The night at sea was pitch black, the pure blue waters transformed into rolling waves of darkness. The boat swayed, sometimes gently, sometimes violently.

Qin Yao sat in the cabin, feeling drowsy but unable to sleep. Her body felt weightless, her ears ringing incessantly.

She changed positions multiple times but couldn’t find relief. Covering her mouth with a handkerchief, she felt nauseous and dizzy.

In the darkness, someone grabbed her wrist. Looking up, Qin Yao met a pair of deep, ink-black eyes.

Gu Cheng began massaging specific pressure points on her hand and asked, “Feeling better?”

Qin Yao slumped in her chair, unwilling to open her eyes, and let him continue. His hands, however, were anything but gentle, pressing hard enough to make her tear up from the pain.

“Alright, alright!” Qin Yao quickly pulled her hand back, gasping.

She looked down and saw her hand covered in crescent-shaped indentations—evidence of Gu Cheng’s firm grip.

Whether or not it was based on acupuncture principles, she didn’t know, but the pain had sobered her up. The ringing in her ears had lessened.

“This boat is so uncomfortable,” she muttered. Sitting in the cabin felt like being trapped in a balloon with thinning air, as if an invisible pressure was crushing her.

Gu Cheng chuckled. “This is nothing. Wait until we hit rough seas.”

Curious, Qin Yao leaned closer and asked, “What do you guys do when you can’t sleep on the boat at night?”

The young girl’s face was full of curiosity. Her bright, star-like eyes mirrored the brilliance of the ocean’s stars.

“Go out and look at the stars.”

So, the two of them made their way to the deck to gaze at the stars. The cabin was stuffy, but the deck was windy. The rope railings around the ship were low, with a few life rings tied to them.

Qin Yao stared at the railings, feeling uneasy. She couldn’t stop her mind from running wild with thoughts.

“Don’t you think this railing is poorly designed? The gaps at the bottom are too big. What if someone slips and just falls off the ship?” Qin Yao tugged at Gu Cheng’s sleeve, pointing at the dark, gaping sea below.

Gu Cheng took a big step to the railing, looked back, and saw that Qin Yao wouldn’t go near it. He held back a laugh and pulled her a little closer. “There aren’t any fools like that.”

Qin Yao, holding onto the railing, nearly lost her mind. It felt like standing at the top of a building, with wild visions of herself falling—into the sea.

—She realized, marrying a fisherman was also dangerous.

The coast guard on duty saw the two of them leave the cabin and thought they were educated youth trying to escape. He warned, “You’ve reached this point. If you jump into the sea, you won’t survive. You’ll only become fish food.”

“We’re not educated youth.” Gu Cheng talked to the guard for a while, and Qin Yao didn’t know what they were saying, but the guard eventually allowed them to stay on deck.

Sitting on the deck, Qin Yao curiously asked Gu Cheng about his past fishing experiences. Gu Cheng briefly shared a few stories with her.

The South China Sea is vast, with countless islands besides Qiongzhou. Many fishermen venture into deep waters, drying fish on the islands of Nanyang, before bringing them back.

Sometimes, bad weather would trap them on a small island for a long time during a typhoon.

Fishing also made it easy to encounter fishermen and military forces from other countries.

“Can you see a large area of coral in the shallow waters around the island? Is it beautiful coral? Can you find natural pearls?” The things Gu Cheng described sounded like a magical adventure to Qin Yao.

The environment was pristine, with few people on the islands and little pollution. There were vast fields of coral, and natural pearls hadn’t been completely harvested. The sea was full of natural treasures.

“No wonder going out to sea feels so exciting,” Qin Yao said, still eager to hear more, her heart full of longing.

When the fishing nets are cast, no one knows what treasure they will catch. The uncertainty, filled with anticipation, was like the draw of a card game from the future.

Gu Cheng’s lips twitched: “…”

“Hey!” Qin Yao leaned over with curiosity, whispered in Gu Cheng’s ear, and asked, “Have you ever found things like weapons or surveillance equipment from other countries? Is there a reward if you turn them over to the authorities?”

Qin Yao rested her chin on her hand. She remembered hearing about fishermen who got rich by retrieving equipment dropped by other countries, with whole fleets of fishing boats joining in.

If they found a big item, the reward could be in the hundreds of thousands.

Back then, the rewards weren’t as high—just a few hundred or a few thousand—but still a huge sum. Many weapons and equipment were retrieved, and it was thanks to the enemy’s deep-sea torpedoes that helped advance their technology.

“No,” Gu Cheng’s expression turned odd. He lowered his eyes, his handsome face cooling down as he gave Qin Yao a cautious, questioning look.

Why would a normal girl ask such a question?

“Oh,” Qin Yao nodded, not dwelling on the topic. After hearing so many fascinating things, she smiled as she let the cool night sea breeze brush against her face. The waves beneath her felt gentle.

Once they reached the island, she would see the coral, pick banana leaves, eat local cakes, and collect various seafood, like grilled oysters, clams, and shrimp…

Maybe, she’d even have the chance to experience a less-than-romantic love.

Qin Yao glanced at Gu Cheng’s profile, pressed her lips together, and smiled gently.

In the fast-paced, restless modern city, where high living costs stifled dreams, true love was hard to find. Most relationships were mixed with material desires. But here, in an age less driven by materialism, maybe true feelings could emerge.

It was strange—others introduced her to financial or legal elites, but she found herself drawn to a fisherman, even imagining a simple, fun life on the island.

“Gu Cheng!” Qin Yao smiled brightly at him, then quickly reached up and wiped his face.

Since the first day, she hadn’t checked Gu Cheng’s feelings for her, but now, how much did he like her? Even Xu Wei, whom she had just met, had a 50-point favorability.

Gu Cheng’s should be higher, right? After all, they’d spent some time together.

[Do you want to check his favorability?]

Qin Yao closed her eyes, full of hope and anticipation, and selected “Yes.” At that moment, she felt like a fisherman casting a net, waiting for her hard work to pay off.

[His favorability: -30 (He is full of suspicion toward you.)]

-30?

Qin Yao froze. In the cool night air, Gu Cheng’s handsome face looked more mature and steady, full of male charm.

She had thought his favorability might not be high, but surely it would be at least in the twenties? But instead, it was negative! Negative!

The cold wind hit her face mercilessly, and Qin Yao staggered a few steps forward, placing her hands on the railing. She looked down at the deep, dark sea, stretching endlessly to the horizon—cold and mysterious.

The waves kept crashing against the ship, spraying foam, which unexpectedly splashed across her face.

The foam felt like mist, with a salty, bitter taste on her lips.

Even the sea seemed to be mocking her misplaced feelings.

—Love, what love was she thinking about?

*

Back in the cabin, her dreamy thoughts shattered. There were no more expectations. Strangely, Qin Yao fell asleep. The next day, everyone was in a low mood. Qin Yao ate something and continued her journey with the ship. By evening, she hadn’t spoken to Xu Wei or Gu Cheng much.

The only thing Qin Yao could hear was Tian Shuyun chattering behind her, discussing marriage and relationships with a few young female educated youths.

The ship arrived in Coconut City at 8:30, having sailed for about 26 or 27 hours.

As the ship docked, a group of people disembarked in an orderly fashion. After resting the entire day, Qin Yao was full of energy. She rushed to grab her suitcase and backpack, deliberately avoiding Gu Cheng’s gaze.

She didn’t say goodbye to him; after all, they were strangers to each other.

Knowing Gu Cheng’s true feelings for her, Qin Yao had been uncomfortable around him all day. She wasn’t the beautiful school belle anymore, but a 140-pound woman. He might not voice it, but she could imagine how much he disliked her behind her back. She felt embarrassed, like an unwanted nuisance clinging to him.

He was full of suspicion about her. What did he suspect about her? Did he think she was being overly sentimental? Did he think she had ulterior motives?

“I want a room for one night.” Qin Yao took out her letter of introduction, filled out all the information, and prepared to stay in the guesthouse for one night.

She carried her luggage upstairs. Her room was on the second floor. When she opened the door, a musty smell greeted her. The room was small, with basic bamboo furniture.

The water pressure in the bathroom was weak, and it took a while to fill a basin. Qin Yao quickly washed her face and lay quietly on the bed. After a while, she seemed to remember something. She took out a scrap of paper from her bag with an address written in flamboyant handwriting.

She ripped the paper into pieces without a second thought and threw it into the trash.

She thought to herself, Stupid little brother, thank you for hating me so much, yet still accompanying me to watch the stars.

But from now on, they would never meet again.

*

“Qin Yao.”

As they disembarked, Gu Cheng called her several times. But Qin Yao, surrounded by a crowd of young educated youths, ignored him, as if the ship journey had drained her life. She practically rushed off the ship.

At this point, the weight of her luggage didn’t seem to bother her.

Qin Yao had been in a bad mood all day. Gu Cheng thought it was just seasickness—that she’d be fine once she rested after getting off the boat.

He intentionally kept his distance from her. After they disembarked, he ran into some familiar comrades at the dock and exchanged a few words.

“Commander Gu, are you on leave? Why are you dressed like that?”

“I was on a business trip.”

Gu Cheng went to pick up his package from his comrade’s home, which contained his military uniform. Tomorrow, he had to submit some documents and get a stamp from the local authorities before he could board the ship back.

After finishing his errands, Gu Cheng, feeling a strange impulse, returned to the dock, but he couldn’t find her anywhere.

“It’s so late; she must be resting,” Gu Cheng thought, feeling irritated. He had barely spoken with Qin Yao today, and it bothered him. Not only had she ignored him, but she hadn’t given him anything to eat, no candy, nothing. Before disembarking, she hadn’t said a word to him, rushing to get off the ship as if she couldn’t wait.

It was as if she had completely ignored his existence.

Gu Cheng found his feelings confusing. He had his doubts about Qin Yao, but she was just an 18-year-old girl, traveling for the first time and asking innocent questions. He must have been overthinking everything.