Susu did not dare to delay. She immediately went down to the cabin, put on her jacket, and also took Tianyi's jacket. Then she slung on the backpack containing two bottles of water and first-aid supplies before going to get the life jackets.
Holding two life jackets and a jacket, she was about to go up to find Tianyi when she felt the boat begin to sway.
She struggled to hold onto the railings along the way. With great effort, she returned to the cockpit, draped the jacket over Tianyi, and saw that outside it was already a storm, the sea no longer calm, waves rolling one after another, the spray getting higher and higher.
Tianyi gripped the helm tightly and shouted to her, "Quick, put on your life jacket."
Susu obediently put on her life jacket quickly, then swaying from side to side, helped him put on his. She asked fearfully, "The storm came so fast, can we still get back to the dock? What should we do? Should we send a distress signal?"
Her words reminded Tianyi.
Tianyi grabbed her hand, wanting her to take the helm and said, "This time, you must hold the helm tightly, don't let it turn. I'm going to the deck to send a distress signal!"
"Okay, you go, I can do it!" Susu squeezed in front of him, took the helm he was holding, and steadied the wheel, not daring to slacken.
Tianyi found the signal flares in the cockpit, adjusted his jacket and life jacket, then put on a transparent raincoat and ran to the deck. Facing the dark sky pouring with rain, he pulled the signal flare.
The signal emitted by the flare was like fireworks, especially bright against the vast, black sky.
Susu in the cockpit was doing her best to hold the helm, facing increasingly massive waves, feeling like she couldn't hold on much longer.
The boat also shook violently left and right, up and down, with the possibility of capsizing at any moment.
After firing the flares, Tianyi fell several times on the deck, but still, with all his might, he untied all the lifebuoys from the ship's railings.
He couldn't stand steady at all. The path from the deck to the cockpit was only a dozen steps, but he walked it unsteadily.
Susu saw Tianyi return to her side and wished she could throw away the helm in her hands and just hold him tightly.
But she knew that at this critical moment of life and death, she couldn't be too impulsive. Both she and Tianyi had to remain calm and find a way to save themselves.
Tianyi took the helm from her hands. He never expected that a seemingly risk-free ordinary outing would encounter such a great storm, one he had never encountered before.
He looked at Susu with a gaze as if saying goodbye and said, "Wife, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken you out to sea today..."
Before he could finish, Susu hugged him tightly, "As long as we are together, I fear nothing. Even if I have to die, I am willing to die with you!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a huge wave hit them from the side, and seawater poured into the cockpit.
No other boats appeared on the sea to rescue them.
Tianyi had already realized that this yacht could not withstand such giant waves, and if it continued like this, their yacht would sooner or later capsize and sink.
Rather than waiting to die in the cockpit, it would be better to jump into the sea with Susu; perhaps there would be a glimmer of hope.
"Yes, the important thing is that you are by my side." With that, Tianyi released the helm, pulled Susu, and rushed out of the cockpit. They stood unsteadily on the deck, looking at the sea, which was now a scene of towering waves.
He shouted to Susu, "Wife, are you scared?"
Susu probably guessed that he was going to take her to abandon the ship and jump into the sea. She replied, "I'm not scared, but I would rather die than be separated from you."
She saw a rope tied to the yacht's railing and immediately untied it, tying it to her waist, and then passed the other end to Tianyi.
Tianyi, without hesitation, tied the other end firmly to his waist. Before they could jump into the sea together, a large wave swept them from the deck into the sea.
They held hands tightly and bobbed in the waves for a while. They saw that the yacht had been completely overturned by the giant waves, its bottom facing upwards as it rose and fell in the waves.
Although wearing life jackets prevented them from sinking, they both choked on a lot of water in the raging storm, and their hands could no longer hold each other.
But the rope around their waists still connected them. Susu could feel Tianyi constantly trying to get closer to her in the sea not far away.
While choking on water, she felt her body temperature rapidly dropping in the sea, her consciousness gradually blurring. The only sensation was cold.
It was so cold that she felt like she was suffocating, trapped in the deep sea. Suddenly, she heard Tianyi's shout. She saw Tianyi standing on the beach, with a vast, blue, and calm sea behind him.
She desperately wanted to rush to his side, but found his figure moving further and further away from her.
With a desperate cry, she woke up, realizing she was no longer in the stormy sea but lying in a simple stone house.
The room had no other furnishings except for a few strings of shells hanging as decorations. She slept on a wooden plank bed covered with cotton cloth.
Susu suspected she was dreaming and tried to sit up, but felt a sharp pain in one of her legs.
She looked at the painful leg in fear and found it wrapped in bandages, only then confirming she wasn't dreaming.
Her jacket and life jacket were gone, replaced by a set of dry cotton clothes and trousers. She didn't see Tianyi in the room.
She wanted to shout Tianyi's name but couldn't make a sound. Her throat felt terribly sore. She still wanted to get out of bed to find Tianyi.
They were clearly tied together with a rope, securely bound to each other. If she was rescued, then Tianyi should also be rescued.
But the rope around her waist was also gone. Had they been separated by the waves? No, it couldn't be... Tianyi had promised not to leave her again.
She gritted her teeth and tried to get out of bed. If Tianyi was gone, she would not want to live alone.
As she struggled to get out of bed, the wooden door of the house was pushed open from the outside, and someone walked in carrying a basin of water.
The person who came in was Tianyi, it was indeed Tianyi!
Susu's gaze followed Tianyi as he walked towards her. She wanted to say something but still couldn't make a sound.
Tianyi, dressed in a dark gray cotton tunic and trousers, put down the basin he was holding, pushed Susu back onto the bed, and touched her forehead. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "You're finally not running a fever. Do you want some water?"
Susu could only nod tearfully. Seeing that Tianyi was also safe and sound, she felt an indescribable joy.
Tianyi poured her a cup of water and fed it to her slowly. He then used the cold water in the basin to wipe her face.
Susu kept watching him. After a while, she was able to speak in a very small voice and ask, "Where are we?"
Tianyi gave a wry smile and said, "I don't know either. I can't communicate with the people here, but luckily, the people living on this island are very simple and have helped us a lot."
"On the island? Wasn't I on the previous island?" Susu asked, confused.
Tianyi told her that they had been washed ashore on a strange, small island during the storm at sea.
In the giant waves, he had also lost consciousness due to exhaustion. When he woke up, he found himself and Susu lying on the shallow beach of this island.