Xu Hu sighed. "You tell her whether you're going or not. The two of us are scared just looking at her now."

I suggested a plan. "Why talk about it? Just tell her you couldn't find me. I have a long business trip in a few days, so if she can't locate me, she'll naturally look for someone else."

Chen Chao stared at the delicious spread on the table. "Let's stop talking about this and eat first. Being able to eat and drink in the 'Golden Flower Number One Dormitory' is a huge status symbol. If we talk about it, we can drive a bunch of guys crazy."

Su Xue asked Chen Chao, poking at her noodles with a fork, "What is the 'Golden Flower Number One Dormitory'?"

Chen Chao flinched backward. "There are three 'Golden Flowers' living here, and in the girls' dormitory building, one room houses three 'Golden Flowers.' That place is hailed by the students as the 'Golden Flower Number Two Dormitory.'"

"Boring!" Su Xue declared before diving into her noodles.

Fearing the noodles would turn to mush after drinking, everyone decided to eat the noodles first, then move on to drinks and side dishes. Xu Hu and Chen Chao slurped loudly. "This is delicious! Xiao Bailong, no wonder you never eat back in your own dorm. It turns out you have a free restaurant here. You have to bring us often when you get the chance to upgrade our lives!"

I raised my bowl. "I don't come often either. You two just happened to run into me on one of my rare visits."

I stabbed my chopsticks into the noodles and bumped into something round. Curious, I pushed the noodles aside and found an egg. Just as I was about to ask about it, Su Xue, sitting next to me, secretly kicked my shin. She then said to Xu Hu, "You're not supposed to talk while eating. Did your mother never teach you that when you were little?"

That was clearly aimed at me, as I noticed no one else had an egg in their bowl. This Su Xue is giving me special attention now, hehe. Could it be that she actually has feelings for me?

It made sense. Why wouldn't she like me? Thinking about Su Xue's plump little figure, and the full, tempting large breasts beneath her clothes made my heart tingle.

Lost in lustful thoughts, I couldn't stop smiling while eating my noodles. Su Xue kicked me again. "Stop grinning stupidly while eating."

Chen Chao whispered to me, "We thought you were living in luxury here, but it turns out this is hell disguised as heaven. Poor guy."

I secretly laughed inside. You're the poor ones. Here, I have food, entertainment, and beautiful female service. This is hundreds of times better than the bachelor dorms. It’s just not the sort of thing I can easily tell you about.

We quickly finished the noodles. This time, Su Xue was even louder than the other two. She cracked open a pile of beers, loudly toasting and drinking with the two men, and insisted that Ouyang Qing and I join in.

Having stayed up all night and exerted energy traveling a long distance, I started feeling dizzy after just a few cups of alcohol. I finally climbed onto Ouyang Qian's bed. "You guys keep drinking; I'm going to rest for a bit."

Who knew I would sleep for so long? When I woke up, the room was completely silent. I got up to use the restroom and saw Su Xue fast asleep, tightly hugging Ouyang Qian. Her two snow-white thighs were clamped firmly around Ouyang Qian's slender waist, while Ouyang Qian's head rested in the cleft of Su Xue's breasts—a very strange posture.

After relieving myself, I returned and lay back down on the bed. I checked the time: past three in the afternoon. My work focus for the next few days should be at sea. As for whether prehistoric humans truly exist and if they are still active inside the moon—those things can wait. As long as the two parties can remain peaceful for now, that's all that matters. Otherwise, if conflicts truly break out, I wouldn't know how to cope, as I'm unsure whether my technology is more advanced or theirs.

I checked my messages. A significant portion were inquiries from various women regarding decisions about my company's affairs. Little Raindrop had also left me a message saying that Pan-American Media's takeover progress was very fast. To achieve complete control of the company, she had temporarily mobilized a large number of cyborg soldiers who had undergone skin grafting. These soldiers, possessing varied appearances, were mainly used for temporary assignments in company management until our own personnel arrived, at which point they would slowly withdraw.

These cyborg soldiers were not highly intelligent; they only operated with very advanced control software. They couldn't handle extremely complex managerial roles, only serving temporarily to protect the company, preventing any malicious parties from sabotaging Pan-American Media during the handover transition.

...A small fishing port on a certain island in the Paracel (Xisha) Islands. The small pier was bustling with people: fishery companies collecting fish, wives and children welcoming their husbands back from sea, vendors selling cigarettes and snacks to delight the hardworking fishermen, and those selling various necessities for a voyage. There were even two fat men and one handsome young man performing for tips.

These three, of course, were our party. Zhu Da tested the loudspeaker, then coughed. "Hear ye, good people! Rely on parents at home and friends abroad. Now, our three brothers are stranded in a foreign land, penniless, about to starve on the streets. Can any kind brothers, sisters, aunties, or grannies spare some food?"

Cai Bao'er snatched the loudspeaker. "Shouting like that won't work. To earn sympathy, you must show sincerity. Sing a few lines, shed a few tears—that’s what moves people. Only when everyone pities us can we get onto a fishing boat."

Zhu Da said, "Right, you go first. Let's hear it."

Cai Bao'er replied, "Give me accompaniment, and watch how it's done. Cough... cough... A wanderer thinks of you far from home, dear Mother. The wandering steps tread the ends of the earth, yet find no home. The winter wind carries snowflakes, blowing down my tears..."

Cai Bao'er actually had a knack for performing. The song, "Song of the Wanderer," made hearts ache, especially his half-crying singing style, which was more likely to attract the attention of the kind-hearted fishermen. Soon, a crowd gathered around the three, stopping in their tracks.

This was our last resort. We hadn't expected the fishermen in the Paracel and Zhongsha areas to be so wary of outsiders. If asked questions, they wouldn't answer; if pressed, they threatened to report you to the government, treating you like enemy spies. Getting them to take us out to sea to drive away the South Vietnamese garrison was out of the question.

After several days of no progress, Zhu Da and Cai Bao'er grew anxious and called me over. The three discussed it and decided to target a small, isolated spot first. The most important thing was to gain the trust of the fishermen, then rally them to resist the South Vietnamese invasion. Once the fishermen agreed, even the local government couldn't do much against us.

The three put considerable thought into how to earn trust. They finally decided to pretend to be pitiful to gain sympathy, then gradually approach the fishermen until their objective was met. After planning, the trio disguised themselves as wandering beggars and arrived at the small pier. However, given Zhu Da's and Cai Bao'er's appearances, few people would believe they were about to starve to death on the streets.

Cai Bao'er finished his heart-wrenching song, and Zhu Da spoke tearfully, "My dear countrymen, everyone was born of a mother. Our three brothers once had happy families, but the evil landlord—no, the evil South Vietnamese soldiers shelled my father's fishing boat! Our family and neighbors all perished in the sea. Look at my second brother; although he can sing, his intellect is only that of an eight-year-old. And this third brother—though his face is fair, he suffers from severe congenital poliomyelitis, muscular atrophy, and hysteria, requiring 80,000 yuan a month for treatment. Can anyone pity us and buy us? As long as we get three meals a day and a place sheltered from the wind and rain at night, we'll work like oxen and horses!"

It was evident Zhu Da was deeply moved, perhaps not by the cruelty of the South Vietnamese, but because he genuinely had lost his parents. His words naturally carried more weight than mine or Cai Bao'er's because he spoke from deep personal experience.

Cai Bao'er hugged Zhu Da's neck. "Brother, I want Mommy’s milk. I'm hungry."

I nearly threw up the breakfast I'd eaten that morning.

Zhu Da patted Cai Bao'er's back. "Be good, Second Brother. Brother will sell the three of us soon, and then we'll have something to eat."

The onlookers treated the scene as mere spectacle; it seemed our trio’s acting wasn't very convincing. Suddenly, a dark-skinned girl spoke up. "Dad, didn't our fishing boat need to hire hands? These three don't ask for wages. Let's hire them. They're big and certainly strong enough to work."

Seeing an opening, Zhu Da and Cai Bao'er immediately rushed forward and clung to the dark-skinned girl. "Kind Bodhisattva, please take pity on us three brothers! We aren't picky eaters or dressers. As long as we get food, we'll go to sea and fish for you every day. Don't mind that my second brother only has the mind of an eight-year-old; look how big he is! He can lift me up easily."

Cai Bao'er knew how to play along, grabbing Zhu Da and lifting him over his head. The surrounding crowd cheered, crying out their approval. The dark girl's father was very cautious of these three performers, but even he was captivated by the astonishing strength displayed.

Zhu Da looked back at me. "Third Brother, hurry up and show your strength, or this kind old man won't take us in!"

At this point, I had to put on a show. I stepped forward, grabbed Zhu Da with one hand and Cai Bao'er with the other, lifting both simultaneously over my head. Not only the dark girl's father, but the owners of the other fishing boats nearby were immediately interested. If this level of strength was put to work on a fishing boat, one man would be worth five, and they wouldn't even require wages—just food and lodging.

The old man nodded at the dark girl. She announced, "Alright, the Shunfeng Fishing Boat hires you three. Food and lodging provided, but no medical treatment. Two hundred yuan per person monthly allowance. If you agree, come with us."

Before Zhu Da and Cai Bao'er could reply, someone from the crowd shouted a counteroffer. "Our Yangfan boat offers three hundred yuan per person per month. Come work for us; we won't mistreat you brothers!"

"Our Shengli boat offers four hundred!"

"Five hundred for us!..."

Zhu Da roared, "Shut up, all of you! I am not an item up for auction! We'll take the two hundred yuan, and everyone else can clear off!"

Zhu Da threw the loudspeaker down and said to the dark girl, "Miss, no, Boss. Let's eat first."