Chapter 276 — Grim Prospects
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Many fishermen, having caught a shark, do nothing but slice off its fins—the so-called shark fin—and toss the shark back into the sea. Cruel though this practice is, it also goes to show that shark meat tastes bad and finds few takers.
The cheapest fish balls on the market are made from shark meat, for the simple reason that the cost is low.
As for shark fin, however, Wei Zhao was in no mood for it; at a time like this, a mouthful of ordinary meat would be worth a great deal more.
Shen Yushu had a small appetite. She found the shark meat delicious, all right, but after two pieces she could not manage another bite, and sat to one side with a hand clapped over her little belly. "I'm stuffed to death, but it was so good! Arrow Brand Bro, let's carry the rest of this shark meat home—let Sister Yaoyao have a taste too!"
With good things in hand, Shen Yushu had not forgotten Gu Mengyao. It was plain to see how close the two of them truly were: they bickered constantly, but the bond of sisterhood between them was real.
"But we need to get in touch with Uncle Qing first." Wei Zhao took out the phone's battery, set the handset down on the sand, and prepared to let it dry in the sun.
Once the moisture on the phone's motherboard had evaporated, the thing might still work for a short while yet—so long as the circuits had not already been eaten through by corrosion. Once the motherboard was thoroughly rusted, it would be finished for good.
Wei Zhao had heard this trick from a friend once, and meant to give it a try.
Someone had met with an accident at the amusement park's bungee valley. Ordinarily such a matter was no concern of the ** Team, nor was it any great felony. But Shen Yushu was involved, and even the Chief had issued orders, so Qiu Lingshan had no choice but to lead her squad in person and investigate the whole affair.
On the one hand they hunted for eyewitnesses; on the other they phoned the coast guard asking for support, to sweep the sea surface nearby.
In truth, with both feet and waist lashed fast by rope, even a man who could swim would have little hope of survival once he went over the edge—trussed up head to foot in cord, how was anyone supposed to swim?
On learning that Wei Zhao was among them, Qiu Lingshan could not help but start—that man as well? Her impression of him was hardly favorable, it was true, but the fellow had helped her twice: once in the capture of the bank robbers, once in the seizing of the Black Panther.
Both had been meritorious service of the plainest, truest kind. Wei Zhao had wanted none of it, so the credit had of course settled onto Qiu Lingshan's shoulders, leaving her with an inexpressible and peculiar feeling toward the man.
It could not precisely be called gratitude—yet the thought of Wei Zhao meeting with disaster was something she absolutely had no wish to see.
"Captain Song! The coast guard has come back to us—within a kilometer they've found nobody in the water. Do we widen the search radius, or..." The speaker was Liu Wangli, captain of the ** First Squadron; Qiu Lingshan had brought that very squadron with her today.
"Let me report up and ask..." Qiu Lingshan sighed. If nothing turned up within a kilometer, then either the two of them had been washed much farther out, or they had already sunk to the bottom of the sea.
Widening the search would, she reckoned, do little good; the longer they went on looking, the more of it would be labour thrown away.
Chief Chen's line was busy. Evidently the pressure on him was immense, for the ones in the water were none other than Shen Yushu, the Chen family's precious granddaughter. If she died just like that, the consequences did not bear thinking about.
Qiu Lingshan then dialed Yang Huaijun. Newly and formally promoted to Executive Deputy Chief, he oversaw both the Criminal Investigation Squad and the ** Team; apart from Chief Chen himself, he was Qiu Lingshan's direct superior.