CHAPTER 195: CHAPTER 195: PARENTS MEET WITH A DISASTER

Gu Qianlan couldn’t understand: "I am his real sister, my brother should be good to me. That An Junxi is just an outsider, what right does she have!"

Liu Zhiwen shrugged: "They are a married couple, meant to be together for a lifetime."

Gu Qianlan stomped her foot, "I don’t care, I’m going to think of another way."

"Think it over yourself then." Liu Zhiwen had done all she could.

After a few days of trying to persuade Gu Qianlan, who was very stubborn and determined not to make peace with An Junxi, Liu Zhiwen gave up and decided to focus on her own matters.

She was graduating next year and had a ton of things to handle.

She walked out of Gu Qianlan’s room and saw Uncle Gu and Aunt Gu coming upstairs, heading directly towards the study. Both their faces were full of anxiety. Aunt Gu asked, "What did Yi Ke say?"

Liu Zhiwen couldn’t hear Uncle Gu’s reply as they turned the corner and disappeared from her sight.

She turned back to Gu Qianlan’s room and asked, "Did your dad go to see your brother today?"

"I don’t know, maybe." Gu Qianlan harbored resentment towards her brother and didn’t want to care about these things.

Liu Zhiwen said, "You need to have a good talk with Aunt Gu tonight. You can’t stay locked in your room any longer. Look at you now, if my cousin saw you, he wouldn’t like it either."

Gu Qianlan hurried to the mirror, let out a scream, and covered it with a cloth.

Seeing her finally worried about her appearance, Liu Zhiwen felt relieved and left.

Summer Coastline.

Gong Xiaoyu was cooking in the kitchen, planning to invite Miao Yan over for dinner to show off her culinary skills.

Since last time when she took credit for Miao Yan’s dish, she’d been sneaking home to learn cooking from her mom, forcing herself to improve rapidly within a month to avoid being exposed.

Yue Xiaoyang had complained several times when he came back and she wasn’t there, threatening to move to a hotel if he had to keep being left alone.

Seeing Yue Xiaoyang so clingy, Gong Xiaoyu felt smug. Jun Xi was right, he was used to having her around.

The process of learning to cook was tough. Mrs. Gong was highly vigilant. Noticing her daughter suddenly obsessed with good cooking, she asked, "Xiao Yu, do you have a boyfriend?"

Gong Xiaoyu nearly cut her hand. She covered, "No, when I cooked at Jun Xi’s place, she said my cooking would poison people. I decided to practice."

Once Jun Xi was mentioned, Mrs. Gong believed her easily. She said, "Jun Xi is right, you need to practice cooking. Come, I’ll teach you."

Gong Xiaoyu secretly patted her chest, relieved she’d convinced her mother.

After days of practice, wasting numerous ingredients, her dishes finally looked decent. Mrs. Gong gave her an eight out of ten.

Feeling confident, she decided to surprise Xiao Yang.

She had been busy all afternoon, and finally completed the first dish around six in the evening.

As she brought the dish out, she heard the news on TV: "...Tropical storm intensifying, captain suddenly ill, Sea Swan One off course, lost contact with launch station, severe weather hampering rescue ships, Sea Swan One might sink..."

Gong Xiaoyu dropped the dish on the floor—Sea Swan One!

Ignoring the burn on her foot, she rushed to the TV and stared at the screen. Three minutes later, she dialed An Junxi with trembling hands, "Jun Xi, did you see the news? Sea Swan One encountered bad weather in South Asia, it might sink! Are your parents on that cruise?"

An Junxi knocked over a cup, "Impossible, did you hear wrong, senior..."

In denial, An Junxi didn’t want to believe such a disaster could happen to her family. Yet, she immediately turned on the TV, switched to the news channel, but the news had already passed.

She then opened her computer, her fingers typing wrong keys several times. Finally, she entered "Sea Swan One" and hit search. The screen was flooded with news about the maritime disaster.

It really was the cruise her parents were on.

An Junxi felt the sky falling. She called Gu Yikun in tears, "Yi Ke, when are you coming home..."

Hearing her cry, Gu Yikun’s heart tightened. He asked, "What’s wrong?"

"I saw the news, the Sea Swan One that mom and dad are on encountered a maritime disaster, it might sink... What should we do, Yi Ke, mom and dad can’t have anything happen to them..." An Junxi was incoherent, hating herself for booking this trip for her parents.

Quickly opening the web, Gu Yikun comforted her, "Xi Xi, don’t cry first. Mom and dad might not be on the ship. The authorities have started the rescue, I’ll find out if they were on board."

Some hope lit up in An Junxi’s heart, "Okay, I’ll wait for your news."

Gu Yikun said, "Don’t go anywhere, wait for me at home. I have ships in South Asia. I’ll send them out to search, it’ll be fine."

An Junxi felt a bit calmer, "Okay, I’ll wait at home."

After hanging up, Gu Yikun called overseas, laying out the situation, then grabbed his car keys and drove off.

While on the road, he received a reply, "President Gu, the passenger list of Sea Swan One has been confirmed, the people you are looking for were on the ship."

Calmly hanging up, he redirected the call to his South Asian fleet. The largest harbor’s head told him, "President Gu, we can go to sea now, but the search is difficult. We’ll coordinate with the authorities."

Gu Yikun said, "Make sure to find them, inform me immediately with any news."

"Understood."

Gu Yikun sped home, finding An Junxi waiting at the door.

Suddenly at a loss for words, he knew from the news that the odds for Sea Swan One were grim.

He got out of the car, walked over heavily, and held her hand, "Mom and dad were on the ship, I’ve sent out the fleet to search."

Feeling faint, An Junxi swayed on her feet.

He steadied her and carried her into the house.

Burrowing into his chest, An Junxi wept bitterly, "It’s all my fault, I shouldn’t have let mom and dad go."

He laid her on the sofa, "Xi Xi, don’t blame yourself, mom and dad will be okay."

His words felt weak, knowing mostly they were only soothing words.

In such conditions, the cruise was like a leaf in the ocean, facing waves that could capsize it anytime. Finding two people at sea was even harder.

He could only hope the South Asian fleet would make it in time.

They stayed awake all night, keeping an eye on the rescue progress. Gong Xiaoyu called, confirming her aunt and uncle were on the cruise, staying up with Yue Xiaoyang tracking South Asian’s news.

Throughout, Gu Yikun received several calls. An Junxi looked at him anxiously, but none were rescue updates.

Feeling every second pass like a year, they endured until the third dawn when the authorities announced the list of victims.

Seeing her parents’ names on the screen, An Junxi’s world collapsed completely, fainting in Gu Yikun’s arms.