"This... this..." Chu Xiaoxiao's eyes widened. The fishing boat opposite was pitch-black, without the sound of an engine. It moved by sail, but there was no sign of anyone steering it. It looked just like a ghost ship.
"Oh, you know how fast society is developing these days. Haven't they recently come out with those self-driving cars? My Sea Wolf is pretty much the same sort of thing." Nie Yun gave a brief explanation, then jumped aboard the Sea Wolf with his bag.
"Self-driving?!" Chu Xiaoxiao glanced at the Sea Wolf's sails and rolled her eyes.
Couldn't he at least install an electric engine first?
Nie Yun held out a hand to Chu Xiaoxiao from aboard the Sea Wolf. She froze for a moment before realizing what he meant and placing her hand in his.
Nie Yun pulled Chu Xiaoxiao aboard. Her hand was cold and soft, and his heart stirred. Once she was on deck, her face flushed slightly. She pretended to look around the Sea Wolf and took a couple of steps away.
"There really is nobody here!" The Sea Wolf was small enough to take in at a glance, and Chu Xiaoxiao was amazed to find that it was truly empty. Could it really be self-driving? That was ridiculous!
Naturally, she couldn't see the occasional glint of silver on the seemingly tattered sail.
This was another new discovery Nie Yun had made after his "father-son talk" that day. No matter how far away they were, he could control the Mechanical Insects and make them follow his commands as easily as moving his own limbs! That made it possible for him to operate the Sea Wolf remotely.
"Hey, wait. Something's not right. When I came here yesterday, the keel was broken, wasn't it? How can this boat still go to sea today?"
Chu Xiaoxiao suddenly remembered something and looked around. There wasn't a single hole to be seen.
"Ahem! I went and fixed it last night. The Sea Wolf wasn't as badly damaged as it looked. It just seemed worse than it was!"
"You fixed it? Even if it wasn't that bad, how could you fix it this much in one night?"
Chu Xiaoxiao didn't know much about the shipbuilding industry, but she knew the basics. With a hole as big as the one in the Sea Wolf yesterday, it would take a whole day just to patch up the deck.
"I have a friend who builds aircraft carriers. You know?" Nie Yun gave Chu Xiaoxiao a look that told her to figure it out for herself, then turned and walked away.
Builds aircraft carriers? Would someone who builds aircraft carriers really fix a rundown fishing boat for you—and do carpentry, at that?!
Chu Xiaoxiao felt that this guy was getting more and more mysterious.
While Chu Xiaoxiao wasn't looking, Nie Yun tossed a silver-white sphere onto the speedboat, then turned to her. "All right, let's head back. We should be back in Nanwan around dawn!
"Here's a satellite phone. I don't know how to use it, so call your family and have someone meet you at the dock.
"By the way, I don't want anyone finding out about this. You know how much trouble that would be." Nie Yun scratched his head as he handed her the satellite phone.
Chu Xiaoxiao took it and looked at him. "You still don't want to live with us?"
"Ah, I'm used to being on my own. And I have the Sea Wolf—I can't just leave her behind!"
Chu Xiaoxiao nodded, then walked off to the side and dialed a number.
"Hello, who is this?" A gentle woman's voice came through, sounding a little tired.
"Hello, Mom. It's me!"
"Xiaoxiao? Is that you, Xiaoxiao?!" The woman sounded agitated, as if she'd knocked something over. A moment later, she said, "Xiaoxiao, how are you? Don't worry. Mom will get you out of there. Tell the kidnappers that as long as they don't hurt you, I'll pay them whatever they want!"
"Mom, don't get worked up. There are no kidnappers with me. I was... I was rescued, and I'm safe now."
"What?" The person on the other end seemed stunned for a long while. Then a man's voice suddenly replaced the woman's.
"Hello, Miss Chu. I'm Liu Guodong, chief of the Xia City Public Security Bureau. May I ask where you are and how you were rescued? Don't worry. Take your time."
Chu Xiaoxiao glanced at Nie Yun and said, "You don't need to know where I am or how I was rescued. Tomorrow morning, I'll call this number and tell you where I am. Just have my mother send someone to pick me up."
"But—"
Before he could finish, Chu Xiaoxiao hung up.
"Hey, hey, that was the chief of the Public Security Bureau. Be careful talking to him like that, or he might make things difficult for you," Nie Yun said with a click of his tongue. He'd gotten to see Chu Xiaoxiao's domineering side. Maybe this was the real Chu Xiaoxiao.
Haiying Town belonged to Xia City, and the city's Public Security Bureau chief was a big shot. Nie Yun had never even seen someone that important, yet Chu Xiaoxiao had shown him absolutely no respect.
"Make things difficult for me? After what happened, he should be grateful you rescued me. Otherwise, his career would be over! He ought to be counting his blessings that we aren't holding him responsible!" Chu Xiaoxiao spoke with absolute confidence.
"By the way, why are you towing that speedboat behind us?" While she'd been on the phone, Nie Yun had already tied it to the Sea Wolf. Now they were dragging it along as they sailed.
"It's practically brand new. I can get a pretty penny for it!" Nie Yun grinned like a miser.
Chu Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes, then yawned.
She'd spent all this time terrified, and had barely slept the night before. Now she was exhausted.
"Go get some sleep in the cabin. I'll wake you when we arrive tomorrow," Nie Yun said.
Chu Xiaoxiao nodded and took a couple of steps toward the cabin, then suddenly stopped. She turned and blinked her big eyes at him. "Does the door lock?"
Nie Yun: "..."
"Relax. I'm not interested in underage girls. You're nowhere near as good-looking as Aunt Shu Yun!" Nie Yun said disdainfully, his face dark.
Chu Xiaoxiao glared at him and silently made a note of the name Aunt Shu Yun.
Then, on a sudden mischievous impulse, she took off her jacket, raised both arms, and stretched, exposing her smooth, fair armpits.
"Ah, I'm so tired. Why is it so stuffy out here at sea? I really want to take a shower!"
The left strap of Chu Xiaoxiao's dress had been torn off long ago and now dangled from her arm. Half of her white, low-cut bra was exposed right in front of Nie Yun, and the sight made his eyes go wide.
"Gulp!" The clear sound of someone swallowing echoed as Chu Xiaoxiao turned around smugly and sashayed into the cabin.
As soon as the door closed, Chu Xiaoxiao clutched her chest and leaned against it. "Ugh... what am I doing? I'm such an idiot!"
Her face was bright red. She couldn't figure out why she'd suddenly lost her mind and done something so daring.
Outside the cabin, Nie Yun muttered, "Little vixen." It took him quite a while to calm down.
He walked to the stern, where a rustling sound came from. The Mechanical Insects were feasting.
There were dozens of liters of gasoline on Pinming Sanlang's speedboat, which was perfect for Nie Yun. He wouldn't have to worry about running short of fuel tonight!
The next morning, Chu Xiaoxiao woke up and stared in astonishment at the empty sea behind them. "Where's the speedboat?"
"Oh, I thought about it last night. A beat-up speedboat isn't worth much, so I set it free!" Nie Yun said earnestly.
Chu Xiaoxiao: "..."
Who was the one who said last night that it was practically brand new and worth a pretty penny?
And what kind of "setting free" did you call that?!
Before you continue