Chapter 284: No Dry Place

Jingwei stayed beside the stern until the branches disappeared behind them.

He hadn’t seen the fin again, but he kept the boat hook within reach while Zeyu put more distance between them and the tangled net.

The engine sounded louder now that the rain had stopped, almost too loud in the quiet.

Jingwei watched the water slip past the hull, then glanced at the open compartment where Qinghe was still working. Each bucket came up a little slower than the one before it.

"We’ve cleared the branches," Jingwei told Zeyu, moving forward far enough that he didn’t have to shout. "I haven’t seen anything following us for a while."

Zeyu looked toward Hanchuan before easing back on the throttle.

As their wake began to shorten, the boat began rolling more heavily, and Shichen leaned over the patch to check the rope.

Jingwei waited until he sat back again before returning the hook to its place.

Zhiyi had gathered the salvaged net into her lap.

Hanchuan sat beside her, holding the empty bottle while she worked a loop loose from its neck. Her fingers were clumsy with cold, and she stopped twice to rub them against her skirt.

Jingwei crouched in front of her and took the wet bundle when Hanchuan passed it over.

"Let me get this part off," Jingwei said, laying it across his knee. "You can show me which pieces you want to keep."

Zhiyi pointed to a length of line running along one torn edge. "That one hasn’t broken. If we can undo the knots, we’ll have more to work with."

He resisted the easier urge to cut through them.

With his knife folded beside him, Jingwei used a thumbnail to loosen the first knot while Zhiyi held the line steady.

It took longer than he expected. The fibers had tightened around bits of weed and grit, and his fingers kept slipping before he could pull them apart.

By the time he freed the bottle, Hanchuan had gone to relieve Qinghe.

Zhiyi turned it in her hands, checking the base and the dent along one side before unscrewing the cap. She smelled the opening, then held it toward Jingwei.

He could smell old fruit drink. There was a little dried residue near the neck, but no liquid inside.

"We’ll have to rinse it when we get more rain," Zhiyi said, screwing the cap back on. She passed it to him while she gathered the loose cord. "Tie it somewhere we won’t step on it."

Jingwei secured it inside the rail, close enough that she could reach it from the seat. Yesterday, he had watched her put a hairbrush beside his bed and wanted to leave it there for the rest of their lives.

Now he checked the knot around an empty bottle twice before letting go.

Qinghe sat down nearby and pushed his sleeves above his elbows.

The skin on his hands looked pale and wrinkled, with a scrape across the base of one thumb. He flexed his fingers while watching Hanchuan lower the bucket.

"You need a break too," Qinghe told him. "You’ve been lifting people and hauling things since we left the tower."

Hanchuan emptied the bucket before answering. "I’ll finish getting this down, then Jingwei can take over."

Jingwei looked into the compartment.

The water was below the fitting they had been using as a mark, although it still crept around the folded cover.

Shichen had stopped trying to improve the patch and was watching what happened each time the boat rolled. For now, it held well enough that the pump and bucket could keep up.

"I’ll take it now," Jingwei said, moving beside Hanchuan. He reached for the handle when it came back over the rail. "Sit with her while I do this."

Hanchuan glanced toward Zhiyi, who was trying to separate two strands of net without pulling the knot tighter.

He gave Jingwei the bucket and went to her, taking her hands between his before she could reach for another piece.

Jingwei began scooping.

He settled into a crouch that let him brace against the seat, learning how far he could lean without the boat’s movement throwing his weight forward.

His forearms were already sore from holding the board, but this used them differently.

He could manage it for a while.

Across from him, Hanchuan rubbed Zhiyi’s fingers, then tucked her hands beneath his open shirt against his stomach.

She looked up at him, startled by the warmth, and he bent to say something Jingwei couldn’t hear. Whatever it was made her settle closer.

Jingwei watched long enough to see her shoulders lower before turning back to the water.

As the afternoon wore on, they began changing places before anyone had to ask.

Qinghe took the helm long enough for Zeyu to stand and stretch, while Zeyu showed him how little movement the wheel needed.

Shichen relieved Jingwei at the bucket after checking the patch again, and Hanchuan made everyone put the tools back in one place.

They had already spent too long searching for the pliers beneath a seat.

Zhiyi kept working on the net whenever her hands were warm enough. She laid each freed length across her skirt, smoothing out the knots with her fingertips.

Jingwei joined her when his turn ended, holding the bundle while she pulled one strand through another.

"Will there be enough to fish with?" Jingwei asked. He looked at the short lengths they had collected, unable to picture them bringing anything aboard.

"We can try, but I don’t want to lose it all on the first fish." Zhiyi tested a section between her hands and set it aside when the fibers separated. "This part won’t hold. Keep it anyway. We can use it to tie something."

She glanced at Hanchuan, who was helping Shichen shift the board slightly beneath the rope.

"He used to mend the line while I slept," Zhiyi added. "Sometimes I woke up and he was still doing it."

Jingwei followed her gaze.

He had known Hanchuan for years before meeting her, but there were whole parts of their life together that he knew only through moments like this.

He kept the weakened cord instead of dropping it into the water and reached for the next knot.

By the time the light began to fade, Zhiyi had stopped answering as quickly. Her head dipped once, then lifted when the boat rolled. S

he looked embarrassed to find Jingwei watching and reached for the net again.

He gathered it before she could.

"Leave that with me," Jingwei told her, winding the loose pieces together. "Hanchuan’s making room for you to lie down."

There was no dry place to put her.

They arranged the loose cushion behind the windshield, where it blocked some of the wind, and Hanchuan sat with his back against the seat so she could rest against him.

Zhiyi curled onto her uninjured shoulder, keeping her feet tucked close while he drew her wet skirt over them.

Jingwei returned to the bucket as the first darkness settled over the water. He had just lowered it into the compartment when the pump’s steady hum changed to a rough rattle.

Shichen looked up at once. He reached beneath the panel while Jingwei held the flashlight for him, and Zeyu turned in his seat to listen.

The pump fell silent before Shichen found what was wrong.

Jingwei kept the light steady and passed the bucket to Qinghe, who had already moved beside him.

Behind them, Zhiyi pushed herself upright against Hanchuan, watching the water begin to cover the fitting again.