Jian Jing was lying on the wooden plank, admiring the magnificent sunrise over the sea.
The red sun leapt out of the azure sea surface. The ocean glittered under the morning glow, presenting an awe-inspiring scene. However, if she had a choice, she would rather watch it on a yacht.
The water was too damn cold.
She sneezed a few times, her limbs were frozen stiff like wood. Fortunately, there were energy bars in the storage unit. She put one in her mouth and took sips of mineral water from time to time, barely holding on.
But even without the dangers of dehydration and starvation, the situation was still dire.
After sunrise, the intense ultraviolet rays would quickly dehydrate and sunburn her. If she was unlucky enough to trigger some strange flags, sharks might even be attracted - never underestimate the dangers of this world.
How could she save herself?
The locator was the most convenient choice, but even if she took out the card now, without the main component of the electronic watch to activate it, it would be useless!
As for other props cards, signal flares were less effective during the day, while signal smoke was a good choice, but it only lasted for 15 minutes and had limited coverage. Using it randomly would just be a waste.
Oh well, she’d take them out first before deciding.
“Draw a card, give me a life-saving card,” she pleaded weakly.
[Card drawing in progress]
[Draw complete]
[Name: Prop Card - Buoyant Smoke (1/1)]
[Description: Releases orange buoyant smoke on the water surface, lasts for 15 mins]
[Note: Suggest using under assured conditions]
The sunlight was getting more and more intense, and her skin soaking in the seawater stung.
Jian Jing tore off a layer of her skirt and soaked it before putting it on her head and neck to shield herself from some of the sunlight.
Her strength was draining at several times the usual rate.
Jian Jing lay on the plank, unable to concentrate. Her mind wandered to many strange places, like the still deeply memorable Titanic, Jaws, and well, it seemed like they were all movies about maritime disasters.
The waves rose and fell, rocking her body along.
The weather today was sunny without a cloud, hopefully it wouldn't suddenly rain. The wind speed was a bit strong, and she didn't know how long it would take to search this area of the sea.
The explosion had pushed her very far. If the search direction was opposite to her location, things could get nasty.
Also, although there was plenty of fresh water and food in her storage unit, she still faced a tricky problem.
When people soaked in warm seawater, they would keep losing body heat, let alone the ocean in November.
Should she draw a hot water bottle? No, hot water bottles didn't seem to be waterproof. Besides, they wouldn't withstand use either. Her courage value had little left, and the new quest hadn't been completed and settled yet.
She had to conserve resources. If she really had a run of bad luck and had to drift for weeks, there would be many uses for them.
But Jian Jing's luck wasn't too bad.
This was close to shore, and the seasonal winds were fast enough. After about two hours, she saw the shadow of a helicopter in her telescope's field of vision.
Judging by the direction it flew, it was probably cutting diagonally across the sea area she was in.
Jian Jing took a deep breath and pulled herself together to wait.
The deafening noise of the helicopter gradually approached.
She lit the smoke.
In a flash, the orange smoke spread over the sea surface, misting large swathes of orange, as if someone had poured a large bottle of tangy orange drink into the sea.
Such an obvious color naturally caught the helicopter's attention.
It changed direction and gradually approached, hovering overhead, struggling to discern the situation below.
Jian Jing shook the skirt in her hand. The crystals and diamonds on it reflected bright beams of light under the sunlight, extremely eye-catching.
The helicopter hovered above and lowered a rope ladder.
Someone jumped down, swimming over to her side: "Teacher Jian?"
Jian Jing said weakly, "Calling my soul back."
Still conscious, pretty alert. Ji Feng heaved a big sigh of relief and signaled to the helicopter above to immediately lower a rescue basket.
He propped up Jian Jing's arms and supported her back, placing her in the basket.
"You're heavy, at least 150 pounds, right?" Ji Feng said.
"Bullshit." Jian Jing's swollen head immediately cleared up, "I have three layers of skirt soaking wet, of course it'd be heavy!"
He chuckled and gestured for the basket to be lifted up.
Jian Jing was rescued back into the helicopter, where an unfamiliar team member immediately draped a blanket over her: "Are you injured?"
"I'm fine." She wrapped the blanket tightly around herself and couldn't help shivering a little.
Ji Feng climbed up the rope ladder and hurriedly closed the cabin door: "I know what you're gonna ask, so I'll just say it first - Wang Shi's corpse has been found."
The words that had been on the tip of Jian Jing's tongue were swallowed back. After a long pause, she smiled bitterly and said, "Wasted half a day's effort."
"It wasn't wasted, at least the case is settled now," Ji Feng comforted her. "It's over, don't worry."
Jian Jing was filled with complex emotions and fell silent for a long time.
The bloodshed that had entangled “Jian Jing” and the dark clouds that had lingered in her heart for years, it could be said to finally end today. But what had happened could not be forgotten.
She couldn't help but sigh softly, as if to dissolve the barriers in her chest.
But her lungs were tightly constrained, unable to expand, leaving her uncomfortable.
"Hey," Jian Jing really couldn't take it anymore and said to Ji Feng, "Take off a piece of clothing for me."
Ji Feng: "It's wet."
"Whatever, I can hardly breathe," she clutched her chest, feeling short of breath, "You know how tight evening dresses are, right? My ribs are about to break."
Ji Feng: "..."
He took off his shirt and handed it to her, a black line on his head.
Jian Jing glanced at the people present.
They all very consciously turned their backs.
She wrapped herself in the blanket and forcefully pulled down the hidden zipper. Her body slipped out of the dress, like a butterfly that had finally broken out of its cocoon after much hardship, and her throat involuntarily let out a sigh of relief.
She came alive again.
The evening dress really looked good, but it was also very anti-human.
Slipping on a loose shirt and wrapping herself in a warm blanket, she finally relaxed.
It was over.
Weariness washed over her, her head dizzy.
She fell into a deep slumber, dead to the world.
*
Sunburn, hypothermia, high fever, concussion, infected wounds... The doctor found all kinds of problems on Jian Jing.
Fortunately, she was in good health, and none were too serious. She didn't even enter the operating room and was arranged directly into a single room to rest.
Jian Jing slept for a full three days.
Although Wang Shi had controlled her food and water to keep her weak on purpose during their confrontation, she still secretly ate in bed every day.
What consumed her most was her spirit and the anesthetic gases that affected her central nervous system.
However, her insignificant-looking Immunity 1 stat actually protected her very well. By the fifth day, she had basically recovered as before.
Sigh, being clear-headed came with clear-headed troubles.
Jian Jing knew that Kang Mu Cheng came to see her every day, but she pretended to sleep.
On the sixth day.
Kang Mu Cheng threw away yesterday's tulips and put fresh lotuses in the vase, calmly saying, "Stop pretending, I'm not blaming you."
Jian Jing rolled over with more than half her face hidden under the covers, only a pair of remorseful eyes peering at him.
Kang Mu Cheng sat down on the edge of the bed, gazing at her face: "These past two days, I kept thinking, if I had been more supportive of you usually, would you have kept it from me?"
Before she could answer, he mocked himself and said, "But then I thought again, as long as you told me, I would definitely have tried to stop you. So where did you do wrong by keeping it hidden? What right do I have to blame you?"
"President Kang..." She hesitated.
Kang Mu Cheng's eyes fell outside the window. The autumn wind was chilly, and the ginkgo leaves had turned golden. He suddenly said, "When you were lying here last year, I regretted pampering you too much, but these past two days, I still regretted."
"Regretted not taking good care of you," he said bitterly. "Strange, right?"
Jian Jing's heart felt stuffy, but she didn't know what to say.
"In fact, I know you have your own ideas now, and there are many things I shouldn't interfere with anymore," Kang Mu Cheng withdrew his gaze and looked at the girl who seemed somewhat unfamiliar to him. "I should treat you as an independent person, only give suggestions, not interfere, but..."
But I can't do that, he thought, but couldn't say it out loud.
Silence filled the air for a moment.
Jian Jing said, "You're just concerned about me."
Concerned? Kang Mu Cheng thought, yes, of course he cared about her, and was used to her coming to discuss things with him first about anything. But this time, he had been shut out.
This feeling was very uncomfortable, but he couldn't dissolve it, only bury it deep in his heart and let it gnaw away.
He sighed silently and waved away the subtle emotions: "Fortunately you're fine. Now it's all over, isn't it?"
Jian Jing nodded, feeling lost and confused: "It's all over."
"As long as you're alright," he repeated, patting the back of her hand. "Get some good rest. I'm not blaming you and I'm not angry with you."
She blinked her eyes and pursed her lips: "Really?"
Kang Mu Cheng smiled wryly and shook his head, seeming at a loss with her: "Just focus on recovering."
"You're not mad about the dress either?" Jian Jing was very concerned. "I only wore it once..."
"It was just a dress," Kang Mu Cheng said helplessly. "I'll get you another one, just forget about it."
She pulled up the quilt: "I don't want another one."
"Then what do you want?"
Jian Jing thought for a moment and placed an order: "Strawberry cake, taro bubble milk tea, and an order of fried chicken."
Kang Mu Cheng replied: "I remember the doctor said you shouldn't eat anything too spicy, greasy or hard to digest."
She protested: "But I'm all better now!"
"No," Kang Mu Cheng frowned. "You need to listen to the doctor. I'll have Auntie Wang bring you some dove soup tomorrow."
Jian Jing argued: "I just had a fever and cold, I'm not sitting the month after giving birth."
Kang Mu Cheng looked at her.
She conceded: "...Mr. Kang."
"Cake it is then," he compromised.
Jian Jing burrowed into her quilt, burying her head inside as well, protesting wordlessly.
Kang Mu Cheng reluctantly added: "I'll also get you a milk tea, I'll have my secretary go buy it."
"70% sweetness is fine," she sat up nonchalantly.
Kang Mu Cheng shook his head, feeling increasingly helpless with her.
And so, afternoon tea was a 4-inch strawberry cake and an extra-large hot milk tea.
Dinner was the dove soup that Auntie Wang had stewed for hours.
Jian Jing's stomach was full of liquid. She drank half a bowl with a worried frown, unable to finish it. She said she'd save the rest for a late-night snack.
Auntie Wang had underestimated her appetite, thinking a young girl would eat little. She didn't pay it any mind.
At 10 PM, the hospital's overnight curfew began.
Jian Jing had fully digested her afternoon tea. She now fretted over the leftover dove soup, debating whether to reheat it or just eat cup noodles instead.
Just then, the door opened.
"Still not sleeping so late?" Ji Feng walked over and hooked a chair leg to sit down. He glanced at the food container on the cabinet, "Tsk, postpartum meal?"
If all visitors were this shameless, the hospital would probably never have an empty bed.
Jian Jing took a deep breath, grabbed her pillow and smacked him with it three times.
She had put some force into it. The blows left him stunned: "What was that for?"
"Welcoming a shameless friend who hasn't come to see me once in the week I've been hospitalized," she said coldly.
Ji Feng rolled his eyes: "Who said I haven't been?"
Jian Jing tilted up her chin, pointing at the gifts all around. Since she'd been admitted, there had been a constant stream of visitors, no less than 20 or 30, at least 10.
Some brought fruit baskets and milk, others supplement gift boxes, still others fresh flowers. Her room was stuffed full.
Not a single one was from him.
Humph, fake affection!
