Chapter 1 The Latest Developments

Since the ship went missing, Wu Peng and other family members had been coming to the Maritime Safety Administration from time to time to check on the latest developments.

Jia Wenjun's parents were also familiar with this energetic young man. Wu Peng had just made some phone calls to friends, trying to inquire about the ship search from other sources.

As soon as he returned, Jia Wenjun's father immediately came over and asked, "Little Wu, how is it? Any news?"

Jia Wenjun's parents were both in their fifties or sixties. The continuous worry of the past few days had made them look haggard, and they seemed to have aged a lot overnight.

Wu Peng shook his head: "Uncle, Auntie, there's still no news."

Most of the people waiting in the hall were family members of those on the ship. Everyone knew each other more or less. Seeing him return, they all gathered around, and someone couldn't hold back after hearing what he said.

"It's been so long and there's still no news. How do you people at the Maritime Safety Administration work? It's not your family members who are missing, so you're not worried, right?"

The one who was shouting was Sun Jiaojiao's husband. After learning that Sun Jiaojiao was missing, he didn't even open his restaurant and waited here for news. Seeing that there was still no news, he couldn't help it.

Seeing that someone had started making a scene, two elderly people who looked over seventy years old also started crying and shouting: "My poor Nao Nao is not even ten years old! Heavens, our Lao Hu family is going to be finished!"

The two elderly people crying on the ground were Hu Sixiang's parents. They fainted as soon as they heard about the ship accident. They had just woken up and immediately came to wait for news. After all, the whole family of three was on the ship. If something really happened, then the Lao Hu family would really be finished.

Staff members came over to persuade them. A middle-aged man wearing black sunglasses and a black suit also reached out to help the elderly: "Don't worry, Grandpa. No news at this time may be good news. The storm just passed, and the rescuers just went out today. It's normal to have no news."

"It's easy for you to say, your family isn't on the ship, you..."

The middle-aged man interrupted him: "My family isn't on the ship, but a very important friend of mine is on the ship. She is very important to me, no less than family. I've been waiting for her news these past few days."

Indeed, the man had been guarding this place since the ship went missing. Wu Peng remembered this man. He always drove a black Mercedes-Benz S, parked the car across the street, and walked across the road himself.

Before the two elderly people came, this middle-aged man had been paying for everyone's boxed lunches and water. The family members present all had a good impression of this middle-aged man. But the man never took off those huge sunglasses.

Everyone helped the middle-aged man speak. Sun Jiaojiao's husband and the two elderly people were finally persuaded to stop. While it was chaotic here, a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy wearing a baseball cap sat quietly in a corner of the hall, not speaking or eating anything that people gave him.

The family members living in the community all knew that he was the son of the dean of the pet hospital next to the community.

After this interlude, everyone waited until evening, and the middle-aged man had someone deliver a pile of takeout food and water again.

Except for the dean's son, Bai Xun, Wu Peng and Jia Wenjun's parents didn't take the takeout food and water.

Jia Wenjun's parents had no appetite at all, only drinking the water they brought. Wu Peng went out to smoke, and Bai Xun was still sitting in the corner, silent.

It had been twenty-four hours since their daughter went missing, and every second of waiting felt like a year to Jia Wenjun's parents.

It had been three days since Jia's mother had a video chat with her before her daughter's departure. She regretted that she was afraid of delaying her daughter's work. When she was on the ship, they had never called her. Because of this, she had been blaming herself and regretting every minute of these days. If she had called her daughter, maybe she would have known more information, maybe she could have helped her daughter.

Jia's mother's eyes were red. She had cried too much these past few days, and her eyes were swollen, dry, and painful. Her husband was afraid that something would happen to her, so he kept comforting her softly.

Jia's mother knew that her husband was also feeling bad, but her daughter was, after all, a piece of flesh that had fallen from her body. She felt uncomfortable and couldn't control her emotions.

Seeing his wife constantly clutching her heart, Lao Jia was frightened: "What's wrong? Is your heart uncomfortable?"

Jia's mother's face was a little pale: "I didn't sleep well last night, and my heart is beating a little fast."

After she finished speaking, she closed her eyes and recalled the dreams she had intermittently had last night. All of them were of her daughter's face. She wanted to reach out and pull her daughter, but she couldn't hold her no matter what.

Jia's mother woke up and cried again. Her husband comforted her for half the night, and neither of them slept well. They waited another day today and didn't eat much. Her heart was not very good to begin with, and now she only felt suffocated.

"Why don't we go back to our daughter's house first? The staff will call us when there's news." Lao Jia was worried about his wife.

But Jia's mother shook her head: "No, I want to wait here. I'll be even more restless if I go back."

Wu Peng, who was sitting next to her, also persuaded: "Auntie, you should go back first. It's useless to wait here. Your hotel is right next door. If there's any news, you can come over again. I'll also call you if there are any new developments."

Jia's mother hesitated, also worried that if something happened to her body, her husband would have to be busy on both ends.

After she told Wu Peng to notify them as soon as possible if there was any news, she finally got up and left.

Wu Peng sent the two of them to the side of the road, watched them walk towards the hotel, then lit a cigarette and bit it in his mouth, took out his phone to check the messages.

There were 99+ little red dots, but not a single one was sent by his unreliable father. He sighed faintly, took two puffs of his cigarette, and saw a slightly fat, thirty-something man running in, covered in dust.

Wu Peng thought that he should be a family member of one of the missing people, and didn't come in, but continued to stand outside the door and smoke.

The man went straight to the staff on duty and said anxiously: "Hello, I got through to my mother's phone. The ship my mother is on has run aground. Everyone on board is fine. Please send someone to rescue them quickly."

As soon as he finished speaking, the others waiting in the hall stood up instantly.

Wu Peng threw the cigarette into the trash can and immediately ran in to grab the man: "What did you say? You contacted them?"

The man told everyone about the situation when he got through to the phone. Jia Wenjun's parents had just returned to their room and drank some water when Jia's father received a call from Wu Peng.

"What! You said they're still alive! That's great! Thank you, Little Wu, thank you for telling us this news." Jia's father's eyes turned red instantly, and the hand holding the phone was trembling.

Jia's mother, who had just lain down and closed her eyes to rest, sat up directly from the bed, sweeping away the worry just now: "Let's go, let's go, let's go and see!"