Chapter 1 Families

At this moment, in the Maritime Safety Administration's hall, the families were much more relaxed after learning that everyone on the ship was alive.

Today was Tuesday, the fourth day since they had lost contact with the people on board.

When Wu Peng came out of the residential compound in the morning, he happened to run into Jia Wenjun's parents.

"Little Wu, good morning." Jia's father and mother had stayed in their daughter's apartment last night, overwhelmed with memories. Jia's mother had been busy cleaning the house inside and out, but Jia's father couldn't dissuade her.

Jia's mother wanted to ensure that her daughter would have a clean and tidy environment when she returned. Secondly, she feared that she would overthink things if she remained idle. Although they were all alive, the ship was stranded. Did they have food? Would water seep into the ship? Were they safe? When would the rescue team bring them back?

Thinking about these things, Jia's mother couldn't calm down. Only by keeping her hands busy could she slightly suppress her chaotic thoughts.

Fortunately, after busying herself until midnight, the couple were exhausted and managed to get a full night's sleep, feeling much better the next day.

"Uncle, Auntie, good morning." Wu Peng greeted them and said, "Have you had breakfast? If not, there's a good baozi (steamed bun) shop outside the compound."

"Okay, okay, we'll go together." Jia's father and mother had been too eager to leave to make breakfast.

After buying breakfast at the baozi shop, they had just sat down to eat when they saw Doctor Chen coming out of the compound.

Just as Jia's mother was about to call him over, Doctor Chen stopped a taxi and left.

"Is there news? Why is he in such a hurry?" Jia's mother became anxious and lost her appetite.

Wu Peng stuffed a baozi into his mouth with one hand and took out his phone with the other, glancing at it: "I haven't received any information from the staff."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw that he had been added to a group called "Search and Rescue Family Group," and the person who created the group was a staff member of the Maritime Safety Administration. The staff member asked all family members to come over as soon as possible.

"There's news." After saying that, Wu Peng didn't bother eating and quickly flagged down a taxi. The group rushed to the service hall.

Everyone had received the message, and soon the hall was packed with people.

When Wu Peng and the others arrived, several other families were already waiting, but Doctor Chen, who had left earlier, was nowhere to be seen.

Bai Xun, still wearing his baseball cap, stood alone to the side. The boy wore a black short-sleeved t-shirt and sweatpants. His thin frame revealed the awkwardness and restraint of a teenager.

Wu Peng had seen the information he left with the staff and knew that he lived with his father, Bai Mashan. He was about to take the college entrance exam this year. Wu Peng wondered how the boy had coped with such a blow.

Thinking of his unreliable father and his mother, who visited him once every few years, Wu Peng felt like an orphan if it weren't for his grandfather. Because his childhood and adolescence were lonely, Wu Peng always took extra care of this silent young man, not only adding him on WeChat but also sending him any news he received.

However, every time he sent a message, Bai Xun only replied with an "ok" emoji. Wu Peng didn't mind, it was adolescence, he could understand.

Wu Peng knew that the search and rescue team had set out to sea yesterday, so the staff were gathering the family members today, most likely to talk about it, and they must have found something.

"They're here, they're here." Jia's father saw a staff member in charge of the matter walking out of the internal office.

"Everyone, please come into the office with me."

The family members, who had been talking in small groups, immediately followed the staff member into one of the offices.

Once everyone was seated, the staff member got straight to the point: "Everyone, please listen carefully."

After saying that, he glanced at a piece of paper in his hand and said, "After the last storm, we sent out search and rescue teams to look for the missing 'Seashell.' Two teams searched in a fan shape. Now, the first team has returned to port, and the second team has also returned due to the weather this morning and is on its way back. The first team brought back some useful clues. Near the original destination of the Seashell, they found a woman's clothing in the sea and printed a photo. Please pass it around and see if it belongs to your relatives."

"Clothing?" Jia's mother's heart tightened, and Jia's father gently patted her clenched hand and went to look at the photo.

Everyone scrambled to look, the thin piece of paper being snatched from hand to hand.

The staff member, afraid of it being torn, quickly said, "Don't worry, everyone will get a chance to see it."

Some people sighed with relief after seeing the picture. It was a woman's thin pink windbreaker. Jia Wenjun's parents looked at it several times and confirmed that it wasn't a style their daughter would like. Moreover, their daughter was very particular about the offshore windbreakers she wore, and they had seen the ones she had, all from the same brand, so this one definitely wasn't their daughter's.

"Comrade, what does this clothing mean?" Wu Peng asked.

"Everyone, please remain calm. This is just a clue and doesn't mean anything has happened to the owner of the clothing. Our colleagues didn't see any bodies nearby, so please don't panic."

Although that's what he said, everyone knew that if it hadn't fallen into the water, how could the clothing be in the sea? Even if they couldn't find a body, things were likely grim. But no one voiced it.

All the family members of the missing women passed the photo around, but no one recognized the clothing in the photo as belonging to their relatives.

"Are all the relatives of the victims present?" The receptionist didn't expect this situation. He counted the number of people with his eyes and suddenly said, "Where are Zhao Di's relatives? Did Zhao Di's relatives come?"

Everyone exchanged glances and looked around. "It seems like they weren't here yesterday either."

"Wait, here, they're here." Two elderly people and a young man ran in from the corridor. These three latecomers were Zhao Di's husband, Lin Yang, and her parents-in-law.

After learning that suspicious women's clothing had been found, the three quickly took the photo.

With just one glance, Lin Yang recognized the clothing in the photo as the sunscreen jacket that Zhao Di was wearing when she boarded the ship.

"Ah? It's really my daughter-in-law's clothing, then my daughter-in-law is really gone!" Zhao Di's parents-in-law began to wail and cry.

Lin Yang also looked shocked and couldn't speak.

"Family members, please don't get agitated. We only found a piece of clothing at sea, it doesn't mean that Zhao Di is really in trouble," the receptionist quickly comforted.

But the two elderly people didn't listen. Zhao Di's mother-in-law grabbed her son: "My son, why are you so unlucky? You've become a divorcee right after getting married, and you still have so many mortgage payments to make on your own, what are we going to do?"

The more everyone listened, the more they felt that something was wrong. Every cry and wail was for their own son, not a single word of concern for the missing Zhao Di.