Hearing that Gao Zhuang was trapped on a deserted island, Yu Jie hurriedly shouted, "Call the police, call the police right now, get the maritime patrol team to help with the rescue." "Wait a moment..." Just then, Gao Wen had a strange expression: "Although the signal was poor earlier, Big Brother seemed to instruct me not to call the police, but to go directly to the island to rescue him." "What?" Yu Jie was stunned. "Why?" "Is it because he's afraid of trouble?" Gao Wen murmured, bewildered.

"After all, Big Brother seems to really dislike the police..." At that moment, Qiao Yu whispered on the side, "Hates the police? Could it be he did something he shouldn't have?" Of course, despite Qiao Yu's straightforward nature, she was also mindful of propriety; only Bei Ye and Wang Guan next to her heard this.

Bei Ye naturally became more cautious, gently tugging at her sleeve, implying she shouldn't speak carelessly. However, Wang Guan became contemplative, and then he asked, "Xiao Wen, where is the island your Big Brother mentioned?

Let's go save him first." "He only gave a general direction," Gao Wen frowned. "Finding it might be very troublesome." Yu Jie, showing decisiveness, immediately decided, "You wait here for the call, we'll go look for him..." "I can borrow a yacht from a friend," Wang Guan offered proactively, immediately calling Hao Baolai to explain the situation.

Hao Baolai was very obliging and told him to go directly to the person in charge of the yacht at the port. With everything ready, the group arrived near the port.

Hao Baolai had already made arrangements, and the yacht was moored in a conspicuous spot. After they boarded, they sped off in the direction where Gao Zhuang was trapped, following Wang Guan's instructions.

Coincidentally, that direction pointed towards the Zhoushan Archipelago. Wang Guan didn't think much of it at first, but after passing the Su family's island not long after, a strange look crossed his face, accompanied by an inexplicable thought.

Yet, this thought only made Wang Guan shake his head and smile, feeling he was overthinking things because he cared too much about that particular matter. Noticing Wang Guan's distraction, Bei Ye quietly asked, "What are you thinking about?" "Nothing..." Wang Guan snapped back to attention, shaking his head gently.

"Has Xiao Wen called yet?" "No," Bei Ye frowned. "It looks like it'll be a long search.

Thank goodness the person is safe." "A little hardship doesn't matter," Wang Guan smiled. "And we shouldn't worry too much.

After all, Gao Zhuang sails year-round; he must be very familiar with the island environment and possess some survival skills to find water and food." "Let's hope so," Bei Ye sighed, then looked up and asked, "Brother Jie, found anything?" At that moment, Yu Jie was standing at the highest point of the yacht, scanning the surroundings with high-powered binoculars, hoping to spot a signal fire or smoke. Unfortunately, after more than an hour, he had seen nothing.

"Take it slow, no rush!" Wang Guan offered some comfort and picked up a pair of binoculars to help search. Searching without a specific target was hard enough, but searching the vast ocean for someone trapped on a remote island was naturally even more difficult.

Only those who have truly sailed the sea understand how immense the ocean is, with countless unnamed islands scattered across it. Even the Navy might not easily find someone, let alone them venturing out in a small yacht.

Under these circumstances, finding Gao Zhuang depended only on luck and patiently scouring the area. Indeed, the entire afternoon and evening passed without any success.

It wasn't until the next morning, after eating some dry rations and continuing their numb observation of their surroundings, that Bei Ye suddenly shouted, "Everyone look, there's smoke over there..." Instantly, everyone looked over. To the left, in the distance, they could vaguely make out the silhouette of an island, and above it, a faint wisp of smoke was rising.

However, since it was early morning and a light mist covered the sea, they couldn't be certain if it was smoke or just fog. "Let's go take a look," Wang Guan urgently instructed the navigator to change course toward the island.

Not long after approaching the island, they could see more clearly. At this point, Yu Jie broke into a smile of relief, gesturing excitedly: "It is smoke, a real signal fire for help!

Big Brother, Big Brother..." Before even reaching the shore, Yu Jie couldn't help but shout, not fearing he was mistaken. According to the navigator, the waters in this area were not important shipping lanes and had few fish, so passenger ships or fishing boats rarely passed through.

Therefore, the chances that the people stranded on the island were Gao Zhuang and his group were very high. Yu Jie's shouts were not in vain; someone responded enthusiastically to his voice carrying over the water to the island.

"Over here..." Faintly hearing the reply, Wang Guan immediately raised his binoculars and saw three or four people waving clothes on the higher part of the island, looking very agitated. Because they were far away, he couldn't clearly make out their faces, but judging by their tall and sturdy builds, one of them indeed strongly resembled Gao Zhuang.

A while later, the yacht neared the island, but the navigator hesitated to dock, instead circling the island first. It wasn't that they didn't want to rescue them, but they were wary of hidden reefs near the island and needed to find a safe mooring spot.

The people on the island clearly understood this; one of them waved their clothing to guide them. After circling halfway, a large stretch of open beach came into view, clearly free of reefs.

After that, there was no need for further explanation. The yacht slowly approached, but stopped some distance from the island—it didn't head directly for the beach.

Naturally, if they drove onto the sand, the yacht risked running aground. But the spot where the yacht stopped was still a distance from the island; they couldn't expect the men to swim across.

"Don't worry, we have a small rubber dinghy," A crew member laughed, pulling out an inflatable raft from the cabin, quickly inflating it, and tossing it into the water. "Bei Ye, Little Qiao, you wait here.

Yu Jie and I will go over to meet them." Meanwhile, Wang Guan and Yu Jie, having donned life vests, descended the ladder into the raft. They picked up their small, light paddles and slowly rowed away, the dinghy gently pushing against the waves...

Seven or eight minutes later, the raft reached the beach, and they could clearly see the faces of the people on the shore. "It's Ah Jie, Brother Jie!" At that moment, someone jumped up, waving excitedly: "Brother Jie, hurry up!

Brother Gao is over here." As he spoke, someone directly rolled up his trouser legs and plunged into the sea, swimming quickly to the raft and giving it a push from behind. "Big Brother..." Yu Jie saw Gao Zhuang and shouted happily, "Are you alright?" "I'm fine!" Compared to the two or three people beside him beaming with joy, Gao Zhuang appeared much calmer.

Although there was a smile on his face, it was mixed with expressions of annoyance, pent-up frustration, and depression. It was understandable; anyone who had been robbed, had their boat stolen, and was then abandoned on a deserted island to endure hunger and cold for a night, likely wouldn't be in the best mood.

Noticing Gao Zhuang's expression, Yu Jie understood and hesitated before comforting him, "Big Brother, as long as you're safe, that's what matters. We'll discuss the rest when we get back.

Xiao Wen is very worried about you..." "Alright, let's go back," Gao Zhuang nodded resignedly. Wang Guan and Yu Jie had brought a few life vests, which Gao Zhuang and the others put on.

Then, they all sat in the raft, while two others decided not to wait, jumping straight into the sea to push and guide the raft forward. Soon, they were back on the yacht.

Bei Ye and Qiao Yu had prepared dry towels, as well as steaming hot instant noodles and water. Except for Gao Zhuang, the other two or three men immediately looked overjoyed.

After quickly drying their hair, they began devouring the food. "Big Brother, you must be starved.

Eat a little," Yu Jie urged him. "Not really hungry," Gao Zhuang said casually.

"The men who hijacked the boat had a conscience; they left us a box of instant noodles and a few bottles of mineral water. Although eating the dry noodles made us thirsty, we could endure it; we weren't starving." "Brother Gao," Wang Guan interjected, unable to resist probing, "who exactly hijacked your boat?" Frankly, Wang Guan couldn't quite figure it out.

Gao Zhuang's fishing boat wasn't worth much, and besides fishing, it served little purpose. Usually, pirates or foreign patrol boats would detain fishermen or their vessels and demand ransom.

But the hijackers only wanted the boat, yet they left Gao Zhuang and the others on an island, even providing food, water, and a mobile phone for them to call for rescue—it was highly irregular. At this, Gao Zhuang fell silent for a moment, shook his head, and sighed, "Forget it, let's not mention it.

Those people are not someone we can afford to provoke." "Can't afford to provoke them?" Yu Jie frowned. "Big Brother, the reason you told us not to call the police was to avoid retaliation?" "They're from the underworld, they have guns..." At this, one of the men eating noodles looked up and said, "They held guns to our heads and forced us into the sea..." "Eat your food and stop talking nonsense," Gao Zhuang snapped angrily, then warned them, "This matter ends here.

It’s best if you all forget about it, and don't talk nonsense when we get back, lest you bring trouble upon yourselves." "We understand, Big Brother!" Their expressions hardened, and they all nodded in agreement. "Big Brother Gao, even if you don't want trouble, you're already implicated," However, Wang Guan shook his head slightly.

"They stole your boat, and we don't know what sort of business they plan to conduct. If they are caught by the maritime police or military, even if you're innocent, it will be hard to explain." "Oh, right..." Gao Zhuang slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "I'll report the boat as stolen when we get back!" "The police aren't fools.

Many people saw you sail out the day before yesterday. If you suddenly say the boat was stolen today, they will naturally question you closely—when was it stolen, and where was it lost..." Wang Guan said with a faint smile, "If you stammer and can't give a clear answer, they will certainly suspect you're trying to claim insurance money."