Chapter 275 - Falling into Water

Chapter 275: Chapter 282: Falling into WaterLi Yifei and Su Mengxin had changed their clothes and did not run into Song Ziqiao when they came out. After all, Song Ziqiao was not the kind of small-time thug or hoodlum who would persistently bother a beautiful woman. He was, at least, a Deputy County Head, so he always had to be somewhat mindful of his actions, especially in front of a large audience.

"That annoying guy didn’t follow us?" Su Mengxin frowned as she looked around. S~eaʀᴄh the Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Li Yifei laughed, "What, you were hoping he would follow us?"

"Hmph, a County Head acting like a hooligan, can such a person even be an official? Hmmph, I’m going to have a talk with the city leadership about this when we return."

Li Yifei laughed heartily, "Well, it seems this guy’s days as County Head are numbered."

Su Mengxin looked at Li Yifei and said with a smile, "I’m standing up for you, you know."

Li Yifei bowed with clasped hands, "Thank you, thank you."

The two chatted and laughed. In Su Mengxin’s eyes, a person like Song Ziqiao was utterly insignificant. To deal with Song Ziqiao was mostly because the guy had the audacity to interrupt her private time with Li Yifei, and he was Li Yifei’s enemy. If she didn’t take care of him, when she wasn’t around, Song Ziqiao might continue to cause trouble for Li Yifei, which was something Su Mengxin could not tolerate.

"I was originally planning to swim a bit more, but that guy ruined the mood, so annoying." Su Mengxin grumbled discontentedly as they walked towards the pier.

"Hehe, if you want to come, we can come back in a few days, it’s not a big deal."

Su Mengxin immediately laughed, "You said it, next time I want to come, you have to accompany me, no excuses."

"How could I possibly not want to? With you, the big chairwoman’s commands, accompanying you for fun means I won’t be criticized by President Xu for not working, how great is that?"

Su Mengxin chuckled lightly, "You lazy thing, how can you dislike work so much?"

"Life, you know, too many pursuits can be exhausting. He who desires nothing will be invincible. I feel quite at ease with my life as it is now, and I rather like it."

Su Mengxin sighed inwardly, finding it not so easy to get Li Yifei onto the same path as her.

The speedboat they had hired on their way here had already left, but there were many other speedboats available for hire. As Li Yifei and Su Mengxin approached, a young man in his twenties greeted them with a beaming smile, "Looking to hire a speedboat?"

Li Yifei nodded, "Take us back to Mile City."

"No problem."

Having agreed upon a price, Li Yifei and Su Mengxin boarded the speedboat, which soon started up and shot out into the sea.

Although Su Mengxin still felt somewhat seasick, it was not as severe as it had been on the way here. Still, she had Li Yifei press on her Hegu acupoint. It was painful, but she liked the feeling of Li Yifei holding her hand.

After the speedboat had been running for over twenty minutes, Li Yifei suddenly sighed. Su Mengxin looked at him curiously and asked, "What’s wrong?"

"Our trouble is coming."

"Trouble?" Su Mengxin looked at Li Yifei even more puzzled.

Li Yifei nodded and patted the young man driving the speedboat, "Stop for a moment."

The young man jolted, turned his head to look at Li Yifei with a nervous expression, and asked, "Why?"

Li Yifei smiled faintly, "Hasn’t someone bribed you to deal with us?"

"No... no such thing," the young man stuttered.

Li Yifei grabbed the young man’s wrist and said calmly, "Are you going to talk or not?"

The young man immediately screamed like a butchered pig, feeling as though his wrist was clamped in a vice, his bones about to break.

"I’ll talk, I’ll talk."

Li Yifei didn’t say anything, but slightly loosened his grip.

The young man took a relieved breath and hurriedly said, "Somebody approached me just now, asking me to take you out and then let out most of the oil from my tank, so the speedboat could only go twenty nautical miles. Then they would come to ’rescue’ us."

"Is that all?" Li Yifei gazed into the young man’s eyes.

"Yes, that’s exactly what he said. He said they wanted to play heroes saving the damsel. Once our speedboat ran out of fuel, they’d come to rescue us, and the lady... the lady here would feel grateful to them."

Li Yifei could tell from the young man’s gaze that he was telling the truth, but he knew that the young man had been deceived as well. Song Ziqiao was not a good sort, and he wouldn’t let Li Yifei off the hook so easily.

"So how much fuel do we have left and how far is it to the place they’ve specified?"

The young man hurriedly said, "We can only go for three more nautical miles, and we’re already very close to that place. Just one more nautical mile should be about enough."

Li Yifei narrowed his eyes and said, "Then just do as they told you, but you don’t have to circle around until you run out of fuel before reaching there. Just head straight to that place, that’s all."

"What?" The young man suddenly looked dumbfounded, looking at Li Yifei in confusion.

Li Yifei patted his shoulder and said, "Don’t worry, just do as I say."

This time, the young man finally heard clearly and could only obediently agree, but his heart was filled with doubts, not knowing whether Li Yifei was out of his mind. He clearly knew this was a trap set by the others, yet now he was about to walk right into it.

Su Mengxin watched Li Yifei with a smile on her face. With such danger, having Li Yifei there, she didn’t worry at all; in fact, she was even more eager to see how Li Yifei would handle it.

The speedboat moved forward another nautical mile or so and then stopped. The boat only had a rope, no anchor, so now that it had stopped, it was drifting aimlessly. If they had two fishing rods, fishing here would have been a delightfully leisurely activity. Unfortunately, there were no fishing rods on the speedboat, so Li Yifei and Su Mengxin could only enjoy the beauty of the blue sky and the azure sea. Su Mengxin’s right hand was placed in the water, gently stirring the cool sea, looking quite at ease.

From beginning to end, Su Mengxin never asked Li Yifei what to do, and Li Yifei didn’t say anything. Su Mengxin had complete trust in him, and for Li Yifei, such a trivial matter certainly didn’t require preparing Su Mengxin for anything.

The young man driving the speedboat saw Li Yifei and Su Mengxin on the boat as if on vacation, and couldn’t help but worryingly say, "Those people don’t seem simple, aren’t you going to think of a way to deal with them?"

Li Yifei suddenly caught a fish with a shiny silver glow with his left hand, which made Su Mengxin excitedly shout with surprise. She carefully took the little silver fish from Li Yifei’s hand, her face beaming with a brilliant smile.

The young man was momentarily speechless, finding these two to have really big nerves; they were even in the mood to play with fish at a time like this.

"Yah!" Su Mengxin suddenly let out a startled shout and then abruptly stood up, frantically clawing at her clothes.

The speedboat was not large, and with Su Mengxin panicking, it began to rock, and she staggered, unexpectedly toppling into the sea.

Li Yifei hadn’t anticipated such an accident and quickly reached out to grab Su Mengxin’s hand, trying to pull her back on board, but a wave hit at that moment, making even him lose his balance, and both of them fell into the water.

If they were on land, Li Yifei would have been perfectly composed, but on a boat, on the water, he was not as capable. The main issue was just how unexpected the situation was; who would have thought that just casually handling a little fish for Su Mengxin could lead to such an incident?

Having suddenly fallen into the sea, Su Mengxin was flustered and, instinctively, wrapped her arms around Li Yifei. Li Yifei quickly kicked his legs, and soon they both surfaced.

Su Mengxin’s head emerged from the water and she relaxed. Although she didn’t cling to Li Yifei any longer, she didn’t let go either, and chided him, "You almost made me choke on water."

Li Yifei chuckled and said, "Did you manage to get the fish out?"

Su Mengxin blushed and said, "It should have gotten away on its own, I didn’t feel it." It turned out that just as Su Mengxin was playing with the little fish, it suddenly struggled fiercely and she wasn’t prepared, allowing the fish to slip from her grasp. Coincidentally, the fish didn’t fall out of the boat but instead dropped right into the neckline of her shirt. Even though she knew it was just a little fish, the chilly sensation had startled Su Mengxin considerably, which was what caused the commotion.

"Let’s get back on the boat then," Li Yifei said as he took Su Mengxin towards the speedboat.

But Su Mengxin stopped him and said, "How can I get on the speedboat looking like this?"

Li Yifei turned to glance at Su Mengxin, then quickly looked away. Although Su Mengxin wasn’t wearing revealing clothes, actually a professional suit, the fabric was very thin. Soaked, it had become nearly transparent, and through the clear sea water, he could see everything underneath her clothes.

"So what do we do?"

"How should I know? You’re the one who comes up with solutions."

Li Yifei said with a wry smile, "I’ll think of a solution. Then it seems we can only swim back."

"That’s a good idea," Su Mengxin narrowed her eyes, genuinely tempted by the thought.

Li Yifei was momentarily speechless and said, "Big sister, we must be more than ten nautical miles from land. With such a distance, swimming back is dangerous, isn’t it?"

"With you here, I’m not afraid at all. Anyway, I can’t get on the speedboat and let others see me like this."

Li Yifei was exasperated but speaking truthfully, if Su Mengxin climbed onto the speedboat in her wet clothes for others to see, he himself would feel uncomfortable. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Then let’s hijack a speedboat later, just the two of us on it."

"So you mean I can let you look freely?" Su Mengxin said with a mischievous smile, eyeing Li Yifei.

Li Yifei’s face turned red, and he laughed awkwardly, "That’s not what I meant, but swimming back, honestly, isn’t very prudent. If we encounter a shark or something, that would be dreadful."

"You don’t need to scare me. Sharks rarely attack people. And in our coastal waters, there are hardly any sharks left—they’ve been caught by fishermen and had their fins chopped off. Not to mention the great white sharks."

Li Yifei’s original plan was to seize a speedboat and take care of Song Ziqiao, then leave with Su Mengxin. But now, he had to abandon that idea. Shaking his head, he said, "Fine then, let’s swim back. But we should still ask him for a lifebuoy, just in case you get tired."