The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 408: Chapter 408: Whale Watching from a Yacht

Zhao Cuilian called the police.

When Officer Li heard about the gambling and violent debt collection, he immediately rushed over with his men.

The police dogs were sent out.

Passing by Han Xiaorui’s front door, Officer Li borrowed Heizi.

Han Xiaorui was surprised. ”What for?”

Officer Li answered, ”Zhao Cuilian reported her son for gambling. Some people came to her house to violently collect on the debt. We’re in the middle of a crackdown right now, so we have to go arrest them.”

Han Xiaorui blinked. ”Those people have knives and guns. What if something happens? Won’t my Dahei be in terrible danger?”

Officer Li patted the gun on his hip. ”So do we.”

Hearing this, Han Xiaorui nodded. ”Alright. Heizi, be sharp.”

Zhao Cuilian and Sun Huihui hardly dared to look at Han Xiaorui and Wu Cuicui. After all, they were the ones who had spread all those rumors about them in the village.

But they had more pressing things to worry about at the moment and hurried home.

Wu Cuicui breathed a sigh of relief. ”Thank goodness Second Uncle is thinking clearly. Otherwise, the Zhao Cuilian situation would have been a complete mess.”

Han Xiaorui chimed in, ”I know, right? It’s gambling we’re talking about! You can squander any fortune, no matter how large.”

Everything went smoothly after that.

Yang Meng was arrested for gambling. The debt collectors were arrested as well, and all of them were facing prison sentences.

With the country developing so rapidly, the government was creating a favorable business environment by cracking down hard on crime.

Yang Zhigang was also incredibly relieved. ’I’d better steer clear of Zhao Cuilian from now on.’

After dealing with the family’s affairs, Yang Jianguo and two of his staff members took the goldfish to a competition.

Han Xiaorui was five and a half months pregnant, and her belly was getting bigger.

She wanted to go, but couldn’t.

’I’ll go after the baby is born.’

Ye Ling and Ye Chen were having so much fun at their big brother and sister-in-law’s house that they forgot all about going home.

They played at Jinshan Bay with Pingping, An’an, Yang Minmin, and Cai Wenjun.

Chasing chickens, walking the dog, playing hide-and-seek—they had a blast playing all sorts of games.

Pingping and An’an spent their days chasing after their young uncles, wanting to play.

Whenever the yacht was free, Han Xiaorui would take them out for a ride.

”Everyone put on a life jacket. Anyone who doesn’t isn’t allowed on the boat,” Han Xiaorui said. She was always strict when it came to the children’s safety.

Everyone obediently put on their life jackets.

Han Xiaorui instructed them further, ”Once we’re out on the water, no running, jumping, or roughhousing. It’s dangerous.”

Not only that, but Han Xiaorui also told the crew that if they were free, they could bring their own children along.

’After all, on a boat this big, it makes no difference whether it’s a few kids or a few dozen. The fuel consumption is about the same.’

Chen Yishui, who had just returned from Huang Mountain with her kids, showed Han Xiaorui the photos. ”Xiao Rui, you can’t travel now that you’re pregnant. But once your baby is a little older, you have to take them to see it.”

Han Xiaorui nodded. ”Absolutely. I’m going to take them to see all the beautiful sights our country has to offer.”

The crew members watched over the children with undivided attention.

Ye Ling and Ye Chen were thrilled. Sipping their drinks, Ye Chen said wistfully, ”Brother, do you think we could ask Mom and Dad if we can go to school in Shencheng and not go back?”

Ye Ling smiled sheepishly. ”I’d love that, but I don’t think our eldest brother would. It’s fine for us to visit for summer vacation, but if we were here all the time, he’d probably get tired of us.”

Ye Chen looked doubtful. ”I think our brother and sister-in-law are great. I don’t get the feeling they find us annoying.”

Ye Ling was exasperated. ”That’s because you’re still little. You’ll get it when you’re older.”

”Does our brother hate us?” Ye Chen asked.

Ye Ling scratched his head. ”It’s not that he hates us, he just doesn’t want the extra hassle. He’s our big brother, after all—and our half-brother, at that. He’s so busy with work, and on top of that, he has to worry about us. That’s a lot. If you were in his shoes, would you be happy about it?”

Ye Chen nodded. ”I would be! I can help take care of Pingping and An’an, and the baby in Sister-in-law’s belly too.”

”Come on. Even if they agreed, do you think Mom would? Every time we get a little closer to them, she gets scared they’re going to win us over,” Ye Ling reminded him. ”We’re lucky we get to come here for vacations. Don’t ask for more.”

Being a little older, he understood more about the ways of the world.

Although he loved the freedom of playing at his brother and sister-in-law’s house, he knew they weren’t his parents, and he had to be mindful of his boundaries.

Xiao Zheng, who was standing near Ye Chen and Ye Ling, overheard their conversation and couldn’t help but think with admiration, ’The Director’s three sons are all going to be successful when they grow up!’

Ye Chen went up to Han Xiaorui and said, ”Sister-in-law, I want to go fishing!”

Han Xiaorui shook her head. ”The fish in the ocean are huge. You’re still small, and some of them weigh more than you do. A fish like that could pull you right into the water. It’s very dangerous.”

Ye Chen was taken aback. ”But I weigh sixty-six pounds! Are there really fish heavier than me?”

Han Xiaorui burst out laughing. ”You think sixty-six-pound fish are rare? In the ocean, there are tons of fish that weigh more than that!”

To stop the children from pestering her about fishing, Han Xiaorui had Xiao Dai summon the dolphins, and even the whales.

”Look over there. See that black dot floating in the distance? Take the binoculars and see what it is.”

Ye Chen looked in the direction Han Xiaorui was pointing and saw the black dot too.

He quickly raised the binoculars hanging from his neck to his eyes. A whale appeared in the lens.

The whale’s black back breached the surface, looking like a small hill.

Then the whale shot a spray of water from its blowhole, higher than the fountain in front of a shopping mall.

At that moment, Ye Chen’s world was filled with the great whale, and he completely forgot all about fishing.

”Whoa, a huge whale! The whale is so big!” As Ye Chen cried out in amazement, the other children crowded around him.

The crew members watched them closely, afraid that in the excitement and crowding, one of the kids might fall into the sea.

Some had binoculars, and some didn’t.

The ones without binoculars looked on eagerly at those who had them. ”Let me see, I want to see too!”

”I’m not done looking! I want to look some more! You’ll have to wait!”

”Please let me see, just for a second!”

...

Since there weren’t enough binoculars for everyone and they all wanted to see the whale, the children started to argue.

They weren’t just arguing; some started snatching at the binoculars, and it looked like a fight was about to break out.

”No more fighting!” Han Xiaorui said loudly. ”Don’t worry, look! The whales are swimming this way! Soon you’ll be able to see them clearly even without binoculars!”

”Every single one of you, stand still and hold onto the railing. If anyone falls in, a whale might just swallow you up in one bite, and there’d be no saving you then!”

The arguing children froze when they heard Han Xiaorui’s words.

They didn’t really take the warning about being eaten by whales to heart, their eyes fixed eagerly on the whales in the distance, which were indeed getting closer.

Their eyes danced with excitement.

”Whoa, the whales are swimming over here!”

”Who needs your stupid binoculars? I can see them just fine on my own!”

...

”Everyone line up. When the whales get here, I’ll let you take pictures with them,” Han Xiaorui announced. ”If you don’t line up, you don’t get a picture!”

Han Xiaorui’s words instantly made them behave. They stopped pushing and shoving.

They stood obediently by the railing, holding on tight as they watched the whales draw nearer.