Translator: 549690339
As much as they disliked it, they still had to sit at the same table and eat with those they were annoyed with.
Eight people were seated at the table. Apart from the four of them, there was also Uncle Zhao, the female tour guide, the sturdy man from the boat and a young man sitting next to him.
The meal was mainly fish with plenty of vegetables.
They hadn’t had a decent meal in a long time.
Tan Xiao was gobbling up his food, the professor was clinking glasses and making merry with Uncle Zhao. The robust man and the lad next to him barely spoke, only smiling merrily. The female tour guide was busy serving food and adding water to everyone’s glasses.
She offered food to Shen MO most frequently.
—Well, he was irresistibly attractive in both appearance and physique.
But Shen MO didn’t eat anything she offered. Otherwise, Bai Youwei wouldn’t have been able to maintain her calm demeanor till now.
After the first round of drinks, Uncle Zhao asked Shen MO with a smile, “I heard you spent the morning exploring the island?”
“Yes,” Shen MO responded indifferently, “we were just walking around, hoping to spot any passing cargo ships.”
He didn’t hide their actions, the island was too small to keep their movements a secret. Besides, he wanted to gauge their reactions by bringing it up.
Tan Xiao chimed in, “We walked around for half a day and didn’t see anything!”
Uncle Zhao laughed, “That’s because the ferry dock of West Mountain Island isn’t on our side, it’s in the opposite direction, blocked by a mountain. Of course, you couldn’t see it.”
The old man seemed usual, showing no obvious reactions.
Shen MO asked, “Besides the selection to go to the safe base, are there any other ways to contact the people there?”
“Do you have an urgent matter?” Uncle Zhao put down his wine glass and asked kindly, “If it’s something urgent, you can tell me. I can pass the message when I go there next time. But I can only speak to the people at the dock, if it involves those higher up, it’d be a problem.”
The robust man poured another drink for Shen MO, “What are you rushing for, buddy? Every week, a group of people is selected to go there, a dozen or so a week. There are…umm…sixty or seventy people on the island now, just wait for three or four more weeks and you’re bound to be selected.”
“Only sixty to seventy people on the island?” Shen MO was slightly taken aback. The number was much less than he had anticipated. While he and Tan Xiao were observing the situation on the island, they had noticed signs of human habitation in many places.
The robust man said, “There used to be more, over three hundred at the peak, but then people slowly started moving to the base.”
Tan Xiao wondered, “Why are you still here then?”
“Heh heh, just bad luck.” The robust man laughed, “My name was never called during the selections. But it’s okay, life on this island is quite comfortable. There are too many rules in the base, I like it here.”
At the end, he nudged his companion, “Right, Xiaozhang?”
Xiaozhang pushed him back, laughed and scolded him, “In your dreams! Xiaomei is at the base, of course, I want to go!”
The burly man burst into laughter, “This guy misses his wife!”
Everyone at the table laughed.
The meal was enjoyable. Apart from Shen MO, the rest of the men drank a bit too much. The professor was a lightweight, his face turned red after a few glasses with Uncle Zhao. His steps were unsteady when he walked, and Tan Xiao wasn’t better off either.
Shen MO helped Tan Xiao up, asking Xiaozhang to assist the professor back to the hotel room.
When they returned to the hotel room, Xiaozhang put the professor down and prepared to leave, only to find that the door was mysteriously closed Shen MO, Bai Youwei, and Tan Xiao were staring at him in silence.
Shen MO asked Bai Youwei, “Are you sure you want him?”
Bai Youwei nodded with a smile, “Yes, it’s him.”
Xiaozhang was confused, “Wha…what’s going on?”
“Behave yourself!” Tan Xiao suddenly dropped his drunken act, brandished his baseball bat menacingly, “Do what my big brother tells you to do, or you’ll regret it!”