Chapter 606: Yu Huacheng's 'Siege and Starve' Plan

The ventilation ducts and air‑conditioning ducts of the Elegant Maiden No. 1 ocean‑going fishing vessel are two independent duct systems, and they do not communicate with each other.

Earlier, the cold air invaded and became unbearable, so Wu Changsheng crawled into the ventilation duct, intending to escape the rest cabin through it.

Only after crawling into the duct did he discover that the end of the duct was a high‑speed rotating metal fan blade.

There was no way out.

Getting too close would mince him into meat paste by the metal fan blades.

Having no choice, he gritted his teeth and crawled back, taking off his administrative clipboard to block the ventilation duct's entrance, first to stop the cold air from invading, then to think of another way out.

Next to the rest cabin is the fish‑cargo work area, which has several ventilation openings.

If he could pry open any ventilation opening, he could sneak into the fish‑cargo work area and regain freedom! Unfortunately, the screws fixing the grille are on the outside, making it hard to turn them from inside the duct.

He grunted and strained for over half an hour, his fingers rubbed raw.

The screw wouldn't budge, and he let out a fart first!

When that twisted, turning fart escaped, Wu Changsheng realized he was doomed, as if he saw his great‑grandfather calling his name on the Bridge of Helplessness.

He heard Yu Huacheng's warning from outside: "Wu Changsheng, you can't escape today! Put down your weapon at once and crawl out willingly!"

Then Wu Changsheng suddenly remembered: although his fingers were scraped raw, he still had a gun, didn't he?

He had a gun in hand!

What's there to fear!

"Everyone listen! Chen Xiaoyu stays; the rest of you get out, get off the ship! Otherwise I'll shoot—one shot, one kill!"

Wu Changsheng lay motionless in the ventilation duct, gun in hand, ears pricked, listening silently to movements outside, locating by sound, ready to shoot at any moment.

With the bullet's power, it's not hard to blast through the duct partition.

The rest cabin.

After hearing the counter‑warning, Yu Huacheng also grew angry, shouting with his head back: "Wu Changsheng! You're a Provincial Committee Secretary, not a river bandit! Can't you show some respect for your position……"

"Bang!"

Suddenly a gunshot rang out.

It cut off Yu Huacheng's voice and also struck his left shoulder.

Yu Huacheng felt his left shoulder sink, and blood spurted out instantly.

That indescribable sour‑sweet pain made Yu Huacheng stagger a few steps; he instantly felt that today's trip hadn't been in vain—his record now added another honorable entry of injury in the line of duty!

"Secretary Yu, be careful!"

Liu Minghui, quick‑eyed and quick‑handed, hurriedly helped Yu Huacheng to the outside of the rest room.

Chen Xiaoyu also hurriedly withdrew outside.

Looking back, he saw his uncle Chen Dingchao standing there like a fool, head cocked, staring up at the bullet hole punched in the ceiling.

Chen Xiaoyu hurriedly turned back, grabbed Chen Dingchao's arm, and said, "You don't want to live? Move fast!"

"How strange—how could he shoot so accurately? Does he have X‑ray vision?"

Even after being pulled out by Xiaoyu, Chen Dingchao still wore a bewildered expression, unable to understand how Wu Changsheng could hit the target through the ceiling.

No one answered his question.

To be exact, everyone had already been ignoring him as if he were an idiot.

Liu Minghui only cared about Yu Huacheng's injury, saying, "Secretary Yu, hold on, the doctor will be here soon!"—not a single person called 120, and the four officers were on armed guard.

Seeing Yu Huacheng's pale face from the wound, Xiaoyu turned and ran while shouting, "I'll get the first‑aid kit."

The ship's first‑aid supplies were still quite complete.

Everything that should be there was present.

Soon, Xiaoyu brought over a first‑aid kit.

During training, she had also systematically studied maritime rescue techniques, including wound treatment.

Although she couldn't perform surgery to remove the bullet, disinfecting, staunching the bleeding, and bandaging Yu Huacheng's wound was still no problem for her.

Yu Huacheng took off his shirt; the gunshot wound was shocking—his entire left shoulder was soaked red with blood, which flowed down his arm and dripped onto the floor.

While bandaging, Xiaoyu said, "Secretary Yu, you need to go to the hospital as soon as possible."

"It's fine, I won't die."

The bullet hit the shoulder; he would indeed not die anytime soon. Yu Huacheng lowered his head and felt that Xiaoyu's bandaging was quite good—almost turning his upper torso into a mummy.

He felt embarrassed to criticize her, so he let it go—no complaints!

Yu Huacheng shifted his gaze directly to Liu Minghui and issued an on‑the‑spot order: "Superior command says that if we encounter armed resistance, we may kill on the spot!"

"I understand, Secretary Yu. Please rest well."

Liu Minghui turned and returned to the rest cabin doorway, making a beheading gesture to the four officers guarding the door.

The four officers nodded in understanding.

Three continued to guard the doorway, one of them, Officer Ruan, entering with his gun.

As a professional anti‑gang officer, Officer Ruan obviously also knew that Wu Changsheng, hiding in the duct, was determining the sniper's target by listening to sounds.

He tiptoed into the rest cabin, heading toward the bullet hole in the ceiling.

Bang! Bang—he fired two shots in succession!

In Officer Ruan's imagination, after those two shots there should have been blood streaming down from the bullet hole; but after waiting several seconds, no blood appeared on the ceiling.

He pricked up his ears, but heard nothing at all.

What's going on?

Could it be that I didn't hit anyone?

Officer Ruan felt a bit dazed, hurriedly shifted his stance to a safer spot, eyes locked on the ceiling's bullet hole, continuing to listen for any sound from the ventilation duct.

After listening for about half a minute, he still heard nothing.

After a moment's thought, Officer Ruan ducked behind the sofa and shouted at the ceiling: "Wu Changsheng! You've already fired three shots today—how many bullets are left in your gun? You know this, and I know it! Even if we all line up here and let you shoot, you don't have enough ammo! Damn your mother—if you're smart, surrender now!"

He said this with the intention of provoking Wu Changsheng; as soon as Wu Changsheng made a sound, he could pinpoint his hiding place and then shoot him dead.

As a result, he underestimated Wu Changsheng's counter‑surveillance ability, and not a sound came from the ventilation duct.

Helplessly,

Officer Ruan withdrew from the rest cabin and reported the situation to Yu Huacheng and Liu Minghui: "No movement—I estimate Wu Changsheng has already crawled elsewhere; we need another plan."

"Wu Changsheng is now like a mouse hiding in a hole; we're watching him, and he'll definitely run to the other end!" Comrade Liu Minghui, as always, likes to sum things up but never offers a concrete solution. He stared at Yu Huacheng, silently waiting for his instructions.

Yu Huacheng thought briefly, then made a decisive decision: "Immediately reinforce the police and lock down every ventilation outlet on the ship to prevent Wu Changsheng from escaping through any other exit."

He paused briefly.

Yu Huacheng added: "Whether he's a rat or a loach, as long as we watch these exits he won't get out! Let's see how long he can stay in the duct."

Playing tricks, it's still Old Yu.

Only defend, no attack!

This is no different from the ancient siege tactic of cutting off supplies! Wu Changsheng is trapped in the ventilation duct, and without water or food he certainly won't last long.