Chapter 593: Talkative
Gu Kaiyuan took a step forward, effectively shielding the other man behind him. After all, this was his brother-in-law; if anything happened to Bai Jiannan, it would be hard to explain to his wife.
Using the tip of his sword, he pushed aside the debris blocking the cave entrance and tossed a torch inside. Once he confirmed there was no danger, he completely cleared away the dead branches and rotting leaves. Otherwise, the flames would have quickly caught them.
“Kai Yuan, do you have to do everything so bluntly?” Bai Jiannan asked.
“Stop joking around,” Gu Kaiyuan retorted. “Or do you want to do this yourself next time?”
Bai Jiannan waved his hand and laughed. “I can’t do this kind of work. I value my life too much.
“But Kai Yuan, I’ll have to have a good talk with Suihe later. Some bad habits need to be changed.
“Your life isn’t just your own anymore. You should think about Suihe and my little niece. A wise man doesn’t stand beneath a collapsing wall…”
“You’ve been nagging this entire journey,” Gu Kaiyuan interrupted. “Did Mother get your gender wrong when she gave birth to you?”
“Oh, I see, Kai Yuan. Are you indirectly saying that Suihe is a nag?”
Gu Kaiyuan was speechless. He finally understood the old saying about a Scholar encountering an unreasonable soldier, let alone dealing with a purely irritating brother-in-law. He decided to drop the subject and simply see what kind of loot they had acquired today.
After taking a look, Gu Kaiyuan wasn’t overly disappointed. These pirate bandits were truly poor; they only had some old silver jewelry and a few broken silver pieces. The vast majority of their stash consisted of grain and dried goods. It made sense, though. These men didn’t dare venture inland and only risked pillaging small coastal villages. This was probably all they could manage to steal.
“That’s it?” Bai Jiannan said, rather disappointed. “Making us come all this way and making such a big fuss over this—what a loss.”
“The Bai Family has a vast fortune,” Gu Kaiyuan pointed out. “Do you really need this stuff? Besides, our goal here goes far beyond this.”
Gu Kaiyuan had no interest in packing it up himself. He had Lin Wei, who had followed them inside, gather whatever was useful, and then he walked out.
Their timing was off on this trip. He had obtained even less than he had in his previous life, leaving him wondering where the pirates had plundered back then. Still, by striking early this time, they had inadvertently done a good deed.
The two men returned to their previous spot on the beach, which had already been completely cleared. In the distance, silhouettes could be seen dragging items toward the water.
“Family Head, we’ve found the water source,” a guard came over and reported.
The two followed him. It wasn’t far, which perfectly explained why the bandits had chosen to set up camp here.
Seeing the tiny stream of water, Bai Jiannan chuckled. “Such a minuscule amount of fresh water won’t make a good supply point.”
Gu Kaiyuan walked over to take a closer look. “That’s just because those men were too stupid. If you dig up the ground around here, you could easily make a small pond. That would be more than enough.”
Bai Jiannan fell silent, realizing he was being indirectly insulted. Once again, he regretted running his mouth so quickly.
It was already late into the night, making it unsafe to continue sailing. After clearing out the area, the group lit a bonfire. Instantly, no one wanted to return to the ship; after all, they still immensely preferred the feeling of having their feet planted firmly on solid ground.
They waited until dawn. Once Gu Kaiyuan made sure everything was settled and there were no hidden dangers, he finally brought Bai Suihe and Gu Xingyang over.
Gu Xingyang was in high spirits that morning. As soon as she arrived on the island, her little head bobbed around, looking everywhere. Her fingers continuously pointed this way and that, ordering Gu Kaiyuan, who was carrying her, to spin around in circles to indulge her curiosity.
“You’re spoiling your daughter too much,” Bai Suihe scolded playfully, though her eyes were curved into a warm smile.
Bai Suihe walked along the beach. The island wasn’t large, but it boasted a beautiful stretch of sand. She figured that if they were in the modern era, this place could generate massive annual revenue.
“Suihe,” Bai Jiannan said, walking over to stroll beside her. “This island is too small. We need to find a bigger one as soon as possible.”
He had brought a large bag of chili seeds with him on this trip, hoping to find a new landmass. That way, he could keep their commercial secrets hidden for a bit longer.
“Don’t worry, this is only the first stop,” Bai Suihe replied. She knew of a few coastal islands that were quite excellent and could only hope that the geography of this world was the same, or at least hadn’t undergone any major tectonic shifts.
“There isn’t much fresh water here, but Kai Yuan isn’t wrong. We can dig a larger pit so the accumulated water is easier to access.” Although he had been embarrassed earlier, Bai Jiannan still called a spade a spade, giving credit to Gu Kaiyuan.
“That just shows there are always more solutions than difficulties,” Bai Suihe said. “Although this place isn’t far from the mainland, having a pit stop like this is still a good thing.”
Yesterday on the ship, everyone had been extremely careful with their water consumption. But now that they were here, they could handle their washing chores without having to be so stingy. One only truly realized the importance of fresh water when they were out at sea, so Bai Suihe genuinely didn’t mind that the island was small.
Gu Kaiyuan carried his daughter all over the island to explore. To onlookers, it simply looked like he was showing Gu Xingyang a different scenery and amusing the child. Little did they know, the father and daughter were secretly communicating the entire time.
“Daddy, this island is too poor,” Gu Xingyang whispered. “Aside from some crabs, conches, and similar things, there are no other creatures.”
“Even if there were, those bandits would have ruined them long ago. Be a good girl, check and see if there are any good things hidden around here?”
Gu Kaiyuan felt shortchanged by how little loot they had obtained, so he wanted to rely on his daughter’s special abilities to see if they could score an unexpected windfall.
Gu Xingyang looked around and yawned. “Daddy, don’t count on it. The most precious thing here is that tiny water source. Look, almost everything up here has been chopped down by them. These guys really don’t have a shred of environmental awareness.”
Hearing yet another new term from his daughter, Gu Kaiyuan asked, “What is environmental awareness?”
Gu Xingyang once again took on the role of a living encyclopedia. “Environmental protection means…”
When Bai Suihe approached, she heard Gu Xingyang giving her father another science lesson. The listener was completely engrossed, nodding from time to time. Bai Suihe simply found a rock and sat down by herself to rest.
After finishing their laundry and cooking, the group ate a simple meal before finally returning to the ship.
Their first haul had been rather dismal. Gu Kaiyuan made up his mind to wipe away the humiliation on their next attempt. The ship set sail immediately, and following Gu Kaiyuan’s directions, they quickly found their second target.
Looking at the significantly larger island in the distance and the cooking smoke rising from afar, Bai Suihe insisted that Gu Kaiyuan take Nanny Pang with him this time. In truth, Bai Suihe had wanted to tag along herself, but Gu Kaiyuan strictly disagreed. After all, Gu Xingyang also needed someone to look after her, and he stated that he couldn’t trust anyone but Bai Suihe to do it.
Bai Suihe didn’t argue with him. He simply didn’t want her taking any risks, and she wasn’t so unappreciative as to ignore his good intentions.
Watching the small boat set off overnight again, the hired sailors only observed from a distance before hurrying back to their cabins to rest. The affairs of these nobles were not something they had the right to question. Ordinary folk had their own ways of surviving, and sometimes, playing deaf and mute was the best strategy of all.
Left behind on the main ship, Bai Jiannan watched the small boat disappear into the distance, feeling a bit wronged. He had only asked a few extra questions earlier; how could Kai Yuan hold such a grudge…