"I'm here, dear. Relax, the search and rescue guys are on their way now. They should get to us soon enough," a tall white guy replied, seemingly unfazed by the whole situation. He was dressed in patterned shorts and a short-sleeved shirt with the buttons undone, leaving his muscled chest exposed to the wind.
He took off his sunglasses and said to Zheng Yang, "Hey, mate, did you steal the boat from the grown-ups? Listen, that's a very dangerous thing to do, and I'd be wary of getting my a** kicked if I were you."
Zheng Yang raised his hand and rubbed his nose for a bit before replying in an exasperated manner, "Well, I seem to have heard you guys asking for help earlier. I'll be on my way if you don't need me. Sailboats are slow after all, you know. I'll need to get to port soon."
The girl in hotpants added right away, "No, please. Our yacht's engine failed, and it won't start. We need your help!"
Then, she turned around and addressed the white guy with a rather furious look, "Entes, you idiot. The search and rescue will take at least an hour to get here! We're out in the middle of nowhere, and god knows what else could go wrong. What we should do now is have the sailboat tow the yacht back to port!"
The remaining guy, who was also white, and who had a pronounced nose and was wearing a bucket hat, voiced his agreement right away. "I second Lisa's suggestion. Entes, now that someone else happened to find us, asking for their help is the right thing to do. We can't just sit around and wait."
"I agree!"
"Me too."
"Entes, the yacht is drifting away from the sailboat now, so you have to make a decision right away. And I do mean immediately, right this second!"
…
As they spoke, the yacht and the sailboat drifted further apart. The distance between them widened to over a dozen meters, causing the girls on the yacht to panic.
Zheng Yang could tell that the yacht belonged to Entes, and that it was up to him to decide whether they were going to ask for his help to tow the yacht back to port.
Entes was apparently unfazed by their current predicament. He believed that search and rescue would get to them in no time since their satellite phones were able to provide their coordinates.
However, not everyone could be as calm as he was in such situations. Pressured by his friends, Entes eventually decided to ask for Zheng Yang's help all the same.
"Do you have a rope on your boat, mate?" Entes shouted to Zheng Yang.
He had to shout because both vessels were 30 to 40 meters apart from each other by then, and he was afraid Zheng Yang wouldn't be able to hear him.
Zheng Yang shook his head and replied, "Nope!"
"Alright, I'll go get some!" Entes shrugged and went to the bow of the yacht with the black guy, grabbing the ropes that were used to tie the yacht to the dock.
Zheng Yang raised the triangular sail and took his spirit vessel to the back of the yacht. The coupling was a success, with the sailboat's starboard gliding to the side of the yacht, and both vessels were less than three feet away from each other. They were already so close to each other that the black guy was able to grab hold of the sailboat by just slightly reaching out with his hand.
By the time the sailboat was about to drift away from the yacht again, the black guy was already done tying the rope to the hook on the anchor hanging at the yacht's side. The girls on the yacht immediately cheered, and the black guy raised his fist in a gesture of victory
In contrast to the others, Entes was checking out the sailboat with wide eyes. He exclaimed in shock, "Is this boat really made out of logs?" Entes yelled at Zheng Yang, who was standing on the deck of his boat. "For a moment there, I thought they were just decorations… oh wow, it's actually made out of logs. Forgive my excitement, as this is my first time gazing upon such a masculine sailboat. Wild, primitive, and rustic! Ah yes, there is a smell of history about it.
"Hey, mate, would you mind letting me on board so I can look around your boat? I swear that I won't touch anything that I shouldn't! Oh right, I'll also pay for the rescue!"
The sailboat had stopped drifting and was completely still. The stern of the sailboat was just a step away from the bow of the yacht. Zheng Yang walked through the cabin and came to the stern, getting another good look at the people on the yacht.
With the exception of that sullen-looking young man wearing a bucket hat, everyone else looked very, very friendly, and they all thanked Zheng Yang. The girl in hotpants, whose name was Lisa, was calling out at the stern of the yacht, saying that she wanted to have a look at the sailboat as well.
Zheng Yang flashed a sunny smile and said, "Be my guest. But I should warn you guys, my boat isn't suitable for entertaining guests. By the way, you guys will need to at least leave one guy behind to steer the yacht. I don't want the yacht ramming my boat."
"Oh sure. Balon can do that. Girls, let's take our food and beer along, and those snacks of yours as well. The host has invited us over!"
Entes personally hung on to the hook on the sailboat to prevent the two boats from drifting apart. He then called for the black guy to get the things from the back and get on the sailboat with the girls. They looked as if they were about to throw a party. The yacht wasn't that big, and the sailboat's sails were still lowered. Both vessels were still at the moment, and it didn't take a lot to keep both vessels from being separated by the waves.
Balon was the guy wearing a bucket hat. He shook his head but didn't object to Entes' arrangement, simply climbing up to the driver's seat on the second floor of the yacht.
It took mere minutes for the two guys and four girls to move from the bow of the yacht to the sailboat.
The stern of Zheng Yang's boat resembled the bed of a pickup truck. Supporting the awning were two logs sticking out at the gunwales, which also consisted of logs like the rest of the boat. The bed at the stern was also constructed from logs, and was about 50 centimeters higher than the deck.
All of the people on the yacht hopped onto the sailboat, walking back and forth along the length of the boat and passing through the cabin to check the boat out. It was a pity that the sailboat was completely naked. Whatever materials and supplies it carried were all stored away in the compartments underneath the deck, making the entire length of the boat look completely barren.
None of them felt like they were being intrusive, since they were already able to see that the sailboat was so barren that it didn't even have a table or a chair on it. After placing their stuff in the corner of the cabin, they paced the length of the sailboat excitedly, nonetheless, caressing the logs along the gunwales and the cabin constructed completely out of wood. They were very impressed.
A girl who was wearing a one-piece dress and had a voluptuous figure chuckled as she commented, "This is the cleanest boat I've ever seen!"
The blonde girl clad in a bikini and a white overshirt, which was so long that the lower part of the shirt was covering her thighs, gave everyone on board a can of beer and said with a grin, "A toast to our journey home, and to this beautiful boat!"
Everyone: "Cheers!"
Half an hour had passed since Zheng Yang had come across them. Zheng Yang left the can of beer on the floor and said, "I'm gonna get the boat running. We won't be able to reach port even by midnight otherwise."
Everyone's eyes glittered as they watched Zheng Yang raise the triangular sail and the ball sail. As the wind billowed the sail, pulling the rest of the boat forward, everyone started to feel the sailboat accelerated. It proceeded to tow the yacht behind them as the winds howled.
Zheng Yang kept his eyes on the compass and the nautical chart. He used the longitude and latitude lines on the chart to figure out their current position, and then adjusted the boat's direction accordingly. He then told everyone else, who were apparently kids from rich families, "We'll run into more boats and ships as we approach the port. I need to keep my eyes at the front."
"Do you need help getting the boat running, mate? It doesn't look too complicated, and I think I know what to do." The black guy saw how Zheng Yang went about his business and was eager to try his hand at it.
"Keep an eye on the boats and the wind vane up there for me, then. I'll tell you what to do when we actually need something done," Zheng Yang said, pleased that he had someone to help him keep an eye out.
The girl in hotpants remembered that they had yet to introduce themselves, so she took the lead and said, "I'm sorry, the name's Lisa, and this guy here is my idiot brother, Entes.
"And over here, Felia, Jordan, Vienna, and Dani." She pointed at the girl in the long dress, the black guy, the girl in the bikini, and the girl in the short dress. All four girls were young and pretty, which Zheng Yang found unsurprising. If he were in Entes' shoes, he wouldn't want to invite ugly people to party on his yacht either.
Zheng Yang introduced himself and said, "If things go well, it'll take us about three hours for us to reach port. I thought I should let you guys know that."
"D*mn, Zheng, you actually know how to navigate with a compass and a nautical chart? Boy, you're something. But why aren't you using GPS? After all, it's easy to use and precise." Lisa took out her satellite phone, turned on navigation, and showed it to Zheng Yang, who unexpectedly discovered that they were veering off-course by 10 degrees.
Zheng Yang was slightly shocked. "Well, it was probably because when we stopped back then, the waves caused us to drift, affecting my judgment," he said defensively.
He then instructed the black guy to right their course, explaining, "My satellite dropped into the water."
"Oh, haha… I'm sorry. That really is tragic."
Actually, Zheng Yang didn't even have a normal mobile phone, let alone a satellite phone. There used to be over 50 homes on that dingy island he was from, but now, there were only about half remaining. The island lacked modern conveniences, and it didn't even have a base station, which meant that there wouldn't even be a signal for mobile phones to pick up. As for satellite phones, only the fishermen who went far out to sea had such things. None of the other villagers had any, given that they had utterly no use for them.
As he watched Zheng Yang man the sailboat, Entes scratched the back of his ear, looking as if he had something he wanted to say but was too embarrassed to say it. He finally mustered up his courage and asked, "Zheng, forgive me, but can you tell me who this boat belongs to?"
"It's my boat."
"You sure?"
"Very sure."
"That's great, then. Zheng, would you sell the sailboat to me?"
"Huh?"
"Or I could trade my yacht back there for it!"
"…"