Chapter 658: Longing is the anchor point

Wu An held the walkie-talkie, shouting for A Qing to come over.

A Qing hurried over.

"Brother, what's up?"

"Nothing, I'm thirsty."

There's still a lot of watermelon on the boat; if we can't finish it after returning, we'll have to bring it ashore. Otherwise, I'll cut the watermelon and we can each have half a piece.

A Qing, you can now, you're thinking very thoroughly.

"Hehe." A Qing laughed: "That's right."

I want to eat it, and everyone surely wants to eat it too.

Right?

Not long after.

Wu An sat at the bow, holding a half piece of watermelon, eating it with a spoon.

The watermelon had been chilled.

It was refreshing to eat.

While eating watermelon, Wu An realized he still hadn't called home.

Encountering typhoon weather, his family must be worried.

He took out his satellite phone.

He first called Gu Anran.

Gu Anran answered instantly: "A An, the typhoon is coming; when will you get back to the pier?"

Wu An said: "I'm on my way back."

"How do you know I haven't returned yet?"

Gu Anran said: "I've been calling you every so often, but you've been out of service."

Wu An realized.

A warm feeling rose in his heart; being missed really isn't bad.

In his previous life.

He was lonely and helpless in the city, as if it were a nightmare.

Gu Anran's concern was like an anchor point, allowing him to clearly feel how truly real this moment was.

Wu An asked: "Take care of yourself; when I return, I'll come find you."

Gu Anran replied: "When will you arrive?"

Wu An estimated: "Probably around midnight."

After chatting a while, Gu Anran hung up on his own to get busy.

Wu An then called his sister-in-law.

He originally planned to call Wu Yingwei, but then thinking the typhoon was coming, his father must be busy in the village.

His elder brother was likely busy reinforcing the house's doors and windows; his sister-in-law probably had nothing to do.

He placed the call.

The call was answered instantly.

Wu An greeted: "Sister-in-law, is everything alright at home?"

Mei Yueqin said: "Nothing's wrong at home; have you guys returned yet?"

Wu An said lightly: "We're back."

"We should be able to get there by midnight."

"You don't need to worry; go to sleep and rest well."

Mei Yueqin agreed: "That's good; the weather forecast sounded really scary, saying it's a once-in-a-decade typhoon."

"'Once-in-a-decade' sounds like just that."

Of course, knowing how many typhoons pass through each year, a once-in-a-decade typhoon is already quite severe.

Wu An asked: "Are Father and Elder Brother at home?"

Mei Yueqin said: "Father went out to busy himself; he said he'd swing by the construction site to have a look, so nothing goes wrong when the typhoon hits."

Wu An let out a quiet sigh; regarding Father putting village affairs first, there was nothing he could say.

He's lived his whole life this way.

It's impossible to change.

If we change it like this, wouldn't the character setting basically collapse?

Wu An said: "Then have you call Elder Brother."

Mei Yueqin hesitated: "Your brother… your brother he…"

Wu An suddenly shouted: "Elder Brother isn't home either?"

Mei Yueqin sighed, saying: "Your brother is at school; you know, that school building is already aged and disrepair, so he's leading people to reinforce it."

Wu An frowned: "So now it's just you at home?"

Mei Yueqin said: "You don't need to worry."

"The typhoon hasn't arrived yet."

"I'm fine being alone at home."

Wu An said: "Then just rest at home; don't do anything."

"We'll talk again when Father or Elder Brother returns home."

Mei Yueqin acknowledged, saying she understood.

After chatting a few sentences, Wu An hung up, had A Qing come over, and called Aunt Juan.

After just a few words, A Qing snapped at Aunt Juan to stop nagging; Wu An, angry, kicked him and told him to speak properly.

After A Qing finished the call, he took the phone and chatted a few sentences with Aunt Juan.

Li Juan smiled and said, "Auntie, don't worry—A Qing is with you, so I'm completely at ease."

Don't worry about home; I'll come by your place soon to check.

Yueqin also has it figured out.

Wu An thanked him.

Although they say everyone here will face typhoons, no matter how much they've experienced, nobody gets used to it.

Every year typhoon warnings bring some impact here—no exaggeration—they inevitably cause casualties.

That's why he worries so much about home.

Since his sister-in-law is pregnant, he fears she'll think it's fine and keep working as before.

If she were to fall or something, before it wouldn't have mattered.

But now it's different.

If something happened, not only would his sister-in-law blame herself, but his father and elder brother might not forgive themselves for not being home.

Carefulness keeps the boat safe for ten thousand years.

A Qing went back and summoned Mei Wu.

One after another, they checked in with the family to put their minds at ease.

They all understood implicitly, not mentioning the heavy fog at sea, just telling the family not to worry.

Away from home, they're in the habit of reporting good news, not bad.

……

Not long after.

Li Juan arrived home; Mei Yueqin saw her and smiled, "It was A An who sent you, wasn't it?"

Li Juan said, "A An worries that you're home alone."

"Look, I know you're not idle at home—you're still climbing up and down."

Mei Yueqin rose from her chair and said, "Ah, he's still worrying about home while out at sea."

Li Juan sat down and said, "A An is becoming more responsible."

"Saying he's the family's mainstay is no exaggeration."

"On the contrary, your dad and Wu Ping are still out busy, far worse than A An."

Mei Yueqin nodded in deep agreement.

I used to think Wu Yingwei and Wu Ping weren't doing anything wrong, but next to Wu An the gap becomes clear.

Wu An actually does more and bigger things, which makes him more attentive to home.

Just a few months ago, she couldn't even dare to imagine it.

Just then Wu Yingwei came home and asked, "Did A An call back?"

Mei Yueqin poured a cup of water and said, "He called. Dad, what's wrong?"

"You're drenched in sweat—did you run all the way back?"

Wu Yingwei said, "There's heavy fog at sea."

"Now many fishing boats are stranded at sea."

"The rescue team has been dispatched."

Li Juan and Mei Yueqin's faces fell: "What?"

"Why didn't A An mention this?"

"He just said he's on the way back and won't arrive until midnight."

Wu Yingwei sat down and said, "Maybe the sea area he's in has no fog."

Li Juan and Mei Yueqin said nothing, but both saw the worry on each other's faces; if they'd known earlier, they should have asked more on the phone.

Wu Yingwei lit a cigarette, then suddenly stood up and headed outside.

"Dad, where are you going?"

"I'm heading to the dock to keep watch." Wu Yingwei said that, and the wind outside had already picked up.