Chapter 60: Pirates, Right This Way
Just then, a figure walked over.
It was Luo Zichuan.
“I want to join you,” he said outright.
“?” Chi Fengxiao felt a brief sense of dissonance.
What were they, a shelter home? Why was everyone flocking here?
“Forget it, you must have some other agenda.”
Ignoring him, Luo Zichuan turned to Chi Qian, “I’ll be useful to you.”
Chi Qian slurped up a big mouthful of coconut juice through her reed straw, “Alright then, tell me what skills you have. What contributions can you bring to our company after joining, and can you handle our 007 work schedule?”
Poor Luo Zichuan wasn’t even an adult yet, completely unprepared for the treachery of working life.
Chi Qian’s words crashed his system for a full five seconds.
Was he… in some kind of hellish job interview right now?
Pushing up his glasses, Luo Zichuan answered seriously, “I can convert seawater into fresh water. I’ve also built my own refining tools—besides fresh water, I’ve managed to extract salt and even sugar. And, I have extensive knowledge of marine biology…”
“Okay, say no more,” Chi Qian cut him off with a decisive nod.
“You’re exactly the kind of talent our company needs! Congratulations, you’re hired!”
Luo Zichuan hesitated, “Thank you… Boss Chi?”
What kind of strange workplace roleplay was this?!
Chi Fengxiao saw straight through her, “You just want to keep him around to make sugar for you, don’t you?”
Resting her chin in her hand, Chi Qian sighed, “Without sugar, what’s the difference between me and a salted fish?”
Chi Fengxiao sneered, “With sugar, you’re still no different from a salted fish.”
Only saltier.
Tang Xin moved over to make room for Luo Zichuan and quietly asked why he’d come here too.
Luo Zichuan explained, “I told my brother the seaside tastes like sodium chloride. He asked what that was, and I said seawater, since it contains salt.
Then he said, ‘If you just take a bite of food and a sip of seawater, isn’t that better than wasting time refining salt to season your meals?’ I thought he was too dumb, so I didn’t want to stick with him.”
Chi Qian deadpanned, “He clearly could survive on his mouth, but insists on starving himself with his brain.”
[And silence falls over the island tonight.]
[Was Luo Fan actually serious? He really tried that method just now, and the livestream blacked out three times from diarrhea…]
[Luo Zichuan dissing his own cousin this hard? Doesn’t he remember who brought him onto the show?]
[This Luo Zichuan actually has potential—he knows who to follow.]
[Stick with Sister Qian and it’s king crab for every meal.]
After Luo Zichuan joined, Chi Qian finally got her sugar.
The forest had plenty of wild fruits and wild sugarcane.
Most of the sugarcane he turned into brown sugar blocks. The rest he refined into white sugar.
When Chi Fengxiao walked by, he saw Luo Zichuan using slender carved sticks to dip into the sugar blocks—making them into lollipops, Chi Qian’s favorite.
Chi Fengxiao: “…”
Here we go again.
Another one spoiling Chi Qian rotten.
At this rate, they were going to spoil her useless.
“Luo Zichuan, I’ll hold onto that jar of sugar for you,” Chi Fengxiao said.
“Why?” Luo Zichuan looked up.
“You can’t give it all to her. If she eats sweets all day, she’ll get cavities.”
“I won’t give her everything. She’ll have to ask me when she wants some.” Luo Zichuan spoke slowly. “Also, tooth decay is caused by not rinsing after eating, leaving sugar residue on the tooth surface. The dental plaque film contains bacteria that break down the sugar, producing—”
Chi Fengxiao’s head throbbed, “Alright, alright, fine, you hold onto it. Just don’t let her have too much.”
“…Okay.”
[? Since when are Luo Zichuan and Sister Qian this close? He even makes her lollipops?!]
[Film Emperor Chi looks like: if you’re so good at reciting scriptures, why don’t you go fetch them from the West?]
[I get it now. Are they here to survive or to vacation??]
When Luo Fan saw Luo Zichuan handing sugar to Chi Qian, his teeth ached with envy.
When he told him to curry favor with the young miss, he refused.
Now that he told him not to, the boy went and offered himself up.
Utterly hopeless.
Luo Fan turned away with a sour look, heading back to the beach with his teammates to keep picking up trash.
An ominous air approached.
A pirate ship sailed in from the sea, docking at the shore.
On deck, a pirate with an eyepatch pointed his weapon at Gu Hua and the others, “Hands up! Nobody move!”
Gu Hua and the rest looked at each other, then obediently raised their hands.
They even had the mood to chat, “This must be part of the show, right? Looks pretty convincing.”
“Way more fun than picking up garbage.”
Luo Fan smirked, “Mr. Pirate, we don’t have anything valuable on us. But we do know someone who found the treasure at the bottom of the sea. It’s hidden back at her camp.”
The pirates exchanged looks, their eyes full of naked greed.
“Hurry up and lead the way. If you dare deceive us—”
Bang! A gunshot exploded in the air.
Holy sh*t!
Luo Fan’s face went pale. “Th-this way, please…”
*
In the forest.
Chi Qian, Chi Fengxiao, and Luo Zichuan had just finished today’s garbage-collecting quota.
When they returned to camp, they saw trouble.
Shen Jing and his son, along with Tang Xin, had all been tied up by the pirates, forced to kneel on the sand.
The pirates ransacked the bamboo hut roughly, but came up empty-handed.
The pirate leader kicked Shen Jing hard. “Where’s the treasure? If you don’t hand it over, none of you are leaving here alive!”
Shen Jing clenched his teeth and stayed silent, shielding Shen Jiashu and Tang Xin behind him.
The pirates turned on Luo Fan, slapping him across the face. “Where’s the treasure you were talking about?!”
Tears welled up in Luo Fan’s eyes. “I swear I saw them hide it in the hut…”
How could it be gone?!
Hearing this, Chi Fengxiao’s face turned dark. “Idiot!”
[What’s going on? Is this part of the script?]
[No way. The script wouldn’t allow actors to carry real weapons. These might be real pirates…]
[Does the production crew just eat and do nothing? Hurry up and call the police to save them!]
[Wait! sister Qian and Film Emperor Chi haven’t been caught yet. There’s still hope!]
[Hope? Unless Chi Qian can summon killer whales on land, forget it. Without them, she’s nothing.]
The livestream chat erupted with noise, while the production crew broke out in cold sweat.
Chi Fengxiao analyzed quickly: “For now, we can only wait for rescue from the crew. But at sailing speed, it’ll take at least four or five hours.”
Could they last that long?
He finally noticed that Chi Qian hadn’t spoken a word. Thinking she was scared, he whispered: “Don’t be afraid, Qian Qian…”
Chi Qian’s face was expressionless as she stared at the pirates. “They… broke my bamboo hut.”
“And my bed. They dared to touch my bed.”
“They’re done for.”
Chi Fengxiao sucked in a breath. “Calm down. They’ve got weapons—”
“What’s there to be afraid of? Everyone’s got a few skill points.” Chi Qian tightened her grip on the bow in her hands.
She had crafted it earlier for convenience in her little wilderness buffets.
Now, it was finally useful.
