Jiang Jingyu didn't get the pampering he expected from Lu Jiaying; instead, he received a barrage of punches.
Taking a few blows with a smile, he raised his hands in surrender and explained, "I don't know Li Guohua, but I have some acquaintance with the former CEO of Ke's Group. Our names are similar, so he's likely heard of me."
"Ah?" Such a bizarre coincidence?
Lu Jiaying looked bewildered.
Jiang Jingyu pulled her into a taxi, and as they headed towards the island, he recounted his past.
It turned out his childhood had been so eventful, and there was such a history between Jiang Nan Fang and Zhan Bei Jue.
These were such private matters; why was Jiang Jingyu telling her everything?
Lu Jiaying was stunned.
After Jiang Jingyu finished speaking, he saw her surprised expression and couldn't resist pinching her cheek.
"This is our family's top secret, never told to an outsider. You're the first."
Lu Jiaying had forgotten to resist his touch and instinctively said, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
Jiang Jingyu found her dazed look incredibly cute.
"If I were afraid you'd tell, I wouldn't have told you. The point of me telling you this is, Lu Jiaying, I don't consider you an outsider."
"..." After a rare few minutes of seriousness, he was already veering back in that direction.
Lu Jiaying pushed his hand away, rubbed her face, and decided to ignore him.
They had talked the whole way and hadn't noticed how far they had driven.
As their conversation ended, the driver announced they had arrived.
Turning to look outside, they saw a vast river dotted with numerous boats of various sizes.
The sky was overcast, with dark clouds pressing down. The sea was still and black, indicating an imminent storm. There were hardly any people on the dock.
With his height advantage, Jiang Jingyu scanned the distance. The boats were scattered. "The weather is so bad, are you sure you still want to go?"
"If the weather is bad, do we stop working? The company still has to pay its employees even in bad weather."
As someone from inland, Lu Jiaying had no understanding of coastal weather.
When the weather is extremely gloomy, it not only brings wind and rain but also the possibility of typhoons or even hurricanes.
At such times, everyone chooses to turn back or postpone their travel; no one ventures out into the wind and waves.
They walked along the line of moored boats, searching further and further, and finally spotted a middle-aged man on a medium-sized white vessel.
Jiang Jingyu asked, "Boss, can we rent a boat?"
"When do you need it?"
"Now."
"Where are you going? What do you need it for? Cargo?"
"No, there's an island called Sanyu Island in the center. We want to go there."
The boss glanced out at the sea.
"Sanyu Island isn't close to here; it's at least a three-hour journey. And the weather is bad today, so there will be an extra charge if you go."
Lu Jiaying asked if the bad weather would affect their sailing.
The boss's tone shifted, "It affects others, but not me. I've been drifting on this sea for half my life. As long as you're willing to pay, I'll take you even if it's raining knives."
Lu Jiaying was determined to go, and Jiang Jingyu went to negotiate the price with the boss.
After some back-and-forth, they boarded the boat.
This was Lu Jiaying's second time on a boat.
The first time was right after graduation, when Melody took her out to sea. They were on a luxurious yacht, under a bright sun and blue skies.
Coupled with her good mood, she had a wonderful time.
Now, looking at the dark clouds where the sky met the water in the distance, the turbulent river, and the sea that was a dark shade of blue, she felt not only nauseous but also a sense of unease.
Jiang Jingyu said she was seasick and went to ask the boss for some motion sickness medication for her.
"There's still plenty of time anyway. If you feel unwell, take the medicine and lie down to sleep. I'll wake you when we arrive."
The advantage of being a man finally showed itself. Faced with this environment, he wasn't scared; instead, he seemed somewhat excited.
Jiang Jingyu was eager, even wanting to learn some sailing knowledge from the boss.
Lu Jiaying closed her eyes, "Go ahead, but drive carefully. Just don't crash the boat."
As fate would have it, despite the wide expanse of the sea and no major winds or waves yet, halfway through the journey, the boat stopped moving.
Feeling the speed gradually decrease until it came to a complete halt, Jiang Jingyu asked, "Boss, what's wrong?" The boss looked at the instrument panel, deep in thought.
"The engine was just replaced a few days ago. It's impossible for it to have a problem this quickly. Damn it, they must not have fixed it properly."
The engine had a problem?
How interesting. Stranded in the middle of the sea, far from anywhere, and the boat's engine broke down?
"What do we do now?"
The boss said, "Call someone to fix it. As it hasn't rained yet, he has to come. But the repair might take a long time."
"How long is a long time?"
"It's uncertain. If it goes well, it might be fixed before dark. If not, we'll have to tow the boat back."
Jiang Jingyu was speechless. What kind of luck was this?
However, on second thought, there was a benefit to the delay. This way, he could spend more time alone with Lu Jiaying openly.
Even stranded at sea, Jiang Jingyu was happy.
But when he told Lu Jiaying, she wasn't pleased.
"The reason I rushed over in this weather was that I didn't want to waste too much time and wanted to meet with Vice President Li as soon as possible. What is this endless drifting supposed to be?"
"Tell him to send someone to help us switch boats, or at least take us back. If we keep drifting like this, I'll faint."
The conditions on the boat were poor, and she was delicate. It was understandable that she couldn't handle it.
Jiang Jingyu went to talk to the boss. The boss said that under normal circumstances, people wouldn't go out in this weather.
"If it weren't for the need to earn a bit more money to support my family, I wouldn't have come out. Now the boat is broken, the money for the engine repair is gone, and I still have to call another boat for you?"
"It's not easy to run a small business. Please be understanding."
"There's a life raft on the boat. Give me 500 yuan, and you can row it away. It's not far from the fishing villages along the river; it'll take an hour or so. If you really don't want to spend money, then wait for my boat to be repaired."
The river was so terrifying, and it looked like it was about to rain, yet they were suggesting they row to shore themselves?
How could he even say that!
But Lu Jiaying didn't want to wait endlessly.
"We'll row the life raft ourselves, but we'll give you a maximum of 100 yuan."
The boss: "Huh?"
"As a boatman, you should have the ability to withstand risks. When something like this happens, it's not caused by us, so why should you hold us responsible?"
"Don't think you can bully us just because we're from out of town. If not, we can call the police."
Seeing that she was not to be trifled with, and that there were two of them, with Jiang Jingyu being tall and strong, the boss could only agree.
Just a day prior, the two of them were entering and exiting bright, spacious office buildings in Nancheng. Now, they found themselves adrift at sea in a life raft, battered by wind and rain.
What was this all about?
Lu Jiaying frowned, afraid to look at the water. Jiang Jingyu, however, was quite excited.
This was his first thrilling experience, and although it couldn't compare to climbing a snow mountain, it was quite fun.
He couldn't help but pick up his phone to take a selfie.