Zhou Haimei woke up from her sleep, drawn by the aroma of breakfast.
“It smells so good, what are you guys making?”
Xu An: “Hurry up and get up to eat, we’ve been up for a while.”
Only then did Zhou Haimei notice that Xu An and Qin Chuan were already dressed and sitting by the campfire, starting to get it going.
Wrapped in her blanket, she shivered as she got out of bed. As she emerged from under the covers, a chill ran through her.
“Whoosh~ It’s so cold.”
Xu An cooked porridge and heated some dry rations, along with some dried meat.
It was simple, but in the cold winter, a bowl of hot porridge was already a rare delicacy.
Just as the three of them were eating, Qin Chuan’s expression suddenly changed.
He put down his bowl and looked at the watch on his wrist.
Xu An, seeing his tense expression, asked, “Did something happen?”
Qin Chuan’s sudden movement was so abrupt that even Zhou Haimei noticed something was wrong.
“Qin Chuan, are you okay? Your face looks so bad.”
Qin Chuan looked at the special wristwatch on his wrist, his expression grave.
“Our team’s technician must be in danger. This emergency signal can only be sent once, and they must have encountered a problem they couldn’t solve to send it to me.”
Qin Chuan thought to himself that when he parted ways with Zhou Yue, he had single-handedly lured away the sea monsters. They must have thought he was long gone.
Yet, this researcher still sent the distress signal to him, proving that they were at their wit’s end.
“My teammates are in danger, I need to go and check.”
Qin Chuan’s brows were stern. He meant he was going to check alone.
He clearly didn’t want to involve Xu An and Zhou Haimei.
But Xu An didn’t think of it as a burden.
“You plan to just leave by yourself like this?” Xu An’s brows furrowed. “Does your teammate have any food?”
Qin Chuan nodded, “Yes, when I left, we had a temporary base, and all our supplies were there.”
He didn’t tell Xu An the specific details. He subconsciously felt that Xu An might not be interested in hearing them, and also felt that these matters had nothing to do with Xu An.
He also didn’t want to get the other party involved.
Zhou Haimei jumped out at this moment, looking at the two of them, “We’ll go with you. What if those sea monsters come? Are you planning to face them alone? Besides, don’t you have the device to contact the lighthouse on you? We want to follow you, we want to go back to the lighthouse.”
She was truly tired of this troublesome life!
Xu An had clearly thought of this too and didn’t refuse.
The most crucial reason they were following Qin Chuan was that the communicator connecting to the lighthouse was with Qin Chuan.
“I had already sent a signal to the lighthouse before I fainted. If they received it, they should be heading this way. It’s actually more dangerous for you to follow me.”
Qin Chuan tried to persuade them earnestly for a long time, but neither Xu An nor Zhou Haimei seemed to listen.
They were determined to go with Qin Chuan to save people.
In the end, Qin Chuan reluctantly compromised and agreed to bring them along.
The snow outside had already accumulated too much for them to drive.
Xu An stuffed everything that could be carried into her backpack and hid the three blankets in a secluded corner.
She then extinguished the campfire inside the house. After confirming everything was in order, the three of them, with their backpacks, walked towards the door.
When Zhou Haimei saw Qin Chuan leading them to the beach where they had first found him, her little face instantly fell.
“You’re not planning to take us across the sea, are you? We don’t have a boat, are you expecting us to swim across?”
Hearing this, even the usually calm Xu An’s expression was beginning to falter.
Qin Chuan looked at Zhou Haimei with an expression that seemed to say, “Are you crazy?”
“I’m not crazy. In this cold weather, the sea has already frozen over with a thin layer of ice. Even if you still want to swim, I’m afraid you won’t be able to break through.”
However, hearing Qin Chuan’s words, Xu An and Zhou Haimei’s hearts didn’t completely relax.
Hearing that they would be walking on the ice instead of swimming made them even more panicked.
If the ice were to collapse, they wouldn’t even have time to call for help before sinking to the bottom.
Xu An put away her playful expression and looked directly at Qin Chuan.
“Is this plan of yours reliable?”
Qin Chuan looked at her eyelashes, which were slightly trembling from being wet with snowmelt.
“Do you trust me?” After saying that, he started to take things out of his body.
“I’m not entirely sure myself, but I have to take a gamble. It’s still not too late for you to regret it. If you stay here, the lighthouse will come to pick you up, but if you decide to come with me, there’s a risk of falling into the sea.”
He looked into Xu An’s eyes, word by word, and slowly said this.
“Do you dare to gamble with me?”
Just as Xu An was about to speak, Zhou Haimei grabbed her wrist and shook her head desperately, “Qin Chuan, aren’t there any reefs around here to go around? You insist on walking on the ice, are you doing this on purpose?”
But Qin Chuan’s expression didn’t waver at all. He just looked calmly in Xu An’s direction, as if his eyes could only accommodate Xu An in front of him.
In the icy, snowy lake, for this moment, it was as if there were only the two of them in the world.
And Qin Chuan was waiting for Xu An’s answer, whether she dared to gamble with him.
Inwardly, Xu An felt that Qin Chuan was implying something more.
She believed that this gamble he spoke of was definitely not as simple as just crossing the ice.
But she still didn’t know what Qin Chuan was planning.
Although it should have been a provocative statement, when Qin Chuan said it, it inexplicably carried an indescribable ambiguous atmosphere.
“I trust you.”
These few words brought silence to everyone present.
A knowing smile appeared on Qin Chuan’s face, his lips curling upwards, and he finally took out the things in his hands: a handful of steel balls of varying sizes.
On the other side, Zhou Haimei held Xu An’s hand, showing her clear disapproval.
Although she had wanted to be with Qin Chuan before because the communicator in his hand could quickly contact the lighthouse.
But all of this was under the condition that they themselves would not be in danger.
If following Qin Chuan meant risking their lives for it,
Zhou Haimei felt that this was a complete losing deal.
But the warmth from Xu An’s palm comforted her.
“Don’t worry, look at Qin Chuan. Since he dares to say this, it means he must have the ability to ensure we go and return safely.”
Zhou Haimei grumbled unhappily, “Why do you trust him so much!”