Chapter 26 – The Rescue

By the time Lin Ganzhi satisfyingly put away his little notebook, Wenren Yi was looking at him with a mix of pity and regret.

?? The pink-haired boy was confused.

The next morning, Lin Ganzhi was the last to get up. As he groggily washed up, he heard cries for help from outside.

“Does anyone on the crew swim really well?! My wife is drowning!” Bi Wu, who was usually calm and composed, was now in a complete panic, his voice trembling as he spoke.

Director Fang supported him. Everyone was already prepared to leave, so the group rushed to the beach.

On the calm sea, a struggling figure could be faintly seen, almost entering the deep water area. Bi Wu was notoriously unable to swim, but thankfully he was rational enough to call for help first instead of jumping in himself.

Most of the crew members were mediocre swimmers, and the lifeguard had just left yesterday afternoon. Now, their only hope of finding a decent swimmer was among the guests.

Fan Feimiao had a flash of insight and looked directly at Zhong Jingyi. “Jingyi, I remember you said in an interview that you’re a pretty good swimmer?”

Zhong Jingyi, who had been called out, was taken aback. “But, my strength is very weak. I’ll just slow things down, won’t I?”

Bi Wu was stunned, a hint of disbelief flashing in his eyes. “Forget it, I’ll go down and figure something out myself. It was my wife’s willfulness to go swimming this morning that caused trouble for everyone.” Just as he was about to turn, Zhuang Wenduan grabbed him.

“Don’t lose your head. If you go down, there will just be one more person to rescue. Has the emergency number been called? How long will it take for them to arrive?”

“Half an hour,” Director Fang said with a grim expression.

“I’ll go.” Lin Ganzhi handed his phone to Wenren Yi, his words firm. His fair skin seemed to glow, giving him an almost surreal quality as he dashed into the sea on his slender feet.

Bi Wu’s eyes reddened. He quickly followed, waiting in the water just up to his shoulders to provide support.

On the azure sea, a white figure moved nimbly, like a white fish, swimming at high speed toward the drowning Qi Lan. As he moved, diamond-like spots of light grazed the boy’s face.

Zhuang Wenduan watched the scene unfold, lost in thought for a rare moment.

The crew members also put down their things and followed, leaving a few women to wait on the shore.

Just then, Lin Ganzhi’s phone suddenly rang. Wenren looked down and saw that it was from Uncle Yan. She was about to hang up when her hand slipped and she answered the call.

“Ganzhi, are you on the boat now?”

Wenren looked up and met Que Jin’s eyes, unsure of how to answer the old man.

“Holy crap! Are there sharks around Sister Qi Lan?! I see a fin!” a terrified shout came from not far away.

“Lin Ganzhi! Come back first!”

Startled, Wenren Yi quickly hung up the phone.

Yan Shengping, who was eating breakfast and listening to Uncle Yan’s phone on speaker, slammed his spoon down heavily. “Uncle Yan, try calling back.”

Uncle Yan nervously agreed and called again. This time, no one answered.

Yan Shengping shot up, his face extremely grim as he headed upstairs.

“Mr. Yan,” Uncle Yan followed nervously.

“Uncle Yan, you keep calling. I’ll call for a rescue team.” Yan Shengping quickly disappeared around the corner.

Yan Shengping’s expression was exceptionally ugly, even uglier than when he had received the first call from the Zhong family telling him to marry Lin Ganzhi after coming here.

“Shengping, you’re not getting any younger. Xiangwen introduced me to a pretty good kid. He’s an actor and seems quite innocent. It’s perfect for him to marry you and take good care of you. You’ve been away from home for too long, that’s why you’ve become so cold-blooded.”

He had investigated Lin Ganzhi back then. He was a minor celebrity from a very ordinary background, an orphan who was madly in love with Luan Yuanzhou. The man had almost no redeeming qualities, yet Father Zhong had described him as innocent.

At first, he had intended to make the person give up and break off the engagement on his own. The first day had indeed gone as he expected, but starting from the second day…

The silly thing started to take care of him without complaint, acting cute and fawning over him no matter what he did. Sometimes he found Lin Ganzhi’s tricks clumsy, but he couldn’t find any fault in the earnestness with which he did everything for him. If this time, he really disappeared from his sight as he had originally wished…

I miss you.

Yan Shengping picked up his phone, the words from yesterday’s call echoing in his mind. His fingers trembled uncontrollably.

“Secretary Lian, how long does it take to get to the island where Lin Ganzhi is filming by helicopter from our lab?”

“CEO Yan, are you sure you want to dispatch a helicopter from the lab?” Secretary Lian’s business-like voice sounded, with a hint of surprise.

“Do you need to question my decisions?” Yan Shengping’s eyes turned cold.

A chill ran down Secretary Lian’s spine. “I wouldn’t dare, CEO Yan. It’s about a ten-minute flight from here.”

“Dispatch a helicopter. You go personally. If anyone asks, you can explain it as you see fit. Oh, and this time, you don’t need to be polite to Zhong Jingyi,” Yan Shengping added a condition.

“Yes, CEO Yan.” Secretary Lian’s tone suddenly became cheerful. He had been putting up with that Black Lotus for a long time!

“Wenren, why did you hang up on his uncle? Doesn’t that shout just make people more anxious?” Que Jin asked worriedly.

“Oh no, I didn’t think about that. Que Jin, take the phone. I’m going to check on Ganzhi!” Wenren Yi shoved the phone into Que Jin’s hands and ran towards Lin Ganzhi. With so many people around, they would just watch if something happened. A bunch of cowards!

Wenren Yi took a leap of faith and swam towards Lin Ganzhi’s position.

“Wenren! Come back!” Luo Tingzhou completely lost his composure and shouted. Seeing that she wasn’t listening, he had no choice but to follow her into the water.

Luan Yuanzhou frowned and was about to go too, but Zhong Jingyi held him back tightly. “Yuanzhou, you have to stay here. When they bring the person back and have no energy left, you need to be here to help.”

Hearing Zhong Jingyi’s words, the others could only wait with grim faces.

Lin Ganzhi vaguely heard someone shout “shark,” but the probability of a shark in such shallow water was extremely low. As he approached Qi Lan, he took a deep breath and dived. In the deep blue water, he saw no giant fish, but he could see that Qi Lan’s foot was tightly entangled in seaweed.

Lin Ganzhi surfaced, swam a few meters forward, and then dived back into the sea, reaching out to untangle the seaweed from Qi Lan’s foot.

Qi Lan had no strength left to struggle. Seeing someone come to her rescue, she completely lost her energy and began to sink, taking the fin-like piece of ocean trash with her. Lin Ganzhi had to support Qi Lan’s body while trying to untangle the seaweed.

After a few attempts, he finally freed her from the seaweed.

By now, Lin Ganzhi had little strength left either. After all, his strength was only at the level of a weakling, but he still gritted his teeth and held onto Qi Lan, swimming towards the beach.

Just as his vision was about to go black, Wenren Yi swam up to him and took one of Qi Lan’s arms from him. “Bro, hang in there! I’ll treat you to French cuisine when we get back!”

Lin Ganzhi finally caught his breath, took a deep gulp of air, and swam forward. “No French cuisine. There’s barely anything in a bowl. I want an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet!”

Wenren Yi almost burst out laughing while swimming. This kid had no ambition whatsoever.

Just as Lin Ganzhi’s last bit of strength was exhausted, Luo Tingzhou took over for him. When his feet could touch the ground, Zhong Jingyi hurried over.

“Wenren, let me help you!”

“No need,” Wenren Yi refused coldly, her face stern. What was he pretending for at a time like this? She pushed Zhong Jingyi aside and walked towards the beach, leaving him standing there awkwardly.

Fortunately, although Bi Wu couldn’t swim, he had survival experience. The task of artificial respiration was left to the husband.

After two minutes of resuscitation, Qi Lan coughed up the last of the seawater. In the final second before she lost consciousness, she saw a slender boy holding her tightly.

When she stood up, the first thing she did was bow to Lin Ganzhi and thank him. Lin Ganzhi couldn’t bear such a formal thank you from an elder. He quickly helped her up and smiled embarrassedly.

Bi Wu immediately stepped forward and took Lin Ganzhi’s hand. “Child, if you ever need help in the future, just contact me directly. As long as it’s within my ability, I will do everything I can to help you!”

Lin Ganzhi nodded obediently, though he had no intention of doing so. After all, he was now a hundred-millionaire. His life was already better than he had ever expected, and he had no further requests.

Qi Lan later apologized to the crew for worrying everyone with her reckless behavior.

At that moment, the sound of a helicopter echoed from above. When they looked up, a helicopter was slowly landing on a flat piece of ground not far from them. A man got out of the white helicopter, wearing sunglasses, a large gold chain around his neck, and nine large rings on his ten fingers. He looked like he wanted to scream “I’m rich” from the rooftops.

“Hello, I saw that your situation here seems a bit off. Did someone drown? Do you need help?” The rich man walked towards them, his gold chain glinting dazzlingly in the sun.

Director Fang quickly waved him over. “Hello, could you please help us take our drowning victim to the city hospital?”

Bi Wu and Luo Tingzhou helped Qi Lan over.

“Oh my god, are you Qi Lan? I’m a big fan of yours. No problem, please come on up!” Up close, the rich man’s facial features were quite delicate, but his every move exuded an air of wealth that overshadowed his good looks.

Seeing Bi Wu’s wary gaze, the rich man generously took out his pilot’s license. “My surname is Lian. My family is in the seafood business. You can look us up on company databases. The investment isn’t much, just over a billion. Don’t laugh.”

Fan Feimiao, the smart aleck, actually searched for it on the spot and then exclaimed, “Damn, over a billion in the 2000s?”

“Ahahaha, I told you not to laugh, hahahaha.” The rich man’s smugness repeatedly trampled on the fragile heart of Lin Ganzhi, the only poor person present.

“By the way, I have a few more seats on my plane. Would the two ladies like to come up? You’ll catch a cold if you’re exposed to the sea breeze for too long.”

Que Jin hesitated. Wenren Yi, who was used to such scenes, pulled Que Jin along and said thank you. “A friend of mine just saved someone and is also quite shaken up. Could he also catch a ride?” Wenren Yi pointed to the drenched Lin Ganzhi.

Lin Ganzhi blinked, his water-laden eyelashes a bit itchy. Hearing the invitation, his heart leaped with a little joy, but he quickly calmed down and shook his head.

“Sir, my helicopter is very safe. It’s even equipped with top-tier food and fine wine. You can drink to your heart’s content all the way to the city,” the man passionately promoted how rich he was.

“No, thank you. I have to take these back with me. It’s not convenient to bring them on your plane.” Lin Ganzhi stubbornly guarded his junk. No, no, no! What junk? That was his love for his boss!

“Hello, in that case, could you please give us a ride? I forgot to introduce myself. I am the current president of Zhong’s Chips, Zhong Jingyi.” Zhong Jingyi was also half-soaked, but when he announced his company, his face was filled with a confident smile.

Luan Yuanzhou had a vague feeling that this was not a good idea, but he didn’t stop Zhong Jingyi in time.

The rich man nodded thoughtfully and said, “I remember you. You’re the one who was mediocre at acting in the entertainment industry, then went back and snatched the assets your older brother worked hard to build for eight years. That Ungrateful Person?”

As soon as he said this, the entire scene fell silent.

Lin Ganzhi: !! Thanks, that was satisfying.