On the way downstairs, Lan Jin kept reminding the child. "Don't bother Uncle Zhou if nothing's wrong, alright? It's scorching today. Don't ask Uncle Zhou to carry you all the time. Uncle Zhou will get hot too."
Lan Qiaoqiao acted as if she had not heard, urging, "Know, know. Mama, hurry, hurry."
By the time the group reached the ground floor, before they even boarded, Lan Qiaoqiao spotted Zhou Zhiye standing not far away on the deck.
Lan Qiaoqiao waved hard and shouted, "Uncle Zhou, Uncle Zhou."
The bright, childish voice drew everyone's attention at once. But wait, Lan Qiaoqiao knew many people on this ship. Why call only Zhou Zhiye?
Shen Zhiyan, ever competitive, was the first to protest. After Shen Zhiyan helped Lan Qiaoqiao and the others onto the ship, Shen Zhiyan asked at once, "Qiao Qiao, why did you only call Uncle Zhou? Don't you know me?"
Lan Qiaoqiao glanced at Shen Zhiyan. Of course she knew her, but compared to how much she liked Zhou Zhiye, it was not the same. "Sister Shen, wait first. I come later."
Then Lan Qiaoqiao fixed her eyes on Zhou Zhiye, who was walking toward her.
Lan Qiaoqiao took quick little steps and ran straight at Zhou Zhiye.
Zhou Zhiye caught the flying little girl in his arms. The two greeted each other with warm enthusiasm like old friends who had been apart for ages.
Snuggled into Zhou Zhiye's arms, Lan Qiaoqiao finally stopped wriggling. Lan Qiaoqiao whispered, "Uncle Zhou, Qiao Qiao miss you. You miss me?"
Zhou Zhiye said, "I did. Uncle Zhou missed you. How have you been lately, Qiao Qiao?"
Lan Qiaoqiao nodded hard. In the space, she had eaten well and slept well. How could she not be fine? It was only a bit lonely, since she could talk only with Grandma Ling.
After chatting with Zhou Zhiye, Lan Qiaoqiao finally remembered the others and went down the line greeting everyone one by one.
You could not say Lan Qiaoqiao was impolite. The greetings were proper enough. But you also could not say she was perfectly polite, since she greeted everyone only after finishing with Zhou Zhiye.
Lan Jin was helpless. She truly did not understand why Lan Qiaoqiao liked Zhou Zhiye so much.
With the greetings done and everyone aboard, it would be rude to keep clinging to someone.
Lan Jin raised her voice. "Qiao Qiao, down now. It's too hot. If Uncle Zhou keeps holding you, he'll be overheated."
Lan Qiaoqiao refused. "Mama, I not hot."
"You're not hot, but he is."
Lan Qiaoqiao argued, "No. I small. Not hot."
Lan Jin understood what Lan Qiaoqiao meant. The child thought adults had a larger "heat range," while a small child produced little heat. But that was not how heat worked. "Enough. Down. Mama will take you to the cabin for the air conditioner. Uncle Zhou still has work."
When Lan Qiaoqiao heard that Zhou Zhiye had work, she looked disappointed. "Ah, Uncle Zhou, you still work?"
Zhou Zhiye was helpless. In fact, he was off duty at the moment, and Lan Jin knew it. But holding someone else's child for too long was not appropriate. So he only said, "Yes. Uncle still has to work. Go to the lounge with Mama. There's air conditioning. It's much more comfortable there."
Lan Qiaoqiao's little face fell. Her head drooped. Then, as if a thought struck, she asked, "Then Uncle Zhou, we see again?"
Zhou Zhiye smiled. "Of course. We're all on the same ship, and we'll be together for a long time. If nothing unexpected happens, we should see each other every day."
Hearing that, Lan Qiaoqiao's disappointment vanished. she climbed down from Zhou Zhiye's arms and into Lan Jin's. "Then go AC, Mama."
Lan Jin rolled her eyes, left Nana on deck, and took Lan Qiaoqiao and Grandma Ling to the lounge. At the same time, the ship kept moving.
However, the water level in H City was truly low. It barely allowed the ship to move. After less than two days, the big ship could not go any farther.
Captain Zhang said, "Judging by the shallows ahead, the water won't be deep from here on. This is the big ship's limit. We switch to small boats. Leave the big ship as a marker and abandon her here."
If fate allowed, they might retrieve it someday, but most likely not.
—
In the past two days, because the water had grown shallow, they had not encountered many mutant creatures. The brief peace was welcome. But once they switched to small boats, who knew what dangers they would meet. For a moment, everyone felt uneasy.
To Lan Qiaoqiao, though, small boats were amusement park boats.
Which child had not ridden a park paddle boat? The moment Lan Qiaoqiao heard they would ride a small boat, her thoughts ran wild and she grew excited.
"Ah, boat ride. I like boat. Little boat go go. Mama, I want sit with Uncle Zhou."
Ling Jiang could not help laughing. "This child can think of Zhou Zhiye no matter what."
Zhou Zhiye did not object. Lan Jin's powers were formidable. He was skilled, but had no powers. Sharing a boat with her was, for safety, the best choice.
They found a stretch of shore and brought the big ship to a stop.
Captain Zhang began preparing the small boats they would use.
The boats were truly small, about the size of the ones in a park. They could mount a canopy to block the sun. But the ship had limited space. It could not store many boats. Each ship had only one small boat by default. Which meant they had a total of two.
There was no way everyone could fit, but they could at least arrange the first run.
Considering the elderly and children, one boat would carry Lan Jin, Lan Qiaoqiao, Ling Jiang, Grandma Ling, Zhou Zhiye, and Shen Zhiyan, with Nana as well. Nana listened only to Lan Jin, so Nana had to stay by Lan Jin's side.
The other boat went to the chefs. Otherwise, what would everyone eat on the way?
Captain Zhang and the team hurried to inflate the prepped rubber rafts. They tied the rafts to the small boat's front, back, left, and right. That way they could protect the boat and boost its speed.
Once everyone climbed in, the setup looked ridiculous and funny.
But given the situation, this was the only way forward.