The loose pajamas, combined with the semi-reclined posture, ensured not a drop could escape.
"It's been so long, I've missed you dearly."
Li Haochen's eyes were glued to that expanse of white, his gaze unblinking, and he let out a sigh of deep emotion.
"Hmph, where were you gallivanting last night? You didn't even give me a call." As Murong Yanran spoke, she tugged at the collar of her shirt, and the prominent peaks vanished from the screen.
"Speaking of last night, I'm so annoyed. Yesterday, I went to the municipal building..." Li Haochen recounted everything from going to the municipal building to this morning, naturally omitting the embarrassing map-drawing incident. Otherwise, she'd laugh him to death.
"Oh... then why didn't you retort? Hehe!"
"Tch, you weren't there, so how could I retort? I needed someone to cooperate, hehe!"
"Didn't you say you had those little cards? Find one, why don't you."
"Pfft~"
Murong Yanran watched the circular ripples sliding down the screen, her laughter causing her brows to curve. Indeed, Li Haochen was so startled that he sprayed water all over his phone.
Good thing it wasn't spit. If it were spit, that much would be disgusting. Let's not talk about it...
Li Haochen quickly wiped his phone on his clothes. When he looked at the screen again, Murong Yanran's shadow was gone, and he could only hear rustling sounds.
Without thinking, he knew she was changing clothes.
Perhaps she wasn't satisfied, as clothes were continually thrown onto the bed, soon forming a small mountain.
Li Haochen's initial anticipation turned into helplessness. A full hour it took.
When the final outfit was ready, Li Haochen still felt the second one looked better, but he didn't dare to say it, lest...
After a bit more affectionate chatter, they hung up. She had to go to work.
It was still early, and going out to sea was impossible as the tide hadn't risen. The Starship was stranded on the shore. Li Haochen felt like a complete idler, wandering from one end of the village to the other.
It was truly boring. Those his age were either in school or working. In the village, there were only the elders, making it hard to find someone with whom he could share a common topic.
With no entertainment whatsoever, life was truly difficult, passing as slowly as years...
"Rumble~~~"
A thirteen or fourteen-meter flatbed trailer slowly drove over. The moment it passed the speed bump in the village, the entire village seemed to tremble, fearing the old red brick houses would collapse.
A sharp braking sound startled Li Haochen. The large truck stopped, and a head poked out, shouting towards Li Haochen.
"Haochen!"
"Dongzi?"
Looking at Li Rendong on the truck, who looked mature for his age, appearing fortyish at just twenty-something, he couldn't help but sigh. Life truly was a butcher's knife.
"Long time no see."
"Indeed, it's been four or five years. You're a father of two now, so enviable."
"Young man, can't control your own pants. Gotta go, need to load the goods. Heh heh!"
"Load goods?"
"You don't know? Uncle Hai called me to pick up the cargo."
"Oh, alright, you be busy."
The dock wasn't far from here, just a few minutes' walk. Upon arriving, Li Dehai and the others were already loading, but the efficiency wasn't great.
There was no help for it. There were few laborers in the village, only Li Dehai, Li Dejun, and Rendong. The three of them were constantly busy, and the mountain of bamboo poles seemed to diminish very slowly.
"Uncle, Uncle Jun, why didn't you call me to help load the goods?"
As he spoke, Li Haochen put on his burlap gloves, grabbed a piece of oilcloth, and started carrying.
With Li Haochen's addition, the speed noticeably increased.
Of course, it was fast. Ten poles at a time.
After more than an hour of labor, the flatbed trailer was finally loaded. If there had been a forklift, it would have been done within half an hour.
It wasn't that they hadn't tried to contact a forklift, but no one wanted to come.
The four of them, drenched in sweat, sat on the stone steps nearby to rest.
The three of them were chain smokers, and as they sat together, they immediately lit up, creating clouds of smoke.
"Dongzi, what about the matter I mentioned earlier?"
"Good, but I still have to finish this year. The boss is quite good to me, so I need to find time to recruit someone for him."
Li Rendong took his last puff, climbed onto the truck, and waved. "I'm heading out first..."
"Don't drive tired. This cargo isn't urgent."
"I'm leaving too. I'll come help again tomorrow."
"Thanks, Uncle Jun!"
Upon returning home, Li Haochen called Gu Xiaonian, asking him to arrange preparations for receiving the goods and also inquired about the conch shop's situation.
"Brother Li, our shop has established a solid foothold. We're getting more and more regular customers. Oh, by the way, yesterday a barbecue restaurant owner wanted to buy mussels from us long-term, in large quantities. Over two hundred catties a day. But since you weren't here, I didn't agree. He said he'd come back to discuss business when you returned."