Chapter 554. The Dangers of a Pearl Diver (1/2)

Yu Xiaolian still felt uneasy. With her lips pursed, she didn’t speak for a long time. Seeing that other people were setting off, she reluctantly asked, “Can you not go? Isn’t your vegetables and fruit shop doing pretty good? We don’t lack money, so why do you have to join in the fun?”

“I have already signed up to participate, and Royal Prince Yang is looking over this event. If I go back on my words and give up halfway, what would others think? Alright, I promise you that I will prioritize my safety, okay?” Zhuang Xiaomo coaxed her for a long time before Xiaolian finally agreed to let him go.

“You…must be careful and don’t try to act brave. I’ll wait for you to come back safe and sound!!” Yu Xiaolian’s eyes were full of worry and reluctance.

Xiaolian’s concern made Zhuang Xiaomo feel a sweet feeling as if he had eaten honey. He looked deeply at her, pushed his own pearl hunting boat, and sailed towards the deep sea with the equipment that he had prepared.

The pearl hunting boat was a special wooden boat that was powered by sails. The bow and stern of the boat were round, and the hull was relatively wide, like a huge oval wooden basin. Zhuang Xiaomo checked his equipment again: thick ropes, ceramic jar, straw mat, wooden bucket, bamboo basket, pearl picking knife, and so on.

Yu Xiaolian watched as Zhuang Xiaomo’s pearl hunting boat sailed further and further away. In the end, there was only a small figure at the horizon. The worry in her heart slightly deepened. Yu Xiaocao noticed that Xiaolian seemed absent-minded when they got home. She almost cut her fingers several times when cutting vegetables. Xiaocao thought about it, and then said, “If you’re worried, let’s have Eldest Brother row a boat to catch up to him. With my swimming skills, if he encountered any danger, I can help out a bit!’

“I want to go too. Can you take me along too? I’ve never been out to the sea before!” He Wanning overheard the conversation between the sisters and jumped out to express her desire.

“Me too!”

“Older Sister Yu, I want to go too!”

“Me, me, me…”

Before Yu Xiaocao could reply, a group of troublesome fellows jumped into the kitchen. Yu Xiaocao felt a slight headache. If she had known that this would happen, she would have sent these people back several days before the pearl hunting competition was announced!

Just when she didn’t know how to reject them, Dong Dali, Royal Prince Yang’s trusted bodyguard, came over, “Miss Yu, my master is going out to the sea. He told this subordinate to ask if you’re interested in coming along.”

“Interested! Of course, she’s interested!!” Before Xiaocao could speak, more than a dozen mouths had answered for her. As a result, there were an extra dozen excitedly chirping and curious figures on Royal Prince Yang’s big ship.

Royal Prince Yang’s ship wasn’t the only one going out to patrol the sea. After all, Princess Consort Duan’s birthday celebration was a happy event. If something happened to these pearl divers, then it would ruin the happy occasion! Thus, Royal Prince Yang sent out a fleet of a dozen or so ships to patrol the deep sea. If they encountered someone asking for help, they would be able to assist them in a timely manner.

Zhu Junyang had originally planned to take his little lass on a romantic trip to the sea, but he hadn’t expected that there would be an addition of more than a dozen giant lightbulbs on the ship, ruining his plan. Looking at the group of noisy brats, he really wanted to lift each of them by their legs and throw them into the sea!

Yu Xiaocao quietly stood at the front of the ship with a telescope in her hands, looking for Zhuang Xiaomo’s boat. This kind of telescope was brought back from the west by Zhu Junyang when he was on a voyage to the western hemisphere. It was called a ‘thousand miles eye’.

“How is it? Did you find him yet?” Yu Xiaolian, who was beside her, asked anxiously.

“Wait a moment, there are so many pearl hunting boats out today, so how can I find him so quickly…wait, I think I found that fellow Zhuang Xiaomo. Why don’t you take a look and see if it’s him?” Yu Xiaocao handed the telescope to Xiaolian and pointed towards a direction.

Xiaolian looked around carefully and finally saw Zhuang Xiaomo’s figure. However, at this time, Zhuang Xiaomo’s pearl hunting boat didn’t seem to be in a good situation. They had encountered a relatively large whirlpool, and if they weren’t careful, there was the danger of them dying along with the wrecked boat.

But, of course, this little problem wasn’t difficult for him. Zhuang Xiaomo directed the people on the boat to throw the straw mats into the whirlpool. When the whirlpool was blocked by the straw mats and slowed down, Zhuang Xiaomo slowly steered the pearl hunting boat through.

“Ruizhi, let’s sail that way, but don’t get too close. It’s fine as long as you can observe the situation with the telescope!” Yu Xiaocao felt that Xiaolian would only be at ease if Zhuang Xiaomo was within their line of sight.