"Ring ring~~~"
"Hello... Oh, got it!"
Murong Yanran hung up the phone, her brows furrowed.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, just some minor issues at the hotel. You should head back first. I have to stay at the hotel for these two days; this reception is too important."
Li Haochen could see the worry on Murong Yanran's face but didn't ask, not wanting to add to her pressure.
"Then... I'll leave first. Take care of yourself."
Leaving the office, Li Haochen didn't leave immediately. He turned towards Yang Tao's office. Just as he was about to knock, Yang Tao rushed out in a hurry.
"Ouch!"
The two collided. Fortunately, their speed wasn't high, or they would have seen stars.
"My apologies, Haochen. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Brother Yang. Did something happen?"
"Didn't General Manager Murong tell you?"
Li Haochen shook his head, starting to feel anxious. "Brother Yang, what happened? Tell me. As they say, one person's wisdom is limited, while two heads are better than one. Having more people thinking is better than one."
"Well... alright then."
Yang Tao pulled Li Haochen into the office, closed the door, and said nervously, "The foreign guests are arriving the day after tomorrow. However, two seafood suppliers who were cooperating well with us have suddenly backed out, causing a shortage of seafood. I've contacted other shops, and it's the same story. I suspect someone is trying to sabotage this reception."
Li Haochen also frowned. After a moment's thought, he could guess the general situation. If the Binhai Grand Hotel messed up this reception, the biggest beneficiary would be the Hong family's hotel. Furthermore, the Hong and Li families' resorts were undergoing intense construction, and this was likely a way to pave the way.
"The wealthier the companies and families, the more they climb over mountains of corpses and seas of blood."
This world was like this, a jungle where the strong prey on the weak. Even in the workplace, for a small position like a team leader, colleagues who were on good terms could become scheming and backstabbing. This was even more so for large corporations and families.
If not for the country's major crackdown in recent years, the methods would not have been so gentle.
"Brother Yang, I'm going out to sea as well. I hope I can find something. I'll be going now."
After leaving the hotel, Li Haochen didn't bother with his electric scooter, deeming it too slow. He directly took a DiDi home, packed a few things, and brought his two spearguns and rebreather gear.
He took a taxi to the pier, went to the fishing tackle shop, and bought some fish traps and crab cages. After thinking about it, he decided to buy a speargun.
There was a wide variety of spearguns, including bow-type and crossbow-type, with prices varying significantly, from tens to thousands. The most expensive were the tuna spearguns, starting from three to four thousand.
Li Haochen wanted to get a tuna speargun; they were so powerful. Unfortunately, he didn't have a license to hunt tuna yet. After a long selection, he finally chose a carbon fiber, front-4 roller, ballistics-type diving speargun for the Ironclad Shark.
He fired a shot at a thick cardboard box, and with a "bang," it pierced straight through. Seeing its power, Li Haochen nodded in satisfaction.
Li Haochen bought this item not for hunting fish. Dead fish weren't worth much. It was purely for his personal safety. The rebreather gear was too heavy to enter the spatial dimension directly. If he went to the seabed without any self-defense, he wouldn't know how he died. At the very least, with this equipment, it increased his reaction time, thus greatly increasing his chances of survival.
It was quite expensive, over 2,000 yuan, but for his life, let alone 2,000, he would buy it for 20,000, but the most expensive item in the fishing tackle shop was this one.
"Haochen, are you preparing to go into the water?"
"Heh, I brought my gear. I don't know if I'll go in, but it's better to be safe than sorry."
The boss glanced around and lowered his voice, "Do you want to get some more good stuff for self-defense? It just arrived, very rare on the market. Seeing how familiar you are, I'm telling you."
Seeing his caution and mystery, Li Haochen could guess a bit and also lowered his voice, "Contraband?"
The boss nodded noncommittally. Li Haochen immediately became interested. After all, he only had one life, and having more means always had its benefits.
Closing the shop door, the boss went inside and came out with a densely wrapped object in a foam box. After unpacking, Li Haochen's eyes widened at the sight of the item, and he was immediately delighted.
"What do you think? This is standard issue for American soldiers. It can cut and slice. Made of 420 high-carbon steel. If you encounter sharks or tangled weeds while diving, at least you have more confidence," the boss said, demonstrating. A 5mm iron nail was cut without any pause, the cut surface smooth and flat, and the blade was undamaged.
With such a sharp weapon, how could Li Haochen miss it? Although it wasn't cheap, even with a discount, it was 1,900 yuan. He then bought some leader lines, fishhooks, and other items before leaving the fishing tackle shop.
Time was pressing, and he didn't have time to go to the market to buy rice and vegetables. So, he bought some Snickers, Red Bull, sausages, and over ten buckets of White Elephant instant noodles from the nearby convenience store for sustenance. It was only two days anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to miss a couple of rice meals.
After loading all the supplies onto the boat, he checked the fuel gauge. There was still half a tank, and he had a few 60L cans left, so he didn't call for a fuel tanker. However, he did need to add water.
Ten minutes later, everything was ready. The "Starry Sky" let out a long horn blast and slowly left the dock. This time, he wasn't heading towards the sunrise but chasing the sunset.
After sailing for a while, Li Haochen took out his phone and called Murong Yanran and Xie Baolian. They couldn't help but scold him. They could only scold him, though. He was already in the middle of the sea; how could they find a boat to pull him back? They had no choice but to let him go. Of course, they lectured him on safety for half an hour before hanging up.
A cool breeze blew. On the pitch-black sea, only the "Starry Sky" was sailing. Apart from the roar of the engine, there were only the sounds of waves crashing and the whistling of the sea breeze. It was a lonely sight, quite solitary.
Unknowingly, the moon was high in the sky, and the hands of his watch had turned into a right angle. Looking at the red dot on the satellite positioning, Li Haochen knew he had reached his destination – the desolate reef where he had saved the sea turtle last time.
He stopped the boat and dropped anchor. He ate two Snickers, made some instant noodles, and then slipped into the spatial dimension to pry mussels. In a few minutes, he came out with dozens of pounds of mussels. After eating the instant noodles, he began preparing the bait.
Bait for the fish traps was simple; he just smashed them and put them in the attractant box. For the longline fishing, he had to cut the meat. Processing 100 hooks was no small task, and it took an hour after finishing.
Li Haochen got into the driver's seat, raised the anchor, and started the boat. He sailed very slowly, at only first gear. He fixed the direction with a heavy weight and then walked out to cast the fish traps first. He had added two more fish traps recently, doubling their number. It was quite troublesome to do it alone. After successfully deploying the longline fishing gear, Li Haochen drove the boat in a circle, returning to the original position to drop anchor and stop.
The seafood needed for the hotel wasn't just fish; it also included lobsters, crabs, abalone, sea cucumbers, and other items. Therefore, Li Haochen planned to dive at night to see if he could find anything.
After doing about ten minutes of warm-up exercises, he put on his diving gear, strapped a steel knife to his leg, and held his speargun. After rechecking his equipment, he fell backward into the water.
"Plop~~"