"It's a good thing it's only twenty-odd traps, otherwise..."
Li Haochen wasn't tired; with such a bountiful harvest, why would he be? The key was the time it took. These few traps alone had taken him three hours to process.
Of course, this time also included his trips in and out of his space. If all the catches were thrown into the live-water tank, it would have saved him more than half an hour.
As noon approached, though not yet very hungry, Li Haochen had to eat while sailing to save time. However, he couldn't go too fast.
"Ah, if only there was an auto-pilot function."
The longer he sailed, the stronger Li Haochen's wish became. Steering a boat for a long time was truly a test of willpower.
After a continuous afternoon of sailing, without coffee as a pillar of support, he couldn't go on. Continuing to sail while barely awake was extremely dangerous, so he had to stop and rest temporarily.
After washing his face with cold water, he felt slightly better. Li Haochen opened his insulated box to eat, but his appetite was really poor. He had to scoop out two spoonfuls of plum sauce to dip the chicken wings in to grudgingly finish his dinner.
As the sun set and the last trace of crimson disappeared, Li Haochen set sail again.
The moon hung high, dotted with stars. Finally, three hours later, Li Haochen returned to the bay a few nautical miles outside Li Family Village.
It was too late to disturb his family, and if Li Dehai knew he was back, they would probably be feasting until dawn.
After anchoring, Li Haochen went into his space to get some mussels, mashed them, put them in a box, and placed them inside the traps.
It was here last time that the large prawns and blue crabs he caught were astonishing. This time, without the fish finder, he relied entirely on luck to see if there would be any surprises.
With the boat anchored, the traps had to be thrown around the hull. Twenty-odd traps perfectly encircled the Starry Number.
He patted the dust off his hands and checked his phone. The signal was full. Although feeling dizzy, he first sent a safety update to Murong Yanran and the others.
As soon as the video call connected, Murong Yanran was seen wiping her wet hair with a towel. Her fair skin swayed, and though he had conquered her before, he missed it dearly at this moment.
He could feel Li Haochen's fiery gaze even through the screen.
The towel showed no signs of falling, but Murong Yanran actually grabbed both sides and pulled it up, her gesture full of endless allure, making Li Haochen feel the urge to go to the restroom.
"Ahem, you're playing with fire."
Murong Yanran shot him a flirtatious glare, continuing to dry her hair without concern for the slightly loosened towel.
It wasn't as if she hadn't been seen before; they had touched each other several times, just that the last layer hadn't been broken through yet.
"Haven't you returned yet?"
Murong Yanran finished drying her hair and asked doubtfully, seeing the steering wheel behind Li Haochen.
"Just outside the village, not far. It's too late, so I'll spend the night at sea before going back. Otherwise, if it were the middle of the night, Uncle and the others would have to hustle."
"Oh..."
"By the way, a man and a woman came to see you this afternoon. Seeing you weren't here, they left a lot of high-end gifts. I was quite tempted."
"Ah...?"
Li Haochen was utterly baffled. Gifts that could tempt Murong Yanran should be few. Besides Ham from the Sailing Country, he couldn't think of any other wealthy person who would send him things.
"Did they say anything?"
"They said they were thanking you for saving their lives and would visit to express their gratitude when you return."
"Saving their lives?" Li Haochen frowned, suddenly recalling the incident at Luzhou Island. "Could it be them?"
"Did they give their names?"
"No, they didn't. They left after dropping off the gifts, but they left a business card. However, the two characters on the card surprised me."
"What characters surprised you so much?"
"Wu Shi!"
"Wu Shi?"
"Yes, if my guess is correct, it should be the Wu family, the aquaculture magnates from Shenchuan. Otherwise, who else would have the audacity to send you several large boxes of premium abalone?"
Li Haochen was very sure that these two were Wu Mingwei and Zhao Yingxue. With so much dried abalone, only core members of the Wu family could make such a grand gesture.
"Send me the business card, I'll have a chat with them."
"You want to..."
Li Haochen nodded, not finishing his sentence.
Murong Yanran had also had this thought. If they could establish cooperation through Li Haochen's connection with the Wu family, it would be beneficial. This way, the hotel could have a sufficient supply of high-quality abalone and sea cucumbers.
However, this thought flashed and passed. Murong Yanran did not want Li Haochen to bear the stigma of repaying a favor.
But now, Li Haochen was prepared to bear such a stigma for her. Thinking of this, Murong Yanran's eyes welled up, and she choked up, "No, I don't want you to carry this burden..."
"Don't worry, it's just cooperation, not a handout. Send me the card, and I'll get back to you later."
Murong Yanran looked at the disconnected video call, falling into an internal struggle. After a long while, she took a photo of the business card left by Wu Mingwei and sent it, sighing, "I owe you, and I can never repay it in this lifetime."
After receiving the business card, Li Haochen carefully memorized it. He opened his phone and dialed the number, looking at the green phone icon in the middle of the digits and thought to himself, "For you, what's wrong with repaying a favor!"
Li Haochen pressed the button without hesitation. The call rang a few times on the other end before being answered.
"Brother Wu, is your wound alright?"
"Ah... is that Brother Li? That's great. I went to find you today, but unfortunately, you weren't here. Otherwise, we would have had a good drink, hahaha..."
"Next time, next time..."
After chatting for a while, Li Haochen felt the time was right and got straight to the point, "Brother Wu, I have something I need your help with."
Wu Mingwei on the other end of the phone paused, his eyes narrowing, and he sighed inwardly, "Is it about money? This is fine too..."
"Yes, Brother Li, please go ahead."
"It's like this, the Binhai Grand Hotel is actually opened by my girlfriend. I want to..."
"Although it's a bit like repaying a favor, I have to do it for her. I hope Brother Wu..."
"Hahaha, what is it? Of course, no problem. I've heard a bit about Sister-in-law's situation. I'll handle this matter for you."
Upon receiving the reply, Li Haochen was excited and happy, but he still told Wu Mingwei about the issues between the Hong and Li families. Although they were his saviors, repaying a favor was understandable, but they shouldn't be left in a crisis.
"Don't worry, Brother Li, it's fine. Their reach doesn't extend to us. If they overstep their bounds, hehe~"
Wu Mingwei was very confident in his family's strength and had no fear of the Hong and Li families. Most importantly, he had no conflicting interests with them, which was the primary reason he agreed.
"Thank you so much..."
"It's a small matter. If anyone should be thanked, it's us. If it weren't for you, I'd probably have grass growing on my grave, hehe!"