When Yuli turns 30, Shao Guangrong will already be 37.

Calculating carefully, it would take just over 12 years. If Shao Guangrong were to marry and have children now, his child would be finishing elementary school by the time Yuli turns 30 – nothing wrong with that.

Yuli didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his words. Such a serious atmosphere had been completely broken by Shao Guangrong’s comment.

“Brother Shao, goodbye!”

There was nothing more to discuss today. Yuli waved and followed Ge Jian into the airport.

Thanks to Manager Ge, this was her first time boarding an airplane.

Manager Ge’s time was precious, and it was already quite disruptive for him to make this trip to Beijing for her sake. She heard that the entire Qihang company was busy with the new project assigned by President Xia.

She didn’t need to worry too much about the hospital situation. Besides the hospital nurses, she had hired someone to care for her mother.

Even with 1986’s low prices, the medical fees plus caretaking expenses came to several hundred yuan per month… This amount was negligible for Xia Xiaolan, and Ge Jian could afford it too, but Yuli, a young girl not yet 18, had never earned this much even during her best months at the clothing store!

Her savings would barely cover two months of expenses.

After two months, would she be able to secure a permanent position as President Xia’s secretary?

Even if she did become a permanent staff, her salary wouldn’t immediately cover the expenses. Borrowing money from the company would be inevitable.

She needed to work harder and harder, striving to reach an income that could cover her fixed expenses, and pay back her debts, and only when her income exceeded expenses and her mother’s medical costs no longer affected their living standards – only then would she deserve to be in a relationship.

Starting a relationship now would just mean passing her burdens to a man!

Although Shao Guangrong might not mind, Yuli did.

It wouldn’t be fair to Shao Guangrong – just because someone is kind doesn’t mean you should take advantage of their kindness.

Moreover, from her mother’s marriage to Qiao Quanbing, Yuli had learned her lesson – women shouldn’t rely entirely on men for shelter and care!

Watching Yuli’s retreating figure, like a soldier heading to battle, Shao Guangrong stood there for a while until both Yuli and Ge Jian disappeared from view before getting into his car.

“Such stubborn foolishness.”

Yet somehow, despite his complaints, his tone carried a hint of pride.

Shao Guangrong smacked his lips. Let Yuli go pursue her dreams – with him watching over things in Beijing, she could focus on her work in Pengcheng without worry.

His heart swelled with joy, which slowly settled and transformed into determination.

As for that Qiao Quanbing… he’d deal with him slowly.

Didn’t Yuli want him to see how well mother and daughter would live in the future? Shao Guangrong thought this could be arranged.

Execution wasn’t an option – it didn’t qualify for the Strike Hard campaign.

But he could make sure Qiao Quanbing got a longer sentence. Sometimes, living could be more painful than death!

Shao Guangrong whistled as he started the car.

“With this year’s bonus, should I buy a car?”

The thought popped into his head.

The car he was driving now belonged to Kang Wei – it was the Jeep 212 that Du Zhaohui had given to Kang Wei as compensation. After modifications, it performed excellently and was incredibly comfortable to drive. Since that accident, Kang Wei has been prohibited from driving, and the ban hasn’t been lifted yet. The car would just be collecting dust in Beijing, so Shao Guangrong often drove it.

He pondered that he couldn’t keep driving Kang Wei’s car forever.

Kang Wei had now established a furniture business in the south. The car should be returned to him – even if Kang Wei couldn’t drive it himself, he could hire a driver.

Shao Guangrong used to love riding his motorcycle with a sidecar, carrying two girls in the sidecar – now that would turn heads! But that wouldn’t do anymore. From now on, he wouldn’t be carrying random women – he’d save that seat for little Yu… While the motorcycle with sidecar was cool, the winter wind would cut right through passengers.

He needed his car.

No, perhaps he needed his own house – not the work-assigned dormitory in Beijing, nor the family home, but a place in Pengcheng, where Yuli would be spending considerable time in the future.

“Would the year-end bonus be enough? Maybe Sister Xiaolan could give me a discount?”

He heard Qihang was developing some essential housing projects.

Shao Guangrong felt he was definitely in essential need!

Who would have thought that he, once a footloose bachelor, would now be considering where to settle down?

Only 24 years old, yet already feeling less inclined to wander… damn, this was it!

…

“Cough… Cheng, my boy, I’m afraid we might not make it this time.”

Pan Bohua had thought he’d die on the battlefield.

A glorious death would have made his time in this world worthwhile.

Who would have thought they’d die in some nameless place, inglorious, and drag Zhou Cheng down with him?

Every word Pan Bohua spoke brought violent coughing, his breathing like broken bellows, wheezing, and leaking air.

Zhou Cheng wasn’t in much better shape.

The two lay on a large plywood board, having drifted at sea for two days.

Going without food for two days wasn’t the problem.

Two days without water was deadly.

Even though neither he nor Pan Bohua were fastidious men, even if they wanted to drink urine, they needed to have urine to drink.

Seawater wasn’t completely undrinkable, but it couldn’t quench thirst. Its salt content was too high – drinking it would overload the kidneys since the body couldn’t process it… Drinking seawater would lead to dehydration at best and poisoning at worst. It was only a last resort.

Zhou Cheng was also seriously injured.

It was impressive enough that he’d managed to rescue Pan Bohua – how could he possibly take proper care of him?

“Third Brother, based on the sun’s position and ocean currents, we’re still drifting toward the coastline, not away from it. I know you’re trying to lighten the mood, but could we not act out this particular scene?”

Zhou Cheng had known Third Brother wouldn’t betray the country, nor would he die easily.

He must have gotten held up somewhere, and Zhou Cheng had spent considerable effort finding him – Pan Bohua had done something impressive. Thinking he’d be free after completing his mission, he decided to clear out a nest of pirates in the area beforehand. He’d had several deceptive interactions with them and had been disgusted by these pirates for a long time, but since he needed to maintain his cover, he hadn’t moved against them.

When Zhou Cheng found Pan Bohua, he was trapped in the pirates’ den, in quite an awkward situation.

Pan Bohua hadn’t expected the island pirates to be using poison darts like tropical rainforest natives. The paralytic effect was remarkably potent – he had let his guard down and gotten caught by the pirates.

Zhou Cheng had rescued him, and as they escaped, they destroyed all the pirates’ boats. The surviving pirates were furious but jumping up and down in anger wouldn’t help – destroying the boats was necessary to trap them on the island until reinforcements could come to arrest them.

Perhaps as karmic retribution, their boat had been sabotaged and exploded not far from the island. Both men had to jump into the sea to survive. Zhou Cheng had found a piece of broken plywood, and the brothers had been drifting at sea ever since.

Two days without encountering any rescue vessels.

Zhou Cheng’s backup plan hadn’t materialized either.

Zhou Cheng maintained good spirits, and Pan Bohua wasn’t truly despairing – he was just acting to lighten the mood.

Licking his cracked lips, Pan Bohua laughed at himself:

“You know, just as I was about to complete my mission, I still wanted to pull off one more job… I’ve finally figured it out – I just can’t stay put.”