Chapter 43

  Gong Xi stayed at home for two days. Before leaving, his father Gong found him to have another talk. This time it was not about the matter of inheritance, but because of the problems with Gong Xi's work.

  The old man was also scared after what happened last time, poor thing.

  "Palace joy, you go back to Shenyang, and quit that job."

  "What did I come back for? To stay at home and rely on my parents?"

  "Are you still worried about work? You can start a trading company like your second uncle, supplying some military equipment, that's enough for the two of you to live on." Palace Joy's father said lightly, if his son comes back, this little thing, really doesn't count as anything.

  Gong Xi naturally also knew that in his father's eyes, this was not a big deal, but he didn't want to go into business, and he didn't like those shady dealings.

  "Dad, I don't want to do business, you know that. Besides, I'm doing well at the National Security Bureau, what kind of job would I quit for?" Gong Xi smiled and said to her father: "Dad, don't worry, that thing that day was just an accident, it won't always be like that."

  The father of Gong Xi frowned: "You're really stubborn, you won't listen no matter what."

  Gong Xi went back home via a detour to visit Xing Yun's family. Last time in Macau, Xing Yun had already told his family about their relationship, and Xing Hai was furious at the time.

  He scolded Xiǎng Hǎi fiercely over the phone, and Gōng Xǐ could hear the roar of his voice on the other end of the line, knowing just how great Xiǎng Hǎi's temper had become.

  But Gu Gongxi is not a turtle shrinking its head, he cannot let good fortune be borne by one person alone.

  "Uncle, auntie, I've come to apologize and take the blame. You can scold me or hit me if you want." Gong Xi knelt down as soon as she entered the door in front of Xing's father and mother.

  "I don't ask for your forgiveness, but I ask that you give me a chance to make amends. I will spend the rest of my life making up for the mistakes I made and compensating for the harm I caused to good fortune."

  Xing Jia's parents were kind-hearted and charitable people, and when Gong Xi knelt down in front of them with a straight face, they were initially startled, but then their hatred towards him began to dissipate.

  Luckily, Da Sao was also at home and seeing Gong Xi's sincere repentance, she too was moved to tears.

  Jiaguang took the afternoon train from Xing's home, and Mrs. Xing gave him a jar of beef sauce she had just made: "You won't eat well in the south, this sauce is your favorite, take more of it, when there's no delicious food, you can use it to make rice edible."

  Also brought some small pickled vegetables that Gong Xi made, the northerners have a heavy mouth. Gong Xi really couldn't eat well in Macau and bluntly said: "Thank you, Auntie, thank you, Auntie."

  Jianguo was sweet-talking, but when Auntie Xing asked him to get up, he changed his tone and started calling out "Aunt" and "Uncle".

  To the lucky sister-in-law, it's even more so, with everyone affectionately calling her "big sister".

  Xing Haijia was born a little boy, chubby and big-eyed.

  When Gong Xi picked up the child and examined him carefully for a while, he said: "Ah, godmother, he looks like Xiao Yun when he was young."

  Xing's mother immediately smiled and said: "Really, I even found Lucky's childhood photos for your sister-in-law to see, she was also surprised and said it looked too much alike."

  The little guy is only a few months old and can't talk yet. He just loves to have fun and when he's held by Gong Xi, he giggles nonstop.

  Lucky sister-in-law said: "Mom, look, he still quite likes Gong Xi."

  Xing's mom nodded, "Not just that, last time your brother's colleague came home and hugged this little guy, he cried so hard at the time, waaahhh."

  Gong Xi was even more delighted, hugging him tightly until they were about to leave before letting go.

  The little guy drooled all over his clothes.

  Before Gong Xi came, he already knew that Xing Hai's family had a little baby, so he specially bought a longevity gold lock and put it on the child's neck before leaving.

  "Little treasure, put on the golden lock, and you'll live to be a hundred years old. Is that good? Is that good?"

  The little guy was happily waving his small hands and feet nonstop.

  It was fortunate that Mother and Sister-in-law were modest and reluctant to accept such a heavy gift.

  Gong Xi looked at Lucky's mom with a wronged expression: "Aunt, why are you being so polite? Are you still treating me like an outsider? Am I not the same as Lucky? We're both your sons. What's the big deal about buying something for my nephew?"

  Xing's mother felt a warmth in her heart and could only pull Lucky Auntie's hand, saying: "Then accept it, accept it. Right, Gong Xi isn't an outsider either."

  Xing Hai hadn't finished work when Gong Xi left. When Xing Hai came back and found out that his parents had forgiven Gong Xi, and his wife had even accepted such a large golden lock from him, he was furious and jumped up: "You're all so soft-hearted, how can you be so stupid? One lucky fool is enough, but the whole family is being foolish, deceived by him! You, you're driving me crazy!"

  Xing Hai's wife didn't dare not speak loudly, but was scolded by Xing Hai and could only cry softly to herself.

  Lucky mother saw that her son was making a scene, and even bullied his wife to tears, before she got angry: "Foolish, foolish, we're all foolish, okay? You're not foolish, you're not foolish, just stay in the small house. Don't bully us women."

  The storm in Xing's family has temporarily subsided. However, Xing Hai continued to call his brother, telling him to break up with Gong Xi and not be deceived by her again.

  Good luck was comforting both sides, and Gong Xi called him as soon as he left his house to share the good news. He was overjoyed, just like he had picked up a big treasure from the ground. How could Good Luck bear to tell his family that his older brother had already quarreled with their relatives because of this trip?

  At home, he also knew that his brother loved him and was good to him, fearing that he would be hurt, and not daring to say too much, could only wait until later to slowly penetrate a little bit.

  Xingyun hung up his brother's phone and sighed, Yu Su immediately comforted him with a smile: "Don't sigh, it's all like this, every family has its own difficult-to-recite scripture."

  April is the best season for fishing in the South China Sea.

  Qin Gong led the technical team to do the final inspection work. Qin Gong said: "Young men, hold on, busy with this last period of time, we will complete the task assigned by the party and the state."

  Luckily they continued living their busy lives.

  The fishermen around the South China Sea are also busy, fishing is their source of income, and the ocean is the source of their life.

  They were born by the sea, grew up by the sea, and spent their lives following ships, seas, and fish.

  In mid-April, a fishing boat from Xiajishan Island was detained without reason by a Vietnamese maritime patrol boat, and all 15 crew members on board were illegally detained. Two days later, another 60-ton fishing boat was seized in the same waters, with 17 people on board being detained.

  The Foreign Ministry's several interventions were ineffective.

  Everyone on the sea is very angry. Qin Gong said, "This is because our maritime power is not strong enough yet, so we must work hard and catch up with those developed countries in terms of technology."

  "Only when we are militarily strong will those jackals and wolves dare not covet even a single inch of our territory!"

  On April 20, a Vietnamese naval vessel encountered our patrol boat at sea and the first clash between Chinese and Vietnamese navies occurred.

  Two days later, Lucky and Yu Su and his party arrived on the Yentai warship to make final preparations for the June military exercise. After lunch, the young sailors were divided into two groups playing basketball on the deck, Lucky also took off his shirt, wearing only a vest to play with them.

  The sudden conflict with the Vietnamese warship left those on deck still reeling, when a shell exploded beside them, its massive shockwave blowing four people to pieces. Lu Zixing, who had just been watching the lucky guy's bullfight, now lay with his left half on the deck in a pool of blood, while his right half was nowhere to be seen.

  The second shell exploded immediately afterwards, and Yu Su fell down in an instant, rushing towards the lucky one who was charging downwards.

  The shell exploded right next to Lucky, and he felt something sticky flowing down his head, face, and neck.

  Two warships exchanged fire, the rapid-firing cannons' shots whizzing through the air with a sharp whistling sound, flying horizontally above the sea surface. The air was no longer fresh and clean, but filled with the smell of blood and gunpowder.

  Good fortune crawled out from under Yu Su's body, sitting on the deck like a bloody person, looking at Yu Su in his arms, like a pool of blood and flesh that couldn't be recognized as its original appearance. The usually serious Yu Su with eyes had become a pool of blood and flesh in just one second.

  Lucky Despair shouted out in desperation, shouting Yu Su's name towards the sky, but Yu Su could no longer respond.

  Someone pulled his arm and took him down from the deck, he didn't want to leave, he was afraid of leaving that blurry mass of flesh and blood behind, and not being able to recognize it again, whether it was Yu Su or not.

  Shells were still flying wildly, and the control room was also blown into a mess. Several gunners and machine gunners sacrificed themselves.

  In a low and cramped space, death is dark, like a corner of the world at the end of days, it's terrifying, yet not that terrifying.

  Lucky sat in front of the gun emplacement, personally operating the high-speed cannon that he had tested countless times.

  Another loud noise, the youngest sailor on the ship, Liu Yuzhou, died in front of him again, he had just turned eighteen.

  When victory came, Lucky was not happy at all. The shadow of death loomed over his life like a huge black canopy. The people on the destroyer took them to the island, a small hospital, where the wards were filled with one incomplete corpse after another.

  Lucky was carried on a stretcher, his eyes looking down at the ground, those people, he knew them all, those lives, they had once walked vividly in front of him one by one.

  Tears of joy kept flowing, and the nurse who was treating his wounds said: "Don't be sad anymore, you're already very lucky, you survived."

  Good fortune continues to cry, is it good fortune for oneself? Yu Su uses his life to protect himself, allowing himself to survive. Is this good fortune for oneself?

  Lucky has been crying all these days, he can't hear any words, he just cries, looking at the empty space outside the window, always crying.

  The body has been taken away and a farewell ceremony will be held at sea in a few days.

  But that small yard, the ground still stained with fresh blood, was where his comrades had lain.

  Lucky cried thinking. Rainwater flowed down the window glass, forming a water mark, and the droplets condensed on the glass, looking like rows of tears.

  Heaven, are you also crying for those young lives?