“Hey, hey, hey, you’re back, you’re back! Quick… hurry up… it’s going to pour any minute…”
As the small boat neared the shore, quite a few people waded through the seawater, their feet sinking into the sandy beach as they ran over.
They had come to help pull the boat ashore.
With the weather as it was, a downpour was likely coming soon. The dock wasn’t nearby, so the only safe option was to drag the boat up onto the beach.
Seeing people running over, Yun Su wondered if she should get out of the boat and walk over herself. She couldn’t just sit there waiting for them to pull her in.
But Yun Huaimin had already taken off his outer shirt and called out, “Put this shirt on first.”
Only then did Yun Su notice her own state.
When she’d left the house today, the original owner had been wearing a white Dacron blouse with dark blue cotton pants. This outfit was considered quite fashionable for the time.
But after being soaked in seawater, her lower half was fine since the pants were dark blue. Her upper half, however—the white Dacron blouse had become completely transparent and clung to her body after being drenched. The white vest she was wearing underneath was showing through.
In later eras, this wouldn’t be a big deal. But in the 1970s, this was considered very revealing.
Yun Su still had many questions on her mind right now, but she obediently put on her older brother’s black outer shirt. After all, she still had the loafer incident to get through.
Just as she put the shirt on, the people coming to pull the boat arrived.
——
Holding Yun Huaimin’s hand, Yun Su jumped from the small boat onto the sandy beach. The man she had rescued followed behind her.
“What about me, big brother…?”
Only then did Yun Su notice that although Yun Feng was wearing a dark blue cotton short-sleeve shirt, it was also clinging to her body at that moment, clearly outlining her figure.
Yun Huaimin was momentarily taken aback. He wasn’t very sensitive to such things. Someone had only alerted him about his sister’s clothes a moment ago.
He truly hadn’t noticed Yun Feng’s situation.
But dark blue clothes weren’t transparent, so it should be fine, right?
Before Yun Huaimin could react further, a military-green jacket was already draped over Yun Feng’s shoulders.
Yun Su: Of course. What was meant to come had come.
The owner of the military-green jacket was a PLA comrade with a very upright appearance.
Though Yun Su didn’t know him, her intuition told her this was the original novel’s male lead, Gu Zhengrong.
In the original book, the male and female leads first met today.
The catalyst for their meeting was the female lead Yun Feng fearlessly jumping into the sea to bravely rescue her cousin Yun Su. That fearless courage was what moved the male lead, Gu Zhengrong.
But now, the plot had deviated.
Yun Feng had indeed jumped into the sea, but she hadn’t rescued anyone. Instead, Yun Huaimin had shown up in his boat.
If anyone had done any rescuing today, only one event qualified: Yun Su saving a man.
Thinking this, Yun Su turned to look at the man following behind her.
The man had sword-sharp eyebrows and star-bright eyes, deep-set eyes, and a very high nose bridge. Paired with his buzz cut, he looked very spirited. There was no trace of the dishevelment one might expect from a drowning victim. In fact, soaked through, his clothes clinging to his body and revealing his physique, he looked handsome and sexy.
So, she had saved a handsome man.
The man noticed Yun Su’s gaze and the corners of his mouth lifted into a smile. Yun Su noticed his teeth were very straight and white.
She smiled back at him and, in a good mood, gave him a little wink.
Of course, even with the plot deviated, the male and female lead before her still had their first encounter.
“Comrade Gu, how can we trouble you like this…”
The production brigade captain, who had run over with the others to help pull the boat, quickly started thanking him.
This island they lived on was very large, home to not only many villages but also a military garrison. Comrade Gu, standing before him, was one of the soldiers stationed there.
Due to some family circumstances on Gu’s end, the brigade captain had some dealings with him and knew that Comrade Gu was young, capable, and had a promising future.
Gu Zhengrong said, “No need to be polite. Let’s get the boat pulled up first. That storm is going to hit any minute.”
…
As they busied themselves with that, the onlookers who had gathered to watch, seeing that the person had been rescued, came running over one by one.
Yun Su had been on guard against the loafer mentioned in the book.
Seeing this commotion, she immediately hid behind the man. His broad shoulders and tall frame shielded her perfectly.
As for why she was hiding behind this stranger? Yun Su felt he was a good person. Her brother had just gone over to pull their boat ashore. So this man was the best helper available.
Sure enough, no sooner had she hidden herself than she saw a short, scrawny man lunging in their direction.
When he reached them but couldn’t find Yun Su, seeing only a tall, unfamiliar man, the short man immediately changed course and charged toward Yun Feng.
Several people had come running over, so no one noticed the short man’s movements at first.
But Yun Feng was smart. Smart enough to run toward Gu Zhengrong as soon as she saw the short man rushing at her.
Gu Zhengrong was helping Yun Huaimin secure the small boat. Seeing this, he immediately stepped over and subdued the short man with one hand.
Because of his action, the crowd, which had been noisy and chaotic, finally noticed the short man’s unusual behavior.
——
“Da Qiang, what are you doing?” the brigade captain roared at Hu Daqiang.
This Hu Daqiang was a well-known lazybones in the brigade, short and ugly. He was always slacking off whenever they went out to sea.
The predecessor of the Yun Family Cove Production Brigade had been a fishing village. There wasn’t much arable land. Generations had lived by fishing. After the production brigade was established, the men’s work consisted of going out to sea together to fish. The women stayed on shore to work, usually gathering seaweed, drying seafood, mending fishing nets, and so on.
And in this kind of collective labor, there were naturally people who slacked off instead of working.
Hu Daqiang, the man before them, was exactly that kind of person.
“Brigade Captain… Brigade Captain… I was just so happy they were rescued. I thought I’d come over and help secure the boat,” Hu Daqiang said, rubbing his hands together obsequiously, putting on a very innocent act.
“Shut your goddamn mouth. One little boat like this doesn’t need you jabbering over here. Get the hell back home and stop making a spectacle of yourself.”
Anyone with clear eyes knew exactly what Hu Daqiang had been up to with that lunge of his.
“Brigade Captain, Brigade Captain. My brother just got confused for a moment. Please be magnanimous and don’t hold it against him.”
Hu Chunhua suddenly popped up at that moment, grabbing Hu Daqiang and starting to apologize.
Several gossips in the crowd covered their mouths and snickered.
Yun Su looked at Hu Chunhua and searched her memory for information on this person. She confirmed that this was the one who had caused the original owner to fall into the sea.
Now, putting all the pieces together, it wasn’t hard to see what was really going on. Just the usual dirty schemes.
——
“I’m fine, just a bit startled. The weather’s bad, Uncle. We should head back early.”
Yun Feng suddenly spoke up at that moment. Her words made everyone quicken their pace. No one had the heart to pursue Hu Daqiang’s behavior just then.
After all, judging by the weather, a storm was about to hit. They needed to secure the boats and rush back to the village immediately. If they waited until the rain came, it would be too late.
Several people who had been lingering to watch the drama, upon hearing Yun Feng’s words, scrambled for home, shouting about how their salted fish and dried vegetables hadn’t been brought in yet.
“Huaimin, you take your sister home too.”
Yun Huaimin quickly nodded. The incident today had been strange. He hadn’t been able to talk freely on the boat, so he needed to get home and ask his sister about it. Besides, his sister had been sick for days and wasn’t fully recovered. He needed to get her home and make her drink some ginger soup to ward off the chill.
Seeing this, Yun Su decided to hold her questions for now and go home to organize her memories. As for the loafer’s schemes? Hah!
But before heading home, Yun Su glanced at the man she had rescued.
The man nodded at them. “My name is Ji Xiangtian. My family lives here on the island. The weather’s bad, so you two should go home first. Once I get cleaned up, I’ll come by to properly thank you.”
After coming ashore and hearing these conversations, Ji Xiangtian had pieced together some things. These siblings were from the Yun Family Cove Production Brigade, and they were his saviors.
He was a mess right now and didn’t want to impose. Once he tidied himself up, bringing thank-you gifts wouldn’t be too late.
After hearing the man’s words, Yun Su smiled and nodded at him. But in her mind, she was mulling over the name. It felt familiar.
Ji Xiangtian, preparing to head home, saw that smile and suddenly felt his heartbeat quicken!
It felt just like it had back in the sea. Out there, he had thought he was done for. But in the end, he had been saved. The person who saved him had held onto him in the water and never let go. That feeling had been really warm. So warm that even while soaking in the cold seawater, Ji Xiangtian hadn’t felt cold. It was just that his heart had been racing, which didn’t seem normal.
A racing heartbeat—he wondered if something was wrong. As a doctor, even an orthopedic surgeon, Ji Xiangtian felt it was necessary to get his heart checked out. Maybe it was a result of the near-drowning.
…
Yun Su was walking briskly home with her brother, listening as he talked about this man, Ji Xiangtian.
“Little sister, that Comrade Ji seems like a pretty good person.”
Yun Su nodded, but her mind was replaying the details of rescuing Ji Xiangtian from the sea.
Come to think of it, saving him had been the priority earlier, so she hadn’t stopped to wonder why a grown man had suddenly appeared in the sea. And he clearly hadn’t been drowning for long.
“Big brother, did any boat come in today?”
After thinking for a moment, Yun Su could only think of the passenger ferry that came and went from the island.
The island they lived on was large, but it was mostly fishing villages. To get to a decent-sized city, you had to take a two-plus-hour boat ride across the sea to Yangcheng.
Yun Huaimin counted on his fingers, calculating the date, and nodded. “Yes, there was a boat coming in today.”
Hearing this, Yun Su felt even more certain of her guess. She just didn’t understand how a perfectly fine man like Ji Xiangtian could fall off a passenger ferry without anyone noticing.
How strange!
These thoughts swirled through Yun Su’s mind. She felt that this world was truly very real.
Ah, no, wait!
Yun Su suddenly stopped walking and slapped her forehead.
The gesture startled Yun Huaimin. “Little sister, little sister. What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Come on, get on my back. I’ll carry you to the health station.”
Even though this was a fishing village, because there was a military garrison nearby, proper health stations were set up every few villages. They usually treated villagers for things like colds and fevers.
Yun Su shook her head. “I’m fine. Let’s just hurry home.”
And why had she suddenly reacted like that?
Because it had just hit her: who exactly Ji Xiangtian was!
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