After showering, they returned to the stern to continue fishing. Meng Qing checked the hook and, as expected, the bait was gone. He re-baited, muttering: “Now I’m really starving. No matter how big the fish is, I’m definitely eating it this time.”
This time he caught a medium-sized sea bream, about two pounds. The yacht had an induction cooker, so Yu Yi cleaned out the fish’s intestines, washed it, and steamed it simply with just wine and salt.
The fish was so fresh that despite the simple preparation, it was incredibly tender and delicious.
And so they leisurely spent the entire day at sea.
Last night, after returning to the hotel, Meng Qing was intimate with her again. Meng Qing hugged her, burying his head in her shoulder and nuzzling, “If I don’t cling to you, don’t complain that I’m being cold.”
Yu Yi let out a soft laugh, and after a while, hesitantly whispered, “Qing, I… I can’t temporarily…”
He interjected, “I know.”
Meng Qing propped up his head with one hand, using the other to brush her stray hair behind her ear, and said softly, “You still need to complete tasks to save a dowry for your sisters.”
Yu Yi nodded, feeling guilty, “Actually, I already took medication last night… Sorry, I didn’t tell you earlier. Once I save enough money, I’ll… for you…” She blushed and couldn’t continue.
Meng Qing smiled, “Don’t take medication, I’ll bring protection next time.”
This was their last night in the presidential suite. Early the next morning, after getting up, Yu Yi and Meng Qing followed their routine of retrieving all installed monitoring probes through the terminal.
Although the technological level of this time and space still couldn’t actively detect these probes, leaving them would eventually be discovered.
If analyzed, they could potentially have a profound impact on the technology of this time and space, which was not allowed.
They went to bid farewell to Nelson, learning from his assistant that he wasn’t at work today and had gone to a nursing home. Meng Qing returned the room card to Nelson’s assistant and drove to the nursing home.
Nelson and Nora were on the rooftop. Nora sat in a wheelchair, blankly staring at the distant sea. Nelson sat beside her. Hearing footsteps at the rooftop entrance, he turned and saw Yu Yi and Meng Qing, and smiled.
Meng Qing approached him, “Mr. Nelson, we’ve come to say goodbye.”
Nelson nodded, stood up, and looked at Nora, “That day you asked me why I don’t hate her.”
Meng Qing said, “You’ve already answered me.”
Nelson looked at him and said, “Pure hatred itself is meaningless, but sometimes hatred can become a motivation for people to strive.”
Meng Qing raised an eyebrow, “Even so, I don’t think it’s necessary to thank the source of hatred. Whether to strive depends entirely on the individual’s will.”
Nelson laughed, “Perhaps. Do you need me to take you to the airport?”
Meng Qing extended his hand, “No need, thank you.”
After shaking hands with Nelson and saying goodbye, they left the nursing home, returned the rental car, and walked to an uninhabited area. Meng Qing looked at Yu Yi, “Go back?”
Yu Yi opened her terminal and looked up at him with a smile, “Go back.”
“
Meng Qing nodded: “Yes, that sounds much better. Let’s take this task.” They both agreed on the plan and set off to prepare for their new mission.
As night fell, they gathered their supplies and headed towards the designated drop-off point. The atmosphere was tense, but their spirits were high. They had each other, and that was all that mattered.
Upon arriving at the cargo location, they noticed several guards patrolling. Yu Yi whispered, “Looks like we have to be cautious.” Meng Qing nodded, strategizing their approach.
With careful coordination, they managed to navigate past the guards unnoticed. Once they reached the transport vehicle, they quickly loaded the cargo and prepared for their journey back.
The ride was smooth until they encountered an unexpected storm. Rain poured down, and visibility dropped. “Oh no, what if we get lost?” Yu Yi exclaimed, gripping the seat tightly. Meng Qing reassured her, “Just stay calm. We’ll make it through this.”
After enduring the storm, they finally arrived back at their starting point. They unloaded the cargo and received their reward. With smiles on their faces, they celebrated their successful task completion together.
They realized that they could face any challenges as long as they were together.
Meng Qing said, “Where there’s cargo escort, there are cargo robberies. There will still be bloodshed with swords and knives.”
Yu Yi thought about the tasks they had done before – weren’t there many that involved bloodshed? Although unwilling, she still agreed and continued searching. She found an A-level task with moderate difficulty and good rewards. But Meng Qing refused, saying, “Although this task requires being embodied in an 80-year-old man. Don’t you think it would be unpleasant to see me like that?”
Yu Yi continued to find several high-reward tasks, but Meng Qing always had reasons to refuse. Yu Yi knew he was avoiding them and became angry, stopping to look at his terminal and opening her own to browse.
Meng Qing saw she was annoyed and leaned close to her ear, saying, “Let’s rest today. We’ll choose a task tomorrow, and I promise I’ll do whichever one you want.”
Yu Yi kept a stern face and ignored him. They had already rested for three days on Black Pearl Island, and although it didn’t use time in this space, it still used their own time. Now they were going to “rest” in this space, which she was extremely reluctant to do.
Yu Yi called out, “Fourth Brother.” She stepped forward, helping the small servant support the man in the blue robe, assisting him to stand up.
With their help, the man in the blue robe finally steadied himself after staggering.
On the bed, another young man coldly looked at them and said, “Fourth Brother, give it a rest. Don’t put on such an act. Are you trying to say you fell worse than I did?”
The man in the blue robe gave a bitter smile and hissed in pain, murmuring, “Big Brother, do you know that hitting one’s head could be more serious than breaking a leg?”
The man on the bed, stroking his injured leg, sneered, “Wen Da can still stand and speak, and he’s not talking nonsense, so it doesn’t seem too serious.”
Yu Yi looked at Fang Wen Da, whom the man on the bed called Fourth Brother, and asked worriedly, “Fourth Brother, did you hit your head? Are you okay?”
He turned to look at her, his mouth curving slightly: “Big Brother says Wen Da is speaking coherently, so it’s not a problem.”
Meng Qing turned to face Fang Cheng Yun, whom he called Big Brother, “Wen Da is dizzy standing up. Big Brother doesn’t mind if Wen Da sits down to talk, right? Fang Bao.”
“Yes,” the servant Fang Bao responded, quickly lifting the round stool from the ground. Meng Qing sat down smoothly, and Yu Yi also found a round stool to sit on.
Fang Cheng Yun snorted, “Fourth Brother, weren’t you going to leave just now?”
Since you’re dizzy, why don’t you go back and rest?”
Meng Qing waved his hand, “I really can’t walk. Let Wen Da sit here for a while.”
Fang Cheng Yun said nothing more and turned to look at the bed canopy.
The family Yu Yi and Meng Qing had entered was a middle-upper-class small merchant household. The head of the family, Fang Fu Gui, ran a rice shop. After his first wife bore three sons and passed away, Fang Fu Gui remarried Xue Si Niang and had a son and a daughter – Fang Wen Da, whom Meng Qing now inhabited, and Fang Han Zhu, whom Yu Yi now inhabited.
Fang Fu Gui had a lucky break in his youth and gradually expanded his small business. After his rice shop became successful, he wanted his sons to be more accomplished than himself. Not wanting to name them generically, he hired a scholar to name his sons.
