Fish tie it to himself, and handed him the scissors.

Black Fish took her previous position while Uncle Jiang He shone the light for him.

The other two local fishermen also rushed over to help hold down Uncle Jiang He and Black Fish’s legs, preventing them from falling into the sea.

After more than ten minutes of effort, they finally cut the net off the propeller.

But before they could celebrate, a sudden level 10 windstorm sent another massive wave crashing down, making everyone dizzy.

—-

Crack!

Lan Xiruo had been sitting on the deck. Since everyone else had fallen, she was hit the least.

So when she heard that sound, she immediately knew what it meant.

Her expression changed drastically. “That was the hull cracking! The ship might break apart in this storm!”