Chapter 140 - 118: It’s Them!

Words : 2099 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Chapter 140: Chapter 118: It’s Them!From the moment Director Jin first detected the target on radar and then confirmed it with binoculars, Captain Wang further reduced the ship’s speed, navigating very slowly. Han Yu and the other two hastened to install the crane arm on the left side of the rear deck, pulled the "gourd" lifting device a few times to ensure it was functional, and then saw a red sea-going lifeboat appearing not far away on the river, bobbing up and down in the high winds and waves like a leaf adrift. "Salted Fish, there are people on the boat!" "I see." seaʀᴄh thё Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "People on the lifeboat, please pay attention, we are here to rescue you, we will throw you a rope, please catch the rope first..." Captain Wang used the loudhailer to call out repeatedly, but there was no response from the people on the lifeboat. Han Yu found it strange, wondering if they were dead. Just as Director Jin came down from the bridge and ran to the firefighting position two on the port side, preparing to throw a rope, he noticed that the people on the lifeboat didn’t respond, which he found even more surprising, so he quickly took out the flashlight from his pocket to shine on them. To their surprise, the old-looking lifeboat was actually crammed with five people. They were either wearing life vests or clinging to lifebuoys, huddled together. Some were shivering from the cold; others had their eyes closed as if they had lost consciousness. One was staring at vessel 001 with a vacant look, unresponsive to the flashlight shining on them. The terror on their faces made Director Jin realize that they had been frightened stiff by the imminent threat of death! Relying on them to cooperate with the rescue was futile. Director Jin quickly turned around and asked, "Salted Fish, can we go down and tie them up, then hoist them up one by one?" "That’s the only way." Han Yu also realized that the souls of those people had been scared away and quickly retracted the extended crane arm above the deck. Liang Xiaoyu didn’t want to miss the opportunity again after they had failed to board the uncontrollable cement ship last time. He unfastened his safety rope buckle, hooked it onto a lifting hook, and shouted, "Salted Fish, I’m stronger; I’ll go down!" "You also eat more than I do," Han Yu joked and hurriedly turned to look for a rope. Director Jin looked up at the second-floor bridge and, holding the walkie-talkie, shouted, "Captain Wang, Little Fish is going down to rescue, we are hoisting them up one by one, you must keep steady!" Captain Wang stuck his head out to take a look outside, then lifted the walkie-talkie, "The wind and waves are too strong, the current is too fast, let Xiao Yu first attach the rope when he goes down." "Roger." "Once the rope is tied, use the winch to pull forward." "Understood." As they were speaking, Liang Xiaoyu had already been lifted by Han Yu using the "gourd." Zhu Baogen, standing opposite Han Yu, shouted, "Go," and with a strong pull, Liang Xiaoyu was suspended from the crane arm above the water on the port side. The wind was so strong that Liang Xiaoyu began to spin like a top. Seeing the lifeboat getting closer, Han Yu shouted, "Xiao Yu, I’m starting to lower you." "Go ahead, lower it a bit." "Target well, try to succeed in one go." "I know, hurry up, they are coming." The lifeboat was drifting eastward, while 001 was slowly sailing westward—timing the lowering of Xiao Yu was crucial. If released too early, not only would he get a bath in the river, but he could also get hit by the lifeboat. If released too late, not only would he get a bath in the river, but Captain Wang would have to quickly turn around to chase after and turn around again for another try. Han Yu closely watched the approaching lifeboat as Zhu Baogen fixed the crane arm’s direction, grabbing the iron chain of the "gourd," ready to assist in lowering Xiao Yu. Director Jin ran to the stern, secured the safety rope, ready to throw the rope at any moment. At this time, the lifeboat, which was about to approach the left side mid-section of 001, was pushed three or four feet high by a surge, almost level with the gunwale of 001. The people on the lifeboat all closed their eyes, either gripping the lifeboat’s ropes tightly or hugging their companions, not daring to look or even to think, completely resigned to fate. Captain Wang quickly adjusted the course to maintain the ship’s stability. Thank goodness, the lifeboat didn’t collide with 001, nor was it flipped over by the surge. The people on the boat were just soaked by the river water, but in fact, they were already drenched. Seizing the moment, Han Yu shouted, "Release!" Zhu Baogen pulled the chain vigorously; as the "gourd" whirred, Liang Xiaoyu felt a drop beneath him and looked down to find himself falling on top of two stuporous crew members. "Xiao Yu, stop staring blankly and quickly disconnect the hook!" "Oh." The "gourd" was like a small crane, not an anchor windlass, and the iron chain was short. Liang Xiaoyu hurriedly got up, hooked his foot around the ropes on the lifeboat, grabbed the lifting hook with both hands and removed the safety rope tied to it. "Catch the rope!" "Where is it?" "Here it is, watch carefully!" Worried that Xiao Yu might not catch the rope knot thrown by Director Jin, Han Yu quickly ran to grab another rope. Liang Xiaoyu was born and raised on a boat; his family’s little fishing boat experienced even more tossing and tumbling on the river, unlike Xu Sanye, who had hardly ever been on a boat before. He caught the rope thrown by Director Jin on the first try. Zhu Baogen could see clearly and shouted, "There’s another one, catch it too." "Where?" "Here." At the right moment, Han Yu threw it with force. Liang Xiaoyu caught it successfully once again, swiftly wrapping it around his arm. "One tied at the front of the lifeboat, one at the back. We’ll tie one to the bow and one to the stern, let’s secure the lifeboat first!" "Got it." "The waves are too big, hurry and secure the safety rope, don’t get flipped into the river." "I’ve hooked it with my foot, no time to care about that now." Han Yu and Director Jin watched anxiously, wishing they could help but unable to, and could only watch as Liang Xiaoyu tied the mooring rope calmly on the bobbing lifeboat. Meanwhile, the lifeboat continued to drift with the current, moving from the port side of vessel 001 at a visible pace, slowly floating to a spot tens of meters behind 001’s stern. "Salted Fish, Salted Fish, the front is secured, start pulling." "Received!" While watching the lifeboat drift further away, Han Yu signaled to Director Jin, who had just arranged the mooring rope to the bow winch, to quickly reel it in while holding the walkie-talkie and shouting, "Captain Wang, Captain Wang, we’re starting to reel in, watch the angle." "Seen, rest assured and reel." Captain Wang was steering the ship and keeping an ear out in all directions. He put down the walkie-talkie and gently maneuvered the steering wheel, adjusting the angle between 001 and the lifeboat to ensure that the lifeboat wouldn’t get pulled into 001’s propeller and wasn’t affected by 001’s wake. After nearly twenty minutes of busy work, the lifeboat was finally secured with one rope at the front and another at the rear to the port side of the 001’s aft deck. Liang Xiaoyu tied the rope around a crew member in his fifties, made sure it was secure, then hooked it to the crane’s hoisting hook and gestured to start lifting. Han Yu tugged twice, sensing something was wrong, and shouted, "Can’t pull it up, don’t force it, see what’s wrong." "Can’t pull it up, how could that be." Liang Xiaoyu looked down and to his shock saw a crew member clutching desperately onto an older crew member’s life jacket. He swiftly pried the crew member’s hands loose and signaled again to lift. This time it went smoothly, the oldest crew member was successfully lifted onto the deck. Director Jin and Zhu Baogen hurried to untie the rope and helped the old crew member into the engine room, Han Yu put down the rope and the hook, lifting the second person. One after another, they lifted five crew members onto 001. When Liang Xiaoyu came up and they hoisted the lifeboat onto the aft deck, it was already bright daylight. The engine room was warm, and the five crew members quickly came to their senses, continuously kowtowing tearfully to the oldest captain with gratitude for saving their lives, thanking Han Yu, Director Jin, Zhu Baogen, and Liang Xiaoyu. "I’m from Port Supervision, Salted Fish and the others are police, saving you is our duty, let’s first talk about what exactly happened." "Oh, we’re from the third shipping company of Yangzhou. Our boat was nearing Liuhe Port when suddenly the rudder failed, and we hadn’t taken the broken radio for repair, a heavy fog fell on the river, and in the middle of the night we couldn’t call for help, we could only watch helplessly as the boat drifted on the river." "What are your ship’s name and number?" "Yang Cargo 308." "What were you carrying?" "Coal, from Xuzhou to East Sea." "Where’s the ship?" "It was sunk, seems like it was hit by a sea-going vessel." ... They were employees of a shipping company, with a regulated crew on board: a captain, a chief officer, a chief chief, a second officer, an engineer, and a sailor. Due to the rudder failure, their ship could only drift with the wind and waves. It’s unclear whether they encountered a whirlpool or if there was a sudden change in wind direction, or maybe it was because of the rudder, but the ship started circling in the downstream waters of Buoy 22 in Dacang and collided with the normally traveling Hexiang 9. The second officer and the sailor fell overboard instantly; they hurriedly launched the lifeboat, but only managed to save the sailor, while the second officer’s whereabouts became unknown. As for the lifeboat from the sea-going ship, it was something they had "picked up" while sailing on the river the year before last. This kind of thing is quite common. Lin Xiaohui’s family almost had their boat hit by a raft drifting from upstream on the river, so her father simply towed the raft away to sell it. Over a thousand tons of timber, nearly two thousand cubic meters. Selling it made quite a sum of money, and their whole family was very happy. However, before the money even had time to warm up, the officers from Northern City Police Station showed up with people from a shipping company and a timber company. They returned every penny of the money from the timber sale. If not for Linghai Shipping Company’s leaders intervening, it was said that they might have faced a lawsuit... Unexpectedly, the lifeboat the crew members had "picked up" before came in very handy, without that lifeboat, their chances of survival would have been slim. Han Yu emerged from the engine room, ready to check on Director Wang, with Director Jin following him out. "Director Jin, there were six in total, but we only rescued five, what do we do now?" "Return to course." Jin Weiguo did not want to give up the search and rescue, but he was well aware of how much everyone’s physical and mental energy had been drained, the crew could no longer withstand it, and continuing the search in this state would be dangerous. Afraid Little Salted Fish might misunderstand, Director Jin paused and then added, "It’s daylight now, there’s a lot of traffic, at least two thousand vessels a day, the Traffic Control Center will request passing ships to keep an eye out." Han Yu was indeed both sleepy and tired, and his seasickness was giving him a headache, said resignedly, "Alright, I’ll go check on Director Wang first, then go sleep in the crew cabin up front for a while."

Chapter 140 - 118: It’s Them!

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